Sick passenger warns Covid risk while cruising still very much real

A woman who became quite ill after contracting Covid-19 on a short cruise from Brisbane has warned future passengers against complacency.

A woman who contracted Covid-19 on a cruise from Brisbane to Queensland’s north has warned future passengers to not become complacent about the risks.

The passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, left Brisbane on P & O’s Pacific Encounter on October 24 four a four-night journey to Airlie Beach is now “very sick”.

“I thought Covid had kind of finished and it was safe to go cruising again, but it's obviously not,” she said.

“It’s been terrible, I’ve been immunised twice and I’ve had two boosters, so that’s four shots.”

The ““fit and healthy middle-aged woman” said the virus had hit her hard and ignited fears for more vulnerable travellers.

“A lot of elderly people travel on cruises because it’s easy and I just think they have to think twice, it’s not safe.”

“Even though we were led to believe it was all over and safe.”

P&O’s healthy cruising page noted vast protocols the company is taking to ensure passenger safety.

P&O's enhanced health protocols to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on-board.

It includes a Rapid Antigen Test within 24 hours of boarding and either uploading a picture to a third-party app or bringing the photo with you.

The passenger said her proof of negative test results was not checked.

“I could have not done it, or I could’ve put my dog’s nose, or my teddy bear’s nose.”

She said the cost of RATs could encourage false reports.

“They'll go, ‘oh we'll just buy one and then we’ll just hold the same little white thing in four different photos with different people’,” she said.

In the Pacific Encounter Passenger Forum Facebook group, up to 17 people said they had tested positive after the same cruise with one requiring hospitalisation.

But most said they would cruise again.

Quantum of the Seas, one of the world’s largest cruise ships docked in Brisbane on Tuesday with hundreds of reported positive cases and complaints from isolating passengers being denied fresh air.

“I was on that (Airlie Beach) cruise … it’s a fact of life (Covid). I have my next cruise 9th Nov on Quantum of the Seas, coming to Brisbane tomorrow with 400 cases,” one commenter wrote.