Cruise ship set to sail again Saturday

Passengers scheduled to set sail Saturday from the Port of Houston aboard the Caribbean Princess have been told that 200 people who disembarked from the ship on Friday had fallen ill on their cruise.

"There were higher-than-expected cases of gastrointestinal illness among passengers caused by norovirus," according to a letter from Dr. Grant Tarling, chief medical officer for Princess Cruises. "In response, we implemented aggressive and comprehensive disinfection measures developed in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The Caribbean Princess returned to Houston's Bayport Terminal around 9 p.m. Thursday - more than 24 hours sooner than scheduled - because of weather, cruise and port officials said. Upon arrival, two CDC investigators boarded the ship to begin a public health probe.

This is the third time in less than a month that federal health officials have investigated an outbreak of illness on a U.S.-based cruise ship.

The latest Caribbean Princess cruise left Jan. 25 bound for the Western Caribbean with more than 4,200 people aboard and originally was scheduled to return Saturday.

The CDC issues an outbreak update when 3 percent of all persons on board have reported acute gastroenteritis. As of Friday, 192 passengers and crew members reported gastrointestinal symptoms.

According to Princess Cruises spokeswoman Julie Benson, 64 people reported acute gastroenteritis on the ship's trip that left Jan. 11, and there were 22 reports on the voyage that began Jan. 18.

Fog report 'was a lie'

The cruise line canceled a stop in Belize to beat fog expected to roll into Houston over the weekend, but many passengers leaving the ship on Friday morning said the skies were noticeably clear and firmly believed the weather was a cover story for the outbreak of illness.

"We are upset they told us it was fog," said Terry Bible, of Woodville. "If they had said in the first place it was sickness, it would have been better. We knew it was a lie when they were predicting the fog as early as Tuesday. It was a shame to miss Belize."

Benson disputed such claims.

"We were told by the Port of Houston that there was heavy fog predicted. Rather than not be able to get back on Saturday and leave people stranded after missing flights, we chose to come in early," she said. "If there had been no fog in the forecast, the crew would have dealt with the illness at sea."

Port officials confirmed Friday that they indeed notified Princess earlier this week that fog could pose a problem over the weekend.

Some passengers were outraged about the lack of attention from the medical team, which Benson said was made up of two physicians and four registered nurses.

Robert Fisher, 68, of Houston, said he called the ship's medical center to report symptoms, but a doctor never came. He vowed to never take another Princess cruise.

"We were confined to our room for three days," said Steve Juneau, Fisher's sailing partner. "The cruise sucked."

Others praised the cruise line's handling of the situation.

"All the staff were wearing gloves. We weren't allowed to touch serving utensils. They were handing out hand sanitizer all over the place," said Jack Roden, 70, of Clear Lake. "What can they do? People get sick. They handled it very well."

The ship's rapid tests on stool samples were positive for norovirus, a highly contagious infection that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea - the predominant symptoms reported by passengers. On Friday, CDC spokeswoman Bernadette Burden said the agency will perform confirmatory tests.

Second ship affected

Norovirus also was believed to be the cause of a highly publicized outbreak this week that struck Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas.

That ship docked Wednesday in New Jersey after an infection that spread to roughly 700 people on board - which included more than 20 percent of the vacationers.

As of late Friday, CDC on-ship investigators had not found anything unusual or unique about the Caribbean Princess illnesses.

"This seems to be a fairly routine followup," Burden said. "Based on everything we're aware of ... they are on track and we are working with them so that they can embark on their next voyage."

Saturday afternoon is the scheduled start of another Caribbean Princess seven-day cruise from Houston, but that could be held up by fog or a CDC-ordered delay.