Henderson couple stuck on cruise ship off coast of Chile
A Henderson couple is stuck aboard the Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship off the coast of Chile, which won’t allow their ship to dock amid growing coronavirus fears.
John Burnette said he and his wife, Patty, boarded the ship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 1 with Patty’s parents, siblings and siblings-in-law. Her father is Chilean, Burnette said, so they decided to take a cruise around Cape Horn as a family, with the exception of the Burnettes’ three daughters, who are home from school because of coronavirus closures.
He said the family was aware of the coronavirus concerns before they boarded the ship, but decided not to cancel the trip because it had been planned for a while and they didn’t think it would be a problem. As the cruise went on, he said, the captain kept them informed and that things seemed normal until Sunday, when they were scheduled to disembark.
Like on most cruises, Burnette said, crew members collected everyone’s luggage on Saturday night and said they would be docking the following morning. But what many passengers didn’t know was that Celebrity Cruises had announced that night that it was suspending operations because of “global public health circumstances,” according to a news release.
When they woke up the next morning, the Burnettes and their family learned that the Chilean minister of health had said no ships could dock on Chilean shores.
Hemos decidido prohibir la recalada en todo puerto chileno de cruceros a partir de las 8:00 de mañana domingo. Se implementará por DIRECTMAR. https://t.co/pxDkVjmHYf
— Jaime Mañalich (@jmanalich) March 14, 2020
In a phone interview Monday night, Burnette said spirits on the ship remained high, though “we miss Las Vegas and our kids and friends, and we’re eager to get home.”
Burnette said passengers got their luggage back and that communication on the ship has been great. He said the ship’s captain has kept passengers informed, there is no shortage of good food and the ship has continued with shows every night, despite the trip running long.
“From the moment we boarded, the crew was on top of things,” Burnette said. “They were always sanitizing and cleaning everything and they regularly reminded passengers to wash their hands, especially before meals.”
He said the ship’s captain has mentioned a few options for next steps, but that nothing had been finalized as of Monday night. The options included trying to find another city to dock in or getting fuel and sailing all the way to San Diego, Burnette said.
Celebrity Cruises did not return requests for comment on Monday evening.
The Burnettes aren’t the first Southern Nevadans to get stuck on a cruise ship because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ron Griebell, his wife, Sandy Hahnenkratt, and their daughter, Susan Hanhenkratt, were quarantined for days aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship after multiple passengers and crew members on the ship tested positive for the coronavirus. Griebell and his wife returned to their Summerlin home on Sunday.
Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@revivewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.
