DALLAS — Johnny and Donna Knight of North Texas had their 47-year wedding anniversary trip planned out months in advance. They had their vaccination cards ready to show the cruise line. The seven-day cruise of the Greek Islands through Norwegian Cruise Lines had always been a bucket list item, and it was also supposed to be the couple's happy retirement trip.
Everything was going to plan until they reached Greece and Donna tested positive for COVID in Greece.
“I was just like numb, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I just couldn’t believe [it]. I didn’t feel [sick],” Donna said.
Instead of getting on the ship, they had to quarantine inside a tiny hotel room in downtown Athens, Greece. The first of two consecutive quarantines had them isolated in the room for 10 days, and then another seven days after both tested positive for COVID again.
“We looked at each other and said, 'We feel like we are in jail. We feel like we are in solitary confinement,'" Donna said.
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In total, they would spend 19 days in hotels in Athens. Johnny told WFAA that Greece was also in the middle of an unprecedented heatwave and the air conditioning in their unit was severely lacking. They paced back and forth inside that tiny apartment just for exercise. Donna said it was 12 steps from the front to the back of the unit.
“We both had our masks on and we were trying to social distance. 'Happy anniversary babe!'" Donna laughed.
When they weren’t trying every avenue at the embassy, they were reading their Bible, talking to other stranded Americans off their balcony, watching the one channel on television that was occasionally in English and taking silly selfies to lighten the mood.
“I was trying to make sure our kids at home knew we were OK,” Donna said. They said their family at home in Texas was very worried. The Knights did get three meals a day sent to their room. Oftentimes, they didn’t know what the food was.
After almost 17 days in isolation, a health official came by to give them another round of COVID tests.
They knew they wouldn’t be able to go home if they were positive for the virus.
Thankfully, both were negative.
“Praise the Lord, we can go home!” Donna recalled. They never ended up getting on a cruise. But they did get to do a little bit of sightseeing on the last day.
Johnny told WFAA Norwegian was very gracious. But the couple was so happy they bought travel insurance, which means almost everything could be recouped.
But when you’ve spent 47 years together, what’s 19 days?
“It just drew our relationship together, closer,” Johnny said.
The Knights do not have any plans to travel any time soon — especially out of the country. They'll wait for the pandemic to clear. And when WFAA asked about the first thing the two of them wanted when they finally got home to Texas, Johnny said:
"Whataburger."