Cruise ships again infected by suspected norovirus, 2 cases and it's just January
Diamond Princess was due back in Tauranga today after being sanitised following an outbreak of a stomach infection. Photo / File
David Jones spokesman for the Princess Cruises said, about 60 of the 3500 passengers and crew fell ill with a norovirus or gastro-type tummy bug over the course of the latest trip. This cruise began on January 3rd, 2014. This highly contagious bug can cause vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy and headaches.
The Diamond Princess, which was scheduled to dock in Tauranga at 4.30am Friday, January 17th, 2014, was due to sail to Lyttelton at 4.45pm the same day. But only after cruise operators had beefed up sanitation measures to get on top of the problem.
Passengers who disembarked in Tauranga on Wednesday said that approximately 50 cabins had been affected by the locked down.
Above photo is "The Majesty of the Seas" docked in Miami, Florida
Approximately 70 people aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship "The Majesty of the Seas", which docked in Miami Friday, were infected by the suspected norovirus. The cruise line said in a statement that 66 of 2,581 passengers and two of the 84 crew members became ill aboard the "sick ship".
The cruise line said, sick passengers "responded well to over the counter medication, the ship will go through an extensive sanitizing both on-board and the cruise terminal as well. This will be completed before the ships next voyage."
Makes one rethink the idea of taking the little lady on a nice cruise doesn't it?
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With these ships being the goose that lays the golden egg, you would think that the investment in the very best ventilation scrubber system would just be smart business. Anytime you have that many people confined to a given area and you use a recirculating ventilation system to supply air any virus brought on-board will be shared by all within a very brief period of time.
There is nothing that is worse than a stomach virus.... except when you are on a ship. Blahhhh... not a chance I would do a cruse in the winter. One sick kid and within hours it takes over the boat.
BTW, my kids did that to a lodge we were staying at while skiing. We made no friends, and I felt really bad for the owner, who got sick.
These people seem to have a real problem with the spread of disease on their ships. Every Naval vessel I was ever on was much more crowded (square feet of living space per person) than any passenger vessel, and we never had such problems. Possibly this was because of the basic rules we used, "If you're not doing anything else, cleaning is always an option, and we have Chief Petty Officers to make sure you do it".
I always like to be able to keep one foot on land wherever I go.