The Norovirus and sick ship myth

Hey all.  I will start this post off with the disclaimer that I am not a doctor nor do I have any special medical training.  That being said, I’m sick and tired of cruise ships getting a bad rep over the Norovirus and it being unique to cruise ships.  I’ve seen posts on the Cruise Critic message boards talking about the Norovirus and whether its OK to go on a cruise out of fear of getting this dreaded bug.  The simple fact is that I would bet most people have had a type of Norovirus at some point in their life whether they ever stepped foot on board a ship.  There is support for the statement that upwards of 90% of certain types of epidemic non-bacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis around the world are from the Norovirus.  The important word in that statement to me is gastroenteritis which is basically a stomach flu.  In other words, the Norovirus is basically the stomach flu.

A brief history is in order.  The virus, its actually a bunch of related viruses, got its name after an outbreak in Norwalk, Ohio.  The virus seems most easily transmitted through food and human to human contact.

Contrary to popular opinion, the virus is not unique to cruise ships but is most commonly found in catered meals.  In fact, cruise ships was bunched together with vacation settings and was the smallest percentage of reported outbreaks investigated at 10%.  The idea that there is a “sick ship” syndrome is a creature of an overactive media.  Even if a ship does suffer an outbreak, I’ve never heard of more than 17% of the total ship population being infected.  In other words, if there are 5,000 passengers and crew on board (not impossible given today’s megaships), you’re looking at maybe 850 sick people.  Certainly not fun, but it is also not the end of the world.

If you assume that there are approximately 5 outbreaks on all cruise ships per year (which is conservative given the number of reported outbreaks between 1997-2000 identified here) the odds of getting a ship that actually experiences an outbreak are so small to make it hard to count.  For example, Royal Caribbean Cruises have I think 21 ships currently in service.  Most of those are between 7-10 days but there are others that are 3 and 4 days.  If one assumes that the entire fleet makes a total of 30 cruises per year (probably a low number) then you have 630 total voyages just on Royal Caribbean ships.  If you have 5 outbreaks worldwide on all cruiselines per year and even if all those outbreaks were on Royal Caribbean Ships, you still only have a .7% (that is point seven percent) chance of getting on an infected ship.  And that is just one cruise line getting all the outbreaks for an industry that serves approximately 12 million passengers in a year.  In other words, I would think you’d probably have a better shot at getting struck by lightning then contracting the Norovirus on a cruise ship.

My advice to people who are thinking about a cruise and won’t do it because of the Norovirus is for them to lighten up and just wash their hands.

Paying for Pillows and Blankets on the Airplane….Seriously?

Ok don’t get me wrong, I have some sympathy for the airlines and the problems they face because of rising costs of fuel etc.  However, given the level of service they have given over the last 10 or so years, I have just one word for them….KARMA.  I mean they nickel and dime us for years; cram us in like smelly fish, are rude, take away services, make it much more inconvenient to fly, and basically make a trip to the airport to fly about as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist for a root canal.  Toss in the stupid “security” procedures we have to go through and you can add wisdom teeth removal to the root canal.

That all being said, I figured there wasn’t much more the airlines could do to screw us then they already had.  I mean they know they have us by the proverbial balls because we need to fly so why not just squeeze as much as possible.  However, I was wrong.  Jet Blue has made it known that they are now going to take away the crappy pillows and blankets and start charging $7 for a pillow and blanket on flights.  Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?  I’m not sure what is more upsetting; that Jet Blue would think to charge for a damn pillow and blanket, or that they expect to make millions off of the deal.

Of course, the idea of charging for pillows is still not quite as asinine as charging for water.  Yup, fly US Airways and kiss the free water goodbye.  I refuse to pay for bottled water as it is on the ground for God’s sake.  I grew up on tap water and I haven’t dropped dead yet so tap water is good enough for me.  This idea that we now need to pay extra money for water on an airplane where we get dehydrated anyway is just too much.

I’m trying to figure out what is going to be next.  Maybe a $1 fee for seatbelts and an extra 50 cents if you want ones that actually snap together.  Maybe $10 to buy out of a middle seat.  Maybe $15 for extra leg room (oh wait Jet Blue already does that too).  How about $5 for the privilege of having frequent flyer miles?  Maybe an extra $1 if you want that liquid refreshment with ice, or even in a cup.

Monarch of the Seas Review

Hi all.  My wife and I just returned from a nice quick weekend getaway cruise on the Monarch of the Seas so I thought I’d give you a little review.

By way of background, this was our seventh cruise on Royal Caribbean and for those of you who are Crown and Anchor members, this cruise put us over the hump into the Diamond category…woo hoo.  We had been on Monarch last October for the 3 night cruise as a present to our older daughter to celebrate her getting her tae kwon do black belt and to introduce her to cruising.

The cruise itself is a three night leaving in the late afternoon on a Friday from Los Angeles and returns early Monday morning.  The only port of call is Ensanada, Mexico.  Suffice to say that you don’t take this cruise for the port.  Ensanada is, for the most part, not a great place.  The real appeal of this cruise is the price, convenience, and the ship itself.  While the Monarch is an older ship and doesn’t have all the super special bells and whistles, she more than makes up for that with her crew.  While I’ve almost always had good service experiences on Royal Caribbean ships, the crew on Monarch is a step above.  Maybe its because the ship is smaller and more intimate; maybe its because there are a lot of repeat cruisers (I met passengers who had 20 and 15 trips just on the Monarch); maybe its the attitude of the Captain and senior staff.  I don’t know but the Monarch crew was great.

This was our first time in having a straight inside cabin.  We have always had a balcony or suite before this.  However, since it was only a three nighter and we were trying to keep costs down, we took the plunge into “steerage.”  While I wouldn’t want the tiny cabin for a longer voyage, for the three nighter, it was more than adequate.  I can now appreciate all the “small cabin” jokes the on board comedians make.  I dropped the soap in the shower one morning and had to basically step out into the hallway in order to have room to pick it up.

Since it was just my wife and I, our cruise routine differed from our last trip on the Monarch when we had a 7-year old with us.  The lunch upon boarding in the Windjammer Cafe was fine with normal buffet fare.  Living in Las Vegas, I know a good buffet when I see it and while it wasn’t great, it did hit the spot.  One routine we always have is to make our massage appointments first thing on boarding.  This is a good tip for those new to cruising.  Get to the port early so you can get on right away and then head straight to the spa and any speciality restaurants.  Bypass the buffet for 10 minutes so you can pick and choose your spa times.  If you wait too long, all the good times are taken.

We both got massages later on Friday.  While they aren’t the best massages I’ve ever had, I love the massages on board because it really gets me relaxed and into the “vacation” mindset.

Dinners in the main dining room can be hit or miss for someone like me who is a very picky eater.  However, I’ve been pleasently surprised with Royal Caribbean’s “alternative” menu as it always has a nice steak for those nights when I can’t find something on the main menu.  I think I this cruise, I managed to have multiple appetizers and/or main courses on 2 of the three nights so I was doing well.

Activities on board the ship were not as numerous as I remember from other cruises or even my Monarch cruise last year.  There was never a time when I had to choose between multiple activies and there were even times when there was no activity scheduled.  This was a bit disappointing but it just meant that I had more time to read/watch movies/lay out and relax/nap etc.

I don’t really view the three night cruise as a “cruise” in the real sense.  Its a great weekend getaway but as the place you “cruise” to is like within a couple of hours of the homeport, its a stretch to call it a cruise, especially when you spend the sea day basically sitting dead in the water off the coast of California.  However, there is no better way to spend a nice weekend then sitting and looking at the beautiful blue water.

One of the best parts of the three night cruise is the attitude of the other passengers.  Everyone is just out to have as much fun as possible over the weekend.  We met some really great people on this trip and hope to see Jean, Jim, John, Shauna, Mike (and family), and everyone else again really soon.

I would encourage everyone to get on board and enjoy the Monarch before she leave Los Angeles.  Her last 3-nighter is October 10, 2008.  She is then moving to the east coast to replace the Majesty of the Seas.  Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean is not replacing Monarch on the 3-night run out of LA so my long weekend getaways are over