Keeping the Passengers Occupied on the Cruise to the Mainland & Getting Home

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From the Wednesday, March 15, 2023 Daily Program, “San Juan, Puerto Rico; Arrival: 8:00 AM – All Aboard 5:30 PM; Tonight’s Attire – Casual.” Somehow, someway, all good things seem to find a way to come to an end. And so it was over for Booking Number XQVR5N and for the 2023 edition of the “74-Day Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage.” The finality of the cruise had struck when we left the Amazon behind. We had not stepped on anything but Brazilian soil for some 23 days, from 2/15/23 to 3/10/23, when we arrived in Devils Island, French Guiana. Separation anxiety, probably not; but for some reason I was struck that it all was coming to an end, albeit a very busy end! Including Devils Island, we had five ports of call in six days. After Devils Island, where no shore excursions were available (but I went ashore to “free-lance” anyway), I had a shore excursion planned for every stop. Now, there were no more stops ahead, no more shore excursions ahead, but lots more blog work ahead.

To back up about two months, three events had happened on the ship only a few days apart. There was a request for willing passengers with the blood typing of “O negative” – the universal donor – to report to the medical center to donate blood, and there were calls on two consecutive days for the medical response team to report to XXX. This brought about a bit of conversation (and a big question in my mind) about the training of the medical staff. "Medical personnel (both physicians and registered nurses) must have at least three years of postgraduate experience in general and emergency medicine or board certification in emergency medicine, family medicine or internal medicine," is a quote from cruisecritic.com, but numerous other sources agreed. As with most topics, the intensity diminished over time, but the captain had an addition to his regular, daily “navigational and meteorological” update on March 13, 2023 as we were ported in Roseau, Dominica. He told us that we had arrived at Roseau a couple of hours before our scheduled 8:00 AM arrival because a member of the entertainment staff had become critically ill and that he had been requested by the medical team to increase speed to get to Roseau as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the patient died before we reached Roseau. He offered no details pending notification of family members. Holland America scheduled two memorial services for the staff member, one for the remaining staff and one for the guests. I attended and learned he was a 34-year-old guitar player in one of the house bands.

This death was the first publicly acknowledged death during the cruise, fueled the rumor mill about the number of people who had died on this specific cruise and brought about conjecture as to the number of deaths on cruise ships in general. Sources agree that all cruise ships have a morgue, but the frequency of its use during our cruise was the subject of much speculation. After a Google search, “What is the average death rate on cruise ships?” I extracted the summary of APPROXIMATE numbers presented here. There are about 200 deaths on cruise ships out of some 30,000,000 yearly passengers which equates to 1 in 150,000 guests or around 0.75 deaths per week. Oh my, Uncle Larry, don’t typo the “e” out of guests! Cruise lines like Carnival and Disney cater to a much younger crowd whereas, longer cruises like our 75-day cruise cater to a much older (essentially retired) clientele. So, what is the average age on Holland America? According to the Q&A section of beyondcruise.com, “The average age is reportedly between 57 and 64 across the fleet.” With only a superficial look at the numbers, it’s hard to compare apples to apples but the overall death rate per 100,000 population in the U.S. in the 65-74 group (and NOT a 57-64 age group) is about 2,150 per year or 5.89 per day per 100,000 or 441.78 per 75 days (the length of the cruise) or 0.0044 deaths per person on the cruise (the ship carries 1,432 guests) or 6.32 people would be expected to die during this cruise IF the passengers all were in the 65-74 age group. Trust me, they weren’t. In fact, only a handful were under 65 while several handfuls were over 74. Let’s face it, MS Volendam, essentially, is a “retirement community” of 1,432 people who happen to be on a on a 75-day vacation together. With an overall death rate at 5.89 per day in the “stationary retirement community,” a death rate of 6.32 in the “seaborne retirement community” is right in line with what I would expect. It looks like it’s just as safe for you to cruise through your retirement years as it is to wear out the floor with your rocker!

In the absence of the “Port Talks” presentations (which highlighted upcoming ports of call), educational lectures about Antarctica and the Amazon, and topical offerings about the cultures of several indigenous peoples and geographically relevant events, like Carnival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; Holland America hired a former/current educator/historian/actor Alfred “Alfy” Wolfram to give us some insight into “The Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean” and “Alfy's Amazing but True Tales.” Holland America, in its 150^th year, presented an historical account of the company that I found surprisingly interesting. Prior to the voyage, I knew nothing of Holland America’s contribution to the relief efforts during the ongoing Ukrainian refugee crisis. “Volendam: A Temporary Home for Ukrainian Families” provided both the captain and the “hotel” manager an opportunity to give a first-hand account of events and logistical obstacles they experienced in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where the ship was docked for about three months. They talked about serious issues like medical care, schooling, food, infrastructure (“permanent” electrical, water and sewage lines had to be connected to Rotterdam’s infrastructure) and security (all refugees had freedom of movement off and back onto the ship and the children went to school on shore). They provided humorous anecdotes about toys left in the passageways and children sliding down the banisters. They also told of the separation anxiety of both the children and the staff when a family left the ship for its permanent home. There was a Q&A period following the presentation which revealed that this relief effort was not a donation from Holland America but that the company was paid a per diem fee for housing the refugees. Still, they said, the company absorbed the “losses” from replacement damage and atypical cleaning (like felt markers). The use of Volendam was a noteworthy event; however, it would have been more “philanthropic” if disclosure about the per diem payment had been revealed voluntarily instead of it having to be “extracted” by a passenger during the Q&A session. Regardless, thank you Holland America.

The World Stage presentations occupied some of my time, swapping email and telephone numbers with other passengers occupied some more and, of course, there were comment cards to be placed in the suggestion box; but mostly, I was getting caught up on blogs and mentally packing my suitcases. In addition to my friend and frequent shore excursion companion, Tony from Edinburgh, Scotland, I now have a contact in Dominican Republic as well as a few in the United States. To put a lot of salt in the soup, I learned about a month into the cruise that the water heater in my home had leaked and damaged the carpet in the bedroom and the laminate flooring in the hallway. I had been told that the flooring had been removed and that drying measures had been employed, but I had absolutely no notion of exactly what I would find when I got home. My hats off to my neighbor Alan who had been collecting my mail and watching my place for me AND who reacted to the water situation and acted on my behalf with the insurance company to get the situation stabilized until I could make arrangements for a permanent fix. I purposely allowed my mind to paint a disastrous picture but pleasantly found a “this ain’t so bad” situation. A section of subfloor will have to be replaced as will all the flooring in the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. I have cold water to make coffee and flush the toilet but will be without hot water until the subfloor and water heater are replaced. During the subfloor replacement (about a week), I will stay with my friend, Gary. After my house is made safe, and I’m ready for the finishing touches; I’ll have to jockey furniture for the flooring installation. There’s room for only one more sardine in the can so moving “stuff” will be an ongoing exercise until it’s completed. When everything gets back to “normal,” I’ll be ready for another cruise!!!

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Comments

[John G. Burton]

It is always something.
Sounds like you had a good cruse. Our trip is delay for month, because of wife family med. Glad you had someone to watch after your place. Until later, John

[retiredfflarry]

Getting together
Hey John, Thanks for all the feedback on my blog. YOU have a great trip as well. I have an obligation in IL in June but give me a call after our dust settles a bit so we can get together sometime in May. Thanks again. Larry