Photos show life aboard the coronavirus-quarantined Grand Princess cruise ship

A woman gestures as other people look on from aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises, as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, California on March 8, 2020. less A woman gestures as other people look on from aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises, as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, California on ... more Photo: Josh Edelson, AFP Via Getty Images Photo: Josh Edelson, AFP Via Getty Images Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Photos show life aboard the coronavirus-quarantined Grand Princess cruise ship 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

For the 3,500 people aboard the Grand Princess, the days of idling off the coast of California were marked by boredom, anxiety and sometimes fear.

On Monday, the Grand Princess finally docked in Oakland and began the days-long process of disembarking thousands of people. Some are being bussed to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, while others are flying to destinations around North America for mandatory two-week quarantines. Twenty-one people are confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

During their quarantine, passengers were asked to stay in their rooms. Restaurants closed and collective passenger activities — like hanging out at the pool, seeing movies and going to shows — ended. This was in contrast to the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined for two weeks in Japan and became "a floating germ factory" as many activities went on as before. About 700 people became infected during that time.

To keep passengers occupied, the Grand Princess employed a number of strategies. Entertainment packs were made and distributed to passengers, who hopefully really liked sudoku. They also added in-room entertainment, like TV programs where crew members demonstrated how to make paper airplanes.

when #GrandPrincess starts teaching us how to make paper airplanes via our stateroom TVs #princesscruises pic.twitter.com/dZcYTC0iUZ — Michelle Heckert (@WhatTheHeckert) March 6, 2020

Because the gym was off-limits, other programs helped passengers stay active. Keep in mind that many passengers didn't have balconies, so the feeling of getting stir-crazy increased by the day.

It was also a stressful time for the Grand Princess crew, whose regular jobs expanded to include delivering meals to thousands of people multiple times each day.

"Waiting for dinner on #GrandPrincess," wrote passenger Mark Pace on Twitter. "I feel sorry for the staff on the ship feeding all of us passengers via room service. @PrincessCruises they can't be paid enough."

Staffers, despite busy days, were also trying to keep from contracting the coronavirus, practicing "social distancing" to avoid direct contact with others.

There was an additional challenge for passengers with kids: keeping the little ones entertained. "So far the kids have been troopers. We have lots to do, there are movies and... well there are lots of movies at least," wrote one passenger on Instagram.

Ongoing communication came in the form of announcements from the captain, as well as written bulletins.

The Grand Princess had been held off the coast since Wednesday because of evidence that it was the breeding ground for more than 20 infections tied to a previous voyage.

Twenty-three people who needed acute medical care had been taken off the ship by late Monday afternoon, but it was not clear how many of them had tested positive for the virus, said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the California Office of Emergency Services.

Live TV footage showed at least one passenger, an older man wearing a face mask, climbing onto a stretcher and being lifted into the back of an ambulance. Officials have said the unloading will take up to three days.

Passengers from the previous voyage have tested positive in California and other states. Six Canadians who were on the Grand Princess from Feb. 11 to 21 were also confirmed to have the virus.

The California governor and Oakland mayor sought to reassure people that none of the cruise ship passengers would be exposed to the public before completing the quarantine. Officials were trying to decide where the ship and its crew would go next.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Katie Dowd is an SFGATE Senior Digital Editor. Contact: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd

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