- Cruise ship codewords revolved around passenger illness and ship emergencies that are remembered by staff members.
- PVI (Public Vomiting Incident) is the most dreaded codeword onboard a cruise ship and is usually caused by a virus.
- Passengers are advised to avoid shaking hands with crew members to limit chances of infection.
According to an article published in Express UK, cruise holidays attract a great number of Britons these days with holidaymakers keen to explore a number of different destinations without ever unpacking.
Life on a cruise ship
Life on a cruise ship for passengers is generally both enjoyable and relaxing. However, it’s a different kettle of fish for the cruise ship crew members who work to make the holidays go smoothly. When matters don’t go to plan – or when staff doesn’t want passengers to understand – they might sometimes use codewords.
To the uninitiated, these acronyms and words can mean very little but for those in the know, it’s a signal to spring into action. An industry insider has revealed one such codeword which signals something rather nasty has happened.
Codeword onboard cruise ship
Brandon Presser was previously temporary director of Royal Caribbean’s largest ship, Harmony of the Seas.
During this time, Presser worked with the 2,200-plus crew and there were plenty of codes for staff to remember. He revealed to Bloomberg that some of the codewords revolved around passenger illness and ship emergencies. One codeword which likely sent a shiver down any crew member’s spine was “PVI.”
Codeword PVI
Presser told the publication this stood for “public vomiting incident” – and it happened more than once while he was on board.
He was on the ship for just a week but he called in a total of three PVIs in that time. However, if the sickness is caused by a virus that could rapidly spread then serious action has to be taken.
Cruise ship SOS
Doctor Ben MacFarlane recalled in his book Cruise Ship SOS what happened when they suspected “the dreaded noro.”
He wrote: “If the alert levels rise too far we pretty much lock the ship down. At Code Red, almost every member of the 1,000 strong crew will play some part in the fight-back procedure, even if it’s only washing their hands a few more times every hour,” he said.
He further added, “In the meantime, pre-arranged teams of workers will begin a forensic clean-down service. Every surface that is ever touched will be disinfected almost the moment the last person has passed it. The cleaning crew will practically follow passengers around the ship to wipe down anything they brush into. Any or all passengers can be quarantined in their cabins. We can close off single decks or whole sections of the ship. It’s an exhaustive and exhausting operation.”
Avoid shaking hands
Ex cruise ship crew member Joshua Kinser has also said that passengers should avoid shaking hands with crew members to limit chances of infection, too. “They may not realize how much sickness spreads through the crew on cruise ships, and many employees don’t keep up with proper hygiene,“ Kinser told. “This is partly due to the fact that many crew members are working such long hours out on the ships and also due to cultural differences in what is considered good and proper hygiene.”
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Source: ExpressUK
