People who take cruises are a fiercely passionate group of travelers who take pride in knowing every nuance of every itinerary, the best spot at the pool, the tastiest dish on the ship and so much more.
We could write a chapter and verse on passengers who have taken 50, 100, 300, even 1,000 cruises, and some who have even decided to live on cruise ships permanently save for when the boat is in for maintenance.
But there might not be a better example of the loyalty of cruisers than this - a woman in Washington state who contracted coronavirus in February while she was a passenger on the ill-fated Diamond Princess cruise says she's ready for another cruise.
"It was my first cruise first-ever cruise and I'm planning on going on another one," Marianne Obenchain told KING5 News in Olympia. "Probably not as long."
Obenchain ended up taking what became the poster child for COVID-19 and cruising when she decided to book passage for a two-week trip through Asia in January and February. But those two weeks turned into a month-long stay on the Diamond Princess, which suffered an outbreak of infections and had trouble finding a port that would allow it to dock.
Obenchain, and others, were quarantined in their cabins for two weeks until they were flown home on chartered flights.
Other than a dry cough, she never suffered from any symptoms, and in late March health officials in the state cleared her to return to work. She said she is doing fine - "No after effects, aside from the simple fact that I much prefer to stay at home now" - but she said she wouldn't hesitate to go on another cruise.
"If you're always looking at the negative, the downside of everything, the bottom of the barrel, that's where your heart's going to be," Obenchain said. "That's where your mind is going to be and you're going to have a heck of a time being happy and pulling yourself out of it."
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