More than 100 passengers and over a dozen crew members have fallen ill with norovirus aboard the Caribbean Princess during a 13-day voyage through the Eastern Caribbean. The Princess Cruises ship departed Port Everglades, Florida, last week and is scheduled to arrive at Port Canaveral in the state Monday. At the time of the outbreak, the vessel was carrying 3,116 passengers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 102 passengers became sick with the highly contagious stomach virus. In addition, 13 of the 1,131 crew members onboard also reported illness. Those affected experienced typical norovirus symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea, according to health officials. The virus is known for spreading rapidly in close-contact environments such as cruise ships, where shared dining spaces and frequently touched surfaces can make containment difficult once an outbreak begins.
I’ve been working on cruise ships since 2004, it happens very frequently (personally I’ve never caught this virus) . On board ships, especially on cruise ships, there are strict protocols for this virus, because it is highly transmissible.
The thing that has always made me smile is when you go to the crew mess 🫕 near the sinks there are signs on how to wash your hands with photos, and wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.
If a crew member has symptoms of vomiting or diarrhea, the first thing to do is to isolate yourself by going to your cabin and notify the doctor . This virus is taken very seriously on board ships
I worked for NCL on the Pride of America when I was 19 and out of all the things taught in training and shit, dealing with illnesses never came up and half the crew was sick with something every day I was on the ship. 😕
@Kolanaki @radiofreebc
Instead, I worked for a corporation for 10 years (Princess Cruise is part of this corporation), and when you join the ship, the first thing they explain to you is medical information: if you have certain symptoms, what to do. They also give us a sheet where you have to check some boxes regarding the medical information. In the first forms, it says if you have had symptoms of vomiting or diarrhea in the last 20 days.
This is my thought, this information is given, also because if a passenger should catch this virus he will have to be compensated by the company, today there are ships with over 5000 passengers plus 1000 Crew member, think if 1000 passengers catch Norovirus, or even worse the ship is stopped by the authorities for too many cases on board the company will lose billions of dollars a day
I worked on ships for almost 20 years and never got norovirus. Was onboard for a few outbreaks though…not a fun time. I remember basically walking around with a spraybottle of cleaner, spraying everything i touched.
Saw a few fellow crew members get it…man, what an awful experience. Quite the diet though, haha.
I had it once, not on a cruise ship, and that may have been the worst 24 hours I’ve ever had. One end of me was on the toilet and the other was in the tub.