The coronavirus cruise: on board the Diamond Princess

By Joshua Hunt

On January 20th, some 2,500 passengers arrived at the port of Yokohama, where American sailors had disembarked 167 years earlier, ending more than two centuries of Japanese isolation. They looked forward to a cruise that would ferry them from one Asian port to the next, unencumbered by the demands of self-propelled tourism. Indulgence, at whatever price point they could afford, was their only concern as they left behind their jobs, retirement routines and cares for two untroubled weeks at sea.

The brochures called the Diamond Princess “a precious gemstone on the seas of the world”, where, “day or night, it’s always an adventure.” The scene for that adventure was a 116,000-tonne cruise liner the length of three football pitches, which carries over 1,000 crew members in addition to its complement of passengers. From a distance it gleams white, with a belt of bright orange lifeboats wrapped around its midriff. Up close the main deck, which is dappled with swimming pools and hot tubs, has been painted shades of chemical blue and toothpaste green that manage to look simultaneously washed out and radiant. On one side of the ship passengers can shoot nine holes on the putting course; on the other they can run laps of an outdoor track or complete their round of golf in a simulator.