By Tim Arango, Sarah Mervosh and Jenny Gross
LOS ANGELES — A normal day on board the Grand Princess cruise ship might go like this: Sleep late under a “European-inspired duvet.” Take a dip in one of the pools on deck. Afternoon tea promises white tablecloths and finger sandwiches. Dinner could be lobster tails and steak on a private balcony. And all evening, there are plenty of things to do, from theater to gambling to dancing.
“Expect the extraordinary,” the company says in its advertising.
Yet on Thursday, the cruise ship, on its way back to California from Hawaii with more than 2,000 passengers on board, was idling off the coast of San Francisco, as officials scrambled to confront the latest threat from the coronavirus and passengers panicked amid fears that they could be among the sick.
