Ten days have passed since Carl Goldman and Jeri Seratti-Goldman have been quarantined on the Diamond Princess due to coronavirus.

Trapped Inside Our Diamond Princess Cruise Cabin – Day 10(Thursday)

We are quarantined in our Princess Cruise cabin at a deserted dock in Yokohama, Japan. We have been away from home since Jan. 17. We boarded the Diamond Princess two days later, on Jan. 19. It will be over one month before we return to our home in Santa Clarita.

We enjoyed 15 days of our 16-day cruise through Southeast Asia. On our final day, an elderly Chinese passenger who had exited our ship in Hong Kong tested positive for the coronavirus. He is our ground zero.

We now have six or seven more days to remain quarantined in our cabin depending on which report we believe. We hope to return to our home in Santa Clarita, California before my 67th birthday on Feb. 22. So far, 174 people have come down with the coronavirus on our ship. We are healthy.

Our days have become routine. As the owners of KHTS Radio and our top rated 24/7 local news site, www.hometownstation.com, we work many hours early every morning because of the time difference in Japan. We are 17 hours ahead of Pacific time.

It is starting to rain in Yokohama, our first rainy day since quarantine began. Our weather app promised sunshine by noon. (The sun popped out at 11:58 a.m.)

The battery light on my toothbrush is now blinking. We didn’t pack a charger. Every time I brush my teeth the opening of the “Mission Impossible” theme song fills my brain, waiting for the fuse to blow up. I hate when that happens. I am finding the theme continues to filter through my head over and over and over again, long after I’ve stopped brushing. My only cure to replace the “Mission Impossible” theme from polluting my brain is to replace it with the “My Pillow” jingle.

The Diamond Princess captain, Stephano Ravera, continues to update us four or five times a day. His pertinent announcements are welcomed by all of us. Rumor has it he hails from Italy. Based on his heavy accent he could come from anywhere. He’s a male version of the actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, but Zsa Zsa had better English.

All our announcements are followed by a Japanese translator. Over half the passengers onboard are from Japan. It takes the translator much longer with his speech, so a five-minute update from our captain could eat up a good chunk of our day with the Japanese translator booming over the loudspeakers in our cabin.

A few days ago, I was on the phone with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Tom and Karen Seratti. They were concerned. The captain interrupted our conversation. I placed my phone up to our speaker so Tom and Karen could hear first-hand about our situation. Five minutes later I told them now hold on, they will say the same thing in Japanese. In all seriousness Tom shared that he thought our captain was speaking Japanese. I suggested to Tom that he download our new-found translation app, as described in an earlier report.

In all seriousness, we look forward to our captain’s regular reports. He gives us pertinent information and peace of mind.

A friend I hadn’t seen in many years created a cartoon lampooning our plight. Peter Green is a talented artist. We had first met 35 years ago. Jeri and I were working at the Transtar Radio Network in Hollywood. Transtar was a major satellite radio network that was later gobbled up by Westwood One.  I was producing two weekly radio shows, one for the brilliant comedian John Candy and the other for the KIIS-FM nighttime star, Hollywood Hamilton. Peter designed our promotional material. He created very elaborate cartoons of Candy and Hollywood. I still have framed copies.

Original art by Peter Green Design

Years later, when Jeri and I moved to Santa Clarita and purchased the local radio station, our oldest son became friends with one of Peter’s sons. We discovered that we had both moved to our valley, buying houses on the same street. How random is that?

The Princess staff continue to be stellar. I appreciate their efforts, given our circumstances. Members of our crew have caught the virus. They too are quarantined in a Yokohama hospital.

Sometimes I wish our captain would lighten up a little. I realize he really can’t. Give me the microphone. I’d share, “we expect to be released before the Iowa caucus results are finalized.”

Today our news team forwarded an email from a company who performs virtual weddings online. They asked if Jeri and I would renew our vows on Valentine’s Day via Skype or Facebook live. Obviously they haven’t been reading any of my online journal.

Our Japanese toilet continues to be a challenge for me. I’ve tried every angle using tremendous force to flush, and each time I’ve failed to succeed until after the third try. Flushing from a seated position is totally impossible.

We just learned we have 44 new cases of the coronavirus, now called COVID-19. Holy cow!!! Our total number of victims is now up to 218. I can hear ambulances in the distance as they prepare to transport each one individually.

Passengers over 80 years old with chronic conditions can now elect to leave the Diamond Princess. They will be transported to quarantine houses that Japanese health officials have set up. They will remain quarantined for the remainder of our 14-days.

The World Health Organization now has officially renamed the virus COVID-19 to separate it from other coronaviruses. The 19 stands for 2019 because the first victim caught it on Dec. 31, 2019.

We’ve heard from many friends we lost touch with long ago. Our close friends and family touch base daily. We enjoy reading comments on our posts. A few readers continue to recommend we remain in Japan. We have been told by all health officials that once we complete our 14-day quarantine, we are free of getting or spreading the novel corona virus, COVID-19.

Our traveling companions Mark and Jerri Jorgensen are also trapped in their cabin next to ours. Mark wrote the classic response to one commenter who did not want us returning to Santa Clarita. The commenter said, “Keep them there.” Mark’s response:

“Even better, let’s send them to a leper colony. Or at least mark them and shout “unclean´ when they’re in public.”

Movie time this evening featured the movie “The Goldfinch.” It was a little slow and too long, but worth seeing once, especially when quarantined on a cruise ship.

Trapped Inside Our Diamond Princess Cruise Cabin – Day 11(Friday)

It’s Valentine’s Day in Japan. I’m the champ of the male procrastinators. Who in their right mind would be thinking about Valentine’s Day when we departed on our journey from LAX on January 17? I have no gift and no card. The only thing that could make my situation worse would be if we were flying back to Santa Clarita today. But that’s not happening. If we flew from Tokyo on Valentine’s Day and crossed the International Date Line, we’d arrive in Southern California the morning of the same day we left, which would also be Valentine’s Day in the states. Two Valentine Day’s in a row. Yikes.

The captain was joined on his microphone by the Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, who boarded the Diamond Princess this morning. He’s a big deal in Japan. Funny how the Japanese combine health, labor and welfare. I thought of several funny U.S. Cabinet combinations I could generate, but I’ve been very careful to remove myself from politics (at least in these posts).

It was announced that anyone over 80 with any health conditions have the option to leave our ship. The Japanese government agreed to put them up in land facilities. We didn’t come close in age to qualifying.

Even if we did, having spent two nights at the start of our vacation at an upscale Marriott hotel in Tokyo, Jeri and I would not want to leave the Diamond Princess.

Our Tokyo hotel room was about one quarter of the size of our Diamond Princess mini suite, and it did not have a balcony. During our two nights there, we were climbing over each other to get out of bed. Navigating through our room was like being trapped in a memorable “Laverne & Shirley” episode. Moving off ship to unknown Japanese quarantine facilities did not seem like the best choice.

Breakfast was served, along with two cans of Coca Cola for later in the day. We don’t drink any soda. We gave ours to Mark Jorgensen in the cabin next door. Mark has been going through withdrawals of not drinking his daily dosage of soda, and he’s had no Mexican food for almost a month. Back in Utah, he eats a Mexican meal three times a day.

Jeri drank one full can of Coke early into our quarantine. She burst into hyper-drive. I believe it was her first Coke since George Bush’s presidency (senior, not junior). I was fortunate she hadn’t combined any caffeinated soda with her eight estrogen patches the other day.

After working many hours on the phone and exchanging emails with our KHTS staff, we decided to watch a movie. We couldn’t agree on one. It was probably the first time that’s ever happened to a long-term married couple, even on Valentine’s Day.

Fortunately, we had two televisions in our room. Nine feet apart and no headsets. Do I have to explain who watched HER movie at full volume and who struggled with closed captions?

In the afternoon, we took our third one-hour stroll on deck. Passengers with inside cabins had walks outside more often. They deserve it. Their rooms are half the size and have no windows. On one of our excursions during the fun part of our cruise, I met a friendly couple from Atlanta. They were both in their 80’s. The husband informed me that his grandson had given them this cruise as a gift. The grandson, along with a friend, were sharing an inside cabin. If I were in an inside cabin with three other people and no windows, I would just place a fork in my head.

About a dozen years ago, I was sitting opposite our Santa Clarita Mayor (at the time) Cameron Smyth at one of our many charity dinners at the Valencia Hyatt. This one happened to be exceptionally long and painful. Three hours into it, I stood up to go to the bathroom. As I passed by Cameron, he rolled his eyes and shared, “Just put a fork in my head.” Since then Jeri and I, along with many other close Santa Clarita friends have created Cameron’s fork rating. On a scale from one to ten, we rated all future dinners on how many forks to our head it might require for us to sit through the event. We called it the Cameron Hyatt Dinner Scale. Luckily, we’ve only had a few “forkers” above an eight in the past few years.

A small boat appeared on the side of our ship displaying a sign in Japanese. Using our newly found Google translation app, we discovered the media had devised a clever way to get our story.

At 3:30 p.m., our turn was up to walk the deck. This was the third time we could escape our cabin for an hour over the past nine days. I missed our second opportunity, being in the middle of my one and only power nap on the trip. That day, I had woken up that morning at 2 a.m. to communicate with our KHTS staff. Sleep was more important than freedom.

I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. Before my first step up the stairs, Jeri once again left me in the dust, treasuring her 59 minutes removed from me.

It was a cloudy afternoon, on the verge of a sprinkle. We walked the ship’s top deck, Deck 15, once again. Police tape blocked off areas where we could not trespass. We had half the deck for our stroll. Passing by other walkers each time we turned around, I had a view of the dock side. Not much had changed. About twenty ambulances parked waiting. Military vehicles, and other officials were all in their spots. The paparazzi had been moved about an additional hundred yards away forcing them to adjust their zoom lenses. Police tape blocked them from trying to move closer.

The majority of walkers were Japanese, similar demographics to our ship. A few in our group bolted for the designated smoking area. They had to remove their masks in between puffs. At the beginning of our quarantine, the crew had handed out nicotine gum to keep those with the nasty habit from climbing the walls in their cabin. Smoking was prohibited on the Diamond Princess except in a few designated smoking areas and the ship’s casino. I hope a few have given up cigarettes.

Each time I walked past the smoking area it smelled like a giant wet ashtray, reminding me of the boy’s bathroom in between classes at my high school in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.

In the evening we watched the film “Fighting with My Family.” It’s a clever, fun movie very much worth seeing.

Read All Of Carl’s Journals Here: Carl Goldman Coronavirus Journals

Part 1: Santa Clarita Residents Share First-Hand Account Of Quarantine On Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Due To Coronavirus

Part 2: Santa Clarita Residents Share First-Hand Experience Of Coronavirus Quarantine On Diamond Princess: Part Two

Part 3: Santa Clarita Residents Share First-Hand Experience Of Coronavirus Quarantine On Diamond Princess

Part 5: Santa Clarita Residents Share Emotions As They Prepare To Leave Coronavirus Quarantine Cruise: Part Five

Part 6: Santa Clarita Residents To Return To United States After Coronavirus Quarantine On Diamond Princess: Part Six

Part 7: Santa Clarita Resident Diagnosed With Coronavirus Sets Record Straight: Part 7

Part 8: Santa Clarita Resident Battles Coronavirus After Diamond Princess Cruise: Part 8

Part 9: Santa Clarita Resident Continues To Recover From Coronavirus Diagnosis: Part 9

Part 10: Living With Coronavirus: Santa Clarita Resident Continues To Share Story — Part 10

Part 11: A Birthday In Quarantine: Santa Clarita Resident Continues Chronicling Coronavirus Recovery – Part 11

Part 12: Coronavirus Quarantine Continues As Santa Clarita Resident Recovers From COVID-19: Part 12

Part 13: Coronavirus Patient From Santa Clarita Continues To Clear Misconceptions About COVID-19: Part 13

Part 14: Third Member Of The ‘Four Amigos’ Tests Positive For Coronavirus: Part 14

Part 15: Santa Clarita COVID-19 Patient Continues Recovery In Nebraska After Contracting Coronavirus: Part 15

Part 16: Carl Continues To Test Positive For Coronavirus, Jeri Still Negative: Part 16

Part 17: Carl Still Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Jeri Prepares To Return Home: Part 17

Part 18: Jeri Cleared From Quarantine, Carl Continues Coronavirus Recovery: Part 18

Part 19: Jeri Back Home, Carl Continues Coronavirus COVID-19 Recovery In Nebraska: Part 19

Part 20: Coronavirus COVID-19 Patient Carl Goldman Continues Path To Recovery: Part 20

Read All Of Carl’s Journals Here: Carl Goldman Coronavirus Journals

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