Most of these outbreaks comes from outside when people board the ship, and not from the ship itself. But then again how many wash there hands when leaving the toilets,etc,etc.
Louis
You are absolutely correct, Louis.
Two incidents I know about:
On the 2007 World Cruise an outbreak of norovirus hit the ship, if I recall after LA and on route to San Fran. The USPH got onto the case. 500 pax got the bug and the UK press had its usual field day denegrating the ship.
Anyway, the USPH interviewed all the sick pax (who were confined to cabins) and discovered an American woman who had embarked in NY and when questioned, admitted to falsely signing OK to the health form all pax and crew sign saying they have no health problems. When she boarded, she was already badly suffering from the norovirus bug, but was ashamed, she said, to admit it. USPH tracked it back to her hotel in NY.
Incidentally, I never heard of crew getting norovirus.
The fact is as Louis says, that many pax are, excuse me for saying this, and I'm sure the forum are not included, but the average pax are frankly filthy. They ignore the alcohol dispensers at all restaurant stations, and at the gangway. They do NOT wash their hands, seemingly ever. Cabin stewards know when their pax take a bath or shower, and surprise, surprise, many pax go for days without bothering. Sad, sad, sad.
The Lido stopped allowing passengers to self serve to try to prevent the bug being transmitted by handling serving spoons, so the cooks served the food and they wore plastic gloves.
One more observation: We were on part of a World Cruise when the ship went to Egypt. We paid for a tour to Cairo. 4 hrs in a coach from dock to city. About 8 coaches in convoy. First stop lunch in Cairo. All the pax got out and rushed into the restaurant and headed straight for the self service buffet. Not one , NOT ONE, washed their hands; they just scrambled for the food, jostling for position, like they'd not been fed for days.
Dom and I were with Thomas Quinnone. We and the other QE2 reps held back until last, and yes we did wash our hands, but the memory of that experience haunts me today.
