The final morning of this world cruise was not a happy one. But joining our breakfast buddies was uplifting. This hour or so every morning has turned into a great meeting place where we share everything we know. First session was with Rich and Peg who made hotel and flight bookings ,only to have them be cancelled. When he checked on re-booking, the flight had gone up a lot. Same with the hotel in Fremantle, which is really bad. Dave and Linda, Mike and Nancy, and Leon and Sue had made their own bookings as well, except for one couple, who had purchased their air through HAL. They stressed over the slowness that it took the company to complete their exit plans, but eventually they would get off in Fremantle, spend a night, then fly the following day.
As the morning advanced, the rumors were all over the place concerning changing conditions that the Australian government was imposing on foreign travelers, like all of us, to get home wherever that might be. One such story was that if we took the ship's $59 shuttle bus to the airport, we could be trapped there until our flights left. This was not true. Some folks actually cancelled hotels on that rumor that restrictions were mandated that we could be made to stay inside our hotel rooms in any city. That could mean that we were not allowed to leave our room, and we would have to order room service meals. Again, not true, at least not yet.
Our fear, due to another false story, was that if we were trapped at the airport, we would have to spend two days there. More rumors flew that there were no taxis at the airport to take us too our hotel. So with all this uncertainty, we made the final decision to take the chance, with the advice of Jay at the front desk, to keep our bus transfer to the airport, and ignore the stories.
The window to debark today was from 8 to 11am, however, our purple tags were called around 9am, and we were the last group to leave for the day. Announcements followed up to proceed immediately to the gangway. The underlying feeling was that the situation could change at any moment, and our exit strategy would be for nothing.
By 9:30am, we were completely packed with our hand carry bags, and lined up with so many unhappy folks, that it was depressing. Captain Mercer, many officers, and crew members were standing in a line on deck three as we all filed off on the gangway. There was even music and crew cheering as we left the ship. Truthfully, it seemed to make matters worse.
Since we only had hand bags, and did not need to retrieve luggage, we left the terminal with only handing off our Australian landing cards to an official. Since we had cleared the country in Sydney, and never strayed into international waters, we did not have to go through customs again.
Once outside, we were torn as to should we go on the bus, or take a taxi? There were four coaches waiting, and only one taxi I sight. No-brainer for us, we took the bus, and glad we did. Friends Mike and Pauline were going on that coach, so it was nice to join them for the 50 minute ride. Pauline joked that this was going to be our "safari" ride to the hotel instead of the real ones we had planned in Africa. One of the biggest complaints we were hearing today was the charge for this coach. Undoubtedly, we will all add this to the expense list for re-imbursement that they promised…maybe.
We got to the Perth Airport at 10:40am, where everyone got off the bus. Some had a whole lot of luggage…like everything they had brought with them. And there were no trolleys anywhere to be found. More friends, Don and Jenny, arrived on the next bus. They had a late flight and will roam the airport all day. They have also decided to quit sailing on long cruises. In fact, never again. Believe us, after the stress of this experience, many long time HAL travelers will call it quits.
After sharing final hugs and handshakes, and yeah, a few tears, we went outside and located a long line of taxi drivers. The first indication we had that the coronavirus has plagued this part of Australia, was when the friendly driver opened the back hatch of his car, and informed us that he was not allowed to touch our bags, and we had to put them in the car ourselves. Then he said we had to ride in the back seats, which we do anyway. Before he took off, he pulled out a can of Australia's version of Lysol, spraying every vent in the car. He apologized, but we understand completely. He did not wear a mask and gloves.
We knew the hotel was located within 10 minutes of the airport, but we could not help but notice our driver proceeded with extreme caution, going 20 mph tops. Worried he was going to charge us way too much, it ended up being the equivalent of $20. Believe us, it was worth every penny, although we were subjected to his ramblings on politics and why this is all happening.
This hotel was located in a suburb called Belmont, and not like being in downtown Perth. Frankly, we were in no mood for a Ritz Carlton, and we found this hotel much to our liking. At least we found out that we were not restricted to being locked up in the room, and we were free to walk outside.
At the front desk, our reservation was in their system, but we also had to give them our credit card. To our surprise, the agent asked for us to read her the numbers, because she was not allowed to touch the card. Wow, her associate used a Purell tissue to take the card and copy the numbers. They did ask where e have traveled in the last 14 days, which was in Australia. Then we were shown our room on the upper level, complete with a balcony facing the pool. We also added our names to their free shuttle to the airport tomorrow.
The room was perfect, and even had a kitchenette with a refrigerator, freezer, microwave, toaster, and an invected set of burners. There was also a sink and cooking utensils. The only thing missing was a safe. There was internet here, of course, but we had one huge problem. We had failed to bring the adapter, having transferred it to the shipped luggage in order to lighten our load. Certainly the hotel concierge would have a loner, but they did not. They did try to give us ones that worked with phones, but not for the computer. They suggested that we might locate one across the road, so that was a good plan.
We noticed that there were a few strip malls that included gas stations, casual restaurants, and some small businesses. There were two good choices like a 7-11 and a mini shop at the gas station. But when we looked for the adapter, there were none. Guess we will have to use the computer sparingly, and hope the battery will hold up. The most important thing was being able to track our flight and send a few short emails.
There were many cafes and eateries here like Hungry Jacks, Dominos Pizza, and McDonalds. A few of them had customer dining inside, but most of the rest had take-out only. We did pick up some water, sodas, and snacks. The best treat was a package of Tim Tams.
Relaxing at the pool, we took the time to write this report, wishing we had room to have packed our swimsuits. The lounges were so comfortable, we did not want to move. It was a hot day, but in the shade, it was OK. Getting a second surge of energy, we decided to take another walk across the street to another mini shop. Still having no luck with the adapter, we bought a few more snacks, and discovered the vendor did not take coins. Gosh, we are beginning to feel like pariahs. Honestly, we are not ill, but these days no one trusts that.
It was time for dinner, and guess what? We did not have to dress up. We stayed at the hotel and dined in their Firehouse Restaurant. There were signs showing that we had to be spaced apart, not sitting close together. After we enjoyed a shared salad and two cheeseburgers with fries, we wandered outside for a walk around the pool area. That's when we spotted a couple from the ship that we remembered from the 1012 world cruise. We chatted with them for a while before retiring for the evening. They had some more stories to share, which we will go into tomorrow. It was a long day, and we expect the same tomorrow.
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Report #136 Kicked off..... March 22, 2020 Sunday Fremantle, Western Territory, Australia Partly sunny & 83 degrees
