CINCINNATI — At the start of the pandemic, before everyone was stuck at home, the Andersons were stuck on a cruise ship with COVID.
Last time Spectrum News 1 introduced them, they were back in their suburban Cincinnati home recovering from the virus.
But this time, they’re back in the middle of the ocean.
“We really thought we were safe,” said Andrea Anderson after she got off the cruise full of COVID cases last year.
Andrea and Rob both caught COVID-19 while they were on Holland Cruise Line’s “Zaandam,” the ship where hundreds got sick on board. They were the first COVID cases in the country and at the time, no place would let the ship dock because of it.
They ended up being sick at sea for a month as many people also got the virus, and unfortunately, some of them died.
“They took your temperature, and we did not pass that. I had a sinus infection, he had a cold,” said Andrea. They were on the ship with a major COVID outbreak, and they were stuck for a month, inside their room for weeks.
When the couple got back home in the Cincinnati suburbs, they recovered, but it took them longer than they thought. For months they battled symptoms. Once they finally disappeared and more time went by, the Andresons got the COVID vaccine.
“For that reason, we’ve said, ‘We’re going back to normal life,'” said Rob.
That’s why now, more than a year since that cruise, they went though the same cruise line, Holland America, and got back on a different ship.
“They were holding a welcoming banner. I was practically running for the ship,” said Andrea.
They said inside the ship, things are much different. They said there are mask mandates, hand sanitizer in public spaces and no one under 12 (who can’t get the vaccine) is on board.
“You can’t get anything without a crew member handing it to you. That means anything — coffee, water, anything,” said Rob.
“All the crew members are vaccinated, all the people are vaccinated,” said Andrea.
All were welcomed changes that they say made them want to cruise all over again, and they say doing it for free helps, too.
“Let me put it this way, Holland America, gave us enough compensation that we got more than three weeks worth of cruises, plus probably most of this one,” said Rob.
That means the Andersons will be going on a total of four cruise through that same cruise line. They said one of the cruises will be to South America where they were stuck before, but the couple says they still plan to take every one of those cruises.
