SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – “It was like, we’d just gotten off this ship, and the world ended,” Grand Princess cruise ship passenger Steven Smith said.

It was a year ago this week when Steven and Michele Smith’s cruise from San Francisco to Hawaii and back took a frightening turn – a man who had been on the Grand Princess for an earlier cruise died of COVID-19.

“Things got real when they started flying helicopters out to the ship and started lowering doctors and nurses down on a cable,” Steven Smith said.

Those lowered onto the ship were carrying COVID-19 test kits, and the results were not good.

Passengers were told not to leave their rooms which proved to be challenging for this couple from Paradise, California.

“We’d been locked in our room, we had a window but no balcony so all we could do was look out the window, we had no contact with anybody for days,” Steven Smith said.

Vicki Fisher was also aboard the Grand Princess with her husband Bill. Instead of returning to San Francisco on March 7th, she watched as the ship cruised up and down the coast for days until officials could decide where it could dock.

“When we got in, and they were cheering and allowing us to dock, that was my high point, because you kind of feel like a Pariah,” Vicki Fisher said.

The March 9th arrival at the port of Oakland was a relief for the 3,500 people aboad, but hopes of a quick return home were dashed.

“We were getting on this bus, and I said is there a flight to Indiana? And she said no you are going to Georgia and I said oh no, no no,” Vicki Fisher said.

The Fishers spent 3 days quarantining at Dobbins air force base in Georgia before being flown home to Indiana.

“It was not pleasant, and the people walking around in hazmat suits that was intimidating,” Vicki Fisher said.

The Smiths had it worse. They were flown to Miramar naval base in San Diego, where they quarantined for 14 days.

Finally on March 25th, almost 5 weeks after the beginning of the cruise, they were released and went to San Diego Airport to rent a car to drive back to paradise.

The first time being out in public was a shocker.

The Smiths are contractors and spent the last year rebuilding paradise after 2018’s fire. They have remained COVID-19 free.

Vicki Fisher and her husband got COVID before Thanksgiving, but it was mild and have spent much of the lockdown at their lakehouse in Indiana.

And despite the unexpected twists and turns of the Grand Princess Cruise, both of these veteran cruisers are ready to return to Sea.