How trip of a lifetime turned to holiday hell on coronavirus cruise ship
A great-grandmother from Wolverhampton who was trapped on a cruise ship hit by coronavirus says she is relieved to finally be at home.
Judith Glover spent almost three weeks isolated in a cabin after Covid-19 swept through the Zaandam.
Four people died on board and as country after country turned the liner away there was uncertainty about when Mrs Glover would get home.
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She was then moved to sister ship the Rotterdam as she was not displaying symptoms.
Safe to say, climbing down a 48m-high liner onto a lifeboat at night in the middle of the ocean was not on the itinerary but it was soon the reality for Mrs Glover and dozens of other British holidaymakers.
It was supposed to have been the trip of a lifetime.
The 72-year-old, from the Merry Hill area of the city, got on board the Zaandam on March 2 in Argentina with her friend John Kelly, from Leicestershire, before the first UK coronavirus death has been announced.
All started well as the ship stopped at the Falkland Islands and then docked in Chile.
But after getting back on board on March 14, alarm bells started to ring among passengers.
"We started hearing these alarming bits of news about coronavirus," Mrs Glover said.
"The following morning my cabin steward said 'Mrs Glover, wash your hands well' and I thought 'uh-oh'. Then I saw two of the crew with masks on for the first time."
Soon after a message came over the tannoy from the captain ordering passengers to go back to their cabins "and to stay there".
"I can't say I was terribly surprised," Mrs Glover said. "As soon as I saw a couple of people with masks on I thought 'oh my god'."
She remained in the cabin, with two portholes which would not open, for a week.
She passed the time by playing on her hand-held Nintendo, puzzle books and playing cards.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the great-grandmother said she didn't feel scared.
But passengers were soon given heartbreaking news which brought home the gravity of the situation.
"They said quite a few people were going to the surgery complaining of respiratory problems. The day after that we got the news people had died," She said.
"That was terrible. It was absolutely horrible. I can't imagine what it was like for the families of those people and the situation they were in on that ship. To lose somebody like that and so quickly."
The captain turned the Zaandam around to head back to Chile but by the time it arrived the nation had closed its borders and the ship was refused entry.
Several other South American countries also pulled up the drawbridge, leaving the Zaandam and its 1,200 passengers stranded at sea.
"It was unbelievable that they would not let us disembark (in Chile) but rules are rules," Mrs Glover said.
From there, the captain was left with little choice but to head for America, despite conflicting statements from politicians over whether the ship would be allowed to dock.
Another decision was also made to split the passengers. Those who were healthy were to be transferred to sister ship the Rotterdam, which had been drafted in to join the Zaandam.
In a scarcely believable scenario, after being given temperature checks, healthy passengers climbed down the side of the Zaandam onto lifeboats to be taken to the Rotterdam.
"We were some of the first people to be taken off," Mrs Glover said.
"It was about 10pm and we had to go down the steps on the side of the ship."
But she added: "It was not a frightening experience. Crews were there all the time, you could hold on to them all the time.
"Everybody was very calm. When you go on these cruises the majority of people are over 60. You don't get to my age without experiencing some things.
"There were three or four children on board. Some of those must have been nervous going down onto the tender.
"It only took a matter of minutes to take us across to the Rotterdam."
She remained confined to a cabin but this time had a balcony for fresh air, and she described conditions aboard the Rotterdam as "excellent", even if there was a surreal moment when Titanic was screened for passengers' apparent enjoyment.
She added: "They needed to focus on the people who were ill. There was no intention of a good ship and a bad ship.
"They did their best for everybody and should be praised for that."
After successfully passing through the Panama Canal following initial complications, the next question was whether the ships would be allowed to dock in America.
Following early mixed messages, President Donald Trump intervened to confirm they would be allowed in.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a slick operation by the Americans. Mrs Glover barely set foot on US soil.
She said: "We were given a temperature check and if we passed we were given a card to disembark. We then went back to the cabins.
"Then we got a note to say there would be a knock on the cabin door from 10.30pm onwards. We used the card to step on the gangplank and walk off the ship.
"I walked off the ship and straight onto a coach. I don't think I did more than five steps across."
The coach went straight onto the airport tarmac and Mrs Glover was ferried onto a plane with other Brits and flown to Heathrow.
Asked how she felt when she finally arrived home on Saturday, the pensioner said: "It was wonderful. I couldn't believe it. It had been five weeks.
"It was absolutely fabulous, just to come home and turn the key. The whole thing was quite traumatic."
Mrs Glover said the ordeal had not put her off cruise trips but that she would be staying at home for the next year.
She added: "I look back on it with a great deal of sadness. I feel sad for those people who have lost relatives. I feel terrible for the Holland America line because they did everything they could.
"It's very mixed emotions. I'm so glad to be back home."
