Noro Virus on the Cruise Ship Marco Polo

Steamboat Crud-When I worked on the M.Q. in the late '70's it seemed that a good part of the crew was ill. Never really bad enough to be bed ridden just temps, cough, upset stomach, headache. No it wasn't hung over from the party life style of that time. Not all of it anyway. Sometimes passengers would also get it. Since there did not seem to be the concern back then that there is today, I often wondered if it was not noro or some other type of virus. It could certainly make for long days on a 6 week hitch.

I think this was a lot worse, Fred. I've had steamboat crud, the AQ kind. Nothing compared to this thing on the MQ in 2006. It would put you on your knees, literally worshipping the porcelain god from every available orifice. We lost several pax (not dead, just sent them home) and a few crew members were also sent packing until they got better and could catch up with us down river. They sent us ALL home for a week while they brought in a contractor in St Louis to wash her down.

That's my last memory of riding the MQ. It was without a doubt the Noro-virus that I spent the last night with onboard and rushing the next morning to get off the boat and quickly home.

USTS Empire State VI

We have a bad virus running rampage onboard after we left Gibraltar, most likely they said it came from the students that traveled to Morocco for the day. Within 3 days over half of the ship was running to the heads, the railings, or what have you. Luckily I wasn't one of the victims, but in tight quarters most folks will be infected already before symptoms even show up, a reminder of how important it is to just keep washing your hands and not rub your eyes.