Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas linked to norovirus outbreak, again

In March and April 2014 over 100 cruisers were ill on two consecutive voyages of Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas, and according to wbaltv, the ship is the source of another outbreak. Almost 200 guests of the 2,300 on board during a were sick with gastrointestinal illness last week.

Royal Caribbean spokesperson Cynthia Martinez said that during the voyage, a number of guests aboard the Grandeur of the Seas experienced gastrointestinal illness.Royal-Caribbean--Grandeur-of-the-Seas-cruise-ship-jpg

Over the course of the sailing, 193 guests, 9.91 percent, and nine crew members, 1.15 percent, experienced the illness, thought to be norovirus, Martinez said.

“Those affected by the short-lived illness are responding well to over-the-counter medication administered on board the ship,” Martinez said.

The biggest complaint 11 News heard from passengers was the lack of information from Royal Caribbean.

“It was the honeymoon from hell. It was sad,” passenger April Neall said. “It kind of seemed like they weren’t being very honest with us about the whole situation.

We heard that here were three people sick. Then another person said it was over 100, so, I mean, we never got a clear answer from any of the crew members,” passenger Nick Canning said.

 

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About Ben Chapman

Dr. Ben Chapman is a professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. As a teenager, a Saturday afternoon viewing of the classic cable movie, Outbreak, sparked his interest in pathogens and public health. With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements, and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, Chapman investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers, and organizational decision-makers; the gate keepers of safe food. Ben co-hosts a biweekly podcast called Food Safety Talk and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and, maybe not surprisingly, Pinterest. Follow on Twitter @benjaminchapman.