ALERT: Royal Caribbean Norovirus Affected 300-Plus Passengers; Some TLG Clients On Board (December 18, 2017)
December 19, 2017
Royal Caribbean had a norovirus outbreak last week aboard the Independence of the Seas cruise out of Florida. Travel Leaders Group has been checking to see if we had any passengers onboard that may have booked through our agents. So far we know of approximately 25 clients that booked with us. We will keep you informed if we discover that the number changes substantially.
The USA Today reports:
More than 300 passengers became ill on a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Florida last week, the second time in less than a month that sickness swept through passengers and crew on one of the cruise line’s ships.
Royal Caribbean said 332 cases of gastrointestinal illness were reported on the Independence of the Seas before it returned Saturday to Port Everglades, Fla., after a five-night cruise.
Victoria Nolan of Genesee, N.Y., told WPLG-TV that she and six of 15 of her relatives on the ship fell ill. She described a horrific scene of people throwing up in elevators while going to the ship’s medical facility. Nolan said she also went, but returned to her room after realizing the wait for medical assistance was more than four hours.
“It’s not their fault that it happened, but the way they handled it after people started getting sick made it 10 times worse,” Nolan said.
Marsha Homuska told the TV station the crew worked hard to keep the ship clean during the outbreak, but the situation was overwhelming.
The Miami Herald reports:
A Royal Caribbean ship that returned to Port Everglades Saturday morning had many passengers relieved they were on dry land after a five-night cruise to the Caribbean.
Cruise line officials reported that there were 220 cases of a stomach virus on board the Independence of the Seas after it departed from Port Everglades on Monday.
A passenger on board the ship told WSVN 7News that people began to show symptoms of the gastrointestinal illness on Wednesday.
As passengers disembarked from the ship Saturday, cruise line employees were seen wearing gloves as they handled passengers’ routine needs on dock, WPLG’s Erika Rakow posted on Twitter.
On Thursday, Royal Caribbean distributed a letter to passengers alerting them to a possible norovirus outbreak on board as more than 200 sought attention, overwhelming the ship’s three nurses, WPLG reported.
The letter read, in part, “In an abundance of caution, we have implemented enhanced sanitizing procedures onboard, as recommended by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Public Health Agencies worldwide.”
According to the CDC, norovirus or acute gastroenteritis, causes inflammation of the stomach or intestines or both. The most common symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. One can also have fever, headache and body aches. Dehydration is the greater concern, especially among young children, the elderly or those with other illnesses.
Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.