WSJ -- Coronavirus Cruise Passengers Face Infection Worries, Blown Travel Plans and Boredom
Feb. 5, 2020
7:24 am ET
Coronavirus Cruise Passengers Face Infection Worries, Blown Travel Plans and Boredom
About 3,700 passengers and crew are on board, some in windowless cabins
The Diamond Princess, off the shore of Yokohama, south of Tokyo, is under two-week lockdown after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus. Photo: Hiroko Harima/kyodo/associated Press
By Alastair Gale, Suryatapa Bhattacharya and Miho Inada
TOKYO -- As the 116,000-ton cruise liner Diamond Princess started chugging toward Yokohama earlier this week, passengers savored the last few days of an Asian journey at buffet restaurants, theaters and the ship’s nightclub, which is called Skywalkers.
Then came the two-week lockdown.
An 80-year-old man who left the vessel in Hong Kong earlier in the trip had tested positive for the novel coronavirus that has killed around 500 people and infected more than 24,000 others around the world. Japanese authorities quarantined the ship and found 10 other people with the virus who were sent to hospitals back on land.
The rest now face two more weeks holed up on the ship—the quarantine period for the virus—worrying about infection and scrambled travel plans, as well as battling boredom. About 3,700 passengers and crew are on board, some in windowless cabins.
Passengers were startled from their slumber at around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday by a broadcast telling them to remain in their rooms. Later, the captain announced: “The ship is under quarantine and it is expected to last at least 14 days.” Crew members in protective medical gear fanned out to wipe doorknobs and other surfaces clean with disinfectant.
Life on a Cruise Ship Struck by the Coronavirus
About 3,700 passengers and crew on a cruise ship docked in Japan are being quarantined on the vessel after 10 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus. A passenger talked about his time aboard the Diamond Princess. Photo: Behrouz Mehri/Getty Images
Rebecca Frasure, a 35-year-old passenger from Forest Grove, Ore., said her husband noticed some movement in the hall when someone tried to get a bucket of ice. The passenger was asked by a crew member to return to his room and told that ice would be delivered.
Mrs. Frasure said she and her husband are worried about their prescription drugs running out before they are released from quarantine. They hope to talk to their doctors in the U.S. about how to stretch out supplies.
“We both brought just enough to see us through,” said Mrs. Frasure. In an announcement on the ship later Wednesday, the crew said they would collect requests from passengers for prescription medication.
A similar scene is also playing out in Hong Kong. About 3,600 passengers and crew on a cruise ship haven’t been allowed to disembark in the city as planned on Wednesday pending health checks, a city official said, after eight passengers who took a previous trip on the ship were confirmed to have the virus.
Tammy Smith, a 73-year-old retired elementary school principal from Southern California, aboard the Diamond Princess. Photo: Provided by Tammy Smith
The novel coronavirus threatens to deal a blow to the cruise industry, which attracts travelers across Asia, the center of the viral outbreak. Princess Cruises, the operator of the Diamond Princess, said it has canceled two other cruises from Japan, while Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said on Tuesday it would cancel eight cruises out of China.
Food was an immediate concern among passengers on the Diamond Princess as the restaurants were closed and crew members delivered meals to each cabin. Tammy Smith, a 73-year-old retired elementary school principal from Southern California, said she was served a breakfast of yogurt and fruit after 1 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by a turkey sandwich for lunch about an hour later.
Princess Cruises, in a statement, said it was working to keep all guests comfortable and was bringing supplies onboard. The ship was scheduled to arrive in Yokohama on Thursday morning after a detour out to sea to dump wastewater.
Mrs. Smith has had to cancel a tour of Tokyo and Kyoto and her flights to the U.S. “We can’t make plans now until we know more about when we will get off the ship,” she said. She is spending her time texting with family and friends, watching movies and talking with her roommate.
“Korona,” who is the unofficial quarantine mascot aboard the Diamond Princess, according to passenger Tammy Smith. Photo: Provided by Tammy Smith
British passenger David Abel, who is traveling on the cruise with his wife for their 50th wedding anniversary, took to Facebook to publish a series of videos about his experience. “The meals have completely changed. We’re definitely not on a luxury cruise now,” he said in one of his posts.
Adding to the uncertainty, only 31 test results for 273 passengers feared to have the virus because of symptoms such as fever have so far become available, meaning there could be additional cases on the ship. Of the 10 already people confirmed to have the virus who were brought to shore for treatment, nine are passengers -- two Australian, three Japanese, three from Hong Kong and one from the U.S. -- and one is a Filipino crew member, according to Princess Cruises.
Officials on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, nine passengers and one crew member have been confirmed as having the virus. Photo: handout/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The first passenger to contract the virus left the cruise ship on Jan. 25. When the ship arrived in Okinawa in southern Japan on Feb. 1, several passengers were found to have a fever but none said they had been to Wuhan, nor had they had contact with people from the central Chinese city, and the cruise was allowed to continue on to Yokohama. On Feb. 2, the captain of the ship was told that the first passenger had been confirmed to have the virus. The ship was put under quarantine on Feb. 3.
The ship published an entertainment guide for passengers on Wednesday as it had for other days during the cruise, including an afternoon line dancing class and karaoke session. But socializing with other passengers is now out of the question.
Mrs. Smith says she and her roommate have decorated a yellow rubber duck with a surgical mask similar to those worn by people concerned about contracting the virus and have named it “Korona.”
“This is our quarantine mascot,” she said.
-- Joyu Wang in Hong Kong contributed to this article.
Write to Alastair Gale at alastair.gale@wsj.com, Suryatapa Bhattacharya at Suryatapa.Bhattacharya@wsj.com and Miho Inada at miho.inada@wsj.com
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