At the Welcome Centre there was a sense of expectation and excitement as the centre was officially opened during the COVID lockdowns and had as yet, still to welcome anyone from a cruise ship - until Tuesday morning, July 12.

And in the undercover areas of the centre, stalls were set up with by local artisans ready to sell their wares to those disembarking.

There were extra protocols around the ship's arrival following the news there had been COVID detections on board prior to its departure from Brisbane on Sunday.

A NSW Health spokesperson said no crew members would disembark and all passengers disembarking were requested to return a negative RAT result first.

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Coral Princess is home ported in Brisbane and departed on Sunday on a five-night cruise to Eden and Sydney.

The spokesperson said the department works with maritime agencies and other state and territory health authorities ahead of scheduled arrivals of cruise ships in NSW.

"Cruise operators are responsible for keeping passengers and crews safe from infectious diseases including COVID-19, in line with the Eastern Seaboard Cruise Protocols," the NSW Health spokesperson said.

"NSW Health is liaising with the Coral Princess cruise ship to monitor the health of its passengers and crew members.

"While a small number of passengers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since boarding the Coral Princess, their infections were most likely acquired prior to boarding and they subsequently tested positive.

"The vast majority of COVID-19 cases on the ship are currently in crew members. All COVID-positive people are isolating and being cared for by the onboard medical team," the spokesperson said.

"NSW Health's assessment is that the COVID-19 risk level for the Coral Princess during this cruise is amber, which indicates a moderate impact to the vessel."

A Carnival spokesperson said that cases identified were "overwhelmingly among crew who were isolated on board in line with the protocols that have effectively supported the resumption of cruising in Australia since May".

"Under the protocols, all crew must be fully vaccinated and we also regularly conduct surveillance testing of all crew. Some recorded positive tests in a recent full screening and were isolated and have no contact with guests. These crew members are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms," the Carnival spokesperson said.

The NSW Health spokesperson said that passengers on shore tours were advised to wear masks when on transport or in other public indoor spaces, physically distance wherever possible and to regularly use hand sanitiser.

The ship is also scheduled to be in Sydney for one day on Wednesday, July 13 before travelling to Brisbane.

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