The cruise ship, which is carrying 118 Covid-positive people, zipped into Circular Quay at about 6.30am into the hands of port authority crews to help tie down the 91,600 gigatonne ship.Later on Wednesday, travellers began to disembark the cruiseliner provided they followed the directions from NSW Health to have a negative rapid antigen test and wear a mask on shore. Passengers told The Daily Telegraph they were satisfied with the way the Coral Princess handled the situation, with traveller Beverley Pickering even saying she “barely noticed the Covid on board”.The only problem the Queenslander had with the company was the overcompensating hospitality. “There was no sickness on board, if anything, we’re overfed, we eat a lot,” she said laughing.Travelling trio Yvonne Ham, Malcolm Ham and Dianne Gash were impressed with how well the company adapted since the Ruby Princess incident.“There was not a drama,” Ms Gash said.“Every morning we’d take a photo of our test, all negative, and as we’d get off we would test again.”Her husband said they were continuously updated with the unfolding situation.“They were keeping us informed the whole way through, it was all handled well.”Married couple Christine and Kerry Felsch also admitted the cruiseliner had improved since the 2020 disaster on its sister ship.“We do RAT tests before we get off,” Ms Felsch said.“They have (come a long way since 2020),” Mr Felsch added.It was within the Coral Princess’ requirements that passengers had the correct preventive measures in place against Covid. “They wanted vaccinations, I’m vaccinated, I’ve got my boosters and everything. I feel invincible,” the traveller, who didn’t want to be put on the record, said.“You didn’t notice anything on it.”However, some guests were disgruntled with coverage of the outbreak, with one man saying: “This is all absolute crap, there is nothing to see here.”Earlier, passengers were spotted on their balconies watching as the ship pulled into the harbour just before dawn, with some spotted wearing their pyjamas and dressing gowns. Others were seen leaning over the side railings of the ship having one last smoke, with crew members seen standing in place on deck as the ship finalised its docking. It was an eerie feeling of deja vu for the Australian cruise industry who hit another Covid iceberg barely months into their revival. At dawn, Campbells Cove and Circular Quay was unusually quiet under the watchful eye of police and security. The revival of Australia’s once thriving cruise industry hit a speed bump with the very first cruise ship to return to NSW’s south coast port of Eden carrying 118 Covid-positive people as health authorities slap the vessel with additional testing rules.The Coral Princess — sister ship of the infamous Ruby Princess which was at the centre of a class-action lawsuit following the 2020 Covid wave – will arrive in Sydney on Wednesday and NSW Health has asked all passengers to do a rapid antigen test before they can leave.The ship — carrying more than 2300 guests — docked at Eden on Tuesday where the same rules applied and people on shore tours were asked to wear masks on public transport and in indoor public spaces.Passengers who are Covid-positive have been told to remain in their rooms for the time being. The testing restrictions go beyond those imposed on the general public but may do little to stop the spread as a portion of the positive cases on board reported being asymptomatic.It comes as furious passengers have spoken out about not being notified of positive cases on board before they joined the cruise and called for more rigorous testing of passengers.Queensland passenger Wendy said operators should have canned high risk activities like a self-serve buffet when there were people “coughing and clearly sick” on board.Despite two negative rapid antigen tests, Wendy said her husband Bruce has fallen ill with Covid symptoms, prompting concerns the new testing policy may not be enough to stop the spread of the virus.Princess Cruises said all positive cases were isolating.NSW Health imposed the additional testing requirements after 24 people with Covid disembarked in Brisbane. “The vast majority of Covid-19 cases on the ship are currently in crew members. All Covid-positive people are isolating and being cared for by the on-board medical team,” a NSW Health spokesman said.“NSW Health’s assessment is that the Covid-19 risk level for the Coral Princess during this cruise is amber, which indicates a moderate impact to the vessel.”Of the 118 positive cases, 114 are among staff, a trend that doesn’t surprise infectious diseases physician Professor Peter Collignon.“The staff is something they will need to look at. I don’t know how much sick pay they have, but staff are a major way they (cases) spread because they have one staff member seeing multiple other people and they tend to be younger, so they tend to not get as (symptomatic), ” he said.Prof Collignon said the new rules were “practical” and “reasonable” given cruise ships were “higher risk” settings but urged operators to look into complaints of improper protocol on board.“Cruise ships are a higher risk. I don’t know what happened on the ship, but you don’t want people with symptoms mingling with others. The cruise ship will need to look into that,” he said.“What NSW Health has done is reasonable for the circumstances currently. The reality is yes, you may miss some people but it‘s not a much bigger risk than associating with anybody else in Sydney.”A spokesman for Princess Cruises said all positive cases will be in isolation and not a risk to Sydneysiders.“Cases identified are overwhelmingly among crew who were isolated on board in line with the protocols that have effectively supported the resumption of cruising in Australia since May,” the spokesman said.“Under the protocols, all crew must be fully vaccinated and we also regularly conduct surveillance testing of all crew.“Some recorded positive tests in a recent full screening and were isolated and have no contact with guests. These crew members are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. ”Mr Toole disagreed that there was a double standard for people using different modes of travel when questioned if cruise passengers copped harder Covid rules than those in flight.“Cruise ships are very different. You are in a closed environment for a long period of time … whereas people are flying in and out,” he said. “They’re not necessarily sitting on a plane for days at a time.”
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