Cruise ship carrying Covid-infected passengers docks in Melbourne

Cruise ship passengers who have tested positive to Covid are among those to have disembarked after the ship docked in Melbourne.

The potentially Covid-infested Grand Princess cruise ship has docked at Melbourne’s Station Pier.

Two ambulances without sirens arrived at the pier ahead of passengers disembarking, marking the only movement in an otherwise quiet scene.

A Princess Cruises spokesman said all of the 2100 guests had disembarked as planned.

“A small percentage of these guests disembarking in Melbourne are currently Covid-positive, and these guests continue to disembark safely and will use private transport to return home,” they said.

“With Victoria recording 22,000 cases in the past week, we’d like to take this opportunity to reiterate every precaution is taken onboard to keep our guests, crew and wider communities we visit safe.

“Like many tourism operators, we too have been impacted by the current fourth wave and have been proactively planning, managing, and caring for COVID cases as they arise onboard.”

Princess Cruises emphasised that they would not share case numbers independently of health authorities and said all passengers had to return a negative Covid test before being allowed to board.

Passengers on board the Grand Princess. Picture: David Crosling

Mary and Sergio Iuliano said they had the worst experience of their life on board the cruise, having caught Covid early in the trip.

“Sergio caught it first and we both had to isolate, then I caught it to we had to isolate again,” Ms Iuliano said.

“We had to isolate twice so we didn’t see anything at all — only the water out the window.

“Never again, I’m going to complain to the travel agent.

“The food was cold and we didn’t get to see a single thing.”

Ms Iuliano said apparently a passenger on the cruise had made a false declaration when boarding, stating they did not have Covid when they did.

The ship has a capcity of nearly 4000 passengers. Picture: David Crosling

“If it’s true, then that one person ruined the trip entirely for everyone,” she said.

Many passengers were collected by cabs and buses, but browbeaten passengers trickled out wheeling swollen suitcases.

Janice Davies was also a passenger of the cruise and said “everything was absolutely lovely”.

“I had no problems at all — those with Covid were well looked after and the staff were fantastic, really careful,” she said.

“I don’t really care not knowing how many people were infected – when you’re travelling across the country you’ll be mixing with everyone anyway, so what makes this different?”

The scene is quiet as passengers leave the ship. Picture: David Crosling

Ms Davies said she would “definitely” sail with Princess again.

Princess Cruisees has not revealed how many have caught the virus but the ship has a capacity of nearly 4000 passengers.

Princess Cruise ships mandate a vaccination level of about 95 per cent on board, allowing space for people with genuine medical exemptions to still sail.

In ship protocol, Princess Cruise passengers who contract Covid have to isolate for five days in their cabin before rejoining the rest of the ship.

Covid-infected passengers could not disembark. Picture: David Crosling

Barb and Niele Clough thoroughly enjoyed their cruise, but several people in their party caught Covid and couldn’t disembark.

“Part of our group is stuck on-board, and they can’t leave until someone can come and get them privately later in the day,” Ms Clough said.

“We had a fantastic time — a few teething problems with onboarding and getting off, but all in all it was great.”

She said one of the biggest annoyances was car companies cancelling transports from the pier last minute, leaving many without a way to get home.

“A few companies said they didn’t want to put their drivers at risk, which I understand, but it means people are stranded here.”

N95 masks were given to passengers nightly and they had to be worn as often as possible during the cruise.