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Subscribe to RSSTwo cruise ships return to port after a Norovirus outbreaks. WTVJ's Betty Yu reports.
Updated Feb. 5 at 11:30 a.m. ET --
A statement from Princess says that Crown Princess did not depart Fort Lauderdale until 10:30 p.m. Saturday, forcing the ship to cancel its scheduled call at Princess Cays Sunday. The rest of the itinerary remains unaffected.
Separately, Royal Caribbean'sVoyager of the Seas also experienced a rash of the virus on its last sailing, which ended Saturday in New Orleans. Boarding of new passengers was delayed by an hour to allow time for cleaning. The rest of the itinerary is unimpacted.
Published Feb. 4 --
Princess Cruises has announced delayed embarkation times for the next sailings of Crown Princess and Ruby Princess, following an increased number of Norovirus cases on each of the ships' current voyages.
According to statements from the line, 92 of Ruby Princess' 3,133 passengers and 13 of its 1,186 crewmembers have come down with the virus. Meanwhile, 364 of 3,103 passengers and 30 of 1,168 crew on Crown Princess were affected.
Although the numbers are relatively small, cruise lines are required to report all cases of Noro to the CDC, and a "special report" is created when numbers reach 2 percent of a ship's total onboard population. (Ruby Princess' have reached nearly 3 percent of passengers and Crown Princess' more than 11 percent.)
Because the gastrointestinal virus is highly contagious, both ships will be given special cleanings upon their return to their Fort Lauderdale homeport. As a result, embarkation for Crown Princess' next cruise will be delayed on Saturday, and Ruby Princess' will be pushed back until 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Crown Princess arrived at Port Everglades as scheduled Saturday morning, but there has been no word yet on exactly how long it will take crews to sanitize the ship, what time embarkation will start or whether the rest of the ship's itinerary -- a seven-night Southern Caribbean sailing, slated to depart Saturday evening -- will be impacted. However, Princess spokeswoman Karen Candy says Ruby Princess' itinerary, a seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailing departing Sunday, should be otherwise unaffected.
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Man - if someone stubs their toe on a cruise MSNBC is all over it. Jeez stuff happens let it go. Besides you have Obama to worry about.
Has to be the worst year ever for the cruise ship industry, I wonder if this negative publicity and mishaps will have them lower the cost of cruise packages on time for summer so folks like me can blow off a little steam with the kidos and wife...Vegas is gettin old and expensive...
Thanks to the Obama administration, my net worth has gone nowhere but up since he came into office! This enabled us to afford to take a Mediterranean cruise aboard Princess last October. It was a wonderful experience!
Outbreaks of Norovirus seem to happen with some regularity aboard cruise ships. I do not know if it is being trapped in relatively close quarters with over 4,000 people that causes the outbreaks or if there is something inherent in the way the cruise ships operate that causes these outbreaks to spread so easily. With all of the attention the outbreaks get, I have to believe that it is caused by the relatively close quarters on board a cruise ship. In any case, the frequent outbreaks makes me definitely not want to take a cruise.
The crew is not washing their hands properly.
.
Really??? Obama had something to do with this???? REALLY?????
Moron!!!!!
All MSNBC news subjects are covered in threes. This makes the third cruise story, trifecta is complete.
There's a new TV series on the planning board about cruise ships called The Love Diarrhea Boat.
1. A large outbreak of a stomach virus is news. If 3 percent or 11 percent of a city came down with this, companies would be losing a lot of money, so yes, bottom line, it is serious.
2. Obama did not cause this virus, really. I wonder what planet some people are from.
3. The financial hit the cruise companies are taking has to do with how they run their own business. So you blame the messenger of the news or blame the victims; you would rather take the money and run. Shows the kinds of thieves that run these businesses.
It's strange that U.S. aircraft carriers containing up to 5000 people in close quarters,and I mean CLOSE,don't seem to be bothered with these outbreaks.
Sailors on aircraft carriers do get sick and you will never hear about it on the news media! get serious!!
Bondy..........must be that they keep the hot tubs and buffets cleaner on the aircraft carriers........or maybe the spa and pools on the aircraft carriers are sanitized more often.........what do you think?
Thousands of people who do not wash their hands with any frequency let alone their bodies. Lots of old people wearing depends "{sanitary diapers}' deciding it's time for a swim frolicking in the pools and people wonder why these viruses break out.
Never been on a Cruise, never will be.
Being 100+ miles out in the middle of the Ocean, scares the Hell out of me, first off. Then just the thought of being STUCK with 4000 people I don't know, BORES the HELL out of me. I can dance, swim and gamble, on solid ground, easily.
I dropped my brother and his wife off for a cruise they took, and the SIZE of that ship alone, told me No Way, am I ever getting on one of them...LOL.
I love to drive and there is so much of the good ole lower 48 states I have not seen, I'll stick to good ole SOLID GROUND!
wheels, lol. Come on. I've been on lots of cruises and never saw lots "of old people in depends".....BTW, "Depends" should be capitalized.........anywhere, let alone the pools.
Respect your elders. :)
Poor Princess cruise lines. Can't get a break. I went on one of their cruises. It was well worth the money.
7 nights of bowel evacuation, sounds divine. Did they mention the all you can eat buffets.
At least they didn't hit the island this time.
patrick demarco...not only the all you can eat buffets....the people with the non-stop drinking, clanging and banging of onboard casinos and low budget live entertainment (don't forget to double the all inclusive pre-paid price once you add in shore excrusions and tips)once in a lifetime was more than enough for us with the "cruise" experience
To Patrick Demarco, I don't know what Cruise Line you used, but we us Royal Caribbean and once in a life time was not enough! Your shore excursions are NOT included in the "all inclusive" price, and you are made aware of that in the info packet you receive when you book your cruise. As for "low budget" entertainment, well once again, not on Royal!! I have paid top dollar to see Vegas Shows that weren't as good as what we saw on our cruise. Tips are to be expected, and once again, your cruise guide packet tells you what to expect to budget for tips. I do agree that on some of the "Party" boats such as Carnival, the drinking gets way out of hand, but they have a reputation for being party boats. I honestly believe that the Bar Tenders should refuse to serve people who are obviously intoxicated. People do have to be responsible for their own behavior and act like adults...and no when they have had enough to drink!
I went on a Carnival Cruise once, and while it was enjoyable it would be a very rare circumstance to do it again. Too many people, too much money for shore leaves, and half the leaves they offered where full by the time we got there.
They will get $14,460 each..no more..its a contract once they sign the tickets...sick or dead.
They can refuse that offer and sue independent of each other. They can sue the cruise line and captain,both jointly and seperatley
Here's a good reason why.
The same system is used by all of South Florida's cruise ship companies. Sailing foreign-registered ships, they hire largely untrained crews from Third World countries to work at salaries and under health and safety conditions that would be intolerable to American workers.Among the targets of frequent complaints are Carnival Cruise Lines, Chandris Fantasy Cruises and Apollo Ship Chandlers, a west Dade County company that operates the dining room and bar concessions on many of the local ships.
Norwegian-owned Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line offer better working conditions, although they also are below U.S. employment standards, say unions, sailors and seafarers' rights organizations.
And that's what happens when you pack 3,000 people onto a ship.
It's not only that people are packed in closely, although that is a big part of it. Also factor in the high humidity, and damp, dark, warm parts of a ship, as in most of its inards. Add to that people from many different countries, who are traveling to many different countries, tropical zones, etc... You have a recipe for disease, germs and bacteria spreading.
And employees that might not be washing their hands.
reminds me of an airplane. if one person on the plane has a cold and somehow gets the virus in the recycled air, everyone's screwed.
Not only the employees - PASSENGERS too! Most of which are very guilty about not using the sanitisers! Have cruised 18 times and am hastidious about using them - every where, every time possible. I love going to the casino and watch in amazement folks just walking past the dispensers before going in and using keys or chips which have been handled by hundreds of others!
Pack your own lunch! hahahahahahahaha:))
I have been on several cruse liners in the past, and I would not want to be on any of these "Garbage Tankers" again, you are treated like a commodity to benefit the greedy corporate pirates that own them. Their interest is to funnel off as much profit as possible and settle out of court expenses with their own staff cheap lawyers.
Welcome to Cruise' n Puke. My Aunt and Uncle were into cruises until they got caught up in one of these outbreaks. Kind of takes the fun out of it.
The Navy puts 5,000 on a ship. I'm not aware of the Navy having these problems. If not, perhaps the cruise lines should see what the Navy is doing different....or it may be due to the fact that the passenger mainfest changes every 10 days.
If the cruise liner industries did use implements from the Navy to run their ships then the Navy (a Government Agency) would reinforce their standard operation procedures to impel these ships.
The all powerful government would have called this a conspiracy, or an act of terrorisms' attacking private individuals, and then they would publish a report full of all unanswered questions and then have it filed officially as classified information for their eyes only.
I'm not sure what the Navy would or would not do as far as publicity, but they wouldn't be able to keep going with 3 to 11 percent of their personnel sick. I'm sure the Navy would investigate and correct such a problem. The Navy goes to many places too, so it is probably something to do with food handling on cruises. In all the years of the norovirus on cruises however, the CDC hasn't been able to pinpoint exactly why it happens. Let's blame the CDC instead of the business, because that would be so intelligent (not).
How can you even compare a military operation to these shysters? I'm sure inspections are a lot tighter on a Navy ship.
Nissan,
That's not true. Norwalk (now known as Norovirus) outbreaks aboard U.S. Naval vessels, and among U.S. Marines are not that uncommon.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:r0iKyqQItYIJ:www.biomedcentral.com/1471-230X/6/9+Norovirus+U.S.+Navy+common&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Alot of the crew on these ships are from what could be considered third world countries, so hygene is not a common practice among those people.
For Marine Doc:
Thanks for the link. It was informative.
The wife wants to go on a cruise this summer no way either the Capt runs the ship a ground or some one jumps to there death or now people getting sick looks like we are going down the shore
It's called "washing."
All you cruisers be sure and savor that $#^t sandwich!
People are slobs, they refuse to wash their hands, use the alcohol santitizers, and then pick through the food in the buffet lines. Easy answer, use the dining rooms, and wash those filthy hands.
I was in a fast food restaurant restroom and a Hispanic food service worker came in, did his business and washed his hands. ALL WITHOUT REMOVING THE CHEAP PLASTIC FOOD SERVICE GLOVES, AND BACK WORK HE WENT, STILL WEARING THE SAME GLOVES.
dad, yu so racist?
To Lepug,If you don't like to wash your hands call 1-800-leave-the-USA
Unfortunately itz, the Norovirus that's usually the culprit on these cruise ships aren't very susceptible alcohol based hand sanitizer, and sometimes soap doesn't do the trick. http://www.emedicinehealth.com/norovirus/page10_em.htm#prevention
Unfortunately washing your hands with bleach is frowned upon.
Lepug has a point, although poorly articulated. Race is not a factor in the case of the Hispanic worker. On a cruise ship where you have people from all different cultures that don't have all the luxuries we do, yes hygiene varies widely and can be problematic to health.
dadoftim: What does him being Hispanic or not have to do with him being unsanitary?
I don't know what it has to do with it, what are you reading into it? I merely told what happened. As for that matter do you ever notice how many men (all races) don't wash at ALL after using the restroom. must be at least half. Think about that when you grab that door handle on the way out of the men's room
Dad has a good point about MEN not washing their hands. I purposefully save the paper towel to open the restroom door on the way out.
Pathetic but true and i can imagine how may do the number two and use little toilet tissue and don't wash either. Makes you think about what your eating doesn't it.
After Thanksgiving my family had a bout with the Norovirus, nasty bug. Definitely wouldn't want to have it on a cruise.
Some good news though;
Prevention: Trial Vaccine for Norovirus Shows Promise
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Published: December 12, 2011
An experimental vaccine has been shown in a small study to protect people from norovirus, infamous for sickening hundreds in outbreaks aboard cruise ships.
Noroviruses spread from person to person and through contaminated food or water, causing diarrhea,vomiting and stomach pain. The infection causes more than 20 million cases of acute gastroenteritis annually in the United States, and there is no treatment.
Researchers tested a vaccine containing a weakened, noninfectious version of the virus in hopes that it would prompt a protective immune response in humans. Seventy-seven healthy men and women aged 18 to 50 participated. In two doses given three weeks apart, 38 subjects received the vaccine and 39 an inactive placebo. The results appeared in the Dec. 8 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
After the second dose, all volunteers drank a liquid containing norovirus. Infection and illness developed in 37 percent of those who received the vaccine, compared with 69 percent of those who took the placebo. Among those infected, the illness was less severe and of shorter duration in the vaccine group, and the vaccine had no serious side effects.
Still, a marketable vaccine is years away, according to Dr. Robert L. Atmar, the lead author of the study and professor of medicine at Baylor. “What this shows is a proof of principle that norovirus can be prevented through vaccination,” he said.
The study was paid for by grants from the N.I.H. and from LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals.
A version of this article appeared in print on December 13, 2011, on page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: Prevention: Trial Vaccine for Norovirus Shows Promise.
so you're saying somehow the water or the food aboard got contaminated?
good explanation for the fact that every cruise liner is a floating dump.
Well, here's the deal with Norovirus. It's so small it stays in the fingerprints, even AFTER washing hands. It's not eliminated by the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. It is highly contageous and is very commonly passed from an infected person through touching ready-to-eat foods without a barrier. This is exactly the issue with requiring food service workers to wash hands and then donning disposable gloves, using tongs or deli paper when handling anything not requiring cooking. It can easily be passed by persons touching foods at buffets that others then unknowing consume. It would be excellent if we were able to stop humans from putting their fingers on food products that someone else might eat. It's not just cruise ships, my friends, Norovirus is passed everywhere. It's all about food safety.
FoodInspector, you seem knowledgable about this issue. I've been on only two cruises and never had the misfortune to be on a ship with this virus. If you can, please share your thoughts on my questions. If not, maybe you can point us to a link that can.
First question: Do you know what is the longevity of Norovirus outside of the food and/or utensils used to serve the food? In other words, if the virus is embedded in the pads of our fingers and we touch railings on a cruise ship that infectected passengers have touched, does the virus live for 2 hours, 4 hours, 24 hours, or indefinately? What is its host?
Second question: Only a small percentage of passengers seem to have become recently infected. Do you think this is because the uninfected passengers somehow built up an immunity during their life span, or perhaps they were just lucky not to have eaten the infected food?
Third question: You say you've heard of no means other than cruise food preparers/servers wearing sanitary gloves to prevent spreading this virus. You say passengers using soap & water is ineffective, as is the popular alcohol based hand sanitizers. Is there no other way for a passenger to protect themselves??
Norovirus—the stomach bug
Norovirus illness can be serious
Norovirus is highly contagious and spreads rapidly
Many sources for norovirus infection
Noroviruses are found in the stool and vomit of infected people. People can become infected by
Tips to prevent the spread of norovirus
Take care in the kitchen: Carefully wash fruits and vegetables, and cook oysters and other shellfish thoroughly before eating them.
Do not prepare food while infected: People who are infected with norovirus should not prepare food for others while they have symptoms and for 3 days after they recover from their illness.
Clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces: After an episode of illness, such as vomiting or diarrhea, immediately clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces by using a bleach-based household cleaner as directed on the product label or a solution made by adding 5–25 tablespoons of household bleach to 1 gallon of water.
Wash laundry thoroughly: Immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that may be contaminated with vomit or fecal matter. Handle soiled items carefully—without agitating them—to avoid spreading virus. They should be laundered with detergent at the maximum available cycle length and then machine dried.
No specific treatment or vaccine for norovirus infection
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-keyfacts.htm
Again good point Dad ! So many second world people don't follow those hygiene tips.
I have sailed on Carnival many times in the past and have never had a bad experience. That being said, I would like to refer to my most recent voyage as the "Carnival Valor Extreme Weight Loss Cruise". We departed from Miami on January 29, 2012 and returned on February 04, 2012. My travel companion came down with some stomach virus or something the second night of the cruise. He had constant vomiting for about 24 hours and then felt better (I was very happy that his illness was so short lived). On the third night of the cruise I developed what I consider to be the worst stomach virus of my life. Within a 12 hour time frame, I vomited 37 times and strained my vocal cords so I lost my voice too. The illness continued through the remainder of the cruise and I still have it today (February 05, 2012.) Any liquid, beverage, solid food or even broth that I attempt to eat, comes right back up. I weighed myself yesterday to find I lost a total of 10 pounds on my cruise. So, if your looking for a "New Age, rapid weight loss diet", the Carnival Valor just might be the ship for you. Coming to a port near you.
Nissan=only a Oboobatron would make a story like this some how political. Better take all the cruises you can, because the Obooba is short time as in 10 months.
Then you need to respond to We are getting hosed! He was the first person to blog this article and mentioned Obama first. ....and I can't lie, my net worth has greatly increased since he came into office, and everyone can see that the overall U.S. ecomony is on the mend! Four more years of greatness!
Record 1.2 Million People Fall Out Of Labor Force In One Month, Labor Force Participation Rate Tumbles To Fresh 30 Year Low
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/03/2012 08:51 -0500
A month ago, we joked when we said that for Obama to get the unemployment rate to negative by election time, all he has to do is to crush the labor force participation rate to about 55%. Looks like the good folks at the BLS heard us: it appears that the people not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that's not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation. As for the quality of jobs, as withholding taxes roll over Year over year, it can only mean that the US is replacing high paying FIRE jobs with low paying construction and manufacturing. So much for the improvement.
Chart below shows it all - that jump is not a fat finger!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/record-12-million-people-fall-out-labor-force-one-month-labor-force-participation-rate-tumbles-
Greatness??? Shirley you jest!!! Why not list the accomplishments, I await your one line.
1.2 million dropped out of the labor force in one month, huh? Looks like a lot of baby boomers joined me and said, "Take this job and shove it. I'm filing for Social Security."
Don't call me shirley.
No kidding, while the economy was trashed under Bush, it is starting to pick up. But more than the economy, while you were not looking, we have new health care laws, etc., and are lucky that we have Social Security. I know that some people hate the elderly, but we are in one country.
I think you just had a Romney moment. "we are all one country" ??? Sounds like you're saying "we've got these old folks and have to suffer through it". Hopefully, you will find more respect for the previous generation when you are "elderly".
To Shirley,I'll bet you voted for that ILLEGAL,Indonesian,muslim,piece of pig crap!When you were'nt looking the courts are slowly but surely shooting the Obumer health care law down.
To Tony: Hate much?
Nissan if your net worth went up during the Obama administration - your either on welfare or work for one of his many friendly funded agencies - the kind that BILL big bucks and the rest of us pay for it in our taxes while the Government turns their backs.
Pathetic for you to even admit to it!!!
Nissan, why are there 144 Million Americans receiving some type of government assistance, greatness? Why are there more Americans on food stamps than ever, more greatness? Highest poverty level in our countries history, extra greatness? Our credit rating downgraded first time in over 300 years, oh yes greatness? 6 trillion in more debt, yes more greatness. You need to get your head out of the sand. I guess this is the change you Oboobatrons keep talking about.
This is somehow related to the cruise ship story.....right?
I don't understand how any industry can have the deaths and illness that cruise lines have and still stay in business. What to hell?
Never heard of Doctors and hospitals then have you? Well over 100,000 deaths in the U.S. alone every year are caused by "accidents", "mis-diagnosis", or just plain getting sick in the hospital stay. Patients die at an alarming rate from illnesses contracted that had nothing to do with why they went into the hospital in the first place.
Let's eliminate the business of cruise lines, but let's be fair then, and eliminate the business that kills more innocent citizens every year than the entire Vietnam War (58,212 U.S.). What no outrage? Sorry, I forgot the medical institutions are Gods!
Get real rjw007.
Yay, the Cruise story trifecta is complete!
No cruises for me. Either the ship sinks, or my stomach.
The guy that says this isn't newsworthy and MSN has Obama to worry about should start worrying about more ignorant people making comments. Enough is written about politics and politicians on both sides doing whatever the hell they want.
The cruise ships' crews come from all over the world, mostly the third world where personal hygiene is an after thought at best. That's why the outbreaks are so prevalent. This is also now occuring much more frequently at your large, mega-hotels in places like Vegas. The staff again is mostly made up of people who come from third world areas where cleanliness not a priority. Eating at these places is like playing Russian roullette your gastro system.
The disasters at sea will only continue to rise as the public demands low fares. Cruise lines will continue to hire from all over the world. Crews cannot communicate with each other, which causes most of the problems during emergency situations. Sail at your on risk...
Wow...probably one of the most ignorant comments I've seen on here...as I said below, look at the numbers...more passengers than crew members are sick. Crew members are informed...they wash their hands CONSTANTLY. They KNOW that washing your hands after you go the bathroom and again before eating anything is paramount to avoid Noro. It's the dirty passengers who don't pay attention to the hundreds of notices in their daily cruise newsletters, signs and placards all over the ship (ESPECIALLY in the restrooms) telling people the simple rules to staying healthy during their cruise. Crew members DO communicate with each other...the cruise ships I work on have about 45 different nationalities represented onboard in the crew...do you honestly think that many people could function together if they didn't all have some kind of grasp of the same language? A cruise ship is not a third-world nation...you are assuming that these people live on the ship as they do at home. On a ship they do not have to worry about lack of water, or food, or toilet paper, or soap...they live extremely civilized lives onboard. Ignorant....extremely ignorant.
Getting/spreading norovirus has nothing to do with race or country of origin. I am getting my Ph.D. studying norovirus, so I might know a little bit about it. Over 23 million people get NoV in the U.S. alone every year. It is prevalent in day cares, schools, retirement homes, conferences, restaurants, military barracks, and pretty much anywhere you have a bunch of people in close proximity. It is simply a very hardy virus that has a low infectious dose (less than 10 virions!).
A bubble was created. As the cruise industry grew there was a rush to get in on the boom. Things got both sloppy and cheap. Expect a shake-out now. The bubble has burst.
The business caused its own problems. Much like Johnson + Johnson, which could have been a perpetual cash-cow, but they got sloppy about sanitation, and many of their products have had to be recalled.
Sabotage. There is no reason for illness to hit cruise ships the way it often does.
Learn how to drive the porcelain bus!
Norovirus is a nasty bug. I was on the "porcelain telephone" calling "Euruuuuup" about a "Phooorrrrsa" and a "Buuuuuuuick"
I guess the price of a cruise is going up, now that they have to actually deep clean things every once in a while.
The present way they run those ships, there are only a couple hours between one cruise ending and everybody disembarking, and the next bunch getting on board.
I hardly think they do much more now than a quick wipe up from the messes made by all those thousands of people. Add that up times 52 (or more) cruises per year, and you've got sanitation problems.
You hardly think wrong because you know nothing about the industry, sanitation within various industries, or probably anything else.Timatsea is probably wasting his breath, (even though he knows of what he speaks) because posters would rather place blame than use their heads. Did you not read, flyguy, that the illness is SECOND only to the common cold? And how many common colds does the average person get in a lifetime. If a person haven't contracted this particular disease, he/she is either very lucky or living on borrowed time until it hits them.
Notice the numbers, people...Ruby Princess: 92 passengers, 13 crew. Crown Princess: 364 passengers, 30 crew. IT'S NOT THE CREW!!! We are trained on a weekly basis...WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER YOU GO TO THE BATHROOM, AND AGAIN BEFORE YOU EAT ANYTHING! It's so simple, yet I see so many nasty passengers going to the bathroom and not washing their hands afterwards. They deserve to get sick. It's not the cruise industry's fault- it's people's bad personal hygene. I have worked on cruise ships for 9 years...I have had Noro ONCE in 9 years. SImple rules...1) wash your hands after going to the bathroom. 2) use a paper towel to open the bathroom door when you leave (put a barrier in between your hand and the doorhandle in case that dirty pig before you didn't wash his/her hands). 3) wash your hands before eating ANYTHING, especially finger-food (picking up food/bread with your fingers and putting it directly in your mouth...and not before every bite, don't be stupid...just wash your hands before going in to the dining room/buffet). and 4) don't touch handrails unless it's really necessary... why do you think you constantly see crew cleaning hand rails? WASHY-WASHY, HAPPY HAPPY!
timatsea: you make sense, lots of sense. I definitely agree with your opinion on the spread of these nasty diseases in enclosed environments. How many times have I been in a public restroom and been aware that the person from the next stall has left the room without the water being turned on? And this includes restaurant help, too. When all the employees have purple shirts on and one comes into the restroom, it's easy to keep track of whether she stops to wash. It happens about 50% of the time. Yuk
I could not agree more timatsea and leftyswife! People seem to have forgotten common sense and are DISGUSTING in their personal habits. People who don't cover their mouths and noses when they sneeze has been a pet peeve of mine since I was 5 years old. I'm an easy going person and not a germ freak, but this is one of the first things I taught my 20 month old grandaughter to do. Is this about people's ignorance of personal hygiene or is this about the current "me" generation (that displays obnoxious habits such as tailgating someone who is going 78 in a 65 zone)?
Noro is a tough organism to kill and a very easy one to get. It is a contact virus that can live on a hard surface for quite some time. Things like doorknobs and hand rails aboard the cruise ship are prime means of transmission. Noro also cannot be killed with a standard quatinary sanitizer. It survives. It has to be killed with chlorine. Once someone becomes infected, the infected person remains contagious for 48 hours AFTER all symptoms subside. So you feel good & decide to get back to a "normal life" or on with the cruise... and you are still contagious... and infect and re-infect others.
SO... for everyone, not just foodservice workers. WASH YOUR HANDS! WASH YOUR HANDS! WASH YOUR HANDS! (Purell & hand sanitizers dont kill Noro) And if you do become infected, consider yourself contagious for 2 days after you feel better!
About the Ships, as soon as this coorporations that own this liners decided that it will be OK to ground the ships to clean and desinfect them after every trip, things will change. ( Just think how long it takes to clean your house really clean it after a party for 50 people ) That is the difference with the Navy. Yes IS TOO EXPENCIVE !! The same happen in the Hospitals TOO much overhead so they save money using this powerful desinfectants instead of CLEANINIG that created all this MEGA VIRUS that you died of today !! PROFITS GLORIOUS PROFITS and indiference to the patrons, after all they know they always keep comming back !!
I don't think I'll ever take a cruise, I don't want to drown or get sick. Granted I can get sick on land but I won't drown. Offer me a free cruise, my answer would be "no thank you"!!!
You could be caught in a flash flood or drive into a creek, river, or lake fall in the shower or tub spouse could hold your head in toilet or sink. Your chances of drowning on a cruise ship are infinitesimal. Life is to short to be afraid of everything that might happen.
So, it continues... because a ship ran by an idiot hit rocks, every single story having to do with any cruise ship anywhere has to be reported? Seriously?
Noro can and does happen anywhere.