2/14/2020
6:00 Woke up for the day – we didn’t sleep all that well last night. There was a video by the chief medical officer which unsettled a lot of the guests aboard. He said that on the 19th they’re not too sure about whether we’ll get right off, or be retested. We’re expecting more days on the boat, but staying hopeful! We will be on the Mark Davis show again on 2/14 around 0700 central standard time. PS happy Valentine’s Day!
7:30 Grape juice! We also got a laundry bag today, so we put that out into the hall. No updates as of yet.
8:00 Two boiled eggs, mushrooms, sausage links, a blueberry muffin, grape juice, and lastly a chocolate croissant! We’re interested to see how Valentine’s Day will go.
Breakfast is here!
09:00 Just finished up the latest “how to train your dragon.” Great movie! It’s a slow morning today, no new news and no updates as of yet.
09:26 Captains update! He has the state minister of health label and welfare along side him with a written statement to read on his behalf, followed by a translation by him in Japanese. The letter addresses passengers requests of better conditions aboard. They recognize that we’re in an “inconvenient circumstance,” and that we all want to go home. They reiterated that the government is making the best efforts. Phone lines are available for medication consults based on change of health. Medical providers are with us on the boat to maintain our health. Lastly, they went over the disembarkation instructions for those who have been tested, along with the priority of disembarkation. These details can be found in a previous update.
PS I am working on replying to all of you – it’s morning and Valentine’s Day. I have a bit to catch up on.
10:23 A bit concerned. It smells strongly of gas all of a sudden but just went away after about two minutes. We’ve notified the help desk. We don’t know if it was just a boat passing by or what. The deck supervisor is on the way.
10:45 Just finished interviewing with CNBC again.
Yokohama stands by you!
12:17 Captain announcement! The captain has been in conference calls all morning planning the final phases of our quarantine. iPhones are being distributed to every room today with applications made by SoftBank. The ministry of health suggested this. This app will help people get medical support, similar to the 2019 typhoon in japan. This is the first time the phone/app has been to used as a package. We may get some light rain today. It’s about 59F outside at the moment. The internet is more stable, and after “strong negotiations with the Japanese government,” local restrictions have been lifted in order for our vessel to connect to different satellites when needed. Today is laundry day for us! We’ve sent it in, and it should be back to us in a day or so. The captain asks us to wear our mask/take our temperatures frequently. He reassured us that Princess will do whatever is necessary to make our extended stay as pleasant and comfortable as possible. It is uncharted territory for everyone – he praised crew and passengers, and stated how proud he is that we are going through this together. Buon appetito!
14:00
Looks like we’re still getting barges to help us offload waste and make water.
14:20 Lunch is here!
Fish and chips, mushy peas, a salad with cake! Topped off by some wine that we had saved for Valentine’s Day and chocolate.
This is really great chocolate!
14:40 We’ll be interviewing with NYTimes over our situation here on the Diamond Princess.
15:15 Captains announcement – he jokes that one of his friends sent him a audio recording of him giving a speech, and apologized for putting us through listening to him over and over. He says he was shocked to hear how terrible he sounds, and blamed the mask. “That’s the end of that story.* Voluntary disembarkation will begin this afternoon, of which 11 people met the criteria and chose to go to the Japanese government facilities.
16:00 Interviewed with the New York Times! It was about an hour call ranging from when we boarded the ship till now. The wife is watching say yes to the dress while I finish up my replies. Not much news today as we are facing the sea.
16:13 Our cruise director Natalie notified us over the intercom that there was romance trivia available on TV, as well as thank you letters to the captain, fitness videos, more magic with Sunny Chen, yoga, and bishops hat napkin folding! We also received some gifts (one of which being a horse oil face mask). That’s going to be interesting! Aside from that, Princess staff shoreside has been shopping for us the last few days, and have some donations to share with us. She states: “Diamond Princess family, we are here, we are with you, we care, and will continue to do our best to keep you comfortable and occupied during this very unique situation.”
Horse oil face masks!
17:30 Our iPhone has arrived! We also got two chocolate peanut heart for Valentine’s Day.
18:24 Captains update! He wishes us all a happy Valentine’s Day, with love and support from around the world. #hangintherediamondprincess is the official hashtag.
He encouraged us to reach out for some comfort from home, wherever that may be. He read us a poem: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. I wish you all a happy Valentine’s Day.**
19:00 We also got some goodies! Chocolate, these pastries (pancakes, I presume?), and candy! The candy is actually awful, but the chocolate is awesome! We enjoyed all of the food today. It’s been a really good day.
Valentines night dinner, topped with wine!
Goodies from the Princess team.
Against all odds, I managed to get Rachel a rose with chocolates for Valentine’s Day!
19:25 Captains final announcement of the night! 22 people were eligible to disembark, but only 11 accepted. Two of these were american. These guests were in their 80s. They will finish their quarantine until the 19th in a Japanese quarantine facility. Quarantine questionnaires will continue to be passed out to those with most priority. A cleaning kit will be delivered by lunch tomorrow! This is huge – we really could use a good cleaning of our room. It’s time. There are new videos uploaded to our television from people around the world cheering us on. The end is now in sight – only five days to go!
22:20 Just had another great radio interview with Mark Davis The Answer! He’s a great guy. The interview will be uploaded in a bit to his site. We’re exhausted – long day! Off to bed for now. No new cases today that we know of!
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