As the Ruby Princess finally left Australia this week, Princess Cruises president Jan Swartz issued a heartfelt plea to Australians who have made the line the country’s favourite: “Stick with us”.
Her appeal came in a personalised letter to tens of thousands of cruisers in which she addressed the issues of how COVID-19 has so seriously affected the line, particularly in relation to the Ruby Princess, Diamond Princess and Grand Princess.
The Ruby Princess has become the centre of one of the largest clusters of the disease, with 600 cases and 21 deaths.
“You may be concerned about what the future holds for Princess, and I understand that. These are uncertain times. But I’d like to share with you what I’ve experienced,” says Ms Swartz.
I have been inspired by the way our teammates aboard Diamond Princess, Grand Princess and Ruby Princess have gone above and beyond to care for our guests and each other. How our people at sea and ashore have come together, working long hours and yet continuing to ask ‘What more can I do to help?’
“How our guests have sent more messages of encouragement than I can count – words that made me more resolved than ever to make sure Princess comes through this even stronger.”
She welcomed the special investigation now going in into the ship’s Sydney docking on March 19. ” We look forward to having fact-based discussions regarding the matter and to setting the record straight” she said.
She ends the letter: “I have only one request of you: Stick with us. You’re the reason why we do what we do. We’re not going anywhere. We’re just taking a moment to make sure we do things right.”
Yesterday, at the special inquiry into the circumstances surrounding how the ship was allowed to dock and 2,700 passengers disembark without medical checks, the ship’s hotel manager gave evidence that he was “surprised” passengers were allowed by NSW Health officials to leave with no screening.
At the time, 13 passengers had been tested for COVID-19, but results were not known.
Charles Verwall told the special commission that NSW Health officials had told the ship’s staff to ask sick passengers to present to the ship’s doctors – but did not want to conduct an on-board assessment before docking.
Mr Verwall told the inquiry that NSW officials boarded the ship on 8 March to conduct and assessment before the ship’s itinerary began. “We were expecting the same treatment from NSW Health as we received on the 8th,” he said.
The hotel manager said the line an instituted an “elevated level of hygiene” and this commenced before the second lot of passengers boarded on 8 March.
As the hearing was taking Mr Verwall’s evidence, the Ruby Princess was preparing to leave Port Kembla in the Illawarra with some 500 crew still aboard.
It is bound for Manilla in the Philippines, where much of the Carnival fleet is riding at anchor with skeleton crews.
Carnival Australia donated $50,000 towards the Mission to Seafarers at Port Kembla to thank the Illawarra community for taking in the ship and its crew.
Carnival Australia president Sture Myrmell sent a video message to the Illawarra thanking residents for taking in his vessel after it had spent several days at sea.
However, the three investigations continue into how Ruby Princess came to be at the centre of one of the largest clusters of COVID-19 in Australia.
On Wednesday, the ship’s senior doctor, Ilse Von Watzdorf, gave video evidence from the ship at Port Kembla, revealing her “surprise” when almost 2,700 passengers were allowed to leave the ship in Sydney Harbour last month.
She said she would not have allowed passengers to disembark before tests had been carried out and the results known.
“I was trying to be sure if there was a chance of it being COVID that we would know about it and we would pick that up,” the doctor told the NSW Government’s commission of inquiry, led by Bret Walker SC.
Counsel Assisting the Inquiry, Richard Beasley, asked if the passengers should have been allowed to disembark.
“If it was my decision I would’ve perhaps waited.”
The decision to allow them off was made by NSW Health.
The doctor said it would be wrong to say there were no signs or symptoms of COVID-19 aboard in the hours before it docked.
Asked by commissioner Walker why she responded “no” to the question on the maritime arrivals form when 24 passengers had reported high temperatures, Dr Von Watzdorf said she felt “disadvantaged” because she did not have access to the form submitted during questioning.
But she suggested she would not have wanted at the time to convey there were no passengers showing COVID-19 symptoms on board.
Another question on the form about difficulty breathing and persistent coughing symptoms had been left blank as the ship docked on March 19.
Dozens of crew members disembarked the ship and travelled to NSW hotels before being repatriated on international charter flights.
Related Posts
-
Lawyers from Carnival Corporation and Princess Cruises have pointed the finger at NSW Health for the COVID-19 outbreak onboard the Ruby Princess in March 2020.
-
Celebrating the launch of Sun Princess, the ship was officially welcomed by her new godmother, British actress Hannah Waddingham.
-
Set to arrive on Aussie shores October 26, the 113,561-tonne Crown Princess will be the first ship that Princess Cruises have ever sent to Australia.
-
Princess will roll out the zero alcohol collection fleetwide. The new options will include non-alcoholic rosé from Kylie Minogue and Blake Lively's Betty Buzz Creations. The new options will be…
So much doesn’t add up here, I went on a world cruise with Princess, just after the norovirus troubles. Staff on the ship were cleaning and sanitizing constantly, the hand washing stations in place, as someone pointed out, most patrons did the right thing, whilst others walked past, determined it would seem, to disobey the rules. I unfortunately ended up with a virus, high temperature etc. I was confined to the cabin for quite a few days, had visits to the Dr. on board and temperature checks, NO WAY was I allowed out, missed a shore tour. Extremely strict conditions, that is why I cannot comprehend how anyone showing any symptoms, with such a contagious virus worldwide, was allowed to disembark. Be it the Doctor on board, Health Department, I hope there is no cover ups and we are finally told the truth. I love cruising but this has curbed my desire to travel anytime soon.
B Deeks – Your comment is probably the closest to the mark. Too many are just “gushing” praise on Princess …… NSW Health & Border Control are certainly not without blame – but the most interesting question is: What did Ruby Princess tell them???? … just to get into Port to dock?? The Doctor & Hotel Manager would have found it very difficult to tell the Inquiry …… if they actually knew they had Passengers with the Virus on Board …… maybe the real truth will come out when all the exchanged Messages are made public?
I certainly will NOT be rushing to book on any of the Princess Ships, as 2 of theirs played such a prominent part in Corona Virus deaths….
I have cruised on Princess twice and found no problems with cleanliness. (I have also cruised other lines). I wouldn’t hesitate to book a cruise with Princess and in fact I have one booked for later in the year.
And to Michelle – for someone who does 12 to 14 cruises, you don’t seem to know much about cruiselines. A cruise is only boring, if you make it boring….
Having travelled on quite a few different cruise lines, I can confirm that the standard of cleanliness and the sanitising regimes are very stringent on Princess cruises in particular. I have never had a health issue on the ships and look forward very much to our cruise on the Sapphire Princess in November. I feel Princess are being made the scapegoat for what transpired, that last cruise on Ruby Princess should not have been allowed To go ahead by the authorities and certainly When they came back they should have kept the passengers onboard until the tests came back. At the end of the day a lot of people have lost their lives and my heart goes out to their families but the blame should be shared by many not just Princess.
My husband and myself were on that unfortunate Ruby Princess Cruise. We went to St Vincent’s Hospital on the Saturday morning after learning that the Virus was on board. We were tested Positive and have been self Isolating at home. After 3 or 4 weeks at home we went to have our flu injections and our GP suggested we go back to St Vincent’s for retesting which we had to do twice. Each result was Negative thank goodness.
We had know idea there was any sickness on board. Everything was very normal…nothing was said except when we left NZ ( shortened cruise) we were told to isolate but still know reason why. Nobody was isolating we were still going to the Crowded coffee shop to the theatre to the pool (to sunbath). We were kept in the dark. We were hurried off the ship and still nothing was said. I spoke to Border Control and all they said we must self isolate from that day for 14 days. You can’t tell me that the Doctor knew nothing like the Hotel manager. The Ship Officers including the Captain kept everything well hidden. We are Elite Members and have No desire to travel with Princess again. We will find a cruise line that is honest.
Rona Dobrin
Elsie and I are lovers of cruising, our favorite cruise line is Princess they do a lot for Australian passengers and are really methodical about health and cleanliness we have been on board when they introduced handwashing in the Horizon Court on the Sea Princess they installed 3 wash stations in 3 days at both entries of this restaurant and asked passengers to use them before entering the room. We watch many people ignoring this request, they then stationed a staff member at each door who asked each person entering to wash their hands. many still ignored the request and pushed into the room. The hygiene in the public toilets was much the same despite well places notices on how to wash and to do so. The ship is responsible for providing all the best precautions possible but passengers are the people most responsible for their own health and while traveling others as well. I believe Princess is a caring and responsible Cruise Line we have always loved cruising with them and will do so again when the world is safer. We hope this won’t be long. We also hope that there is no whitewash given to our Government departments who were responsible for allowing passengers to disembark just to allow another ship to berth. We had lots of warnings from the commonwealth about the dangers of mixing with travelers from overseas and these people were allowed to disembark without g0ing into isolation as others had to. It was a government department disgrace that someone is trying to coverup and blame the cruise line.
My wife & I are sticking with Princess. Cruise No. 7 to Noumea /Vanuatu is booked for 28/02/2021. We have both been ill before on a cruise but that can happen anywhere anytime. It would help a bit if there were not so many ignorant fools bypassing the sanitation stations in the food areas… seen too many do it.
As for Michelle, no the passengers on Princess are not all elderly… the ages vary and the cruise is only as boring as you want it to be. We’ve not been bored on one yet.
Finally, regardless of the finger pointing going on over who was responsible for the Sydney fiasco involving Ruby Princess ultimately Border Force/Customs and the health services have the final say on who embarks/disembarks from a ship
What happened on the Ruby Princess was terrible, and my thoughts are with all those that were on board – The passengers, and the crew. My husband and I have been on four cruises so far, and intend to take as many more of them that we can.
Each of the cruises was on the Sea Princess, and this was because we went out of our way to travel on that ship, although I am sure all of their ships would be great.
We cannot fault anything on each of the cruises. The crew go out of their way to do anything or everything you ask of them. We use and enjoy the Fine Dining
restaurant most nights; and breakfast on the Horizon deck Buffet. That breakfast can keep you going until dinner! Everything you think you may like to try for breakfast is available, and if not, the chef will quickly whip up something you particularly wish to have. Entertainment is great, and there is always something to do – heaps of activities on sea days, something for everyone.
Cleanliness: I have never had to complain of lack of cleanliness in our cabin, or common areas. Staff everywhere with hand sanitiser pump for you to use, and extra hand washing sinks are dotted round the ship.
So, our loyalty to Princess has not abated at all. When we can be sure it will be safe – we will be lining up to go on cruise No. 5. A.H.
having travelled on princess line many times i have found them to be the best cruiseships to travel on they do everything right and very particular on sanitation and look forward to travelling with them again i find them the best in the industry look more toward nsw health
I was about to go on the Golden Princess before she was turned around in New Zealand and sent back to Melbourne, where she arrived the same day that Ruby arrived in Sydney. The passengers were kept on board until EVERYONE on board had been checked, and no one had any symptoms, and they were allowed to disembark late in the afternoon. As the Golden has now been transferred to P&O I will now be hopefully taking my next two cruises in November and December this year on the Sapphire. It is my belief that it was TOTALLY the fault of the NSW medical team AND Border force for allowing the passengers off without any checks whatever, not even passports, which means federal laws were not obeyed by Customs and Immigration. This whole debacle was most definitely caused by Government departments, NOT by Princess Cruises.
NSW Health has more to answer for than Princess as far as I’m concerned. They knew that there were suspected cases but allowed the passengers to disembark anyway. I’m a Carnival Cruise girl but they are all under the same banner anyway and this little hiccup will certainly not stop me cruising. Best holidays ever.
Love princes waiting for our 9the cruise in November hope fully â›´
Michelle, So you would only have considered Pirincess for an Alaska cruise !!!
And you take 12 to 14 cruises per year. Obviously from Australia and maybe 3 or 4 day cruises each time !!!
I would suggest you go on a real cruise say around the Mediterranean or perhaps from Fort Lauderdale across the Atlantic and around maybe the British Isles and or in to the beautiful Mediterranean and then you will know what cruising on a magnificent big Princess cruise ship is all about.
We have been on most of the big Princess ships many times including their beautiful new ones . . .
Royal, Regal and Majestic and were looking forward to a 46 night cruise later this year on Regal Princess again.
Do not knock this amazing cruise line company and their truly incredible staff and . . .
it is not only “old people” who go on them. You need to broaden your horizon and go on bigger cruises and not just close to home for you !!!
I feel sorry for you that you are so negative . . . get a life !!!
Roger Hadfield, We are Platium,members & have cruised with other cruise lines,we have decided that we will only be cruiseing with Princess in the future,Great Cruiseline .
The medical officer had a duty of care to record and maintain accurate information and document this information regarding the medical records of her patients.
The medical officer on the Ruby Princess failed miserably in disclosing that information to the authorities.
Why didn’t she alert the authorities ? Instead she left vital information omitted on the forms.
Why did she deliberately omit and leave blank spaces on the form?
Not good enough!
Very poor!
My wife and I are virtual newcomers to cruising having only done 5 cruises on Princess Cruises. We have never had an inclination to use other companies as we have never found fault with Princess. Cleanliness excellent, food excellent and entertainment fresh on each leg. I believe that the N.S.W. inquiry will find the Princess guilty as I have never known an inquiry by Government to be started without an agenda for the outcome already decided. My wife and I will be travellers when this Covid pandemic is sorted out.
I have travelled on several different cruise lines so don’t have favourite. My complaint with the Ruby Princess is we had the smallest cabin and the smallest shower ever. Could not turn around In the shower. Also on the morning of the 19th I decided to have a shower before disembarking. I took a “clean” face washer and was about to wash my face when I noticed it wasn’t at all clean. I cannot tell you exactly what was on it but it was either dried blood or dried faeces . I reported it to our cabin boy who had no idea what I was saying. When I arrived home in rang Princess head office and told them. They seemed to understand why I was saying so hopefully it won’t happen again to anyone.
I am very interested to find out how the sanitising process and products are being used and will a certificate of cleaning and safety be issued???
We plan on continue to cruise but will not dodo until all safety measures are in place.
12 to 14 cruises per year, Michelle? I find that a bit hard to believe.
We love Princess line, and P&O, as well. We will continue to travel on them both again when everything is back to normal, whenever that will be.
We love it.
Love Princess cruises great staff and ships. As a single older person the staff take time out to my your cruise a fantastic experience. The food is great varied and plentiful not to mention the entertainment top class can’t wait for them to start up again when all this is over. Less not forget Princess Cruises didn’t start Covid-19.
NSW Wales were not on the ball and now want to pass the buck well the buck starts and stops with Authorities in that State
My wife and I traveled on the Sapphire Princess which sailed from Singapore from January 22nd 2020 to South East Asian ports, in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It arrived back in Singapore on February 2nd 2020. To my knowledge nobody aboard had contracted covid 19. I caught a slight cold, which prevented me from singing at the karaoke bar. I saw the doctor on board, and was cleared of any infectious disease. I knew about covid 19 during the cruise because it was all over the TV stations streamed to cabins on the ship. Princess cruises go out of their way to ensure passengers adhere to strict hand washing, and sanitising especially in their dining areas. It is surprising to me therefore that the infections have happened. Last year we traveled on the Emerald Princess, and the same hygiene system was in force then. I have nothing else but praise for how the crew looked after us in every facet of our journeys. We can’t wait to go on a Princess ship again, when covid 19 is “defeated”
The NSW Health Dept, State Government and the Federal Border Force appear to me to doing everything in their power to discredit Princess Cruises through their own mismanagement of this issue. This is typical LNP style, they will never own up to their own mistakes and point their fingers at others to take the blame. I have travelled on Princess cruises more than thirty times. I have always found Princess to be impeccable with regards to the Health and safety of it’s passengers and crew.
My wife and I have cruised with Princess and 3 other major lines both here in Australia and abroad. Princess is our favourite and has passengers of all ages, hence the great variety of music, shows , things to do and, of course, fabulous food. Staff are exceptional and very obliging. Our favourite ship is Ruby Princess and our trip of 13 nights and 10 ports in the Mediterranean sits at the top of the list. When we can go, Princess Cruises you will be the one!
As Cruise people we have travelled with Princess line ships on 7 occassions and feel that we can only talk from our experiences with them. Of Course each ship has a different feel, different staff, but all in all very similar in a lot of ways.
I am not going to write 1oo% praise for each cruise because no matter what ship, what company etc when you have a passenger population of 1000 – 3500 located in such limited space , of course there are going to be problems be they large or small, of course you are going to get sickness such as norovirus, flu or anything in fact all it takes is a single incosiderate passenger with a complaint either not being honest at embarkation or picks it up during the cruise then before long it has run Rife through the ship.
On our cruises we have seen some people mainly Non Australians who have simply abused the hygiene rules when instructed to by staff like hand wash before dining. no hand washing before leaving the rest rooms, plus not using tongs or spoons when in the Buffet areas.
In closing I will say ,maybe we have been lucky in that each and every cruise we have done we have been exceptionally lucky in that we have not one scrap of trouble on any front in any section of the ship along with the first class attention we were given by all staff we had contact with.
Yes you are right in suggesting the age group on Princess is elderly, thats easy to see because WE enjoy the NON rowdiness of P&O or Carnival ships, we will definate sail again with Princess Line many more times and not let what happened on Ruby Princess affect our future doing what we love.
We are Elite members on Princess Line and the Ruby Princess was our favourite ship in your fleet. We were to sail on 21 March 2020 but, of course, our cruise was cancelled. We have our Credit and hope to be able to book on the next cruise sailing around Australia – maybe a little too premature at this stage. We are so sad that much of the reporting of this world wide problem has been directed at cruising. It is the only holiday we take and look forward to the world returning to normal [whatever that my be].
Too many unanswered questions at this time. I have travelled on Princess but it is not my favourite and I would be hesitant to travel on the Ruby Princess any time soon.
Why not ask instead if the government authorities, faced with 2 large cruise ships arriving in Sydney unexpectedly on the same day, just wanted the passengers off the Ruby Princess as quickly as possible in order to move the ship away from the Overseas Passenger Terminal to make way for the Celebrity Solstice to dock there instead? If they had been made to hold back disembarkation of the Ruby Princess to await test results, the Solstice would have had nowhere to pull up later the same day as Sydney only has one berth big enough for these large cruise ships.
Forms nearly always ask black and white questions. Did the NSW Health not check the form and ask questions regarding the blanks? Immigration check their forms.
Three generations of our family love Princess Cruises. Would only call boring if you sat in your cabin the whole time. Plenty to do from active to sedentary. Must admit i don’t go to sea to drive go karts (not that i’m knocking them).
My husband and i have been on several cruise liners and Princess is definitely our favorite. We were booked on the Majestic to go to Singapore in February which Princess cancelled due to the virus. I thank the organisation for making such a difficult decision. This was done for our safety. So, Princess do put the safety of its crew and passengers above profits as evidenced by this. I say this in response to negative criticism i have heard reported by the media. We are wishing the Ruby Princess (which we have been fortunate enough to cruise on ) and the Princess line all the best and are most looking forward to travelling with again.
In reply to Michelle’s comment, I suggest she does her homework and checks how ,many passengers cruise out of Australia on each of the various cruiselines. All her comments are way off the mark., even the one about norovirus (not norivirus). All the cruiselines have had outbreaks of that at one time or another. And Princess Cruises are definitely not boring. We have done more than 40 cruises on 8 different cruise lines and Princess (in my opinion) are among the better ones by far.
I hope princess do a much better job in the future.though the blame seems to be settling on the government agency they can only act on information given and leaving questions blank indicating no problems maybe was the cause of no action.surely princess had a duty of care but it seems they were trying to avoid a diamond situation. I am an elite cruiser so use princess as my cruise option but would hate to think they deliberately put passengers safety last . People have died because someone failed in their duty and whoever it was must be held accountable
Was looking forward to my ninth cruise this August unfortunately this will not come to fruition due to the virus
Have never wanted to try anyone else other than Princess they meet all our needs and will stick with them
Nothing perfect in life and I take it as it comes Princess will have learnt a lot from this experience what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Who decided to put on a water display by the tugs? Usually done to welcome a new vessel or on a special occasion worthy of commemorating!
In my mind the blame is with border control…no matter what the ship did or said you can’t entry this country without getting through border control…they should have done the checks….
Just curious why this website said that princess cruises was Australia’s favourite. I’ve heard agsin and again that the passengers are all elderly and its quite boring. It seems to be the one hit with norivirus more than the others and they don’t really cruise in Australia very much relative to the others.
Where has it been proven that this cruise line is Australia’s favourite? Before all this happened, I would only have considered Princess for an Alaska cruise. I take 12 to 14 cruises per year.
There are still too m any questions, how can a Medical Officer had left two questions not answered in the Form to advice the Port authority about the health of the passengers….. Not very good in my books!
Princes Cruises we will continue to travel with you, please make sure that health safety of the passengers is assured. Thank you.