Nick Russoniello only boarded the Diamond Princess cruise ship to play two gigs, but found himself trapped amid a novel coronavirus outbreak after passengers on board tested positive.

Key points: Saxophone player Nick Russoniello is one of more than 200 Australians on the Diamond Princess

Saxophone player Nick Russoniello is one of more than 200 Australians on the Diamond Princess He says the crew on the ship have not been confined to their quarters during the quarantine

He says the crew on the ship have not been confined to their quarters during the quarantine He expects to be evacuated by air with other Australians to Darwin

The Sydney-based saxophone player told the ABC he was still yet to be tested for the virus, despite being under quarantine for 14 days.

"Oh my god, I've been waiting and hassling and waiting," he told The World Today.

Mr Russoniello is one of more than 200 Australians on board the Diamond Princess, but unlike the others he was not classified as a passenger and has instead been staying in the crew area of the ship.

Nick Russoniello has a cabin, but has been staying with the crew. ( Supplied: Nick Russoniello )

"They put us under quarantine but they didn't really lock down the ship, so you've got a thousand crew members running around the ship, who hadn't been tested," he said.

"Still a lot of them haven't been tested."

Virus was bound to spread

Mr Russoniello appreciated the hard work of the crew, but said it was obvious to him when the quarantine began that the virus would spread.

"Everyone has been busting their guts to get it to work, but when you've got that many people who haven't been tested, it's very obvious to me that this was just not going to work."

He said there was now an outbreak of coronavirus among some of the crew and although he felt good at the moment, he was worried about whether he might contract the virus.

"I have to go out to get meals, to the officers' mess, whereas the passengers have had their meals brought to them," he said.

Australians preparing to be evacuated

Mr Russoniello expects to be included in an evacuation flight, which will take Australians to Darwin where they will be quarantined for an additional 14 days.

"I'm looking at doing 28 days but I still haven't been tested for this virus," he said.

"I'm assuming the Australians will test me before we take that flight this afternoon or tomorrow or whenever."

Nick Russoniello expected to perform just two 40-minute sets while on the ship. ( Supplied: Nick Russoniello )

He was excited at the prospect of returning to Australia and being quarantined there and hoped there would be some clarity about when his time under quarantine would end.

"I think in Darwin there will be a definite end date in sight, I think we'll be out on March 4," he said.

Mr Russoniello said he had no way of foreseeing what happened when he boarded the Diamond Princess on January 27 to perform two sets, and that he unfortunately had to cancel gigs and lessons with music students as the situation unfolded.

"It was an easy gig, a little bit of a holiday until all my regular work kicked off," he said.

"But who knew it was going to explode like this?"