The Covid-19-stricken Ruby Princess cruise ship has finally docked in New South Wales - where sick crew are being treated onboard and the more serious cases transferred to hospital.
About 200 of the 1400 crew are said to be showing symptoms of coronavirus.
The Ruby Princess cruise ship is Australia's single biggest source of Covid-19 with more than 600 cases linked to the ship.
It also accounts for about one sixth of Australia's Covid-19 death toll - including a New Zealand-born woman.
It is now the subject of a criminal investigation and a lawsuit - with conflicting reports about whether passengers who were likely to be ill were knowingly allowed to disembark in Sydney.
'No mention of anything on the boat'
Di Walker of Hawkes Bay and her husband were in a tour group of ten on the ship. Six of the group have since tested positive for the virus.
Walker said she was never told of any issue on board the ship and she had no idea she was at risk of Covid-19
"There was no mention of anything on the boat," Walker said.
"When we were all disembarking, we were all told because we were coming in, off the ship, we had self isolate for 14 days.
Walker said passengers disembarking in Sydney were told "either go home and self isolate there or for the International travellers go to your hotel or accommodation and self isolate until your flight home."
Walker and her husband stayed in their Sydney hotel for four days before flying back to New Zealand.
Everyone on the plane had their temperature taken when they got off, she said.
"Then we carried on through customs. And then we were taken aside because we had been on the Ruby Princess. So they took us to a separate area and asked us a few questions and took our temperatures again and then said we were okay to go."
Passengers wandered freely
A Wellington woman, Janice, said Ruby Princess passengers freely wandered the streets when it docked in the capital last month.
"We were taking two of our grandchildren out, we were on the cable car and at the cable car museum and the cafe with Ruby princess passengers.
"My daughter and another grandchild were at a Festival of the Arts performance, for over an hour and a person off the Ruby Princess sat next to them for the whole performance. They know because they were chatting."
"I told Healthline this and there was no interest in a followup because the Ruby Princess flew under officials' radar for too long."
"We are all now way past the incubation period and fine but this had the potential to be serious for our families."
She says Carnival Cruises needed to accept responsibility for allowing passengers off.
Hawke's Bay cluster
In Hawke's Bay, a cluster of 16 people with links to the Ruby Princess are recovering from the virus.
The Director General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, said they were in a couple of groups.
"There are 6 people who were passengers and have come back into New Zealand, four people who picked up the infection in Napier and another in a residential facility."
The cruise ship departed Circular Quay in Sydney on 8 March for an 11-day cruise around New Zealand, before docking in Sydney again on the 19th.
Nearly 3 thousand passengers and crew were on board and more than 600 people have tested positive for the virus. 10 people connected with the ship have died in Australia.
Criminal investigation, class action
The New South Wales Government has ordered a criminal investigation.
The state's police commissioner, Mick Fuller, says that should get to the bottom of whether laws have been broken.
Shine Lawyers in Australia has started preparing a class action.
It said the action was open to all passengers who were on board the ship, as well as people with links to it.
It said it was exploring whether it can hold the cruise ship owners, including Carnival Cruises, to account for failing to protect its passengers.
The lawyers said despite the ship previously logging 158 cases of illness, the 2700 passengers were not told and they were then allowed to disembark and return to their homes.
Carnival Cruises did not want to be interviewed.
It said in a brief one line response that it would not be commenting on the class action.
