Grand Princess has been given permission to dock in Oakland, California, today and guests will be allowed to leave the ship, in phases, once they’ve been tested for coronavirus.
The ship has been held 50 miles off the coast of San Francisco since the middle of last week with more than 3,533 holidaymakers and crew on board.
It was held after a passenger on an earlier cruise died from the virus and some crew and current passengers developed flu-like symptoms.
Initial tests of 45 passengers and crew showed 19 crew and two passengers have been infected with COVID-19.
From today (Monday) guests who require acute medical treatment and hospitalisation will be allowed to disembark and taken to medical facilities in California.
Around 950 passengers who live in California will be taken to a federally-operated facility within California for testing and isolation.
International passengers, who include 142 British holidaymakers, will be taken by the federal government officials to facilities in other states.
Crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship. Plans for the quarantine have yet to be determined.
"We will provide additional information as we receive it," said Princess Cruises.
Meanwhile, sister ship Regal Princess has been allowed to resume sailing after another coronavirus scare.
Princess Cruises said two crew members who became unwell on the ship were tested for COVID-19 but the tests were negative.
It has now docked at Port Everglades and guests were allowed to disembark.
Guests who wished to use the ship as a hotel were allowed to re-embark for the night.
