WHAKATANE singer Eve Lyford is happy to have her feet on dry land again – especially Whakatane soil.
The singer recently arrived back in the Eastern Bay after two weeks in isolation in a hotel in Auckland.
Prior to that she was stuck for months aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship off the California coast after an outbreak of Covid-19 aboard the ship.
Ms Lyford, who is known for her roles in many shows in Whakatane, including a lead role in Mamma Mia last year, was living the dream aboard the Grand Princess where she was a production singer.
However, the ship’s cruise around Mexico, Hawaii and then San Francisco was cut short when one passenger died, and other passengers began falling ill with Covid-19. The ship was forced to first dock in Oakland California in early March and then later berthed off San Francisco where passengers were allowed to disembark but just under half of the 1100 crew were kept onboard.
The ship was carrying 3500 people from 54 countries.
“It’s a huge relief to be home; as far as I’m aware the reason I was able to get back was because the CDC [Centre for Disease Control and Prevention] changed their minds yet again; because our ship got onto it so quickly with our quarantine and sanitisation process we were then allowed to fly commercially.”
Ms Lyford’s last two weeks aboard the ship were spent quarantined in her cabin.
“It’s extremely hard seeing how America have treated people on the ship throughout this time and I really feel for those still out there,” Ms Lyford said this week.
She said only crew were left on the ship after the passengers disembarked when the ship reached California.
“We were able to dock roughly a week after we found out what was going on, to disembark passengers and some crew, and I got off after 55 days of not touching land.
“The remaining [people] on my ship are the South Africans as they are currently unable to get home, plus the 100-crew manning team. “
Ms Lyford said she was unsure of her plans now.
“I will probably need to get a job in the meantime before the ships get up and running again.”
She said she wasn’t the only Kiwi going through the ordeal on the ship and had a good friend, Craig Lough, who was a very talented production dancer from Christchurch.
“We went through everything together, we quarantined in Auckland and then when I left for Whakatane he flew to Christchurch.”