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600 aboard Royal Carribean Cruise fall ill (vomiting/diarrhea). Ship forced to return

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R

RustyNails

Member
Royal Caribbean cruise cut short after more than 600 are sickened
140127063034-cruise-mystery-illness-cohen-newday-00000119-story-top.jpg

(CNN) -- A 10-day Royal Caribbean cruise ship will return two days early after an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, the cruise line said Sunday.

According to Bernadette Burden, a spokeswoman with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 600 people on the ship have become ill. Passengers and crew members reported vomiting and diarrhea.

"New reports of illness have decreased day-over-day, and many guests are again up and about. Nevertheless, the disruptions caused by the early wave of illness means that we were unable to deliver the vacation our guests were expecting," the cruise line said in a statement.

"After consultation between our medical team and representatives of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we think the right thing to do is to bring our guests home early, and use the extra time to sanitize the ship even more thoroughly," the company said.

Explorer of the Seas left January 21 from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, and it has been in the Caribbean.

After returning to its home port on Wednesday, the cruise line said it would perform a "thorough 'barrier' sanitization program on the entire ship to make certain that any remaining traces of the illness are eliminated."

The cause of the illness was not immediately clear, though symptoms are consistent with norovirus, the cruise line said.

Noroviruses spread easily and are a common cause of gastroenteritis, which produces vomiting and diarrhea.

According to Burden, the CDC spokeswoman, 577 of the 3,050 passengers and 49 of 1,165 crew members reported being ill.

Joseph Angelillo was one such person. He said he thought, at first, he just had food poisoning.

"I started with upset stomach and vomiting, and that lasted all night and into the morning," he told CNN by phone Sunday.

He said some entertainers were sick and shows had to be canceled.

"If I can get off (the ship), I will," Angelillo said.
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Mandrake Tours, this is unacceptable.
 
W

Wilsongt

Member
I'm a little surprised by this. The last three times I was on a Royal cruise they made you use so much hand sanitizer I don't think I had a single bacterium on my hands for a month.
 
W

White Man

Member
Why has this started happening the past 3 or so years? I used to never hear about this sort of thing happening, but now it happens multiple times every year.
 
P

Paches

Member
White Man said:
Why has this started happening the past 3 or so years? I used to never hear about this sort of thing happening, but now it happens multiple times every year.
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I am *guessing* they are just getting more heavily reported for one reason or another, but maybe it is becoming more frequent.
 
B

BloodMoney

Banned
In my opinion, cruises have never been an appealing vacation... news as of late, be it power failures, sinking, food contamination, only reinforced my opinions.
 
C

commedieu

Banned
White Man said:
Why has this started happening the past 3 or so years? I used to never hear about this sort of thing happening, but now it happens multiple times every year.
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Wilsongt said:
I'm a little surprised by this. The last three times I was on a Royal cruise they made you use so much hand sanitizer I don't think I had a single bacterium on my hands for a month.
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Oddly enough, this would explain a lot. I wonder of Cruises are creating bacteria resistant strains due to excessive use of antibacterial sanitizer dispensers on board. Isolated populations, close quarters, etc.

We've been running out of anti-biotics for quite some time. This might be another unfortunate reminder that we need to make progress in that field a whole lot more.
 
Alx

Alx

Member
Paches said:
I am *guessing* they are just getting more heavily reported for one reason or another, but maybe it is becoming more frequent.
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Yeah, I suppose we get the information much more easily now, especially with people talking about it in social networks etc.
Although you could also wonder if excessive use of sanitizer like mentioned above wouldn't help developing resistant bacteria, especially in such a closed environment.
*edit : double late. :p
 
C

commedieu

Banned
SomethingInTheSea said:
You can see a list of outbreaks here;

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm

If anything the frequency seems to be less now than in the 2000s, with 2004 and 2006 being particularly bad years.
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Heres something interesting. Recent #'s have large numbers of passengers, like this is 600 people for example. Just clicking on older cases (Backgroun) you can see the #'s of people. Its about a % of the crew, look like 10 people here, 30 people there, or even 75.

I cant do the data, but it would be interesting to see of the sheer volume of people is rising, as that is newsworthy, and not necessarily inherent sea-sickness which is probably an assumed %.

edit;

Yeah, can anyone else find #'s like the past few years? Hundereds of people.? On the CDC's report sites..
 
B

BolognaOni

Member
Norovirus on a cruise ship sounds like a lot if fun... Get a few of the food staff sick and it's probably game over.

Oh yeah, and hand sanitizer is not great at killing noroviruses anyway.
 
A

akira28

Member
antibacterial soap doesn't do shit against viruses. Norovirus is so easily spread, and cruise ships are communal vessels. People eat together and relax together, and all it takes is someone sneezing or coughing or spreading those super tiny viruses which can go through pores in some plastics even.

That famous case with the girls sports team where they all got sick, their travel bag full of closed packaged snacks was in the bathroom where one of the girls had vomiting and diarrhea. Just being in the same room, fucking nanoscale particles floating in the air took them all down via the infected food.

The shit is crazy infectious.
 
D

Darklord

Banned
BolognaOni said:
Norovirus on a cruise ship sounds like a lot if fun... Get a few of the food staff sick and it's probably game over.

Oh yeah, and hand sanitizer is not great at killing noroviruses anyway.
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More like guests. Most cruises are probably super strict when it comes to staff hygiene but my parents went on a cruise recently and before the restaurants opened for dinner or breakfast they'd have a woman play and sing a song about washing hands because just no one would do it so they had to try to find a way of making them. Even then they said there were always these slobs who would just barge past and rush to the buffets to get first.
 
R

RustyNails

Member
akira28 said:
antibacterial soap doesn't do shit against viruses. Norovirus is so easily spread, and cruise ships are communal vessels. People eat together and relax together, and all it takes is someone sneezing or coughing or spreading those super tiny viruses which can go through pores in some plastics even.

That famous case with the girls sports team where they all got sick, their travel bag full of closed packaged snacks was in the bathroom where one of the girls had vomiting and diarrhea. Just being in the same room, fucking nanoscale particles floating in the air took them all down via the infected food.

The shit is crazy infectious.
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Especially considering the fact that families bring those little fission reactors of bacteria, fungi and all sorts of germs called children with them in these cruises.
 
T

troushers

Member
Alx said:
Yeah, I suppose we get the information much more easily now, especially with people talking about it in social networks etc.
Although you could also wonder if excessive use of sanitizer like mentioned above wouldn't help developing resistant bacteria, especially in such a closed environment.
*edit : double late. :p
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Hand sanitiser has a chemical basis to its antibacterial action. Bacteria can't get resistance to basic chemistry in the same way they can to what are ultimately 'organic tricks' that antibiotics use. Think of it like, if you dropped cats in concentrated hydrochloric acid for a million years would you eventually get a acid resistant cat?
 
C

commedieu

Banned
troushers said:
Hand sanitiser has a chemical basis to its antibacterial action. Bacteria can't get resistance to basic chemistry in the same way they can to what are ultimately 'organic tricks' that antibiotics use. Think of it like, if you dropped cats in concentrated hydrochloric acid for a million years would you eventually get a acid resistant cat?
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Kinda faulty logic yeah? Edit. I'm sorry but your post seems just incorrect..


Unlike these traditional cleaners, antibacterial products leave surface residues, creating conditions that may foster the development of resistant bacteria, Levy notes. For example, after spraying and wiping an antibacterial cleaner over a kitchen counter, active chemicals linger behind and continue to kill bacteria, but not necessarily all of them.

When a bacterial population is placed under a stressor—such as an antibacterial chemical—a small subpopulation armed with special defense mechanisms can develop. These lineages survive and reproduce as their weaker relatives perish. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is the governing maxim here, as antibacterial chemicals select for bacteria that endure their presence.

As bacteria develop a tolerance for these compounds there is potential for also developing a tolerance for certain antibiotics. This phenomenon, called cross-resistance, has already been demonstrated in several laboratory studies using triclosan, one of the most common chemicals found in antibacterial hand cleaners, dishwashing liquids and other wash products. "Triclosan has a specific inhibitory target in bacteria similar to some antibiotics," says epidemiologist Allison Aiello at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
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www.scientificamerican.com/article/...acterial-products-may-do-more-harm-than-good/


Christopher said:
Didn't leave yet!
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THANK GOD!

(Huggles)
 
shira

shira

Member
I wonder how they discount this ships next voyage? Are the snowbirds and rich seniors hovering like vultures looking for a cheap cruise.
 
B

BolognaOni

Member
Darklord said:
More like guests. Most cruises are probably super strict when it comes to staff hygiene but my parents went on a cruise recently and before the restaurants opened for dinner or breakfast they'd have a woman play and sing a song about washing hands because just no one would do it so they had to try to find a way of making them. Even then they said there were always these slobs who would just barge past and rush to the buffets to get first.
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Oh man. Didn't even really think of that. They have common serving utensils and such too, I suppose. Slobs probably don't even wash their hands after they take a dump. Yet another reason not to ever go on a cruise...
 
M

Megalosaro

Banned
I work with cruiselines doing ground transportation and I can confirm that this happens pretty damn often. Every time there is an outbreak it is a pain in the ass.
 
H

hipbabboom

Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
I had to check the OPs post date to make sure someone didn't bump an old thread.... these guys will never learn.
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
Who sees these bi-monthly "600 people with vomiting and diarrhea" news stories and still decides to pay lots of money to take a cruise? There was the shit leaking down the walls story not too long ago, and of course the visual of the Italian ship on its side is in everyone's head... how are these cruise companies still in business?

Edit: well that (below) explains it, Wal-Mart types...
 
R

RustyNails

Member
Highest rated quote from the article

Phip Nosiw
• a day ago

−

I was aboard a cruise ship to the Caribbean this time last year. It was my first. The quality of the amenities aboard surprised me. Food, entertainment, venues, the crew, trips ashore, the ship itself. But the passengers.... it was like being in WalMart constantly. Really. I have no idea how people of that social strata came up with the money to get onto a cruise ship. Astonishing, really. And they didn't let good examples raise their standards. They were determined to treat the crew and other passengers like anyone else in the trailer park. Loud, rude, poorly dressed and socially clumsy. Unclean. I mean really unclean.
In the various men's rooms, I saw many walk straight from the toilet stalls to the door without stopping to wash hands. Many. On their way to the buffet. The crew did their best, spritzing hands and doors with a sanitising solution at nearly every turn, and that is probably the only thing that saved the health of our group.
Should you go, prepare to be underwhelmed by a surprising number of others. And NEVER touch your face or your food until you have thoroughly cleaned your hands.
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A floating walmart with free buffet you say?
 
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