By the time the chaos began to settle down, the crew on board was already celebrating a very small victory. The number of people suffering from illnesses had begun to decline, and cleaning teams increased their efforts. Fortunately, although some people may still have felt that way, the so-called “mystery stomach disaster” had not ruined the atmosphere on board entirely.
Although this was not the glamorous cruise story anyone had anticipated, at least the ship was not going to turn into a floating catastrophe.
This is the end of the happy ending, now let’s go back to the 133 days of chaos that led us all the way to the conclusion.
The 133 Day Saga
Visualize this: a cruise of dreams spanning over 133 days, bringing you to the United States, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, South Africa. It’s basically an all-star line-up of vacation spots.
What kind of disaster could possibly occur?
As it turned out, everything.
Between Hamburg and the ports of warm sunshine on our cruise schedule, over 100 passengers and crew members were falling into the “vomiting and diarrhoea” zone.
In the movies, right about here is where the music would build to a dramatic crescendo and someone would scream, “Code Brown!”
Initially, no one noticed any issues.
An increase in stomachaches occurred, with people saying things like, “Maybe I ate too much.” Then on November 30th, the CDC received a report that said, “Guys, we may have a norovirus problem.”
Most importantly, the cruise line no longer had just cruise ships; it now had “petri dishes” for the Cross Oceans.
As the crew of the CDC arrived on the scene, they were there as if they had a crest of a superhero squad. Once the numbers exceeded one hundred infected, the CDC stated: “Put on your gloves.”
They confirmed that the outbreak was norovirus, the villain known for converting cruise ships into a biohazard production.
They collected “Stool Samples”, which resulted in the least glamorous cruise ship activity, slightly increased disinfection, and quarantined those passengers who were the worst victims.
While continued to fight off this stomach-flu out-break, the industry was not doing very well. The CDC reported that at least twenty-one outbreaks had occurred so far this year.
Additionally, Royal Caribbean had experienced a 13-night ordeal traveling to Miami while 71 passengers and 1 crew member were infected with the same virus.
This is essentially cruise-ship language that translates to: “Please, do not panic and demand a refund.”
Sailing on a cruise ship represents a dream for cruise tourists who want to enjoy a relaxing vacation with incredible views of the sunsets, the opportunity to visit incredible destinations, and 24-hour access to unlimited food.
What is not a dream for cruise tourists?
Being sick on a cruise ship overflowing with people in an expensive stateroom with a nightly rate greater than their rent at home!
These issues occur any time that thousands of strangers are in the same location sharing air, hallways, and buffet serving utensils.
As soon as one virus gets on board, the first thing on many traveler’s minds is to avoid traveling without extra bottles of hand sanitizer.
The sailed out of the port of Hamburg in November of last year and after a long and exciting cruise, travel/health problems showed up. At that time no traveler had any idea that they would spend part of their cruise drinking an electrolyte solution instead of alcoholic beverages/quarantined in their stateroom.
Travel is still travel, however, and at times you will encounter adverse situations such as when travel issues occur at the same time.
Cruise ships are designed to be luxurious, and yet, for some reason, viruses are under the impression that the cruise ship is intended for their use.
When 2647 people board the same floating hotel, there will be more germs on the ship than passengers!
At the same time, the cruise ship’s crew will have implemented a very strong cleaning program and have a very quick response time to any illnesses and as a result, any outbreak of the illness will have a limited duration.
In terms of story, the conclusion will be that tragic tale has a happy ending and is a good example of how the cruise line industry should handle travel/health issues during the cruise.
