cruise from HELL!!!!

[grelvia]

Did anyone hear about the cruise ship that is now being decontaminated because there was a rapid, highly contagious virus on the cruise ship?! About 700 people on the cruise were struck with d* and v* for about 6 days!!! The ship is in Florida now, I just hope it doesn't spread.


That must put a damper on your vacation plans[img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]!

[laneyb]

I always quite fancied going ona long cruise until these reports started.


We had several reports in the Uk in the last 12 monthsand that just put me right off the idea.


laney xx

[babygap5]

I'm sure it did, but I loved the cruise I went on and I'm looking forward to the cruise I'm taking in April, this time, it's a 2 week one, 6 islands!! I know the dangers but if you are diligent about washing your hands and the staff is well educated, you have a better chance of not catching it.

[rubysoho120]

my bf went on a cruise before he met me and no one he knew got
sick...but when he told me this i still freaked out that he even went
on one...at least he got to go on one because never again...scary...

[xxsophiaxx]

I would never go on a cruise. NEVER. my grandparents got sick from one before...but that didn't stop them. haha they go on like, at least 2 cruises every year. And the one they last went on in the summer was actually very nice, no one they knew got sick on it (they go w/ large groups of friends and stuff...) and they said that the buffet always had servers and NO ONE was allowed to touch the food. The servers served the food to you and they never used their hand, always some sort of utensils.

[daffodil]

Eww. They keep talking about this on the news. I am NEVER going on a cruise!!!

[punchbuggy]

Im not as worried about getting sick on a cruise as going missing and never being found havent you heard of all the diff. stories of people who have went missing and never being found again after going on these cruises ...ahhhh thats scares me half to death itself.

[peely]

Cruise is my idea of hell on earth!

[tcsarah]

One of my friends and her husband went on a Caribbean cruise earlier this year and her husband took ill with food poisoning. The staff insisted he and my friend (who didn't have any symptoms at all) stay in their cabin for several days just incase it was a stomach virus and it would be passed on. Can you imagine beingstuck in a tiny cabinwith your v*ing partner when there is nothing wrong with you - how trapped and scaredwouldus emetsfeel?!


My dad and step-mum recently returned from a Mediterranean cruise and he said the staff are very vigilant where viruses are concerned and that they come round regularly asking if you have any signs of sickness or diarrhoea. So they do try their best to contain these viruses.


I don't think I'll be booking a cruise soon though!

[babygap5]

I understand all of your fears, I do, but think about it, you are letting your emet control your life. The ship I was on was so clean and the staff was so well trained, that I wasn't concerned at all. I think there is a different class of ships out there and Carnival is one of the cheaper ones and you get what you pay for. I sailed on Carnival and it was awful, I didn't get sick but the service and food was not worth the money at all. I then saild on Norwegian and the difference between the 2 ships was like night and day. The staff was excellent, the food even better, and as for the buffets, no one touches the tongs, only the servers who are wearing gloves. They also had antibacterial dispensers everywhere and wouldn't let anyone into the restaurants until they used it. I know that people here have said that they don't prevent the spread of the norovirus, but this wasn't purell, it was something else that explained about the transmission of it and that this one killed 90% of the virus. It was much stronger than purell, and the fact that they were everywhere was a nice reassurance. It prevented people who were going to touch menus, handles, etc. from spreading any type of germ, noro or a cold.


I loved the cruise and am not afraid of catching anything. I would be more afraid of catching something from an airplane from the re-cycled air then a cruise ship. Actually, I'm more afraid of riding the train with commuters than the ship. Besides, if you do get sick on the ship, they have doctors on board who can give you anti-vomiting medication so you won't have to suffer like that. At least, that was on Norwegian, not sure about any of the other cruise lines out there.

[christianne]

Hi there!!

Babygap has some excellent points---I've also read that your chances of coming down with a gastro-intestinal illness on a cruise are actually less than one percent, which is lower than your chances on land. The reason we hear so much about it on cruises is because they are required to report ANY illness, no matter what it is.
I've never been on one, and don't really plan on it---not because of noroviruses but because I don't think I'd like knowing I'm "trapped" in the middle of the ocean.
But there are some really nice cruise lines out there, and the more expensive ones are better. I have heard horror stories about Carnival too!!
Still, I don't blame the cruise lines for these outbreaks, it's the selfish, infected passengers that decide to board when they're sick and "share the wealth" with everyone else. That totally ticks me off!!! [img]smileys/smilies_07.gif[/img]

[xxsophiaxx]

Norwegian is the one my grandaparents went on and got sick from!

[chemicalemotion]

I'm scheduled to go on a cruise to Alaska sometime in Spring. =/