HOW TO STAY HEALTHY ON A CRUISE

Many of my friends and some of my relatives love cruising. But what was meant to be a healthy and relaxing rest has sometimes turned into a nightmare experience. Usually Norovirus has been the cause (see previous posts).

So how do you avoid getting sick on board? Here are five things that may help:

1. Check out your ship's sanitation score, as assessed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under its Vessel Sanitation Programme (VSP). Here's the link: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionSearch.aspx. A score of 85 or below, should be seen as a warning sign, particularly if the same ship has scored low over the past years. But - I need to add that such inspections have not always been a good indicator of likely outbreaks (see my two posts of 2/13/12 - "Princess Cruises Ships Scored 100 for Sanitation," and "Are Cruise Ship Sanitation Inspections Working."

2. Check out if the ship you are interested in has had any large outbreaks in recent months (http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm). Thorough cleanup of the ship does occur after a large outbreak, but does not always eliminate all viruses.

3. Make sure you yourself are not suffering from a weak immune system when you take a cruise. If you are, these crowded conditions will be more risky to you than to someone who is better able to resist infection.

4. Use safe practices while on board. I have blogged these earlier, so will not repeat. See: "More Advice on Avoiding Sickness on a Cruise" of 2/11/12.

5. If an outbreak does occur on board, avoid contact with sick people and places where viruses or bacteria could lodge as much as possible. See above post of 2/11/12 for more.

To your good health,

TSF

PRINCESS CRUISE SHIPS SCORED 100 FOR SANITATION!

Out of curiosity, I thought I would check out how a couple of the cruise ships with recent Norovirus outbreaks have done under the U.S. Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) inspections (see previous post for what this is). Well...surprise..both the Ruby Princess and the Crown Princess - scored 100 during their last inspections

The Ruby Princess has an average VSP inspection score of 99 over the years, with a range of 94 to 100. During the latest inspection - in November, 2011 - when the ship scored 100, the inspectors actually found 27 infractions of vessel sanitation according to the report. Here are four random examples (they are not necessarily the worst).

• A badly scored white cutting board was observed at the soiled side of the dishwash station in one of the galleys..

• A live fruit fly was seen flying inside the cold counter display container at the crew officer mess.

• There were serious delays in reporting gastrointestinal illness among crew which could result in spread of illness. For instance, a crew dishwasher experienced gastrointestinal illness symptom onset at 5 am and only reported to the medical center at 4:30 pm. A crew member in video experienced gastrointestinal illness symptom onset 7 am and only reported to the medical center at 8 am on the following day.

• There was no procedure in the written for notifying embarking passengers following an outbreak voyage.

The Crown Princess has an average inspection score of 97, with a range from 89 to 100 over the years. During the latest inspection, also in November, 2011, when it also scored 100, some 33 infractions of good sanitation practices were listed. Here are a few examples.

• There was no 'WASH HANDS AFTER USING TOILET' sign in the restroom used byfood workers.

• None of the staff in the food preparation areas were equipped with tip-sensitive food thermometers.

• The door tracks of both food transportation lifts were soiled with an accumulation of debris.

• The safety signs for the swimming pools did not include: 'do not use these facilities if experiencing diarrhea, vomiting or fever', 'shower before entering the facility', or the bather load number. The safety sign at the children's pool did not have the above information or 'take children on frequent bathroom breaks or take children on frequent toilet breaks'. The safety signs for the whirlpools did not include the information required for the swimming pools above or a caution against pregnant women, elderly persons, or exceeding 15 minutes of exposure.

Alright, I have to acknowledge that these were not huge issues - not at the level of the water on board not being potable or the food refrigeration not working (as was the case with a couple of other ships that failed inspection), but, the sanitation on board either ship wasn't great either. As events showed, they probably should not have scored 100.

To your good health,

TSF

HUNDREDS FALL ILL ON CRUISE SHIPS

Are you really serious about taking that cruise? I wouldn't worry too much about the ship sinking, but you may want to keep food poisoning in mind.

The cruise ship industry has been hit with a lot of bad publicity lately. First, there was the Costa Concordia disaster off the coast of Italy. And now, two Princess Cruises ships, limping into port in Florida with hundreds of very miserable passengers and crew on board due to Norovirus outbreaks.

We don't know how the virus got on board both ships, but the chances are that it boarded with the food, most likely from a common source, and spread from there. This virus is very contagious, very common on cruise ships and probably the most common cause of food poisoning. It can spread not just through food itself, but also passenger to passenger, through surfaces where droplets of vomit have landed and many other ways.

The Crown Princess, has so far reported 140 people, or about 4 percent of passengers to be ill, plus 18 members of the crew. On the Ruby Princess, 81 passengers - 2 percent of the total- and nine crew members have been reported ill so far.

Two things you can be sure of: one, these numbers will increase, and secondly, the ships will be extremely difficult to clean up. In fact, history of such outbreaks shows that there will be increased risk of another Norovirus outbreak on subsequent cruises in spite of all the efforts made.

If you are thinking of going ahead with a planned cruise, or, have a family member or friend who will do so, check out the several earlier posts on this blog which will help you to be one of the people who stays healthy.

Is Cruise Ship Food Safe to Eat? - 2/25/11
Why are Cruise Ships Risky Places to Eat - 2/26/11
How to Avoid Getting Sick on a Cruise Ship - 2/25/11
Cruising May be No Carnival if You Get Food Poisoning - 1/10/12

To your good health,
TSF
UPDATE: 02/7/12 - Two more cruise ships have reported Norovirus outbreaks in the past few days and the number of illnesses on the Princess cruises has risen (see later posts).
UPDATE" 01/7/13 - Almost a year later, outbreaks continue, including on Princess cruises. See most more recent posts.

UPDATE: 1/28/14 - The latest reported outbreak with perhaps as many as 600 ill passengers and crew (see post of 1/26/14 -
"Another Outbreak on a Cruise Ship") is on the Royal Caribbean line ship "Explorer of the Seas."