THREE UK BASED SHIPS PLAGUED WITH NOROVIRUS!

I was left in a state of shock this week as the news was broke of three different ships currently experiencing an outbreak of Norovirus. It is coming to that time of year where we spend more time indoors enjoying the warmth thus allowing germs to spread much more easily and cruise ships are no exception to this.

It has to be said that it is usually the older, smaller, and quite frankly dirtier ships that suffer the most, but this week that all changed when I heard of two family cruise liners suffering from an outbreak.

Firstly we have a ship very close to my heart, Adventure of the Seas:

I cruised on this beautiful ship back in August and found her immaculate, always seeing the crew scrubbing away at the notorious ‘contact points’ (lift buttons, door handles, hand rails). So you can understand my shock when I heard that four consecutive cruises had been affected with an average of 100-250 people suffering with symptoms. It has to be said that for a ship that attracts the family clientele and generally a younger market (who are better educated on hygiene) generally do not suffer, the passengers wash hands and are cautious with what they are touching.

Secondly and an even bigger surprise to me is another Royal Caribbean ship – Independence of the Seas

An even bigger ship again attracting a younger clientele, so why does this ship again have an outbreak of 100-200 people?

The third is actually quite frightening, Oriana was my home for a brief spell just a few weeks ago.

To be honest with this ship I am not so surprised, you do tend to find it is the older clientele who are not as tight with the hygiene, and the ‘I’ll be alright’ attitude.

So I can almost sense your fear as you’re reading this so I thought I’d give you some re-assurance.

NOROVIRUS IS A RARE OCCURRENCE.

It’s true! Even when you hear of these outbreaks it really is no different to catching an illness on land, it lasts for a day or two and you’re back to normal, you just seem to find that it is a lot more hyped up on cruise ships as the cases have to be reported by law. Even with 100-250 people being infected just think, on a ship of 3500, is it really that bad? Around 5 %!

With these numbers in mind, get on and book your winter cruise, knowing that all cruise lines have STRICT procedures to follow by LAW to keep you healthy and to help you enjoy your holiday. Just pack some immodium just in case!

Thoughts please?

Happy cruising

Ed x