A cruise ship carrying at least 10 Australians has docked in northern Italy, but some passengers say they will refuse to disembark in the coronavirus-stricken region.

Key points: The cruise was supposed to be from Brazil to Barcelona

The cruise was supposed to be from Brazil to Barcelona However, Spain closed its borders due to the coronavirus pandemic

However, Spain closed its borders due to the coronavirus pandemic That means passengers will be forced to disembark in Italy, the epicentre of Europe's COVID-19 crisis

Virginia Maclean is with her husband, Bill, on the Costa Pacifica, where passengers have been told they'll leave the ship at its home port of Genoa.

"We're being thrown into that with no plans to get us out of there, nothing," she said.

"I feel like we're being taken into the eye of the storm.

"They're not even telling us how they're going to get us off the boat in Genoa."

The Costa Pacifica, which can carry 3,700 guests and more than 1,000 crew members, was meant to wrap up its voyage in Barcelona after touring South America.

Plans have changed on board the Costa Pacifica, which is now docking in Genoa. ( Supplied )

As the ship made its way across the Atlantic, Spain's Government announced it would close the country's borders to foreigners.

Spain is the country with the world's fastest-rising coronavirus death toll after Italy, where COVID-19 has killed more than 4,000 people.

A plan to unload passengers in Marseille in France also fell through, when authorities allowed only French citizens to get off the ship.

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The ship has now reached Genoa, where all remaining 2,359 guests will disembark.

"The Argentinians, the Australians, the Kiwis, the English, the Scottish, the Uruguayans on the boat, they don't know what they're going to do with us," Ms Maclean said.

"They're going to attempt, they said, to try and get someone to repatriate us, but they really don't know."

Ms Maclean said there had been growing tensions between the passengers who were allowed off the ship in France, and those who have to disembark in Italy.

"There's arguments, people were going toe-to-toe and it was really quite scary," she said.

"We actually took ourselves out of the public areas because we were so frightened.

"There's people threatening that they're going to stop the French from getting off the boat."

Pat and John Trotman are also travelling on the cruise. ( Supplied )

New Zealander Bryanna O'Regan is worried for her parents who are travelling on the ship, 75-year-old Pat and 80-year-old John Trotman.

They started their overseas adventure on the ship in early March, just before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.

"They're very, very stressed … It's just the lack of flights now that's concerning, and also having to go through those transit countries."

Ms Maclean said it was frustrating given there had not been a coronavirus scare on the cruise.

"People are saying that they're not getting off the boat when we get to Genoa because there's no virus on the boat at the moment, and the minute we step off or someone steps on then our health is compromised," she said.

"We're really concerned that if they do try and get us off the boat that we're going to get mixed up with people that have the coronavirus."

The ship's operator, Costa Cruises, said all guests would be taken to flights and transfers through a "sanitary cordon of isolation".

It said there were no health issues on board and monitoring and screening onboard were ongoing.

Ms Maclean said some nationalities including Italians, Argentinians and Germans had been allowed to leave the ship.

She said they were now waiting for information on flights.