A return to the scene of the crime
Johnny’s Issues
I remember at the beginning of the COVID saga the story of a cruise ship that was stuck between ports amidst an evolving pandemic. This was back in February 2020 when many hadn’t grasped the full potential of the virus, nor the manner by which it would spread. For some reason, the spectacle of a cruise ship being stranded and isolated in port became a sort of ground zero for the COVID epidemic and captured worldwide media attention. As a refresher, the cruise ship carried 3,711 passengers and crew. People started showing symptoms early on. By the end of the cruise, 712 people had come down with the COVID. And of those infected, fourteen ultimately died from the virus. The ship had sailed out of Japan. Along the way, people onboard started getting sick. They made port calls in Hong Kong and Taiwan before returning to ports in Japan. It was then that the Japanese government decided to quarantine the ship. This gave the passengers an unwelcomed extended “vacation” as they spent their days trying not to contract the virus. The quarantine took place in port off of Yokohama and lasted fourteen days. The entire COVID cruise ship episode shed light on the inadequate level of preparedness on the part of both the cruise industry and the ports to deal with such an outbreak. Cruise line operations temporarily shut down shortly thereafter.
Fast forward three years and the world certainly feels more normal. COVID is still among us of course. But cases are trending downward. In the spirit of getting back on the horse, I’ve booked a cruise for early next year. I was surprised by the affordability of this particular cruise and asked my travel agent about it. She is the one who alerted me that this is the Diamond Princess, a.k.a. the “COVID Cruise.” That certainly would explain the discounted rates being offered as the cruise line attempts to overcome the bad brand association.
Going onto the Diamond Princess feels to me a little bit like returning to the scene of a crime. But the thing is, I can’t fault Princess Cruises for their onboard outbreak. They just happened to be the first cruise ship to have it happen. And that makes sense given their proximity to the origin of the outbreak. But it might just as easily have been any other cruise ship or cruise line.
I do wonder though why Princess didn’t simply change the name of the ship altogether. Try to paint away the stigma by putting an end to the name “Diamond Princess.” Another of life’s COVID mysteries, along with the run on toilet paper, the testing swabs into the brain, etc.
Truth be told, I’ve been on three cruises since the COVID outbreak, each on a different cruise line. They each take precautions to varying levels and I feel safe enough onboard, particularly with the precautions I took on my own (shots and boosters, etc.). Now on to the Diamond Princess. Expecting fair winds and calm seas.
Do you know where sick cruise ships go? To the dock, of course.
The column represents the thoughts and opinions of Johnny McNally. Opinion columns are NOT the opinion of the Navasota Examiner.
Johnny McNally is Grimes County’s Best Dressed Businessman advocating for Grimes County and writes a bi-weekly column for the Navasota Examiner.