Paulding County mother, daughter remain stranded on Grand Princess cruise ship

ATLANTA - Elizabeth Rutherford and her mother Sandra enjoyed every minute of their Hawaiian excursion on the Grand Princess cruise ship, a trip they'll never forget for more reasons than one.

"It was everything we imagined and more up until Wednesday when we got the letter in our stateroom," she told FOX 5's Portia Bruner by phone.

That letter arrived a week ago on the way back from Hawaii and changed the entire course of the vacation for healthy and sick passengers stuck on a cruise ship contaminated by the Coronavirus.

"Starting that Wednesday when we went up for breakfast, they had it all roped off to where we couldn't actually approach the buffet and the workers in full gloves were serving food. Nobody was touching the serving spoons or serving tongs," the Dallas, Georgia native said.

The next day, the Rutherfords say the captain announced all passengers would be confined to their staterooms. For this mother-daughter duo, that means they've been stuck in a room with a pair of twin beds and no window.

"It hasn't been totally awful. We actually had a little bit of outside time on Monday when we were cruising under the Golden Gate Bridge, so that was exciting. And we get along really well, so it's okay for us," she said.

Since the Rutherfords are healthy and have no symptoms of COVID 19, they knew it would be a while before they were allowed to disembark after the process started on Monday, but they had no idea they would still be on the ship Thursday. Still, no complaints, nothing but big smiles, a lot of patience and even compliments for the crew and the cruise.

"It was beautiful everything was just amazing. The crew has been very accommodating and helpful and they have stayed positive which helps the passengers stay positive," she said.