Holland America Line's Westerdam has arrived in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, after being rejected by five other Asian countries. "Inspection and clearance procedures are proceeding," Holland America said Thursday morning in a Twitter post. "Given the number of organizations involved in supporting today's complex operations, it is taking time."
The ship, with 1,455 passengers and 802 crew on board, had been turned away by the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Guam and most recently Thailand, over coronavirus concerns. There are no confirmed cases onboard.
"The Westerdam has arrived and local officials are aboard," Holland America said in a statement. The line expressed gratitude yesterday to the Cambodian authorities "for their support" and reiterated that "all guests on board are healthy, and despite erroneous reports there are no known or suspected cases of coronavirus on board, nor have their ever been."
The line on Thursday also posted a video message from the U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, W. Patrick Murphy, who said the disembarkation and transfer process "will require patience and cooperation" as Cambodian officials conduct "health and immigration screening" of all passengers.
The ship will remain in port for several days for disembarkation, Holland America said, and guests will transfer via charter flights to Phnom Penh for forward travel home. The cruise line said it will arrange and pay for all flights home, in addition to the full refund and a 100% future cruise credit.
The Westerdam is on a 14-day cruise that departed Hong Kong Feb. 1 and was previously scheduled to disembark Feb. 15 in Yokohama, Japan.
Holland American canceled the Feb. 15 cruise scheduled to embark in Yokohama. The line said no further cancellations have been finalized and it is assessing the impact of current port restrictions in Asia on cruises departing Feb. 29 or later.
Update: This report was updated Feb. 13 to include additional information about disembarkation procedures.