Cholera on Haiti

[cruisinfanatic]

Just so you all are aware Labadee is an island off the north coast of Haiti. To get from the infected areas would mean a 12+ car ride plus boat ride to the island. I grew up in Haiti and my mom is still there helping with the relief efforts. To those of us who used to live there, Labadee isn't even "real" Haiti but a tourist only island.

At this point cruises going to Labadee will not be in any danger.

What?

I knew RCL made major changes, but they made it an island too?

Awsome!!!!!!!!

[TPKeller]

What?

I knew RCL made major changes, but they made it an island too?

Awsome!!!!!!!!

Given the terrrain, that would be quite a feat! :)

 

Theron

 

Cruise Map of Labadee

[TPKeller]

Just so you all are aware Labadee is an island off the north coast of Haiti. To get from the infected areas would mean a 12+ car ride plus boat ride to the island. I grew up in Haiti and my mom is still there helping with the relief efforts.

Of course we all know that it's a peninsula, but in defense of the poster, depending on how young they were when they lived there, I suppose it could seem like an island since the easiest way to get there involved taking a boat, and there are beaches on two sides. The roads to that area are primitive even today, probably even more so in the past.

 

Theron

[manu4evr]

Given the terrrain, that would be quite a feat!

Nothing is impossible on Cruise Critic.:rolleyes:

Then I guess that neither where you grew up, nor what your mother does, has much to do with your knowledge of geography.

Just another example of the gross misinformation on this thread.:mad:

I have learned to never believe at face value anything the government tells me, ie., asbestos was good, now its bad, lead paint was good, now its bad, then of course global warming. And I always try to remind myself that there are physicians that were last in their class and barely passed their certifications; some turn out working for the government. I hope they don't turn out to be my doctor.

 

Many of these agencies serve to perpetuate themselves by creating an apparent "need" for their services.

Have you read "State of Fear" by Michael Creighton? If you haven't, check it out, you'll enjoy it. At least, you'll understand and agree with the plot.:D

[xpcdoojk]

Have you read "State of Fear" by Michael Creighton? If you haven't, check it out, you'll enjoy it. At least, you'll understand and agree with the plot.:D

 

Great book! I miss his mind.

 

JC

[6twocruise]

I am trusting that RCCL will step up their care of and donations for the struggling Haitian population, with ongoing contributions which not only assist locals (contributing to the economy by providing tourism dollars) but also offer medical relief. It's a invaluable business partnership.

[NordicPrince]

Rotary International has for many years been active in Haiti in trying to establish clean water treatment facilities on a small scale basis that a family can operate at a reasonable cost. This was ongoing even before the last earthquake and the cholera outbreak. As a Rotarian we do what we can.

 

When a representative of our initiative visited our local Rotary club for donations to support that ongoing project, he stated that there were millions and millions of dollars available to and in the hands of the government of Haiti but sadly they had no idea, experience, or initiative (desire?) in organizing large scale projects to improve the country thru infrastructure: housing, roads, sanitation etc. Unbelievably there were no plans currently underway. Buildings knocked down from the earthquakes yet to be cleared. Roads not repaired. No heavy equipment. Bodies yet to be fully buried. Millions of people living in refugee centers. Until and if the powers that be get their act together the people of Haiti will continue to suffer unbearable and unnecessary disease, poverty and hopelessness.

 

The people of Haiti have suffered for an eternity thru political corruption, ineptness and human cruelty. This current epidemic is just one more bad event.

 

If anyone wants to debate about as to where the cause of the cholera epidemic started you might just want to point a finger at the underlying causes and not just the symptoms.

 

Personally I could care less if Labadee is or is not an island (it is not) whether Santo Domingo is its own island (it is not) whether the Nepalese brought the cholera in with them (they may have) and whether or not anyone decides to get off the boat at Labadee (it's your choice).

 

The whole mess is a human tragedy of unbelievable proportions.

[BND]

Haitians have been totally dependent on aid organizations for decades. That is not going to change overnight. It's mainly the government corruption. For years groups have been pouring money and manpower into the country but the results have been limited as the people really have no incentive to do anything because they can't get ahead with the gov issues. What happens a lot when money is given to governments in poor countries is that the leaders pocket most of it and it never gets to what it is intended for. The aid orgs in country are just trying to help people survive.

 

The cholera is just another issue in a string of them and the reality is, it's not an issue for Labadee.

[Ocean Boy]

Rotary International has for many years been active in Haiti in trying to establish clean water treatment facilities on a small scale basis that a family can operate at a reasonable cost. This was ongoing even before the last earthquake and the cholera outbreak. As a Rotarian we do what we can.

 

When a representative of our initiative visited our local Rotary club for donations to support that ongoing project, he stated that there were millions and millions of dollars available to and in the hands of the government of Haiti but sadly they had no idea, experience, or initiative (desire?) in organizing large scale projects to improve the country thru infrastructure: housing, roads, sanitation etc. Unbelievably there were no plans currently underway. Buildings knocked down from the earthquakes yet to be cleared. Roads not repaired. No heavy equipment. Bodies yet to be fully buried. Millions of people living in refugee centers. Until and if the powers that be get their act together the people of Haiti will continue to suffer unbearable and unnecessary disease, poverty and hopelessness.

 

The people of Haiti have suffered for an eternity thru political corruption, ineptness and human cruelty. This current epidemic is just one more bad event.

 

If anyone wants to debate about as to where the cause of the cholera epidemic started you might just want to point a finger at the underlying causes and not just the symptoms.

 

Personally I could care less if Labadee is or is not an island (it is not) whether Santo Domingo is its own island (it is not) whether the Nepalese brought the cholera in with them (they may have) and whether or not anyone decides to get off the boat at Labadee (it's your choice).

 

The whole mess is a human tragedy of unbelievable proportions.

 

That may all very true. However, I think it is perfectly fine to have a thread involving Haiti and Labadee that is about something other than the "human tragedy" of the area. If you don't care about the things being discussed on this thread you always have the choice to leave it and start one on the things that you do care about.

[DiamondsandGold]

We will be crusing the eastern caribbean in November and I've looked up causes, symptoms and the like for Cholera. We have a group of 13 coming and we're not concerned about it at all. Labadee is a nice stop, and I have enough trust that RCCL will use their experience to make an informed decision on the matter.

[NordicPrince]

That may all very true. However, I think it is perfectly fine to have a thread involving Haiti and Labadee that is about something other than the "human tragedy" of the area. If you don't care about the things being discussed on this thread you always have the choice to leave it and start one on the things that you do care about.

 

See that's what I love about CC. If you post a comment no one ever has anything nasty to say about your response or opinion and no one ever demands that you leave because you put your $.02 cents in.

 

We all have the opportunity to discuss what we think is relevant to the thread.

 

It doesn't change the fact that whole mess IS a tragedy.

[Ocean Boy]

See that's what I love about CC. If you post a comment no one ever has anything nasty to say about your response or opinion and no one ever demands that you leave because you put your $.02 cents in.

 

We all have the opportunity to discuss what we think is relevant to the thread.

 

It doesn't change the fact that whole mess IS a tragedy.

 

I wasn't trying to be nasty and I most certainly did not demand that you leave. You posted what you were not interested in. Those happen to be the things that we are talking about.

 

It seems, at times, whether it was the earth quake or the cholera discussions about Haiti that if one does not begin his/her post with some politically correct acknowledgement of the human suffering then he/she is being insensitive in talking about the subject of the thread.

 

By all means, whether you are interested or not in the subjects of the discussion, keep reading on and adding your .02, .03, or even .05 cents.

[libertylover]

Not likely. Labadee is far from any health issues and is well isolated.

 

I agree with the first person to respond. It's highly unlikely that Labadee will be affected by any of the health concerns.

 

RCCL should not pull out of Haiti. Haitians make much too much money for a pull out by the cruise lines ...talk about devastation.

[wabbitman]

just wondering will RCI pull out of Haiti now its been confirmed about the Cholera outbreak?

 

no, rci should continue to stop at labadee. The last time i was there, the crew made sure to inform the passengers to eat only the food provided by rci (and brought in off the ship) and to not drink the local water.

[lagapeach]

I will be sailing on the Navigator of the Seas on 11/15/10....with a stop in Labadee. I hope it is not skipped as a stop, anyone concerned about a getting ill can choose to stay on the ship. I am more concerned about cruisers not washing their hand before the buffet.

 

The Haitian people need cruise passengers for extra income, especially now (after the earthquake).

 

Cholera is a bigger concern with poor sanitation......so cruisers wash your hands!!!!

[fscher]

Your risk at Labadee will be no higher than it is in the states or on the ship. Cholera is not "Contagious" or is it something that most people need to concern themselves with when traveling. It tends to be in third world countries and places where there is poor sanitation. Labadee does not fit that description. The food and water used in Labadee for consumption comes from the ship. Also, if you read up on Cholera, people who are healthy or treated quickly with rehydration recover completely. It's also something you normally need to be exposed to more than from one drink of water. It takes millions of the bacteria to cause illness as a majority of them don't survive the trek through the digestive system.

 

BTW, nothing you eat in the states is 100% disease free either, so how do you handle that? I got food poisoning from a restaurant chain 3 miles from my home just 3 months ago.

 

Of course food poisoning at that particular restaurant wasn't a KNOWN problem, but this is. I am boarding Liberty of the Seas in a few hours . Hurricane Tomas is probably more of a threat for the entire trip and some ports could be changed anyway. I have an auto immune disease and would certainly stress that anyone that is not 100% healthy should get more facts before making any decisions. I for one am not in any kind of panic mode about this, but I will probably stay on the ship if we make it to Labadee

[Dawnaurora]

It's been a long time since I've posted on Cruise Critic because, well, I haven't been going cruising. I live and work at Hospital Albert Schweitzer near Verrettes, and my Master's is in hydrology.

 

Our caseload was stabilized Saturday morning at around 40 patients per day. Centers to our west closer to the southern half of the Artibonite Delta are seeing more patients. I did a grand loop Friday and Saturday with the CDC person taking water samples to test for actual cholera presence in the Artibonite River system. All the clinics we stopped at asking about potential sampling sites had the same answers - the majority of cases are still coming from the Artibonite delta zone, and case numbers are steady or steadily dropping.

 

New case zones are coming from the south towards Port. In the last few days we have heard no reports from the Department Sanitaire de l'Artibonite in Gonaives of large new case loads coming from north of Gonaives, or from Cap Haitian. No reports of a major outbreak developing in Limbe though there has been more than enough time since the initial report for that to develop. St. Marc now has a functioning and chlorinated city water system.

 

Folks, I spent two days hunting out the most infected water for sampling, and didn't get sick after taking the handwashing and sanitation precautions already mentioned here. Nor did the CDC specialist and driver. After several weeks of running a Cholera Treatment Center we have had perhaps two nurses out of a large staff come down with this - the nurses running a large treatment center. Handwashing, food and water handling, and sanitation procedures WORK for cholera prevention even in high exposure areas.

 

All of this leads me to think that at Labadee, there is still much less risk of exposure to Cholera than risk of exposure to the normal norovirus, food poisoning, run of the mill traveller's diarrhea issues for which cruise passengers should be taking precautions anyway. If you use the normal precautions, you are at very low risk.

 

Shoutout to the other Rotarian on the thread - the Verrettes, St. Marc, and Petite Riviere clubs are very active in passing cholera prevention messages and they've put in the equivalent of nearly 120 wells in the last 12 years to make sure many people have safe options.

[Kikkycat]

Dawnaurora, thank you very much for your informative post. Best wishes to you and your countrymates, especially as Tomas appears to have you in his sights to add to the troubles you're already experiencing. I look forward to my visit to Labadee in less than 2 weeks now, God willing.

[igertay]

This is one of those things that require a personal decision. I'm sure that if RC doesn't cancel the stop, some of us will stay on ship because that's our comfort level. If RC deems it safe, go for it. Get off the ship, but make sure your careful with what you eat, drink or touch, and wash you hands thoroughly when you get back on board for the benefit of all who chose to stay onboard.

[nrdsb4]

This is one of those things that require a personal decision. I'm sure that if RC doesn't cancel the stop, some of us will stay on ship because that's our comfort level. If RC deems it safe, go for it. Get off the ship, but make sure your careful with what you eat, drink or touch, and wash you hands thoroughly when you get back on board for the benefit of all who chose to stay onboard.

 

 

From what I'm reading and understanding, anyone who gets off the ship will eating the same things that those remaining on the ship will eat. Therefore hand washing requirements will be the same for all passengers for the benefit of all passengers.

[OCTravelerGene]

We will be visiting Labadee during our November 12th cruise on Liberty of the Seas. A group called Cruise4Haiti will be onboard to raise funds and deliver supplies to the island. I fully expect that RCI is well aware of the situation on the island and will continue to monitor it. They will only stop there if they determine that is no health risk for its passengers and crew. Reports of cholera outbreaks seem confined to specific areas of the island and should have no impact on Labadee. Perhaps before panicking, people should become more familiar with the particulars of the disease and the conditions which can give rise to it. We will have our grandchildren with us and I would certainly not put them at risk, but I believe that in this instance the likelihood of any risk to passengers is minimal or non-existent.

 

I'm no doctor, but agree with the above. Perhaps there's a doctor in the audience that could tell us all how cholera is spread and if we will be in danger when we land?? gene

[nrdsb4]

A couple of doctors have already replied in the thread.

[OCTravelerGene]

Now that I've read this entire board, my concerns have been fully alleviated. I hope RCCL does not cancel the stop in Labadee on December 9th. If we stop, we'll take appropriate precautions before going ashore and when ashore. It will be interesting to hear what is said about this subject and by whom during meals before we get to Labadee. Reading this board caused alot of laughter and shaking of my head. Hopefully, others that stop at Labadee in the next month will share their experiences. gene

[cruising lady]

I wish everyone would stop posting comments to LOOKGOOD2 this person just is trying to cause problems. Everything they post is nonsense. The moderator should remove the posts since this person has just registered and I feel it is just to cause problems. These boards are meant to help people with questions and problems not to cause problems.

[OCTravelerGene]

Amen, Cruising Lady!!