Sick ship returns to port of Tampa
Norovirus has hit two cruise ships, one in Tampa and one in Portland, in the past week:
Fox 13, April 13, 2007 - Full Story
TAMPA - Nearly 100 sick cruise ship passengers are back home today.
The Celebrity Cruise Lines ship Zenith docked at Channelside this morning. It set sail back on April 2 but over the course of the 11-day cruise, 86 passengers and 11 crewmembers came down with the norovirus.
Passengers on board say they weren't kept in the loop about what was going on. Many didn't realize anything was wrong until they saw crew members with masks on.
WE WERE ON THE ZENITH DURING THE VIRUS OUTBREAK. WE SAW EVIDENCE IN SAN JUAN THAT SOMEONE HAD DIED. DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS FROM VIRUS OR NOT.
THEY WERE SPRAYING THE SHIP TO NO END. YOU COULDN'T TOUCH ANYTHING AS THE SPRAY SEEMED TO BE MOSTLY BLEACH. IT WAS ALL OVER EVERYTHING.
THE ONE THING THAT GOT ME WAS THE FACT THAT THE SHIP WAS GOING TO LEAVE ON ANOTHER CRUISE RIGHT AFTER WE GOT OFF.
The difficulty with Norovirus is that you can't see it coming and when it arrived you have to know how to handle it and handle it quickly. It's a matter of doing all you can to minimise the risk and then having the facilities to knock it down.
A good case history as to how this can be done can be seen at http://infectioncontrol.smfforfree2.com/index.php
I think the nu,ber of people really sick from this was understated, especially since RCL Home Office personnel and personnel from CDC boarded the ship on the 12th in Key West. After that we saw crew with respirators on whilespraying more stuff.
I unfortunately was not counted as a statistic since I got sick about 3am the morning of the 13th. The past weekenc=d was awefull - I have had food poisoning and other travelers' illnesses, but this stuff is at least 10 tiumes worse.
I feel sorry for the back to back cruisers and any of those that boarded on the 13th. It was a Friday the 13th from h.....
I was on the sailing of the Zenith on the 13th of April. They gave us the option of cancelling the cruise, and to my knowlege no one did. The crew was overworked in cleaning all the public areas, and our exposure was minimal. You were not allowed in any area where there was food unless you cleaned your hands using the hand sanitizer, and you had to use it to get on the ship at every port. Considering the amount of people on the ship, 100 people isn't bad, considering other cruise lines return with over 700 people sick.
I was on the Zenith which sailed April 13th. I was not very pleased how the crew were addressing the virus situation. There was constant spraying of something that effected breathing and also damaged clothing. Crew wore masks and gloves while passengers were left to question what was happening. The crew were also more interested in preparing the ship for the new owners than catering to paying passengers.We have cruised with other lines & have never experienced such treatment.
A group of 20 of us boarded the Zenith on April 13, 2007. It was a vacation that will take us a long time to forget. Two in our group were taken ill with the norwalk virus and were quarantined for 5-6 days. You felt like you were walking into a movie scene with crew going around with tanks on their backs and huge masks on their faces spraying. It was very eerie. There was this continous spraying all the time. It was also to be the ship's final farewall cruise (this was not so). It seemed like they couldn't wait to get us of the ship so they could dismantle the ship for its new owner. It should have been a big celebration.
In the meantime, a number of us have come down with respiratory problems, which we think may have been due to the spraying. This is a ship that should never had sailed from Tampa on April 13, 2007, but I guess it all comes down to money. It should have sailed to its final destination without the passengers. I hope and pray that this a cruise that we will not regret for the rest of our lives when it comes to our health.