Places You'll Go: Let the Post Cruise Blogs Begin!

From left to right, me, Mom, Dad, Doris, Don (Jenny took this picture, you'll
see plenty of others that she makes it into).

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Another cruise is in the books. It was a great cruise for me. Others might not have felt as great about it. There was a stomach virus outbreak on the ship while we were out this time. It didn't get me or my cabin-mate, Jenny. But others that we were traveling with weren't so lucky. My Dad and our family friend, Doris both got it. Doris had a pretty bad bout of it and had to get medication from the ships physician. Dad's was a little less severe. But even so, he said that it left him feeling very weak for a couple of days afterward. Apparently a number of people including Doris were quarantined to their cabins for a period of time. It sounded like it must have been a really miserable bug and I felt awful that Doris and Dad got it. But what all of it meant for me was plenty of great chairs available on deck during the two days at sea following our final stop.

First of many sunsets from our aft balcony.

I will tell you that as soon as the outbreak began, Royal Caribbean went to great lengths to make sure that everything that could be done was being done to keep it from spreading. For a period of about 24 hours it became very difficult to find a surface on board including tables and hand rails that wasn't covered by soapy disinfectant and water. There were multiple announcements regarding sanitizing and hand washing. I think that if someone had tried to walk around the sanitizing stands into a dining room without sanitizing first they may have been tackled. But it was all good.

We first got wind of the outbreak during our excursion in Jamaica when two of the 8 people in the group came down with it. When one of the men in the group vomited at the end of a 30 minute van ride, I thought he was carsick. But then later one of his traveling companions told us that he had started getting sick the night before. That was when I knew that we had been exposed to something. As the day went on his wife came down with symptoms, as well. When we got back to the ship that evening, the captain began making announcements stressing that everyone was to "sanitize, sanitize, sanitize and wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands". He urged anyone experiencing symptoms to contact the ships physician and stated that there would be no charge for seeking treatment and finally he said that the crew would no longer shake hands for the remainder of the cruise as a precaution. It wasn't until the next night that Dad and Doris became ill.

This was the first time I have ever experienced anything like this on a cruise ship in more than a dozen cruises. Although, the people who actually became ill may have felt differently about it, I thought that everything that could be done was being done and at the same time, activities continued for the many people on board who were not effected. And again, the end result for me was lots of empty chairs on deck.... BONUS!

One of the views to be had from our great deck chairs....

One of my biggest concerns was that since this was Doris and Don's first cruise, it might turn them off from cruising. But Doris assured us as we left that it did not ruin it for her. Additionally, Doris and Don were offered $200 off of their next cruise to help make up for her illness and quarantine. I'm pretty sure that the same offer was made to most others who required medical attention due to the bug. In the next few days, I'll tell you all about the cruise, but for now, I'll just leave you with a few pictures of some of the highlights. Have a great week!