Australians stuck on a cruise ship off the coast of Uruguay say they have "no regrets" about persisting with their Antarctic trip of a lifetime, despite coronavirus ravaging the vessel.

Key points: Nearly 100 Australians have been stuck on the Greg Mortimer off Uruguay for nearly two weeks

Nearly 100 Australians have been stuck on the Greg Mortimer off Uruguay for nearly two weeks A charter flight costing $15,000 per passenger will leave on Thursday or Friday

A charter flight costing $15,000 per passenger will leave on Thursday or Friday 128 passengers have tested positive to COVID-19

Dr Charley Nadin and Dr John Clifford boarded the Greg Mortimer in mid-March and are now each facing a $15,000 bill to get home on a charter flight.

This ship has about 217 people on board — about half of whom are Australian — and 128 have coronavirus.

"I have no regrets at all and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to come; clearly, it's not ideal but it's a learning curve for all of us," Dr Nadin said.

Dr Charley Nadin and Dr John Clifford smile for a snap on the ship. ( Supplied: John Clifford )

Local authorities have repeatedly barred passengers from disembarking.

The ship, which has been moored near Montevideo since March 21, was supposed to re-trace explorer Ernest Shackleton's famous Antarctic expeditions, but was cut short.

While there were no official travel restrictions in place when the pair left in mid-March, COVID-19 was starting to take hold in Italy and terrified Australians were trapped on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan.

"For several days on board we thought we were in a nice, safe bubble away from the problems of the world and were disillusioned when, six days later, fellow passengers' temperatures started to rise," Dr Clifford said.

"Medical expertise does not have this in its armamentarium and I could not have envisaged this at the time I left Australia."

The Australians stranded on the ship will be flown home on a specially fitted-out charter flight in the coming days.

The cost per passenger is about $15,000, and the cruise ship operator wants the Federal Government to help with expenses.

Dr Nadin said he never intended to burden the public purse and had purchased travel insurance which had been voided.

"We would like the government to lean on the insurance companies — they're very good at taking on risk then running for the covers at any opportunity of having to pay out," he said.

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About 100 Australians stuck on the ship have told the ABC they are scared and want to come home.

Christine Lefeaux Waites said morale was low and passengers were unable to talk to each other.

Earlier this week, a 75-year-old Australian woman was taken to Montevideo for tests and was reported to be in a critical but stable condition.

Last week, a 69-year-old Australian man was taken off and tested positive for COVID-19.

Uruguay's Foreign Ministry said it had struck a deal with Australia for a charter flight to take 96 Australians and 16 New Zealanders to Melbourne.

The passengers will be taken 32 kilometres by boat to Montevideo and flown home on Thursday or Friday.

The modified Airbus 340 has been refitted so people who have the virus can be kept in separate cabin areas, according to the Associated Press news agency.

They will be quarantined for 14 days once they arrive in Melbourne.

The cruise left the resort town of Ushuaia on the southern tip of Argentina on March 15, two days before the Department of Foreign Affairs urged all Australians to return home as soon as possible via commercial flights.

Other passengers on the ship are people from the United States, the United Kingdom, Jamaica and several European countries.

Many had put years of planning into the trip and paid substantial amounts of money.

The ship's owners, Aurora Expeditions, said of 217 tests carried out on the ship's passengers and crew, 128 were positive and 89 were negative.

It said there were currently no fevers on board and none of the passengers still on the ship were showing symptoms.

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