Pembroke couple finally returning to America after being quarantined on cruise ship

PEMBROKE, Mass. — They spent 10 days quarantined on a cruise ship, but on Sunday night a couple from Pembroke finally is on a flight back to the United States from Brazil.

It was meant to be their great escape. Carol and James Hannon of Pembroke booked a relaxing cruise that would take them away from the United States for a few weeks. But only five in days in, their daughter says, someone on board tested positive for the coronavirus.

“So there was a 78-year-old gentleman from Canada that tested positive,” said Joy Murphy, the couple’s daughter. “At that point they had to quarantine the entire ship. They had to bring tests in because they did not have tests in that part of Brazil.”

Stuck in their small room, in Recife, Brazil, the couple, both in their 80s, were told they weren’t allowed to leave. Murphy says her parents tried to find flights home along with more than 100 other Americans.

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However, they could not find a state that would allow their flights to land.

“When you are sitting at home listening to the Vice President tell Americans, if you are abroad, come home now, and you’ve got a group of 103 Americans that are trying really hard to come home and they can’t because they’re being blocked from landing in certain states, it’s very confusing and very frustrating,” Murphy said.

Late Sunday afternoon Murphy received a letter from the U.S. Consulate General in Brazil stating that they were thrilled to watch her parents plane depart.

While she doesn’t know where they’ll land, she says it will be somewhere in Texas. An arrival that her whole family is anxiously awaiting.

“It’s a huge weight lifted for me and my family and my parents as well,” Murphy said.

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