Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Here's How Two Teens Are Dealing With Being Trapped On A Quarantined Coronavirus Cruise Ship

"If the kids want boundaries, they head up [to] their bunk bed and put on their headphones," the mom told BuzzFeed News.

Being trapped in a tiny windowless interior room of a cruise ship with your parents for two weeks may not be a dream holiday, but one family quarantined on the Diamond Princess due to a coronavirus outbreak is making the best of it.

"All you need is a pair of headphones and music, and you are all set," Xander Soh, 19, told BuzzFeed News.

Soh, his 16-year-old sister, Kaitlyn, and their parents are among the approximately 3,700 people -including around 1,000 cruise ship staffers -stuck on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in the port of Yokohama in Japan.

So far, 61 people on the ship have tested positive for coronavirus, and they are being treated in hospitals on land.

"We have lost all sense of time, but thankfully we have social media to chat with friends to keep us grounded and sane," said Kaitlyn.

Passengers must remain in the rooms at all times. Staffers are leaving food and drink for them outside their doors.


On Friday afternoon, cruise ship staffers let passengers from interior rooms take turns visiting the deck for fresh air for an hour at a time.

For the Soh teens, it was the first time they'd been out of their approximately 168-square-foot room since Tuesday.

Their mother, Aun Na Tan, 43, told BuzzFeed News that the coronavirus quarantine had initially been a huge shock, particularly after learning they would not be allowed to leave until Feb. 19. Luckily, none of the Soh family members have displayed any virus symptoms. (Staffers provided passengers with thermometers to check their temperature.)

"I had to spend a little time composing emails to the kids’ schools [and] dance and music teachers, and it slowly calmed us down," she said.

The family was supposed to have already returned to their home in Melbourne, Australia -they've had to cancel flights twice -and because of the quarantine, Kaitlyn will miss final callbacks for a dance role with the Victorian State Schools Spectacular, a big musical theater event for public schools.

The family will also miss out on a Queen and Adam Lambert concert "that we were very much looking forward to!" said Tan.

But right now, the family is just trying to make the best of it.

This is the third cruise the family has taken together -although it was the first time they chose an interior room, not one with a balcony - and Tan said she's confident they will cruise again even after this experience.

"We mesh along quite well and make jokes. And if the kids want boundaries, they head up [to] their bunk bed and put on their headphones," said Tan.

Every day, the cruise's kids club team members have dropped by to check on Kaitlyn and leave her care packages of games, activities, coloring books, and even a soft toy.

The teens love to dance, but the lack of space limits them to just some basic stretches.

Instead, they entertain themselves by reading, watching videos, and playing on their phones. Kaitlyn said she's "relieving my boredom by surfing BuzzFeed and K-pop news." (We appreciate you, Kaitlyn!)

Their dad, Jeff Soh, is working remotely for his job at a financial institution from the room's small desk.

Tan worries what the end of the quarantine will mean for her family and if their return to Australia may result in further waiting.

"Will we be subjected to more quarantine?" she asked. "That is our biggest worry at the moment. We don’t know what our standing is and what we need to get through before we are finally home and back to everyday life.

"But we bounced back to look at this time as an adventure," she told BuzzFeed News. "We are safe, we are together, we are in comfort, and we are being looked after by the crew. We are a positive bunch, and we’ll be alright."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×