Life Aboard the Stranded Westerdam, part 10

February 18, 2020

The Westerdam treated all of us to Happy Hour in the BB King Blues Lounge last night. I guess they figured that if we had to have 8-inch Q-Tips shoved deep up into our brain for testing and another one down our gullets, then we deserved to be a little shit-faced. So they kept the cosmos, martinis, and the shrimp cocktail rolling for all of us to pound for 60 minutes. We did not waste our time.

All of the Westerdam guests, even though we have tested NEGATIVE for the coronavirus AND have proof from the World Health Organization are persona non grata in the following countries: Thailand (Bangkok airport), South Korea (Seoul Airport), Taiwan (Taipei Airport), and any airport in Malaysia. Singapore Airlines has banned us from boarding any flight in the world. So, as you can imagine, this makes it nearly impossible to fly us out of Asia without being able to use these airports as transfer stations. Oh, and for obvious reasons, China is out of the question. When you look at a map, the only option is Tokyo.

I have now resorted to making lists. Here are all the movies I have watched in my cabin as of this afternoon (over 50): Anchorman, Bad Moms, Book Club, Bridesmaids, Caddyshack, Chips, Crazy Rich Asians, Downsizing, Fighting with my Family, Instant Family, Life of the Party, Long Shot, Ocean’s 8, The Big Lebowski, The Hangover, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Wedding Crashers, Ad Astra, Angel Has Fallen, Downton Abbey, Judy, Midway, The Current War, The Kitchen, MASH, JoJo Rabbit, JoJo Rabbit, and again JoJo Rabbit, Where’d You Go Bernadette, 12 Strong, American Made, Anna, Annihilation, Aquaman, Braven, Deep Water Horizon, Hunter Killer, John Wick 3, Jumanji, Jurassic World, First Kill, Mile 22, Mission Impossible Fallout, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Cold Pursuit, Green Book, The Catcher was a Spy, The Kid, Despicable Me 3, Harry Potter, Pets 2, Pixar Short Films, and possibly a few more later today.

My Top 10 movies while on board: 10) Pets 2 9) Despicable Me 3 8) Long Shot 7) Crazy Rich Asians 6) Fighting with my Family 5) The Catcher was a Spy 4) Where’d You Go Bernadette 3) The Big Lebowski 2) Green Book 1) JoJo Rabbit

List of books I have read while on board (only 6): Redemption by David Baldacci, Long Road to Mercy by Baldacci, An Easy Death by Charmaine Harris, Secrets Never Die by Melinda Leigh, Save Your Breath by M. Leigh, Glidepath by Andrew Watts

Magazines I have read while on board: Every single article by Smithsonian Magazine from their current issue all the way back to January of 2017. I’ve lost count at how many that is, but I am so thankful I have online subscriptions.

The ship invited us to a beautiful dinner tonight and we got to spend a little more time with the Captain and the VP of Operations for Holland America in Seattle. I don’t know how the Captain does it. He has to be just exhausted and at the end of his rope with this entire situation. He is so cute because when he walked up to our table he looked at me and said, “Yes, you are the young lady always waving to me and yelling I am amazing! Thank you!” I love that guy! Encouragement! Yes!

Everyone at the hotel in Phnom Phen has their test results back so we are hoping that they will start coming in tomorrow at some point. Then, the difficult task of getting us out.

More to come…