Passenger: Hundreds Vomited into Buckets on Cruise

The Explorer of the Seas cruise ship approaches a berth as it arrives, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, in Bayonne, N.J.Photo |AP Mel Evans

The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Explorer of the Seas — where hundreds of passengers were sickened, likely by a norovirus — docked in New Jersey yesterday.

A norovirus, the most common cause of gastroenteritis (infectious diarrhea), is extra dangerous to cruise passengers because it spreads easily in close person-to-person contact and is not killed by alcohol sanitizers.

Nearly 700 passengers were sickened on the cruise ship, which left from Bayonne last week. The Associated Press has the horrifying details:

Kim Waite was especially disappointed to fall ill while treating herself to a Caribbean cruise after completing cancer treatment. The London woman thought she was the only sick one as her husband wheeled her to the infirmary — until the elevator doors opened to reveal hundreds of people vomiting into bags, buckets or on the floor, whatever was closest.

“I started crying, I couldn’t believe it,” Waite said. “I was in shock.”

Per the AP, Royal Caribbean is giving guests a 50 percent fare refund and an additional 50 percent future cruise credit. That’s right: If hundreds of people on your cruise get sick and have to spend days vomiting into buckets, your cruise is still not free. But you get a discount on your next one!