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Old June 22nd, 2005, 11:49 PM
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Let me respond to some of your comments after quoting them...

"It is easy enough to find out in other ways"
Please enlighten me. I saw no signs in the Cape Liberty NJ port
terminal advertising that the Voyager of the Seas that just docked 4
hours before after the Bermuda cruise was infected. The ship's staff
said nothing. By the way, I don't own a crystal ball and I don't
believe in psychics.

"And you still chose to sail on her?"
I'll take your comment as a joke. Someday you'll may as old as me and
you might just have a bad stomach. Lots of people have bad stomachs.
That keeps the TUMS, PEPCID, and NEXIUM people in business. The cruise
ship isn't an amusement ride where all you have to be is 44 inches tall
to board her. This is a ship that has to meet defined safety and
health regulations to protect everyone onboard, from babies through
seniors, including her staff and crew.

"How do you know what you had?"
Have you ever had food poisoning or just had an eating binge where you
ate too much? How about too much to drink? My illness was pretty
obvious. It wasn't a hangover, so it had to be the food or water. The
ship's food wasn't that good and the water from the tap tasted bad. I
was sitting with a restaurateur, an owner and chef, at our dinner table
each night. She felt some of the fish and meat served tasted bad and
thought the ship's refrigeration may have been broken.

"How do you know the virus wasn't present?"
In me or aboard the ship? If you're asking me about the 'former'
situation, this is the same question as above. I met another couple
on-board. She was a nurse (RN) and had food poisoning on our cruise at
the same exact time with the very same symptoms. Do you doubt her
professional diagnosis also? Strange coincidence, wouldn't you say?
She wasn't sitting anywhere near me. How do you explain a quack doctor
that looks at people and arrives at the same conclusion. He didn't say
I was infected. The Hotel Director sent the same letter to all the
passengers who saw the ship's doctor. It said you "..may be infected."

"Statistically insignificant"
My cruise that started May 20 and ended May 29 had 85 passengers and 14
crew infected as stated by the CDC. These 99 people amount to 3
percent of the population aboard ship. The CDC VSP alarms go off at 2
percent, the threshold for an official inquiry and on-ship inspection.
Why haven't you commented on the people who didn't report their
sickness to the ship? Numbers add up.

"Presumably, since the previous sailing, they have taken steps to
prevent it on future sailings."
Actually, if you compare the dates in my posting, 59 infected people on
the previous cruise is LESS than the 99 people infected on my cruise.
The ship was more infected on the second cruise.

I'll assume you're a 'sympathetic vote. Please don't take the ship's
side until you actually visit the web sites in my posting above and
read the inspection reports carefully. The CDC is very careful about
not alarming the public. Look at the CDC web site. It doesn't take a
rocket scientist to realize how dirty similar Royal Caribbean ships
have been historically been - it's on the CDC web site. The Voyager of
the Seas' management attitude has been sloppy keeping her clean.

Washing down staircase handrails and elevator pushbuttons and using
sanitizer for hand-washing is not the same as unseen and unclean food
preparation areas or a contaminated water supply. Once again, be
neutral and visit the CDC web sites in my posting above and read the
inspection reports.

Even the Voyager of the Seas staff and crew could not stay impartial if
they read about their ship and the rest of the Royal Caribbean fleet.
Mistakes are more of an issue when people's health and safety are
concerned.

For 97 percent of the hundreds of thousands (or millions) of Royal
Caribbean passengers who never got sick on their ships, this is all a
moot discussion. But if you're in the 3 percent, the minority
so-to-speak, and you feel they arbitrarily robbed you of your $4,200 of
hard earned vacation money and precious time off from work through a
misdiagnosis by a 'quack', it is much more an issue.