For passengers on board the Costa Crociere ship, an idyllic vacation was turned into a nightmare when a passenger suffered coronavirus-like symptoms on board.
According to Al Jazeera, the ship had earlier been placed in total lockdown.
The publication reported that samples were taken from a Chinese couple after the 54-year-old women suffered a fever.
The cruise liner asked three doctors and a nurse to board at the port of Civitavecchia near Rome to check if the woman was infected by the coronavirus.
Both the woman and her partner were placed in isolation.
Once the test was done, and it was confirmed that she did not have the virus, over 6 000 passengers were able to disembark.
According to AFP, Costa Cruises offered to pay for food and hotels for around 1 140 people who had been due to go ashore at the Civitavecchia port near Rome.
Costa Crociere revealed in a statement that it was the cruise ship's priority "to guarantee the health and safety of guests and crew.” It said it needed to comply with regulations from health authorities.
British Airways this week suspended bookings on its website for direct flights from London to Beijing and Shanghai until March, after warnings over travel to China due to the coronavirus outbreak.
BA.com, the airline's website, shows no direct flights to China are available in January and February. A spokeswoman for the airline said on Wednesday it was "assessing the situation".
Britain on Tuesday advised against "all but essential" travel to mainland China due to the coronavirus outbreak.