March 16 - At Sea for the last time
Well, its been a lovely cruise, but all things must come to an end. We never dreamed it would end after only 52 days out of the planned 131 days though. Guess we can say we've been on a Half World Cruise.
The captain annonced this morning that we would be arriving at Fremantle (Perth) this afternoon and would anchor until tomorrow morning at which time we would dock. Then we should begin clearing Customs around 10:00 am and have everyone off the ship by noon. This is a day earlier than originally discussed, so Regent will provide hotel rooms and transfers to the airport for those who need them. There are at least 3 other ships offloading their passengers in Perth over the next few days, so I'm grateful Regent was able to make these arrangements. We will be provided with a day room at the Ritz Carlton in Perth and transfers to the airport for our flight.
And this morning, we had an email from American that our flight from Auckland to Los Angeles on March 19 had been cancelled. Not good news. Fortunately, the phone number they gave to call was actually answered within a few minutes. She could not get us out on other flights since they were cancelling everything after March 21 and there were no seats left on the remaining flights, so she cancelled the reservation and will issue a refund.
That meant we had to make changes for our other arrangements with Qantas, originally flying from Perth to Auckland on March 18. There was no way to get Qantas on the phone - a projected 4-6 hour wait! - so we got on the website and booked new flights leaving tomorrow night (March 17) and going all the way through to Redmond. No business class available, so we had to book Economy Plus. Dear lord, this will be a miserable return trip.
I contacted our travel agent and asked her to help with the cancellation and refund on the original Qantas flights and see if she could work any magic to find business seats for us. Fingers crossed.
The good news is that we get to dock, despite the ban on cruise ships, and they will let us off with no quarantine. We're praying that in Los Angeles, we get through the Customs/Immigration process in time to make the connection, and that they let us go on home to self-quarantine.
This is a relly unfortunate end to what has been a wonderful cruise. I can't say enough about the wonderful crew - everyone from the captain down to the dishwashers. They are all so kind, friendly, patient, and with wonderful attitudes even as they face tremendous uncertainty themselves. I am so sad to miss out on their company for the next couple of months, but hope to see some of them on our future cruises we have planned.
If all goes well, I'll post one more time after we get home - will have plenty of time if we have to stay home for 2 weeks and then practice "social distancing." More good news: Anna was able to get some toilet paper for us! (You have to laugh, or you'll cry.)
The captain annonced this morning that we would be arriving at Fremantle (Perth) this afternoon and would anchor until tomorrow morning at which time we would dock. Then we should begin clearing Customs around 10:00 am and have everyone off the ship by noon. This is a day earlier than originally discussed, so Regent will provide hotel rooms and transfers to the airport for those who need them. There are at least 3 other ships offloading their passengers in Perth over the next few days, so I'm grateful Regent was able to make these arrangements. We will be provided with a day room at the Ritz Carlton in Perth and transfers to the airport for our flight.
And this morning, we had an email from American that our flight from Auckland to Los Angeles on March 19 had been cancelled. Not good news. Fortunately, the phone number they gave to call was actually answered within a few minutes. She could not get us out on other flights since they were cancelling everything after March 21 and there were no seats left on the remaining flights, so she cancelled the reservation and will issue a refund.
That meant we had to make changes for our other arrangements with Qantas, originally flying from Perth to Auckland on March 18. There was no way to get Qantas on the phone - a projected 4-6 hour wait! - so we got on the website and booked new flights leaving tomorrow night (March 17) and going all the way through to Redmond. No business class available, so we had to book Economy Plus. Dear lord, this will be a miserable return trip.
I contacted our travel agent and asked her to help with the cancellation and refund on the original Qantas flights and see if she could work any magic to find business seats for us. Fingers crossed.
The good news is that we get to dock, despite the ban on cruise ships, and they will let us off with no quarantine. We're praying that in Los Angeles, we get through the Customs/Immigration process in time to make the connection, and that they let us go on home to self-quarantine.
This is a relly unfortunate end to what has been a wonderful cruise. I can't say enough about the wonderful crew - everyone from the captain down to the dishwashers. They are all so kind, friendly, patient, and with wonderful attitudes even as they face tremendous uncertainty themselves. I am so sad to miss out on their company for the next couple of months, but hope to see some of them on our future cruises we have planned.
If all goes well, I'll post one more time after we get home - will have plenty of time if we have to stay home for 2 weeks and then practice "social distancing." More good news: Anna was able to get some toilet paper for us! (You have to laugh, or you'll cry.)
So glad you guys will be able to dock and get home where life will again be crazy for a while. So good to see you here in Fiji.
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