Traveling by cruise ship is an enjoyable and memorable way to see the world. Modern cruise ships are themselves a destination for travelers where food, entertainment, accommodations and activities can be found onboard the floating resort. But when you get large groups of people living together on a cruise ship it’s not all fun and games.
It seems at times that news can travel fast when it comes to unfortunate events on cruise ships such as missing passengers, accidents, fires, and disease outbreaks. Let’s take some time to think about the dreaded situation of an outbreak at sea.
Recently, the news media has reported on a number of cruise ships with passengers and crew suspected of getting sick from the “Norovirus”, a gastrointestinal ailment that can cause gut wrenching symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach cramps. Norovirus can also spread quickly because the virus is usually spread from person to person, eating contaminated food or touching contaminated surfaces.
As a Health Care Professional, I have investigated numerous types of outbreaks in various types of health care institutions, and was wondering how cruise ships responded to outbreak situations. Well guess what, there is an agency that has established Health and Safety guidelines for the cruise industry.
It’s the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The U.S. government agency known as the CDC has developed the “Vessel Sanitation Program” (VSP) where any cruise ship which stops at a foreign port and then enters a U.S. port will fall under the scrutiny of the CDC. The CDC’s VSP program has the responsibility to conduct onboard sanitation/food inspections in addition to investigating gastrointestinal outbreaks. Under the VSP, an outbreak may be declared if more than 2% of the passengers become ill and a ship wide “Outbreak Response Plan” is set motion. For example, a large cruise ship with 2000 passengers, 40 ill passengers could require cruise ship medical staff to initiate outbreak activities.
Interestingly, you can refer to the CDC website for details about the Inspection Score of each cruise ship and reports of Outbreaks investigations. Go check out the website and you will see that the CDC has important responsibilities at sea, just like your local health agency on land.
Once an outbreak is declared, the CDC Outbreak Response Plan directs cruise personnel to investigate, monitor and control the spread of illness on the ship. Their outbreak activities may include onboard surveillance of ill passengers and crew, proper cleaning and disinfecting of affected areas, ensuring safe food handling procedures, proper hand washing procedures, cancelling gatherings and group activities and confining ill passengers to their cabins. You can see how this situation will ruin your vacation plans in addition to affecting cruise revenues for the cruise line.
The main goal of the Outbreak Response Plan is to reduce and stop the spread of the outbreak on the ship for the existing passengers and to prevent the new group of passengers from becoming ill.
What does all this mean for me?
The main point I want to emphasize is that, while on vacation travellers are not worried about the business side of travel. Nor does anybody think about getting sick on a cruise ship – for me I am usually thinking about the warm sunshine and endless food at the buffet. But, for the cruise line industry, their goal is to provide an exciting and restful vacation, while at the same time trying to ensure the health and safety of all the passengers and crew. An outbreak is a serious problem and it can have a huge impact on cruise line revenues while generating negative publicity for the cruise industry.
How can you help prevent getting sick on a Cruise Ship?
- Whenever you are planning a cruise vacation, part of your research should include a visit to the CDC “Vessel Sanitation Program” website for cruise ship sanitation scores and outbreak information. The website also has useful tips for passengers to reduce their risk of getting ill while onboard.
- It’s in your best interest to tell the truth when they present you with the “Pre-Boarding Health Questionnaire” at embarkation. Don’t lie. You may be harming yourself and others.
- Self-report any symptoms you may be experiencing to Medical Staff immediately.
- The most important thing you can do is wash your hands thoroughly and frequently throughout your trip in addition to using the hand sanitizer provided to you when entering the buffet/dining room etc.
Final Thoughts?
The CDC’s VSP website is a fantastic source of health and education information for cruise passengers. Check out what is covered in their inspection program and then you can see how well each ship scored. Also, the Outbreak section highlights ships under outbreak watch while also showing historical data on previous outbreaks. What a great way keep passengers informed and also an added incentive for the cruise industry to maintain health standards!
If only we had more proactive agencies to disclose health travel reports for all-inclusive resorts and airline travel…. We wouldn’t bring home unwanted souvenirs – like respiratory and stomach problems.
Do you have helpful sources for healthy travelling? Have your say! Join in the discussion…
Looking for more cruise articles:
– You’ve Booked a Cruise, so Now What?
Who would think about outbreak when going for a cruise travel? Cruise travel is all about relaxation. Nevertheless, I agree on thinking about health and safety. Nice informative blog.
Thanks for your comment. I agree that when you are going on holiday being sick is not something that one wants to think about but I feel that everyone should be aware of whats “out there” just in case.
Thank you so much for such an excellent post and introducing the CDC VSP resource. And there are some very good tips in the post that people need to follow for every body’s health and safety.
In addition to the other tips I always use hand sanitizer after touching a menu not only when I cruise but also on land based resturants.
That’s a great point. I do that too and I also try to avoid touching the s&p, ketchup bottle etc.
I try to avoid the buffet, and eat where there’s waiter service, if it’s at all possible. If it isn’t, I try to be first in the chow line.
The hand disinfectant before the buffet was definitely well-used my last couple of cruises. Princess even had people posted at the entrance to make sure they were used. We also made it a point not to touch stair railings or other places touched communally – a good enough reason to stay off be slot machines. Gastro is not the jackpot I’d want to win.
I absolutely agree with you about “touching stuff”. Whenever I’m in public generally I try to avoid hand rails and even resort to pushing the elevator button with my elbow. I also like how Princess keeps tissues next to the doors of the public restrooms for you to use when opening the door (and of course a garbage can for you to dispose it in readily available.) Gastro Jack Pot – funny (or should I say NOT funny).
Whoa – excellent tips. Because who would think about THAT?!