Coronavirus: People fighting over ‘rotten’ food on virus-stricken Grand Princess cruise: passenger

Passengers on board the Grand Princess cruise ship have revealed the “terrible” conditions they faced at sea, including daily fights for food.

An elderly British woman on board the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship, which has just docked at California port, has revealed the conditions on board, where “stir-crazy” passengers were fighting over “rotten” food.

Margaret Bartlett, 77 – one of 140 British passengers aboard the vessel where 21 people have tested positive for the infection – told the BBC that she’d been confined to her cabin, which has no balcony.

“The food is rotten and terrible and we have to fight for it,” Bartlett told the network. “It is not good enough.

“We are going stir crazy stuck in the cabin,” she added. “It is a bit depressing when we saw land and it was sunny and we couldn’t get out.”

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The cruise ship has docked in California. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP.

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Ms Barlett told the outlet that a passenger who was staying 10 cabins away from her on board the ship has died. Officials have confirmed that at least one person, a 71-year-old man, died of coronavirus last week after his time on board the cruise.

Now that the ship has docked, disembarking guests will be a “multiple-day process” according to Princess Cruises.

Passenger Debbie Loftus of Wisconsin told the Los Angeles Times she was grateful California Governor Gavin Newsom was finally allowing the stranded passengers into the state, calling it a “change in attitude.”

“It is nice that he is now welcoming us into California,” she said. “A few days ago, he did not want us anywhere near his state.

“This is all going to be a very new experience, going to a military base in Oakland, getting on what I assume is not going to be a commercial airline or … going someplace I’ve never been,” Ms Loftus added.

Some passengers said they were fighting over food on board. Picture: Noah Berger/AP

“Not sure what the accommodations are going to be like and how long we’re going to be held there. Yes, it’s a little bit anxiety-producing, but (we) will handle it minute by minute.”

Ms Bartlett told the BBC she fears being stuck on board as Americans are taken off — but the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was “working intensively” to secure a repatriation flight for its stranded citizens.

“We are hoping something will get done,” Bartlett said. “It is terrible.”

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission