I had been looking forward to a cruise with my favorite quilting sister in law – the One Block Wonder Woman in August to Alaska. A quilting cruise, with 4 wonderful sea days, and two ports I have never been to, Sitka and Haines Alaska.
We were booked on the Princess Star out of San Francisco for August 21st, in an inside cabin. We had excursions booked and paid for, our deposits in on the cruise and then the COVID-19 pandemic started hitting the world and the cruise industry. We were not too worried because we both felt that things would be back to normal by August, even when Princess took a voluntary 60 day halt to their sailings. I sailed out of San Francisco last summer on a 10 day trip to Alaska, and was quite looking forward to going again.
My younger sister had 2 cruises cancelled in that 60 day window, including a much anticipated Trans-Atlantic trip to Copenhagen.
Two weeks ago, the chatter on Cruise Critic implied people were getting upgrades for the sailing, and our travel agent/quilting cruise organizer got us a wonderful balcony cabin. We were feeling so hopeful. We had picked out excursions in each port, had hotel reservations for the night before the cruise with the group we were traveling with, airport transfers, and much more.
I ordered t-shirts to do some fun embroidery on for the trip, got them all washed and ready to stitch. Suddenly, the mask making needs got into full swing, and the stack of freshly washed tshirts took a back seat. All my fun sewing has pretty much stopped while I try to keep up with the demands for masks.
Then – last week I saw the article linked below in USA Today, and I KNEW our voyage for August was in jeopardy. Go have a read of the article after my blog post and you will understand the sense of dread I was feeling.
As a person with a logistics background, this article left me very concerned. How were cruise lines supposed to schedule with the crazy situation they were faced with?
Last night I got the dreaded email, first from Princess CEO and then from the travel agent. The Alaska cruise season for 2020 is not going to happen with my favorite cruise line. My bright spot at the end of this crazy time has disappeared, leaving me feel so very sad. Not just for me, and my sister in law, but for all those in the travel and hospitality industries, the people in Alaska that depend on these cruise ships coming and the families of all who depend on the person working in the travel industry.
For myself, it feels a bit selfish to whine and carry on about a cancelled cruise when people in my state, mostly in long term care facilities, are losing their lives to COVID-19. I am praying for the “herd immunity” to start working while the researchers and healthcare professionals try to find a way to fight this pandemic. I’m praying too that the Health and Human Services department in our little state can figure out why so many elderly people in our care facilities are dying. What is wrong with the workers coming in and why are they not protecting the residents who are most vulnerable? So while I whine for a minute, I really worry for those who can’t protect themselves against the unseen virus and are being done in by the very people being paid to care for them.
Think I will go wash my hands and make more masks in the mean time. When this week is over, I am going to start sewing for fun again. I need some joy back. Maybe I will go sort out that album of Alaska photos from the trip last year too……
While I do that, I can plan for 2021 I suppose. What are you doing to muddle thru this crazy time?
Stitching Grandma 
I couldn’t hit ‘like’ on the amount of disappointment I could feel in this post. I’m not a cruiser, never was, and after the press on the norovirus and now this virus, I’m won’t be on a cruise in this lifetime. But, I have several friends who love them like you do, and I sincerely feel your disappointment and hope they rebound once we have a reliable test or vaccine. I share your concern for your most vulnerable being hit the hardest. And, yes, I think you’ll need a fun project to work on while you plan for 2021.
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You do need to take some time for fun, or this stay-home time will become unbearable. You couldn’t pay me to get on a cruise ship after all the horror stories, but I do understand your disappointment in not being able to take a planned trip for fun. Take care, stay well!!
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