Bermuda refuses ship due to Noro

The Balmoral, a Fred Olson ship, is moored in Norfolk, VA today as it was turned away from Bermuda due to a Noro outbreak. It's on the local news. It's a small ship but over 100 reported cases. It goes to Baltimore tomorrow and the CDC will come aboard and investigate.

Has Summit or any X ship ever been turned away?

That would be a real bummer to plan a trip for Bermuda and never get there.

It's much more than just 100 passengers with the virus - it's 153 out of only 917 total which is almost 17%. I really can't blame Bermuda for not accepting the ship. http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2016/04/articles/norovirus/norovirus-outbreak-aboard-the-cursed-cruise-ship-balmoral/

Cruise ships have been turned away from ports before due to illness. Just this past winter, an Oceania ship was not allowed to dock in Aruba.

Cruise ships have been turned away from ports before due to illness. Just this past winter, an Oceania ship was not allowed to dock in Aruba.

Yep, and NCL Gem was not permitted to dock in St. Maarten a couple of months ago. It doesn't happen often, but it happens.

All ports have the right to do this and it does happen.

And while I feel for the passengers who got NORO because a few morons just can't wash their hands properly......

...I totally 100% applaud Bermuda for refusing illness to their shores, and I'm pleased we'll (hopefully) be visiting Berm next week on Summit

The threshold for reporting noro on cruise ships is reached when 3% of the passengers or crew on board are determined to have the virus. So if a ship as a combined 3,000 on board, that would be 90 cases - which would roughly equate to the passenger and crew level of Summit.

Any port can refuse any ship for many reasons, but I would think that a ratio of 17% as with Balmoral - which using the Summit example would be over 500 cases - would be concerning enough to provide a reason to deny entry. And I agree that this would be the prudent thing to do. But outbreaks of that scale are very rare, thank goodness! :)

It's much more than just 100 passengers with the virus - it's 153 out of only 917 total which is almost 17%. I really can't blame Bermuda for not accepting the ship. http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2016/04/articles/norovirus/norovirus-outbreak-aboard-the-cursed-cruise-ship-balmoral/

Thanks for the link.

It sure didn't take long for the ''ambulance chasers''-type lawyers to get in onto that one.:( ( it never does....).

Walker's bias notwithstanding, the Fred Olsen organisation seems to have been affected recently, disproportionnately when measured against other lines. I suggest their protocol could undergo some ''refinements''.Feel bad for the affected guests....and of course their fellow cruisers. I can't imagine how bad this is for the crew as well.

Since the Summit only has one stop, Bermuda, where would they go for a week?

Since the Summit only has one stop, Bermuda, where would they go for a week?

If refused port entry, back to Bayonne?? Or maybe a week at sea cruise to nowhere, although not sure if they are permitted anymore. But I guess that would be a special circumstance?

If refused port entry, back to Bayonne?? Or maybe a week at sea cruise to nowhere, although not sure if they are permitted anymore. But I guess that would be a special circumstance?

If a few instances of RCCL needing last minute rearrangements of Bermuda cruises back when I was a TA, probably to Atlantic Canada.

Cruise ships have been turned away from ports before due to illness. Just this past winter, an Oceania ship was not allowed to dock in Aruba.

Yes, and I was on that one. Instead of Bermuda got to spend two lovely days in Nassau.:rolleyes:

If a few instances of RCCL needing last minute rearrangements of Bermuda cruises back when I was a TA, probably to Atlantic Canada.

But would that be the same if they were refused port entry due to a large scale noro outbreak? Other ports may refuse entry as well. Just curious.

But would that be the same if they were refused port entry due to a large scale noro outbreak? Other ports may refuse entry as well. Just curious.

I think it would be at the discretion of the individual ports. There's also the chance that, should the outbreak become significant, that they'd return early to give the ship a stem-to-stern cleaning.

I'm just saying that the tendency for altered Bermuda sailings is to head to Canada. Which can cause havoc depending on how people packed.

There's no legitimate reason to refuse a ship entry to a port due to noro. Noro is more common on land than it is on a cruise ship. Anyone could fly into Bermuda and spread it just as easily, not to mention to a wider area if they're staying for several days. Reporting % is 3% for cruise ships, but is higher for schools, nursing homes, hospitals. So, what is considered an outbreak on a ship wouldn't be in a school. Any one day at work, we have more than 3% of people out sick and there have been times when it's due to a stomach virus (prob noro since most people are only sick for a couple of days) yet they don't close work. No one wants noro, but no one wants to catch anything. DH and I have both caught colds a couple of times, but never anything else in 19 cruises and we wash our hands regularly. My point is, the odds of anyone coming ashore off a ship and spreading noro are no higher than someone flying in (or someone who lives there).

Noro is just a gastro intestinal virus that most people have had at one time or another, but for some reason when it comes to cruise ships, panic ensues.