Bill and Colette Smedley

Dillsburg couple’s anniversary cruise docked by coronavirus

Kaylee Renfrew

Intern Reporter/Dillsburg Banner

Bill and Colette Smedley wanted to spend some time together to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary, but they didn’t plan on this much time.

The Dillsburg couple is halfway through a two-week quarantine aboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess, located off the coast of Japan.

When they boarded the ship on Jan. 6 in Singapore, after flying there from Boston, news reports of a new virus out of China were just surfacing. The Smedleys never dreamed they would end up in the middle of a global panic over the novel coronavirus.

During one of their 14 stops on the 29-day trip, a passenger became ill with the coronavirus. Bill Smedley said that he and his wife had their bags packed Feb. 3, ready to leave the ship, when the call came for everyone to return to their rooms. 

“They kept us another day, and then they informed us that we were quarantined for 14 days,” Smedley said on Monday via Facebook. “They started testing people, and they pulled 10 off, and then they pulled 40 off, then they pulled 60. We’re at like 150 to 160 people who tested positive for the coronavirus.” 

On Tuesday, an additional 38 cases were reported, including a man and two women who had been in the room across the hall from the Smedleys. 

Ten crew members also tested positive for novel coronavirus at this time.

“It blew up while we were here,” Smedley said, adding that it wasn’t anything he and his wife had worried about when their trip began.  As a precaution, the cruise line provided all passengers with sanitary wipes to disinfect everything in their state rooms and masks to be worn when passengers are allowed on deck to stretch and get fresh air. 

“When we go out on the deck, which is very regulated, only a small group goes out at a time,” Smedley said. “We wear our masks, and do not touch anybody or anything.” 

To keep passengers busy, the cruise line is providing free internet, as well as On Demand TV, games, cards and entertainment. The crew worked to fill personal requests from all 2,600 people for things such as medication. They also started laundry services for patrons.

“I don't think there’s much else they can do [to help us]; they’ve done everything they can,” Smedley said.  The Smedleys are hoping to be able to come home and resume their normal routine, but it remains to be seen whether they will have to go through more medical screening when they get back to the U.S. As compensation for the troubles passengers are facing during the quarantine, Princess Cruise Lines is refunding the full price of the cruise, as well as offering voyagers a free cruise of the same value in the future. 

The Smedleys already have a cruise to the Panama Canal booked for next winter.  “It will be hard to get back on a ship again, but it won't be the same experience,” Bill Smedley said.  Before the quarantine was mandated, the Smedleys had the chance to visit different parts of Asia, including Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, Okinawa and Tokyo. “It was really interesting seeing Vietnam, because I was really close to getting drafted,” Bill Smedley said. “I was one number and one year too young. I really wanted to see Vietnam, and experience the Asian culture.”

For more information see the February 13, 2020 edition.