# Why don't passenger planes have norovirus problems like cruise ships do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055 "2019-02-23T01:29:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/1 "2019-02-23T01:29:22Z")
Not all cruise ships report norovirus problems and this article states that most cruise ships don’t have that problem, but I sure hear about it a lot. [https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/cleanest-cruise-ships-2019-14853438](https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/cleanest-cruise-ships-2019-14853438) My boss use to say he got sick eating on his plane trips, but he was an alcoholic and had stomach problems anyway. So have you heard of a norovirus problem on airliners? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/2 "2019-02-23T01:45:42Z")
One word - buffets. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/3 "2019-02-23T01:47:19Z")
I just got back from a cruise - they were pleasant but insistent on having every passenger take a squirt of Purell before entering a dining area, or just reboarding the ship. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/4 "2019-02-23T02:11:19Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > One word - buffets. and less use of ‘the facilities’. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/5 "2019-02-23T02:24:46Z")
I got Noro on a plane once. Well, maybe I did. I definitely was on an international flight and then the next day had all the symptoms of Noro. 24 hours after that I was fine, so I never went to a doctor to confirm it or anything. Since then I always make sure that I do thorough job of washing my hands, even though it is difficult in those airplane sinks. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/6 "2019-02-23T02:38:50Z")
You’re only on an airplane for just a few hours, but on a ship for days or weeks. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/7 "2019-02-23T10:56:53Z")
A more interesting question (to me anyway) is why the Navy doesn’t have those noro problems. Maybe they do, but I’ve never heard of an aircraft carrier crew being sickened like cruise ship passengers. I wonder if it’s partly because Navy ships crews are all 20-somethings in great health. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/8 "2019-02-23T11:46:02Z")
How the Navy avoids norovirus > **[How the Navy avoids norovirus | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/health/navy-norovirus/index.html)** > > The United States Navy is able to avoid major outbreaks of contagious diseases like those seen on cruises. How? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/9 "2019-02-23T12:10:58Z")
I think cruise ships are notorious for norovirus outbreaks because a bunch of people end up sick ON the ship, which is only possible because they’re on the ship for long enough for symptoms to arrive. If you catch a norovirus on a plane, you’re probably going to be somewhere else when you start feeling it, and so is everybody else. Getting a stomach bug sucks, but single cases here and there are not newsworthy. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/10 "2019-02-23T17:40:33Z")
I’m not really clear on what the difference is between noroviruses and any other type of GI virus - for all I know, all GI viruses are norovirus. But the reasons you hear about norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships is because of the timing, the number of people onboard and the fact that people stay on the ship for days- symptoms start within 12-48 hours of exposure, so someone can truthfully deny any vomiting/fever/diarrhea at 9 am, board the ship , be contagious by 9 pm and there will be more sick passengers at 9 am the next day. Repeat with more people getting sick each day , and since the symptoms last for a few days by day 3 or 4 you might have a couple of hundred sick people. With a plane, not only are people somewhere else when the symptoms start, they aren’t spreading it within a relatively small group of people. Let’s say you and I both catch it on the same flight from LA to NY. By the time symptoms start , you may be in NJ and I may be in Connecticut. So when someone I encountered in the supermarket comes down with it, it will never be connected with the person who caught it from you in CVS. Cruise ships aren’t the only places you hear about outbreaks- you also hear about hospitals/schools/nursing homes/daycare centers where it also spreads among a small group of people ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/11 "2019-02-23T22:03:27Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m not really clear on what the difference is between noroviruses and any other type of GI virus - for all I know, all GI viruses are norovirus. Cruise ships aren’t the only places you hear about outbreaks- you also hear about hospitals/schools/nursing homes/daycare centers where it also spreads among a small group of people That was my thinking too doreen … I’ve had food poisoning at Wendy’s small salad bar in Long Island, NY and all the way to San Diego at Benihana where cooks cook in front of you and there was no doubt in my mind where and how I got it. I served nine years US Navy (6) years submarines and never got sick on the food not even once, but one time the doctor gave us flu shots in the middle of a patrol and we all got a touch of the flu lol. So I guess plane passengers don’t stay together long enough to qualify. I’ve never flown first class, but I’ve been watching those airline video’s on youtube with all of the waiting area check in lounge privileges they offer for 1st class and thought surely this is a place where it could breed. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/12 "2019-02-23T22:56:22Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > That was my thinking too doreen … I’ve had food poisoning at Wendy’s small salad bar in Long Island, NY and all the way to San Diego at Benihana where cooks cook in front of you and there was no doubt in my mind where and how I got it. > > I served nine years US Navy (6) years submarines and never got sick on the food not even once, but one time the doctor gave us flu shots in the middle of a patrol and we all got a touch of the flu lol. > > . I think you’re misunderstanding something- norovirus isn’t food poisoning. It doesn’t really have much to do with food at all - sure, you can get it from food contaminated by an infected person, but you can also pick it up from a doorknob or handrail touched by an infected person. This is why the restrooms on the cruise ships I’ve been on have signs directing you to use a paper towel to open the restroom door and have staff everywhere spraying you with hand sanitizer as they say “happy happy washee washee” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/13 "2019-02-24T16:00:15Z")
Not for nothing, the Disney Cruise Line is, shall we say, enthusiastically proactive about handwashing. Signs every few feet on the ship, handwashing stations (either soap & water or Purell) in good supply, and so on. AFAIK there’s never been a noro outbreak on a DCL vessel. Of course, Disney would move Heaven and Earth to keep it under wraps if there was. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/14 "2019-02-24T17:09:24Z")
Every cruise ship I’ve been on in the last 19 years has handwashing signs and cleansing stations (now usually a Purell dispenser). How well they reinforce adherence is variable. Some of them have crew positioned at the entrances to food areas, theaters, and re-entry to the ship–they actually squirt the gel rather than letting passengers do it. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/15 "2019-02-25T13:07:48Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > A more interesting question (to me anyway) is why the Navy doesn’t have those noro problems. Maybe they do, but I’ve never heard of an aircraft carrier crew being sickened like cruise ship passengers. I wonder if it’s partly because Navy ships crews are all 20-somethings in great health. **engineer\_comp\_geek** ’s article says a lot. There’s a different level of control exerted over the people on a Navy ship than those on a cruise ship. You can make them them all clean the bejeezus out of the place, and order them to be very proactive if/when any one sailor starts to feel sick. I suspect the other factor is that a Navy ship goes to sea and stays at sea for long periods of time; if every sailor is healthy when they board then the ship stays contagion-free for the duration of their tour. In contrast, a typical cruise ship puts in to port every couple of days to pick up a new load of passengers or send everyone out on a shore excursion, presenting far more opportunity to bring contagion aboard. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/16 "2019-03-06T20:41:01Z")
Well well look at this … here’s the answer. Yes, if you just came back from a cruise lol > **[Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 Full of Cruise Ship Passengers Quarantined in U.K....](https://www.thedrive.com/news/26805/virgin-atlantic-boeing-747-full-of-cruise-ship-passengers-quarantined-due-to-widespread-sickness)** > > Roughly 30 ill passengers and crew were taken to a special area for treatment. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 Full of Cruise Ship Passengers Quarantined Due to Widespread Sickness > [@](#): > > A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 was forced into quarantine at Great Britain’s Gatwick Airport after landing on Wednesday morning, thanks to the outbreak of a nasty illness that waylaid a number of passengers and crew during the flight. And the fault behind the sickness, it seems, may have been tied to another form of transportation: the dreaded cruise ship. > > Everything no doubt seemed fine from the ground, at least at first: Virgin Atlantic Fight 610 completed the eight-hour journey from Bridgetown, Barbados to London, England on time, with the Boeing 747-400 touching down at 5:20am. Upon hitting the tarmac. however, the four-engined jetliner was met by emergency services personnel, the Sussex Police told CNN. A spokesperson for the South East Coast ambulance service elaborated, telling The Guardian that help had been called for about half an hour before the plane landed, after reports had come down that the Boeing contained numerous passengers and crew who weren’t feeling particularly well. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/17 "2019-03-16T22:40:59Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > A more interesting question (to me anyway) is why the Navy doesn’t have those noro problems. Maybe they do, but I’ve never heard of an aircraft carrier crew being sickened like cruise ship passengers. I wonder if it’s partly because Navy ships crews are all 20-somethings in great health. Ripped from today’s headlines: [US warship quarantined at sea due to [parotitis] virus outbreak](https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/13/politics/us-warship-quarantined-virus/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/18 "2019-03-18T01:14:00Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > How the Navy avoids norovirus > [https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/health/navy-norovirus/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/health/navy-norovirus/index.html) \>“They come to us for sick call, and if they are particularly stoic and don’t want to come to us for whatever reason, their supervisor will make them come,” said Sean Sullivan, the vessel’s senior medical officer. The Navy has sure changed since _I_ was in. I’m far from the only one with this opinion: [em-log](http://em-log.blogspot.com/2009/03/serious-as-heart-attack.html) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/19 "2019-03-18T14:43:40Z")
Just FYI, norovirus is typically spread through the fecal-oral route, so in general outbreaks are probably mostly caused by inadequate handwashing/sanitation. I imagine that airplanes would be just as bad as a cruise ship, if people stayed on the plane as long. Scenario 1: Person gets norovirus before getting on the ship, has the runs while on the ship, is a dirty mf-er and doesn’t wash their hands properly. Everything they touch can now be contaminated with the virus. More people get it, and if the incubation period is short, they’re doing the same thing during the cruise as the first guy if they’re not washing their hands and/or ship sanitation isn’t as good. Scenario 2: Person gets norovirus before getting on the plane, has the runs while on the plane, is a dirty mf-er and doesn’t wash their hands properly. Everything they touch can now be contaminated with the virus. There are less surfaces to contaminate on a plane- your seat/tray, your overhead compartment handle, and the bathroom are about it. In addition, if you’re unlucky enough to be infected, the incubation period is probably long enough that you’ll be off the plane before YOU get the runs. So I don’t doubt that planeloads of people have been infected with stuff, but most diseases don’t kick in and start showing symptoms within the duration of a single flight, unlike they would over the length of a cruise. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-passenger-planes-have-norovirus-problems-like-cruise-ships-do/830055/20 "2019-03-18T15:06:40Z")
> [@bump](#): > > So I don’t doubt that planeloads of people have been infected with stuff, but most diseases don’t kick in and start showing symptoms within the duration of a single flight, unlike they would over the length of a cruise. Was going to mention this. Everybody gets off the plane and goes on their way. A family could all come down with something but they’ve been in close contact far more outside of the plane than in, and you probably wouldn’t hear about anyone else on the plane getting sick over the next couple of days. There’s still a lot less time and contact between passengers on a flight though, not that easy to spread something around.