March 6th through April 7th 4th, 2020.
This was supposed to be an epic adventure. In the end it was epic but not any type of adventure I want to repeat anytime soon. We had spent hours on end picking out our excursions and doing background investigations on our different ports of call. In all, we were scheduled to stop at 13 ports and visit the countries of Argentina, Uruguay, Falkland Islands, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Aruba and the Bahamas. It was a 31 day cruise and included a 3 day trip to Machu Picchu and our first time transit through the Panama Canal. While the first part of the trip would be chilly we would end the month long cruise on the beach. At least that was the plan.
We were excited to visit a bunch of different countries we’ve never been to, see the Southern Cross and Orion up side down, penguins (the Robin Williams Rockhopper type), cross the equator again, mark a bunch of places off our bucket lists and add a dozen more push pins to our world map that immortalizes our travels.
When we left home no one had yet uttered the word pandemic. No one had heard of countries shutting down their borders and their air space. Corona was a beer and we were all thinking that Covid 19 was just another type of flu. When we left home there had been no cases reported in South America, all cruise guests would be going through a health screening prior to boarding the ship, and no one who had traveled through China would be allowed on board… in case this wasn’t “just the flu”.
In the world that we left on March 7th, gas at home was $2.28 a gallon, our IRA accounts were fat and healthy and we were spending the “earnings” on adventures while the accounts continued to post double digit gains year after year.
When we were writing our novels, our mentors told us “to make a good suspense novel you take the protagonist and turn their world upside down.” What is the worst thing that could happen to them? Now turn it up a notch … and again …. and again. Don’t you dare let that protagonist catch his breath. And just like that, in the blink of an eye, the world that we left ceased to exist.
Not ever … ever…. writing about our lives would I have predicted that more than 6 countries would deny us entry, gas prices would be $1.29 a gallon, our IRA accounts would lose 30% in a week, that we would be held captive on a cruise ship or our own country would blackmail the cruise line in order to let us dock. And then to eventually, by the grace of God, actually get home only to find that you now have to wear a mask and gloves to go to the grocery store, malls and non essential businesses are closed, if you want to eat out you have to pick up your food at the curb or drive through, people are working from home or more likely not working at all, taxes aren’t due until July 15, and churches … churches are shuttered and the worst feeling in the world? …. I can’t even give my mom a hug!
Our new normal … I don’t think I like it too much but it could always be worse – we could still be in a 210 square foot room on a cruise ship!
Thanks … THANK YOU … We are forever grateful … to all the people that followed us on Facebook … that prayed for us daily, that had their friends and family praying for us …. I’m humbled, overwhelmed and forever grateful. I’m thankful to be home with my family and friends close by. I’m thankful that I can participate in our church’s Easter service even though it’s online. I’m thankful, God I’m thankful to be alive and home and safe and healthy!
What follows should be a vacation blog with fun details and stories about the exotic locations we visited on our epic adventure accompanied by hundreds of pictures of foreign lands. Instead it turned into a diary of our own suspense novel (without the suspense) …. what can possibly happen next that’s worse than what’s already happened? Some of you followed my daily Facebook postings, but even if you did, there is more detail here. You can follow along on what started as a normal vacation and then turned into moments of despair followed by moments of hopefulness. In the end, it’s a happy ending … we made it home!
Friday March 6th
We flew from Oklahoma City to Buenos Aires Argentina with one stop in Houston. Unbelievably, we were served dinner on the leg from Houston to BA at nearly midnight. We were also served breakfast the following morning following a very sleepless evening on a plane where you had no leg room.
Saturday March 7th Buenos Aires, Argentina
We actually arrived in Buenos Aires half an hour early. We stood in the customs line for close to an hour (as you can tell from the photo, social distancing doesn’t exist yet), collected our luggage and met the Holland representative. Then we took a shuttle bus to the pier. Travel time was about an hour. We saw some interesting architecture close to the port otherwise it appeared to be a lot of 15 to 20 story apartment buildings and most looked old and rundown. It was kind of a cluster at the pier because there were two ships boarding (different cruise lines) and they were only speaking Spanish over the intercom (I can count to 19 in Spanish but our number was 24!). After we checked in with Holland we had to take another bus to get to the ship because it was parked at an industrial pier.
We overnighted on the ship, the Holland America Zaadam, at Buenos Aires. Our waiter in the main dining room told us they were expecting an additional 200 people to board the following day. Our dinner companions are George and Donna from southern California. We are supposed to have one more couple at our table but they didn’t show this evening.
Our room is on the second deck with the Promenade (outside walking deck) right above us so the early walkers might wake us but it wasn’t too bad this morning, just a few heavy footed walkers. Our room is the smallest that we’ve had on Holland (about 210 sq ft) but we do have a small bathtub and not just a tiny shower stall which is much appreciated. We are on the starboard side with a porthole window.
Holland always staffs their cruises with retired priests who conduct daily masses. The priest didn’t show up for church tonight – we were told because he wasn’t on board yet. We are just chilling, no excursions today – trying to recuperate from the long overnight plane ride.
Sunday, March 8. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
We slept from about 8:30 last night until 7:30 this morning … just trying to make up for the lack of sleep on the plane. I walked for an hour and then took a shower and we went to breakfast. It was like Groundhog Day. The exact same menu from the last Holland cruise! Spent about 2 hours by the pool but called it early because I don’t have a base tan yet and didn’t want to burn. Had a $3,354.45 charge hit my credit card from Holland today. Went to guest services and they said they put a $60 per day hold on CC. Hmmm, math doesn’t work out quite right, but we’ll see.
We tried to go to church again tonight but there still isn’t a priest on board. We had an hour before the safety drill so if you can’t go to church, happy hour is a good second option! The bartender (Marcel) is married to a woman on board but they don’t have shared quarters and only get to see each other at the beginning and end of each day. They are from the Philippines. He told us when this ship gets to Florida at the end of this cruise it is going into dry dock for an update.
We did the safety drill and had the dinner table to ourselves. George and Donna had an Argentinan steak for lunch on their excursion today and weren’t hungry. Still haven’t met the other couple yet.
Jeff had his favorite Holland dinner combination – baked potato soup and lasagna. I had short rib empanadas and Peruvian chicken with rice, lime and corn. Jeff passed on dessert but I don’t pass up anything with cherries. Tonight was sweet cherries with meringue, whipped cream and almonds… yummy!
The show tonight was “Pampas devil’s gauchos”, 2 men and a woman who performed the tango and then a dance routine which incorporated bolas which is an old time weapon used by the cowboys, basically weighted balls at the end of interconnected cords which were used to capture animals by entangling their legs. Instead of a weapon, they used it as a percussion instrument. This was a very interesting show to start off the trip.
After the show we wandered around, checked outside to see if it was still overcast, I let Jeff beat me at 3 games of checkers and we called it a night.
Monday, March 9, Montevideo, Uruguay
We started the day with a one hour walk on deck while we were coming into port. The weather was lovely, probably in the low 70s.
As in any port when we’re cruising, we are always on the lookout for Dr Pepper to feed Jeff’s habit – if you’ve read my adventures, then you know it’s an undying theme.
We did not book an excursion here because the port location was very close to the Old Town and I figured we could hit the highlights on our own.
We didn’t even make it across the street from the pier and the skies opened up. We sought out a large palm tree and were able to stay fairly dry. As soon as it let up a little we went back to the ship and collected our ponchos. Well, you can guess what happened next…. Nothing holds off rain better than having to carry around your rain gear all day.
We visited a couple of shops that featured local artists. I am always amazed at people’s creativity. We did not find DP, but did find good old fashioned Coca Cola to head off a caffeine withdrawal headache.
We walked through the old town and looked at all the old store fronts, cool old doors, outdoor markets, beautiful architecture, public squares and cobblestone streets.
We spent most of our time inside the cathedral of Montevideo. The original part of the church dates back to 1778. The speakers were playing a type of Benedictine chanting and all the candles were lit, albeit electronic.
A local artist was displaying his artwork in the street and caught my eye. Beautiful, colorful work that looks like batik but it was leather and paint on paper. His name was Juan Uraguay … go figure. I parted with some cash and now own a little piece of Montevideo artwork.
We walked to the Citadel which was an old archway that connects the old part of the city to the new section. This is apparently where Jeff’s sunglasses came to die because this was the last place they were seen. The skies opened up and when we donned our rain ponchos Jeff must have knocked his sunglasses off.
The rain scattered all the tourists to doorways and overhangs. Not us! We might have looked goofy, but we were dry and walked right down the middle of the street proving to most everyone else how unprepared they were! I love being prepared!! (Just don’t ask me to tell you the list of things I forgot to bring 😁 on this cruise sailing).
Our last stop before heading back to the ship was like an indoor food court where all the places appeared to be serving Bar B Q … all with open flames. We saw sausage, steaks, ribs and potatoes being cooked. It smelled awesome.
Once we got back on the ship we headed out to the pool for a few hours. By the time I decided my face had enough sun, the wind had picked up and it was starting to get overcast again.
Went back to the room and collected my camera and headed back out on deck to take a few pictures while Jeff showered.
We had reservations tonight in the Pinnacle Grill (Holland’s premier steakhouse) complements of our travel agent. I had crab cakes and Jeff had a salad to start. We both had filet mignon and baked potato for the entree. The food was so good … but I can’t believe how full I still am … 4 hours later … as I write this. Of course, I never pass up any dessert that has cherries in it. I had Baked Un-alaska which was like Baked Alaska but it was made with Ben & Jerry’s Jerry Garcia cherry ice cream with Cherries jubilee on the side. It was AWESOME … but I don’t think I can eat another bite for at least a full day.
We ended the evening with the main stage show – he was a combination magician, illusionist, comedian. Pretty good end to a great, laid back, wet day.
The captain said we were heading for cooler weather tomorrow with the high expected to be about 57. Not setting an alarm and going to try and sleep off this food baby 🙄.
Tuesday, March 11, at sea.
Uneventful sea day. We slept in … until 1030 (!) and totally missed breakfast, which is probably a good thing given all the food we ate last night!
We went to the cruise director’s presentation on Stanley, Falkland Island. The only thing I learned that I didn’t already know from my research was that a lot of the land was mined by Argentina during the 74 day war. People from Zimbabwe were hired after the war to clear some of the land and to prove confidence in their work they challenged the locals to a soccer game and no land mines went off! But there are still beaches that haven’t been cleared and are considered unsafe. They have determined that the penguins don’t weigh enough to trip the mines so just because you see penguins on the beach doesn’t mean it’s safe.
We took a short break and had a small bite to eat for lunch – fish and chips.
We followed lunch with a presentation by the future cruise consultant. They were offering a bunch of extras for 2021 European cruises – $800 toward air fare, on board credit, free gratuities and beverage cards but one of the 30 day cruises that we were interested in was over $10,000 per person …. So hard pass on that DEAL.
I checked out the weather on deck/outside and found a LOT of people walking. Instead, I returned to the room and we got ready for our first Gala night. We were ready early so we went to the Crow’s Nest for happy hour and then to the main dining room for dinner. Donna and George said they don’t dress up so we had the table to ourselves.
Prior to the show this evening the Captain introduced the heads of the departments – guest services, navigation and engineering. Then he introduced the “employee of the month” – one of the regular crew – I thought that was very special.
Observation: I have the longest hair on board and Jeff has the second longest 😆 A woman on board actually stopped us and commented on our long hair and then told me that Jeff’s was prettier than mine!
The entertainment tonight was a dance show by Holland dancers that included music from the 60s like Moon River, and some swing songs from the 40s. It was definitely geared toward a much older crowd.
After the show, we changed our clothes and then headed to the top deck. We actually had clear skies tonight and ,”when you see the southern Cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way” … okay admit that you sang that! Plus, we saw Orion and he was upside down! Now, I’ll have to try the water in the sink as and see which way it drains.
Wednesday, March 12 at sea
Kept waking up last night, probably due to the chocolate soufflé I had for dessert last night 🙄. Finally decided to get up about 6:45 and headed out to walk for an hour. The temp was 59, and now at noon it’s 57. We’re lucky we had clear skies last night, today is just the opposite. It is cloudy, overcast and looks like rain threatening.
I walked again in the afternoon and Jeff tagged along this time.
Dinner was uneventful tonight (we both had really tough beef dishes) and we skipped the show which was 2 cellists and called it an early night.
Thursday, March 13 Stanley, Falkland Islands
Arrived on time in Stanley, Falkland Islands even though there was heavy fog last night and we heard the fog horn most of the early morning.
We had an early call for our shore excursion today. We had to be dressed, fed, and all decked out in our cold weather gear and in the theater by 7:45. I was surprised that they called our tour on time. We tendered in, which with the loading and unloading, took about 35 minutes. From the dock we boarded a small bus/large passenger van and drove through and out of Stanley to a farm about 10 minutes east. It was a 10,000 acre sheep farm (although we only saw a total of a dozen sheep while we were on the property). There we left the bus and got into 4 wheel drive vehicles and traveled about 4mph for 40 minutes to get to the nesting location of the Rockhopper penguins.
There are 17 different types of penguins in the world and 5 of them are found on the Falkland Islands – Gentoo (they have orange beaks), Magellanic, King, Macaroni, and Rockhopper. There are 1,000,000 penguins on the islands.
The islands were discovered in 1598 and have no indigenous animals and no natural trees on the islands which are divided into east and west.
The penguins were perched on a high, rocky outcropping, had already fledged their chicks, and were in the process of molting. We were allowed to get closer than I expected and I was surprised that the penquins didn’t care that we were there at all. They weren’t even startled by the vehicles when they pulled up close by.
They had a rope laid out on the ground delineating where we had to stop so we were unable to get close to the cliff edge and see how far down it was but I would estimate we were between 4 and 5 stories up from the water and I never figured out how the penguins made it down to the water.
The group of penguins probably numbered between 150 and 200. They were huddled mostly in pairs on a cliff top and not very active. The wind was blowing hard and it was cold. As I said before, the chicks had already gone to sea. Our guide said the penguins return every year on either October 6 or 7 and within hours of when they had been here the same date previous year. Isn’t that amazing?
We saw one dead penguin. Our guide said their biggest predator on land is the turkey vulture.
We did see a group of turkey vultures around a dead sheep on the he way back to the farm.
Ok, if you don’t want to hear a rant, then skip this paragraph. Each of these excursions tell you what type of physical condition you need to be in and what you need to be capable of. This excursion said you would be in a 4 wheel drive vehicle for an extended period of time, it was not for people in wheelchairs, those that have mobility issues or back problems and you would have to be able to deal with terrain that wasn’t level. That said, there was an elderly woman who said she had a dislocated shoulder, was using a cane and when she couldn’t get into the vehicle pleaded not to be left behind but resisted all efforts of people to assist her. Beyond that, she had the most acidic tongue I’ve heard in a long time, was entitled and short with everyone that was trying to assist her. I know my limitations but we are continuously in contact with people who don’t walk on a regular basis but think they can walk for over a mile on uneven terrain. I get you don’t want to miss out, but be realistic about what you’re capable of doing … and don’t be a bitch on top of it.
The Falklands have no snakes, wasps, bees, foxes … no natural land mammals, but they do raise sheep and cattle. They used to burn peat for heat but have switched over to wind power and are in the process of adding solar power. Their main source of income is from international fishing licenses. They have a small local hospital and a contract with Montevideo, Uraguay for emergency cases but serious health issues are flown to the UK on a military plane and their medical bills and hotel stay is paid for by the government. College is also paid for by the government.
They didn’t see any action from the Falkland war in 1982 in Stanley but did see planes and helicopters flying over. They were under Marshall law for 2-½ months until the British navy arrived. The Argentinians heavily mined the islands and they are still in the process of clearing the land nearly 40 years later.
Stanley, as far as sightseeing goes, is all on the main road through town. There is a church with whale bone sculpture out front, a museum and a couple of shops. I asked our excursion driver if he could just drop us at the church so we wouldn’t have to walk from and back to the pier. He agreed and I didn’t look behind me but I’m fairly certain most everyone followed us off the bus.
We stopped at the church and took a few pictures. They had a cafe set up inside the church and a sign out front welcoming the cruise ship passengers. There was one other cruise ship in port besides ours.
We stopped at one gift shop and I couldn’t believe the way one lady from the other cruise ship was coughing. We got a few items and got away from her and headed back to the pier. We got the last two seats on the tender.
The main show this evening was the Zaadam singers and dancers. The dancing was good but I didn’t recognize any of the songs that they did. Here it is, 9pm and I’m tucked in and watching the latest news on the coronavirus. It appears to be more than just another strain of flu.
Friday, March 14 Sea day
We are at sea and locked into Fox news and all the unfolding information on Covid19. While Trump shut down incoming flights from China the day before we left home, and then added Iran, it appears that Covid 19 has now started appearing in South America. The captain today said we are a “healthy ship.” I certainly hope that holds true for our entire cruise. This ship hasn’t taken on any new crew members and prior to our cruise had been traveling back and forth between Santiago Chile and Buenos Aires Argentina. Our cruise is actually a “back to back” cruise meaning some of the guests will be getting off at Santiago and the second, or back to back cruise, will continue on to Ft. Lauderdale.
We have Gala night this evening but have to be at our departure point for our excursion tomorrow at 5:45 am. so it will be early to bed for us tonight. We did go to the variety show which was the magician and the two cellists. It was quite a good show. After the show we went by the jewelry shop for the “guess the carat” weight contest … and I won 😁. I got a pair of earrings, a pendant and a loose sapphire. Yeah me!
We are scheduled to enter the Straits of Magellan and pick up a pilot at 9:30 this evening and reach Punta Arenas at 6 am. The hotel director came by our dinner table this evening and told us our breakfast would be delivered by room service at 5 am tomorrow so we could make our early excursion.
Saturday, March 15, Punta Arenas Chile
Chile is the longest country in the world. Punta Arenas is reached via the Straits of Magellan. It is the least populated area of Chile and the windiest place in the world in the winter time. Sheep outnumber people 7 to 1.
We got up this morning at 4:30, breakfast was delivered at 5:15, and we met up with our group at 5:50 at the main stage. We were the first ones off the boat this morning at 6. We had to have our backpack scanned by the port authority before we got on our bus to the airport. At the airport we picked up our boarding passes and made our way to the gate stopping just long enough to search for Dr Pepper (nope), get Jeff an alternative caffeine drink for the day and make a pit stop.
There are 17 in our group and there are 3 extra seats on the plane. It is a small prop plane and LOUD. Needless to say, I’m fairly confident there is no beverage service or snacks offered on our hour long flight. We took off like a slingshot and before flying into the clouds we saw the beginnings of a fiery sunrise.
You can see right into the cockpit from where we’re sitting …. Oh, who am I kidding? Everyone on the plane can see into the cockpit! I told Jeff that I was surprised we even had a copilot and he pointed out that the copilot’s job was to hold the flashlight on the instrument panel 🙄
Facts about Chile:
1 sq km per person
2 million sheep
½ million cows
Winter 6 hours light, summer 18 hours light
Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you. We are flying an hour to Puerto Natalie and then getting on a bus and driving for 8 more hours to and through Torres del Paine National Park. It is famous for its Torres or spires. It is NOT part of the Andes Mountain range, it is actually about 25 million years younger. The park is made up of 90,000 acres. I started not to book this excursion for a couple of reasons – it was expensive, the total tour was 12 hours, it involved a plane ride and finally, the reviews indicated that the weather didn’t always allow a clear view of the Torres. But since I didn’t plan on coming back here again, we rolled the dice and booked it.
The weather was windy (which it always is here) and just a tad bit chilly. While it was cloudy, the clouds around the spires eventually cleared for us and the views were impressive. The tallest spire is 9000 ft.
We saw lots of wildlife (I’d venture we saw more here in one day then we saw in a week in Alaska). We saw more than a hundred Guanaco (originally thought to be a cross between a llama and a camel). Apparently the grass is greener on the side of the road here and the majority of the Guanaco were right next to the road. A few times when the bus would pull off the side of the road the Guanaco would jump back over the fence, but most of them would just keep a watchful eye on us and didn’t exert the energy to jump the fence. We also saw Andean Condors, Turkey Vultures, Rhea, Hawks, flamingos and black necked swans.
The Torres del Paine was lovely, even more breathtaking in person and thankfully the clouds cleared off and gave us wonderful views. The spires changed as we drove through the park. At one point we stopped at a waterfall where the ice melt from the mountains was rushing into a glacier lake. Here the wind had really picked up. Further down the road a water spout spun up on a lake and hit the bus.
We stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant in the national park on a glacier runoff lake. The view was spectacular. We were welcomed with a local drink of grapes, lemon and confectioners’ sugar and lunch was served with wine. The salad was cucumber and artichoke with biscuits and salsa. The main course was mutton and garlic potatoes and dessert was an eggy custard type cake.
Since Jeff limits himself to beer, I got his lunch drinks 😊.
During our travels today the roads close to the airport and for about the first hour were paved and nice. After that, they were gravel but were only washboarded the last hour or so in the park.
After our tour of the park we returned to the airport, got back on our charter plane and flew back to Punta Arenas. Then we boarded another bus to get back to the ship.
Once back on the ship we had a letter on our door from the captain. Holland (and all Carnival umbrella cruise lines) would be suspending their cruises immediately and for 30 days due to the now deemed “pandemic.” Out of sheer kindness 😒, they are allowing us to stay on board until we get to Santiago Chile on the 21st. We will be required to leave the ship one week from today…. EVEN THOUGH THE SHIP IS GOING ON AHEAD AND RETURNING TO FLORIDA FOR DRY DOCK. Hmmm, I wonder how hard it’s going to be to get a plane home when you dump 1400 people off at the airport at the same time. We will not be making any of our scheduled stops prior to Santiago.
I’m getting up early tomorrow because we will be sailing through Glacier Alley and I want to get a good seat in the warmth of the Crow’s Nest.
Sunday, March 15
I knew something was going on when I heard the anchors being put out before my alarm went off this morning. I had my alarm set for 7:30 because we were supposed to be sailing past glaciers this morning and I wanted to get a good seat. Alas, that didn’t happen.
Right before my alarm went off at 7:30, the captain came on and said that late last night they received information that Chile would be closing their borders to cruise ships at 8 am. They made the decision to return to Punta Arenas Chile, but then the government decided to close the border at midnight instead. Currently we’re at anchor with a military ship stationed between us and the pier.
Because we’re close to shore, the shops and the casino are closed. People have been told to cash in their casino cards before 1 pm today. There is no entertainment on the schedule for tonight and the staff members who have been stationed by the Purell dispensers at the buffet are no longer reminding us that we must sanitize our hands but the dispensers are still there. Just an observation.
We got extra boxes of cereal at breakfast this morning and I put mine in the safe! I believe at some point they might start rationing food if we aren’t allowed to dock. We brought nuts, crackers and jerky, so I’m sure we’ll be okay food wise.
We were told later in the day that they were negotiating with the Chilean government and our cruise would be ending here at Punta Arenas instead of Santiago that was previously communicated. We were given free internet access and told we would be disembarked here and to make our flight arrangements home starting at 1 pm Monday (tomorrow) when we would be allowed to dock.
Now, remember, we were in this airport yesterday and it is a very small regional airport. If you’re familiar with Wiley Post airport, this one is smaller. AND, they’re going to push 1400 passenger home from here … that’s utter madness.
Later in the day we were notified what our compensation would be for the cruise being terminated. We were still told that we needed to make our own travel arrangements home unless we had booked our air travel thru Holland in which case they would take care of it.
We were also notified that the next morning we needed to complete a health questionnaire, have our temperature taken, and collect our passports. Chile would review this information and make a decision. We were told that we would dock on Monday at 1pm.
I got on the “free” internet and attempted to book something but the only airline that I could find flying out of Punta Arenas was LATAM and their website was in Spanish and would not translate online. I went to guest services and was told that the ship would be allowed to stay docked until the 19th (Thursday). I called Mom and gave her the phone number that I had from our “Platinum” travel insurance travel assistance hotline. She was told that it was only for medical emergencies even though the paper specifically stated travel and medical. We went to bed and planned to call our travel agent in the morning.
Monday, March 16
Thankfully, even though we’re not at the pier, we are close enough to get cell phone service. I spoke to my mom and then called Debra, my travel agent, at 8 am and got a hold of her first thing. We had heard on the news that US travelers needed to return to the US through 13 select airports. Houston was a logical airport to return through but it wasn’t listed as an approved airport. The closest are DFW and Atlanta. Debra got to work on getting our flights set up and we queued up for the health screening. I’m happy to report that no one on board was running a temperature.
When we got back to the room Debra called and couldn’t get us a flight out until the 20th. So, I went back to guest services and talked to the supervisor. I had heard some crew say that the ship would stay here until all the passengers could get travel arrangements made. I’m not kidding myself, IF the ship were required to leave the pier on the 19th I have no doubt that we would be waving goodbye from the pier and on our own. I had Debra book 2 tickets that would take us from Punta Arenas to Santiago where we would have a 12 hour layover. Then we would have an overnight flight to Atlanta, 4 hours to clear customs before catching a flight to OKC and arrive about noon to the tune of $1300 each. Holland did tell us that our travel expenses would be reimbursed.
I’ve been texting family telling them to pray that this didn’t work out … and trying to make light of the situation by saying that I at least wanted to be somewhere warmer.
Luckily, we didn’t get put out on the pier. Our 1pm docking time came and went. Then late afternoon a very frustrated captain came on the intercom to announce that as a result of a higher level of outbreak of the Corona virus in Chile, the officials had decided to close all borders “by air, land, sea, as well as their airspace within the next 48 hours.” Although the cruise line pressured the officials to allow us to disembark within the next 48 hours, they wouldn’t allow us in without first remaining quarantined outside the city for at least 14 days. As the captain was talking on the intercom you could hear the anchors being pulled up.
We are now heading north where we will hopefully be allowed to anchor off shore and take on food and water but no passenger or crew will be allowed to leave.
Thankfully, my prayers were answered. I would rather stay on board with a comfy bed, shower and warm meals and in limbo then be put off the ship in a small city with the world in the process of slowly shutting down country by country. I quickly made phone calls to let family know what was happening and cancel the just made airplane tickets.
Tuesday, March 17 sea day heading north
We are cruising through the Chilean fjords today. The captain said these passages are really deep with one exception, the Sarmiento passage, which we went through at 8:30 this morning. We can only pass through at high tide. When we passed there was only 2 meters or about 6 feet under the keel and he said we went really slow!
We are still headed toward San Antonio/Santiago/Valisparo area. They are in negotiations to get us additional provisions but that might be difficult since they’ve closed their borders and I’m sure they need their own provisions. But thinking about this … we were originally supposed to dock here. This would be the end of the first cruise and passengers would be getting off so we probably already have supplies waiting on the dock for us.
It is currently about 52 degrees and overcast. The clouds are high so we are able to see the Andes Mountains in the distance and lots of glaciers as we sail through the Chilean fjords.
Today they passed out a questionnaire about passengers needs for medication. I always bring extra medicine … you know, be prepared for the unforeseen. They asked if you were going to need additional medication like insulin, blood thinners, for seizures or for blood pressure to get through the next 2 days, 7 days or 14 days. They also asked if you had life-saving medical procedures scheduled in the next 7 days like dialysis or chemo. When we walked by, there were about 50 people in line to turn in their forms. Jeff said he should request Dr Pepper and Coors light (neither of which is available on board).
We spent most of the day in the inland channels of the Chilean fjords. It was cold, windy and overcast all day. The captain said a storm had moved into Punta Arenas, which we left behind yesterday. About the time we sat down to dinner in the main dining room, we turned west and headed out to the Pacific Ocean. The swells immediately increased to 4 meters or about 12 feet. We’re rolling enough that they called off tonight’s main stage show. Hopefully tomorrow will bring calmer seas, less clouds and warmer temperatures.
For dinner tonight I had a Caesar salad (the smallest I’ve had so far so I could tell they are starting to limit the provisions), Parmesan crusted chicken, and for dessert cherry crisp. It was the best meal so far.
Wednesday, March 18 another sea day
The captain has taken to giving us a situational update before he tells us the weather and where we’re at.
The good news? We’re still headed north! He said that the Dutch, US and European communities were putting pressure on Chile to give us assistance. This is the most “international” cruise (guest wise) we’ve been on. There are 1400 passengers with 400 from the US and the remainder from Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia. The captain said he is hopeful that we will be able to take on fuel and food at San Antonio/Santiago, and if not there at Valisparo. We are running at the most fuel efficient speed of 17 knots. He said there is another large cruise ship (Celebrity Eclipse) in the area in the same situation we are in. Since they are still in negotiations, guess that means we’re still in limbo.
The weather today is much like yesterday … cool, overcast with occasional rain.
I don’t feel bad and not running a temp but have developed a sometimes unrelenting dry cough since our excursion at Torres del Paine. It was extremely windy there. I’ve been taking sinus medicine trying to get it under control.
Thursday, March 19, at sea heading north off coast of Chile
The captain came on this morning and said they have attained permission from Chile to anchor outside of Valisparo to take on fuel, food and the all-important drink {read that as Alcohol}.
Just read online that the Celebrity ship was doing the same thing (docking offshore to pick up supplies and fuel) but they are a day ahead of us. After they pick up supplies at Valisparo they will continue on to San Diego and that trip will take them 10 days.
We’ve been joking with another couple on board that San Diego will be our final stop and maybe that will turn out to be true. Between here and there the options are limited. Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico – all have closed borders so far except for Mexico. Depending on where we end up, we may be there for a while. I saw tonight that Holland was ending its world cruise halfway through and putting everyone off in Australia. That’s a long flight home to Ft Lauderdale. I’m just so very thankful we aren’t getting dumped off in Chile.
Everyone that we’ve talked to on board is pretty chill about the situation. We all know how lucky we are that no one is sick and we’re getting food and fuel tomorrow.
It was a pretty day today, still a little chilly but lots of people out by the pool.
Friday, March 20 on the ship at Valisparo Chile
When we left home 2 weeks ago we would have never dreamed the world would be in the state it is now. Nor would we have dreamed this cruise line would make every effort to off load us at any location that would take us. Thankfully, they haven’t been able to and every day we get a little closer to home. I don’t know how far the fuel we get tomorrow will get us but we will have enough food for 3 weeks.
They began loading fuel at about 9 this morning. I have not seen our food and supplies being loaded yet. The captain said it could take up to 24 hours to complete but to my knowledge (it’s 10 pm) the supply transfer hasn’t started yet.
I checked today and all countries north of us have closed their borders except for Mexico and I imagine they will close before we can get there.
It could definitely be worse…. We still have toilet paper!
Saturday, March 21 on the ship at Valisparo Chile
Today was much like yesterday with the exception that I thought Jeff was running a temp. I got up EARLY and walked. I think it was 6:45. When I got back to the room after an hour, he was still in bed. That was really surprising because the crew was unloading something right above us and they were making a lot of noise. He was bundled up in bed and felt warm to the touch. When I took his temp it was 99.5 which isn’t much but still a temp. I gave him a couple of ibuprofen and he took a shower. I brought him some toast from the Lido and a Coke and retook his temp 2 different times during the day and it was normal.
We’ve loaded 80 tons of fuel which will take us 7000 miles and have 3 weeks worth of food. Ok, I’ve looked at all the country’s that have closed their borders and I’m immortalizing my guess here. The ship was supposed to go into dry dock when our cruise ended. Therefore, I think we are going to the Bahamas. Then when the borders and airports all open up, they just kick us off and get to work.
Update: the captain just came on and said we’re heading to plan A which is Ft Lauderdale! Plan b & c are Puerto Vallarta or San Diego.
Sunday, March 22 at sea
We’ve met many nice people on this cruise … Jill from New Jersey (traveling alone), John and Lynn from Nebraska, Wendy from Vancouver, and our dinner table mates George and Donna from southern California.
Today at 2 pm it finally happened … we’ve been sent to our rooms. Meals will be delivered three times a day. Today, according to the captain, a high number of crew and guests presented to the infirmary with flu like symptoms. Until they can determine what’s going on … we are locked down.
Our dinner, which we usually eat at 5:30, was finally delivered at 8:45.
Monday, March 23
Last night I woke up chilled. It took me awhile to figure out I was sick through the fogginess of sleep. I finally got out of bed and took my temp. Not very high, just at 100. When Jeff woke up he said that he woke up in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat and thought he’d had a fever and it had broken. I’m coughing like crazy.
We are watching endless hours of changing by the minute coverage of Covid19. I read an article by a nurse that detailed her experience with the virus. She said she ran a temp, it went away and she felt better, then in a couple days her temp skyrocketed and she ended up in the hospital and eventually on a ventilator. I picked up the phone and reported our fevers and coughs to medical – better safe than sorry.
We turned the clocks back an hour last night.
Our breakfast was finally delivered at 10:40. Breakfast service was supposed to be from 6:30 to 9:30. At this rate, we’ll get our 11 to 2 lunch delivered by dinner time.
Lunch was delivered ½ hour late. I can’t really complain. They are delivering food to over 700 staterooms. That has to be a herculean task. AND we are really not hungry, the food delivery is one of the few things we have to look forward to even if we don’t eat half of what is delivered.
This afternoon the captain announced that the Rotterdam (another Holland ship)is heading south from Mexico and expected to meet up with us the evening of the 26th. They don’t have any passengers and are expected to provide additional support for medical and possibly corona tests. They will be following us to Florida.
At 2pm we were off the coast of Peru.
We saw a pod of dolphins out our window today.
Late afternoon someone from medical showed up. I was still running a temp and he put me on Tamiflu. I’m quarantined for 7 days and Jeff, who is now symptom free, is quarantined for 10 days. But that doesn’t mean anything because we’re all already stuck in our rooms.
I slept most of the day today.
Tuesday, March 24 at sea
While we’re isolated in our rooms, everything happens through our hallway. Towels are exchanged and trashcans are emptied daily. If you want ice you put your ice bucket in the hall. Food is delivered on a tray 3 times a day. In the morning we receive paper copies of cross word puzzles and Sudoku as well as a listing of what movies are available on our stateroom tv and the time. They also record a couple of trivia shows every day and present them over our stateroom tv. Since I reported as sick and am taking medicine, we are the first ones to receive food service at every meal.
Wednesday, March 25 at sea
Day 19 of captivity
Saw a pod of spinner dolphins that were really jumping out of the water close to the ship.
After dark we could see land fairly close by and it was all lit up. Closest we’ve been to shore in a week. According to the ship map we are off the coast of Ecuador.
Not running a temp but my back is killing me. I can’t get comfortable. My muscles hurt. It doesn’t feel like any flu I’ve ever had. You know how your body just aches when you’ve been in bed too long? It’s like that but on steroids. I tried to go to bed but it hurt to even lie in bed, it was literally too painful to lie down. Still coughing really bad. Finally took some codeine cough medicine and crashed on the couch.
Thursday, March 26 at sea
This morning, the body pain is gone but I still have a horrible cough.
The Captain announced that they pulled off a covert operation off the coast of Ecuador. We slowed down and got within a mile of shore last night. We were airlifted medical supplies into Manta and after they cleared customs a small boat brought them out to the ship and then we continued on our way. This was the reason we were so close to shore last night.
Still scheduled to meet up with Rotterdam and have permission from Panama to anchor and conduct ship to ship operations.
About 800pm the Rotterdam pulled up alongside and after they lowered and loaded up a tender, medical personnel and supplies were transferred to our ship.
The captain said the transfer was taking longer than expected and he sounded optimistic about a plan he was waiting to hear from the home office to sign off on but wouldn’t share until tomorrow.
Friday, March 27, Panama
It is really hard to believe that we left home 3 weeks ago. The message from the captain this morning was somber. Four people on board have passed away and 2 people have tested positive for Covid19. This was announced as the ship made its way into the harbor outside the Panama Canal. We were told that the Rotterdam was taking on fuel during the day, we have not yet been allowed approval to transit the canal, and starting later this evening the Zaadam will start transferring guests who pass health screening and exhibit no respiratory symptoms (not us) to the Rotterdam. They will begin with people in interior rooms who are over 70. Guests were instructed not to call guest services to find out their status.
My friend Sue from home said news reports showed that well passengers transferred to Rotterdam will be sent to San Diego. And Panama will not allow us to transit if there are positive Covid19 cases on ship. Where next is anyone’s guess.
March 27 a “typical” day
645 breakfast delivery knock. They won’t stop knocking until you answer the door. It wasn’t until yesterday that I realized it is also a “are you still alive” knock. Get up brush teeth, comb hair.
830 unveil breakfast dishes. At least people finally complained about the amount of food that they’ve been providing and they have cut back. On one plate was bacon, eggs, sausage and hash brown. On another was 2 pancakes and 2 rolls. There was an apple and an orange. They’ve taken to wrapping the fruit so I guess if you don’t eat it, they can pass it on to someone else. Two cups of coffee and a bowl of bran with milk and a container of yogurt. Before they cutback on the amount of food it would have been all of that plus a second plate of bacon and eggs and a second bowl of bran.
835 finish breakfast and push tray out in the hall. Also put out our daily beverage order. We get two cans of coke, a bottle of wine and two 2 liter bottles of water.
840 get on to the Holland app and read the news. I read USA, Canadian, British and Australian news, basically everything that’s in English.
850 peruse the daily papers delivered to the stateroom. The “when and where” which used to detail the happenings around the ship during the day but now tell you what movies are on tv, and when they are airing the trivia contests. Also included are 2 crossword puzzles and 2 Sudoku puzzles.
930 finished hard Sudoku
937 finish easy Sudoku
1036 finished texting Sienna, Mom and Trent on FB, read online internet news stories, looked out peephole about ½ dozen times and watched passengers leave for the Rotterdam. Now I think I’ll take a nap
1136 so much for a nap, I’ve been looking at Instagram … now it’s lunch time
1145 lunch is over. Tray is back out on the hall. They are giving us so much food. In an entire day I don’t eat the amount of food that they provide for just lunch. Sitting in the porthole watching the tenders move people to the other ship.
1245 spent the last hour in the window watching tenders load. We were told they are moving 60 people per hour. There is another flight inbound to us from Miami with more medical supplies.
140 Read Facebook and internet news stories. Today the captain answered a few questions that he’s received through guest services.”What does the dot on my cabin number mean?” It means your room has been sanitized. “Bullshit, it means you reported symptoms and you’re isolated”.
Ok, now I’m even tired of writing down what I’m doing …. BORED…. Taking a nap and waiting for dinner.
Saturday, March 28
Still transferring guests to Rotterdam.
BOREDOM continues
Sunday, March 29
The captain came on an hour late for his morning announcement. He “quoted” a press release from Holland and that was the total of his announcement. The release said we had received humanitarian clearance to transit the Panama Canal but said the situation remains “dynamic”. They continue to work with the Panamanian authorities. He did not end with his customary “have a good day,” he just clicked off.
The captain’s tone was VERY somber during his late day announcement. My gut is telling me that something has changed yet again. More illness? Another death? Maybe just stress … imagine that.
Medical calls and checks on me everyday. I’m still coughing but no temp or other symptoms. Thank goodness I brought codeine cough medicine from home so I can at least sleep at night without coughing.
This afternoon’s announcement directed us to view a video of Holland’s president on our TV. He said that transferring 800 guests to the Rotterdam was an effort to ease the load on the Zaandam crew and not as an effort to create a “well” ship and a “sick” ship (I call bullshit!). We were also told that we would be receiving updated information on compensation and reimbursements soon. Still no word on when the canal transit will be and if Ft Lauderdale will let us into port.
If I ever wondered what it felt like to be under house arrest, I now have my answer. The problem is, I never wondered.
This.
Sucks.
We just received information regarding our Panama Canal transit. No one can be outside (that would be people with balconies, not us) and we even have to turn off interior lights and close curtains during transit. At approximately 7 pm we pulled up anchors and moved toward the canal. Since we weren’t outside to be able to watch as we go through the locks, we watched what was happening on the sides of canal from our window. It was raining outside so the pics from inside our room are not good. From the time we would enter a lock until it opened, the water level would rise about halfway to the top of the wall (about 20 feet). Since we’re on the second floor, the rise was apparent even though it was dark. Jeff figured out that we could turn the TV on the bow camera channel so we could watch the locks work. We watched as we went through the Pacific side locks and after we entered the lake we went to sleep. I woke up about 2 am as we were exiting the locks on the Atlantic side. It was just in time to watch us go under the iconic suspension bridge.
Monday, March 30
At the captain’s morning announcement he said that Panama had provided us with an expedited transit and we made it through in record time – less than 7 hours. While we were watching we never saw a person outside around the locks.
Captain just said we’ve slowed and changed directions. There is a plane in the air with supplies and we’re supposed to rendezvous somewhere around San Andreas, which is a Colombian island off the coast of Nicaragua. Must be real important supplies but he didn’t say what specifically.
Update: plane could not get clearance to land. We are back to heading to Florida.
In addition to our compensation package we were informed ALL our on board charges will be zeroed out.
Due to crew safety concerns they are discontinuing guest laundry and delivery of ice to state rooms.
The swells last night after coming out of the canal were huge. We’d go up and then crash down. I finally faded off to sleep.
Tuesday, March 31
The sea is much calmer today and the water is a beautiful blue.
Listened as the captain gave the workers a pat on the back this morning and told them the time is winding down. Unless they are working they are also self-isolating.
Still no word on whether Florida will allow us to dock.
We were informed tonight of Holland personnel pleading our case before the “Unified Command” which is the CDC, Coast Guard, Broward county and Lord knows who else (up to and including President Trump).
The captain told us there has been a decrease in number of illnesses reported but there are still people in the medical center that need our prayers. I think we’re up to 8 Covid19 cases.
According to our calculations, we should be in Florida mid-day tomorrow. But, we were informed that we would be off the US coast on Thursday so guess we will be slowing down.
The captain said that “progress” was being made on our behalf in regards to docking at Ft Lauderdale.
He also said not to make any travel arrangements, that everything would be handled by Holland.
Hopefully we’ll be on our way home soon!
Wednesday, April 1
At 730 this morning, north side of Cuba, pulled up next to Rotterdam. We took on more supplies and medical personnel. The transfer took about an hour. We’re moving again. Ft Lauderdale ETA is tomorrow morning.
At 430pm the governor of Florida was just on Fox news and said he didn’t realize there were Florida residents (45) and Americans on board (400). He now feels “confident” that an acceptable solution will be reached (word is that Holland had to pay all the costs associated with our docking, all costs associated with medical care of the 14 that would transferred to hospitals AND pay Broward County a cool $1 million). At the speed we are currently doing we could be at Ft Lauderdale about midnight.
630pm the captain said that we will continue toward Ft Lauderdale, but we are required to stay outside US waters until we receive approval. There is a meeting scheduled for 10am Thursday and the captain said he expected the results mid to late afternoon.
He said the earliest we would be able to disembark would be Friday and not to make any travel arrangements, everything would be handled by Holland. He said we will be transferring directly to the airport for charter flights to our home airports. This is more detail than we’ve ever received so an agreement must be coming shortly.
Here’s the kicker, anyone who is still ill and exhibiting respiratory symptoms will have to remain on board. When the doctor calls to check on me I’ve truthfully told him that I still have a cough, but he also knows that I have not run a temp or taken any medicine. I don’t know yet if my cough will mean that we have to wait.
We were informed that if we were cleared to travel we would receive our disembarkation information overnight.
Thursday, April 2
We are 2 of 45 that haven’t completed our isolation and won’t be allowed off the ship yet. Everyone else is supposed to be getting off tomorrow. We did not receive disembarkation info overnight. Jeff called medical and they said it was because his quarantine wasn’t up until today.
10 am Everything changes so fast. We just received disembarkation information and our suitcases have been quickly packed, weighed and picked up. We are still in international waters and have to undergo another health screening. If we pass, then we go through customs and return to the ship. We were told to keep out enough personal belongings for 2 days. Then we are supposed to be put on charter flights home but have not received that information yet.
About 2 pm the captain said we had been cleared to dock. He said that anyone that thought they needed to be outside on their balcony should make sure they are wearing their masks so not to endanger our docking agreement and also because there will likely to be press around.
I can’t tell you how wonderful it felt to watch from our porthole window as we approached the deserted beaches of Ft. Lauderdale only to be surprised at the number of people standing on the breakwater and on condo balconies waving American flags and welcoming us back home.
We watched for hours as we made our way to the pier, tied up and then watched the steady stream of ambulances outside our window. They got the gangway down and then began the slow process of removing those that needed to be transported directly to the hospital. They brought out about 5 people on stretchers and the remaining 9 came off in wheelchairs. It appeared that only one person was a crew member and the rest were guests.
After the ambulances had all been unloaded they called for the first group to get off which I’m assuming were the 45 or so that live in Florida. They were provided with a car service to get them home.
After that was completed we were processed through the health screening by deck. They started at the highest deck and worked the way down. We had to take our passport with us and then had our temperature taken and turned in our health screening survey which consisted of 3 questions. 1) Have you run a temperature in the past 3 days?, 2) do you have a worsening cough?, 3) are you having difficulty breathing? Our temperature was recorded on our health questionnaire and if you didn’t have a temperature you were given a “Cleared to Debark” card. We then proceeded off the ship with our passports and showed it to the port authority as we walked past and then returned to overnight on the ship.
Friday, April 3
The first group to leave the ship this morning at 830 was for guests traveling to Toronto.
We received our flight information overnight and were thrilled to find out we’re leaving today. Our room is 3 rooms away from the gangway so as soon as they called our group to disembark we were the first two off the ship. We had our masks on and they handed us gloves to wear also. We left the ship at 930 this morning and it was our first time standing on land and in the sunshine in 19 days. I can’t tell you how wonderful that felt. The representatives that met us outside the terminal handed out packages that contained a bottle of water and a bag of pretzels. They were so happy for us! They were so upbeat and questioned us whether we would be cruising in the future. They all thought that we had been treated badly, even by the local state government. We eventually boarded 4 buses, 26 per bus, for the airport to board a chartered plane for Atlanta. Here’s the unbelievable part (as if any of this is truly believable), we had about a 30 to 50 motorcycle escort that cleared the intersections and allowed us to travel non-stop to the airport tarmac – it looked like a lit up Christmas tree in front of the bus for miles. We got to the airport at 1045 and because we were the first ones off the ship and onto the bus, we were one of the first ones on the plane. We were supposed to leave at noon but it was close to 2:30 before we finally closed the doors and took off.
The plan was to fly from Ft Lauderdale to Atlanta. In Atlanta we transferred by bus from the tarmac to the main domestic terminal. We waited for close to an hour to pick up our luggage (which had been sprayed and was soaking wet), then we had to check in with American airlines. We were originally scheduled to have about a 5 hour layover in Atlanta before flying to Chicago O’Hare and then home but because we were so late leaving FLL we had less than an hour. We got our bags checked and headed to security. We normally have TSA precheck but not this time. We queued up and there were only 2 agents working an ever growing line. Well it’s been so long since we’ve gone through regular security that we both had to have our bags hand checked and rerun through security due to camera and electronics. FINALLY made it through security and got to the gate where we were notified there would not be any snacks or beverage service on our flight. Jeff stood in line to get us calzone while I charged my phone. In hindsight, the (second) BEST part of today was the calzone, it was the best I’ve ever had in my life!
There were about 25 passengers for the flight to Chicago and the flight attendant was moving us around so we weren’t all sitting next to each other. We got settled in and I closed my eyes. I thought we had moved to the runway but the pilot came on and said that although we had pushed back from the gate, he detected a problem with one of the flaps and we were returning to the gate and maintenance had been called to look at it. He said it would be about 15 minutes. Well, our layover in Chicago is only an hour so every minute we wait for maintenance means we’re closer to not making our connecting flight. Then there was another 15 minute delay followed by another. Then I received a text notification that our Chicago flight was leaving a half an hour EARLY (who does that?? …. EVER??) So now, we’ve missed our connection and the pilot finally tells us to deplane that we are going to get a different plane. While waiting for all that to work out the gate agent calls for anyone that had a connecting flight in Chicago. I told him that we have missed our connection. He put us up in a local hotel, gave us food vouchers and booked us at 530am the next morning to Charlotte, then a 2 hour layover and then on to OKC for a 11:30am arrival.
So, outside we go to catch the shuttles to the hotels. Wait about 20 minutes, then get pushed aside by some pushy flight attendants. Get to the hotel and there is a problem with the airline not notifying the hotel that they were sending comp passengers due to a distressed aircraft. I kid you not, it took another hour to get that resolved and get into a room. The young lady behind the counter definitely needed some customer service training because while she may have actually been working on getting us a room, it looked more like she was playing on her phone. She should have told us what she was doing and kept us in the loop. Jeff asked for a 3 am wake up call.
We FINALLY get to the room after 10 pm, go straight to bed, set the phone alarm for 3 am so we can get the 330 shuttle and get to the airport by 4 for a 530 flight. As soon as we got into bed it became apparent that my displeasure with the hotel clerk had earned us probably the worst room in the hotel. Every time the air conditioner shut off there was a large “bang” from the AC closet in our room, like someone was slamming a metal door. That did NOT make for a restful night. My phone was plugged in on Jeff’s side of the bed and the clock was on his side also. At one point I woke up and sat up to see what time it was and Jeff jumped out of bed … it was 315. We did NOT get a wakeup call and did not hear the alarm go off on my phone. We brushed our teeth, dressed and rushed downstairs to catch the shuttle.
Saturday, April 4
Well busting out asses to get to the airport was a total waste of time because we got there and the security screening didn’t open until 4:30 and TSA Pre check didn’t open until 5. So we had to wait. I went looking for a bathroom while we waited and got a real eye opener. There were so many homeless sleeping on the floors or congregated in sitting areas and all the bathrooms were closed. There was one man screaming “Shut Up!”over and over, but everyone around was ignoring him.
They finally opened the security checkpoint about 4:30. We’re so used to TSA precheck that it a real pain in the butt to take off shoes, belts, jackets, and unload electronics. Anyway, finally made it through and caught the tram to an outlying terminal. And then we waited. Even though we were given food vouchers NOTHING was open until after our flight left. There is also no snack or beverage service on our flight but they were handing out drinks as we boarded. Guess what? Jeff FINALLY got his Dr. Pepper!
Does anyone remember what it was like to travel on a plane in the 80s? The planes that we were on AFTER our charter to Atlanta were at the most 10 – 15% full. I know that’s bad for the airlines but it was great not to be crammed in like sardines.
We made it into Charlotte early (probably because there was no weight on the plane!) and our first stop was to get something to eat …. We were starving. Then we made our way to our terminal. Charlotte is a huge airport … we seemed to walk forever to get to our gate. Once again, the flight only had about 20 people on it so we were able to spread out on the plane. I was exhausted and spent the majority of the 3 hour flight nodding off.
We actually made it to OKC about ½ hour earlier than expected. Got off the plane, went to the bathroom and then headed to baggage claim. The only freaking thing that seemed to go right on this trip? Our luggage beat us home! There were 5 bags going around on the carousel and that included our 3 bags!! The agent was pulling them off as we came down the escalator.
We had heard about the gas prices, but on the ride home saw gas for $1.29 a gallon. Unbelievable! Unloaded the bags out of the car and even though it was 1 pm, we went directly to bed and slept until 5:30.
It is so good to be home. We hit the grocery store in mask and gloves and are now self-quarantined for 14 days.
I did read online Sunday that President Trump put a new order in place that will NOT allow guests exiting cruise ships to fly home commercially as a result of complaints about the guests flying home from our ships . Just glad we made it. Very thankful to be home! Thank you Jesus!
In the end we traveled 7608 nautical miles, saw some penguins and some mountains.
Update: Just read that the crew member from our ship that was taken to the hospital in Ft Lauderdale passed away on April 8th. So there are 5 deaths from our ship, 4 from Covid19.
Another update: The Miami Herald picked up some of my Facebook posts (4 of them) and published them in an article dated 4/12/20, titled “Zaandam was cruising to the ‘end of the world’. Then COVID-19 spread across the ship.