A few days before the cruise ended, we returned to our stateroom and found this letter on our door:
A gastrointestinal (GI) virus was spreading onboard the ship. There were six of us in our group. All of us felt fine. After dinner, a few of us took advantage of the drink package that we'd purchased. My particular poison? Buffalo Trace Manhattans. And I'd had plenty. The next morning, I woke up feeling every cocktail that I'd had. That's normal. However, after breakfast, I felt my own GI problems. After experiencing them for the third time in an hour, I knew something was wrong.
I got cleaned up and we had one more excursion for the cruise. Ketchikan, where we would do the Lighthouse, Totems and Eagles ferry excursion. I felt awful. In the hour before we boarded the van to go to the ferry, I saw the inside of the Ketchikan Visitor's Center bathroom twice. I was dizzy and generally unwell. We found a pharmacy and purchased Imodium AD. It helped. I made it through the tour. I did not, however, make it to dinner. My wife came back from the meal and told me restrictions were now in place. People were not allowed to serve their own food at the Windjammer buffet, and diners were not allowed to handle their own bread, butter or salt/pepper shakers in the main dining room.
The next morning, I felt well enough. That night, I tried to proceed as normal. All seemed fine. When we returned to our stateroom the last night of the cruise, this survey was on our door:
I was more than happy to check that someone in the stateroom had GI virus symptoms, although I felt better.
Friday morning, it was time to leave. It was an all hands on deck effort by the Radiance crew to control the breakfast buffet crowd. A lifeguard handed me a plate and napkin-wrapped silverware. An entertainer provided me with scoops of cantaloupe. After breakfast we made it back to my hotel room. I felt the same old feeling again and rushed to the bathroom as I screamed in frustration.
***
I am in a Facebook group for this particular cruising. Around the time that I got sick, someone who was coming for the next cruise posted that they'd received notice of a delayed check-in time due to a deep cleaning, and they were wondering what was going on. The posts continued after our cruise ended in Vancouver, B.C. That day, passengers reported not being allowed to make connecting flights on their way home. When they were finally allowed to deplane, they were being met by medical personnel and people from the Centers for Disease Control.
If you'll recall the first picture in this post, the letter states that personnel would get complimentary treatment for the virus but one person in the Facebook group reported that they were still charged for this. Money could be one reason for people not reporting this. However, my first thought is that one major cause is the customer base for the Alaska cruises. In 2022, I took my first cruise. It was a Caribbean cruise and it had a younger crowd.
The Alaskan crowd was overwhelmingly older. As a person of color, I found most of them to be less friendly. Myself and others in my group witnessed uncomfortable behavior. While waiting for the first Mountie's presentation, I personally witnessed a man sneeze into both hands and wipe it on the fabric chair that he was sitting in. Another morning at breakfast, I watched a man in front of me lick his fingers to remove something sticky and then pick up tongs...then he realized that he grabbed the wrong ones and then picked up the ones next to the ones he'd just touched. People would open mouth cough and sneeze as you might see a child do. If they were doing this, then there's no wonder that a GI virus popped up onboard.
However, the discomfort increased. One night, four of our group settled in for a show. Two of them struck up a conversation with a couple behind us. The couple immediately took the conversation sideways, saying that they were from South Texas, but they left because the "wetbacks pushed everybody north." They went on from there, also talking about their hopes for the upcoming election. The next night, another elderly couple sat behind us to watch another show. They clapped for every single person who came on that stage, except the Entertainment Director...who is a person of color.
On one hand, it can all be harmless. A person can't control a cough, or a sneeze. A person may be too old or too sick to pay attention to handwashing. A person may come from a culture where it is acceptable to harbor offensive or dangerous beliefs about those different from them. In America, there is a constitution which protects lots of things-freedom of speech being one of them. Also, germs are tough...no, really...they are. However, what is the cutoff point? When are these things no longer an excuse, and we have a common standard of behavior to rely on? Turns out, it is a thing. Royal Caribbean has one. I'm sure every travel operator has something similar. Some of the things we saw skirted the lines. Other things crossed them.
The Radiance of the Seas is under the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program. At the time of publishing, the second outbreak is not on the website but I think it will be eventually...after all, this was the second outbreak in as many months. It is easy to think that food is the cause, or that there may be rogue workers on the ship who are causing this...however, based on what we observed, those two things do not seem like likely options. My prayers are with all those who work in the maritime industry, but especially those in the cruise ship industry. If there are any updates to this experience, I will post them. However, my wife and I are not letting this deter us...we are already working to book our next trip.
Update:
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