Independence Norovirus Outbreak?

I am currently on the ship now. The issue actually made the front page of CNN. It looks like almost 6% of the passengers on the previous sailing reported suffering from symptoms of a gastro-intestinal illness. That doesn't include the ones who probably never went to medical.

 

 

 

The ship is in some level 3 protocol, so you are served everything by crew. This includes needing to ask for salt,pepper, and condiments. As a result, every line is pretty long no matter when you want to eat. Main dining room seems to be a more "normal" experience, but everywhere else it definitely takes longer to get anything done. Staff won't set drinks out for people to grab, so you are served individually. The staff literally can't keep up, so I gave up trying to get _anything_ to drink at breakfast. At times the drinks would only be half full to try to keep up with demand.

 

 

 

I don't know if Indy normally has self-serve soda machines, my last cruise did on a sister ship, but it was almost 5 years ago. In any case, it is very hard to get your money worth out of a drink package since you need to allow quite a bit of time to wait in line. My kids have given up on using it outside of seated dining with adults. It is hard for a minor to get through the line to get any drink at all.

 

 

 

The staff is doing a good job, and they seem to be friendly as usual. Unfortunately, because of the situation the _feeling_ is that the first priority is keeping people from getting sick, and providing the traditional cruise experience is secondary. I'm not sure if they really have any choice, but we definitely feel like we lost the lottery on this one. I still get served alcohol whenever I want it pretty quickly.

So, you haven't seen or heard of anyone on the ship with any illness symptoms?? That would be terrific!

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I am currently on the ship now. The issue actually made the front page of CNN. It looks like almost 6% of the passengers on the previous sailing reported suffering from symptoms of a gastro-intestinal illness. That doesn't include the ones who probably never went to medical.

 

The ship is in some level 3 protocol, so you are served everything by crew. This includes needing to ask for salt,pepper, and condiments. As a result, every line is pretty long no matter when you want to eat. Main dining room seems to be a more "normal" experience, but everywhere else it definitely takes longer to get anything done. Staff won't set drinks out for people to grab, so you are served individually. The staff literally can't keep up, so I gave up trying to get _anything_ to drink at breakfast. At times the drinks would only be half full to try to keep up with demand.

 

I don't know if Indy normally has self-serve soda machines, my last cruise did on a sister ship, but it was almost 5 years ago. In any case, it is very hard to get your money worth out of a drink package since you need to allow quite a bit of time to wait in line. My kids have given up on using it outside of seated dining with adults. It is hard for a minor to get through the line to get any drink at all.

 

The staff is doing a good job, and they seem to be friendly as usual. Unfortunately, because of the situation the _feeling_ is that the first priority is keeping people from getting sick, and providing the traditional cruise experience is secondary. I'm not sure if they really have any choice, but we definitely feel like we lost the lottery on this one. I still get served alcohol whenever I want it pretty quickly.

Thanks for taking the time to post. Sounds like the staff is following policy and procedures for the outbreak. (y)(y)

It seems some of the precautions are being taken in the terminal as well . For the first time we saw three people with shirts that literally said “Sanitizing crew” on the back who were wiping things down in T29.

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Yup, almost impossible to eat in WJ.

Long lines, no self serve, limited selections.

Was on Noro cruise last week and BTB now.

I heard crew was sick first, then guests, hhmmmm.

Also heard 400+ sick.

Crew just following orders.

Can’t wait to get off Indy tomorrow in Costa Maya,

we are very hungry!

The reason is because October to March is the peak period for Noro cases in the US as indicated in this graph from the CDC https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/reported-outbreaks.html

 

 

 

Keep in mind that there are usually between 19-21 million cases of Norovirus in the US during a normal year. Out of a US population of 323 million that means that 6.2% of the US population gets Noro each year. The percentage on cruise ships are far far lower. You would have less chance of catching Noro on a cruise ship than you do going about your daily life.

Get that. Wondering why October to March is peak time?

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Yup, almost impossible to eat in WJ.

 

Long lines, no self serve, limited selections.

 

...

What about Cafe Promenade and Sorrento's?

What about Cafe Promenade and Sorrento's?

There is no food anywhere. The food is limited at these places. Some regular items they continually saying "we will be getting onboard soon". A good example of this is how my Mom asked for a salad today at Sorrentos which they normally have and the response was "we can get that for you in about 45 minutes". Everyone is hungry. There is just no snacks anywhere

There is no food anywhere. The food is limited at these places. Some regular items they continually saying "we will be getting onboard soon". A good example of this is how my Mom asked for a salad today at Sorrentos which they normally have and the response was "we can get that for you in about 45 minutes". Everyone is hungry. There is just no snacks anywhere

Thanks for the update, hopefully they get back to normal soon.

What about Cafe Promenade and Sorrento's?

Short lines at these two locations.

Agree so why doesn’t happen wash your hands or don’t eat.

 

 

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On the Anthem the crew wouldn’t do anything when people skipped the hand washing station of course they had Noro for fours weeks straight

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We dont have insurance . If it was just me and my helathy kids I wouldn't even think about not going but my little one has a chronic bowel disease . Loosing the vacation money is better than spending thousands in hospital bills as last time when he got sick and ended up in the hospital for 6 months.

We want to go so bad

 

 

I wish I could give you my tickets

I am glad you reposted about your child's health. It is a difficult decision to make even if you family is healthy.... but I understand your concern about the longer term implications for your child. We were on a Norwegian cruise about 10 years ago. First my husband got it... and then a few days later I did. I tried to keep things clean... I had brought clorox wipes, but I must have missed a spot. One take away for me... was that I now get a balcony cabin. I can not image spending days confined to my cabin with nothing to look at but the limited offerings on TV. At least on that cruise we could sit on the balcony an look out at the port we could not go to. The shots did work, but we did feel weak for a number of days.... not sure how well we would have fared if we had an underlying condition that impacted this same system. Hopefully they will allow you to at least get a credit for a future cruise.

I'd like to tell you all about something I witnessed on our cruise in November that might shed some light on the recent virus.

We were on the Adventure of the Seas. When we ate in the main dining room we usually had the same wait staff and the bussing station was behind our table, so we couldn't see what was going on behind there. But one of the times we couldn't have our usual table and sat at a different table. While we were there I noticed just how the dining system works and was totally disgusted.

I realized that the same people that take away the dirty dishes between all of the courses are the SAME people that are serving our food. I witnessed them taking people's dirty silverware and putting them in the bins with all the other dirty items. Touching all of the silverware and glasses and plates, then bringing our next courses to us.... touching our plates with the SAME hands that they just handled all of the dirty items.. I just about died!!! That was the last night of our cruise that I witnessed this.

This was our first cruise in 30 years and most likely will be our last.. When I returned I filled out the survey I got in my email and made sure to tell them what I saw. I also called Royal Caribbean and spoke to someone personally and told them about it.

I don't care how many times the guests wash their hands, if the staff is doing what they are doing, THEY are the ones responsible for spreading the germs.

I would recommend anyone taking a cruise in the near future to keep an eye out for this practice and then report it. I'm sure if an inspector saw this they would be shut down.

For all who are cruising soon, have a wonderful trip and stay well!

I'd like to tell you all about something I witnessed on our cruise in November that might shed some light on the recent virus.

 

We were on the Adventure of the Seas. When we ate in the main dining room we usually had the same wait staff and the bussing station was behind our table, so we couldn't see what was going on behind there. But one of the times we couldn't have our usual table and sat at a different table. While we were there I noticed just how the dining system works and was totally disgusted.

 

I realized that the same people that take away the dirty dishes between all of the courses are the SAME people that are serving our food. I witnessed them taking people's dirty silverware and putting them in the bins with all the other dirty items. Touching all of the silverware and glasses and plates, then bringing our next courses to us.... touching our plates with the SAME hands that they just handled all of the dirty items.. I just about died!!! That was the last night of our cruise that I witnessed this.

This was our first cruise in 30 years and most likely will be our last.. When I returned I filled out the survey I got in my email and made sure to tell them what I saw. I also called Royal Caribbean and spoke to someone personally and told them about it.

I don't care how many times the guests wash their hands, if the staff is doing what they are doing, THEY are the ones responsible for spreading the germs.

 

I would recommend anyone taking a cruise in the near future to keep an eye out for this practice and then report it. I'm sure if an inspector saw this they would be shut down.

 

For all who are cruising soon, have a wonderful trip and stay well!

Really nothing new. At most restaurants Waiters bring and take away. But do any of them ever wash their hands, that's the question. Years ago on Royal it was one waiter to a table, 1 asst would work two tables. That was when they served a 5 course meal that took 2 hrs. Now lots of cross contamination. But if you ever knew how many people touched your food from the Fields to table you'd probably never eat...

...I realized that the same people that take away the dirty dishes between all of the courses are the SAME people that are serving our food. I witnessed them taking people's dirty silverware and putting them in the bins with all the other dirty items. Touching all of the silverware and glasses and plates, then bringing our next courses to us.... touching our plates with the SAME hands that they just handled all of the dirty items.. I just about died!!! That was the last night of our cruise that I witnessed this...

We eat out all the time and the restaurants we eat at the servers always clears our dishes between courses. This is not unusual practice. Cruise ship or not. We always wash our hands when possible and carry our own Purell as well as use the ships. Do you wash your hands after touching the menu, your chair, salt and pepper shakers every time? Do you wipe your utensils off before eating with them ever time? Possibly your server or another person handling your food or table settings may be sick. No matter how hard we try it's easily to be distracted or just forget.

I am glad you reposted about your child's health. It is a difficult decision to make even if you family is healthy.... but I understand your concern about the longer term implications for your child. We were on a Norwegian cruise about 10 years ago. First my husband got it... and then a few days later I did. I tried to keep things clean... I had brought clorox wipes, but I must have missed a spot. One take away for me... was that I now get a balcony cabin. I can not image spending days confined to my cabin with nothing to look at but the limited offerings on TV. At least on that cruise we could sit on the balcony an look out at the port we could not go to. The shots did work, but we did feel weak for a number of days.... not sure how well we would have fared if we had an underlying condition that impacted this same system. Hopefully they will allow you to at least get a credit for a future cruise.

No credit. They still do not admit there was a norovirus onboard after all the official information . I am glad we did not go. I felt bad when they lied to me so many times . But I understand them 3 ships with noro last month. I am super thankful to all the people posting here . Their information helped me take the right decision not to go. First i was thinking they will deeply sanitize the ship and it will be cleaner than usual. But then I was thinking about the crew that already got the virus, the people doing back to back ..

My family really loves RC ships but I was super frustrated with RC representatives trying to hide that very important info.

Really nothing new. At most restaurants Waiters bring and take away. But do any of them ever wash their hands, that's the question. Years ago on Royal it was one waiter to a table, 1 asst would work two tables. That was when they served a 5 course meal that took 2 hrs. Now lots of cross contamination. But if you ever knew how many people touched your food from the Fields to table you'd probably never eat...

haha ya you're probably right about that. I guess sometimes, ignorance IS bliss!

this all sounds disgusting....RCL sure has their share of problems. You could not pay me to get on any of these ships.

We eat out all the time and the restaurants we eat at the servers always clears our dishes between courses. This is not unusual practice. Cruise ship or not. We always wash our hands when possible and carry our own Purell as well as use the ships. Do you wash your hands after touching the menu, your chair, salt and pepper shakers every time? Do you wipe your utensils off before eating with them ever time? Possibly your server or another person handling your food or table settings may be sick. No matter how hard we try it's easily to be distracted or just forget.

I know it's not unusual practice, but I guess I just never noticed it that blatantly before... I know that there are all kinds of stuff on the items you listed above and you can't ever be rid of being in contact with them. But it's still gross.

...I know it's not unusual practice, but I guess I just never noticed it that blatantly before... I know that there are all kinds of stuff on the items you listed above and you can't ever be rid of being in contact with them. But it's still gross.

One thing I noticed on most cruiselines is with the menu. It is so huge and basically it is laid on, or at least is hovering over your plate and all utensils. Before I take the menu, I move the utensils and bread plate.

So far, knock on wood, we have not encountered anything more than a cold. Unless we travel with friends, about a quarter of the time, we eat by ourselves. That means we are at least not sharing and or passing the bread, butter, cream etc., around with other people touching them.

I have never been on a ship before where you could not take food out of the Windjammer and I cannot come up with any reason how doing so would contribute to containing the issue aboard the ship. I don't have a problem with rules unless they don't make any sense. The captain's policy doesn't make any sense from a medical standpoint unless he felt the food was contaminated in which case the Windjammer should have been shut down. Apparently he knows better what you should feed your kid than you do?

I think the idea is probably to force people to report who otherwise have decided to just hunker down in their cabin for the minimum amount of time and then spread their germs around the ship. It's not a bad idea.

I think the idea is probably to force people to report who otherwise have decided to just hunker down in their cabin for the minimum amount of time and then spread their germs around the ship. It's not a bad idea.

So those people who are hunkered down, and hungry, will then just decide to go up to the Windjammer and spread their virus around? You are right, the captain's policy was not a bad idea... it was a stupid one.

On Indy now. I love reading the CC posts. They are very entertaining! No is going hungry on the ship. Yes some fresh selections are limited like salad toppings. (Tomato’s, cucumbers, etc). But still a lot of food that is normal RCCL quality. Which has declined over the years. The Captain on the first day announced that the previous sailing had norovirus, they are not hiding anything. The crew is cleaning everything all the time. I think it’s great to have a clean ship. So far I have not heard if anyone on this sailing has norovirus. Hopefully that continues, they are making sure we clean our hands. Again I have had more than enough food and getting my money’s worth on my drink pkg. Great weather and fun times!

Thanks for the update!

Im on the following 9 day Christmas cruise. Not really worried about the past issue. It happens. Im just hoping that some of the restrictions are removed for the next sailing providing no outbreak was reported on your sailing.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/200-passengers-aboard-royal-caribbean-ship-stricken-stomach/story?id=51829904

Not many people really... At this time of the year with over 4,000 people on the ship you would expect quite a few to be sick.