Cruise passengers had been anticipating enjoying the sunsets, beautiful ocean scenery, and relaxing days at sea only to find themselves watching missiles being intercepted in the sky while being held at the port for an unexpected period. Approximately 170 cruise passengers traveling on one of several cruise ships operated by a Greek-based company have found themselves stuck in Doha, Qatar after tensions escalated in the Middle East.
Would you believe these cruise ship passengers initially started their cruise on February 23, 2003; leaving Dubai in the United Arab Emirates? Their originally planned cruise (which was intended to be a leisurely cruise around the coastline of each country) would return them back to Dubai approximately 5 days later.
Due to closed sea routes off the coast of Doha, on February 28, 2003, the ship was forced to dock in Doha as a result of military actions between the United States, Israel and Iran which created concern for passenger safety and forced authorities to close down the sea routes.
Passengers reported seeing explosions in the air from missiles intercepted by Qatar’s air-defense systems. Some of those individuals traveling with their children were fearful for their safety and concerned about their children’s well-being due to the commotion that erupted from the sound of multiple air raid sirens (even prior to hearing the explosions). One of the passengers from Russia, Polina, told her story about the fear she and other onboard the ship experienced.
According to what she told me, once the sirens went off, the little ones quickly began to cry, while their parents, as well as the crew members, were doing all that they could to try and settle them down; therefore, while the parents and crew members were so occupied with the crying children, the ship’s passengers were instructed to remain on board (that is, to not leave the ship).
Among the approximately 170 passengers on the ship, there were approximately 155 Russian citizens and the rest were travelers coming from the countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other European countries.
For the families with children, they were facing a heightened level of stress due to the uncertainty of what would happen.
A passenger by the name of Polina shared with me that she and her husband were traveling with their three-year-old child. In her opinion, while her daughter was not completely understanding of the situation that was going on; however, she was definitely feeling the heightened sense of stress put on the people around her.
At some point, the stress seemed to manifest itself into an illness for her daughter, as she suddenly developed a fever to the point that her temperature was at 39 degrees Celsius; and that was just another thing for her and her family to be concerned about during an already very stressful time.
At the same time, Radmila expressed her frustration as a fellow passenger by stating that when she and fellow travelers were trying initially to reach the Russian Embassy located in Qatar, the response they received had very little to offer or guide the passengers at that time about what would happen next. Many passengers began to post their experiences through their social networking sites; this was done to keep their families up-to-date with the happenings surrounding the events with the ship.
Once the passengers began posting to their social networking sites and gained the attention of other individuals, then all of a sudden, assistance began to come into the passengers.
However, the people remained stuck for days after the event.
Polina and Radmila stated that the passengers were initially confined to their ship and only allowed to leave for short periods. On Wednesday, the travelers received permission to leave the boat for a few hours to purchase medicine at pharmacies in Doha.
Apart from the few hours they had to disembark the ship, most of the week was spent waiting on board.
Later, the cruise line extended the offer of passengers to stay on board without charge until Saturday; thus extending the lodging cost of passengers while the events around the world at that time were playing out.
However, this extension did not solve the bigger issue of getting back home.
Radmila explained that many passengers were scheduled to fly to Moscow on March 2. After certain sections of air traffic over the area were closed to civilian aircraft, their flight was canceled. Without airplane flights, their challenges in returning home were compounded.
Passengers find themselves in an unusual circumstance where they have transitioned from tourists enjoying a cruise to estranged travelers stuck in limbo due to international travel lines being disrupted.
Polina stated that her family has not yet made a definite decision regarding how long they will stay in Qatar after their vacation is extended.
Her husband continues to work remotely for some time longer; however, their daughter keeps asking to return to their home.
Polina hopes that the embassy will assist them with finding a place to stay if they need to be in Doha for an extended period of time. She prefers a small kitchen for meal preparation for her daughter.
The cruise operator will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates to all of the passengers.
The cruise operator also continues to stay in contact with relevant authorities and is keeping its focus on the welfare of its passengers and crew members as a top priority.
For the travelers onboard, safety is only one consideration among many.
They are also hoping for the next aircraft they see from a distance will be a commercial flight and not a military missile.
