The Cruise that Never Was

MS Oosterdam

This blog was supposed to be about my wonderful Mexican Riviera Cruise. I had booked the trip months ago to get my long time friend (and now fiancee...more on that later) Diane her first cruise experience. I had booked a fantastic rate for a balcony room on the Oosterdam with Holland America. Diane lives in San Diego where we were to debark from so I thought it would be an easy trip for both of us.

Then Corona Virus struck. The cruise ship Diamond Princess was held in Japan, people were sick and dying and it seemed like the Apocalypse was upon us. In the weeks before the cruise, we were inundated with doom and gloom newscasters telling us we were all going to die and the end of mankind was just around the corner. Diane and I were being asked daily by friends and family if we were still committed to the cruise after all the cruise ships seemed to be quarantined or often not allowed to port for stops or even just returning to home ports. There came a string of missives from the cruise line stating our safety was paramount and they promised us a great adventure AND an added cabin credit of $200 to keep us from canceling. Awesome! Cabin Credits, right cruisers?

Mostly due to my former occupation and the experience that came with that, I've never considered myself an alarmist and I wasn't about to start now. Ok, some would suggest that when all others are losing their sh*t around you...it may be time to re-evaluate your position (sorry Mr. Kipling). My experience dictates one constant, people are well meaning but they're going to screw up. They can't help themselves. I just need to point to the massive hoarding that took place after the first announcements of staying home and riding out the storm. There was never a hint of a food shortage or a complete halt to the production and distribution of toilet paper or paper towels (I'm still mystified at THAT nonsense). I believe people have been binge watching Zombie movies like "Walking Dead" for too long. I know this because, in my state, Texas, gun and ammunition sales went up 100% in the week we went into stay-at-home was enacted.

So Friday night before departure, I'm literally zipping up my bag for the trip to the airport in the morning when I get an email from Holland America saying the cruise was canceled and we were entitled to a refund or future cruise credit. I get the cruise line was acting prudently and clearly afraid of future fallout lawsuits from sick passengers or quarantining people on their ships. All bad press for the publicity department.

Ok...I still have lemons (a really low fare round trip to San Diego) and can make lemonade. I can still go to San Diego and visit Diane and friends. This will NOT hamper my vacation. It's San Diego in the Spring for goodness sake. How bad can it be? How wrong I could be.

I could see the handwriting on the wall when I got to Love Field. Love is the headquarters for Southwest Airlines and is usually a bevy of activity. Security has like 20 lanes and usually there are lines even at O-dark thirty as I was. Nope, I literally walked right up to the TSA guy, handed my phone and ID to him and waltzed through X-Ray and retrieved my carry-on in about five minutes. The hold-up was I had neglected to remove a juice box for my grandson I keep for our outings. They were treating it like a plastic explosive. I saw it as the TSA tech walked up with it and I pulled it out, unannounced, and caused a stir, but I apologized for my cavalier attitude and they sent me packing.

One of 30 people on my flight

Anyone familiar with the Southwest boarding policy knows we had to lineup so the Agent could get us aboard in an organized fashion. I had checked in 24 hours before and got an A-59 assignment....Ok, I have NEVER gotten an "A" assignment before. I was doing air high-fives the day before. I get in my spot and can't help notice the few passengers lined up. The Agent then calls, "Let me have A 1 thru 30 for boarding." Nobody moved. A 1-30 was sans passengers. The Agent realized this and then said (to my dismay), "Well......let me have A,B and C passengers for boarding." I was one of 30 people on a stretch 737-800. There was no pushing or shoving or waits while people put their bags into the overhead. Victory was ripped from my hands. I was robbed.

The trip to San Diego was quick and quiet...not a word was spoken among the vastly scattered passengers and the crew was equally quiet and unseen. After the safety briefing, they only appeared to distribute drinks and some snacks. They kept the night-lighting on and you caught an occasional ghost-like flight attendant wander up and down the aisle to collect trash as we entered final approach.

Now California had not locked down yet so Diane picked me up and took me to Old Town Mexican Cafe for my favorite breakfast. We drank lots of coffee and had our fill of their handmade tortillas (best on the planet). You know, the kind you just want to curl up with a tub of butter and try to catch the melted goodness running down your wrists as you eat.

Diane lives in Chula Vista, California and we needed to pick up some stuff for her condo so I had my first real experience with crazy grocery stores. We got to the Walmart and the shelves were bare. I'm not talking just paper products, entire aisles of bread, pasta, eggs, dairy were gone. Let's not even mention the lack of sanitizing and cleaning products. We saw people walking out with pallets of water. It was like those disaster movies.

So the first night I had Diane ask her sister Carol and Brother-in-law John to join us for dinner. They picked the  Dolci Cafe Italiano  in Rancho San Diego. There we had a wonderful dinner. I had the Lasagne Bolognese, Diane had the Pollo Parmigiana. The Lasagna was interesting in that it wasn't the traditional wide pasta in cake form but a  Pappardelle style wide Fettuccine pasta...really done well. During the evenings discussion was Diane's future plans to Texas. Diane recently retired and wanted to taste the wide open spaces and State tax-freedom of my adopted state.

We have been friends for about 20 years and had been long-distance dating for about a year and I had decided to propose to her (with witnesses) on the cruise we were supposed to be on that week. I had the presence of mind to bring the ring with me that night expecting to propose over dessert. So the conversation moved on to when we were getting married. Diane's response was something like,"Well, I don't know, he (that would be ME) hasn't proposed yet."

Ok...let me digress, in the past couple of months I was getting photo texts of pictures of rings and subtle hints as to where I could locate similar rings for sale. Let me point out the descriptions of her wish list were for "big ass" rings. The photos were evidence of a need for something significant to wrap around her diminutive (size 6) finger. I dutifully located and purchased said rings. I then had a family member do a cursory temperature check of the family's response to a proposal. I got the go-ahead and had planned on a proposal at the first Formal Night on-board so we could get photo evidence for future generations. Those plans were dashed when Covid-19 showed up.

So there we were at dinner when her remark about proposing hit home. Not waiting for dessert....I kicked my chair out from underneath me and got down on one knee (which is a significant undertaking at my youthful 65) and pulled the BA ring out of my pocket and proposed. Well, a very pregnant pause took place and my future bride and sister got vapor lock as I awaited her response. Thankfully, future BIL John had the presence of mind to take some phone photos of the moment as I had to prod dear Diane to come up with a verbal response, "Ahhhh...you're supposed to say something." Thankfully she said yes and it was hugs and applause all around the restaurant.

I should point out, our female server quickly made her way to the table as she was informed by the kitchen staff I had proposed and she was a little miffed she had missed the event. As a sign of her congratulations, she offered us a free dessert which we gladly accepted  and shared a Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache...Wow. And, right on queue, two days later California closed restaurants except to drive-up and pick up only.

So for the next week, as the stay-at-home order took hold, we did a lot of book reading, movie watching, dog walking and home cooking with an occasional meal delivery (Door Dash) of Olive Garden delights (they didn't include bread sticks...Bastards!). Luckily, we had brave friends and relatives who took us into their homes under the cover of darkness, for dinners (thanks Carol and John as well as Frank and Michele).

The week went relatively fast and I found myself back at the Lindberg Field Terminal saying goodbye to my newly ringed fiancee' (I was reminded its Fianee' feminine and Fiance' for the male).

I saw a familiar check-in the day before my departure when I checked in late and STILL got an "A" assignment. When I got to the airport the next day, again, I was the only person walking through security at 4 pm on a Monday, usually a busy time for Lindberg Field. I stood at the entry point and couldn't see a way through the chicane of barriers. Waayyyyy back by the X-Ray machine a TSA guy called to me, "Sir...just come straight back", and waved me toward him. Again, I was the only person going through and took me maybe three minutes to get to the redressing area. Up to the gates and was presented with an empty terminal. There were more Gate Agents than passengers. I got a snack and sat at my gate. When it was time to go, we all were called up to the Gate and just walked our way to the plane. There were 10 of us going to Dallas and three were Southwest employees deadheading back to Dallas.

Wait...I saw this on "Airplane"

Back at Dallas, I made my way through a completely empty Terminal. The only place open was a Dunkin' Donut shop at the top of the stairs to exit. I was hungry and got my plain Old Fashion and a cup of their coffee. I quickly got my bag from the turnstile and out to my pickup in record time.