One Year Ago Today - March 2020

[Cruise NH]

A year ago yesterday, we woke up on the QM2 while berthed in Fremantle Australia when the Captain came on the speaker to tell us know that the world cruise was ending and we all had to leave the ship.  You had to get your flight requests in by 2PM.  Seems like a life time ago.

 

I hadn't flown in about 30 years and certainly didn't want to fly all the way home!  I talked to the ship's doctor and was convinced to go but I also left with a small cache of antianxiety pills.  We got our flight requests in around 7PM that night and by 11:30 the next morning we had our flights set.  We left Perth on the 16th at 11PM bound for Sydney, then Sydney to LA and finally LA to Boston.  Through the miracle of the international dateline we left Sydney and arrived back home in NH on the same day (17th).

 

Quite an experience, shared by many of you...but there were some positives I guess (for me).  How many other people can say they took a 2 1/2 month cruise in 2020?  Not many.  Also, I never used any of the meds and I've already scheduled some flights for later in the year.  I'm over my fear of flying.

 

I'd been interested to hear other people's reflections.

 

 

 

 

[shipgeeks]

Thank you for posting this!  I love your attitude, and knowing the long-term outcome of what must have been a great disappointment at the time.

One year ago right now, I had just finished teaching my morning classes, with one more to go after lunch.  I had added no-contact, and use of wipes, the week before, on the advice of newscasters. One more class scheduled that week, on Thursday.  As it turned out, that would be the last class I'd teach. Quite unexpectedly, I found myself retired for good.

The positive side for me, although I really miss my classes, is that now we can cruise whenever we want, not just in April, December, or January.  All we need is the cruises.  We are confident that they will happen.

[babs135]

 

[Cruise NH]

Babs135 - thanks for posting that I hadn't seen it...all those empty staterooms, how sad.

[babs135]

I have to admit that I found moisture collecting in my eyes as I watched this video.  I think it was simply that at the time we had absolutely no idea what was going to happen and somehow this video summed up all the uncertainty.  Hard to believe that a year on we still don't know when cruising in the form we recognise will restart.  Fortunately there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel and maybe sooner than later we will all be able to get back on board.

We can only hope.

[sfred]

My sympathies to all those whose 2020 world cruises were interrupted.  Mrs. sfred and I were rather lucky on timings.  We got off QV in Santiago Chile as scheduled on 29 February 2020, and we returned home to Australia as normal, landing on 4 March.  The inbound immigation procedure asked only if we had been to China or Iran in the previous 14 days (no), and there was not the usual query of whether we had a yellow fever vaccination for South America (yes), for which we were prepared to show our yellow cards.  Straight through, and welcome home.

 

Very shortly after, Australia closed its international borders and began local lockdowns, and 2020 became a year for the history books.

[Colin_Cameron]

We had been waiting in Fremantle to board the ship bound for Southampton. As it turned out we had six extra days in Perth, at Cunard’s expense before we got a flight on the Thursday night. Finally arriving home exactly a week after we got to the dock. (Seven and a half days if you count the time difference)

 

In one way, it’s hard to believe it was a year ago. In another, it seems like a lifetime.

[safarigal]

When we had been awoken by Captain Hashmi the day before, saying that no one would be boarding in Fremantle, I was not surprised when we found out the next morning that we all had to leave the ship. I was very sad, we had been having a wonderful time, and had met some great people. It was hard to believe it was all ending.

 

I was tearful flying back to Idaho, but when we arrived home our son called us to ask if he could move in with us. He and our daughter in law were both working from home, and our grandson's daycare was closed, so it was a real challenge for them. They all moved in with us, and instead of sailing across the Indian Ocean, all of a sudden I was providing granny daycare, and feeding the whole family again. They stayed with us until September. 

 

It was a really magical time, and one I feel so blessed to have experienced. Spending that time with our grandson was very precious. We had the best time together, I realized that I could sail across the Indian Ocean again, but that unique time spent with the little fellow is something that  I will always treasure.

 

Mind you I am now counting down the days to Queen Victoria WV 2022 :). I am so ready for some Cunard again!

[roscoe39]

As some who follow my blog read, today one year ago  on the Queen Victoria we were sailing past Cuba, looking forward to the World Cruise Partry that night but well aware that the world was beginning to take on an air of uncertainty. Whilst champagne corks were flying and we were depleting Cunards stock of caviar our thoughts were of all of the worlds cruise travellers who were having their cruise cut short whilst we were still going to continue ours as planned and while not allowed to take on any new passengers we would be allowed to finish as planned in Southampton.......

 

We had no idea of the devastation that was and would happen in land in our bubble....

 

Fortunately it hasn't put me off sailing and booked the WC in 2023....hopefully things would have returned to a degree of normality by then.....

 

 https://butarewethereyet.blogspot.com/2020/03/preppers-dont-look-so-silly-after-all.html