Royal Caribbean cruise passenger tests positive for COVID as Australians book for 2021 return

Another major cruise ship has reported a COVID-19 outbreak. It comes as Australians are now booking new cruises being offered in our local travel bubble.

Travellers aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise have found themselves in limbo after an elderly passenger on-board tested positive for COVID-19.

In a scene eerily familiar to many Australians, 1680 guest passengers and 1148 crew members aboard the Quantum of the Seas were confined to their rooms for more than 16 hours on Wednesday while contact tracing took place after the case was initially detected on-board.

The liner, which departed from Singapore and was one of the first cruises to set sail following the pandemic hit in March, has since been dubbed as the “cruise to nowhere”.

The virus was discovered after an 83-year-old man presented to the ship’s medical team with a number of common symptoms, and subsequently tested positive. However, according to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), a further two tests from the man came back negative. STB says they will carry out another test on Thursday.

The Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Quantum of the Seas is now docked at Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore following a passenger testing positive for COVID-19. Picture: Roslan Rahman / AFP

The cruise ship returned to Singapore at around 8am local time, and according to a witness, a number of passengers began disembarking by 8pm local time and went well into the night.

According to Royal Caribbean, all passengers will be required to undergo COVID-19 testing before being permitted to leave.

According to Reuters, the ship’s captain told travellers he was “terribly sorry that the cruise ended a day early and ended this way.”

AUSSIES STILL BOOKING CRUISE TICKETS

Despite the outbreak, thousands of Australians are still planning to spend 2021 at sea.

More than one in four people who have booked a cruise for 2021 will be a first-time passenger, the General Manager of Carnival Cruise Lines Australia has revealed.

“There was an assumption that only past cruisers were going to book cruises [in 2021] because of some of the coverage that happened. That’s not what’s happening,” General Manager Jennifer Vanderkreeke told News Corp Australia.

“It’s less than half, but we are still getting people who have never cruised before booking on our ships.”

Speaking the day after Health Minister Greg Hunt extended the cruising ban for another three months, Ms Vandekreeke said the ultimate return date for the industry was up to the government, but Carnival had bookings open for a cruise departing Sydney on March 25.

While Carnival is currently offering bookings for both international and domestic voyages out of both Sydney and Brisbane on its website, Ms Vanderkreeke said demand for domestic cruises was running at about four times the rate of international trips.

The Carnival Spirit in Sydney Harbour. Domestic cruises are being offered from March 25. Picture: Supplied

Mr Hunt’s announcement of the extension of the cruising ban explicitly referred to a “staged resumption of cruise ships in a manner that is proportionate to the public health risk”.

Asked about the resumption of the industry recently, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said international cruises would not return “for quite some time”, and domestic cruises would be a matter of seeing “how the evidence stacks up”.

Ms Vanderkreeke said the industry had agreed with the government to initially offer just domestic cruises.

“Our cruises will start as domestic, and we’re going to make sure we stay within the bubble and we get this right, and then we’ll start to go out to international cruises,” she said.

‘Getting it right’ will involve an extensive series of health protocols devised by the Cruise Line Industry of Australia, including COVID-19 testing for all passengers and crew prior to boarding, daily temperature checks on board, reduced occupancy rates and the quarantining of ships and crew upon return to Australian ports.

Recent market research commissioned by Carnival showed the high levels of misery felt by many of us throughout 2020, with 81 per cent of respondents agreeing with the statement that every day feels the same, and 89 per cent craving some kind of new holiday experience.

Nearly one in four Australians – 24 per cent – had taken no holiday at all in 2020, the survey of 1200 adults found, and of those that had taken a break, its average duration was just six days.

Ms Vanderkreeke described it as a “holiday drought”.

“People needing a holiday and not having taken one,” she said.

The Chennall family in party mode on board with a crew member. The family say they are keen to cruise again after a tough year. Picture: Supplied

Long term cruise enthusiast Matthew Chennall said he and partner Janyne, 49, and daughters Holly, 15 and Amelia, 13, were “definitely looking forward to getting on a cruise as soon as we can, just to have a decent holiday”.

Mr Chennall said a cruise was different to other holidays as it “starts as soon as you get on board”, and it offered unique experiences. One of the family’s cruises (they’ve done “more than 10”) involved a stop-off on the island of Komodo and a close encounter with a Komodo dragon.

“That’s something you would never normally do,” he said.

While the quarantine debacles surrounding the Diamond Princess in Japan and the Ruby Princess in Sydney may have put some people off cruising for life, Mr Chennall said he had no concerns.

“The hygiene standards on the ships we’ve been on have all been very high. They’re always cleaning and sanitising,” he said.

While increased health protocols will be a simple reality of cruising when it returns, travel in a COVID world has taken another step forward with Medibank Travel Insurance set to launch coronavirus-related cover.

In what is believed to be a first for the Australian market, Medibank Travel Insurance will issue policies offering compensation for domestic travellers if they or their travelling companions acquire COVID-19.

A spokeswoman said this meant if policy holders contracted the virus prior to or while travelling domestically, the company would provide cover for non-refundable trip expenses, such as tickets to theme parks, shows and attractions.

The policies would also be available for those planning holidays to New Zealand, with hospital coverage included, the spokeswoman said.