[Political Junkie Too]

The poisoning possibly at the ports of call?

I think so. I posted this on December 4:

What if it's not the cruise ship, per se, but one of its ports of call? The passengers go visiting many small islands during their week-long cruises, and they could contract the viruses off ship, and then introduce it onboard to other passengers when they meet at the buffets or nightclubs or pools or whatever.

Has anyone taken a close look at the Carribbean island security where the cruise ships circulate?

I got no replies at the time. Perhaps now some people are looking into the possibility. If ship-board security is tight, then local islands is where I'd attack. People get off the ships to take in the local flavor, and then bring the virus back on board to infect their fellow passengers.

-PJ

[stilts]

I beleive that some of the cruises had incidents of the virus prior to any ports of call.

An alternative evil scenario is as follows: many of the cruises book people on the same flights (or have charters) to get them from Europe to the embarkation point. Let's assume that one of these planes is leaving from Heathrow. A terrorist gets on a domestic flight in the UK that disembarks in Heathrow an hour before the "cruise" flight leaves. The terrorist then goes to the boarding area and spreads some aerosol very discreetly. These folks then climb on a plane and sit together closely as the air ciruculates and the virus spreads. By the time they land in Miami there are a bunch of carriers who all then climb on a boat and further spread the infection. At the end of the cruise the boat load then disembark and return to points all over the western world where they further spread the virus.

In this scenario the Terrorist doesn't have to actually smuggle anything into the US or approach a boat that is being heavily watched.