An Abrupt, but not unexpected End

As the world situation continued to deteriorate, Bill I observed it all from our comfortable bubble, the Celebrity Eclipse. But we knew it would only take one country to say, no you can’t dock to change our situation. After multiple notifications that the ship would continue to San Diego, before beginning a 30 day pause by the cruise line, yesterday afternoon we received notification that the second part of our cruise had, indeed, been cancelled.

I was at the computer dealing with condo reservation changes when the notification popped-up. I immediately went in to travel agent mode. Yes, I can still do that. Within minutes, I had us confirmed on a flight back to Los Angeles, a hotel for tonight in Santiago and a car rental for LA to Palm Springs, By the time I stepped out of the stateroom, the news had spread through the ship and lines were forming at the Guest Relations Desk, even though no announcement had been made on the ship.

It is still amazing to me how some people are totally oblivious to their surroundings. When the Captain made the announcement, about 1 1/2 hours later, there were still people reacting as if they didn’t have a clue.

So, we will disembark at 8 AM (for my Brother’s sake, I am resisting saying: 8 AM this morning. He feels “this morning” is redundant. I, on the other hand, think ‘this morning’ only clarifies which morning. Well, enough of our sibling disagreements).

Our flight does not depart until 1 AM, tomorrow morning. 🤭 So, I have booked a Sheraton, just for the day. And, if all goes well, we should be home in Palm Springs by 5 tomorrow afternoon. We are, of course, disappointed, we are grateful to have had a wonderful 2 week cruise.

Here are a couple of pictires from the last couple of days at sea.