I'm Going Home!

I though I would do this post a little different. i will copy different messages and emails that I've sent out in order to keep the family updated on all the twists and turns of my corona cruise adventure. At the time of writing I'm one flight away from making it home to Maui, and to Heidi, Catalina, and Fisher!

April 16th:

Insanity Workout Crew onboard

Well we made it to Tenerife Island, one of the Canary Islands. Lots of atlantic spotted

dolphins were playing around the ship today. Tenerife looks a lot like Hawaii from afar, with a big volcano sticking up out of the water. Also, lots of windmills dotted the island's slope. Even though these islands are part of Spain, they are located off the west coast of Morocco.

April 19th: It's another nice day sitting at anchor off Tenerife. Sometimes we can see the next isl

and, Grand Canary. We can always see the other ships at anchor with us. There are three Silversea ships here. Tomorrow is the day when all three ships go to the pier. We will get supplies and about 240 crew from the other two ships before setting sail onboard the Silver Cloud to South Hampton, England. It is one of the few ports in the world that is still open. We are hoping that everyone can disembark there and get a bus to Heathrow airport in London and flights back home

April 21st: So the saga continues. A couple of days ago we were surprised with news that about 20 of us might be able to fly home out of Tenerife. It is mostly the North Americans and Europeans that were able to secure repatriation flights because of some visa limitation that other nationalities faces flying out of the European Union. I waited till I was on the plane, strapped in, door closed, and wheels up before I finally accepted that it was really happening. Especially after the letdown in Cape Town.

The airport in Tenerife was deserted when we arrived. There was only one flight departing all day, a Condor Air flight to Frankfurt, Germany, and I was on it!!!! So a good start, which quickly turned into a quagmire of police interrogations once I landed in Germany.

In Germany we were not allowed outside the terminal, even though we had an overnight hotel booked, because we weren't allowed to enter the country. Some of our group didn't get the memo, or just didn't care, and left the airport anyways with their bags and casually walked to the hotel with no problems at all. After hearing this a group of us tried to walk out, but were stopped before baggage claim by the federal police. They also told us we could not leave, and they told me that I couldn't continue on my scheduled flight to Amsterdam because the new rules said I had to fly directly out of the EU. This led to a lot of confusion and eventually being officially deported from Germany. After a few hours in terminal police jail, I was able to call the agency who books our travel for work. They were great and quickly managed to change my flight directly to the US, while still getting me back to Maui just a few hours later than originally planned. It would be another overnight in LAX but it was the right direction. The entire conversation with the booking agent I could hear chickens in the background, I think because of the time of night he was in the Philippines.

The stressful part was that no one from Silversea was awake and approving the flight. It wasn't until 5:30am, after a bunch of emails and calls that the ticket was finally approved. It was not a very restful night. Now I fly on United from Frankfurt to New York, to LAX. Then a 24 hour layover before catching my last leg on Delta to Maui. I am really hoping that they don't make me do a mandatory 14 day quarantine in Los Angeles when I walk out to get my luggage.

The police held me until about two in the morning. That is when they told me they would keep my passport, and I had to come back in at 6:30am to 'check in' and make sure I havn't run off and disappeared. Then I have to come back at 10am so they can escort me and my passport onto the plane. I hope they make me wear a hannibal lector straight jacket so I can really make an entrance.

***Update**** The police escort was intense. They treated me like I was an illegal alien trying to get into the country. They refused to hand over my passport even after I was seated on the plane. I was escorted before anyone else was allowed on the plane so all the passengers and flight attendants watched. It was pretty crazy. The flight attendants were very nice after and the captain almost immediately gave me back my passport so all was good.

This Odyssey of getting home has really turned into a drawn out story. I was supposed to be home almost a month ago, but its possible that later today I could be back on native soil in the USA, and in two days back in Maui with my family in my arms.

April 22nd: After two full days of travel I am back in the States and feeling rested thanks to an overnight hotel just outside of LAX. Unfortunately I have to wait until 4pm today before catching my last leg to Maui due to the sheer lack of flights. I am so excited to get home. After the debacle with the police and getting deported in Germany it has been relatively smooth flying. My flight from Frankfurt to New York, and from NY to LA were ghost flights. Only a dozen or so passengers were on each flight, so everyone had entire rows to themselves. This meant social distancing was quite easy, and there were no ques at the lavatory. One downside was that no booze was offered, even on the international flights, although to be honest I hardly even noticed with so much else to worry about. All the normal difficulties and stresses of flying were made insignificant by the reward waiting for me at the end. While I don't have my family in my arms quite yet, it feels more and more real with each completed leg of the journey.

Just 2400 miles to go across the Pacific Ocean!