There has been an outbreak of articles recently arguing whether or not cruise ships are "floating Petri dishes." Some examples of these include this, this and this. Let me share some cruising pro tips.
The other DrC and I have done several dozen cruises as passengers (pax) and dozens more as quasi-passenger/lecturers. We've been on several ships that had norovirus outbreaks, and a couple of times the other DrC caught it. For reasons unknown, I dodged the bullet every time.
What to know about norovirus: it is basically the "stomach flu" that would go around when we were kids. Dysentery, vomiting, and general misery that lasts 24-36 hours, after which you are fine.
It is probably life-threatening only to those whose health is already severely compromised. Such individuals should not cruise.
Why the ship makes it more widely transmissible: Everything outside your cabin is a public space. You and your fellow pax are constantly touching railings on stairs, arms on chairs, elevator buttons, etc. If the sea is rough, you do more touching - basically holding on.
If you go to the buffet, as most do at least for lunch, if not for breakfast which we prefer delivered to our cabin, the serving utensils are handled by many. You take your food, sit and eat without washing your hands in-between.
We started carrying a tiny plastic bottle, maybe 2.5 inches tall of hand sanitizer, which we'd refill off our larger bottle in the stateroom. And we learned to push elevator buttons with a knuckle or elbow.
Once an outbreak occurs, ships know to stop letting pax serve themselves at the buffet, they start piling what you point to onto a plate which they hand you. And they start having minions wipe down the railing and elevator controls with disinfectant.
Often they have hand sanitizer dispensers outside the buffet and dining rooms, and elsewhere people gather. All of that helps, but won't stop an outbreak, which almost always only affects a minority of pax and crew - yes, crew catch it too. Those with an active case are asked to stay in their cabins for its relatively brief duration.
What is your likelihood of being on a cruise that has a norovirus outbreak? I'm guessing 1in 20-25. You odds of actually getting sick are less than that.
Enjoy cruising, we certainly do.
