Montreal couple remembers start of pandemic while on quarantined cruise ship in Japan

Five years ago, Montreal couple Julien Bergeron and Manon Trudel were on the waters off the coast of Japan – on board the Diamond Princess cruise, where they were quarantined for weeks and contracted COVID-19.

They were one of the first Quebecers CityNews spoke to in February 2020 — who were dealing with the virus — before our first case in the province was diagnosed. The trip scarred them and changed their lives, altering how they’re spending retirement.

“For us, we were expecting to travel. We like traveling. We like that scene, a lot of things. And that was normal for us at that time. And it never came back,” said Bergeron.

Bergeron and Trudel haven’t traveled outside of Canada since that trip in 2020. 

At that time, they were embarking on a three-month tour of the world. It was all cut short due to COVID.

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They were stuck in their cabin on a cruise ship where over 700 other people were infected.

The Diamond Princess was the first cruise to have a major outbreak on board, nine people from the ship died.

From there, cruise lines suspended operations, and people were told to avoid travelling on them as the crowded nature of cruises increased the exposure and rapid spread of the virus.

“We didn’t have any windows, and it was a very small room. Because us, when we were going to cruise, we only had to sleep in the room,” Bergeron explained.

Trudel added, “I was thinking if couples that argue a lot. If they had been in a small room, not knowing what was going to happen without a window for five days, I don’t know if their relationship would have survived. It’s not easy.”

When Bergeron ran a fever, they had to get off the boat and the two were separated.

“I was alone in the dark in an ambulance. I didn’t understand what [they] was saying,” Bergeron explained.

Trudel added, “I didn’t know where he was, and no one told me where he was going.” And she ended up on a separate bus.

“I saw the bus, Manon’s bus, and I saw there was a window open. Actually, this is Manon’s. I knocked on the window and I made a heart, and it was Manon,” Bergeron explained.

He spent 22 days in a Japanese hospital, and they were mostly separated by a window.

And he was finally discharged on March 14 – coming back to Montreal the next day – just as the lockdown began in Quebec.

“We don’t realize how important the other person is until we almost lose them. I was afraid of losing Julien. So if he was out of sight, I would panic. So when we came back, that was a long learning curve,” said Trudel.

Bergeron added, “I appreciate the moment now, and I try to be more positive than negative.”

They both say their focus now is their family and being present.

“What helped us a lot was nature,” Bergeron said. “We realized life is very complicated, but it’s simple and it’s beautiful.”