Not that you would know that from media coverage of the fatality and hospitalisations on board Marco Polo, which was forced to abandon a voyage round the British Isles when dozens of guests and crew fell ill.

To add to the bad PR picture, numerous cruise vessels have seen multiple cases of swine flu, and in some cases, have been denied disembarkation as a result. Some leading players have taken a palpable hit to the bottom line.

Doctors insist that the risks of coming down with something nasty are considerably greater when travelling around a large city by underground railway than they are floating around the world’s oceans on a luxury cruiseship.

But in the nature of the case, once a carrier is admitted onto an enclosed environment such as a modern cruise vessel, it is impossible to prevent infectious diseases he or she may bear from spreading.

There is no room for complacency here. There are regulations governing the control of infectious disease on ships, and the authorities are right to enforce them, by means of legal action if necessary, for the good of the cruise industry as a whole.

Rigorous enforcement of hygiene standards is also crucial. One brand of disinfectant sell itself on the slogan that it kills 99% of all germs.

As a bare minimum, let such cleaning products be applied liberally between each voyage.