Cruises, frankly, are an investment, even if the return isn't as quantifiable as with stocks and T-bills. With increased media focus on the industry, however, it seems there's a new crisis quarterly — hurricane season, disappearing passengers, rogue waves, pirates — and it's easy for investors, er, future passengers to get jittery.
As with any investment, the best way to protect it (or at least increase your odds of having it pay off) is education. Since the crisis this quarter is outbreaks of norovirus, it's probably time to bone up a little on what's being labeled as a "cruise-ship illness," despite the fact that you're more likely to pick it up visiting Grandpa Bob at Happy Acres or Skippy in the dorms at Cal State U.
What follows are reliable resources on norovirus — and how, if possible, to avoid it. (Note: Don't look to the cruise lines for help. In a search of the eight major companies' sites, the word "norovirus" could not be found.)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov) is the most reliable and unbiased source, although the Internet site can be difficult to navigate. For best results, plug the word "norovirus" and/or "cruise ship" into the search field and sift the results.
Among the most useful links are (apologies for the lengthy addresses): a fact sheet on noroviruses (www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/norovirus/norovirus.htm); a primer on how to wash your hands (www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/handwashing/handwashingtips.htm); and a list and summary of every major outbreak of illness on a cruise ship since 1994 (www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm). Note: A previous norovirus on a ship doesn't mean it's unsafe now, although three ships this year have had more than one outbreak.
www.cruisecritic.com/ has several pages of background, tips and myth-busting, including advice on travel insurance ("read the fine print") and answers to frequently asked questions about whether a cruise line is likely to reimburse passengers on outbreak trips.
The cruises section of About.com has reliable general information on ship health and safety (cruises.about.com/od/cruisehealthandsafety), as well as specific items on norovirus, although most of it seems to be based on material from the CDC.
Basic tips culled from the above sites: Wash your hands frequently with warm, soapy water; use alcohol-based sanitizer as necessary; get plenty of rest; and stop shaking hands. (Maybe it's best to take a page from the Japanese and bow your greetings.)
At the risk of sounding like an apologist for the industry, the number of passengers who fell sick on ships with outbreaks during 2006 is about 4,100, a tiny fraction of the more than 10 million who cruised this year. For the 4,100, however, it was an expensive illness.