As if you needed any more reasons to steer clear of New Jersey this week, a cruise ship full of vomiting passengers has just pulled into a port in Bayonne, NJ.
The cruise, a 3,050 passenger-Royal Caribbean liner dubbed The Explorer of the Seas, was bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Maarten, and headed out of Cape Liberty, N.J. last Tuesday. Unfortunately, less than 24 hours after departing, passengers and crew members alike became struck with norovirus, a highly contagious illness that can turn an entire cruise ship into a floating funhouse of vomiting and diarrhea in a matter of days.
At least 629 passengers and over 50 cruise employees came down with the norovirus, and though not everyone was spewing bodily fluids all at once, it doesn't sound like passengers were getting much use out of the all-you-can-eat buffet. "On Wednesday night, I was in the dining room and a woman was vomiting into her napkin," Shannon Blace, a passenger from Toronto, told CNN. "There were people walking around in their pajamas with vomit and diarrhea on them. People were barfing all over the place."
Sadly, the trip was cut two days short, and now the upchucking masses have arrived on our shores. "Are we bringing this virus off the ship with us?" Blace asked. "We're all going to hotels all over the New York area. Will we be spreading the virus to the Super Bowl this weekend?" That rat-infested ghost ship is looking better by the minute.
Luckily, the passengers are being treated by health officials from New Jersey and the Center for Disease Control, and the ship will be thoroughly sanitized. Meanwhile, passengers—some of whom reportedly described the trip as "the worst vacation of their [lives],"— will be receiving at least partial refunds, and vouchers for discounted future cruises, should they ever feel the need to set foot on a traveling bucket of human excrement and throw-up ever again.
