ATLANTA — A Georgia couple is finally home after spending more than three weeks aboard a cruise ship, and they said it was thanks, in part, to one of Georgia's US Senators.
Alan and Sharon Podrid of Marietta, Georgia told 11Alive they departed for a cruise aboard the Coral Princess ship from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina back on March 19. But their vacation quickly deteriorated from there.
With the unfolding coronavirus pandemic, the couple, and those aboard the ship, were told they would have to hunker down and quarantine in their cabins. The couple said they couldn't go anywhere outside of their room beginning March 31.
It was an experience shared by many aboard cruise ships, who were stranded at sea as countries across the world closed their boarders to travelers amid the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Ultimately, their ship, which was carrying several ill passengers, was sent to Miami, and they finally arrived into port Saturday, April 4. The ship with 1,020 passengers and 878 crew members had been in limbo for days awaiting permission to dock.
The couple said they were told by cruise staff that they could not make their own arrangements to get home, as new guidelines from the Department of Homeland Security and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prohibited cruise passengers from flying domestic. Two days later they got a call to their cabin asking for them to verify their home address.
They were finally able to leave the ship about 4 p.m. April 6, when they were notified that a private charter had been arranged to take them back to Atlanta. They and another couple from Sharpsburg, Georgia were shuttled to the airport, and there waiting for them on the tarmac, they said, was a private jet.
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The pilot, the couple said, told them that Gov. Kemp had heard about their situation and asked that Sen. Kelly Loeffler charter the plane. When they landed later that night around 7:30 p.m., Loeffler and her husband were waiting for them, the couple said.
After an ambulance transport, they finally arrived back in Marietta around 9 p.m. They told 11Alive over the phone that they are healthy and feeling good, but are quite happy to be home and over the ordeal.
"We had no idea. We didn't ask for any of this," Alan Podrid said. “If it wasn't for the generosity of Kelly Loeffler, who knows where we'd be right now."
11Alive reached out to the Sentator's office who confirmed the couple's story and shared photos of their return. In a statement, Loeffler's team said she was happy to help and glad the couple was back home and "in good spirits."
Contributing: Brad Gray
