Photograph by The Traveling Footprints
This Pandemic has been a difficult journey to say the least and in the initial days, so many people were lockdown in foreign countries or cruise ships not knowing when they would be able to safely return home. We were one of the fortunate ones to be able to return home before all of the flights were grounded back in March.
We’ve teamed up with Cruise Director Kabir to share our stories of the chain of events as they unfolded as we were in different parts of the world trying to get back to the city we mutually call home. We’ve also included pro cruise tips, so do lookout for those!
So without any further delay, let’s get into it! Don’t forget to follow & subscribe to all of our social media channels for more blogs, tips, recommendations, travel news and much more.
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Getting home to Toronto: by The Traveling Footprints
Photograph by The Traveling Footprints
Thinking back to September 2019, we were super excited about our trip for March when we were supposed to head to Egypt, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, hop on a Suez Canal cruise, disembark in Italy, fly to Prague and Budapest and then finally return back to Italy before we headed home to Toronto.
Not in our wildest dreams could we have fathomed that our father would suddenly fall ill and pass away and a few months later what would transpire across the world and end up as a global pandemic. So fast forwarding to the beginning of March, we remember constantly watching the news and reading articles to see what was happening around the globe and were just in complete dismay. Considering that we were supposed to travel in and out of various parts of Europe and especially Italy, we kept on waiting to hear some form of news from Royal Caribbean regarding our cruise and what steps would be taken for everyone’s safety as we were scheduled to fly out on March 8th. As our father’s final wishes were to have his ashes taken to India, we booked a flight there ahead of the previously planned trip so that we could honor his wishes.
March 8: After serious consideration, we decided to cancel our cruise the day of our flight to India. At the time, we felt that it was still safe to travel to India as they only had one reported case in the South but weren’t sure about Egypt and The United Emirates. We did know that there was no way that we were going to travel to Europe and especially Italy considering the devastation that they were facing.
We were finally able to get through to a representative and cancel the cruise just a couple of hours before our flight departure time. Needless to say, we were stressed; we knew that we were flying to India but had no idea where we would end up or where we would be taking a flight home from. In preparation for our trip, we packed masks, gloves, Lysol wipes and hand sanitizers in our carry-ons; we knew that we wanted to take whatever precautions were available to us just in case.
March 9: We arrived in Abu Dhabi for our 8-9 hour layover and decided to head out and checkout the beautiful Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. As holders of Canadian passports, we were issued an arrival visa on site and were able to head out without any hassles. On a side note, we highly recommend taking advantage of any extended layovers you may have to explore easily accessible sights. It is imperative that you do your research in advance, for example, we knew our arrival time in Abu Dhabi and that we really wanted to visit the Mosque; therefore, we looked up the visiting hours vs prayer times to ensure that we would even be allowed in. We were so happy that we took the opportunity to explore this beauty and would love to return one day to checkout the city even more.
Photographs by The Traveling Footprints
March 10: We finally arrived in New Delhi, India and booked a coach bus to our final destination which would take us another 8 hours and we were ex-haus-ted! We arrived at our relative’s place around 7pm IST and all we could think about was getting some much needed sleep and connecting to cell service so that we could catch up on the global news as things were changing ever so quickly.
Photographs by The Traveling Footprints
March 11: We barely got any sleep that night as all we could think about and monitor was the constantly changing news on the virus and its spread. We know knew that we were no longer going to travel to Egypt as they now had several clusters of the virus and breakouts in areas that we were supposed to travel to. We were getting so many messages from family and friends back home updating us as well and of course sharing their concern for us. Even our relatives were shocked as to how swiftly our plans kept changing by the hour. Ultimately, we knew that we were there for a bigger purpose and needed to ensure that we took care of our late father’s wishes. In fact, all of our family had already arrived in India a week or two prior to our arrival. As we were running errands that afternoon, we received a call from my brother in law asking if we had seen the news. He then proceeded to notify us that the Indian government had just announced that all visas had been cancelled and that as of midnight tomorrow, the country was going into lockdown. We were stunned at the turn of events and stopped doing whatever we were and headed back to the house to start looking up available flights. The only flights available online were $1,300, $5,000, $7,000 and $9,000 CAD, one-way, per person. We even checked with a local travel agent to see if there were any other cost efficient tickets available and nope, that was it. So we immediately booked the cheapest option for the following day and made new arrangements with the family to take care of Dad’s ashes the following morning.
March 12: As our new flight was scheduled for 11:30pm that day, we headed out around 4am to do the needful. Our cousins had said that they would personally drive us to the airport to ensure that we were there on time; however, we received a call from them before noon saying that there was breaking news of new clusters of COVID in New Delhi and adjacent cities and that it was no longer safe for them to travel there. We agreed that we didn’t want them putting themselves at risk and so we booked a taxi back to Delhi and asked my aunt if she would just prepare some food for us as we no longer felt safe making any stops along the way. Everything felt so rushed and the anxiety of not knowing if the flights would be grounded or given permission to take off left us feeling overwhelmed. I remember waiting in the long security clearance lines and everyone around you had the same worrisome look; we all just wanted to get home, wherever that may be.
March 13: When the flight took off , a small sigh of relief passed over me as we headed to Kiev, Ukraine for another lengthy layover. Once we arrived, there were military personnel in hazmat suits that checked your temperature before allowing you to enter the terminal. One by one, everyone was checked and allowed to proceed forward to the security clearance and then subsequently to their designated departure gates.
We were so happy that we had a couple of Mastercard airport lounge passes as they couldn’t have been more useful than right then. The staff was so friendly and the process was super smooth. They offered us blankets and pillows, along with shower kits and towels. We were able to get a few hours of sleep in the back section of the lounge that had the lights turned off. This was incredibly needed and there’s nothing like a shower to freshen you up followed by a warm cup of coffee or tea with snacks. We felt somewhat refreshed as we headed back to our boarding gate. We noticed that there were several connecting flights being cancelled and hoped that ours wouldn’t be one of them.
Photographs by The Traveling Footprints
An hour prior to boarding, Ukraine airline’s personnel made an announcement stating that everyone needed to leave the area and line up behind the red tape at the gate entrance. We were a little surprised as we had never experienced that before; generally, boarding is announced and people are asked to board as per their allotted sections. As asked, everyone proceeded to lineup in an orderly fashion and then the airline personnel arrived with another official staff member and military officer. They set up a baggage sign and one by one started advising many of the passengers that their carry-ons did not meet their guidelines and that they needed to pay $200 CAD per person’s carry-on in order to proceed into the gate and board. It went something like this “pay $200, next, pay $200, next, pay $200 next” etc. It was like as if we were a herd of cattle and no one was answering the reoccurring question of why? Why was this now being done when everyone’s check-in luggage and carry-ons were already checked by their airline staff at the initial departure airport. When questioned, we received the response of “this is our procedure, we don’t know if they checked the baggage properly.” So, even though this is the same airline, isn’t all of your staff equally trained across the board? We didn’t choose to have a layover, this was your scheduled itinerary; you can’t just exploit individuals like that. We’re in the midst of a global crisis and all people want to do is get home and all your airline can think about is how to make more money. There were seniors in tears standing on the sidelines because they had been told to pay the $200 CAD and they didn’t have the money to pay. We had a few hundred dollars in our pocket and offered it to a couple of seniors as we just wanted to help them out in someway. We were just simply disgusted by the airlines behavior and lack of customer service. Needless to say, we will never fly with Ukraine Airlines again and would not recommend them to anyone.
March 14: After all of that frustration, we were so elated to have touched down in Toronto. I will never forget that feeling when the aircraft tires touched the tarmac. I prayed and thanked God for safely returning us home; it had never felt so good to be home.
It was odd to see that no precautions were being taken at Pearson International airport, no masks, exposure questions or even guidance on quarantine. As we had been closely following the news, we already knew that the government health officials were highly recommending that anyone entering the country should quarantine for the 14 days and thus we had already decided to follow that recommendation before landing in Toronto. Funny enough, we were some of the very few individuals wearing masks and consistently sanitizing our hands after touching any surfaces. It was really shocking to see everyone go through the customs kiosks without any intermittent cleaning/wiping of surfaces. Everyone was packed in the lineups like sardines and surprisingly enough it was a “normal” day at the airport.
All in all, we’re just so grateful to have returned home when we did before everything shut down. We had family stuck in India and the Philippines for quite sometime and knew of many others that were lockdown in other countries with no choice but to ride it out.
As a way of saying thank you for taking the time to read through our story, we wanted to share a few of our cruise tips with you and hope that you will find them useful.
Cruise Tips:
- Pick the right ship & cruise line for you
- Take the time to do your research and choose a cruise ship and line that suits your personal lifestyle and travel needs as they all have different offerings. Once you have narrowed down a few options, then look into what makes sense for your travel budget.
- Book early, especially when there are deals/offers
- Keep in mind that you can always reprice your cruise if the price drops without having to forfeit your existing reservation.
- Another thing we truly believe is that the earlier you book, the better the rates and additional subsequent offers. You also get first dibs of your preferred sailings, stateroom category and location. For example, Royal Caribbean will send you “SALE BEFORE YOU SAIL OFFERS” that can be up to 50% of your cruise favorites such as excursions, dining, beverage, photo and internet packages along with much more. Additionally, the earlier you book, the sooner you can get on your cruise planner and book your preferred entertainment options as soon as they become available in order to avoid disappointment and stand by lines.
- Royal Caribbean has an amazing exclusive Crown & Anchor Society member bonus for all 2021 sailings. You will earn double the points on all sailings for 2021 that have been booked before December 31, 2020. If you have an existing reservation for 2021, you do not need to re-book your sailing; just ensure that your membership number is associated with the booking(s).
- In addition, Royal Caribbean currently has 60% off the second guest and kids sail free all summer offer. Click on the link above to see all current offerings from Royal.
- Know the dress code
- Check to see what your cruise dress code is. Are there are any formal nights, if so, how many, footwear requirements for any onboard activities and or excursions. In addition, leave your valuables at home, do your research and dress appropriately accordingly to your destination. We highly recommend that you avoid overpacking as there many be things that you decide to pick up throughout your travels and the last thing that you want is to be stressed out about is overweight luggage.
- Use packing cubes
- This can take your packing experience to a whole new level, especially when you only have to unpack once! Personally, I like to categorize my packing cubes, for example, dresses/skirts, pants/shorts, undergarments, t-shirts/dress shirts etc. This just makes finding what I need much more efficient. We also use a colour system where we have our own designated cubes, ie, black and red. This is another way to keep things organized; you know exactly which cube to pull from the drawers. Click here to check out the cubes that we absolutely love to use.
- Research your ports of call
- Personally, we enjoy exploring destinations on our own without having to be tied down to cruise line excursion itineraries. Do your research and figure out what you would like to see and explore, are there any particular excursions that stand out to you, what mode of transportation will you be taking, timings, and cost. There are several private tour guides and companies that you can pre book online through websites and social media as well.
- It is imperative that you make a note of when you need to be back at the port. If you fail to arrive back as per the cruise lines designated ship time, they will leave without you. We always set our watches to ship time before getting off of the ship to ensure that we are aligned.
- Take advantage of the beverage allowance
- Even though Royal Caribbean offers a variety of drink packages, a la carte offerings, you are allowed to bring select beverages onboard. This is a bonus as it will allow you to save money and still enjoy yourself. On boarding day, each stateroom may bring the following:
- up to two 750 ml bottles of wine or champagne, as long as one guest is of legal drinking age
- a complementary corkscrew and glasses can be requested through your stateroom attendant.
- non-alcoholic beverages as carry-on items that may not exceed 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom
- Milk and distilled water brought on for infant, medical, or dietary use are permitted
- non-perishable prepackaged food in limited quantities
- If you wish to enjoy your wine or champagne in the dining or bar venues, a corkage fee is applied; however, you can simply fill up your glasses in your rooms before heading out for the evening.
- If you purchase alcohol bottles onboard, in a port-of-call, or bring more than the two permitted bottles on boarding day, they will be safely stored and returned on the last day.
- Even though Royal Caribbean offers a variety of drink packages, a la carte offerings, you are allowed to bring select beverages onboard. This is a bonus as it will allow you to save money and still enjoy yourself. On boarding day, each stateroom may bring the following:
Additionally, you can checkout our blogs on tips for first time cruises, cruise ship staterooms and cruise packing essentials for more information.
Cruise Directing COVID: by Kabir Bageria
Photograph by Cruise Director Kabir
When I set out on my last contract in January, I had a gut feeling that this contract would be different and I was right because I would end up coming home close to 6 weeks after my planned disembarkation date. COVID-19 has rocked the world and brought the Cruise Industry to it’s knees.
When news first broke of the Diamond Princess having COVID-19 on board, we all knew that it was only a matter of time. As the Cruise Director of my ship, I remember thinking “wow, I hope that this doesn’t happen to us” and “it can’t make it here, surely”. Boy we were wrong. It was only a matter of time before our ship and every single ship operating would be touched by the disease that affected millions worldwide.
Shortly after the Diamond Princess’ news broke, Carnival Corporation announced a temporary pause for all of its brands. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean Group announced their pauses shortly after. Since my company wasn’t part of a large conglomerate, the decision was made to operate our next cruise at reduced capacity. Basically anyone who had a second week booked stayed aboard, otherwise we’d not be taking on any new passengers.
The problems started as soon as we departed from our home port. All of the ports on our itinerary were closing one-by-one. The only true “cruising” we did was when we had to go produce more fresh water every other evening or so (we had to do this in international waters). Midway through the week it was determined that no guest or crew member would be allowed to go ashore as Barbados (our home port) had it’s first case. Soon after, it was clear that COVID had arrived on board; it was only a matter of time. It was overwhelming for the medical staff, so an extra doctor was brought in. Unfortunately, that doctor failed to tell the ship that he’d traveled through Italy ten days prior to joining the ship, meaning he went straight into quarantine.
At this point we had numerous passengers with symptoms, but the majority of cases were Crew. The remaining guests were disembarked in Mexico with help from the UK government. What followed was an interesting game of “where will the ship dock?”. It ended with a transatlantic and arrival into the port of Southampton a month after sailing from Barbados. The largest takeaway from the situation was that the media reports of how “horrible” it was on cruise ships were completely overblown. Our ship banded together and acted like a well-oiled machine. We had full use of the ship the majority of the time, and eventually our number of cases declined and became zero.
My time on board was nothing short of enjoyable. All crew were given guest cabins, and our Captain did his best to ensure every single crew member was taken care of and comfortable. We were all literally “in the same boat”. Thank goodness we had a ship wide on-demand system. I was lucky enough to have a Suite with a large balcony, so every single day I’d be out there working out. Bodyweight exercises and the odd impromptu dance session usually was enough to keep me going. It was all fun and games until we crossed the Atlantic.
Photographs by Cruise Director Kabir
On April 21st, I disembarked the ship and flew home through a very empty Heathrow Airport. My Air Canada Boeing 777 only had 30 passengers on it, meaning there was more than enough space to enforce Physical Distancing. To date it’s one of my most memorable flights. At present, it’s unclear when we’ll be sailing again. But one thing is for sure; we will be back!
If you’d like to hear about my entire COVID experience, please check out my podcast, Keeping Afloat, specifically episode 1.15: Working on a Cruise Ship During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
furthermore, check out a few of my cruise tips listed below:
- Make sure you go to the first night’s show
- The first show of the cruise could be one of a few; sometimes it’s a dedicated welcome aboard show, other times it’s a production show, or rarely a guest entertainer. Either way – there is some great information that you’ll get from the Cruise Director at the end of, or during the show. I always made sure to highlight some upcoming events of the cruise. Plus it’s a great way to finish off a busy travel day!
- Magnets are your friend
- Cruise Ship cabins have magnetic walls! From hanging up pictures to articles of clothing or LED lights, having a magnetic hook really helps make your cabin feel like home.
- Take advantage of the Kids Club
- If you’re traveling with your kids, be sure to enroll them in the kids programs. Of the 31 cruises I’ve taken, I was under 18 for the majority of them. On every single one of those cruises I took advantage of the kids program and made some great friendships – in fact I never had a bad experience at the kids club. As a CD, I was in charge of the kids facilities. The staff are all more than qualified to work with kids, many of them being teachers. Take advantage of their expertise and be sure to have your kids attend a few of the activities.
- Working out on a cruise does wonders
- Cruise food is legendary. Why not make room for more food by burning some of it off? Ships have amazing outdoor running tracks and workout facilities. In fact, some ships like Holland America’s Konningsdam and Niew Statendam have outdoor workout facilities. What could be better than a workout while sailing the seven seas.
- If you’re sensitive to motion, stay in the middle
- Most of the time you can expect smooth sailing. But for the odd time that you encounter high seas, your best bet is to get a cabin on a lower deck toward the middle. That’s the center of gravity for the ship, and it moves less in those areas. If you’re especially sensitive to motion, avoid getting cabins at the very forward or aft the ship. Pro tip; if you’re feeling really motion sick, go to Guest Services and ask for a motion sickness tablet. They tend to keep quite a number there.
We hope that you found all of the pro cruise tips useful and anticipate that they will aid you in your future cruises.
Comment down below👇🏼 your lockdown experience or cruise tips as we would love to hear from you!
Until next time, keep dreaming, traveling, exploring safely and spreading your footprints.
♥️ The Traveling Footprints
