Norovirus hits Star Princess, delays massive cruise ship in Vancouver

At least one norovirus-stricken Star Princesspassenger flew home from Hawaiiafter getting seriously ill on adream cruise that stopped for cleaning in Vancouver.

"We've stopped at four ports and every day there was people being taken off with the ambulances and stuff," said passenger Chuck Woodcock from Seattle.

The cruise shipdocked in the early morning ofOct. 4 in Vancouver aftercompleting a 15-day Hawaiiancruise.

At least two passengers were transported by ambulance from thedock to hospital, in stable condition.

A passenger reported that one man was so ill he flew home, instead of re-boarding the ship in Hawaii.

"I talked to the nurse. Initially there was 60 people on-board affected," said MichaelMcNerney from Sequim, Washington. "They were overwhelmed."

Contagious told to stay in their staterooms

Of the 2,590 passengers on board there were five with active symptoms, said Karen Candy, a spokesperson for Princess Cruises in an e-mail to CBC.

"In order to interrupt the spread of illness, we proactively initiated an extensive sanitation campaign onboard ... isolating ill guests in staterooms until they are non-contagious."

• Hand railings, door handles and elevator buttons were disinfected.
• Sanitizing gel was placed throughout the ship.
• Passengers were isolated in their rooms if contagious, and encouraged to use their own bathrooms.

Candy says enhanced cleaningwas conducted in Vancouver and that resulted in a slightly delayed departure for the next cruise scheduled for the vessel.

While at sea passengers like Tilly Enarson, who is from Abbotsford, noticed crew members started taking precautions to avoid more infections.

"They serve you your food so you can't be touching things like salt and pepper shakers, then they do the sprinkling of the salt and pepper shakers. You can't pick it up yourself."

After a6 a.m. PT arrival, both theship and dock were scheduled to be scrubbed and disinfectedbeforethe Star Princess leftforCalifornia.

Any outbreak of norovirus exceeding threeper cent requiresspecial protocol anddisinfection of the vessel.Officials say the number of people on the Star Princess who reported illness was fewer thanthe three per cent cut-off in this case,78 people.

The Star Princess has 17 decks, four pools and ninewhirlpool spas.

Past outbreaks

The Star Princess wasdisinfected after at least one other outbreak of norovirus in 2015when135 passengers reported illness during a spring sailing into the United States.

The Centre for Disease Control requires all cruise ships entering the U.S. from foreign destinations report the total number of people affected by any gastrointestinal illnesses during a sailing. If the amount exceeds twoper cent, a separate notification is required.