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Norovirus outbreak aboard Voyager of the Seas delays departure

In:
05 Feb 2012

About 200 passengers aboard Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas contracted norovirus while the ship was still docked in New Orleans.  The outbreak delayed Voyager of the Seas' departure by two hours.

 

A report says 20 of the 200 passengers had to be quarantined due to their condition.

Crew aboard Voyager of the Seas spent an extra two hours cleaning the ship.

Norovirus strikes Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas

In:
28 Nov 2011

Over 50 passengers aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas suffered from the effects of Norovirus on their cruise last week.  Royal Caribbean promptly sanitized the ship before another cruise could go forward.

Royal Caribbean reported 54 passengers and 10 crew members who became ill due to Norovirus on the cruise that finished on Saturday.

Oasis of the Seas was sanitized to help combat the spread of the illness and Oasis left port again on schedule to begin another seven-day cruise.

Illness outbreaks down in 2010

In:
11 Jan 2011

Good news for those worried about the recent outbreak of norovirus on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports number of outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships sailing from U.S. ports dropped again in 2010.

There were 14 outbreaks of norovirus in 2010, down from 15 in 2009 and 2008, 21 in 2007 and 34 in 2006.

More encouraging is the number of outbreaks dropped despite an increase in cruisers overall.  The Cruise Lines International Association has estimated the industry carried 14.3 million passengers in 2010, up from 13.4 million in 2009.

In 2010, Royal Caribbean only reported one outbreak

Retired couple complain about Norovirus treatment

In:
22 Jul 2010

A retired couple that took a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas this past June are upset about how they were treated following an outbreak of the Norovirus on their ship.  John and Christine Stevens were on a Baltic cruise aboard Jewel of the Seas when John contracted the Norovirus that left him with stomach cramps, severe vomiting and diarrhea.  They take issue with how they were treated after catching the nasty bug.

The two have law hired firm Irwin Mitchell to investigate a claim on their behalf say they were not the only ones who were affected.  Allegedly, the onboard doctors were so backed up, that John was forced to simply take Imodium while he waited.  In addition, while under the influence of the bug, he was quarantined in his stateroom and was unable to obtain food and drink during their confinement in spite of several phone calls to room service and one to Passenger Relations.

We want answers. I find it unacceptable that a travel company can just take money off people like us and not live up to their side of the bargain. I want to understand how so many of us fell ill and what Royal Caribbean is going to do about it so that it never happens again.”

Jewel of the Seas hit with norovirus again

In:
25 Jun 2010

There's a new report that Jewel of the Seas has been struck by the norovirus once more.

Approximately 86 passengers were suffering symptoms of the dreaded gastro bug aboard the Royal Caribbean ship which arrived in Harwich today.

Earlier this month there was a report of Jewel of the Seas being affected by the norovirus where 292 guests and 16 staff members were affected by the virus.  Royal Caribbean is once again giving the ship an “extensive and thorough sanitization”.

"Jewel of the Seas, which began its sailing in Harwich on June 12, is experiencing an elevated number of persons with a gastrointestinal illness. Over the course of that sailing, 86 guests have experienced the illness, thought to be a Norovirus. Those affected by the short-lived illness responded well to over-the-counter medication being administered onboard the ship. At Royal Caribbean International, we have high health standards for all our guests and crew. Therefore, in an abundance of caution, once Jewel of the Seas arrives in Harwich on Thursday, June 24, we will conduct an extensive and thorough sanitizing onboard the ship and within the cruise terminal, to help prevent any illness from affecting the subsequent sailing.” 

Vision of the Seas suffers fifth cruise in two months with Norovirus

In:
15 Jun 2010

A Norwegian media site, dagbladet.no, is reporting that Vision of the Seas has had five separate cruises in the last two months that have resulted in passengers getting ill from the Norovirus.  The latest cruise had 50 sick, according to the company with a total of around 600 passengers infected since the outbreak began on May 1st.

Vision of the Seas set sail from port this past Saturday and that evening was the first report of the disease case according to Norden manager Roar Meidal by the shipping company Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines told Dagbladet.  49 passengers and a crew member became ill during the seven-day cruise.

Compounding the issue of eradicating the disease from the ship is the fact of how easy it is to spread Norovirus.  Between people, the virus can spread quite easily and once an issue, it's difficult to fully remove it.

Norovirus on Jewel of the Seas?

In:
10 Jun 2010

A user on Cruises.co.uk is reporting that their cruise aboard Jewel of the Seas has had an outbreak of norovirus onboard.  Those passengers that are scheduled to sail on Jewel of the Seas on June 12, 2010 have been informed that they should arrive late because embarkation will start at 4:30pm instead as no passengers will be allowed on board before that time.  

In addition, the ship is going through "enhanced sanitizing" on Saturday and that if any passengers have had gastrointestinal symptoms within the last three days, they should consider rescheduling their cruise.

Royal Caribbean, as well as other cruise lines, take the threat of norovirus very seriously.  Norovirus, or norwalk gastroenteritis, is transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated water and foods.

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