Anderson South America Misadventure Day 26 – At the Panama Canal “Do Not Think of this as a Healthy Ship and a Not Healthy Ship, but You were Not Healthy Enough to Go Over” March 30, 2020

This morning the captain started out by reading a statement from corporate. We have been granted permission to transit the Panama Canal. I already knew this because Victoria has been following anything that she can find on our ship. First the Panamanian Health ministry had to approve our transit, then the Panamanian government. Breakfast came at 7:50, not too bad. We take the lids off with a bit of trepidation. Wow, today there are two fried eggs, not scrambled! The other plate has French toast. For those who do not know I am a diabetic. I have learned what I can and cannot eat. White rice and corn in any form spikes my blood sugar. Wheat is not too bad, but I have to be careful how much I have. Potatoes do not seem to be a big problem. When I could select my food I would choose things accordingly. I would skip rice, risotto, polenta, pasta, etc. Now we get what they bring us. If you have food allergies they have that on record and you will receive meals without those allergens. I was not on record, I just was selective and loved that they always had a “no sugar added” option for dessert. Now when we get meals Rob lets me take what I want. Luckily for him with my stomach the way that it is he still gets a portion of my meal, but he is really getting a lot of carbs this past week. I gave him half of my sausage and bacon. He loves real bacon. Real bacon is something that we generally only buy when the beefsteak tomatoes are coming in so that we can have BLT’s. He is getting tired of bacon. They also give us two glasses of fruit juice, usually orange that has usually separated by the time we get it. I would love a glass of V8, a bowl of cottage cheese, a hard boiled egg and two cups of HOT chai for breakfast. Someday, when we get home. I was hoping that HGTV would be running “Flea Market Flip” like they usually do on Sunday mornings. Nope, it is “Fixer Upper.” I must be the only HGTV fan who does not like “Fixer Upper.” Ah, I find the movie “Book Club.” Rob is less than thrilled but we do not have a lot of selection so he suffers through it. It was amusing and an escape. Our daily Coke Zero order arrives, but it is only two bottles and they are dinky little ones. I offered some to Rob, but he lets me have it all. I get the ice bucket filled again. This time I put half into my water bottle and half into his. He is getting tired of drinking room temp water. For some reason I am doing OK at room temp Coke Zero. Our wifi is spotting again. I did get my post up and then it died out. I called the desk. It is Sunday and I need my shot from Medical. I know that they have more important things going on but they will not allow me to go down to get it. I also tell the desk that the wifi is out. We find that there is a new recorded message from Orlando Ashford, the president of Holland America on the Holland America channel. He is telling us to not think of this as a healthy ship and a not healthy ship. Yeah, well, when you did not take us because we were not healthy what are we going to think? They are still moving people over to the Rotterdam. We must be right above a tender platform. I can hear the tenders joining up with the ship and hear people going down the stairs. I try not to think of them like rats fleeing a sinking ship but I do. We play trivia on TV, this one is music trivia. We got a 16 out of 30, no pins for us, but it was the best score in the cabin. One of the questions was “who sang ‘Shout?’” It was the Isley Brothers and we get it correct. Amanda the activities director plays the entire song. We are both sitting down but put out arms in the air with the music. After it was done I pointed out that this was the most activity that we have done in a week. Victoria is keeping busy notifying news agencies about our situation. I did a phone interview with Bloomberg/Business Week. He said that I sounded awfully calm. I said that if throwing a hissy fit would get us back home I could throw an awesome one but that will not do anything. I did say that my sense of humor had dulled a tad. The reporter is very nice. He said that he was based in Miami. If we disembark in Ft Lauderdale and need anything we should call him. I hope that he is serious about this. At 6:00 I call the desk again to get my shot. Yes, they will let Medical know. A few minutes later I get a knock at the door. Grab the face mask, put it on and answer the door. The nurse hands me the box and leaves. Um, there are two shots in here, I only need one, the other needs to be refrigerated. She is gone. Great, now what? I call the desk again. Yea, Amanda answers. Somehow she learned my name on like day 3 of the cruise. She is glad to hear a happy voice. I explain that our wifi is out. OK, she will reset the router and we will have to restart our devices. Oh yeah, can you send someone to pick up my shot. It does not have to be medical, just someone who can walk the halls. I did tell her that we had “danced” today and that I had been building my water bottle raft. She laughed. A little while later a confused crew member showed up at the door, I explain that this has to go to medical. OK, we will see if it got there if/when I need another or we get off of the ship. I hear the knock for dinner and open the door. The woman across the hall was explaining to the guy that they already had dinner, he does not seem to understand and walks away. She looks at me, we both have masks on. She asked if we had dinner yet, no, OK, she takes her foot and pushes the tray across the hall. Hey, whatever works. Tonight’s dinner was nice, a steak on one plate and seafood on the other. There are portions of crab legs. I take the steak because the seafood came with rice. We split most dinners anyway. The steak was not the most tender but it was OK. Rob was excited about the seafood. I got some of the crab, one clam and part of the fish. I have to be careful how much I eat, my stomach is calling the shots. We put the tray back outside. A little while later there is a knock on the door. Dinner, um, we already ate. He looks confused. Do you see the tray of dirty dishes? I did take the chocolates, I mean, they are chocolates. I wonder what we were supposed to get for dinner? I did not check. I have been watching the Rotterdam all day. They were using two tenders to take passengers over. I see that both tenders are back on the ship. I guess that we will be leaving soon. The captain comes on to make an announcement. We will be lifting anchor soon and have been given final permission to transit the Panama Canal. The Panamanian government has issued rules for this. There can be no one on their veranda or any decks. All veranda lights must be turned off and the curtains on veranda staterooms closed. This sounds odd but I figure that this is how you sneak two cruise ships through the Panama Canal. Now that I am back online I am in contact with someone from Good Morning America. They want to do an interview at 6:30 am. We are on Central time so 5:30. OK, yeah, we can do this. I am online with both Victoria and Miles from GMA. I am trying to set up a Skype account. I do that, but cannot sign in. I try again and again. I try to sign in under Victoria’s account, no go. Miles and I are chatting on facebook. He said that they can do “facetime.” Um, yeah, no, I do not have an Iphone or Ipad. I have a tablet and an android phone. Somehow they will get this to work. Rob and I head to be early so that we can get up for our interview. It really does not matter when we sleep, we are in this room until the end. Passengers on ‘Death Ship’ Plead for Rescue as Virus Strikes