Page 7 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2022 DISCOVERING MADRID

keeping? Tell the nurse? They left us in the dark or gave us encourage masking, and failed to suggest that passengers
conflicting information right up until we disembarked and test for Covid,” she wrote. “By failing to act, the inaction of
continued into Mary’s isolation at our hotel in Montreal. your employees exacerbated the outbreak that was de-
Once you’ve experienced isolation, you understand why tected five days into the cruise. Knowing the advanced age
its use in prisons. It’s a punishment and it has conse- and poor health of so many of my fellow passengers… The
quence. Reviewed studies of Covid isolation reported neg- least that they could have done was to inform us of the
ative psychological effects, including post-traumatic stress outbreak of this highly transmissible disease and warn us
symptoms like depression, anger, frustration, boredom, to mask and get tested once it was detected. But your cap-
and stigma. The lack of fresh tain and management re-
air and exercise compoundsed mained silent and did
the stress. nothing.”
The ship made no attempt “Those of us who re-
to provide relief even though mained in isolation at the end
they were well aware of the of the cruise were shuttled
problem. Some of those feel- off to a hotel to complete
ings linger well after the expe- quarantines. This less than
rience. We are reluctant to desirable hotel threatened us
board a cruise ship anytime in a letter with fines up to one
soon — we just canceled an million dollars and substan-
upcoming transatlantic . And tial prison terms and stated
when we do resume crusing that they were placing cam-
we never will book a cabin eras and security guards out-
without a balcony. side our door.” Later, she learned that there was a way to
We are not the only unhappy cruisers who endured mis- mitigate the time in quarantine working with local authori-
ties. By then, she concluded, “Our ship had sailed away,
managed isolation, not by a long shot. We reached out to a
leaving us adrift in a foreign country.”
couple of friends. Martha and Sunny are avid cruisers and
hold the highest loyalty rank for their respective cruise “I’m trying not to take this personally,” Martha told us.
lines. Both tested positive around the same time we did. “It’s a corporation, not a family member, but I have so many
great memories of past cruises where we were treated like
Sunny, with some 200 cruises under her belt, rated here
royalty and we became personal friends with the crew.
treatment during 10 days in isolation as “appalling . Since I
was in the red zone on a crew member deck, I was only al- These trips completely changed my view of the world from
provincial to global, and I sang their praises to everyone.
lowed room service, and all the meals were served cold.
This is like losing a close friend, but I will move on and it
Cold inedible food with cold coffee. The isolation cabins
were not scheduled for any cleaning or linen changes, and I will get us traveling with other companies.”
had a difficult time even getting toilet paper. Housekeeping We understand. The cruise industry needs not just
and room service departments were unprepared and woe- Covid prevention protocols, but Covid care protocols.
fully inadequate to treat anyone in quarantine. On day They need to be spelled out to passengers before
three of quarantine, the Hazmat team showed up with a they book so they understand what a positive test
spray bottle and cloth, telling me to spray and clean the means for them onboard. They’ve had years to put
cabin. Food trays and red trash bags cluttered the hallway.” these in place. That they have not is a slap in the face
Martha wrote a letter to the cruise line president about to loyal and dedicated travelers who are keeping them
afloat in pandemic times.
experiences onboard and at the hotel the the ship had ar-
ranged for Covid passengers to complete their quarantines
on land. Despite the number of Covid-positive cases on the Ron & Mary James
ship, “Your captain and his management team failed to Publishers & Editors
communicate this Covid outbreak, failed to require or even

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