Passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship, which docked in Oakland, arrive for quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland in San Antonio, Texas, US, March 9, 2020, after 21 passengers on the cruise were tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo: Agencies)

Hundreds of travelers who boarded a cruise liner for Hawaii last month in sandals and sunglasses trudged off the coronavirus-stricken ship in face masks at the Port of Oakland, California, on Tuesday, headed to quarantine sites around the country.

The tightly controlled disembarkation began on Monday, hours after the cruise ship Grand Princess arrived at a specially secured terminal across San Francisco Bay from its home port amid cheers from weary passengers who had spent days at sea confined to their staterooms.

By midday Tuesday, nearly 700 passengers wearing surgical masks had left the ship in small groups, escorted by personnel dressed in full protective gear to chartered buses.

Addressing a news conference on Tuesday in Sacramento, the state capital, Governor Gavin Newsom said he hoped to finish getting all 2,400 some passengers off the ship within 72 hours.

Plans originally called for the 1,100 crew members, except those requiring immediate medical care, to remain aboard the Grand Princess when it leaves port for a two-week quarantine period at sea.

But Newsom told reporters that some crew members, many from the Philippines, may end up repatriated to their home countries instead.

Among the first people off the ship were 26 US residents taken by ambulance to hospitals around the region, including two passengers diagnosed with coronavirus during on-board testing last week that also found 19 crew members infected, Newsom said.

Princess Cruises, the ship's owner-operator, said those crew members were deemed asymptomatic and confined to their individual cabins.