BLOG 3 – Quarantine 

For those of you who are tired of my telling how great everything is on a cruise, let me describe the past few days.  Friday night, Betty woke feeling very sick (vomiting and other expulsions).  She got to the Medical Centre first thing in the morning.  The doctor gave her a shot and ordered us into quarantine.  Later they called with a diagnosis of Difa-Noro-Virus. 

When you are quarantined you are confined to your room and security takes away your key.  Should you be caught sneaking out you will be kicked off the ship.  It gets pretty boring after a while and the meals from room service are definitely not up to the standards of the various dining rooms. When room service arrives at your door the person is dressed like you would expect should there be an outbreak of  Ebola.  A large plastic bag is delivered with the meal and we insert leftovers, dishes etc., all for disposal.  After the room attendants do up the room they must return to their quarters, rid themselves of their clothes and shower. 

During the quarantine we missed a dinner invitation with the Staff Captain, reservations at both Jacques and Toscana, a pre-booked Old versus New World wine tasting, etc.  More importantly we missed our stop in Santorini, as well as a tour we had booked for Piraeus/Athens. On Monday afternoon, with great pleasure, we were allowed to go to reception to pick up our room keys.   Apparently, there are lots of people sick on the ship and the crew are going to great lengths to get and keep everything sanitized. 

Tuesday was a sea day and in the morning we went to a lecture on the Templar Knights and the Knights of Malta.  One of the interesting things in the lecture was the connections of the Templars to Nova Scotia. This talk was in preparation for our stop in Malta tomorrow.  There is very strong evidence that the Templars were in Nova Scotia more than 100 years before Columbus. 

After lunch we attended a lecture by one of the chefs, who at one time was Executive Assistant to Julia Child.  She worked for her up until the time of Julia’s death in 2004 at the age of 91.  The speaker was very interesting and said that the Meryl Streep movie was about 90% accurate. 

MALTA:  On Wednesday morning we sailed into the beautiful fortified city of Valletta.  Betty is still feeling poorly so I let her sleep while I breakfasted and took pictures of the sail in.  We had been in Malta a few years ago and weren’t terribly impressed at that time.  However, this time was different. 

After I brought Betty some extra strong coffee she decided that she would be able to accompany me ashore.  We walked off the ship and got a taxi.  The deal was 55 Euros for 2 hours anywhere.  I told the driver that the 55 Euros was fine but he had to decide where anywhere was. 

The driver first stopped at a take-out and bought us a couple of local pastries to try.  Then he took us to a neat little seaside market where I bought a bottle of real Maltese capers and Betty purchased a tablecloth.  The next time any of you are to dinner on Wedgewood Drive you be served on white linen with representations of the Maltese cross. 

After a drive by the Blue Grotto (boats weren’t running) we stopped at a place to sample cactus fruit (delicious), which we washed down with Maltese coffee (heavily flavored with cloves and other spices).  We then drove by the stunning Dingli Cliffs before driving through the cities of Rabat and Mdina (where the rich live).  All-in-all a great morning. 

We just got back to the ship in time for a late lunch.  Betty is still not drinking but I enjoyed some decent Malbec with my lunch.