DALLAS – Johnny and Donna Knight from North Texas planned their 47-year-old honeymoon months in advance. They had their vaccination cards ready to show to the shipping company. The seven-day cruise of the Greek islands by Norwegian Cruise Lines has always been a bucket list item and should become the couple’s happy retirement getaway too.
Everything went according to plan until they reached Greece and Donna tested positive for COVID in Greece.
“I was numb, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I just couldn’t believe it [it]. i didn’t feel [sick]”Said Donna.
Instead of getting on the ship, they had to quarantine themselves in a tiny hotel room in downtown Athens, Greece. In the first of two consecutive quarantines, they were isolated in the room for 10 days and then another seven days after they both tested positive for COVID again.
“We looked at each other and said, ‘We feel like we’re in prison. We feel like we are in solitary confinement, ‘”said Donna.
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They would spend a total of 19 days in hotels in Athens. Johnny told the WFAA that Greece was also in the middle of an unprecedented heat wave and that their unit was severely lacking air conditioning. They paced this tiny apartment just to move. Donna said it was 12 steps from the front to the back of the unit.
“We both had our masks on and tried to create social distance. ‘Happy anniversary baby!’ “Laughed Donna.
When they didn’t try every route in the embassy, they would read their Bible, chat to other stranded Americans from their balcony, watch the one channel on TV that occasionally ran in English, and take silly selfies to set the mood lighten.
“I’ve been trying to make sure our kids at home know we’re fine,” said Donna. They said their family back home in Texas was very concerned. The knights were sent to their rooms three meals a day. Often times they didn’t know what the food was.
After nearly 17 days of isolation, a health officer came by to give them another round of COVID tests.
They knew they couldn’t go home if they were positive for the virus.
Fortunately, both were negative.
“Praise the Lord, we can go home!” Donna recalled. You have never taken a cruise. But on the last day they were allowed to do a bit of sightseeing.
Johnny told WFAA Norwegian that she was very kind. But the couple were so happy they bought travel insurance, which means almost anything could be restored.
But if you’ve been together for 47 years, what are 19 days?
“It just welded our relationship closer together,” said Johnny.
The Knights have no plans to travel anytime soon – especially abroad. They will wait for the pandemic to subside. And when the WFAA asked what was the first thing they wanted when they finally got to Texas, Johnny said:
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