The docking of the Ruby Princess on March 19 left a trail of illness and death in its wake and marked the start of a nightmare for public health officials already stretched to the limit.
On March 5, her father’s funeral behind them, she and her daughter left their Port Macquarie home for Sydney. They were due to sail at around 6pm on Sunday evening, March 8.
The handbook on cruise travel put out by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned that "outbreaks on ships can be sustained for multiple voyages by transmission among crew members who remain on board, or by persistent environmental contamination". Another passenger, Steve Whelan, who booked directly with the company rather than through an agent, says he received an email prior to the trip advising that passengers could pull out up to three days ahead of the voyage and still get a full refund.
Marshall complained the vessel had not alerted the NSW Port Authority to the fact that it had 158 sick passengers on board, even though it had provided this data to the federal Department of Agriculture through the Marine Reporting Arrival System on March 8. The ship reached New Zealand without incident and began making its leisurely way around the country’s picturesque coastline. It visited Fiordland, Dunedin, and Akaroa, before berthing at Wellington on March 14.
On Sunday evening, March 15, as the ship steamed north, there was a shock announcement. Carnival had already declared the previous day that it would pause its Australian operations for a month but said ships still at sea could continue their voyages and return to Sydney as scheduled. That changed abruptly when the Morrison government issued its own order shutting down entry to Australian ports for 30 days.The vessel turned around and began high-tailing it for Sydney.
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