A COVID-19 outbreak has broken out on a cruise ship headed for Melbourne.

The Rumour File received a tip that the Grand Princess had been blocked from Newcastle Port due to a COVID-19 outbreak, and April, who knows several people on board, called Neil Mitchell says she has also been told the ship wasn’t allowed to stop at the port.

“I’ve got five friends onboard and two of them have COVID,” she told Neil Mitchell.

“One of them was obviously room-bound … it got to seven days and nobody had come to check on him to check he was OK or if he needed anything.”

April says the COVID-positive man had to have a friend contact ship management and request he be released from his room.

Press PLAY below to hear what April has heard

Limo driver, Scotty, told Neil Mitchell his company is set to pick up 13 people from the ship when it docks in Melbourne on Thursday.

But he won’t be collecting them.

“We cannot risk our drivers and families.”

In a statement, a Princess Cruises spokesperson has confirmed the Grand Princess will arrive in Melbourne on Thursday as scheduled.

The spokesperson said Princess Cruises has “been impacted by the current fourth wave being experienced” but declined to comment on how many passengers on board the Grand Princess have COVID-19.

3AW Mornings has contacted the NSW Health Department and Victorian Health Department about the outbreak and is awaiting a response.

Image: Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images