Another morning with overcast skies is what we woke up to today. At least it was not raining, but that may happen yet. After breakfast, we took a hike to guess where? Yep, Walmart. We are beginning to feel like we live there, like that movie with Natalie Portman a few years back. As large as this store is, there were not a lot of people shopping this early. All of the employees were wearing masks, as well as the shoppers, including us. Picking up a few items, we walked back a different way to get more exercise. The sun began peeking out, and it looked like we were in for a nicer day.
Prior to leaving the hotel, we asked when we would be "set free" after our 5 day quarantine. The front desk ladies called the manager over to speak to us. He said that the rep from HAL, Linda, would be the one to release us. We assumed he would get that call, but he said we will be contacted. Today should be the day according to our calculations, so why no phone call? He also said we should have been tested, but we let him know that we had not. There is roaming nurse that comes to the hotel to do such testing, but we have not been invited. It could be because we intend to re-join the ship, and not fly home. The manager suggested we call Family Assistance at HAL.
Back in our room, we saw we did have a message on the phone. It was Mary Beth from Family Assistance, who is taking the place of Linda who called originally. She said she would call the hotel, and let them know we have done our time. As of 5pm Florida time, we have not heard anything. Guess Rome wasn't built in a day.
Lunch was turkey and ham sandwiches with chips….no surprise there. As we were leaving the room, a maid was bringing chairs into the room across the hall. She asked if we needed them too, and we said yes, thanks. Then we took a short walk around the hotel grounds, but stayed out of the abandoned golf course. The hotel manager had mentioned that the property was off limits, and there were actually police in the area watching. If we had seen that posted, we would never have walked it.
Since the sun had peeked out for a while, we decided to take over a couple of lounges at the poolside, where some other guests were swimming and visiting. Guessing they were also in the same boat as us, we might learn something. What we did hear was that a nearby restaurant called Hurricane Grill & Wings had a happy hour at 3pm, and that's where these folks were every afternoon. Yep, we guessed right…..cruise folks. Just as we got nice and relaxed, it began to rain hard. Darn……maybe it's a passing cloud. It was. But most of the people left, leaving one couple behind. Perfect chance to share info.
Turns out they were Canadians who were put off of the Enchanted Princess on January 19th. The wife tested positive, while her husband was negative….same as us. They have been tested at least twice by the visiting hotel nurse, as well as independently testing locally somewhere close to here. They need to be negative to be able to fly home (international) in two days. We did learn from them that we can order whatever we wish from the restaurant's menu, even though the printed one they gave us was very limited. We wished them well, as they did for us. If we do not see them in three days, we will know their tests went OK. Funny, they both said "think negative"!!
Our laundry bag is filling up, so we stopped by the mini-store and picked up a small Tide liquid. The laundry room is on level 5, and we shall use it tomorrow. Both washer and dryer take quarters or can be operated with a cell phone. However, we were informed the phone thing was not working right now. Doesn't matter….we don't have one anyway.
The phone call finally came around 5:30pm from Mary Beth in Seattle. She authorized our "release", and now we are free to roam around the hotel's public spaces. With everything that has happened so far with this pandemic, we think we will remain as isolated as we possibly can be.
Dinner time arrived quickly, and we ordered one Margherita flatbread pizza with two Caesar salads. All of the items were very good, especially pizza.
Five days down, and five to go….but who's counting?
Bill & Mary Ann
Friday, January 28, 2022
Report # 41 Marriott Hotel Thursday - January 27, 2022 Overcast in the AM & partly sunny - 78 degrees
