So, you’ve read about it in the papers and seen it on the news, cruise ships affected with norovirus, hundreds sick, a nightmare at sea! After over a dozen cruises we had the misfortune of being on one of those ships too. Let me tell you about our experience.
On day 2 we were in Casablanca, Morocco, and while on our shore excursion an elderly man felt ill on our bus. The guide had to help him with finding a toilet more than once. A little distracting for the rest of us but we didn’t think much of it. We were running behind and missed some of the narration from the guide as he was occupied with this man. One Chinese lady on the bus started to complain about how old people should not be allowed on tours, and how this is not allowed in China! What!? In an interesting twist of karma, about an hour later she also vomited into a box and was feeling ill!
Returning to the ship, we felt bad for the man (less so for the Chinese lady!) and thought that it might have simply been motion sickness from the bus. Could it have been the meal we had at the Moroccan restaurant? Who knows? Not thinking much more about it we got back on the ship only to hear the captain announcing that there had been multiple cases and the ship’s doctor had diagnosed this as acute viral gastroenteritis caused by norovirus. Oh-no! We were just two seats back from this man, and now we were definitely worried! The ship would be putting in protocols to do extra washing and would even start serving people at the buffet (maybe a good idea at all times)! We also resolved to put our own protocols in place to be extra cautious.
Tips to reduce the risk of catching the Norovirus
Our own protocols included making sure to wash our hands before and after each trip out of the cabin. Using only our cabin’s washroom and none of the public ones. Being very careful not to touch any surfaces (banisters, door handles, elevator buttons) unless unavoidable. Avoiding the elevator, hot tubs, sauna. Keeping hands away from our mouth and eyes at all times. Easier said than done! We would often see each other inadvertently touch an eye, bump up against the underside of a table, touch the back of the chair. We’d simply let each other know and head back to the hand sanitizer dispensers. “Washy, washy” as the cruise ship crew say!
At the gym we wiped every machine between sets, but we saw many others not bothering to do so. What were they thinking? We certainly didn’t want to get sick and wiping the gym equipment before and after seemed like a small price to pay.
Washing our hands repeatedly in the room, we went through at least two full bottles of soap, but who cares! On the excursions we had our preferred seat on the bus, right by the back exit! Less seat backs to touch and fewer people to pass as we embarked and disembarked.
A few facts about Norovirus
- Norovirus is a group of viruses that cause gastroenteritis (stomach flu) and cannot be treated with antibiotics unlike a bacterial infection.
Symptoms may include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramping, low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and fatigue.- Norovirus spreads through contact with an infected person or surface as well as ingesting contaminated foods or liquids.
- The norovirus is extremely contagious; an infected person carries billions of virus particles and you only need a few to get infected.
Paranoia sets in
As the days went by, the announcements on the ship became increasingly urgent. “Infected people must remain confined to their cabins!”, the captain orders. Thoughts of past ships having to abort their itineraries and return home came to haunt us, making us worry. Clearly people were not obeying the instructions.
We saw obvious cases around the ship: The lady sitting next to us at the buffet was holding her head and only eating plain toast for dinner. We quickly changed seats. The following night we noticed another lady that was just having a bowl of white rice, we found a table far away! I mean, maybe she just liked white rice, but why take a chance! Later on, we saw an elderly man cutting in line urgently demanding to know where the washroom was: “Toilet, toilet, TOILET!” he yells. The fellow at the excursion counter looked at us and said, “Shit happens!” On any given day, not noteworthy but under the circumstances certainly suspicious.
You could tell that every passenger was getting a little paranoid eying everyone else and avoiding contact. Better to be overly cautious than getting sick and being confined to your cabin (never mind the symptoms of violent diarrhea and vomiting for days). Who wants to spend their cruise vacation like that?!
No system is perfect
Well into the cruise the ship remained in full disinfect mode. The ship’s crew were seen scrubbing the pool chairs at night, applying liberal coats of foamy disinfectant to all the banisters and elevator buttons. Our cabin door handle was wet with foamy liquid as we returned to the cabin.
At the buffet, every table was wiped and sanitized, and all food and utensils were served by staff wearing latex gloves. The intention was for the attendant to take a plate and fill it before handing it to the guest. However, we noticed that people would give the plate back for additional items between stations after having handled it. Even though they were wearing gloves, they were taking the plate from one guest and then taking another plate from another guest any one of which may have been contagious. I once had my eggs put on someone else’s plate and got that man’s plate handed to me (so I had to ask for another). We often saw impatient guests reaching across the barriers to grab items on their own when the attendants weren’t looking.
Are the tables really sanitized? Are we sure the server is ok? Does the stuff they use really kill the virus? We sure hope so!
Conclusion
Every morning when we wake up with no signs of stomach flu, we feel fortunate. We hear others snickering and laughing about how the ship’s staff are overdoing it with their protocols. But we are grateful!
Every port we get to visit because we are healthy to go ashore and take part in our excursion makes us happy. Things we would normally take for granted, are appreciated more than ever. We hear someone on the last day’s excursion talking about having been on another ship where they had an outbreak, and no one was told. Terrible!
On the plane we are thankful to be free and healthy. Then we see the cruise line’s color luggage tag in the overhead bin next to us! Oh no!
Did you know that the norovirus can live on surfaces for up to 12 days and in still water for over a year? Nasty stuff. I wonder if the ship will ever be free of it? We do hope so for future guests.