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CruiseReporter
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Post subject: NCL Bathroom Redisgn is Criticized for Health Concerns
 Posted: May 07, 2008 - 04:43 EST
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A leading health expert has criticized the decision of Norwegian Cruise Lines to ditch cabin bathrooms in favor of separate basin and toilet cubicles over fears that it could aid the spread of the norovirus.
Sally Bloomfield, honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said putting the sink outside the toilet cubicle could encourage the spread of the bug.
“Norovirus spreads by person-to-person contact and through contact with surfaces that have been touched by people carrying the bug,” she said. “Everyone should wash their hands as soon as they have been to the toilet and the toilet area should be designed to encourage that. That means putting the sink by the toilet.”
The New Wave cabins, so-called because they have curved walls and furniture, have been designed for two new 4,000-passenger ships that NCL is building in France.
Instead of traditional bathrooms, there’s a shower unit on one side of the entrance to the cabin and a toilet cubicle on the other, both with frosted panels. The sink is inside the cabin.
The change away from the traditional “box” design on other ships has caused an outcry among some traditional cruisers.
“I don’t want my friends to see even an outline of me in the toilet,” said Louise Godwin, a regular cruiser. She added that the lack of privacy was also not ideal for parents sharing a cabin with their children.
“It’s one thing if you know the people in the room, quite another if you are in the shower or toilet cubicle and your cabin steward comes through the door.”
But a spokesman for NCL rejected such suggestions. “The wet area is sectioned off by a curtain that makes it private,” he said. “Having the basin outside the commode gives guests more space within the bathroom and allows guests the ability for one to shower while the other is using the sink.”
Colin Veitch, NCL president and chief executive officer, said other parts of the ships - codenamed F3 - would be just as revolutionary.
“We have thrown the cruise ship design rule book away and started with a blank sheet.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruis ... uses'.html |
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