"" Writer's Wanderings: CDC Color Status Yellow Means No St. John's?

Saturday, January 15, 2022

CDC Color Status Yellow Means No St. John's?


 Our ship was scheduled to visit St. John's in the US Virgin Island and news came that the island authorities were not going to let us in. The CDC classifies ships and ours is currently at a yellow status which means there is at least one crew member who has tested positive or .3 of a passenger who has (figure that one out). I would guess that because of our status and the previous outbreak among crew during the cruise before us, that St. John's determined they would deny us entry.

Whatever the case we were scheduled for another day at sea and a slow cruise back to Miami. I don't mind sea days. There's always something to do but I determined I was going to get some writing time in. I was fairly productive. It's always a slow start until characters begin to come alive and set a direction. 

I walked the Promenade Deck while Bob played Paddle Tennis and discovered a feathered Leonardo DiCaprio impersonator at the bow of the ship. If you've seen Titanic, the movie, you'll get it.

The other siting made me really happy. Flying fish! I hadn't seen any in the  time we'd spent on the ship. I usually see them any time we are cruising the Caribbean. I was beginning to worry but there they were, soaring across the waves and diving in again. 


Trying to cut back a bit on my food consumption, I had eaten light at breakfast and lunch but unfortunately that just made me hungry by the time for afternoon tea rolled around. You guessed it. All the good intentions were gobbled up by scones and finger sandwiches. Still, I didn't eat it all (patting myself on the back).

I hadn't noticed it until the captain made a special announcement that we had changed course. A crew member had become ill and needed to be transported to San Juan, Puerto Rico, which was the nearest land mass to us. He had contacted the Coast Guard but they both had determined it was too dangerous to try to use a helicopter--it was a bit windy. That made me wonder if the crew member had been injured. I had heard a loud metal bang in the morning as if something heavy had dropped. The captain assured us it was not COVID related but he never gave any other information. That was the bad news.

The good news was that we would get to see the port of San Juan which, in our opinion, is the prettiest port in the Caribbean. At the entry sits a spectacular old fort. Our veranda was on the port side and perfect for viewing it as we entered. The sun was also setting and lights in the port were coming on. We went to dinner and had a pretty view of the lights in the harbor and during the sail out. The actual docking only took about fifteen minutes with the EMS coming aboard and taking the patient who we would learn later was a female and was doing much better the next day.


The entertainment for the evening was in the Stardust Lounge which is kind of like a cabaret. I don't know how the dancers are able to do their thing without kicking the passengers who sit right down front. I saw no passenger injured.

A walk around the deck and we were on our way to bed with a few prayers said for the crew member left behind in San Juan. 

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