An 18-month wait for a cruise trip in Asian seas soon turned into a nightmare for a Maltese couple caught in the middle of a coronavirus scare.

Anamaria Magri Pantea and Vincent Magri boarded the MV Westerdam from Hong Kong, but managed to tick off just one place on their two-week itinerary: Taiwan.

From then on, the cruise ship was refused entry to several ports in Asia because of a suspected coronavirus case aboard. 

"What was supposed to be a dream ended up being a nightmare," Mr Magri told Times of Malta.

As the ship sailed across Asia in search of a port, the Magris and other passengers were checked for symptoms and had their temperature taken regularly by staff.

"They took good care of us, but we were obviously anxious," he said.

Staff tried to keep spirits up with onboard entertainment, but Mr Magri said their focus was elsewhere. 

"We spent most of our time aboard keeping up with the latest news about the virus outbreak," he conceded. 

The Westerdam was barred from Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand until it was eventually allowed to dock in Cambodia on Thursday.

The Maltese couple are now back in Malta. But repercussions of their unusual trip have followed them here. 

Public health authorities have tested them for the new coronavirus and found no cause for concern, but the couple are now being held in quarantine as a precautionary measure.

The nightmare trip has not put the couple off cruise ship holidays, though. 

"We will probably go on another cruise in the future," he said. 

“Anything can happen anywhere really, no matter how much you plan. Before leaving for this trip we checked with the cruise liner and the insurance companies, and they all gave us the go-ahead.”