Cruise lines ‘do the right thing’ to prevent the spread of infection.

I felt compelled to mention an article I read recently about a number of cruise lines amending their itineraries to help the prevention of infection spreading. The reason I mention this is because so often we are bombarded with bad press within the cruise industry of ‘Gastroenteritis” this and ‘Norovirus’ that on board cruise ships I thought it was worth mentioning the cruise lines that are responsibly doing all they can to prevent the spread of Ebola.

Let’s face it it’s hardly likely to be splashed all over the tabloids is it? Who wants to hear about cruise lines acting responsibly and pulling together to help people for the greater good, it’s not nearly as newsworthy as ‘John 49 from Yorkshire gets Diarrhoea on holiday’ is it?! 

Three cruise lines, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn and Fred Olsen have canceled port calls in West Africa, due to the outbreak of Ebola in the region. All 3 have decided to spend more time in Spain and the Canaries between October and December this year instead of stopping at Dakar, Senegal and Banjul, Gambia.

There has been only one reported case of Ebola in Senegal, which shares its border with one of the worst affected countries Guinea where the deadly virus broke out in February but the virus has already spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. It doesn’t make sense to expose tourists to potential infection especially when you consider how many countries worldwide those passengers would be travelling back to post cruise.

According to the World Health Organisation, up until September 21 there have been 6,263 cases with 2,917 deaths. Senegal has closed its land border with Guinea and last month British Airways suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone and Emirates has stopped flying to Guinea.

In a statement, Regent Seven Seas said “We always place the safety and comfort of our guests as our top priority and adjusted the itinerary to alleviate any concerns”.

So given the never ending stream of bad press cruise lines seem to get when people are simply ‘ill’ on holiday, I think leading cruise lines taking these sort of preventative measures is commendable.

What do you think?

Bye for now.