Cruise bug bites South Park couple

12-05-2002

Vonda and Dave Mazzarella of South Park were looking forward to celebrating their wedding anniversary last weekend with a three-night, round-trip cruise from Miami to Nassau on Carnival Cruise Line's ship "Fascination."

But their voyage didn't go as planned.

They embarked on Friday afternoon and enjoyed the first two days of the journey to Nassau. On Sunday morning, however, Dave got nauseous and chilled and started experiencing diarrhea and a headache. Later that afternoon, Vonda came down with similar symptoms.

That evening, they visited the ship's infirmary for treatment, where they encountered what Vonda estimated to be at least 150 other passengers, all ill with the same bug.

Vonda said the infirmary staff was overwhelmed by the number of stricken passengers and was able to offer only basic palliative treatments to ease their discomfort. Although not confirmed, the source of their discomfort is believed to be the Norwalk virus, which has plagued half a dozen different cruise liners in recent weeks.

After a night of suffering, the Mazzarellas debarked the "Fascination" on Monday morning in Miami but were too ill to fly home, so Carnival accommodated them in a Miami hotel for the night. They arrived back in Pittsburgh on Tuesday and sought assistance from their local doctor, who prescribed the drug Cipro as a treatment. As of Wednesday afternoon, however, their symptoms had yet to subside.

Apart from their discomfort and disappointment, the Mazzarellas were disturbed that Carnival hadn't done more to either warn passengers of the possibility of contamination or help once they were stricken. While getting off the ship, passengers got an information circular advising them to avoid contamination by washing their hands frequently with soap and hot water.

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