Tag Archives: Cruise

Holland America cruise ship fails CDC inspection

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My parents got the cruise fever later in life, but I’m not sure I can convince them to ship to Australia; maybe too close to my father’s family who, while not poor enough to get shipped to the colony, were poor enough to get sent to Wales.

And then there’s that food safety thing.

Cruise Critic reports that cinnamon sticks stored next to a baited roach trap, blocks of nonpotable carving ice in contact with containers of ice cream and more than a dozen live flies were recently discovered on Veendam by health inspectors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those and over 100 other infractions earned the Holland America ship a failing score of 77 out of 100 on its August 19 vessel sanitation inspection.

The CDC’s surprise cruise ship cleanliness exam is conducted twice a year, with an 86 considered passing. 

In a detailed report, inspectors documented finding live flies in a pastry dry stores locker, a provisions room, a prep room and numerous galleys throughout the ship. The report recommended that crew effectively control the presence of insects, rodents and other pests to minimize their presence in the food storage, preparation and service areas. 

Inspectors also found a number of washing and food storage devices, including refrigerators and dishwashing machines, were in need of repair. A leak in a water line directly above one dishwashing machine resulted in water dripping into the machine and contaminating clean dishes after they were sanitized. According to the report, workers were then observed taking contaminated dishes and putting them into clean storage racks. 

A lovely cruise? Not for these passengers; know how ice is made

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Jimmy Buffett’s been singing Lovely Cruise since 1977, but it didn’t work out so well for half of the passengers on a Lake Michigan dinner cruise as reported in Epidemiology and Infection.

Of 72 cruise participants, 41 (57%) reported gastroenteritis. Stool specimens were positive for Shigella sonnei (n=3), Giardia (n=3), and Cryptosporidium (n=2). Ice consumption was associated with illness (risk ratio 2·2, P=0·011). S. sonnei was isolated from a swab obtained from the one of the boat’s ice bins. Environmental inspection revealed conditions and equipment that could have contributed to lake water contaminating the hose used to load potable water onto the boat. Knowledge of water holding and distribution systems on boats, and of potential risks associated with flooding and the release of diluted sewage into large bodies of water, is crucial for public health guidance regarding recreational cruises.

This took place on the same day as heavy rainfall, which resulted in 42·4 billion liters of rainwater and storm runoff containing highly diluted sewage being released into the lake.
 

Disney Cruise built-in hand sanitizer stations

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The enterprising sanitarians at Disney have come up with built-in hand sanitizer stations incorporated into the Art Deco design of Disney Cruise Line’s new ship, the Disney Dream.

The photo (right) shows three of the built-in stations awaiting installation at the entrance to Animator’s Palate, one of the Dream’s three main restaurants.

Disney designers tell USA Today the built-in hand sanitizer stations will be incorporated into all the major eatery areas around the vessel as an alternative to the clunky plastic dispensers.

Hand sanitizer stands have become common on cruise ships over the past decade as the industry has increased efforts to reduce the number of shipboard outbreaks of communicable gastro-intestinal illnesses such as norovirus.

Nouvelle Infosheet: Cinquante sept vacanciers du navire de croisière Grand Princess malades à cause de norovirus

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Benjamin Chapman
Translated by Albert Amgar
L’infosheet de cette semaine est un document d’information sur l’hygiène alimentaire qui cible ceux qui préparent les aliments. Elle est disponible sur le site : www.foodsafetyinfosheets.com
L’infosheet met l’accent sur :
– Un navire de croisière, Grand Princess, a récemment été victime d’une deuxième éclosion consécutive à norovirus affectant 57 personnes parmi les 2 468 passagers à bord.
– Pour maîtriser la propagation de norovirus, utilisez les moyens adaptés pour nettoyer les vomissures; ces moyens comprennent des gants latex, un masque à filtre et un tablier jetables.
– De nombreux désinfectants pour les mains ont une efficacité limitée à réduire norovirus sur les mains.
– Les agents pathogènes peuvent être présents sous forme d’aérosols lors du vomissement et se propager en dehors des zones visuellement affectées.
Les infosheets sont crées chaque semaine et sont affichées dans des restaurants, magasins, et fermes, et sont utilisées mondialement pour des formations. Si vous avez une demande de sujet ou des photos, contactez Ben Chapman à benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu Vous pouvez suivre les infosheets, des histoires sur l’hygiène alimentaire et barfblog sur twitter @benjaminchapman et @barfblog.

Nuevo Folleto Informativo: Cincuenta y siete turistas contrajeron 
Norovirus en el crucero Grand Princess

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Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:

– El crucero Grand Princess, de la empresa Princess Cruises, ha sido vinculado a un segundo brote consecutivo de Norovirus, en el cual 57 de los 2,468 pasajeros a bordo contrajeron dicho virus.

– Para controlar la propagación del Norovirus, use las herramientas adecuadas para limpiar 
el vomito. Por ejemplo, guantes desechables de látex, una mascara con filtro y un sobretodo.

– Muchos de los desinfectantes de manos (gels) tienen un efecto limitado en la reducción del Norovirus.

– El patógeno puede esparcirse como aerosol y ser transmitidos a zonas mas allá del área afectada visiblemente por el vomito.

Los folletos informativos son creados semanalmente y puestos en restaurantes, tiendas y granjas, y son usados para entrenar y educar a través del mundo. Si usted quiere proponer un tema o mandar fotos para los folletos, contacte a Ben Chapman a benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.

Puede seguir las historias de los folletos informativos y barfblog en twitter
@benjaminchapman y @barfblog.
 

Barfing with the oldies on another British cruise

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The U.K. Mirror reports dozens of British holidaymakers on a Mediterranean cruise were yesterday confined to their cabins after norovirus swept through the ship.

Passengers aboard the Grand Princess liner started to become violently sick just moments after the boat set sail from Southampton.

More than 2,500 people are on board – and the number of people becoming ill was said to be growing by the hour.

Just two medics are aboard and they are having to run from cabin to cabin to treat the sick – many of whom are pensioners. Passengers David and Jackie Greenslade – who paid £3,500 for their trip – have been confined to cabin since Wednesday.

Sales manager David, 57, from Poole, Dorset, said,

"It was supposed to be a dream holiday but it’s turned into a nightmare. People are dropping like flies."

Brazil quarantines cruise ship over ‘some kind of food poisoning’

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My parents are set to return today from their latest cruise out of Florida.

Hopefully their experience was better than that of the 1,987 passengers and 765 crew members aboard the Vision of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean International, who were ordered by health officials in Brazil to remain aboard after some 310 people suffered "some kind of food poisoning.”

The ship was allowed to leave Buzios Thursday afternoon and was expected to arrive in Santos around midnight. An agency spokeswoman said passengers who showed no symptoms would be free to leave. Those still ill would be taken to hospitals for treatment, with expenses paid by Royal Caribbean.

Cardiff to Manchester – snow problem; Brits barfing on cruise ship

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There aren’t enough castles with moats.

At least not anymore.

But Cardiff Castle in Wales, which dates back to 3rd century Romans, has a lovely moat constructed by the Normans to fend off the locals as they pillaged their way across what is now the U.K.

The food has been uneventful, all of it served piping hot as the Brits suffer through their worst snow and cold in 30 years. To watch the constant news and weather reports on BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC 4, and Sky News – there is one movie channel that seems to feature bad 1980s American fare – and read the newspaper accounts, the country is in chaos and everything has been shut for at least two days.

We drove from Cardiff to Manchester when people were told to stay off the roads and it was completely uneventful, what with the couple of inches of snow. Guess they aren’t used to that around here.

Some attempted to escape the weather, only to end up barfing.

USA Today today reports that Britain’s Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has ordered an early end to a cruise to the Canary Islands after a massive outbreak of what is believed to be norovirus.

The UK’s Daily Mail reports at least 289 of 795 passengers on Fred Olsen’s Boudicca this week have been struck down by the illness. At 36% of passengers, it’s one of the most widespread outbreaks of a norovirus-like illness recorded on a cruise ship in years. Even the worst outbreaks of norovirus rarely spread beyond 10% of passengers.

The outbreak, moreover, is the third in a row for the ship and comes as another Fred Olsen vessel, the Balmoral, also struggles with a major outbreak of norovirus-like illness — it’s third in a year.

If cruising on a ship you’re now less likely to barf; norovirus outbreaks down

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USA Today today says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta recorded just 13 outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships in 2009, down from 15 in 2008, 21 in 2007 and 34 in 2006.

The decline, moreover, came even as the number of people cruising continued to rise. The Cruise Lines International Association says the industry carried 13.2 million passengers in 2008, the last year for which data is available, up from 12.6 million in 2007 and 12.0 million in 2006.

Cruise ships arriving in U.S. ports must report all cases of gastrointestinal illness treated by on-board medical staff to the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program division, and a separate notification is required when the number of cases exceeds 2% of passengers and crew. When the number of cases exceeds 3% of passengers and crew the CDC issues a public report.

Poorly cleaned public cruise ship restrooms may predict norovirus outbreaks

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Chapman says that while dirty bathrooms can be gross, like the gotcha moments on hidden camera programs, there really isn’t any information that suggests a place with a dirty bathroom is any more or less likely to cause an outbreak than a place with a clean bathroom. Lots of restaurants have separate handwashing facilities in the kitchen, and risk-based inspection systems focus on factors that lead to illness as identified by the CDC and WHO — not the floors, walls and ceilings, and how many flies are on a fly strip.

But what about on cruise ships?

A team of researchers from Boston University School (BUSM), Carney Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance and Tufts University School of Medicine, have found that widespread poor compliance with regular cleaning of public restrooms on cruise ships may predict subsequent norovirus infection outbreaks (NoVOs).

This study, which appears in the November 1st issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, is the first study of environmental hygiene on cruise ships.
Outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) often occur in close populations, such as among cruise ship passengers. Recent epidemiologic investigations of outbreaks of AGE confirmed that 95 percent of cruise ship AGE outbreaks are caused by norovirus.

Despite biannual sanitation monitoring and hand hygiene interventions among passengers and crew members, 66 ships monitored by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experienced NoV infection outbreaks (NoVOs) between 2003 and 2008.

Trained health care professionals evaluated the thoroughness of disinfection cleaning of six standardized objects (toilet seat, flush handle or button, toilet stall inner handhold, stall inner door handle, restroom inner door handle, and baby changing table surfaces) with high potential for fecal contamination in cruise ship public restrooms.

The researchers found only 37 percent of the 273 randomly selected public restrooms that were evaluated on 1,546 occasions were cleaned daily. The overall cleanliness of the six standardized surfaces on each ship ranged from four to 100 percent. Although some objects in most restrooms were cleaned at least daily, on 275 occasions no objects in a restroom were cleaned for at least 24 hours.