I’ve never been on a cruise vacation. The closest I’ve been is a river boat dinner voyage in New Orleans. Not quite the same thing. I can’t think of too many better places to conduct some reality research though. With the increased media scrutiny of infection control measures the cruise folks have had to step up their game and respond when an incident happens – and share what they are doing to keep an outbreak from spreading. That helps build trust (if they can verify that steps are correctly being followed).

According to the Otago Daily Times (NZ), when the Princess Cruise Lines’ Dawn Princess docked in Port Chalmers any affected passengers were not able to come in contact with others (on and off the ship – which was a concern for the kiwi media).

About 200 passengers have been confined to their cabins after the norovirus bug spread through the cruise ship while on a trip around New Zealand.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey said Dawn Princess had its own doctor on board and the ship’s crew were confident they could control the situation.

The cruise line spokesman said most passengers were unaffected by the outbreak and it took relatively few cases for stringent sanitation levels to be implemented to contain any spread of the illness.

The proactive onboard response included disinfecting high-touch surfaces such as railings, door handles and lift buttons; isolating ill passengers in their cabins; closing all self-service food areas; and encouraging passengers to use their own cabin bathroom facilities, he said.

Although he would not confirm if any passengers visiting Dunedin had norovirus, if they did it was standard protocol for the relevant public health authorities to be notified and those passengers would remain isolated in their cabins.