Home.

I never felt the need to stay at home as much as I feel it now.
This trip was planned one year ago and as with any vacay, it should have been great. It was a family trip: me, hubby, my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend.
With much enthusiasm, we departed Barcelona on the 5th of March, in the morning. After a 5h stop in Paris, we were off to Guadalupe.
Those who know me are well aware of the fact that I love planning in advance, so before departing, I checked the worldwide situation of COVID-19: some cities in Italy were in lockdown, 200 cases in Spain, same in France, no cases in Romania. Looking at the actual numbers and comparing them to the population of each country, the situation looked stable and, just like anyone else, I could not foresee what was coming.
For reassurance, I called Costa Cruises on the 4th of March. They confirmed nothing had changed, everything went according to our booking, so it was impossible to cancel or reschedule. In the Caribbean, there were 0 cases reported on the 5th of March when we arrived.

6th of March – Departing

With all this information in our mind, we boarded the ship on the 6th of March from Pointe a Pitre port in Guadeloupe. There was a questionnaire we filled in before boarding, saying that Costa would not accept anybody coming from the cities that were in lockdown in Italy, China, and South Korea. Also, our temperature was measured.
The ship left the port at 11pm as scheduled.

Itinerary for the next week:

• 07/03 – Day at sea
• 08/03 – Tobago
• 09/03 – Grenada
• 10/03 – Barbados
• 11/03 – St Lucia
• 12/03 – Martinique
• 13/03 – Guadalupe
• 14/03 – Day at sea

7th of March – Day at sea

While sailing towards our 1st stop, we were informed that Tobago and Grenada would not receive our ship, so we would go to Barbados on the 8th of March, which according to our itinerary should have been our 3rd stop. This was the first lie that Costa told us. They acted as if they didn’t know that Tobago and Grenada were denying our entrance, but actually, it was public information since the 6th of March, the day we onboarded the ship.
We should have been informed and offered the option to board the ship other not, taking into account that 2 ports were off the list. As compensation, we’ve received 100e credit onboard/person.

8th of March

Instead of Tobago, we arrive in Barbados but are not allowed to come close to the port. For hours we stayed 6km away from the shore waiting for an announcement from the Captain. It seemed that Barbados workers were on a strike not to receive an Italian ship, especially because the COVID-19 situation in Italy was getting worse and the whole North of the country was announced to be in lockdown. Meanwhile, some medical tests were performed on some sick passengers, but bear in mind that we did not receive an official communication about this. It was all rumors and local media. All the other cruise ships were able to dock.

*note that the news is from the 7th of March
We’ve docked in the afternoon, but only to take supplies.
With the help of local media, we found out that 2 passengers tested negative for COVID-19, and yet we were not allowed to get off the ship.
It was evening by now, and the situation on board escalated. People were angry, misinformed, and afraid of the whole uncertainty.
The Italians and the French started to have meetings with Costa Officials in the theatre of the ship. All the conversations were carried in either French or Italian. One of the many frustrating moments for me and 200+ more international passengers.

A new destination was added to the list, as 3 ports were missed: St. Marteen.

9th of March

We were heading to St. Marteen, sailing the whole day and night, as the islands are on opposite corners of the Lesser Antilles.

That morning I went straight to the Client Relationship Manager, asking him to immediately take us back to Guadaloupe. This was not what we paid for! Only to later find out that the theatre was full of people requesting the exact same thing. At this point, Italy was in lockdown, and we suspected that no port would give us permission to dock.

People were angry, and yet, the message from the Costa Officials was the same: “We are going to St Marteen, nothing else is changed in the itinerary. After St Marteen, St Lucia is on the list. Please keep calm!”

10th of March

Surprise: we went out to St Marteen. This was the happiest day of the whole nightmare. We spent some amazing hours here, just enough to see the beauty of the Lesser Antilles. Pretty sure allowing us out was a mistake, but we enjoyed every second of it: we did an island tour, went ziplining, and explored some beaches.

Came back to the ship at 15.30. A couple of minutes later we were informed that St. Lucia, our next planned stop, will not receive us either. Their solution? One more day in St. Marteen. However, the port authorities asked the Captain to change docks. After this maneuver, we were asked to leave St. Marteen. Weird, isn’t it? All these changes in a matter of minutes, while the Costa Officials were pretending that these were unexpected news for both sides. The next destination was Martinique.

At this point, I had so many unanswered questions, and knowing about the other vessel, Diamond Princess, everything started to look scary.

11th of March

Every day there were 2 gatherings: with the Italians and the French passengers; each group had different requests and expectations.

• The Italians were concerned about their flight back home, as Italy canceled all of them. They were kinda quiet, but all the meetings had a little sense of humor and in the end, they were shaking hands and leaving the theatre with hope.
• On the other hand, the French were agitated (taking into account that there were 600 people from Martinique and Guadaloupe on the ship). People were asking for their rights, requesting refunds, and making serious noise about the situation. On a similar note, they were organized, having a representative who was taking requests and building a case for the Costa officials. They were the ones making lists of people to start a law class action suit. At this point, the press was involved. People were asking for cash refunds and moral compensations, instead of vouchers.

I was participating in all their meetings, trying to understand what the hell was going on and what the best way out looked like.

At a certain point, I decided to disconnect and get some sun therapy. I was spending a couple of hours every day lying in the sun, but there was this bad vibe and trust me, when the situation is that tense, nothing can really help.

12th of March

By this time, we´d been sailing from St. Marteen to Martinique for 2 nights and 1 day. Martinique was waiting for us to arrive on the morning of March 12th. Keep in mind that the distance was short between these two islands, but Costa managed to purposely lose time by navigating as if the ship was playing Nokia´s old game, Snake.

Captain announced our arrival in Martinique, but we were 6km away from the local port, called Fort de France. Just as in Barbados, we were not allowed to get closer.

We were informed by our Captain that the local authorities of Martinique are requesting medical inspection of all passengers from Costa Magica but later found out that only 5 passengers with COVID-19 symptoms had been tested. We had to wait again for many hours for the results. Passengers from Martinique were becoming more anxious, requesting to disembark immediately. This was their home.

It was afternoon and we were about to receive news from the Captain. ¨The results were received and we would like to inform you that no one tested positive. We repeat, all medical tests were negative, therefore nobody is infected with COVID-19 on our ship.¨

Genuine happiness! This was great news and with it, we knew that getting off the ship was a matter of time.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. Costa lied to us again, but this time they committed a crime. Knowing the medical results, we were going up and down without being worried about the virus or the remaining days of our vacation. At the same time, the prefecture of Martinique confirmed that 2 persons tested positive and were taken to the local hospital. Costa did not react. Officially, we knew nothing.

The only thing they did differently that evening was to cancel the theatre spectacle and live music show. Obviously, they were trying to cut off social interaction. The hand sanitizer was almost gone on the boat.
Everyone was expecting the residents of Martinique and other international passengers who had their port of call in Fort de France to disembark that evening. It would have made total sense, but that did not happen.

The locals became more vocal.

Another night went by.

13th of March

Finally, after waiting so long, we were informed officially that there were people infected onboard. The attitude of the crew changed completely. All the offices were closed, and the crew members started to wear masks and gloves. There was no more music and everybody was keeping their distance. People were avoiding other people, nobody was touching the elevator buttons, and we started to use the stairs more. Washing the hands 100 times per day has become normal now. Sneezing or coughing in public was a NO-NO!

Another announcement was made: the people from Martinique will disembark, all the others will sail to Guadaloupe and Costa is working to find a solution for us to return home. The cruise was officially canceled. In the afternoon we started to sail back to Guadeloupe, where we arrived after approx. 5 hours. That same evening, the locals from Guadaloupe disembarked. The Italian passengers were next on the list. They had a charter ready that night, which took them to Milan.

Residents from Guadeloupe and Martinique, after disembarkation, were isolated in an institutionalized quarantine for the next 14 days, even though the ship was not considered in quarantine.

14th of March

Finally, this was the promised day for everybody to go home.

Still on the ship, but we had breakfast in another location than the usual one. Of course, the place was very crowded and nobody was really speaking. I felt sad and awkward. Was this real life or a bad movie script and this was my part? My feelings went from anger to disappointment and sadness to fear.

Around 10am they checked our body temperature and told us to prepare for ¨check-out¨.

An envelope was sent in every room containing instructions about the next steps. such as info about the first leg of our flight (Guadaloupe-Paris).

This was when Costa officials, reassured us that everyone would be taken home from Paris. Once in Paris, you will all receive the tickets for the final destination. We were asked to fill in some forms with the destination and also all the details regarding this vacation (flights planned, accommodation, number of people, name, home address, nationality). At the same time, they called us on the phone asking once again for the final destination, ensuring us that we would be taken care of.

For our flight to Paris, there was no departure time on the ticket, except for our destination (Paris) and the airline company: NEOS – a charter of Costa.
The Extraction

It really felt as if we were in a movie. They were offboarding people floor by floor. Luggage was previously picked up by cruise staff, but we kept ours in hand. While stepping out, everyone received a mask and we were escorted by the local police to the airport. There was a total of 5 buses, each of them entered the airport through a non-commercial gate. Both security and check-in were skipped and went straight to the plane from our bus. Even though we were assigned seats, upon arrival, the stewards informed us about the free sitting. First come, first served!

This was obviously treated as medical repatriation and even though I am unable to express in words the actual experience, it was without a doubt one of the most frightening flights ever. The airplane staff was keeping their distance for all the obvious reasons. People were coughing, while everyone else was giving them bad looks, and slowly, a giant cloud of bad energy took over the plane. There was no unity or sense of community. Everyone wanted out!

15th of March

Arriving in Paris

According to Costa, we were supposed to meet their representatives upon landing.

THAT DID NOT HAPPEN!

In Paris, nobody knew where we were coming from and more than anything, there was no Costa staff present. Disappointment once again, frustration, desperation.

After 2 hours of waiting, we all realized that Costa had abandoned us in Paris, so we had to find our own way home. Not even mention the fact that several people had already booked flights from Paris, but canceled trusting that Costa would arrange charters, taking into account the circumstances.

After a few searches, we found a flight with EasyJet at 4pm and booked it. Lucky us! Going home one day before Spain closed all borders.

One flight and one train ride later, we were home in Barcelona and couldn’t feel happier. No food at home, but our friends took care of it. What would this world be without humanity and friendship?

And now?

I am disappointed, sad and scared. Disappointed because this was supposed to be the trip of our lives. Sad because there is nothing that I can do and Costa treated us so unfairly. And scared counting down the days until we pass COVID-19´s incubation period (10 left)…

Costa sent no email since we arrived, no phone call, no nothing. And talking about reimbursement or promised vouchers? Nothing as well. C´est la vie!

My heart goes to the crew members of Costa Magica who are still on the ship, without being able to go out and reporting every day more and more sick people. I cannot believe this company!!

I also wanted to say, Kudos to the Romanian Embassy from Paris, France. The level of service and empathy surpassed everyone´s expectations. Thank you for your support and professionalism.

Stay safe, guys!

Status Update – 24.03.2020

My mom and my sister-in-law were confirmed positive with COVID-19. They are now in the hospital and we hope that the virus will go away very soon. They had almost no symptoms, which shows us that there might be so many asymptomatic people but contagious. So it is very important to stay at home.

As the situation in Spain is so difficult and there are so many cases, I and my husband could not get tested, but taking into account how I felt lately (sore throat, cough) I am pretty sure I have it as well.