03.12.2020 mid-afternoon update

Hello everyone,

Just a few lighter items.

Our room steward is from Bulgaria, and is named Tsvetomir.  We asked how to pronounce it and still didn’t get it.  He asked us to call him Stewart.  Or maybe steward, we don’t know.  Well, recently, we were so bored that we looked up the correct pronunciation online so we could call him by name. We practiced. We came close.  We think he appreciated the effort.  We enjoyed it too.

Every day we are told that today is the day, that we will be offloaded today.  Every day it doesn’t happen but we are gullible and believe.  So, we have not asked for clean towels and have been using the same ones for a week.  Today we asked for and received fresh towels.  We are hoping that now that we have fresh towels, that we will get off and not need them.  A sort of reverse psychology.

We have all been told to stay in our cabins.  Earlier today, the captain came on the loudspeaker and asked for a couple to please call the front desk number, immediately.  If they were in their cabin as ordered, why did he need to ask then to make contact?  Couldn’t he just pick up the phone and call the cabin?  We wonder if they snuck off the ship somehow.  We have not been required to put luggage tags on our carry on/off bags, so perhaps they left with a called group. 

On a more serious note, later this afternoon, the captain did announce again,  that we were all to stay in our cabins.  This reinforces our suspicion that someone snuck off the ship.  We just saw on the tv that the fine for breaking a government ordered quarantine is $100,000 and five years in prison.  We’re starting to think we are already in prison.  Kind of a nice cell, though.

We also learned that there are probably no more that 500 passengers left onboard.  The captain, this afternoon, announced that there would be two more flights to Miramar today.  So, we are hoping that the plane that they are using hold 250 passengers.  Or…is social distancing enforced on the plane?  That would cut capacity in half, at least.

We asked government officials if we could rent a car and drive home.  Nope.  We asked about renting a private plane and going home.  Nope.  They are using a plane to ferry passengers to wherever, and then the plane gets sanitized and reloads with the next group.  Flies out, flies back and gets sanitized. Repeat.

We also learned that once we arrive near home, the State agency in charge will has a safe and secure way to transports us to our house.  Everything is being controlled in as safe and sanitary manner as can be effected.  So, there are no shortcuts. 

Collen and John