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Rebecca & Cindy, I see your both in Maryland, I'm in no VA, does the Summit go out of Baltimore??!!!!!

Looking for info about the Fun Factory on Celebrity? Can anyone give me as many details as possible? My children are 7 & 9. They have never cruised. DH & I have been on 2 RCI cruises. Would like to try Celebrity next.

It would be great if you are all correct, however I haven't seen any reports yet officially confirming it as Noro.

Well if it came to improper food cleaning/prep/handling, or a sick food employee, or not enough cleaning between voyages for example, RCI certainly wouldn't want that to get out. I also think it's odd we received an email from RCI the day before this story broke saying how well the company's earnings have been doing and how we have made a great solid investment by owning their stock. No need to fire away at me for asking this. Obviously I like RCI since i have cruised with them multiple times and own stock. But this is business. BIG business. Can't be so trusting.

Just curious, but does anyone else find it odd that Caribbean Princess confirmed Noro before returning to port this week, but RCCL hasn't yet officially confirmed Noro was responsible on EOS?? Is there some sort of cover-up going on? Why haven't the results become published yet? If the CDC boarded last Saturday in St. Thomas and began collecting samples, surely they would have answers by now.

Ok, thank you for the responses and the chart. Here's a follow-up question. Which ships do you feel are most spacious, even when they might not be according to the numbers? Regarding the question about whether I meant cabins or common areas, well both I guess, but really common areas I think are more important for space. As someone said, I didn't enjoy not being able to find a deck chair on my Caribbean cruise in June. It was a problem for sure. The pools were packed, the deck party was packed, to the point of just being unenjoyable. I'm just trying to do something a little different next time around. We have done RCL twice but would like to try some other options.

 

Some other follow-up questions:

-Which ships/lines have the best food?

-Which ships/lines have the best entertainment?

-Which ships/lines will make me feel less like I'm being herded around like cattle, and more like, this is MY vacation?

-And another, while I realize this will be individualized per cruise, per week, per ship, but what about most courteous passengers? Honestly, I have some medical issues where I can't stand long periods of time. On our cruise in June I had to sit down in lines, and when it was our turn to move forward, even with my husband whisking me to my feet as fast as he could, passengers behind us took the opportunity to bypass us and cut in line around us while I was getting up - EVERY TIME! Dozens of them! It was so incredibly rude! And it made me very upset because I didn't ask for this problem, we paid hard-earned money for our trip too! I don't desire to be around people like that again!

Which cruise ships/lines have the most amount of space-to-passenger ratio?

I think the thing most people don't realize about viruses is that it takes exposure to a certain number of particles of a virus to become sick. I read that for many of the most common viruses the number of particles a person must be exposed to in order to become sick is around 1000. But there are some viruses that only require a much smaller amount of exposure (less than 100 particles), so I do think all of these products mentioned help keep us from getting sick, and good handwashing, not touching your mouth or face, etc, is probably what keeps people from getting sick, rather than the "having been exposed to more germs equals better immunity theory". There are many viruses that can be caught repeatedly, therefore this theory doesn't hold water.

You are right, clorox and lysol wipes do not kill noro, they do not contain bleach. However, I believe peroxide does and lysol has some new wipes that contain peroxide. This is what I used. Also as several of us have stated, hospital grade sanitizing wipes like CaviWipes kill noro and can be ordered online. There are also several hand sanitizers that kill noro and can be ordered from places like Amazon. However, it is often the scrubbing action that kills many pathogens that can make people ill, other than noro, so clorox and lysol wipes are still good for those other germs. Lots of germs other than noro on cruise ships.

 

I do agree that over-antibacterializing our lives isn't good for us, and I don't use these products in my home because of this. I use natural cleansers that I make myself, unless someone gets sick, then I pull out the heavy duty cleansers.

 

However, traveling on an expensive vacation that many of us have scrimped and saved for is a different story entirely, and I do not think sanitizing everything in sight for a week-long trip is going to hurt anyone's immune system.

 

Actually, I think the bigger issue with the "over-sanitization" of America is allergies. Many more food and environmental allergic people these days due to the antibacterializing. Not sure about weakening the immune response. That hasn't been proven yet.

I certainly did not cause myself to become immuno-compromised by being a "clean freak" and I do not appreciate the suggestion.

I'm a little surprised by the number of responses on this thread calling those of refusing to use the sanitizer going into the WJ as "nasty". I always wash my hands with soap and water in the bathroom before entering the WJ, therefore, I have no need for the sanitizer. I don't appreciate other passengers looking at me NOT using the sanitizer and thinking I'm "nasty", and I certainly wouldn't appreciate being followed and harrassed about it either.

Lachase asked for tips on staying well. We also took 2 antibacterial handsoaps for the bathroom, rather than relying on the bar soap provided. I also covered the sofa in our stateroom with a pool towel before sitting or laying down on it. Touched elevator buttons with knuckle or elbow.

Time4u2go: YES, we did, constant wiping of our cabin and bathroom. But as I said, I am immuno-compromised, so it was important for us. We even wiped our seapasses, camera, cellphones, zippers on backpacks, straps on bags, sunglasses, anything of ours we touched while out and about on the ship, etc. in case we picked up germs and deposited them on our belongings. YES, EVERYTHING, DAILY.

We did!!! We took lysol wipes, the ones with peroxide, because I thought I read they kill Noro. Another option is hospital grade wipes like CaviWipes. We wiped our entire cabin top to bottom, not just the light switches and remote, but EVERYTHING. Hubs and I tag-teamed it, and wiped everything in site the minute we got into the room. Even the balcony furniture and handrail. I traveled with a low immune function and picc line in my arm for medications. Had no problems at all, but then there wasn't an outbreak on our cruise. However, it was an over-capacity sailing, by like 500 people, so it was a big ship, over crowded, and we didn't get sick. Also we took foaming hand sanitizer and used it after touching the menu in the MDR and the serving utensils in the WJ.

Is the Promenade on Allure completely outside? If so, is there air conditioning? What do you do when it is raining?

Yes, we are getting ready to do the FOS eastern trip in 2 weeks, I am looking forward to your pictures and reviews for that portion of your trip!

AZA, what type of cordial is that you have on the plate with the tiramisu?

I am confused, can anyone tell me specifically what the $55 package does/does not include?

I am trying to decide whether I should buy the $55 package. My husband would definitely get use out of it, but we can't decide if I would. Here is what I will/will not drink.

At home, I drink 3-4 club sodas with tiny splash of cranberry juice per day. I do not drink any other variety of soda, regular or diet. I have to limit my sugar intake. Diet drinks cause me migraines, I don't touch them.

I do not drink wine or champagne, I get a allergic type reaction to most of them. I do not drink beer.

I drink CLEAR liquors, patron, light rum, that's mostly it, some of the sugary flavored liquors are fine when a specialty drink calls for them. On a vacation, I am guessing I might want 3-4 alcoholic beverages a day, plus my club sodas.

Iced tea and water are "free" in the windjammer, right?? So I would not need to include those in my calculations??

My question is, would I get my $$s worth if I buy the $55 package for myself?

AZAficionado, great review, thanks for taking the time to share this. I am going on FOS for the first time in a few weeks. I have a question Re: your stateroom fridge, I was wondering if you recall if there was a way to set/maintain the temp inside, ... was it cold enough for food/medications? Also, was it that full when you arrived? If so I guess I may need to ask them to take some of the stuff out.