Three dead in suspected hantavirus outbreak on Atlantic cruise ship

Back up dancer

So we have stayed friends over years on social media and she only had to work if someone died which did happen once that I know of. She was also a demort embalmer and when hurricane Katrina happened she was deployed there and stopped working on cruise ships.

"I'm also the bar tender. Saves time"

My dad did a 21 day transpacific cruise and and the waiter told him there were something like 18 deaths during the cruise Seems like the embalmer could be pretty busy

Back then it was around $25 an hour. No idea what it would be now. Each state has different licenseing and California was a top payer, I moved to Colorado after and applied at every mortuary in the city and back then had no license for the state and paid minimum wage which was $3.75 an hour. So, I left the deathcare industry at that time. Also SCI litterly own the majority of funeral homes in North America currently and probably pay shit wages too.

Would you rather wake up on impact with the ocean, or wake up in the freezer just after the staff leave and lock the door?

A morgue is not a large room.

It’s deer mice, not rats and they have to poop A LOT for it to get into the air and cause haunta, that ship must be absolutely filthy.

The biggest appeal is that cruises usually cost a lot less than an all-inclusive resort. At my favorite all-inclusive, if I go in shoulder season, I can do a week there for two people for $5k all-in (flights, room, extras like excursions or spa services). A comparable cruise is $2.5k. Admittedly, I live in the southern US so my flights to the Caribbean are c**** and I wouldn't have to fly to a cruise port. But even if you did, an international flight to the Caribbean is more expensive than a domestic flight to Florida. But that doesn't apply to this ship. This is a polar expedition cruiser that runs naturalist/adventure cruises following the migratory paths of sea birds and cetaceans. It's not like a Caribbean cruise. And it's not nearly as c**** as one, either - these are like $10k-25k trips, depending on how many legs of the cruise you're going on.

Well, some people like relaxing which cruising is. And food quality depends on the ship. Some are better than others. As for my family, we have three different generations of people who want to vacation around the same time with different levels of physical ability. A cruise ship is the easiest to arrange, keep everyone entertained and allows us to see at least something new at different ports.

None of the spaces are really confined (unless you're the crew), it's more like being in a shopping mall. You can get cruises where all of the meals are served to your table like a restaurant, it isn't exclusively buffet. Going out for a walk on the deck at night is a pretty cool experience. You typically will have a stop at some port where you can go do your own activities. The only huge complaint I had was feeling disoriented for a bit at the beginning and feeling wobbly for a few days after it ended. The big risk is that if something goes wrong, you're stuck on a ship and can't just dip out.

Not all cruise ships are like the giant American monstrosities that basically only cruise the carribbean, there are much classier vessels.

C***** hotels, Disney anything, concerts, all of these places surprise me that they seem to spread only one disease at a time. I would expect to catch 2 or 3 or 5 diseases from the filthy masses. Nobody seems to give a flying rip until they've spread it around a while.

That resort requires usually a plane ticket and the stay itself is more expensive than an all inclusive cruise. That’s not even getting into the fact that even those shitty buffets are about the same quality I have seen in any buffet ever (They are all slightly above mediocre). The main appeal I’ve seen on a cruise is that you get away from as many people when the boat stops and you can find places to chill during an ocean day. I always just sit and read in the buffet throughout the day if nothing is planned, there’s more people around lunch but there’s also multiple free and paid restaurants so it’s not as bad as you think. You could also check the itinerary to find events that aren’t as frequented. I did an overview on shopping destinations for the next days stop and got multiple free items because there was like 3 other groups in the audience to give stuff.

Oh, I agree. I think our entire household got noro at least once a year when our kids were in elementary school. Noro at home is hell. Noro when having to share a single toilet with all family members who are in your floating hotel room, while out at sea, sounds way way worse.

I only know about hantavirus thanks to the X-Files and I was so scared of it as a kid.

That scared the hell out of me as a kid

“Are you saying it wasn’t that small an outbreak? “No, I’m saying it wasn’t the hanta virus.”

That was the cops parody right? I loved that episode! 🤩

Oh, I know it’s by design. Most cruise customers don’t comprehend this, however. For anyone confused, a lot of international cruises will deliberately obfuscate where they are based out of. If you’re trying to sue them, you may be dealing with maritime law, the laws of a country you’re visiting, or you might have to sue a company that’s actually based out of somewhere like the Philippines or Indonesia. Even domestic cruises (let’s say you’re from the US) and you just wanted a Cruise to Alaska, Puerto Rico or another US territory… there’s a ton of barriers to holding a cruise company accountable. This is all before we consider the negative externalities like fuel spillage, carbon footprint, and not so stealthy dumping of raw sewage in international waters.

Sounds horrible. After hearing about the Curry Village outbreak, I've become a lot more attuned to watching out for Hantavirus risks. I watch a lot of [camping videos](https://youtu.be/KlfzbJTo1Mw?t=1091) and everytime they camp in a place with mice infestation I cringe when they start to cleanup, then google the Hantavirus map to see if they're camping in a region with that. Usually they're not in an affected area, but with changing climates that may not always be the case.

That makes sense. And sounds terrifying.

I'm not a microbiologist but if it's any comfort coming from an environmental scientist who worked in hantavirus risk areas (and lives in one - I'm just next door to you in Colorado) it's really hard to accidentally get infected, you'd have to grind up that poop and sniff it on purpose. As long as you put on an N95 while cleaning and disinfect with bleach where you find droppings, you should be safe. You can even wear disposable nitrile gloves to clean if it makes you feel safer.

I knew this was OCD!! me too!! hahaha I am also so terrified of mouse droppings I N95 every time. so much in this thread is feeding the spiral but also reassuring me. ugh

Hapl3ning (2022) - It just keeps Haplening

I would watch that.

Anon from the back: "it'll be quicker and easier to just set it all on fire, then collect on the insurance."