Zaandam COVID Canal passage

[dropframe]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-06-17/covid-cruise-ship-hell-cabin-fever-shares-travelers-tales-of-panic-despair

[cruisetravlr]

Thanks for posting this. It is now on my “to read” list. Just reading the excerpt increased my admiration for all involved in weathering this harrowing experience. 

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, dropframe said:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-06-17/covid-cruise-ship-hell-cabin-fever-shares-travelers-tales-of-panic-despair

 

Thanks! Ordered it via Amazon. A former colleague of mine from Calgary, AB - SECO on Rotterdam at the time - had his hands full prior to, during, and after the rendezvous with Zaandam off the Pacific coast of Panama. Trying times for those onboard both ships! 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Copper10-8

[rafinmd]

32 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Thanks! Ordered it via Amazon. A former colleague of mine from Calgary, AB - SECO on Rotterdam at the time - had his hands full prior to, during, and after the rendezvous with Zaandam off the Pacific coast of Panama. Trying times for those onboard both ships! 

Thanks.  I thought he had retired by that time.  I don't envy the Rotterdam crew either,  taking on a bunch of passengers from a ship with spreading Covid was a definite risk, even if they were asymptomatic at the time of the transfer. All the crews from both ships are true heroes.

 

Roy

[mame42]

4 hours ago, dropframe said:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-06-17/covid-cruise-ship-hell-cabin-fever-shares-travelers-tales-of-panic-despair

Pre ordered from B & N immediately.  There but for the grace of God could the 2020WC have gone.

[canadianbear]

Thanks for the heads up.  Just ordered it at our library. 

[Btimmer]

Just ordered via Amazon.  Thanks for sharing the information.  We've previously sailed on the Zaandam and have very pleasant memories of that trip and one not so pleasant one (robbed in Santiago, Chile).

[cowmilker]

TY so much for sharing this.  Preordered it.

We were on Volendam (Grand South America) until March 20 that year.  I remember being so scared we'd end up in a mess like that.  They cut the cruise short by two days to get us back to Ft Lauderdale because they were afraid Florida wouldn't let us disembark.

As it turned out, Volendam at that point was probably the safest place on earth.  🙂

[cyntil8ing]

I just finished reading this. (I work for the publisher so I can get it early)

 

It's defined as "non-fiction narrative", and it does a good job conveying the thoughts and feelings of various passengers and crew. I found myself in tears quite a few times. I, like everyone else, followed the events closely at the time, but I learned more about the process/decision making that went on.

 

Great read!

[Navybikermom]

Just got mine delivered today!

[AryMay]

3 hours ago, Navybikermom said:

Just got mine delivered today!

Same here. Hard to put it down. 
 

We spent 45 days on the Zaandam in the year prior to the shutdown and did both the South America and Panama Canal routes which makes it easy to visualize everything in detail.
 

Our cabin on the SA cruise was right by the medical center. I shudder to think how scary that location would have been in March 2020 when passengers and crew were lining the hallway waiting to be seen for Covid symptoms. 🤒🤧

[mame42]

I have reached March 22, 2020 in the book, the date on which the Zaandam went into lockdown.  It is also the date on which I disembarked the Amsterdam in Perth, Australia.  I still feel immense gratitude for the Australian local, state, and national authorities who allowed the Amsterdam passengers to pass through their country.  I know that many others did as I did at the time; at every step of the way, I expressed my gratitude to those Australians who faced the unknown to help us return home.

[LJProk]

Going to look for this or order on Amazon.

[Cruzin Terri]

I bought this book yesterday and put it on my NOOK app.  I am up to March 27 2020. This is very interesting reading.  

Back in 2012 I did the same trip on the Veendam from Buenos Aires to Fort Lauderdale.  It was one of the best cruises I have taken.

It is unbelievable what these people went through.

Can’t wait to finish the book.  It is interesting getting the inside story.

Terri

[Navybikermom]

I noticed some strange inconsistencies- like calling the Princess ships “Holland America ships”, and calling the dining room a large “buffet-style on the Promenade Deck”… 🤔 The Princess ships belong to Carnival, and the buffet is the Lido - on the Lido deck…

 

it’s almost like no one proofed it for things like that. But, still a good read. I will regard the Zaandam in a different light when I sail on her this fall!

[Cruzin Terri]

2 hours ago, Navybikermom said:

I noticed some strange inconsistencies- like calling the Princess ships “Holland America ships”, and calling the dining room a large “buffet-style on the Promenade Deck”… 🤔 The Princess ships belong to Carnival, and the buffet is the Lido - on the Lido deck…

 

it’s almost like no one proofed it for things like that. But, still a good read. I will regard the Zaandam in a different light when I sail on her this fall!

Princess ships belong to the Holland America Group.  That changed when Stein Cruise became the president of the HAG and Orlando Ashford became CEO of HAL.

So technically it is right.  At first I thought it was wrong and then remembered that HAG includes HAL, Princess and Seabourn.

So while it is confusing, it is not wrong.

Terri