Cruise lines have greatly improved their onboard cleaning and sanitation efforts, which has helped cut the spread of norovirus. That’s a byproduct of the post-COVID days, when, in order to operate at all, the cruise industry had to put procedures in place to curb the spread of the virus.
Norovirus, however, has not disappeared, and it has made some recent appearances on cruise ships.
Related: Royal Caribbean stops sailings to 2 popular Caribbean ports
One challenge when it comes to norovirus is that one common method from controlling Covid does not work well in containing the easily spread stomach virus.
“Hand sanitizer does not work well against norovirus. You can use hand sanitizers in addition to hand washing, but hand sanitizer is not a substitute for handwashing, which is best,” according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Cruise lines have done a good job in limiting the spread of norovirus, but that does not mean they have eliminated it.
Jason from Travel Scouts has that story as well as all the news on four recent cruise ship-related deaths and much more in this edition of the company’s popular YouTube show.
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Disney Cruise Line fixes a problem; Cruisers get more choices
Transcript:
Cruise news. Sadly, four individuals from cruise ships have tragically died in four separate incidents. Some of this is breaking news and I’m going to get you the details.
Plus, there are some big updates and announcements to make you aware of. I have a dozen of the top cruise news updates to get you up to speed and I’m gonna get you the information fast. Coming up.
Welcome to the Travel Scouts. I’m Jason. We are your cruise news and information channel.
Today, I have lots of cruise news to share with you to get you up to speed, so let’s go ahead and jump into it.
Number one, Disney Cruise Line’s new ship, the Disney Treasure, experienced a sprinkler malfunction prior to its launch. The sprinkler inadvertently went off, producing a shower in the Grand Hall.
This occurred during a preview sailing. Thankfully, this has been fixed and it will not impact the ship’s maiden voyage.
Number two, if you like cruising out of the Southeastern U.S., you may have more options coming to you soon.
For a long time, the Mobile, Alabama cruise port has been the home to one Carnival cruise ship. Right now, that ship is the Carnival Spirit, but it only operates in Mobile seasonally. It spends the summer conducting cruises in Alaska.
So, Mobile would like to have a cruise ship homeporting there year-round, and that may become a reality. The port has now revealed that they are in talks with both Norwegian Cruise Line and Margaritaville at Sea regarding them bringing a ship to the port to fill the void. More information should be coming soon.
Stay tuned for updates.
Then, if you like doing excursions while at port, number three, Shore Excursions Group has added a load of new opportunities. Shore Excursions Group has added more than 1,000 new excursion options.
That brings their total offerings to more than 4,000 across over 300 ports of call. If you would like to browse what some of those new options are, I’ll put more information down in the video description.
More cruise passengers getting sick
Moving on to number four, the spread of gastrointestinal illness is definitely on the rise.
Just this month, sickness outbreaks have been reported on six different cruise ships. Those are on the screen right now, along with the dates of the sailing the outbreak was reported on and the number of people reported sick. Most of these cases have been confirmed to be norovirus.
Norovirus is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea-related illness in the U.S. And the peak season is typically between December and March, so if you’ll be cruising in the next few months, you need to be aware of that. The CDC says that one of the best things you can do is wash your hands well with soap and water. But do know that norovirus is not a cruise ship disease, as it is often categorized.
It can spread rapidly any time a lot of people are together. And the data is clear that the likelihood of getting sick on a cruise ship is far less than it is for getting sick at other places that we commonly visit.
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Princess Cruises launches Dine Line; AAA shares travel news
Next, with some great news, number five, Princess Cruises, has announced the launch of their 24-7 Dine Line.
The number for the Dine Line is shown on the screen right now. It is available around the clock, and it allows booked passengers to make or adjust their dining reservations. You can also use the Dine Line to purchase the Princess Plus or the Princess Premier packages.
Those are bundle packages where you can purchase additional options at a reduced price. Now, you can use the Dine Line immediately after you book your cruise if you are a Platinum or Elite loyalty member, if you have booked a suite, or if you are staying in a sanctuary collection stateroom. If you are not in one of those categories, Princess said that you can access the Dine Line immediately after your cruise is paid in full.
Then, for those who will be traveling to your cruise embarkation port over the upcoming holidays, number six, AAA has announced the best and worst days for travel this holiday season. Over 119 million people in the U.S. are expected to be traveling more than 50 miles from their homes over Christmas and New Year’s, and AAA said that the average travel times will be 30% longer than usual this season. So, if you will be traveling, here are the best and worst options according to AAA.
The best days to travel will be on the major holidays themselves, including Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. The worst days to travel are said to be the weekends prior to both of those holidays. AAA said that if you must travel on the busiest days, that traveling in the morning will likely help you to miss the biggest delays.
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Passenger dies on excursion, MSC makes changes
In sad news, number seven, we have received reports that a female cruise passenger has died after being found unresponsive at Blue Lagoon Island on Friday. Blue Lagoon Island is one of the more popular excursion options when cruise ships dock at Nassau in the Bahamas. The female cruise passenger was reportedly found unresponsive in the water.
Details regarding exactly what happened have not been released. We have received reports that she was transported to the hospital and was later pronounced dead. Definitely very sad, let’s pray for her family.
Then number eight, MSC Cruises is adding limits to their alcohol drink packages. MSC is adopting a daily maximum of 15 alcoholic beverages for their drink packages. They will only limit drink packages purchased after December 18th, and the new restriction will only be for cruises that depart on or after April 1st of 2025.
Now, there are two additional things that you need to be aware of. The first is that they will allow passengers to keep drinking beyond the limit. You would, however, have to pay the full price for each drink.
And second, the new restriction does not apply for guests who are staying in Yacht Club accommodations. The MSC Yacht Club is MSC’s luxury ship-within-a-ship concept, and it is not impacted.
Carnival shares good business news
Moving on to number nine, Carnival Corporation has provided a business update.
The company operates eight different cruise brands. For 2024, full year revenues hit an all-time high of $25 billion, 15% higher than last year. And get this, their bookings for 2025 cruises were booked at an all-time high price per cruise.
So if you have felt like the prices are high, well, you are correct, and nearly 2 1⁄3 of their available capacity for 2025 is already booked. Now, there are some deals that are still out there. You just have to do a little bit more digging.
We will continue to put out some videos from time to time to cue you in to some of those cheap cruises.
ALSO READ: Top travel agents share how to get the best price on your cruise
FBI investigates Royal Caribbean death
Then, number 10, the FBI is investigating the death of a cruise passenger on board Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas cruise ship. The 35-year-old man attacked two crew members, and video footage shows him attempting to kick down a door.
He was later subdued by the ship’s security team. However, sadly, soon after, it was reported that he died while in detainment. The cause of the death is still pending investigation.
The man’s fiance and seven-year-old son were on the cruise as well. Let’s pray for his family. Okay, I have some more top stories remaining, but I want to quickly give you feedback on some of our recent survey questions.
I asked you previously regarding which of the four largest mainstream cruise lines you would prefer to sell on, and the largest portion of you, 49%, chose Royal Caribbean. I have shared that data with you previously, but I have not shared with you the data for the follow-up question, and that is, which of these more premium cruise lines would you prefer to sell on? I
received input from well over 4,000 of you, and here are the results. 14% of you said that you prefer to sell with Holland America, 30% chose Princess, the largest portion, 42% chose Celebrity Cruises, and 13% chose Disney Cruise Line.
Thanks for your input on that and the comments. Here is today’s question. Thinking about the story with Shore Excursions Group, the question is, who do you typically book your shore excursions with? Do you book them with A, the cruise line, or B, with an outside entity? That could be someone like Shore Excursions Group or directly with the excursion company itself.
Who do you typically book them with? I will look forward to reading that, but now, on with the cruise news. Okay, the next two stories are tragic also, and as I always mention with these, let’s definitely pray for the families of these individuals.
Cruise news piece number 11 has to do with a crew member overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas.
The ship was on its way back to Baltimore. This occurred on Tuesday around 1 p.m. The main overboard alert was given, and reports are that the 23-year-old male crew member had jumped from the ship. The Vision of the Seas launched rescue vessels and searched the area for approximately seven hours.
They were then relieved by the U.S. Coast Guard. Definitely a sad situation.
Then number 12, a heartbreaking story of a woman who died on board the Sky Princess cruise ship yesterday.
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The Sky Princess was en route back to its home port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the time. The incident occurred around 3 p.m. yesterday. A female passenger had attempted to jump from the ship.
She hit a lifeboat and was catapulted back onto the deck. The crew tried to save her life, but she passed away due to her severe injuries. The captain came over the intercom to deliver the news to passengers on board around 6 p.m. last night.
It was a shock to many on board, and it added to a rough week for the cruise community. Okay, subscribe and turn the notification bell on to stay up to date with the latest cruise news and information. The next video, it’ll be coming out soon, but until then, keep on cruising, and we’ll catch you in the next video.
Related: Get the best cruise tips, deals, and news on the ships from our expert cruiser
