Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic

by Michael Smith, Jonathan Franklin

Overview

The true story of the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which set sail with a deadly and little-understood stowaway—COVID-19—days before the world shut down in March 2020. This riveting narrative thriller takes readers behind the scenes with passengers and crew who were caught unprepared for the deadly ordeal that lay ahead.

In early 2020, the world was on edge. An ominous virus was spreading on different continents, and no one knew what the coming weeks would bring. Far from the hot spots, the cruise ship Zaandam, owned by Holland America, was preparing to sail from Buenos Aires, Argentina, loaded with 1,200 passengers—Americans, Europeans and South Americans, plus 600 crew.

Most passengers were over the age of sixty-five. There was concern about the virus on the news, and it had already killed and sickened passengers on other Holland America ships. But that was oceans away, and escaping to sea at the ends of the earth for a few weeks seemed like it might be a good option. The cruise line had said the voyage (three weeks around the South American coastline to see some of the world’s most stunning natural wonders and ancient ruins) would carry on as scheduled, with no refunds. And it would be safe.
Among the travelers there is a retired American school superintendent on a dream vacation with his wife of fifty-six years, on a personal quest to see Machu Picchu. There is an Argentine psychologist taking this trip to celebrate her sixty-fourth birthday with her husband, though she finds herself fretting in her cabin on day one, trying to dismiss her fears of what she’s hearing on the news. There is an Indonesian laundry manager who's been toiling on Holland America cruise ships for thirty years, sending his monthly paycheck to his family back home.

Within days, people aboard Zaandam begin to fall sick. The world’s ports shut down. Zaandam becomes a top story on the news and is denied safe harbor everywhere. With only two doctors aboard and few medical supplies to test for or treat COVID-19, and with dwindling food and water, the ship wanders the oceans on an unthinkable journey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781638084082
Publisher:	Center Point
Publication date:	08/01/2022
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	500
Sales rank:	748,017
Product dimensions:	5.74(w) x 8.56(h) x 1.16(d)

About the Author

MICHAEL SMITH is a Miami-based investigative reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek. He’s written about financial crimes, corruption, narcotics and human trafficking, and environmental and labor abuses in supply chains. Recently, he reported extensively on COVID outbreaks on cruise ships. Smith’s national awards include the prestigious George Polk, Maria Moors Cabot, Robert F. Kennedy, and Gerald Loeb awards. Cabin Fever is his first book.

JONATHAN FRANKLIN is a journalist and TV commentator based in South America for the past 24 years. Franklin’s most recent book A Wild Idea (HarperOne, 2021) chronicles the rollicking life of The North Face founder Doug Tompkins, who moved to a shack in Patagonia, gave away his riches, and became one of the world’s greatest land conservation activists. Franklin writes about conservation, organized crime, and survival at sea. His work is featured at www.JonathanFranklin.com.

Table of Contents

The Characters xi

1 Choose Fun 1

2 Mysterious Stowaway 22

3 Ugly Vibe at the Ends of the Earth 38

4 Cruise to Nowhere 57

5 Lockdown in the Pacific 81

6 Secret Mission 101

7 Pariah Ship 117

8 Dark Thoughts 125

9 Night Crossing 139

10 Desperate Plea 151

11 Race to Shore 160

12 Trapped on Dry Land 186

13 Prisoners in Paradise 206

14 Final Good-bye 223

15 Unfamiliar Horizons 236

Acknowledgments 251

Editorial Reviews

05/02/2022

A deadly virus stows away aboard the cruise ship Zaandam on its trip around South America in this gripping chronicle of the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Journalists Smith and Franklin (A Wild Idea) recount how nearly 200 passengers and crew members fell sick as the Zaandam remained at sea for 21 days in March 2020. Though Holland America executives were monitoring Covid-19 before the Zaandam set sail on March 8, they believed the 781-foot-long ship was “immune to such threats,” and took almost no precautions. There were no temperature checks upon boarding, no policies regarding masks and social distancing, no test kits, and only two doctors and four nurses to care for the crew and the largely retired and elderly passengers. As the ship’s medical center filled with patients struggling to breathe, the crew—following corporate mandates—continued to promote group activities, causing more people to fall ill. Refused entry by port after port as the world awoke to the dangers of Covid-19, the Zaandam’s passengers and crew members hunkered down in their cabins and were horrified to learn that several of their shipmates died. Extensive firsthand testimony and the authors’ brisk, matter-of-fact style enrich this propulsive account of how a holiday cruise turned into a nightmare. Readers will be riveted and appalled. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Riveting... It’s an impressive example of narrative journalism...A worthy addition to the historical record."—Associated Press

"The best nonfiction, in my mind, reads like a novel. It's filled with compelling characters and takes you to a place you'd never otherwise experience. It tells a story that grabs you by the throat and won't let you stop reading. Cabin Fever falls into that category...I couldn't put [it] down."—Star Tribune

"Cabin Fever is riveting, taut, and extensively researched. Smith and Franklin have written a page-turning adventure that will keep you reading late into the night."—Martin Dugard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Taking Paris

"Cabin Fever reads like a terrific thriller; the fact that everything in it actually happened makes it even more of a page-turner. It’s a riveting book from start to finish."—Dave Barry, New York Times bestselling author of Tricky Business and Insane City

"Cabin Fever is a gripping account of how an invisible stowaway—the Covid-19 virus—transformed a fun-filled luxury cruise into an unimaginable nightmare. Through in-depth interviews with passengers and crew, Smith and Franklin bring the reader on board the fated Zaandam, day-by-day and cabin-by-cabin, as one of the world’s preeminent cruise ships veered into devastating crisis."—Sara Gay Forden, bestselling author of House of Gucci

"In this gripping work of narrative nonfiction, journalists Smith and Franklin share the stories of the passengers and crew of Holland America’s Zaandam… The authors skillfully capture the fear and claustrophobia that set in as increasing numbers of passengers and crew members began to fall victim to the then-mysterious illness, requiring quarantine, as well as the struggles they faced during their journey back home and beyond. A riveting real-life drama that may reawaken your Covid-19 fears."—Kirkus Reviews

"Journalists Smith and Franklin report with vivid detail in this humanizing account of the voyage of anguish and isolation on Holland America’s virus-assaulted Zaandam, revealing the experiences of both crew and passengers...Though there's much to explore pertaining to the pandemic and the cruise ship industry, Smith and Franklin chose to focus on the resourcefulness and altruism of the crew. The result is a well-written, fast-paced, real-life thriller highlighting people caught in a nightmare situation and their triumph over adversity."—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2022

It is the early days of 2020 and people are closely watching an ominous virus. But cruise ships are still in operation. The Zaandam, a Holland America cruise dedicated for older people, takes on its globe-spanning passengers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a trip around the South American continent. What starts out as a normal cruise quickly becomes a nightmare as COVID hits both passengers and crew. As ports close to the ship, lockdowns begin, and passengers start dying, an international diplomatic scramble ensures to try and help the stranded ship and the people on board before things get worse. Smith and Franklin follow the story from all angles, the passengers, the crew, the officers, and those on land, including families and diplomats, to create a poignant and timely narrative. The writing makes readers feel as if they are there, weathering the ups and downs and unbelievable turns of fate of those on board. It is a riveting true story that will keep people turning pages until the end. VERDICT A harrowing thriller that brings the wide-ranging impacts of the COVID pandemic into the microcosmic enclosed world of a cruise ship.—Laura Hiatt

Library Journal

2022-03-16
The story of a stranded cruise ship at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this gripping work of narrative nonfiction, journalists Smith and Franklin share the stories of the passengers and crew of Holland America’s Zaandam. In early March 2020, the ship was set to depart Buenos Aires on a monthlong journey around the tip of South America before ending at a dry dock in Port Everglades, Florida. As the authors note, the majority of the more than 1,200 passengers were seniors from around the world—three-quarters over 65, and many were in their 80s. The ship also contained approximately 600 crew members from various nations who typically worked in close quarters seven days per week for more than 12 hours per day. Unknown to most passengers, “forty-eight minutes before the Zaandam’s departure, the U.S. State Department posted a warning about COVID-19 that was as unprecedented as it was unambiguous: ‘American citizens, especially those with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship.’ ” Though news about the virus had been circulating, Holland America had refused refunds. Additionally, according to passengers, safety protocols were lax during boarding, despite assurances to the contrary, and social events continued largely as normal. At the first stops on their ports-of-call list, however, the passengers could sense the tension. Locals had become afraid of the virus arriving in their areas by cruise ship and wanted them out. When similar concerns spread around the world, ports began to close, and the ship faced dwindling supplies and an overwhelmed medical staff, which consisted of only two doctors and four nurses. The authors skillfully capture the fear and claustrophobia that set in as increasing numbers of passengers and crew members began to fall victim to the then-mysterious illness, requiring quarantine, as well as the struggles they faced during their journey back home and beyond.

A riveting real-life drama that may reawaken your Covid-19 fears.

Kirkus Reviews