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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2020)
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 15 On a ‘ghost ship’ in Asia amid coronavirus fears By Craig F. Eisenbeis Correspondent Last month, when my wife, Kathi, and I embarked on a month-long trip to Asia, we had no idea that we were about to become part of an international news story. I9m referring, of course, to the strange saga of our cruise ship, Holland America9s Westerdam, variously labeled the <Ghost Ship,= <Flying Dutchman,= or <Pariah Ship= by various news media. Repeatedly denied entry into any port due to fears of the potentially deadly coro- navirus, the ship made inter- national news as it wandered the South China Sea for two weeks, searching for a port of haven. What was it like aboard the ship during this bizarre Odyssey? Well, part of the time it was like liv- ing in the plot of a grade-B horror movie, in which the characters are pursued by a deadly menace but every path of escape is blocked. Still, we were never quarantined; and the mood on board was often quite festive. On the other hand, the stress and concern were always present. For example, after the captain announced yet another port cancella- tion during one evening din- ner, a lady at a nearby table began sobbing. So, yes, it was stressful 4 and, at this point, continues to be. We are lucky to be home now, but news reports say that a woman from our cruise has now tested pos- itive for the virus. Our cruise got off to a great start in mid-January with visits to Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, and four stops in a rather remarkable Vietnam. However, because the Westerdam inadvisedly made a port call in Hong Kong, just as the coronavirus crisis struck, the cruise took an unexpected turn, or rather several of them. The first surprise came on our way to the Philippines, where I was looking forward to visiting the country where my father saw heavy fight- ing with the Coast Guard during the retaking of the Philippines in World War II. Just a few hours from dock- ing in Manila, that country became the first to refuse us entry due to fears of the virus. That action stemmed from our stop in Hong Kong and the first death in the Philippines from the virus. Meanwhile, for obvious reasons, the cruise9s final destination was changed from Shanghai, China, to Yokohama, Japan. So, China was obviously off the list; but Yokohama was of interest to me, since that was the port where the Coast Guard ship, on which I was serving, took its mid-patrol break during a Far East deployment in 1971. Taiwan was the next to pull the welcome mat; and South Korea soon fell off the itinerary, too. So, then we headed directly for Japan, with several planned stops, including Nagasaki and Okinawa, where my wife9s father fought in World War II with the marines. By then, every time the captain came on the public address system with <a very important mes- sage,= everyone groaned in unison. Japan, already deal- ing with a horrible outbreak on another cruise ship 3 the Diamond Princess 4 couldn9t risk another and turned us away. By this time, it was abundantly clear that we were in a very difficult situation; and the cruise was officially <terminated.= Except that it wasn9t, because the ship still had no place to go. Even so, in spite of the Westerdam¾s peculiar cruise to nowhere, the mood among the passengers was remark- ably upbeat. Sumptuous meals, glitzy Broadway-style production shows, and myriad activities continued unabated. Our situation was vastly bet- ter than that of the Diamond Princess in Japan, where hun- dreds of passengers fell ill with the potentially deadly virus and were quarantined Sparks will fly! PHOTO BY CRAIG EISENBEIS Travel on the Westerdam in Asia was impacted by the rapid escalation of the international coronavirus health crisis. in their rooms. As a result, an undercurrent of anxiety about a similar fate was ever- present, even though every- one9s body temperature was scanned four times over a period of several days. The Westerdam briefly started on a track toward Guam but was denied entry there as well. So, the ship turned southwest, retrac- ing our route north of the Philippines, without a real destination. We were even- tually told that <two (undis- closed) ports= had agreed to take us; and, after a few days of aimless wandering, Thailand was announced as our destination and we received notice of our flights scheduled out of Bangkok. 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