A Royal Caribbean Cruises ship has been given a clean bill of health by US authorities following four suspected coronavirus cases and the death of a crew member.

Late last week, four Chinese nationals aboard the 168,666-gt Anthem of the Seas (built 2015) were taken to hospital in the US with suspected coronavirus.

“None of the four guests being tested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed any clinical signs and symptoms of coronavirus,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement.

“We were just advised by the New Jersey Health Authority that they received the results from CDC, and the individuals tested negative for novel coronavirus. We appreciate your understanding during this unexpected and fluid situation.”

Royal Caribbean confirmed that the guests had “not been in China since 26 January” and that all other guests were permitted to disembark, and the ship had been cleared to continue with its next sailing.

A crew member who died on the voyage is not thought to have been suffering from the virus.

On Saturday, police sources said the 54-year-old seafarer was a Filipino national, who was found dead in the engine room the previous weekend.

His body was kept in a refrigerated compartment until the ship docked in New Jersey.

An autopsy has been carried out.

"We can confirm that local authorities were immediately notified after a crew member, who did not report for work, was found deceased," Royal Caribbean said in a statement.

"We cooperated fully with law enforcement in their investigation and have been advised the death was non-suspicious."

Coronavirus starting to impact wave season

In a related move, Royal Caribbean said it has now cancelled eight China sailings until 4 March 2020 on its 169,000-gt Spectrum of the Seas (built 2019).

Based out of Shanghai, this is the US-listed cruise line’s only ship currently based in China. the company said guests will receive full refunds for these cancellations.

Separately, one US-based analyst said the coronavirus has begun to impact the cruise industry’s “wave” season, which is the peak cruise selling season of the year.

“We believe that over the last five or six days volumes have fallen from 5% to 15%, as coronavirus headlines continue to dominate the news cycle and more ships are forced to quarantine passengers,” Nomura Americas leisure analyst Harry C Curtis said.

“We have observed during outbreaks of SARS, H1N1 and Ebola that the pace of bookings usually recovers once breathless cable news coverage diminishes, along with the threat of the illness.

“However, pent-up demand does not usually fully offset missed bookings, which should have a negative impact on yield growth and guidance.”

Curtis said the bottom line is that, as long as there are passengers from China who may have caught the virus, “no cruise operator is safe”.

“The least exposed is Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings (NCLH), which derives less than one-half of one percent of its passengers from China.

“In this market gripped by fear, however, NCLH’s relative exposure probably doesn’t matter until the news is out of the headlines.”