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Outbreak Ruins Cruise Ship Vacation

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By Kesshia Peyton Anchor/Reporter

M50o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr Outbreak Ruins Cruise Ship Vacation

Published: Mon, January 28, 2008 - 6:32 pm

Kesshia Peyton

Last Thursday they left Mobile for Mexico, but less than 24 hours into the trip, 121 passengers and 22 crew members came down with a gastrointestinal illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is analyzing lab specimens to determine what may have caused the illnesses. They have not confirmed whether it is the Norovrius, as News 5 first reported Monday. Gastrointestinal illnesses, like the Norovirus, are often spread through food, water, and surfaces such as stair rails, door handles, and elevator buttons
Donna Urban told News Five she couldn't eat anything and when she sought medical attention, there was a line of passengers in the ship's infirmary.
Urban said her vacation was ruined.
"I don't feel like I want to ever want to go on another cruise. I just didn't feel that this ship was clean. I just don't really think it was clean. I never saw anybody wiping down the handle bars where you walk down the stairs railing. I never saw anybody doing that," said Donna Urban of Blairsville, Georgia.
Carnival Cruise lines says it has sanitized the ship and is working closely with the CDC to determine what caused the outbreak.
The holiday left Monday afternoon on a five-day voyage to Mexico.

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That would require the stewards to make the judgment call as to who was sick from the norovirus as opposed to who was sick from basic seasickness.

Posted by donquixote235 on 01/29/08 - 12:03 pm • Report Abuse

I can guarantee you that every steward on the ship knew who was sick and who wasn’t . They were in the cabins everyday cleaning and making beds. Ours knew of every sick person on his hall. If Carnival had cared to ask, I’m sure they could have gotten an accurate count of everyone sick from the stewards on each floor.

Posted by radley7 on 01/29/08 - 12:00 pm • Report Abuse

It’s interesting that a few posters say that a large number of their group became ill, and therefore the numbers reported by Carnival must be skewed.

First, Carnival only reported the people who actually reported to the infirmary; it would be impossible to report people that Carnival had no record of.

Second, if you’re part of a large group and one member gets sick, it’s only natural that you’re going to pass it to other members of your group.

Regarding the lack of response from room service… of the 121+ people who were infected and quarantined, all wound up using room service exclusively. This would cause a strain on them, as they’re used to having a much smaller percentage of people using its services.

The norovirus is the most common source of GI outbreaks on cruise ships, but that doesn’t mean that it’s common in general. It’s common enough for them to have a generic video about it on the cruise info channel, but not enough for them to be hyper-sanitary from the outset.

Posted by donquixote235 on 01/29/08 - 10:52 am • Report Abuse

I was an infected person that did go to the infirmary and received medical attention. There were 5 out of our 8 in 4 different cabins affected by this virus. I am still sick today. I went to the infirmary on the last day to get released and get some medicine to make the trip home and was not even asked my name, just handed medicine to get me off of the ship. I have already seen the news that they have medivacced someone off of the ship after sailing from port yesterday. My concern is for all of those that we are infecting bringing this home with us and those on the ship now. My husband did not catch it in the same room, but whose to say he is not just a carrier. It has me being very cautious. I am shocked at the number of cases that carnival has reported! There were shows cancelled, only one person serving in the buffet and slow room service due to sick staff. On the main floor almost every room had someone quarentined. That is several rooms, some rooms had 2 people affected.

Posted by Mishelle on 01/29/08 - 10:13 am • Report Abuse

I totally agree with cbarton I also was so sick that I could not leave my room. This illness hit me suddenly on Saturday I also shared a room with a friend and she did not become Ill. If this was so contagious how could someone that you share a room with not catch this virus? I am alittle worried It has been 4 days and I still feel sick and very weak? I wish I could of went to the infirmary, but I was so sick and was also told that the line was so long with infected people. This was my first time on a cruise, I will keep my feet on the ground for now on.

Posted by kims on 01/29/08 - 9:24 am • Report Abuse

Regardless of where the virus came from, I do hold Carnival 100% responsible for how they handled or mishandled I should say, the whole thing. While there was some evidence of increased sanitizing, we were never “officially” informed by crew of what was going on, what they were doing about it and what we could do to better protect our health, knowing we had to spend two more days on board. Our questions to staff were returned with secretive and dismissive answers. What we learned came from other passengers with sick friends or relatives or purely from observation. We still don’t know whether our sick party members will hear from Carnival or be reimbursed for their ruined trip. We observed all crew members and security wearing latex gloves all day Saturday. And guess what, none were offered to us. Enough said. I am dumbfounded that Carnival turned around and sailed out again Monday; that just doesn’t seem ethical. No more trips on the Carnival HellEachDay for me!

Posted by radley7 on 01/29/08 - 12:54 am • Report Abuse

First, to Donquixote, I believe you’ve contradicted yourself. If the outbreaks are relatively common and account for a vast majority of cruise-based outbreaks, then why was the Holiday “caught unaware and having to scramble” to deal w/ situation. They should have been prepared to put a well-thought out and practiced plan of action into motion.

I was on the cruise and luckily have (thus far) been spared what 3 of my party of 8 experienced. I’m still worried I might be a carrier and now infecting my 3 children at home, thanks. I agree with those who think the numbers were understated. In my group only 1 was able to get to the infirmary to be reported. Another was so sick she could not leave the bathroom and ended up sharing the medicine provided to the one who did get there. Our third came down with it as we were deboarding. More....

Posted by radley7 on 01/29/08 - 12:42 am • Report Abuse

Well ... I, too was on-board - and contracted the virus. I have to agree with the Holiday, and say that it was brought on by sick people. I had a group of 38 with me ... and some got sick Friday, some on Saturday, some on Sunday and some on Monday ... That pretty much de-bunks a food poisoning. I was ‘isolated’ to my room for 32 hours ... so, I don’t know what kind of cleaning went on. I’m sure some was done in the middle of the night when the ship’s halls and main areas were empty. I don’t fault the cruise line ... but ... I do think it would be a good faith gesture for them to offer a complimentary cruise for all the cases which were documented in the infirmary (and for the cabin-mates of those who contracted the virus). **However** I don’t think the ship should have been allowed to re-sail without a massive top-to-bottom scrubbing. ... With that said ... I have no problems sailing with Carnival (on the Holiday) again.

Posted by PastorD on 01/28/08 - 11:10 pm • Report Abuse

As someone who did get ill, I will give a diff. opinion. 1st off, I can GUARANTEE anyone, that it was alot more than 122 cases. I could not leave my bathroom long enough to check in with the infirmary on board, so I am not a registered case, I spoke with several others who also did not go to the infirmary. I questioned people on the last day about being affected, and at least 1/4 to 1/2 of each party I asked had been infected. I began vomiting on Fri night every 20 minutes through the night until 5am followed by diharreha. I was in room for 48 hours missed cozumel, and did not eat. It all broke out on Fri night. No one “brought it on board” & passed it along because my roomate used the bathroom I was puking in, in between heaves, even using the same bar soap I was using, and did not contract it.Something was unsanitary on this ship & it hit everyone at once.This is the worst I have ever felt,I wanted to die, Iwould NEVER do this cruise again, and feel so bad 4 those who left onit today

Posted by cbarton on 01/28/08 - 10:59 pm • Report Abuse

I was on this cruise. Although the number of reported infections is relatively high (covering approximately 8% of the passengers) I don’t fault the cruise line. As you can see in this link to the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/GIlist.htm) norovirus outbreaks are a relatively common occurrence, and account for the vast majority of cruise-based outbreaks. The ship did everything in its power to contain the illness. It was not the cause of the illness; rather, the virus was brought on-board by one of the passengers, and the line was caught unawares and had to scramble to provide medical care for the infected.

I was one of the lucky 92% that didn’t get infected, and other than some long wait times for room service, my experience was unaffected. I will happily go on a cruise on the Holiday in the future.

Posted by donquixote235 on 01/28/08 - 9:53 pm • Report Abuse