SAMMAMISH, WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 13, 2006 :  The International Cruise Victims Association, Inc. (ICV), a not for profit corporation formed by victims and families of victims of cruise crimes, warns cruise passengers that Norovirus on cruise ships is becoming an epidemic with Norovirus reported on thirty (32) different occasions during this year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

This past Sunday alone two cruise ships returned to port in the United States with numerous passengers having contracted Norovirus.  The Sun Princess returned to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale after 119 people contracted the virus, according to the CDC.  Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship and one of the newest ships in its fleet, returned to the Port of Miami with numerous ill passengers for the THIRD CONSECUTIVE cruise.  The CDC issued a rare “no sail” recommendation to the Royal Caribbean cruise ship given the fact that since November 19, about 570 people on various Freedom of the Seas cruises have contracted Norovirus.  The Royal Caribbean cruise ship was cleaned under the supervision of the CDC for a 48 hour period before it boarded its passengers for the next cruise. 

According to the CDC, since October 1, there have been eleven (11) Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships, amounting to more than one outbreak per week.  In October alone, CDC Report states that 619 infractions occurred on twenty (20) different cruise ships with eleven (11) of the twenty (20) ships, or 55% of the ships, having a rating of “Undesirable Sanitation Standards” or lower.  A link to the official CDC website can be found on our website www.internationalcruisevictims.org.

According to Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, “[the outbreak on the Sun Princess]is not a large outbreak… Most of this had to do with washing hands. If people washed their hands, they wouldn't get sick.''  Given the multitude of infractions committed by the cruise lines as reported on the CDC website, the comments of Ms. Benson blaming passengers for spreading Norovirus carry little merit.  The fact that 119 people sickened with Norovirus is “not a large outbreak” is no consolation to the numerous individuals that spent their highly anticipated vacations confined to the bathroom of their cabins.

With the significant number of infractions being reported by the CDC in their inspections of cruise ships, instead of blaming the passengers, Kendall Carver, President of ICV, calls on all cruise line corporations to improve the amount and quality of cleaning on all of their vessels in order to put a stop to the Norovirus epidemic which has sickened over 5000 passengers this year alone. 

For more information about the International Crime Victims Association, please visit www.internationalcruisevictims.org or write to info@internationalcruisevictims.org, phone 425-753-7711, fax 206-374-2944.