The Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, which is operated by Cunard and owned by Carnival Corporation, is currently floating somewhere in the Indian Ocean, making its way from Bali to its final port at Freemantle, Western Australia. It's currently experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak and was blocked by Indonesia from making a scheduled stop in Bali; the cruise will cut the last week of its journey, which was supposed to have been spent exploring Bali. We don't know how many people onboard are infected with COVID-19, but it's clearly enough to have caused alarm for Indonesian officials. Jim Walker, writing for Cruise Law News, explains:
ABC News in Australia reports that the "WA (West Australia) government said it had received information that 10 to 15 percent of the people on board are COVID-positive."
With nearly 2,100 passengers and a crew of around 1,000, that means that between 310 and 465 people on the Cunard ship were positive for COVID-19.
The Australian newspaper added that the "abandonment of the ship's Bali tour follows the berthing of the Majestic Princess in Sydney earlier this month, carrying 800 COVID-positive passengers and crew."
Jim Walker goes on to list many other COVID-laden cruise ships that have approached ports in Australia within the last month:
Majestic Princess – 800 infected guests (Sydney);
Quantum of the Seas – 400 infected guests (heading toward Queensland)
Coral Princess – 290 infected guests and crew (Fremantle);
Grand Princess – 200 infected guests (Melbourne);
Ovation of the Seas – 129 infected guests and 2 crew member (New Zealand)
Majestic Princess – 116 infected guests (Tahiti).
I wouldn't go on a cruise if you paid me, but that was true even before the pandemic. If you like cruising, go for it, just be prepared that there might also be COVID-19 on board!
