A Royal Carribean Cruise Returning To Baltimore Early After 200+ Passengers Fell Ill With A Norovirus Could Not Make Me Any Happier

(Sun) – The Royal Caribbean cruise liner Grandeur of the Seas returned to Baltimore a day early on Monday after more than 200 passengers and crew members became sick.  The illness, including vomiting and diarrhea, is believed to be norovirus, a potentially serious contagion that can spread from person to person through contaminated food and water and on contaminated surfaces. Cynthia Martinez, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman, said the illness affected 193 passengers, or nearly 10 percent of those on board, and 9 crew members.  The sick were “responding well to over-the-counter medication administered on board the ship,” Martinez said in a statement Monday. The cruise was originally scheduled to return to Baltimore on Tuesday. It departed on Jan. 24. Norovirus, which is not related to the flu, is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Perfect. Fantastic news. Let those cruise rates plummet baby! Every time one of these stories comes out I get all warm and fuzzy inside. So much paranoia and so much hysteria. I know the company line is to bash cruises and say they’re disgusting and for white trash folk, but I refuse to sit here and blow smoke. Cruises are fucking AWESOME.

If loving endless buffets and having a bar within 10 feet at all times makes me white trash, so be it. If loving casinos and 4 course meals makes me white trash, then crown my ass the king of the great unwashed. The risk of catching a silly little norovirus only adds to the experience. I don’t want to throw a few hundred bucks on a vacation at sea and get some phony experience. Gimme that real shit. Rock the boat. Gimme 10/1 odds I spend a night or two on the can, vomiting up my guts as I shit out my organs. If I’m on land I’m probably spending my Sunday there anyway. Nothing I can’t handle. If you high-horsed folks want to steer clear of the big boats, I get it. Real vacations aren’t for the faint of heart. Stay home. More sea for me.

PS: Video wouldn’t embed, but the news crew interviewed this guy when he got off the boat. FLAWLESS vacation game with the double hat move. Guy really knows how to kick it back and let loose.