Dear Sarah,
I’m sure you and the rest of the family have been following the events over here closely. Heck, you may be more up-to-date with things than we are, this quarantine is for the birds! Your father and I are pretty much relegated to sitting in our room most of the day. Since my phone is dead, and I can’t find the charger for the life of me, I’m writing you this message to let you know that we are fine. Your father is a little sick, but nothing compared to what we’ve seen onboard over the past few days. The trip was just spectacular at first, and we were certainly happy to skip a few weeks of Michigan winter to cruise around the Hawaiian islands. Unfortunately, everything began changing the day before we pulled into Lahaina harbor.
We had left Honolulu and headed out to Maui passing by the whale breeding grounds. When they told us we’d have a good chance of seeing them on the way to Lahaina, we decided to save a little money and not go out on one of those little whale-watching boats. They were right, but I have to admit the whales didn’t look as big as I expected them too. Did you know that they aren’t fish, even though they spend all their time in the water? They’re more like really portly humans.
Anyway, the chef made one of his “signature drinks” for every table that night, to celebrate our arrival in Lahaina the following morning. Now you know that your father and I aren’t big drinkers, but the Aloha Creams were delicious! They tasted like a creamy pineapple dream. I almost finished my whole glass, and your father gulped all of his down before dessert. Everyone seemed to love them, especially our tablemates Tom and Kathy Franklin. Tom got laid off a month ago, and hasn’t been able to shake it. Kathy is worried that he lost his confidence, and he is worried about finding a new job at 60. But you know your mother, I told them that everything happens for a reason, and he just needs to believe in himself, focus on all their blessings, and not the negatives. I’m not sure about their blessings, but that night both were focusing pretty hard on the Aloha Creams. I stopped counting how many they ordered after a while, and excused myself early. I had no idea that in a few hours everything would go to pot.
We were still awake when the symptoms started, with an embarrassing pool accident. I wasn’t there, but they made an announcement that some guests had made “a mess” while swimming, and the pool was closed until it could be properly cleaned and disinfected. I was hardly done shaking my head, when a lady laying out near us nearly fell out of her deck chair because she was vomiting so hard. The rest of the evening was a blur of stomach cramps, emergency announcements, and carefully placed steps. Everyone was sick: the guests, the stewards, the captain, even the chef.
The Aloha Creams where the number one suspect right away, but we had no idea how serious things were going to get. Soon there were alarms going off all over the ship, and a few were airlifted out by the Coast Guard. Before the sun rose the ship was filled with emergency services people and many, including the Franklins, were not doing well. Tom had lost consciousness and had been one of the first taken out by helicopter. The CDC officially put the whole ship under quarantine that next afternoon.
That was almost a week ago, and all we know is what has been reported in the news. None of the crew or government people are interested in talking about details. There seems to be a lot of speculation yet, and very few facts. Some are saying that the pineapples they used in the Aloha Creams were improperly shipped and stored with 127 at a Veilcorp holding facility. I guess Ruth at the Rotary Club might be right. I still don’t care for her politics, and the necklines of her outfits, but her ideas about what the element is doing to the soil might be spot on. There was even an awful man last night on TV, saying that the outbreak was caused by chemicals leaching from the vegetarian options on the menu. He was offering a free pork buffet to the first dozen visitors who made it out of quarantine.
With so many rumors swirling around it’s hard to know what’s true about the food poisoning and what isn’t. Kathy still can’t find what hospital they took Tom to and it’s been 5 days. We’ve heard that some people have died, but nobody around here will tell us anything.
To tell you the truth we’ve been busy as all-get-out just trying to feel better ourselves.
I’ve been able to keep down food for a couple days now, and your father is turning a corner too. Hopefully, they’ll let us off this boat soon because we’re going to need to take a vacation, from this vacation. When this is all over, there better be a sincere apology and a coupon or something, or there’s going to be heck to pay! Please, keep us in your prayers.
