My personal recollection of those very difficult months that hit hard on the cruise ship industry and its crew.
March 7, 2020
The day I was scheduled to board Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of The Seas.
Mood: 😄
Took my flight from Buenos Aires to Miami amidst news of the growing epidemic in Asia. Masks were not recommended for the general public yet. Just came back from a vacation trip to Europe which I was lucky to complete with no inconveniences. Now it's time to go back to work at my floating workplace.
Everything was normal at the time, the virus had not affected Europe or the American Continent yet. As I boarded the ship my temperature was checked and I had to fill a form assuring I did not have any symptoms of the novel disease nor had traveled through China recently. Next to me one of the rotating captains is coming back on board from his vacation as well. He also gets his temperature checked, no exceptions. I hear our boarding passengers were monitored as well and some even declined from embarking the vessel. This cruise we carry barely half the amount of guests our capacity allows.
My first week back at work goes as messy as it usually does, but in no form due to the growing threat. The only way that affected: helping with the full sensitization of common areas between cruises to keep our guests from interacting with surfaces that had been in contact with previous passengers. Crew members, we are used to this very standard procedure. We were ready to go to even higher levels of prevention but we didn't even have to. A few weeks after our Asian ships did, our operations are halted.
March 13
| Days on Board: 7 | Cruises suspended for 30 days.
Mood: 😊
With a message from RCL chairman we are informed this is the best way to keep us and our passenger safe, after seeing the news of other ships trapping thousands of people on board due to an outbreak, I agree. Can't complain really, just came from vacation and I get one month with nothing to do? Sure! I'm supposed to be on board until the end of the year so I can certainly wait it out.
But among the meeting others think very differently. Some are supposed to finish their long and tiring contracts within that month, after months at sea, to go back to their families. Some weere even supposed to finish their contracts on the weeks prior but the person coming to fill their position couldn't make it onboard preventing them to go back home.
March 14
| Last day on land. Cozumel, Mexico | Guests 1,700~ | Crew 870~
Mood: 😄
Time to stock up for one month with no contact with the outside world. The limited and pricy snacks and toiletries on the ship would not be enough. 48 more hours to go to finish our last cruise for the next 30 days. As we disembark our last passenger we will be almost 900 crew in a floating quarantine.
March 16
| Last day with guests. Tampa, Florida | Guests 0 | Crew 870~ Mood: 😄
A ship with no guests, a dream come true for many crew members. But that's looking at the bright side. Most of us rely on tips to make a living, -no people, no tips.
The question is, did anyone catch the virus in the last week? Do we have the virus on board with us right now? Many don't show their faces out of their cabins too much the first couple of days. We get our temperature checked daily, we have a schedule to do so. Ship management takes the initiative to make the best out of the opportunity. We are still on a payroll so let's put our abilities to work. The entertainment teams keeps putting together activities for the new kind of guest: jobless workers. The lifeguards keep the pool open for us. I keep recording a daily show to pass on information and the activity schedule, we try to make everyone excited. At this point the plan is to relax and take advantage of the time to learn from my boss. Two weeks go by quickly, we enjoy it to the fullest, I think we could sense this was borrowed time and something bigger was coming upon us.
March 25
| Days Worked: 10 | Days at Sea: 9 | Crew 800~ Mood: 😊
Indeed the worries multiply when it's announced that the suspension of cruises is to be extended 30 days further and all of our contracts are to be terminated immediately since we are no longer necessary for the time being. All non-essential workers are terminated with granted one month's pay of compensation. I have to hand in my office keys, the little drive I had to keep going to my office for extra training grows thinner. At least -at this time I thought, I get paid one month, and in another month spent on my home away from home I will simply resume with the many months I had set myself to spend working at sea.
All the people supposed to go back home in March, and now in April as well, set their minds to do so as soon as possible. The air travel industry is wobbling, at best. Many countries are imposing travel restrictions not allowing transiting or entering passengers.
Many make their bags in hopes to return home before all lockdowns are in place, but most flights never take off. The majority of flights are canceled within the day prior to boarding, even merely hours. Crew members that made it to the airport are not allowed back on board, at the risk of 800 others confined to a floating hotel. Some will stay over one month confined to a hotel room in land. Not only kept inside by the threat of the virus, but heavily monitored by Immigration Agents since our maritime labor visas don't allow us to stay on U. S. soil, only to briefly transit to and from our vessel. Moreover our companies are obligated to send us straight back to our countries at the moment we cease our contracts with them.
In the case of Argentina, charter flights to repatriate stranded travelers are being organized. One has to sign up for them but the priority lies with the elderly and those in greater need. Considering we are safe, well fed, with a roof secured and no special expenses, we don't fit that bill. Yet some sensationalist articles started circulating about us, poor miserable crew members left to our own fate by country and company alike. I went publicly against the people painting this picture. Not because the times were not hard but because our basic needs were covered and many people, especially back at home, living below the poverty line, where, and still are, starving, unable to feed their families and constantly risking their lives for a wage. Those people simply embarrassed themselves falsely implying they had been forgotten, when in reality flights were coming into Buenos Aires non stop, trying to bring people back home, those that were sleeping in airports or sick and over 60 y.o. and our companies had to juggle increasingly more complicated measures. All they did was paint a bad name for Argentinian crew members judged for seeking a living overseas to later urge to be brought back home. On the other side of the coin, we are informed from the Argentinian embassy that Royal Caribbean has not yet established any communication with them, as they are still trying to arrange commercial flights through the weirdest air carriers they can possibly unearth, having failed 3 times at least at this point.
Increasingly more people refuse to take the risk of suffering the same fate and choose to stay on board. A document is handed out to all, if we want to stay in the floating safe heaven we have to refuse the company from repatriating us for the time being. They agree to provide us with food and accommodation for as long as we might need, or choose, to. No pressure. But there will be no pay.
Some are eager to go home so they don't sign, I personally plan to resume my work whenever I can so I sign the document.
PERSPECTIVE: 100.000 seamen and women in lock down around the world. Normally a constant traffic of a couple thousands coming back and forth vessels being handled by a team that now has to repatriate most of them amidst a general air travel halt and closed borders. While keeping the upmost standards of safety.
Emotional assessment: I try to keep up the positive thinking but the general mood is quite murky, many are worried about their families, job and country. People that live paycheck to paycheck, that work abroad to try and make a significant income to bring into their countries. I am privileged to be able to enjoy with no further consequences, I am responsible only for myself and have no expenses. But I still question if I should just go back home since it's announced the Argentinian airport will remain closed for commercial flights until September.
We now realize we won't make it to our itinerary to Europe, this means shattered goals for many of us that choose this lifestyle to be able to travel.
March 30
| Days Worked: 10 | Days at Sea: 14 | Crew 700~ Mood: 😐
At this point we are quite confident nobody is infected onboard, although we start hearing of the asymptomatic cases. We get backlash for having "too much fun" in these dire times, in comparison with ships that have been infected and their crew members isolated separately.
Coast Guard helicopters check in on us and I supposed they didn't find it humorous to see us sitting at the hot tub. The C.D.C rules all ships, even with no confirmed cases, to start taking said measure as well. All crew is to be isolated individually. At least, in guest cabins, since you can't keep a person with no natural light as you do in a crew cabin, correct? And we don't have enough crew cabins so one per person, additionally if you tried to move only the people in the top bunk, as they first suggested, (it being the worst bed) you would be brewing the perfect recipe for a mutiny, some things you just can't mess with when it comes to crew.
The lowest positions got the best cabins, a nice touch. The transfer was chaotic, though.
April 4
| Days at Sea: 19 | Days Isolated: 4 | The day we never sailed to Europe
Mood: 😐
Initially the plan was to remain 3 days in isolation, we quickly found out it would have to be 15 days. We were served 3 meals a day and temperature checked by masked working staff. Our managers called us daily to check in on us. Channels are set up to suit the majority of crew, since there's not much more to do in a tiny stateroom, we now get Filipino, Indian, and Christian channels, along a workout channel and internal communications in the form of a daily newsletter and general uplifting program. The heads of departments make a daily show communicating the latest repatriation plans and updates from the fleet. As well to wish a happy birthday to anyone on the... joyous... occasion. Easter comes around and the Easter Bunny made it to the Brilliance OTS, we all get chocolate.
Hanging on to the small positive details is all we have, alone in a cabin, far from home, with just one suitcase of our belongings and a barely functioning internet connection.
April 9
| Days at Sea: 24 | Days Isolated: 9 | Cruise Ship Ban Extended
Mood: 😨
The C.D.C. tightens their grip on our livelihood extending the no-sail order to 100 days starting from April 14. Many more lose their reason to remain onboard since their contracts where finishing withing those months in the beginning, plus those who need to rush back home and get a job to feed their families and pay their debts.
During this weeks we lost over 10 fellow seamen and women, some by unconfirmed reasons but most to suicide, coming up to 3 persons passing away withing 2 days adding up to 4 in just one week of May. Not even counting the untimely passing of all those taken by the virus.
It's not easy to keep your grip when your whole life comes crumbling before you, a life that took an enormous effort to pursue, leaving country, friends and family behind.
Amidst the overpowering uncertainty a mediatic confrontation unleashes between the C.D.C. and the cruise ship industry. Fingers are being pointed over who's stalling the crew members' repatriation while we sit and watch, with no clue of who to ask for answers.
Remember those crew members stuck in hotels waiting for flights? They don't want that to happen anymore so the C.D.C. rules: no crew members are to stay in hotels in the U.S. awaiting for flights and all are banned from boarding american local flights, companies must provide them with private chartered flights. so not only you can't send somebody ashore without -somehow, being assured the flight will happen, in addition, picture this, there are tenths of ships off the shores of Florida alone, and on the other side of the U.S. even more. On each ship, tenths, if not hundreds, of workers from each nationality. Who could be capable of putting all these people on a plane together if they can't take a local flight to meet up at one airport, nor spend the night at a hotel since not all ships can dock on the same day and disembark crew in time for a flight. Since it goes without saying no-one could afford to charter a flight for the few countrymen on each ship and they need to be together to make it worth chartering a flight by having the most amount of passengers.
On one hand the news break that the companies refused to sign the guidelines for crew travel. Apparently they refuse to pay for costly chartered flights, the only means of transportation available for these big groups of people that needed relocating. They counter these statements by explaining these guidelines would hold them criminally liable for any mishap, and in this world situation, that sounds like a big risk to take.
The cruise ship industry will find another way, far away from U.S. waters, to bring their crew home.
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