Did the cruise lines help spread coronavirus?

It has almost been an entire month since we have been asked to stay home. At first it seemed a bit scary, but we knew we would be fine if we went to the grocery store or the gas station. There weren’t too many people who had tested positive for COVID-19 at the time. A month later, we have several hot spots here in the United States, but Pittsburgh seems to be handling themselves very well with few cases. Even with just a few cases, the precautions that businesses are taking has been well received. 

To me, this all seems like something out of a movie. There are several movies out there that have showcased pandemics and they keep popping up on my Netflix™ subscription. I don’t really feel the need to watch a movie about a pandemic when I am actually living it. 

I have actually been living it for a few months now. Being a travel agent who focuses on international travel, I have been watching this transpire from China to Europe in just a few short weeks. I knew it was going to come to the US even with having cruise ships stranded out at sea. How did I know? People were still coming back from Europe even though there were positive cases in Europe. People flew back from Milan, Italy when there were positive cases there. People flew back from Paris, when there were positive cases there. People were flying who were carriers and didn’t even know it!  This all happened in February and early March. It wasn’t until the middle of March that the US started more restrictions on international travel. 

Were we too late? That is the million-dollar question. I think everyone wants to blame the cruise lines for the spread. The truth is, this was coming into the US long before those poor people were stuck on their cruise. People who were in Italy, France, and even China were coming back into the US without evening knowing they were carriers of the virus. Positive people were in contact with those who then got onto cruise ships. Those people were positive with not knowing they were now positive. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, cruise ships are known for the spread of norovirus infecting hundreds of passengers during one cruise. There even was one cruise ship that had a complete breakdown of the sewage system to the point sewage was flowing into the hallways. It is now and forever known as the “Poop Cruise.” These things do happen because so many people are in small volume of space, and even with hand sanitizing stations everywhere, some people still have the belief, “I won’t get sick.” Everyone has to help out or the whole system will slowly fail. 

Even with all these problems, I felt like the cruise lines tried to do their best at containing the spread. Asking people to stay in their cabins, having crew bring food to cabins, and even having hand sanitizing stations located throughout the ship. I think their downfall with everything was that they just didn’t have the correct PPE or Personal Protective Equipment. In some pictures you can see crew members using cloth napkins as face masks. You see some people not wearing gloves. In the end, it was shown that even crew members were positive also contributing to the spread. 

I truly don’t believe that the cruise lines were at fault for the spread of COVID-19 as some people think. When they get hit with the norovirus, they did their best to try to contain the spread because they know more about how norovirus spreads. With COVID-19 were very limited. Not knowing how it spreads, how long it stays on surfaces, and that you may not show signs of symptoms for up to three weeks was information that would have been key but just not known at the time. 

So what about those ships still stuck at sea? Unfortunately, some of these ships were weeks or even months into their cruise itinerary. Yes, if you didn’t know, you can take a yearlong cruise if you wanted. If you aren’t getting the information about what is going on and the cruise line is rotating crew members, contamination can happen. These poor people who are stuck out to sea on a cruise ship, I believe one is being called the death ship, is very frightening for them. Maybe they can’t port due to international guidelines, or maybe it is political, but I do feel for those people right now.   

A cruise vacation is still one of the most economical ways to enjoy a vacation. You have a floating hotel that provides food, entertainment, games, and workshops. You may be in a different port/country every day giving you time to explore a new place. Some cruise lines even have amazing private islands that provide so much to do that you can’t do it all in one day! I personally love to cruise, and I will be getting back on a cruise as soon as the dust settles. After all, Life is Better Traveling!