Anderson South America Misadventure Day 14, I lost count somewhere - Harbor of Punta Arenas. March 16, 2020

We kept getting updates about our going ashore. We had a wellness check that they did by floor. You lined up in a hallway with little ventilation and waited your turn. It was finally my turn. Of course I was stressed and had a hot flash. The nurse used a thermometer that does not have to touch you. She looked at the thermometer and said "uh oh." Turned it off then back on and tried again. Again, "uh oh." Now the hot flash is really going. She gets a different thermometer, this one goes in the ear. I got a 37.1 which is fine. They are looking for a temp between 36 and 38. Rob asked what happens if someone is below 36. The officer chuckled and said that they would have a talk with them. Back to the room, do we start to pack? I got a cryptic email from Victoria telling us that when we got off of the ship do not look at anyone, do not make eye contact do not talk to anyone unless they are an officer. On the bus pull the shade down and lean away from the window. OK, odd, we had no problems in town. Then I started to chat with her online. She told us to keep it to ourselves but there were protests at the port against our ship docking. People were blocking the buses from coming in with cars and bodies. Oh good. Donna and Jim were having problems making a reservation on her tablet so they came to our room to use my computer. They had a lot of problems getting a flight out of Punta Arenas. We kept packing and finally went to lunch. We went to the Crow's nest for trivia and I could see the port, there appeared to be a lot of activity going on. Back in the room we kept packing. At one point I was chatting with Victoria when she told me that our ship had been refused entry after being granted it. Right then the captain came on to tell us that. We had to quarantine for 14 days before they would allow us ashore and all of the airports are being closed. The captain said that he would not put us off in a port with no way to get out and nowhere to stay. We are sailing for San Antonio or Valpariso to refuel and restock. No one will be allowed off of the ship. Victoria was happy to hear this. She is a great source of information. She did have a contact down here, the sister of someone she knows in synchro. The woman was on stand by to help us if we needed it. I told Victoria that she had been a great help and was impressed with who she knew. Her reply "I have a 202 area code and money. I am not afraid to use either." She had been following twitter and translating it on Google. We unpacked, went to dinner and saw a comic.Life on board goes on. Tomorrow we will be cruising the Chilean Fjords. Stay tuned.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anderson South America Misadventure Day 27 - In the Caribbean "Plague Ship of the Caribbean" March 30, 2020

We spent a good portion of the night in our transit of the Panama Canal. They had really bright lights shining which I could see under our curtains. I would move the curtains because I wanted to see what was going on. The bright lights would hit Rob in the face, wake him up and he would yell at me. I could hear machinery going and people yelling and there were lights. So I would move the curtain again and Rob would yell again. It was a long night. Then I could feel the ship moving and I knew that we had cleared the canal. That was a big relief. When we hit the open water and the ship started to rock something started to make a knocking sound. Rob got up to figure it out. One of the bottles of wine that we got over a week ago was in the cabinet. Since Rob made me get rid of my water bottle raft supplies the wine bottle was banging around. See, he should have let me keep them. We had the alarm set to wake us up early so that we could do a live spot on Good Morning America. We got dresse...
Read more

Anderson South American Misadventure Day 20 - "Day Two of Confinement and We are Both Still Alive." March 23, 2020

We slept late this morning. I mean why would we get up early? We have nowhere to go. We got up and got ready for our day. We got a schedule of events for the day. Well, we got the schedule for the meals and for events that they would be showing on a channel of the TV. We get to play trivia twice a day. I have a shot that I need to take once a week. It is kept in the refrigerator in the Medical Center. On at sea days the Medical Center opens at 3:00. We were confined to our cabin at 2:15. I called the front desk to explain that I needed this shot, I take it every Sunday. No particular time but sometime on Sunday. By 10:00 I gave up on waiting for it. I called the front desk again at 9:00 this morning to ask for me shot. They transferred me to the Medical Center. The person who answered the phone had to ask what to do. They told him to just bring it to my door. He said that he would be here soon. OK, I am a day late but it is not a huge problem. I called Donna to find out when they got...
Read more

Message to Florida Officials March 30, 2020

To all of my Florida friends. Please use this script to contact your elected officials. We need to be able to disembark. There are sick people on this ship, they need proper medical care. Script for phone calls or emails to elected officials in Florida: As a resident of (city/Florida/the USA), I am (writing/calling) you to voice my support for the docking of the Holland America MS Zaandam in Fort Lauderdale later this week. The ship has over 300 American Citizens on board, none of whom have been on land since March 14, and they need our support now more than ever. Four people have lost their lives because countries along their route turned them away and denied them the medical care they desperately needed. One of those people is an American citizen. Now that the ship has crossed the Panama Canal, we need your help more than ever. We appeal to you to let our ship dock in Port Everglades. The healthy can undergo the necessary screenings and begin self-quarantine. The sick can have acce...
Read more