Frustrated and Stressed to Fun and Relaxation

Sometime in late 2019 I booked my next cruise for August 2020 on Carnival. I barely remember the destinations. I can only remember one stop, Cozumel Mexico. I had never been to Cozumel and was looking forward to going some place new. Then in March 2020 Covid shuts down the world. The cruise was cancelled and rebooked for October 2020. (I mean who thought it would be over a year before life restarted and things opened up again.) Right before October 2020 it was cancelled and rebooked for March of 2021. Again it was cancelled and rebooked for October 2021. This one ended up in a conflict on my schedule and I had to change the date to January 2022.

What a devastation we had seen for pretty much two years of so much sickness and death the shutting down of travel, restaurants, movie theaters, businesses, school was now inside of our homes, and on top of that some where able to work from home, and so many others were unemployed. Our way of living had ceased. When Covid-19 hit in 2020, no one expected for things to happen the way they did. We ran out of every day supplies. So many things were closed down. The hospitals were running over with patients and the medical staff was overworked. The government stepped in with mortgage and rental assistance from being foreclosed and evicted due to no income being generated, stimulus payments, student loan assistance, and even extra in our unemployment checks. It was something that I know at forty-seven, I never thought I would see.

In 2021 the vaccinations came out. Some people ran to get vaccinated, while others like me decided to wait. I told myself that I was going to either wait six months at least and see what the side affects were or those that had taken it, or unless it became a requirement for my job, or to travel. Well traveling was still not happening, yet. But in August, my six months was up, international traveling was coming back and the NFL told us we had to get vaccinated to work around the players. (I work security for the Jacksonville Jaguars outside of being a full time author and owning my own publishing house.) So, of course I got vaccinated. At this point I thought I was good to go and ready for everything, as I am sure most of us did. Thinking that the worst was behind us.

My cruise was rebooked for January 16th-22nd. I was finally going to make it to Jamaica which was a dream of mine since I was a teenager. My destinations included, Ocho Rios, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. I had already been to Grand Cayman, but never to the other two ports of call. From someone who had started taking two cruises a year, I was overdue. I was so excited. One to be back on a cruise and two to go to Jamaica. The world had finally started to reopen.

Approximately October or November 2021, (I can’t remember exactly. It all ran together for me.) in comes a new strand of Covid and a recommended booster shot for those either with health issues or at the six months or more from their second vaccination, and yes the rumors of things beginning to shutdown again. The hospitals were full again, people were getting Covid – even the vaccinated people and some of the unvaccinated were dying. It was happening all over again, and still is – today is January 18, 2022. Now I was getting nervous. Was I still going to be able to take my cruise in January?

Mid to the end of November 2021, I get an email from Carnival about my upcoming cruise. Before opening it, I panicked. Luckily it was just a ship change and the ship we were going to sail on was sent in for maintenance. They gave us the option to cancel or be transferred to another ship. I’ve waited too long to go on my cruise. There was no way I was going to cancel. About a week or two later in early December 2021 , I got another email from Carnival about my upcoming cruise. Again I start to panic. Due to Covid they had to change the itinerary. Heartbroken I was going to not get to go to Jamaica or Cozumel, but I still wasn’t cancelling even though once again we were given the option.

Mid December 2021, another email from Carnival. It gave us the new Covid requirements. One we had to be fully vaccinated and bring our original cards, no pictures on our phones and second we had to get a Covid test 48 hours prior to sailing, and third we had to wear surgical masks or KN95 masks while inside the ship unless we were actively eating. Outside by the pools of course it was not needed. Sounded fine to me, I am still going!

I scheduled my Covid-19 test two weeks out for Friday January 14th at 3:30 pm, 48 hours before setting sail. On January 14th, I go and take the test and they inform me that it could take up to 72 hours to get the results because of the number of people getting tested again due to the new variance. I don’t have 72 hours. I only have 48 like requested. I start loosing my mind. Checking all night for those results, calling the lab, trying to find out were they going to rush the ones for travel, but no one seemed to know. On Saturday morning, one day before sailing, I call the lab back. Nothing they can tell me other than it is pending. I have to leave at 5 am the next morning to drive to Miami and need those results so I can print it out for the cruise. So, I call Carnival and come to find out because I am fully vaccinated, I don’t need the travel (PCR) test, I can do a rapid test as long as I am not the one giving myself the test. So, I go back online to CVS.com and find only one test appointment for that day at 4:55 pm. Of course I booked it. The nurse called and told me I could come in early. This was about 12:15 pm. If I could get there before their lunch break 1:30 pm that would be fine or after they get back at 2 pm. I was very eager to get this second test done, so I immediately left and showed up at 12:50 pm and was the second person in line. She told me that it would take fifteen minutes for the results to come back, but I would get a text with the link to the letter in 1-2 hours.

I waited until 4 pm for the results before I called in another panic. The nurse informed me that I was negative, but they were having technical difficulties and the letters would be uploaded in a few minutes and I should have the text in thirty to forty-five minutes. At 5 pm, no text. Now I am about to loose my mind again. I call numerous times and no answer between 5 and 5:30 pm. On the 5:30 pm try, I got the message that they were closed. Still no results. I call the CVS store and talk to the guy at the store counter in the front. He goes and checks and all the nurses are gone. He patiently and kindly listens to my frustrated rant and said he can call his store manager to see if he can get in touch with the nurses to find out what is going on. This call was about fifteen minutes long and as soon as he said he would call his manager, the text came through about my results. Finally, I was relieved and ready to go.

The moral of this story is to provide hope, inspiration, and encouragement. Keep pressing through these hard and difficult times due to Covid. Your travel plans are still obtainable!

On January 16th I set sail on the Carnival Liberty with the first destination of Amber Cove - Dominican Republic, Grand Turk, and Bimini – Bahamas for six days. For all of my cancelled cruises, rebooking, change of ship and change of itinerary, I was given $550 in onboard credits and upgraded to the Captains Suite!

I am sitting on the beach in the Dominican Republic writing this story. At the end of all the frustration and stress, the fun and relaxation were worth it!