Sick cruise passengers head home
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
Passengers from a Princess Cruises ship began returning to the Mainland yesterday after their tour to Hawai'i was cut short following an outbreak of the Norwalk virus.
Associated Press
Most of the 2,029 passengers got off the ship in Honolulu by 11 a.m. yesterday to take flights back home. All should be flown out by today, said Princess spokesman Thomas Dow.
The Sun Princess left Honolulu for Los Angeles yesterday after its voyage was cut short because of an outbreak of the Norwalk virus.
Dow said the cruise line will pay for the return flights, hotel stays if necessary, refunds of one-third of the cost of the cruise and $500 credits for a future cruise. Cruises on the Los Angeles-Hawai'i cruise cost about $1,800 per person.
The ship's doctors and nurses reviewed the medical conditions of passengers up until the ship departed for Los Angeles just before 1 p.m. yesterday.
About 30 or 40 passengers stayed on the ship for the five-day trip back to Los Angeles, Dow said. Those passengers were either still infected with the gastrointestinal illness or had concerns about flying. The ship's medical crew did not clear some passengers to fly, and most of those passengers chose to stay on the ship, he said.
"We're minimizing the risk to the local population," said Paul Effler, state epidemiologist with the Department of Health. "We're very pleased with the decision (cruise officials) made" to cut short the cruise, he said.
The 15-day cruise departed Los Angeles on Jan. 25. Passengers started getting sick a few days before the ship arrived in Honolulu Feb. 1. On Monday, when the ship was in Lahaina, Maui, Princess decided to cancel the rest of the cruise. About 30 were still recovering from the virus at that point, bringing the total number of reported cases to nearly 300. Dow did not have information on any new cases yesterday.
Passengers staying on the ship will be isolated in one area while the rest of the liner is sanitized, Dow said.
"We should be in good shape as far as eliminating any symptoms on the ship," he said.
There are an estimated 23 million cases of Norwalklike virus cases nationwide each year, mostly on land, Effler said.
Cruise lines are required to report outbreaks of large illnesses, though the virus is usually spread in crowded places such as nursing homes, hospitals and schools. The situation on the Sun Princess is the latest in a series of outbreaks aboard cruise ships that began late last year.
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470, or kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.
