Cunard's website proclaims that passengers can "cruise in confidence" but Indonesian authorities have ordered the Covid-affected Queens Elizabeth to abandon the Balinese leg of its current 17-day cruise following a pandemic outbreak.
The Queen Elizabeth is carrying around 2100 passengers and crew on a 17-day cruise, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The Queen Elizabeth left Sydney on November 15, stopping at Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas and Darwin, the newspaper reported, but will cut short the final week of its tour and head straight to Fremantle.
A spokeswoman for Cunard, owner of the ship, confirmed there was “an elevated level of transmission” on board, but declined to provide case numbers, the SMH said.
“Unfortunately, due to the ongoing rise in community transmission across Australia and this being reflected on various cruise lines, we’re unable to visit Indonesia at this time,” she said.
“This has followed ongoing conversations with the respective authorities in Bali, and we understand and respect the current circumstances we’re operating in. In light of this, we will sail into Fremantle in the coming days as planned.”
The cruise liner's next voyage is scheduled to begin on December 2, when it will return to Sydney via Esperance, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Melbourne and Burnie.
