Day 5

Last day of Isolation in Paradise! 

I woke up to find my beloved espresso machine crawling with tiny ants. 😩 Took it apart, washed everything, disinfected the counter. Back in business.☕️ Life in the tropics!

Moon Palace Quarantine (MPQ) friends, that clock on your bedside table is also an awesome JBL speaker. Move it out to your lanai if you have one, pair it to your phone via Bluetooth, and enjoy your favorite playlists. 🎶

Yesterday a couple from Canada who are here with me right now left a message on the blog. They said that they have a mandatory 14 days before returning to 🇨🇦. Every country - and even state - has different rules. 

If you have questions about your quarantine terms or testing, press the➕“Medical Services” button on your room phone or dial 5 3481. There are different doctors on staff every day, mine was awesome so if you’re having trouble getting someone here’s his info:

Dr. Eduardo Francisco Díaz López, Médico General   C.P. 11404151

Email dr.eduardo.fr@gmail.com

I dialed “Medical Services” on the hoise phone at 7:30am (it’s the button with the ➕). The doctor was in my room in 15 minutes. He measured my blood oxygen and pressure. He asked me if I had any symptoms (no). He just casually asked where I was from. When he thought I said “California” he looked up sharply—turns out that CA requires a negative swab. NC does not, so I am not re-testing this morning. After five full days quarantine, I am cleared for travel back to NC. We can talk about this, and please know that I will be a cautious traveler—but if you were in my shoes you would go home, even not knowing for certain that you would test negative. Wouldn’t you? Would you? [Update: I did test negative upon arriving home]. 

So yes: I passed my exam and about 20 minutes after he left received my “proof of recovery” letter for travel tomorrow via email. I was billed $120 for this exam. That and my one extra antigen test at $19 should be my only charges for this quarantine period, but I’ll update you after checkout tomorrow.

Circling back to the couple from Canada, if you’re reading this, you probably have two tiny wastebaskets but are given all of your meals on disposable dishes—you will need to ask for a bunch of extra “urban waste” red bags. And what about laundry? There are bags in the dresser and the request sheet is on the safe in the closet. If you were a “checked in” guest you could get laundry done with resort credits. I don’t know if they will let you do that at all—I don’t know if they will even pickup laundry from the quarantine rooms. Let me know how that goes?

BIG SHOUTOUT to Christopher from PR (which is customer service, not public relations like we think of it in the US). Here is what he did for me this morning:

1) Gave me his email—so MPQ friends, when you get your clearance emailed you can forward it to relpubmps@palaceresorts.com. Christopher is going to print my letter and deliver it to my room so I have a printed copy when I go to the airport at 4 AM tomorrow. This is important because apparently you hit a couple levels of security leaving the quarantine dorms and there may be language barriers. Having the printed letter smooths the process. Pro tip from Jennifer! 💕

2) Has arranged for me to pay my remaining bill and checkout online so that I don’t need to get back to the main resort at 4am tomorrow to check out.

3) Has arranged for a private taxi to pick me up in front of the quarantine dorms, again saving me precious time in the morning.

TRAVEL TIP: Make sure you have cash for tipping and unexpected expenses.

Thanks to Spectrum Local News reporter Amanda Rose for helping to raise awareness!

Watch https://fb.watch/alWW60DEJQ/ 

I’M READY! 🧳 ✈️🇺🇸