As the disease of communism in Cuba faces an American inoculation, an American cruise ship’s passengers caught a different disease on a recent cruise.
The Carnival cruise ship, the first to visit Cuba in decades, had more than a dozen passengers who became sick, possibly from norovirus, according to CBS Miami.
Though sickness on a cruise ship isn’t unheard of, it marred the effort of improving relations between Cuba and the United States.
The Carnival passengers fared better than passengers on a British cruise ship: more than 200 of them became sick from a norovirus outbreak announced by the CDC on Monday.
Despite the sickness, passengers were treated to agitprop when they visited Cuba. “What we saw on the various tours was obviously choreographed but then it was open,” passenger Doug Carson told CBS Miami.
In March, Carnival announced its cruise to Cuba, the first since the Cuban missile crisis. The Cuban government also reversed its policy that banned anyone born in Cuba from visiting on a cruise. American citizens can only travel to Cuba if they fall under “12 categories of authorized travel.” Carnival obtained licenses to cruise to the country from the United States government. The island nation is opening up, but the typical problems of a cruise ship remains for some passengers with weaker immune systems.
