D
DianeD
Guest
I'm not going to panic, but with only 26 days until the Star Princess I guess I will be buying more sanitizer and washing hands constantly. I've been doing that for a while now, so will be more diligent. I know this can happen on any ship, but wanted to share the news if you haven't seen the report. 
Cruise Ship Illness - Star Princess
August 9, 2003
By April Zepeda - Komo 4 News, Seattle
SEATTLE - The largest cruise ship on the west coast docked in Seattle Saturday morning after having an outbreak of stomach illness among its passengers and crew.
The Star Princess was sailing between Seattle and Alaska when people started coming down with an illness known as Norovirus.
At one point 112 passengers and 14 crew members were suffering flu-like symptoms of the highly contagious virus.
The Centers for Disease Control says the virus is usually brought on board by a passenger and spreads easily in close quarters.
"We hate to see this happen. We know this is a short lived virus, and makes passengers sick for a day or so," said Princess Cruise Lines Spokesman, Tom Dow.
The ship immediately let passengers know in a memo, but most already knew. "They tightened down, they were wiping everything down all of the time and they were sterilizing people's room," says passenger Kim Duffey. "They jumped right on it."
Princess cruise lines says the outbreak was at its worst Monday and Tuesday and then decreased to seven ill people on Friday, and no sick people by the time the ship docked Saturday morning.
The CDC says there's no indication that the ship's food or water caused the virus.
The ship will get a heavy-duty sanitation before another 2800 passengers and 1100 crew members board for the next cruise.
Princess Cruise Lines says it has no doubt the ship will be ready since it has already passed an inspection by Canadian officials. "Yesterday Health Canada was on the ship for an inspection in Victoria, and the ship scored 100 which is as good as you can do," says Dow.
Forms of Norovirus have spread through several cruises in the past year.
The medical team on the Star Princess is able to test for the virus on board instead of waiting to send samples to a lab. That helps them identify the problem more quickly and begin taking steps to keep it from spreading.
Cruise Ship Illness - Star Princess
August 9, 2003
By April Zepeda - Komo 4 News, Seattle
SEATTLE - The largest cruise ship on the west coast docked in Seattle Saturday morning after having an outbreak of stomach illness among its passengers and crew.
The Star Princess was sailing between Seattle and Alaska when people started coming down with an illness known as Norovirus.
At one point 112 passengers and 14 crew members were suffering flu-like symptoms of the highly contagious virus.
The Centers for Disease Control says the virus is usually brought on board by a passenger and spreads easily in close quarters.
"We hate to see this happen. We know this is a short lived virus, and makes passengers sick for a day or so," said Princess Cruise Lines Spokesman, Tom Dow.
The ship immediately let passengers know in a memo, but most already knew. "They tightened down, they were wiping everything down all of the time and they were sterilizing people's room," says passenger Kim Duffey. "They jumped right on it."
Princess cruise lines says the outbreak was at its worst Monday and Tuesday and then decreased to seven ill people on Friday, and no sick people by the time the ship docked Saturday morning.
The CDC says there's no indication that the ship's food or water caused the virus.
The ship will get a heavy-duty sanitation before another 2800 passengers and 1100 crew members board for the next cruise.
Princess Cruise Lines says it has no doubt the ship will be ready since it has already passed an inspection by Canadian officials. "Yesterday Health Canada was on the ship for an inspection in Victoria, and the ship scored 100 which is as good as you can do," says Dow.
Forms of Norovirus have spread through several cruises in the past year.
The medical team on the Star Princess is able to test for the virus on board instead of waiting to send samples to a lab. That helps them identify the problem more quickly and begin taking steps to keep it from spreading.
