Mar 15 End of the Corona Cruise

We had hoped that this would be an Around The World Cruise, just like we did in 2016 but things happened.  It started for us back in early February when some Chinese ports got cancelled, then a week later all of the Asian ports were cancelled and Oceania moved our path to Australia from India.  We were prepared to go along with that itinerary figuring a cruise ship was as safe as anything.

When we came back from Iguazu Falls on 3/4 it was clear that things were changing rapidly.  Insignia's current itinerary after Rio was 3 more Brazilian ports, then across the Atlantic to West Africa, arriving in Capetown on April 8.  Oceania had the ship in lockdown mode, very sanitary, but all it would take was one asymptomatic but infected person to come onboard and we'd be looking at 2 weeks off the Ivory Coast in quarantine.  So after much agony we decided on 3/7 to abandon ship in Rio on 3/15 and fly home. We spent the next week visiting several ports, and skipping a couple of others so we could spend the time packing -- 8 large suitcases worth of stuff.

Then, on Cynthia's birthday, Friday 3/13, there was a 6pm get together for all of the ATW people who were exiting in Rio (we weren't alone, there were probably 50 of us).  Just as the event was to start, the General Manager got the phone call from corporate -- the cruise is over, everybody gets off in Rio.

It was the right thing to do.  But, not surprisingly, the cruise line didn't have a plan for stopping everything.  The crew did a heroic job in making it work.  The Bradleys felt somewhat smug since we had travel reservations leaving Sunday night 3/15.  Lots of people, and of course the Oceania corporate travel office, were scrambling to find the way out.

Saturday night at our table in Terrace, finishing the bottle of wine sent for Cynthia's birthday. (thanks kid!)

 Sunday morning we were on the bus to take us to the airport.  There were many people who chose to spend several days in Rio before flying home.  As I write this on Wednesday morning (spoiler alert -- we made it back to Florida) American Airlines has cancelled their flights from Rio to USA.  Tuesday was the last flight out on AA.  I wonder about some of our friends that weren't leaving immediately.  Did they find a way out, or are they stuck there for the duration?

 The original plan had been to ship 4 suitcases back to Florida with Luggage Forward and carry the other 4 ourselves on the plane.  Brazil has their own rules and wouldn't allow LF to operate there.  In the short time available Oceania couldn't come up with an alternative so there we were with two luggage carts worth of stuff. 
American Airlines, also running on Latin America time, didn't open check-in until 6pm, and we arrived at the airport at 10am.  At least there were chairs available.

 People began lining up about 430pm for a scheduled 545 check in opening.  About 5pm somebody came out and started moving pylons to create the entry rows.  Then about 6pm workers finally came to the counters to begin processing people.  No sense starting early just because there's a global pandemic. The plane was FULL when we departed.

 We were among the first to line up, got through by 615 and finally through security and to the business class lounge by 630.  Boarding was no problem and the plane departed just a little late headed for Miami.

Surprisingly, after reading the news stories, CBP entry into the US was not problematic (except for the fact that Cynthia's Global Entry didn't work but the guy took us through anyway).  Other than a normal passport check everyone was waved through.

At no time in Brazil or Miami was there any visible health screening.  There may have been hidden IR cameras looking for fever, but I saw no one detained or questioned about health.  Of course, if you're sick, Brazil is happy to see you go.  In the US the passport examiner did ask "Fever or a cough" to which we thankfully could say NO.  And our arrival in Miami was at Oh Dark 30, when all arrivals are from South America which did not have a virus problem.

Our limo met us outside baggage claim with the big SUV to handle all of the bags and we arrived home in time to move everything to our condo unit, grab the car keys and be at Publix as they opened.  We had six months of medicine and clothing for our trip, and zero days of food since we had cleaned everything out before leaving.  Publix had some gaping holes on the shelves, but we got at least two weeks of food in our visit.  We're home and ready to hunker down.