It would have been journey that would have tested Odysseus but the 78 passengers who were on board the Covid-19 struck cruise ship, the Coral Princess, are finally beginning their journey home.
Last week the cruise ship belonging to the Miami based which had been refused permission to dock at a number of South American ports over the past week, was finally allowed to dock at Miami on Saturday, 4 April.
Four passengers were immediately rushed to the Larkin Community Hospital in Miami. Two other passengers had died before reaching hospital.
According to NBC Miami, Princess Cruises, the owners of the Coral Princess, said only passengers who were on chartered flights arranged by Princess Cruises to California, Australia and the United Kingdom would be allowed to disembark on Sunday.
Two days before the ship was allowed to dock in Miami, Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, Arthur Sinodinos, wrote to the Australians on board to inform them that their ship would find a berth in Florida.
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Coral Princess was refused berth at Fort Lauderdale where two Holland America ships, the Zaandam and Rotterdam, had been allowed to dock in Broward County on Friday.
Fourteen Zaandam passengers reporting flu-like symptoms, suspected to be Covid-19, were rushed to hospitals in the area once the vessel docked. Several people on board the Zaandam are reported to have died onboard.
Neos Kosmos is awaiting a response from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to questions concerning plans to bring home the Australian passengers who were on the Coral Princess.
If you know of loved ones who were on board the Coral Princess, call us and let us know what they are going through.