You'd only usually see one at a time, such is their mass and girth.

There was Spirit, come to join its stablemate Splendour, while Radiance and Voyager hob-nobbed down by Bellambi.

Not reindeer, nor are they music festivals, or the names of Kanye West's kids. They're the conga line of cruise ships which appear to have taken up residence off the coast of Wollongong's northern suburbs.

Quite the spectacle they formed, with residents gathering at vantage points to have a good look.

Carnival Spirit, Carnival Splendour, Radiance of the Seas, and Voyager of the Seas, each floating towns in their own right, each enormous enough to dwarf most of Sydney Harbour when they're at the Quay.

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But here they are off the Coal Coast, stranded by the Federal Government's 30-day ban on cruise ships docking in Australia, a daily visual reminder this is the age of coronavirus.

They've been offered a safe harbour in Port Kembla but appear to prefer the (almost) open ocean, at least while seas are calm.

They're equipped with crews, but no passengers, and the sight of them has been enough to tempt more than one Wollongong resident into thinking they may be a better place in which to wait the trouble out - if the fridges are stocked.

The closest, Carnival Cruise Line's 113,489 tonne, 3000-berth Carnival Splendour, was about four nautical miles off the coast, but at 290m long it was easy to imagine you could reach out and touch it.

Nearby sat Royal Carribean's 311m Voyager of the Seas, which with the capacity for 3,840 people in comfort (if that's your thing) was once the largest cruise ship in the world.

Now, if only we could just sneak on board ...