Have you heard about the virus infection on the cruising ships...You should think it over...My wife is working on one of the ships...and it's getting very dangerous...she's coming home...
Have you heard about the virus infection on the cruising ships...You should think it over...My wife is working on one of the ships...and it's getting very dangerous...she's coming home...
well Rc hasnt had an outbreak yet and they are taking precautions they are very happy and want to maintain the fact that the 2 companies havent had a single outbreak
Have you heard about the virus infection on the cruising ships...You should think it over...My wife is working on one of the ships...and it's getting very dangerous...she's coming home...
Hi,
as already mentioned in a different thread, there is no reason to panic. Your statement that "it's getting very dangerous" is grossly exaggerated, if you ask me. Yes, there have been several cases of stomach virus infections on cruise ships throughout the course of this year, and hundreds of passengers have been affected. However, during the same period of time, hundreds of thousands of passengers enjoyed their cruise vacations without being affected by such a problem. This is pretty much a huge media hype.
Unless somebody is very close to his sailing date and his ship is affected, I do not recommend cancelling or delaying cruises, at all.
The CDC has published an excellent Telebriefing Transcript which addresses people's concerns.
Sorry to jump in, but I would say that this is exageration and fear mongering as well. Unless you are elderly, have a compromised immune system or are travelling with an infant, and the ship you're about to go on has recently had an outbreak, I wouldn't change any plans. Here in Toronto Norwalk's closed down hospital wards and ER's - basically it's the good ol' stomach flu, and it's going around everywhere on the continent, not just on cruise ships. Wash hands often and avoid close contact - you're just as likely to pick this up at a local restaurant right now as you are on a cruise ship. For healthy people, it runs its course in 24 to 48 hours with few complications
The CDC briefing that was mentioned earlier is kind of long and makes for some pretty dry reading (it's a full blow-by-blow transcript), but it has some very important points to make about the Norwalk virus scare:
1) It is indeed a very common virus:
"... (we) would just like to reiterate, that Norwalk virus is a very common cause of nonbacterial gastroenteritis in the United States."
2) The ships themselves are very clean:
"We have looked very closely at both all of the food handling practices on board these vessels from how the food is stored when it's brought on board all the way through to how it's prepared, served and how the dishes are washed, and have found no deficiencies in either one of these vessels that would point to a food-borne outbreak or a problem with that side of the house.
We've also looked very closely at the portable water systems, and looking at the protection of those systems and the level of chlorine throughout the systems, and we have found no problems with that as well."
3) And finally, it's happened before, just without all the media hype:
"It is not new to cruise ships. We had similar outbreaks on multiple vessels up in the Alaska waters last summer. We've had reports of significant outbreaks in Europe and in South America and other parts of the world as well."
So, in other words, I think we're all going to survive our trips. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]
I don't buy it at all. I have never had the flu in my life and get a cold about every 5 years, however, I did get salmonella on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Sea (Dec. 14-21) in the Southern Caribbean. I can eat road-kill on a cracker and not be affected. I would watch out.
joelanddayna, salmonella poisoning is very different from the norwalk virus. Salmonella is a problem with food and very very serious. You should have reported your problem to the ship and to health officials. And salmonella can happen anywhere at any time at any restaurant or even in your home...
Norwalk has nothing to do with food. You get it by touching something an infected person has touched (assuming they had not just washed their hands) and then passing the germs into your body because you then touched your eyes, nose or mouth.. That is why it is so important to wash your hands a lot and why the affected ships put so much energy into scrubbing down surfaces such as door handles and railings.
Norwalk has NOTHING to do with cruise ships. It is a stomach bug. It is VERY common, and happens easily anywhere... but it is easiest to spread in a confined environment such as a ship, or a nursing home, or a closed up house in the winter... just like the flu.
It is amazing how fear driven our society is...
Queen of Bermuda, New Years '89
Tropicale, 2/99
Explorer of the Seas, 9/7/02
Radiance of the Seas, 10/18/02
QE2, 6/1/03
Celebrity Infinity, 7/25/03
Grandeur of the Seas, 10/11/03
Queen Mary 2, 1/31/04
__________________
Queen of Bermuda, New Years '89
Tropicale, 2/99
Explorer of the Seas, 9/7/02
Radiance of the Seas, 10/18/02
QE2, 6/1/03
Celebrity Infinity, 7/25/03
Grandeur of the Seas, 10/11/03
Queen Mary 2, 1/31/04
quote:Originally posted by hghrlr1:
Tis is all just mydia hype STOP IT unless you on the news
Its not just media hype(check your spelling btw). I cruised with Holland America and got food poisoning, they wrote it off as the Norwalk Virus and kicked me and my bride off the ship, newlyweds as we were. I wasnt contagious at all. A classic case of misdiagnosis. And after reading many different streams of conversation, I'll be happy to not only never 'cruise' again, but to recommend to everyone I can not to either.
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