London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 18, 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

0:00
0:00
Close
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
The World Economic Forum has cleared Klaus Schwab of “material wrongdoing” after a law firm conducted a review into potential misconduct of the institution’s founder
The Mystery Captivating the Internet: Where Has the Social Media Star Gone?
Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agents in Washington Charged with Assault – Identified as Justice Department Employee
A Computer That Listens, Sees, and Acts: What to Expect from Windows 12
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
UK has added India to a list of countries whose nationals, convicted of crimes, will face immediate deportation without the option to appeal from within the UK
Southwest Airlines Apologizes After 'Accidentally Forgetting' Two Blind Passengers at New Orleans Airport and Faces Criticism Over Poor Service for Passengers with Disabilities
Russian Forces Advance on Donetsk Front, Cutting Key Supply Routes Near Pokrovsk
It’s Not the Algorithm: New Study Claims Social Networks Are Fundamentally Broken
Sixty-Year-Old Claims: “My Biological Age Is Twenty-One.” Want the Same? Remember the Name Spermidine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
U.S. Investigation Reports No Russian Interference in Romanian Election First Round
Oasis Reunion Tour Linked to Temporary Rise in UK Inflation
Musk Alleges Apple Favors OpenAI in App Store Rankings
Denmark Revives EU ‘Chat Control’ Proposal for Encrypted Message Scanning
US Teen Pilot Reaches Deal to Leave Chile After Unauthorized Antarctic Landing
Trump considers lawsuit against Powell over Fed renovation costs
Trump Criticizes Goldman Sachs Over Tariff Cost Forecasts
Perplexity makes unsolicited $34.5 billion all-cash offer for Google’s Chrome browser
Kodak warns of liquidity crisis as debt obligations loom
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Taylor Swift announces 12th studio album on Travis Kelce’s podcast after high-profile year together
South Korean court orders arrest of former First Lady Kim Keon Hee on bribery and corruption allegations
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
JD Vance to meet Tory MP Robert Jenrick and Reform’s Nigel Farage on UK visit
Trump and Putin Meeting: Focus on Listening and Communication
×