Because my backyard is a beach and a state park, both of them are now closed to me as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents are not able to use the pool, and must remain socially distanced as recommended. There is also a curfew in place in my city from 11 pm to 5 am for the foreseeable future.

Most local, county, and state parks are closed, and I don’t have any friends who have access to large open fields…so I’m effectively unable to get out and detect for a while. It’s not a complaint – I’m certainly taking this pandemic seriously. But it does mean that I’m missing one of my favorite activities right now.

So I have been focusing on my other interests and trying to find new ways to enjoy being at home. Photography, drone video, cleaning and organizing…those are the interests that will get me through the stay at home measures.

I have been watching a growing “herd” of cruise ships drifting off the coast of Miami, east of the port. It’s funny to see them bunched together as they wait. I wonder about the staff who remain onboard. Usually they have guests to entertain and a journey to other places!

Have you ever used a cruise mapping application or website? Looking at Cruisemapper, I can track which ship is out there and usually what their destination would be. It’s pretty interesting and fun to see what is around your area.

There are currently several clusters of cruise ships throughout the Caribbean.

Here you can see the names of the ships I am seeing in the “herd”

Obviously right now, the usual trip paths are not happening. The MSC Meraviglia has been there for days and new ships seem to be joining them in this holding pattern.

It will be interesting to see how the cruise industry is ultimately impacted by this pandemic. Even when it first started being a source of infections in February, people were still boarding and taking their planned vacations until recently in March. So it seems that customers are willing to take the risk – perhaps in the long run, they will be okay.