MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesotans once on the formerly quarantined Grand Princess cruise ship are now doing another round of quarantine far from home.
Melanie Carlson and her husband say they packed their bags for their cruise trip on February 20th. With excitement, they made their way to San Francisco to start their journey.
"We knew it was a five-day trip out to Hawaii and then when we got to Hawaii, we got to visit four different islands, one each day," Carlson said.
The cruise was supposed to take them from San Francisco to Hawaii to Ensenada, Mexico and then back. However, the dream trip soured quickly once the Hawaii leg of the trip was over.
"We had a note under our door that we were cancelling our trip to Ensenada due to a possible passenger that had Coronavirus," Carlson said. "So we were like oh, no, no, no."
Carlson said she spent more than six grueling days under a strict quarantine while the ship looked for permission and a place to dock. She said food and games were delivered to passengers to their rooms and no one was allowed to leave. She said being stuck in a 200 sq ft room was stuffy, but described that she and her husband were lucky enough to have a window.
The two stayed in their room until the Grand Princess was given permission to dock in California. Carlson said as soon as she and her husband got off the ship, they were immediately put on a bus and then onto a plane headed to one of four designated mandatory quarantine sites.
"Just before getting on the plane, we finally knew because the front of the bus said DOB and we were like Dobbins, Georgia," she said. "Okay, so we're going to Georgia."
Carlson explained that at this point they were told their luggage would find its way to them. She said she only had 24-hours supply of clothes and everything else.
24 hours have come and gone and they've now spent the weekend and a few more days at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base. She said she and her husband have reached out to Governor Tim Walz's office as well as Congressman Tom Emmer's office asking for their aid in returning home. She said many other passengers from other states were allowed to return to finish serving their 14 day quarantine.
"We would love to self-quarantine at home," Carlson said. "We don't have anyone else living there and if we need to be quarantined still [somewhere else] we'd love to be quarantined in Minnesota, closer to home where there is great healthcare should we need it."
Their luggage may have become lost in the shuffle, she said she's hoping they won't be sharing the same fate.
"There's still people wanting to go home, everybody has just kind of forgotten us," she said.
Carlson said she heard back from Governor Walz's office on Monday and they were told, they cannot return to Minnesota unless they test negative for the coronavirus.
Carlson said authorities in Georgia told them a test could be available possibly "later this week."
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