If you're sick on Ruby you're on your own

[kgb]

Just got back from the Ruby's 2/26 sailing. Noro was frequently mentioned but did not become evident untild the 3rd day. All of the plates and silverware wete being handled out by the crew and the salt and pepper shakers were gone. The following day the srew was plating all of the food at all locations. I met a passenger who was sea sick the first 3 days of the cruise, claimed she called 911 and was told someone would call her back. That call never came. I felt that maybe this was just a tall tail or just one of those things, that was until Friday night when my wife became very sick during the nights show in the theater. She spent the night sick with what we assumed to be Noro. The next morning I called 911 and was told that someone from medical would get back to me. When I asked when I was told they were busy but they would call. Well I'm home from the cruise and am still waiting from that call. It seems toa me that Princess talks a good game but there is a total lack of response.

 

Our cabin steward told me they would do a complete cleaning of the room after medical contacted the steward's supervisor. Seeing this never happened I wonder how clean that cabin will be when the next passengers move in.

[jefa]

I'm sorry to hear that your wife was so sick. But I'm also wondering why you didn't go to the medical centre to get her seen to?

[Coral]

I'm sorry to hear that your wife was so sick. But I'm also wondering why you didn't go to the medical centre to get her seen to?

 

In the past, there have been instructions in the cabin to call 911 and to stay in the cabin (if you had norovirus) because they wanted to come to you as opposed to you wandering the ship touching surfaces (rails, elevator buttons, etc...) to get to the medical center. I am not sure what the current instructions say.

 

I probably would have called back and asked if they wanted me to go to the medical center or stay put.

 

Princess did drop the ball on this. Next time, definitely call back again after a reasonable time period. I am guessing they were overwhelmed with calls. They probably should staff the medical centers better.

 

I hope your wife is feeling better today.

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Sorry to hear that your DW got Noro and got poor service, when I was ill

 

service could not have been better, phone calls every few hours, room

 

cleaned, supervisor inspected, cleaned by bio hazard crew etc,

 

but that was a couple of years ago.

 

 

yours shogun

[BugsyCruiser]

I must admit this is starting to concern me a little. Ruby seems to be having quite a few outbreaks of Noro lately. Maybe I shouldn't worry but I sail on her the first week of April and seeing these kind of reports doesn't exactly make me feel excited about going.

[refman]

leaving now

[Candy]

Where's the sound?

[Phyljim]

Where's the sound?

Sound was there. Hope you heard it. 4 longs and 1 short.

[Posaune]

I must say that on the January 29 cruise I did have Noro and called 911. The nurse was in the room within 15 minutes. My wife called a couple more times overnight and had very quick return calls. Absolutely no complaints here. I actually sent a commendation letter to Princess after the cruise and had a nice response from headquarters.

[Toddy709]

In all aspects of life you can "fall through the cracks". There is no excuse for it. However, you must be your own advocate and if you don't receive service within a reasonable amount of time, you need to pursue the issue! If you need help and you don't press the issue... well, you continue to be "lost in the crack".

[jpthomas27]

I apologize upfront for the fact that this may seem insensitive but...

 

If your sick, a room cleaning is too late. Your already sick and anyone sharing your room is already exposed.

 

When I get sick on land I take what medication I can in order to help the symptoms and stay home, both to rest and recuperate as well as to not infect people at work. Why wouldn't the same apply here? Take some medicine and stay in your cabin. In my mind there is no need to complicate things here for a simple flu virus.

 

I do understand there is difference becasue your on board a ship and I absolutely understand the need to notify the crew on board a ship of your illness, but outside of that why is there a need to be catered to with frequesnt phone calls etc... I agree that if your in need specific assistance for some reason then keep calling or send your cabin mate to get the help you need. If I was sick and trying to rest I would be annoyed at hourly phone calls. I'd ask them to stop calling so I could get some sleep without being interupted.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I disagree. The cleaning is for the next passengers staying in that cabin, not just the ill person's companion. The hazmat cleaning likely never took place since medical wasn't properly engaged. I, too, would not choose to call 911 and get myself quarantined for 3 days, but I would do just that to protect my fellow passengers and those to come.

[luvtheships]

We will be on the Ruby over the summer and I would expect that this mess would be long gone by then...but I have a few questions...

 

1. Is Noro more predominate during winter season cruises?

 

2. What meds would be suggested to carry with us...anti diarrea...fever...cough?

 

Not familiar with the virus, but will be doing some research, I always travel prepared for illness...just wondering what some would suggest to bring along. Thanks.

[robgvic]

With teh number of people reporting Noro Virus on the Ruby (it is becoming the in thing to do) they wouldn't have enough staff to keep up with it. I doubt they have more than one doctor and a couple of nurses for the whole ship

[MTJSR]

Certainly not making light of this poster experience. I do however have a question, what exactly is Princess's responsibility if a passenger gets sick while onboard? I understand, it is in their best interest to investigate and control a potential epidemic. Having said that, is Princess 100 percent in the wrong, when someone doesn't get attended too?

[windsor26]

I have just read the live from review from Ruby and there is no noro at the moment although they are being cautious

[MrYellowDuck]

Noro is unpleasant but generally benign. There is no possible way that the medical staff on the ship could attend to everyone with this illness during a major outbreak.

 

For example, if there were 500 sick people it would take at least 8 working days to see everyone by working reasonable shifts and this would leave little time to deal with serious medical issues.

 

I really don't know what they could do here. Saying "you're not sick enough for us to be interested at the moment" is not going to work. Assuming that a really sick person will self-select by phoning back until helped probably does work though.

 

We always take a full kit of medication to self-treat should we get this type of illness. Our kit has anti-nausea pills, anti-diarrhea pills, and re-hydration powder. I personally would never ever seek help from a ship-board doctor for Noro - the only thing they can do is quarantine you; and this is very unlikely to help anyone but it will ruin your holiday with 100% certainty.

[Ron the Rev]

Noro is unpleasant but generally benign. There is no possible way that the medical staff on the ship could attend to everyone with this illness during a major outbreak.

 

For example, if there were 500 sick people it would take at least 8 working days to see everyone by working reasonable shifts and this would leave little time to deal with serious medical issues.

 

I really don't know what they could do here. Saying "you're not sick enough for us to be interested at the moment" is not going to work. Assuming that a really sick person will self-select by phoning back until helped probably does work though.

 

We always take a full kit of medication to self-treat should we get this type of illness. Our kit has anti-nausea pills, anti-diarrhea pills, and re-hydration powder. I personally would never ever seek help from a ship-board doctor for Noro - the only thing they can do is quarantine you; and this is very unlikely to help anyone but it will ruin your holiday with 100% certainty.

Likewise we now always take a good variation of medical kit then nip any problem in the bud. We also take a spray can of disinfectant and use it in the cabin first thing, don't forget the pillows. People are becoming paranoide with this problem. I caught Pharo's revenge on a Nile cruise, cost me a lot for a shot to stop, so lesson learned.

[capriccio]

I personally would never ever seek help from a ship-board doctor for Noro - the only thing they can do is quarantine you; and this is very unlikely to help anyone but it will ruin your holiday with 100% certainty.

 

I hope I misunderstood your comment that quarantines don't help and you are not advocating that ill cruisers should be wandering the public areas. Although from everything I've read about Noro you are so ill wandering from the bed to the bathroom is a challenge.

[gelo7]

Sorry that your wife was ill during your cruise.

[ChevyCruiser]

I must admit this is starting to concern me a little. Ruby seems to be having quite a few outbreaks of Noro lately. Maybe I shouldn't worry but I sail on her the first week of April and seeing these kind of reports doesn't exactly make me feel excited about going.

 

Quite a few outbreaks on the same ship.......what's the common denominator.......hmmmmmmm.........here's a quote from another thread on the same sailing:

 

"You could tell there were probably many crew members that were ill, as it seemed they were understaffed at times in different areas of the ship."

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1588704

 

 

Let's do the math:

 

Same ship + same crew - different PAX each cruise = Contaminated ship and crew.:eek:

[Stevesan]

I hope I misunderstood your comment that quarantines don't help and you are not advocating that ill cruisers should be wandering the public areas. Although from everything I've read about Noro you are so ill wandering from the bed to the bathroom is a challenge.

 

Trust me, one doesn't "wander" to the bathroom.:o

 

I suffered through it many years ago while staying at a hotel in Biloxi.

[zacc]

Just got back from the Ruby's 2/26 sailing. Noro was frequently mentioned but did not become evident untild the 3rd day. All of the plates and silverware wete being handled out by the crew and the salt and pepper shakers were gone. The following day the srew was plating all of the food at all locations. I met a passenger who was sea sick the first 3 days of the cruise, claimed she called 911 and was told someone would call her back. That call never came. I felt that maybe this was just a tall tail or just one of those things, that was until Friday night when my wife became very sick during the nights show in the theater. She spent the night sick with what we assumed to be Noro. The next morning I called 911 and was told that someone from medical would get back to me. When I asked when I was told they were busy but they would call. Well I'm home from the cruise and am still waiting from that call. It seems toa me that Princess talks a good game but there is a total lack of response.

 

Our cabin steward told me they would do a complete cleaning of the room after medical contacted the steward's supervisor. Seeing this never happened I wonder how clean that cabin will be when the next passengers move in.

 

 

Let me start by saying sorry your wife became ill. With that being said I have to ask.....she got very sick Friday night and you didn't call 911 until Saturday morning and you are mad at Princess for what seems to you to be a "total lack of response"!?!:rolleyes: I'm guessing that a quicker response on your part would have placed her name much higher on the waitlist possibly providing the medical stafff enough time to get to her. Just saying.....a coin always has two sides:)

[M2D]

I hope I misunderstood your comment that quarantines don't help and you are not advocating that ill cruisers should be wandering the public areas. Although from everything I've read about Noro you are so ill wandering from the bed to the bathroom is a challenge.

 

What a lot of people don't realize is that you stay contagious for up to 72 hours after the noro symptoms have stopped. Hence the reason for the quarantine, although you feel fine your still exposing all the rest of the cruisers for 3 days after the vomit/diarrhea has subsided.

 

One thing that could definitely be changed is letting everyone handle the tongs/spoons etc at the buffet lines... Last year I was on HAL and from day 1 they did all the serving for you with rubber gloves, then once the ship was confirmed noro-free they let you serve yourself.... Princess appears to wait until there is an outbreak and then serve you. It's great that they have Purell dispensers at the beginning of the lines, but Purell isnt 100% effective for noro.

[nowretired]

We sail on 4/15 on Ruby. Please post what it was like during your trip so we'll know what possibly to expect. Thanks!