Sick Ship Docked In Miami For Cleaning

(AP)  The world's largest cruise ship was held in port Monday for intensive cleaning after a second outbreak of gastrointestinal illness in two voyages sickened 106 people.

More than 380 passengers and crew members aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas were sickened by norovirus during a Nov. 26-Dec. 3 Caribbean cruise. The ship was cleaned before its next cruise, but 97 passengers and 11 crew members became sick with the same illness last week, officials at the Miami-based cruise line said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommended keeping the ship in port and will oversee repeated cleaning of "high-touch" surfaces such as door handles, railings and elevator buttons, officials said. Two additional doctors and 45 more cleaning staff will be aboard for its next voyage, now scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The ship carried more than 3,900 passengers on its latest cruise.

Another ship, Princess Cruises' Sun Princess, also undergoing a thorough cleaning after docking at Port Everglades on Sunday with 97 sick passengers.

"This is not a very serious outbreak, but we did treat it as we treat all increased incidents — very immediately and swiftly," said Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Santa Clarita, Calif.-based Princess. The ship carried about 1,950 passengers.

Norovirus is a group of viruses that cause stomach flu symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps, according to the CDC. It spreads through contaminated food or liquids, contaminated surfaces or direct contact with someone who is infected. Last month, nearly 700 passengers fell ill on the Carnival Liberty during a cruise.

Noroviruses, characterized by stomach flu-like symptoms, affect about 23 million Americans annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The Freedom of the Seas, which was christened in May, can carry more than 4,000 people aboard its 15 passenger decks.

[pirate_queen]

I would just like to point out that the previous comment is not entirely correct. True, the norovirus can be spread by people handling food. But there is more to it than that. I work on cruise ships and I can tell you that we are taught all about gastrointestinal illness (or GI as we call it). It lives on just about any surface and can survive there for days so some one can bring it on for out side and touch one thing and the next person comes along and pick it up. It is not spread just from food. And it is not from the water. Acting like the ship is a third world country is not going to help. The thing to do is wash you hands as often as possible (especially before and after eating) because the railing or door handle outside of the food area is more likely to have the germs on it than the food itself. Crew eat food made by the same people as the guests and drink the same water. We know to wash our hands and not to touch all the handrails and not to shake hands when there are high counts of GI. It is not something you want and saying that food preparers are not trained is wrong. The ships have to answer to the same Health Department as other food service industries do in the US (any ship that comes into the US has to follow US Public Health laws). So the moral is not to stay away from the water and raw foods but to WASH YOUR HANDS.

[hunter10039]

The BELOW PARAGRAPH was copied verbatum, from the CDC website's re: info to food handlers, servers, glass and utensel sorters, and other kitchen help.

It provides PROOF of my earlier comment:

"Outbreaks of norovirus gastroenteritis have taken place in restaurants, cruise ships, nursing homes, hospitals, schools, banquet halls, summer camps, and family dinners %u2013 in other words, places where often people have consumed water and/or food prepared or handled by others. It is estimated that as many as
half of all food-related outbreaks of illness may be caused by norovirus. In many of these cases, sick food handlers were thought to be implicated."

[hunter10039]

IT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE....THAT THE GERM PROBLEM IS NOT WITH THE GUESTS, IT'S FROM THE FOOD PREPARATION PEOPLE !!!!!

We repeatedly hear such and such a ship is in port for cleaning....

but the cruise ship people continue to employ multi-national salad preparers, cooks , dishwashers and handlers of utensels,...and other kitchen personnel.

Most of these do not have an understanding of how germs can "hitch-hike" into food from unclean fingernails .....even if the person DOES wash their hands.

Guests will CONTINUE to get sick, as long as they eat with an attitude of being in a "first-class" situation.

It's my opinion, that to remain safe, they should take on the attitude they are actually in a "third world country" while on-board the ship.

But .....with the sumptuous looking salads and attractive looking raw veggies available t eat on board....that have been cut up and prepared by the lowest paid eschelon of kitchen workers...well.... I think you get the picture.

Things will continue t remain "the same" and people will continue to get sick on cruises...unless they eat like they are in a "third-world-country"...no raw stuff. peel everything, no ice cubes, don't brush your teeth in the "regular" water, etc., etc.,

RandalDS when you speak of NCL are you referring to the Norwegian Cruise Line? My girls and I are taking a cruise Christmas Eve to the Caribbean aboard the Norwegian Jewel, we can't wait!!!

[davidwayne20]

to 'pendragon679',
i really doubt out breaks of e.coli are in any way linked to terrorism. this country is starting to go nuts with the entire 'terrorism' blame game. The second something goes 'affowl' people start thinking, 'it must be terrrorism!' RELAX! it's not!

[flolake]

Any time two completely seperate groups of people get sick en masse, onboard the same ship; surely a larger problem is being overlooked.

If you multiply all passengers affected by the illness in question, that's an awful lot of misery.

T'would be a comfort if the CDC would order such a vessel to remain in port until at least a month of cultures come back negative.

The lawsuit from hell is just around the next wave.

[randalds]

The problem that, as cruises have become more affordable, more and more people have booked them on bigger and bigger ships. just like any small isolated town when one sick person comes in just about everyone catches whatever they have. The wife and I have been on several cruises (though we much, much prefer NCL over Royal) and have never had this problem. I hope this doesn't put people off from cruises though as it's a blast and a great value.

[pendragon679]

Would it be reaching to wonder if these incidents are the recent e. coli outbreaks connected to green onions & spinach are connected? Is Homeland Security doing ANYTHING to ward off what is beginning to look like attacks on our food supply?