A man goes overboard. Fire. Norovirus Outbreaks. Are cruise ships safe?

It’s time for me to write about what might seem like an ugly subject for me and this blog…cruise ship safety. What with Norovirus outbreaks (there was one just reported on the Radiance of the Seas and one on the Queen Mary 2 not that long ago), people going overboard, the Carnival Splendor fire (which I know I have failed to mention yet) and various crimes that cruise passengers have fallen victim to, some people really are worried that going on a cruise is a dangerous and risky thing to do. Certainly the media coverage and the various websites and groups that advocate against the industry are not helping these people. Paying attention to these groups is enough to make anyone afraid of doing anything.

Of course, I will not deny that these bad things have happened, nor will I refute the numbers that these people quote. Thousands of people get sick on cruises every year, potentially dozens may fall off, there may be fires and other accidents and many people may fall victim to some sort of crime. That’s just the truth and if I want to be credible to my readers and if I really want to promote the industry that I love, then it is important for me to face the good and the bad.

Anyways lets start with the biggest and most talked about issue, Norovirus and other illnesses. Like I said above, potentially thousands every year can catch some sort of illness on a cruise. Norovirus is the most common and by far the most talked about on the news, it has even been called the cruise ship virus. I wrote about Noro a few months ago (SEE LINK BELOW), everything I wrote there is still true and relevant so give it a look! Today, January 8th, it was reported that there was a outbreak of Noro aboard Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Sea’s last cruise and that subsequently its next cruise, which started today, was delayed as RCI implemented a very thorough sanitation of the ship. From what I have read it seems as though 150 passengers were infected with the virus.

(link to previous article on Noro http://shipgeek.blogspot.com/2010/07/norovirus-at-sea.html )

Now for the big picture. While I do feel really sorry for anyone who get sick on their cruise, or any vacation for that matter, I have to say that 150 people sick on a cruise ship that can carry more then 2500 passengers is hardly that big of a deal and really hardly newsworthy. Almost 16,000,000 people will cruise this year (a number that is continuing to grow a lot every year) and not even one tenth of one percent of that number will contract any illness like Noro. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is less then 1% of a chance that you will catch Norovirus on any cruise. In 2009 over 13,000,000 people cruised and in that same time only 9 outbreaks occurred.

Reading some of these anti-cruise industry websites, you will see that they like to blame Norovirus outbreaks on the ship’s water or food supply, and the outbreak yesterday on Radiance, is no exception. This is because one of the main ways Norovirus is transmitted is through fecal contaminated water and food. My question to these people is thus…if the water or food was to blame, then how come only 150 people out of 2500 got sick? Were these 150 people the only ones who ate or drank on this cruise? That seems unlikely. It’s also worth pointing out that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the body that monitors and investigates these outbreaks) has never cited the water or food supplies on ships as the cause of sickness or the means to its spread. It has stated that the cause is person to person contact…which in such a contained environment makes a lot of sense.

Enough about sickness though. Let's move on to the next thing…falling overboard.

I can’t think of much that would be scarier than falling off a ship in the middle of the dark cold ocean and watching helplessly as it sails away. That’s the thing of nightmares and it always makes me sad to think that anyone has suffered through that. This doesn’t happen all the time but it does happen a few times a year.

As sad as this is, usually it seems that people fall off because they were doing something stupid. Many times people who fall off are either drunk, or doing something like climbing/sitting on railings (NEVER EVER DO THAT). Other times it is sadly suicide or even some times foul play. Sadly this is something that is hard to prevent from happening. Railings on ships are pretty tall at 42 inches (3.5ft) with warnings not to do anything stupid or dangerous by the edge of the ship, but besides that what can a cruise line really do to prevent this? Get rid of outdoor decks altogether? Tie people down? Make sure no one gets drunk?

In the event that someone does go overboard the ship will go into man overboard mode and turn around and begin searching the water immediately (while it’s not very likely, people are sometimes recovered alive and well). One problem facing ships with the rescue process is that sometimes no one realizes that a person is gone for several hours, by which time the ship has traveled miles away and the current could have taken the fallen miles away, as well. But still the ship will try. On top of this effort, other ships in the area and different rescue agencies like the US Coast Guard are alerted and join in the search for the victim.

Again, despite all this, you should not be afraid to take a cruise. In the last decade or so only a few dozen of people have fallen from cruise ships. It’s not likely to ever happen to you (you are more likely to get struck by lightning a few times first) or anyone who cruises with you. When people fall off it is never because someone just tripped and fell over, there is always some aggravating factor that cause them to go over. You just have to be smart and use common sense at all times. Don’t climb or sit on railings and don’t get overly drunk and then try to do something idiotic. Remember, ships are the safest form of transportation but like anything, they can be dangerous if you do something to make it so. BE SMART! BE SAFE! AND HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!

Ok, on to the next thing.....shipboard accidents.

Undoubtedly you have heard about the recent and much publicized Carnival Splendor fire. If you haven’t you must live under a rock in the middle of nowhere, cause it was everywhere. Anyway, this incident has many people believing that ships are not safe. This fear was further compounded by the fact that the initial investigation by the US Coast Guard found that the CO2 system onboard (one of the fire fighting systems that fights fire by filling a space with CO2 and thereby choking the fire by removing its oxygen) was not correctly installed and had several faults with it.

Fire is probably the most dangerous and scary thing that can happen on a ship. It seems ironic to a lot of people since a ship is surrounded by water, but it really is a very bad situation to have fire onboard. The Splendor incident shows that.

Well are ships safe then? How much of a fire risk is there on any given cruise?

To answer these questions I think we should look at the records. (photo at left -"Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor adrift 150 miles southwest of San Diego" from Official U.S. Navy Gallery on flickr)

In the last 20 years there have been several fires onboard cruise ships. Most of these are small harmless fires that mostly go unnoticed by passengers and do not affect the cruise, and then there are some bigger ones like the Splendor fire or the fire on the Star Princess from a few years ago. And even with these bigger ones very few have been fatal (in fact the only death I can think of off the top of my head was that of a passenger on the Star Princess) or even caused any injuries. Overall though, fires are very rare.

Modern cruise ships are subject to very strict safety and fire regulations. Ships have a limit on how much combustible material they can carry. Ships have multiple fire suppression and prevention systems. Crew members are trained on how to fight fires (even big ones). Even the layout of the ship is designed to help combat fire and keep everyone safe. And these high standards continue to get higher as new regulations are put into place constantly.

Like I said above, with the Splendor incident, it was found that the CO2 system was faulty. In turn many people may be lead to believe that Carnival and it’s safety standards are not good. This is not the case. While I think that the problem with the CO2 system is a blunder, I don’t believe it is just Carnival’s, fault (and no, thats not because I am undyingly loyal to the cruise lines). You could fault the shipyard and the contractor who installed the system, or you can even blame the US Coast Guard and other safety agencies that inspect these systems and did not catch theses problems.

Regardless of whose to blame in this case, one should remember that this is only one fire suppression system onboard and it should also be remembered that the crew did put out the fire and in doing so saved the passengers and the ship. In the end, Carnival’s safety standards and practices prevailed and everyone was safe. (And no, no passengers were ever served spam).

The cruise industry has an exceptional safety record and, like I said, ships are the safest form of travel (unless you count elevators). So again don’t let fear of accidents scare you away from cruising, also don’t let it lower your opinion of cruise ship safety.

(Also, I think it is worth mentioning that Carnival's Senior Cruise Director, John Heald, was on the Splendor durring the incident. He talked very extensivly about it on his blog. Definitely worth a read! I am an avid reader of his blog BTW)

see here....

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/12/

Ok one last thing I am going to talk about in this article, (which has become my longest so far) crime. I will try and make this short.

A cruise ship carrying a few thousand people is like a small city. And like any city there are the occasional crimes, be it robbery, sexual assault or drug smuggling. It horrible that we have this in the world and it’s horrible that this happens to people trying to enjoy there vacations. But again I will say it. Don’t let this deter you from cruising. Cruise lines are constantly putting measures in place to help combat crime aboard their ships and even with the crimes that do happen, their record is still really good. Crime is not very usual on ships. Always exercise caution (like I have said before) anywhere you are, even cruise ships, and you will just fine.

I would say more on this subject but that will have to wait for another post as this one is too long already.

Remember, at the end of the day more than 15,000,000 people will cruise this year. Out of that number 99.9% will come away after having a great cruise that they will remember for years to come. So go, cruise and enjoy yourself without worry! After all, that is the whole point of a cruise!

(Above photo- "sailing into the sun" by flickr member "Ricardo Ko") ...p.s. they ship is one of Celebrity's Millennium Class ships.

Norovirus at Sea

I know this probably seems like an odd thing for someone who wants to support the cruise industry, to write about. Certainly, Norovirus on cruise ships is not a nice topic for the cruise industry, but I feel that to make this blog as credible as possible, I have to write on all subjects concerning the industry, good and bad. Otherwise, I will only be giving you a biased cruise centric blog that will not help you to be well informed.

Every year, thousands of cruise passengers become ill onboard cruise ships with an illness called, “Norovirus”. Norovirus is a gastro-intestinal illness that is transmitted through contact with an infected person, or through drinking fecal contaminated water. As the second most common illness in America, it causes nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and generally makes you feel rather sick. It lasts for several days but usually, you only really feel the symptoms for about 24 hours.

Obviously, this is an uncomfortable subject for the cruise lines who would much rather not speak of it at all. Every time there is an outbreak aboard a ship, news outlets go on and on about the “cruise ship virus,” “hundreds sick,” and all the dangers of sailing. On top of that, there are several organizations and people running websites that would lead you to believe that all of this sickness is a real threat to the industry, and to the traveling public. Some websites go on, and on, and on about how cruise lines do not care about their ship’s cleanliness, or the safety and health of their passengers, and therefore do not take steps to prevent sickness onboard, and then try to cover it up when it does happen. That doesn’t even make sense. According to them, cruise ships are breeding grounds for horrible diseases, and a danger to society.

Let me say it loud and clear….DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE! At least get the facts and both sides of the story before you decide one way or another.

I know it probably sounds like I am cheerleading for the industry (maybe just a little…
;] ) but still the facts are thus. Yes many people get sick on cruise ships, (several thousand every year get Norovirus on ships) but lets stand back and look at the big picture. According to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which represent the cruise industry, the industry will carry 14.5 million people this year alone…now compare that with the few thousand people who actually get sick….its not even one tenth of one percent of the total number of cruise passengers.

Bottom line…though, yes it can sometimes seem like people are getting sick left and right, the fact is that’s not the case. You are unlikely to get Norovirus onboard a cruise ship, so don’t be afraid of cruising. You’re more likely to get Norovirus at the grocery store, or from your children contracting it at school, or anywhere else.

As you probably noticed, above I said that Norovirus is transmitted through drinking water contaminated with fecal matter…in fact, this is the primary way the sickness spreads, as well as by human contact, and through airborne particles.

Now I am sure you are probably wondering about the water supply on cruise ships….the above statement probably has you worried that when you drink water on a cruise ship, you are drinking poop water filled with disease and death.

Again, let me try and allay those fears. On a cruise ship you are not drinking poop water, in fact, the water you are drinking is very clean, never been drank before, water. Drinking water, and toilet/waste water are on separate systems that cannot be mixed so do not worry about that. The water you drink at your house isn’t even as clean.

Outbreak investigations by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, have shown that Norovirus on cruise ships is transmitted not by water, but by person to person contact. In fact, a ship’s water supply has never been implicated in one of these investigations.

Now I imagine you are wondering why this would be...why would Norovirus spread differently on a ship, than on land? Well the reason is really quite simple if you think about it. On land, people are spread out over a larger area and there is much less person to person contact. On a ship, the opposite is true. You have thousands of people in a much smaller space where its inevitable that there will be more contact between people and, yes…when it’s there (which it usually isn’t), transmission of different illnesses, like Norovirus, through human contact, or by touching something a sick person has handled.

Also, something else worth pointing out, is when a cruise passenger becomes sick onboard, they will be quarantined in their cabin for the remainder of the cruise, or until the ship’s doctor determines that they are no longer contagious (bummer for them). On top of this, every time there is an outbreak, the ship’s crew will thoroughly sanitize the ship and implement increased sanitation measures, such as making sure passengers sanitize their hands before entering any restaurants.

In conclusion…fear of contracting a sickness while on a cruise should not keep you from cruising, nor should it taint your opinion of the cruise industry. It’s pretty unlikely that you will ever get sick on a cruise. Is there a chance you will? Of course there is! But when are you ever going to be completely safe from that chance? Never. No place is completely safe from sickness.

Always remember to use common sense when traveling anywhere though ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS! And do your part to make sure you and the people around you do not get sick. Be smart, be clean, be courteous and you will be fine.

So take a cruise and go without the fear of getting sick.

(Above photo by flickr member "StGrundy ")

For More information you can look here....

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/norovirus/norovirus.htm