Covid outbreaks now ‘par for the course on cruises’

Australia’s multibillion-dollar cruise industry has brushed aside claims a coronavirus outbreak aboard one of its flagship vessels will deter future passengers.

Crew aboard the Coral Princess watch passengers disembark, stirring memories of Ruby Princess’s arrival in 2020. Picture: Getty Images

Australia’s multibillion-dollar cruise industry has brushed aside claims a coronavirus outbreak aboard one of its flagship vessels will deter future passengers, saying customers understood that Covid-19 infections were now “par for the course”.

Carnival Cruises’ Coral Princess, which arrived in Sydney on Wednesday as part of a 12-day cruise, has recorded 115 infections among its crew and 14 among passengers, after departing Brisbane last Sunday.

The Coral Princess is one of eight sister ships to the Ruby Princess, which was linked to 28 Covid-related deaths in NSW in 2020.

Passengers disembarking at Circular Quay’s international terminal on Wednesday morning were adamant conditions on-board the ship were just as safe as they would be on land.

Bundaberg couple Wally and Jo-Anne Harlacz, who last went cruising weeks before the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, said the focus on Covid infections on the Coral Princess was exaggerated and “everybody on the ship felt safe”.

Bundaberg couple Wally and Jo-Anne Harlacz disembarking the Coral Princess. Picture: Nicholas Jensen

“I don’t understand why people are treating this any differently than they would while on land,” Ms Harlacz said, adding that NSW was recording thousands of daily Covid-19 cases.

“Everyone is doing the correct thing. We’re all wearing our masks … so we have no problem with what’s happened,” she said. “We feel safer being on this ship than we do being in a supermarket.”

Self-confessed cruise addicts Karen Smallwood and Robyn Smith said passengers were unperturbed by the outbreak, noting guests were sent information about the infections before they agreed to board the vessel.

“People were fully aware and accepted what they were doing before they got on [the ship],” Ms Smith said.

“At a performance (on the cruise) last night, the cruise director joked we were the talk of Sydney and we should tell the media we’ve got pirates on board instead of Covid,” Ms Smallwood said.

Tourism & Transport Forum boss Margy Osmond said passengers were made fully aware before the ship’s departure in Brisbane and understood Covid outbreaks were “simply what travelling now looks like”.

“There has been extensive collaboration between the cruise industry and state health depart­ments along the eastern seaboard and the protocols are solid,” Ms Osmond said.

“Passengers and crew know this is now par for the course.”

The Coral Princess in Sydney on Wednesday. Picture: Getty Images

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chair John Hart said the outbreak demonstrated the strength of the ship’s safety protocols rather than being evidence of malpractice or negligence. “This is a microcosm of what’s happening right across the world. I think it (the outbreak) shows the protocols are very strong because they contained it incredibly well,” he said.

Australia Carnival Cruises president Marguerite Fitzgerald on Wednesday said instances of “severe sickness” aboard cruise ships around the world were “extremely rare” because of the strict protocols. “We believe, and health authorities have said, that most of those guests probably brought Covid with them on to the ship when they embarked in Brisbane.

“We knew this was going to happen; no one expected we’d keep Covid off ships, it was just about managing it,” she said.

NSW Health said no passengers or crew had been hospitalised. Passengers who returned a negative rapid antigen test were allowed to disembark the ship before returning by 8pm.