The Daily - Vacationing in the Time of Covid

Episode Date: August 5, 2022

Charles Falls Jr., known as Chillie, loves to take cruises. But Covid, as it has done for so many, left him marooned at home in Virginia.As he told Cristal Duhaime, a producer at the Times podcast First Person, as soon as restrictions eased, he eagerly planned a return to the waves. But for Chillie, who suffers from prostate cancer, resuming his beloved travels — particularly aboard the cramped quarters of a cruise ship, most people’s idea of a pandemic nightmare — was especially perilous.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today. It's August, vacation season. But it's different now. We're vacationing in a kind of gray zone. A quasi-post-COVID world. We're navigating regulations and rules,

but above all, our own tolerance for risk. Producer Crystal Duhaime and my colleagues at the Times podcast First Person tell the story of one man whose decision to resume his favorite form of travel was especially perilous. It's Friday, August 5th. Morning, welcome to Travel and Cruise Industry News. Coming to you from Bedford County in Central Virginia. I first came across Chili on YouTube, where almost every day he does a live stream all about cruises.

Got a lot of stuff on the agenda for this morning. Cruise ship sailing today from U.S. ports. For more than a year, the cruise industry shut down because of COVID. But at the end of January, Chili was getting ready to go on his first cruise since the pandemic started. In Miami, Freedom of the Seas,

who I will be on in, what's it now, 59 days or something? Hi! Come in the house. A few days before Chili was scheduled to board the Freedom of the Seas, I went to visit him. You don't have to take shoes off. This is a farm. This is my sister Jean, by the way.

Hi. He lives in Forest, Virginia, with his sister and her family. And you know if you hear the cats in the background we have two cats running around. We call them our COVID kitties. We rescued them during the first part of the pandemic and their names are Charmin and Cottonelle. And their names are Charmin and Cottonelle. So, and then through here is my bedroom, actually. It's also where I record all my shows. I have some lighting.

I have, of course, I call it my big butt microphone. But this is where I do all my craziness from. And then, of course, I travel away from here whenever I can to go on cruises, which I'm getting ready to do. Probably need to stop. Yeah. For a second. As you can tell, I was getting a little out of breath. Whew.

As you can tell, I was getting a little out of breath. Aggravating part of the, of being on oxygen. I do fine sitting, walking, standing 30, 40 yards total. I get out of breath. And I got to give myself a little jolt. And it takes, you know, a second or two. Now, this was one of the four original rooms that was built in 1904.

When my mother moved out... So you want me to go back to the, I was born and raised and things? Yeah. Okay. Well, I was born and raised in Roanoke, Virginia. Okay, just a second. You just peaked there. I'm doing it too loud?

Yeah, it's a little bit too loud. All right. Well, my real name is Charles Mason Falls, Jr. Everybody's called me Chili all my life except for one teacher who refused to use nicknames. My dad was Big Chili. My sister decided when I was born that I was going to be Little Chili. So I was Little Chili as long as my father was alive. My father was a disabled veteran from World War II. He was one of the first people into France. Chili's parents weren't cruisers,

but his mom did take Chili on vacations to the beach. I remember the first time we went to Virginia Beach, for instance. Camping trips to Myrtle Beach. Several trips in the summer up to New England. We were like friends. I mean, yes, she was my mom and she would fuss at me for doing bad things. But because of that travel, I just loved being around the ocean. When did you realize that cruising was not only something that you liked to do, but maybe part of your identity? Ooh, that's a very tough question for me. Hmm.

Chili went on his first cruise in 1978. A group of friends invited him and his second wife to join them on the carnival festival. It left from Los Angeles and went to the Mexican Riviera, which had three ports of call, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta. We were in some rough seas a couple times on that seven-day cruise, but it didn't bother me. What was it about that first experience that you fell in love with?

The entertainment, the food, the bars. I have been just about everywhere that you can go in the Caribbean, from the Bahamas to all the Mexico East Coast ports, Panama, Colombia, Jamaica. I've been to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Lucia. I go to buffet breakfast, and right after breakfast, I work on my vegetable level. I go to the first bar that's open and get a Bloody Mary, which has tomatoes, and it's usually got a stalk of celery. It might have an olive. It might have a pickle. And I like to take that and go get in a hot tub. Grenada, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao. There's always a new person to meet. Something different on every port. Sitting in a hot tub with a priest. We talked about religion and we talked about the world. Walked across the bar, stark naked, sat on my bar stool,

and said, excuse me, bartender, may I have another bourbon and Diet Coke, please? Now, I may have had an adult beverage or two before I did that. Just scrumptious pina coladas. I ended up with a hot date. She was 96 years old. Turks and Caicos. Trinidad. Canada. Back in those days it was just go and you'd party and you'd come home with a seven-day hangover and not even think about it. I'm much better

behaved now. Sort of. Bingo and trivia contests, game shows. So there's something to do literally all the time. Art. Some people love... Just sweet as a little weed. The cat. Charmin, that's enough, dude. Okay.

That's a pain in the... Art galleries. There's an art gallery on almost every ship. They have fabulous art on some ships. The new Rotterdam from Hollywood. It's got like four and a half. Can you tell me the last cruise that you were on? My last cruising was side to sides. I was on the Zyder Dam and then the Carnival Sunrise.

I got home on the 2nd of March, and then everything shut down in the cruise industry because of the pandemic. When cruising shut down, Chili's world got really small. He spent months at home in Virginia, watching cruise after cruise get cancelled. Then, in November 2020, he started feeling off.

He thought he had a urinary tract infection, and he went to his doctor. His doctor decided to check for prostate cancer. He ordered a PSA test. PSA readings over 10 often mean there's trouble. My first PSA test was 484. Yes, in fact, I had prostate cancer. Mine had spread throughout my entire body.

It was in some 60 different places, including my lungs. Because I was a smoker for 56 years, they wanted to do a test to make sure I didn't have lung cancer. In fact, I had prostate cancer in the lungs. Chili started chemo. Within a few months, he was also put on oxygen and had to go to respiratory therapy three times a week. I will never be cancer-free, but it's under control because of the chemo that should, hopefully, keep everything in balance and the PSA doesn't go up. up. If I didn't have a future ahead where I could get back on my boats, I could get back at sea,

I'm not sure how I would handle it. I'm happiest on a boat on the water. We'll be right back. packing is something that i'm terrible at i do it last minute so i end up missing things but basically i start thinking about what i have from the skin out. So the first thing I do is grab underwear. The second thing I grab is socks, pants, slash shorts, t-shirts. They usually have one and sometimes two fancy dinners where everybody on the ship will dress up a little bit. I got a new sport coat. That reminds me. I never got the shirt. But yes, I ordered a new sport coat because it's been years since I had a new one.

So I called my friendly tailor. I went in to get measured because I had no idea what I would wear. My body has changed a lot this past two years. So it's over here in the closet, which is a disaster waiting to happen. it's a navy blue sport coat with a little hanky in the pocket can you call jimmy at his store and see if my shirt ever came in and if it did pick it up two three If it did, pick it up. Okay, I'm on it. Two. Three. Four. Five.

To get ready for cruising, Chili had been working on strengthening his lungs. Seven. Normally, he would have gone to respiratory therapy at the hospital. But there was a surge in COVID cases. So Chili decided to do some of his exercises at home. I'm going to switch legs and lead with the other leg. One.

Two. Three. I'm going to lose my breath. Four. three, I'm going to lose my breath, four. I think a lot of people would think, oh, Chili, you're probably the last person who should be traveling during a respiratory pandemic given your needs for oxygen and your difficulties.

Do you have any doubts at all about going onto a cruise ship in a few days? None. I believe just as much as I believe my name is Chili Falls, that I will get on a cruise ship and be safer there than I am to go nine-tenths of a mile from my house to Kroger's to the grocery store. I'm curious, what does your oncologist say? My oncologist, knowing my love of cruising, was all in favor of me going on cruises. My urologist, knowing my love of cruises, said, I have no problem with you going on a cruise. My pulmonologist and my pulmonary therapist have no problem with me going on cruising.

They look at it and realize how important it is to my mental health when I can do what I love the most. I don't want to exist. I don't want to live like I've lived a good bit of the last year. the last year. How do you think about that tension between just existing and actually

living? Over the past year, existing got erased from my knowledge book because I couldn't do things that I did for myself. I couldn't go out to eat on my own.

It was awful to me. It was awful to the people I'm around. I had issues where especially dealing with the catheter which there were accidents. I couldn't clean it up because I couldn't take care of myself. I had to ask my sister, my brother-in-law, my niece to do things that a grown man just doesn't want to do. At least I didn't.

a grown man just doesn't want to do, at least I didn't. I couldn't even remember how to use my phone because my mind was so muddled from the chemo. You know, the best part of a year was spent in there, in my chair, with the television on, even though I couldn't figure out how to change channels, until I could get to the point that I could come out to the dining room table and sit and have meals. So existing is not something I want.

I want to live. Let's get started. To begin the testing process, go to EMED's website and click start testing. I am nervous. Wow. Obviously, if I test positive, that's the end of the ballgame for these cruises. Even though Chili was fully vaccinated and boosted, he also had to show proof of a negative COVID test taken within two days of getting on the cruise. How many drops? The test had to be verified in real time and on camera. Two, three, four, close the left side, open the right side.

or close the left side over the right. 15 minutes, and we'll be here. All righty, thank you. Oy vey. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to see, whether it's a faint line or a... Oh, positive is no line. Negative is a line. No, positive is no line. Negative is a line. No, positive's

two lines. Oh, positive is two lines. We're down to nine minutes now and I have nothing happening. I just have the control line and nothing below that. So I'm feeling a little bit better.

Six minutes and 35 seconds. Still, the news is good. We're down to five and a half minutes. Nothing. Just the one line. It's looking really good. It's looking really good, folks. There's nothing.

Four minutes and 50 seconds. Clock is ticking. We're inside of two minutes now. Is that a second line? Don't you tell me that. No, it's not a second line. A minute to go. Do we ring a bell?

Do I have a bell? 40 seconds. 26. I feel like the guy from NASA. T-minus. 15. Put me in a rocket and send me to Miami. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. It's time.

Timer is finished. I'm ready. Hello. Yes, I can hear you. Hello. Yes, I can hear you. Yeah, you can listen to the call. Don't touch the clock. I see one pink line and nothing else. Yeah, I can hear you.

Thank you. I'm going cruising. Cruising for a bruising. As long as it doesn't snow on Sunday night into Monday morning would be the next possible issue On January 24th, I met Chili aboard the Freedom of the Seas. In the evening, he parked his rented scooter outside my cabin and joined me on the balcony. The waves were calm, and the lights of Miami were getting smaller and smaller as the ship sailed out to sea. How was dinner? Good, very good.

What did you have to eat? I had a shrimp cocktail, a Caesar salad, prime rib, and a key lime pie for dessert. It was very good. It was getting dark out, and Chili was clearly exhausted. I could go lay down and fall sound asleep. Because that's how relaxed I am right now. right now. I don't worry too much anymore about where the ships go.

Just being on the ship and out here somewhere, and it doesn't matter to me where it goes. This is it. Two long years. Yeah, it's been a rough two years for me. Over the next four days, the ship sailed to the Bahamas and back. Chili went to bed at 8 most nights. He didn't go to a single show. He didn't do the hot tubs. And the meetups Chili had planned to attend just didn't happen.

The ship was probably half empty. And because of pandemic protocols, they didn't sit chilly next to anyone but me at dinner which was the only thing he did most nights besides film stuff for his YouTube channel. Hello. Hello. Ah, you're wearing your suit for the first time. You managed to get the shirt, too.

But he did put on his new suit with the hanky in the pocket. Bloody Mary. A Bloody Mary tonight. And he did have a cocktail or two. Cheers. He went to a sushi and sake pairing. I have a feeling the sushi here is going to be somewhat different than sushi from Lynchburg. And had a scooter race with a fellow passenger.

Of course, it was a tie. Gotta be from Massachusetts. What gave it away? Oh, no doubt about it. Good evening, Madame Christophe and Sir Chili. Hi. Chili wasn't the same person he was two years ago. We met last night. How are you?

But he was cruising again. Good evening and welcome to Chili Falls Live from the Freedom of the Seas, the last night here on board Freedom of the Seas. Yes, I decided, folks, despite my threats, that I'm not naked and I'm not... I'm not... A few days after the Freedom of the Seas got back into Miami,

Chile got on the MSC seashore. And then shortly after that, the Divina. And then the Maravilha. He has a total of 16 cruises planned for 2022. Today's episode was produced by our colleagues at First Person, a Times podcast that explores the personal stories behind people's beliefs. To hear other episodes of First Person, search for it wherever you listen. We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today.

On Thursday, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services declared the outbreak of monkeypox a public health emergency, a designation designed to both raise public awareness and give the federal government greater resources to fight the virus. We're prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus, and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously and to take responsibility to help us tackle this virus.

So far, the United States has recorded nearly 7,000 cases of the virus. And... I made an honest mistake, and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn't end my life here. Despite her pleas for leniency, a Russian court has sentenced the American basketball star

Brittney Griner to nine years in a penal colony after she was found guilty of bringing illegal drugs into the country. But it's unclear how much of that sentence Greiner will serve. The United States has asked for the release of both Griner and another American being detained in Russia, Paul Whelan, in return for the release of a Russian arms dealer being held in the U.S.

Finally, federal officials have brought charges against four current and former Kentucky police officers involved in the raid that killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot in her apartment in 2020. The officers are charged with several crimes, including lying to obtain a warrant that was used to search Taylor's home. Today's episode was produced by Crystal Duhame and was edited by Stephanie Joyce with help from Larissa Anderson, Lisa Tobin, Kari Pitkin, and Anita Botticello. It was fact-checked by Mary Marge Locker, contains original music by Isaac Jones and Carol Sabarat, and was engineered

by Isaac Jones, Chris Wood, and Corey Schreppel. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Lansford of Wonderly. Special thanks to our colleagues at First Person, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Courtney Stein, Christina Josa, Olivia Nat, Derek Arthur, and Jason Pagano. The Daily is made by Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lindsay Garrison, Claire Tennisgetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon-Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Chris Wood, Jessica Chung, Thank you. Michael Benoit, Liz O'Balin, Asta Chaturvedi, Rochelle Banja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Anita Badajo, Rob Zipko, Alishaba Etube, Muj Zaydi, Patricia Willans, Rowan Nemisto, Jody Becker, Ricky Nowetzki, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reed, Carlos Prieto, Sophia Milan, Ben Calhoun, and Susan Lee.

Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Schumann, Cliff Levy, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Des Ibequa, Wendy Doerr, Elizabeth Davis-Moore, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, and Maddie Maciello. And welcome to the world, Mira Ruth Barbaro, my daughter. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you on Monday.