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

[Stevesan]

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.

 

 

 

Princess will follow the same potocol as your HAL cruise when there is a noro declaration on the previous cruise. All cruise ships are required to continue code red for a minimum three days into the next cruise.

 

Purell is zero percent effective for noro. It's a good sanitizer, but it's not protection against viruses

[Tropic5115]

nowretired- I was on the same sailing as the OP with a group of 13 for a wedding and luckily no one was ill. We were notified by the captain the morning we were in St. Thomas (Thursday) about the official outbreak and that the protocol was going to be in effect. The biggest inconvenience seemed to be in the buffet areas, the lines were very long to get in there because having the staff place the food on your plates obviously would take up more time. No salt or pepper on tables and it took a lot longer for the crew to clear tables as I assume many now had to help serve food. We decided to eat solely in the dining rooms from that point forward and the service in there was great and not much different except for no salt and pepper or bread basket on the table. Besides the longer wait for food in the buffet and seeing rooms here and there being cleaned out by crew in biohazard gear nothing else was really different and it did not affect our enjoyment of the cruise. Don't worry to much about it and enjoy your cruise! Ruby is still a great ship!

[M2D]

[/b]

 

 

 

Princess will follow the same potocol as your HAL cruise when there is a noro declaration on the previous cruise. All cruise ships are required to continue code red for a minimum three days into the next cruise.

 

Purell is zero percent effective for noro. It's a good sanitizer, but it's not protection against viruses

 

I wasn't aware it was zero percent, that's not very comforting

 

Also as of last year HAL was taking those precautions regardless, and was proud to announce that they hadn't had any serious noro incidents yet that year. The problem is, regardless of precautions, I think once there's a huge outbreak it's pretty hard to contain.

[77Network]

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.

 

So basically it works about the same as when you get sick at home?

Don't worry I am sure they will send you a bill anyway.

[cruisenewbie2012]

We leave for the Ruby on Sunday! Hope all is clean and clear cause we REALLY need a vacation and not a few days of puking and diarrhia! :(

 

Bringing clorox wipes with me and our own pillow cases. any other suggestions?

[emailingann]

We leave for the Ruby on Sunday! Hope all is clean and clear cause we REALLY need a vacation and not a few days of puking and diarrhia! :(

 

Bringing clorox wipes with me and our own pillow cases. any other suggestions?

 

Yes.....bring gloves......and don't eat at the buffet. :eek:

 

Ann

[nails62040]

We leave for the Ruby on Sunday! Hope all is clean and clear cause we REALLY need a vacation and not a few days of puking and diarrhia! :(

 

Bringing clorox wipes with me and our own pillow cases. any other suggestions?

 

Just remember, regular clorox wipes do not contain bleach which is the effective ingredient to properly kill the virus. You can, and I did, purchase the clorox germicidal wipes from amazon. They actually contain bleach and you'll need to wear rubber gloves when using them. Also - we had an interior cabin - and when I disinfected the room, it got to be a little much at first - so space yourself in your cleaning. They worked great though.

[Happy ks]

I don't have any issues with people disinfecting their cabins,especially the remote and the phone. But in reality, unless you spend the entire cruise in your cabin you will be exposed to other peoples germs.

 

The only time I've ever had Noro-virus was not on a cruise. If I got it again on a cruise ship there would be no need to quarantine me, I couldn't get out of bed for 3 days except to the bathroom and I wasn't back to my usual energy for about 10 days, it was horrid.

 

It's too bad about the OP's wife getting sick. I hope she's feeling better now.

[Stevesan]

We leave for the Ruby on Sunday! Hope all is clean and clear cause we REALLY need a vacation and not a few days of puking and diarrhia! :(

 

Bringing clorox wipes with me and our own pillow cases. any other suggestions?

 

Unfortunately, Clorox wipes aren't effective against bacteria.

 

However, Clorox Disenfecting Wipes will do the job. They contain Alkyl dimethyl ethylbenzyl ammonium chloride.

http://www.clorox.com/products/clorox-disinfecting-wipes/ingredients-and-safety/

 

An effective hand sanitizer could be good to have. Walgreen's carries Veripur Hand Sanitizer. Only $5.00 for a 3 oz tube.

http://veripur.com/discover/debunking-the-alcohol-myth/

 

Wet ones are anti bacterial.

http://wetones.com/

http://www.drugstore.com/search/search_results.asp?Ntt=wet+ones&N=4294948975&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&in_nav=1&Ntk=All&srchtree=1

[chapdaddy]

Try being sick as we were on 1/29 cruise, 2nd of 2 B2B. They were great cleaning while we were sick but room service was a disaster, albeit non-existant.

[Posaune]

I was also on the 1/29 cruise and room service did a very good job for us when I got sick. Very quick service. I was confined to the room Tuesday-Thursday.

[preschool teacher]

Sorry for your bad exeprience.....hope you are better....I'm on the crown sat. And I was worried when she had her trouble with it. I did get a flu shot..I started wondering how many people had the flu shot and did or did not get sick......I know you can still get it but.......it should help....hope they contain it on the ruby....

[boone2]

flu shots have no protection against gastro illness, which is what alot of people call stomach flu.

Interestingly enough I got Noro about 12 hours after arriving home from the Grand last month, glad it happened then and not on the cruise. My daughter who travelled with me was not affected. It was short lived but awful while it lasted. I took every precaution listed here and used hospital strength wipes and hand sanitiser which does protest against Noro according to our Infection Control folks.

Terry