Washing up for dinner

Its no secret that in recent years onboard hygiene has been a big talking point, what with norovirus and sickness bugs repeatedly hitting some ships and leaving customers confined to their cabins for part or all of their holiday the cruise lines have worked hard to implement ways of eradicating sickness from its vessels. The most familiar sights onboard relating to the issue are the sanitising stations at the entrances to restaurants and signs everywhere you go to remind you to wash your hands. We’ve all seen them haven’t we?

Whilst on my recent trip on Britannia, I was pleasantly surprised to see the ship had wash basins on the entrance to the buffet restaurant. Something I hadn’t seen on any of the other ships Id been on. What a great idea I thought and it became the normal routine to wash and dry our hands before entering the dining areas at each meal time, but sadly not everyone shared our dedication to the cause.

One evening I saw the reason the gel attendants are in force, the wash stations have been built in and why there are constant reminders EVERYWHERE of the need to wash your hands, which seemingly go ignored by some. I nipped to the ladies before dinner, washed my hands…as you do, but as I was drying my hands a lady came out from the cubicle, skipped the hand wash and just left. I dried my hands and left also (feeling the need to open the door with a paper towel!!), joined my husband and wandered to the restaurant where this same lady waltzed straight in, no hand wash, no gel, just straight in and grabbed a tray. Which she then put back down having opted for just a plate instead. So some unsuspecting passenger would then pick up that same germ ridden tray and go about their meal all the while spreading someone elses bacteria all around the dining area for others to pick up and continue the spread. As easy as that, tens of people all passing around germs that could have been avoided by a quick 1 minute splash in the sink!

Do the cruise lines take hygiene too far? No, I don’t think they do. From an early age it was drilled in to me by my parents and grand parents about the importance of washing your hands after using the bathroom and before eating. Its not rocket science and it takes a matter of seconds. I cant understand why some people have such a problem with considering others around them and doing something so simple as washing their hands?!

I don’t think they’ve taken it too far, in fact I don’t think some cruise lines take it far enough but of course that’s just my opinion. Id love to hear yours and any experiences you may have.