Soon after boarding, Claudia noticed the coughs. “If you cough or sneeze, do it into a tissue or your bent elbow.” His third piece of advice was: “Buy travel insurance.” The doctor suggested passengers read the insurance coverage closely to “make sure it is the kind ‘cancel for any reason’ and covers many unexpected travel situations, such as medical care and evacuation”. “Given recent events and general inquiries we have received about travellers’ health,” said Tarling, looking into the camera in one video released in late February, a map of the world behind him, “you may want to bring your own thermometer.” Tarling, the company’s lead medic, also demonstrated the correct position to sneeze, bringing his bent arm close to his nose.
Dr Grant Tarling delivered updates in cheery three- to five-minute videos posted on corporate websites.
COVID ON CRUISE SHIPS 2022 HOW TO
In the run-up to the Zaandam’s departure from Buenos Aires, Holland America medical experts had dispatched advice on how to protect against coronavirus. In addition to these carefully itemised supplies, another traveller was aboard the ship – a deadly stowaway probably hiding in the lungs of a passenger or a crew member. To feed all passengers and crew on a ship like the Zaandam for a long cruise typically required 60,000 kilos of vegetables, 40,000 eggs, 20,000 steaks, 16,000 cans of beer and soda, and hundreds of cases of wine. They would end with a passage through the Panama Canal, island hop in the Caribbean and then disembark at Fort Lauderdale.ĭown in the holds, the quartermasters went over the stores for the long trip. T he cruise was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit the strait of Magellan, navigate the Beagle Channel, follow Darwin’s route, and then cruise up the west coast of South America for an excursion to relive the excitement of Hiram Bingham’s 1911 “ discovery” of Machu Picchu, high in the Peruvian Andes. Few passengers were monitoring the news channels that would have alerted them that on 8 March 2020, just 48 minutes before the Zaandam’s departure, the US state department posted a warning that was as unambiguous as it was unprecedented: “American citizens, especially with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship.”Īboard the Zaandam, the musicians tuned their instruments. As last-minute preparations to leave were made, dancers limbered up, magicians rehearsed, members of an a cappella choir belted out tunes and a team of massage therapists were busy kneading away knots from the stress of life onshore. Aboard the Zaandam were 305 Americans, 295 Canadians, 105 French, 131 Australians and 229 UK citizens.Īs more than 1,200 guests and almost 600 crew settled in, the Zaandam became a buzzing community that included 10 decks, eight bars, two pools, a casino, a mini tennis court, an art gallery, a library and a performance hall with a capacity for 500. Their hopes of cruising with people from countries spared by this new deadly virus vanished. But they’d made it work, raising three children who’d given them nine grandchildren.Īs the couple boarded, they found that almost none of the passengers came from Argentina or South America. His mother was an immigrant from Bath, England his father was from the Netherlands.
Juan, a soft-spoken accountant, was in many ways her opposite. She was an experienced psychologist, and gregarious, open to speaking her mind, making grand gestures.
Claudia was a stickler for detail and liked to swim and cycle. She was steeped in the nearly 150-year history of the Holland America Line, for decades the industry leader in service and style, and known in its marketing materials as “the Spotless Fleet”.Ĭlaudia and Juan had been together for 42 years. Christened in May 2000, the Dutch-flagged vessel had the feel of an ocean liner of a bygone age. At the docks they spotted their ship, the MS Zaandam.
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