The Cronin family was hoping to celebrate their eldest son’s 18th birthday with a trip to Mexico, but things took a turn for the worse just two days into their vacation.
“This was by far the worst thing I’ve ever been through. It was so violent, and there was never a break, there was no rest,” said mother Rebecca Cronin in a recent interview.
The family was staying at the Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun, an all-inclusive resort they had booked through Sunwing, from Feb. 1 to 8.
At first, her eldest and youngest sons and her husband got sick with severe diarrhea and vomiting. Within the next day or so, Rebecca, her 72-year-old mother, other son and daughter began experiencing symptoms.
Rebecca said her husband had passed out and fell in the bathroom, waking up shortly in a pool of vomit. When she went down to the front desk of their resort for help, she said she was met with little to no sympathy.
“I needed help. My husband had fallen, everyone’s violently ill,” she said. “They told me they were busy, there was a line up of people checking in … So I stood there in tears and I’m just shaking. I have no idea what to do. I feel super helpless and there’s no one to help me.”
She told the front desk to send a doctor up to their room, but she said the doctor wouldn’t come up unless their insurance was verified, which took some time.
A doctor was finally able to make it to their room and recommended that her sons and husband go to the hospital.
They arrived at the hospital around 1 a.m. and were discharged at 3 p.m. the same day after being treated with antibiotics and an IV for a gastro bacterial infection.
Being afraid to eat anything at the resort, the family hunted down packaged foods they could consume without having to worry about contamination.
The following day around 3 a.m., Rebecca, her mother and her two other children went to the hospital after falling ill.
“That was a nightmare,” she said. “They separated me and my children. I did not know where they were for hours … I kept asking questions but I really didn’t get any information.
“Finally I got upset and got them to move my 12-year-old son into my room … he was terrified.”
She said most of them had missed the bathroom as they were hooked up to IVs and when they called for a nurse, no one came.
When the family tried to leave, staff at the front desk told them they had to pay thousands of dollars because of issues with health insurance.
They were finally able to leave at 8:45 a.m. the next day so they could pack up for their flight.
“That was a horrible feeling,” she said. “We got back to the hotel and we didn’t even stop for prescriptions. We just wanted to go home.”
Rebecca said they spoke with staff at the resort to see if there was any form of compensation.
“They did not care. There was no customer care at this resort at all,” she said.
Dozens of guests at the hotel were reported to be sick, some tested positive for E. Coli. Rebecca added that the hotel smelled of sewage.
Weeks later, the family is still traumatized and has yet to get back to 100 per cent health.
“We are still going back and forth, getting tests from our doctors, because no one is right. None of my kids want to eat, we eat and we feel nauseous, we’re exhausted,” said Rebecca.
The family has reached out to Sunwing, but have yet to hear back.
In an emailed statement to CTV News Edmonton, Sunwing said it is aware of reports regarding guest experiences at the Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun.
“The health and well-being of our guests remains our top priority, and we are in contact with the hotel to better understand the circumstances and any measures being taken on property,” said the statement. “We encourage any guests requiring assistance to contact our customer support teams directly so their individual situations can be reviewed.”
Rebecca said she will never go back to Mexico.
“I have been there twice prior to this … we never experienced anything like this … but I will never go back because it was like a living hell … it was traumatic for my whole family.”
CTV News Edmonton has reached out to the Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun for comment.
Can illness be prevented?
Simon Otto, an associate professor at the University of Alberta School of Public Health, said there is not much one can do other than avoid certain types of food when travelling in tropical countries.
“I think most people know that you should only drink and brush your teeth with bottled water, but it’s some of the things we don’t think about,” said Otto. “So avoiding any ice, because a lot of times ice could be prepared from tap water that could be contaminated.”
He said it’s best to eat food that is cooked or steaming hot.
“Fresh fruits and vegetables, if they’re not things we’re peeling ourselves, are often washed in water that would be contaminated,” he said. “Avoiding buffets, avoiding food that’s not hot, eating dry or pre-packaged foods is ideal. But these things go against our nature, right?
“We’re at these resorts because we want to enjoy the food and the restaurants, but the reality is, there’s a potential for contamination of fresh produce, uncooked food and things that we need to be careful of.”
Otto said it’s common for travellers to get prescriptions for antibiotics in case they get travellers’ diarrhea, but he advises against it.
“Sometimes some of those bacterial infections, if we treat them with antibiotics, we also wipe out the good bacteria in our guts,” he said, adding it could be a good idea to take probiotics a few weeks leading up to your trip to prime your gastrointestinal system.
“Is that going to prevent you from getting sick? Not necessarily. But it’s not going to hurt.”
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