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‘A stroke of luck’ to be on global cruise during pandemic

In this photo taken on Sunday, May 24, 2015, the Costa Deliziosa cruise ship sails past St. Mark's Square, visible in background at right, in Venice, Italy. Passengers on a luxury liner's around-the-world cruise, which began before the globe was gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, are finally approaching their odyssey's end after 15 weeks at sea. Next week, the Costa Deliziosa is due to reach Spain and Italy, two of the countries most devastated by COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini)
In this photo taken on Sunday, May 24, 2015, the Costa Deliziosa cruise ship sails past St. Mark's Square, visible in background at right, in Venice, Italy. Passengers on a luxury liner's around-the-world cruise, which began before the globe was gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, are finally approaching their odyssey's end after 15 weeks at sea. Next week, the Costa Deliziosa is due to reach Spain and Italy, two of the countries most devastated by COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini) In this photo taken on Sunday, May 24, 2015, the Costa Deliziosa cruise ship sails past St. Mark's Square, visible in background at right, in Venice, Italy. Passengers on a luxury liner's around-the-world cruise, which began before the globe was gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, are finally approaching their odyssey's end after 15 weeks at sea. Next week, the Costa Deliziosa is due to reach Spain and Italy, two of the countries most devastated by COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini)

By JOSEPH WILSON, FRANCES D'EMILIO and ANGELA CHARLTON / Associated Press 5 min read

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – For Spanish traveler Carlos Payá, being on an around-the-globe luxury cruise while the rest of world scurried into their homes for fear of the COVID-19 pandemic was beyond surreal. It was “a stroke of good luck.”

Now, his trip inside the virus-free bubble that the Costa Deliziosa cruise ship became on its 15-week odyssey is coming to an end. The boat is steaming toward Barcelona, Spain, where it will make its first port-of-call on Monday after 35 days of continuous sailing with no human contact with the outside world.

“It was not surreal. It was incredible,” Payá told The Associated Press by text messages on Saturday evening. ¨We have family in our home countries. The news that was arriving from home was causing us all a lot of worry and grief. For us, it was a stroke of good luck to be where we were.”

Payá, who was travelling with his wife, said when news started to reach the boat of the rapid spread of the coronavirus in their native Spain, their first desire was to get home to their two grown children in their hometown of Valencia.

But with ports denying the boat entry, they have had to temper their concern with the amenities on board.