Nearly 500 people are now sick on Royal Caribbean cruise ship. :-(

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Not to give the industry a 'bad-rap', but this is one of the reasons the Mrs. and I (due to our health condition), might abstain / turn-down a cruise ship voyage.

If you didn't know (and me a Chef), the Food & Beverage Services Department on board is one of
'the usual suspects'.

Minyvonne Burke - NBC News - 11 Jan 19

"The number of people hit with a gastrointestinal illness on a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship has swelled to nearly 500, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

The increase to 475 people comes a day after the company said 277 passengers on the Oasis of the Seas had initially
fallen ill.

Travelers on the cruise ship — which according to Royal Caribbean’s website is a 1,187-foot long vessel and was voted the best cruise ship 2014 by Travel Weekly readers — started feeling sick after the ship departed from Port Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida, on Sunday.

The Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas ship while docked in Haiti.

The cruise liner was scheduled to sail through the Caribbean before returning to Florida on Sunday. The Oasis of the Seas will now arrive back at Port Canaveral on Saturday. All of the ship’s passengers will get a refund due to the outbreak.

Passenger Shawn Popeleski told the Orlando Sentinel that they were told via a shipwide announcement Friday that the outbreak is “most likely” related to norovirus.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, norovirus is a type of gastrointestinal illness and is “very contagious.” You can catch it from people infected by it and by touching contaminated surfaces or eating or drinking contaminated food and water.

Symptoms include stomach pains, nausea and diarrhea, according to the CDC. Although it is highly transmissible, the illness is “relatively infrequent on cruise ships,” the CDC states".

Works Cited: 500 now sick on the Royal Caribbean

Your thoughts and/or comments

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the [cruise]”. Bertha Calloway

 

[oc_in_fw]

Every time I start to think about a cruise, something like this happens. Lots of sickness in flying, too (with the added benefit of being treated like cattle).

 

[Billski]

There are lines through the sentences ,@The Count of Merkur Cristo .

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

There are lines through the sentences ,@The Count of Merkur Cristo .

Bill:
And now?

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I've been on a cruise, and there was a high norovirus count at the time. According to one of the entertainment staff I got talking to, they were at level red, and the Captain and essential crew had been quarantined to a separate eating area for meals.

The crew were excellent about it, and had fantastic procedures for trying to get it all controlled. If someone had been ill, one person went in with full protective gear on to sterilise the area, while a second staff member was at the periphery of the zone handing cleaning stuff in, and receiving sealed bags out, all supervised by a uniformed officer. Aside from this there were crews constantly disinfecting hand rails, door handles, lift buttons, and any other frequent contact surfaces.

The weak link in the chain were passengers for whom a stomach bug is a minor ailment. Sure, they'd use the hand sanitiser when entering an eating zone, but if they did pick up a bit of a dodgy tummy, they wouldn't alert crew, stay in their cabin, and have meals delivered to them like they should. They're on holiday. They're not going to sacrifice a couple of days for those with a lesser immune system. Besides, it was probably overdoing it on the booze, or having that meal they'd never heard of before, wasn't it ....? Not a prolific bug that rapidly sweeps through densely trafficed areas, surely!

That said, I'd absolutely do it again. The easiest, best value, and best serviced holiday I've ever had.

 

[ouch]

I was on that ship. My presence finally caught up with them.

Nifty little dingy, I must say.

 

[njpaddy]

Just one of the reasons my wife and I haven't considered a cruise. Our daughter (late 40's) is going on her first cruise with her boyfriend next month. I'm under strict orders from me wife not to mention norovirus or people falling overboard and going missing.

I hate being around people, which may be the main reason why after almost 50 years of marriage (Nov 2019), we've never been on a honeymoon. The family joke is that our marriage hasn't fallen apart because we haven't been through the honeymoon phase. Our "honeymoon" was a forced separation, with me spending 6 months of active duty at Ft Polk, LA.

 

[McNasty]

Fort Polk.. I was a guest July and August of '69.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Ah, lovely Fort Polk. I was there 69-70. It was sort of like being on a rudderless cruise ship. In high seas. With bad food. And an insane cruise director.

 

[ackvil]

I have been on five cruises all on the Princess line. Never witnessed any illness. As Christopher indicated, most of the outbreaks have been traced to the food area.

 

[dfoulk]

I've been on about a dozen cruises so far and I've had a very good time on all of them. As far as contracting a stomach virus on a cruise goes I have yet to experience that. The food on some of the cheaper cruises isn't very good at all but we've gone on those with friends for a long weekend here and there and had a great time. You just have to lower your expectations a bit. Washing your hands frequently and using the sanitizing stations every time you encounter one is a must.

Of all of the cruises I've went on I did get sick once as I came down with a very high fever, chills, etc and felt like hell. Completely burning up.

We told the front desk that I may have gotten too much sun and I stayed in the room until I was better. I didn't want to get locked up on the boat or booted off the boat in a foreign country. I didn't want to get anyone else sick either so I just stayed in our room.

I suspect is was some type of bug or flu. No throwing up, no bathroom or intestinal issues with it though, and no cold or respiratory issues during or following it. Just a really high fever and chills that lasted about a day then I felt fine again. Some Tylenol and Ibupropren and the wife kept putting cool wash cloths on me for hours until the fever finally broke. I could have seen the Doctor on the boat for a $400 fee and I felt so bad that I would have if I thought there was something he could do for me that my wife wasn't already doing. I stayed in my room for a day and a half and only left when the fever was gone completely and I felt well again. Once my body fought off whatever it was I felt great again.

Some cruise lines are definitely much better than others. We recently went on a Crystal Cruise and it was exceptional. A bit more upscale, way less crowded, way better service, way better food. Much, much more costly than the normal well known ones like Royal Carribean, Carnival, etc but definitely worth the added expense. Night and day difference and by far the very best cruise I've ever been on. Totally worth it.

 

[Canadian Mountain Man]

I hate being around people

A kindred soul! Professionally I have to be around people, go to internal and external functions force a smile and tolerate them. Personally I prefer more solitude and not to be in throngs of people who are likely only going to annoy me.

No cruises thus far but have been on a few all inclusive trips with the ex and hated almost all of it. Flying charter with a plane full of middle aged pinheads who think its spring break. Inevitably a tribe of Cousin Eddie clones who are always making an *** of themselves.

 

[dfoulk]

No cruises thus far but have been on a few all inclusive trips with the ex and hated almost all of it. Flying charter with a plane full of middle aged pinheads who think its spring break. Inevitably a tribe of Cousin Eddie clones who are always making an *** of themselves.

This is awesome.

 

[PreachTheWord]

I've been on a cruise, and there was a high norovirus count at the time. According to one of the entertainment staff I got talking to, they were at level red, and the Captain and essential crew had been quarantined to a separate eating area for meals.

The crew were excellent about it, and had fantastic procedures for trying to get it all controlled. If someone had been ill, one person went in with full protective gear on to sterilise the area, while a second staff member was at the periphery of the zone handing cleaning stuff in, and receiving sealed bags out, all supervised by a uniformed officer. Aside from this there were crews constantly disinfecting hand rails, door handles, lift buttons, and any other frequent contact surfaces.

The weak link in the chain were passengers for whom a stomach bug is a minor ailment. Sure, they'd use the hand sanitiser when entering an eating zone, but if they did pick up a bit of a dodgy tummy, they wouldn't alert crew, stay in their cabin, and have meals delivered to them like they should. They're on holiday. They're not going to sacrifice a couple of days for those with a lesser immune system. Besides, it was probably overdoing it on the booze, or having that meal they'd never heard of before, wasn't it ....? Not a prolific bug that rapidly sweeps through densely trafficed areas, surely!

That said, I'd absolutely do it again. The easiest, best value, and best serviced holiday I've ever had.

I agree. Wife and I have about 20 cruises under our belt. Only one with a small outbreak of Norovirus (and it wasn't RC). When my wife came down with it, we stuck to the room until she was better. Even I resisted going out and eating in the main areas. The Windjammer (the large buffet on RC) is the perfect place for such germs to spread when you have folks that may be sick and still want to go out and eat. A few years ago, we sailed Allure of the Seas, and from the amount of people using the buffet, I could see this easily happening.

 

[njpaddy]

Ah, lovely Fort Polk. I was there 69-70.

That's when I was there. Basic was so much fun that almost a quarter of the company didn't return from Christmas leave.

Every time someone suggests a cruise to my wife and I, we think about this song from an old Dylan bootleg record. We prefer our bootleg's version, but this one gets the message across.

 

[Rhody]

Sadly people dont wash hands after using the restroom. Ive been on 3 cruises but not in at least 10 years. Too many people packed on a ship for me

 

[davent]

Cruise... any reasons why are a complete and utter mystery to me, unfathomable. Solo row boat sounds far more interesting.
dave

 

[EL SOFA]

Unless they can build a nice sturdy ship (not like the Titanic), I'll pass. Typically they either sink or most folks get sick.

 

[Rhody]

6,000 of your "closest" friends on one ship. What could go wrong?

 

[Red Rider]

One can get sick within a land resort also. Issue with a cruise ship is the confined space and not being able to leave until port. A ship is more of a floating town than a building on land considering it’s infrastructure.