Norovirus Question

[whacko]

I've read a number of threads regarding Norovirus - symptoms, experiences, prevention, etc. But I'd like to know if you get any warning that you're about to get hit! It would be terrible to be on an excursion or threading one's way through the main dining room and all of a sudden realize you won't get to a bathroom in nearly enough time to avoid a disaster. Please share what you know about how you feel before you get sick. Or are you just suprised?

[M2D]

I had it 2 years ago... It was a surprise, but not to the point that you wont have a few minutes to get to a bathroom.

 

I'll give you a brief rundown of how it went: I felt great the night before, went out to eat, had drinks, came back to the hotel (I was in Fort Lauderdale)... then woke up at 5 am, sat up in bed thinking "yeah I dont feel great" couple min later decided I better get to the bathroom. Threw up once then I actually went and laid down feeling fine, so I just figured I ate too rich of a meal or something... didnt actually think anything of it, fell back asleep, woke up about an hour later, this time way worse feeling than before... threw up again, by then all hell was starting to break loose... brutally sick from about 6-7 am until about 3 or 4 pm then slowly started to feel better, the whole thing lasts about 24 hours. Problem is your're still contagious up to 3 days after you feel better.

[sail7seas]

I had it 2 years ago... It was a surprise, but not to the point that you wont have a few minutes to get to a bathroom.

 

I'll give you a brief rundown of how it went: I felt great the night before, went out to eat, had drinks, came back to the hotel (I was in Fort Lauderdale)... then woke up at 5 am, sat up in bed thinking "yeah I dont feel great" couple min later decided I better get to the bathroom. Threw up once then I actually went and laid down feeling fine, so I just figured I ate too rich of a meal or something... didnt actually think anything of it, fell back asleep, woke up about an hour later, this time way worse feeling than before... threw up again, by then all hell was starting to break loose... brutally sick from about 6-7 am until about 3 or 4 pm then slowly started to feel better, the whole thing lasts about 24 hours. Problem is your're still contagious up to 3 days after you feel better.

 

 

Was this before a cruise?

After?

 

Sorry you experienced that.

 

[M2D]

It was after.. We went down for about 3 weeks with a 7 day cruise in the middle... It happened about 2 or 3 days after the cruise, so i'm really not sure if I got it on the cruise or just in Lauderdale after.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for responding. I was interested.

 

Hard to say where you got it. It was just enough time after you could have been exposed either on the ship/a port or after you disembarked.

 

[pam vessels]

I've read a number of threads regarding Norovirus - symptoms, experiences, prevention, etc. But I'd like to know if you get any warning that you're about to get hit! It would be terrible to be on an excursion or threading one's way through the main dining room and all of a sudden realize you won't get to a bathroom in nearly enough time to avoid a disaster. Please share what you know about how you feel before you get sick. Or are you just suprised?

A few weeks ago on the Rotterdam a woman rushed into the bathroom out side of the showroom and threw up all over my partner....she did not even make it to the sink and those are small bathrooms. So I think it can hit fast. It was an awful mess and my partner was a smelly mess. We never got sick but it's a wonder. Gross, Gross, Gross. Before even touching our cabin door I bring out the Chlorox wipes and literally wipe down the entire cabin, even the insides of closets and drawers. We take no chances......

[ariawoman]

I had it about 10 years ago but I believe I got it at the airport/on an airplane.

 

I was enjoying myself, Went to a concert, did some site seeing (St Louis). That night, we went out to a comedy club near our hotel. I was at the table and thought huh, I feel nauseous. I excused myself and went to the bathroom and proceeded to throw up. After I threw up the 1st time I felt better so I thought ok maybe I ate something bad at dinner. I went back in. Was sitting there a few minutes and again the feeling comes over me...i leave again - only this time - i didn't make it to the bathroom. Puked all over a tree inside Union Station (like a mall tree lol). I went back in and told my friends I was going to walk back to the hotel. They offered to escort me and I said no - I'll walk myself you all stay and have fun.

 

I'm walking back and I walk by a restaurant that smelled of burgers. Normally that would be YUM but it nearly made me vomit.

 

I made it finally to my hotel, got to the near the front door and again threw up but so violently that I also um...number 2ed at the same time. It was HORRIBLE. (thankfully the hotel had laundry). The next 24 hours was me not knowing where it would come out next. It came out simultaneously at times...do i sit on the bowl? Do i put my face in it? I don't know. It was HORRIBLE.

 

I lost 15 pounds that weekend (2 days time). Great for weight loss, but ruined my entire trip as we were only there like friday afternoon to monday morning and this occurred saturday night.

 

It's sudden, and it's horrible. I don't wish it upon my worst enemy.

[sail7seas]

I had it about 10 years ago but I believe I got it at the airport/on an airplane.

 

I was enjoying myself, Went to a concert, did some site seeing (St Louis). That night, we went out to a comedy club near our hotel. I was at the table and thought huh, I feel nauseous. I excused myself and went to the bathroom and proceeded to throw up. After I threw up the 1st time I felt better so I thought ok maybe I ate something bad at dinner. I went back in. Was sitting there a few minutes and again the feeling comes over me...i leave again - only this time - i didn't make it to the bathroom. Puked all over a tree inside Union Station (like a mall tree lol). I went back in and told my friends I was going to walk back to the hotel. They offered to escort me and I said no - I'll walk myself you all stay and have fun.

 

I'm walking back and I walk by a restaurant that smelled of burgers. Normally that would be YUM but it nearly made me vomit.

 

I made it finally to my hotel, got to the near the front door and again threw up but so violently that I also um...number 2ed at the same time. It was HORRIBLE. (thankfully the hotel had laundry). The next 24 hours was me not knowing where it would come out next. It came out simultaneously at times...do i sit on the bowl? Do i put my face in it? I don't know. It was HORRIBLE.

 

I lost 15 pounds that weekend (2 days time). Great for weight loss, but ruined my entire trip as we were only there like friday afternoon to monday morning and this occurred saturday night.

 

It's sudden, and it's horrible. I don't wish it upon my worst enemy.

 

Oh my,

I feel so bad for you.

I had it once, years ago on Veendam, but thankfully must have had a lighter case and that was bad enough.

 

I'm so sorry you got hit so badly and lost the pleasure of your hoped for fun weekend.

[3rdGenCunarder]

It hits different peple differently.

 

Four of us got it on QE2. DH started with it on disembarkation day (Call this Day 1). We arrived at Long Beach and a friend picked us up. The other couple flew home. DH sort of sleep-walked through the day. The next morning, I was OK, and he slept late. Around mid-day, he said he felt like going for a short walk. He walked like he was 90 years old!

 

After the walk, I took a nap--I almost never take a nap, so I should have been suspicious. When I woke up, he was feeling better, and I started throwing up (this is late on Day 2). God love Continental, they let us move our flight home back a day, and I spent a day sleeping and puking (this was Day 3). I wasn't as sick as DH, but I was pretty bad. I was OK the next day (day 4) and we flew home.

 

When I got home, I talked to our friends. He got it on day 3 and was not as sick as DH and I were. She got it on day 4, and was the least sick of the four of us.

 

We talked about it and we had all eaten different food. The only thing we had in common was the bar snacks. We realized that we had all touched the bar-snack carafe in the one of the bars. And Lord knows how many other people had touched it. :eek:

 

I don't know why we got it at different times and to different extents. Maybe the day 4 victim had fought it off for so long that the virus was weaker?

[jcrandle]

Mine was not on a cruise, but from feeling uncomfortable to running at both ends, was only about three hours. I've never had it since, and certainly never want to . My advice is to to three things: Wash your hands, Wash your hands, and Wash your hands. Even if you aren't Italian (grin) you use your hands to do so many things without realizing what they have touched. The Norovirus can live for HOURS on a door handle, a menu, a stairway bannister, and many other items you touch without thinking about it.

 

Also remember when washing to sing (quietly to yourself) the full "Happy Birthday" song while using lots of soap.

 

And no, "Staying Alive" is for CPR rhythm, not handwashing:D.

[ariawoman]

Oh my,

I feel so bad for you.

I had it once, years ago on Veendam, but thankfully must have had a lighter case and that was bad enough.

 

I'm so sorry you got hit so badly and lost the pleasure of your hoped for fun weekend.

 

 

Aww thanks sail. I look back on the experience now and kinda laugh, as it's comical, how fast and furious it came out LOL. It wasn't fun at the time but well, you gotta laugh right?

[uppitycats]

I was hit with it a couple of cruises ago...but think I had contracted it before I got on the ship, as I was feeling ill in the airport. I discounted it as "being rushed, stressed, these things happen" -- a sudden urge to do a #2, a rush to a bathroom, "just in time". Once on the ship the next day, I spent that day napping and not eating much, "just recovering"...but by the next day it was clear it was something much worse. While I never vomited, I spent most of the next couple of days parked next to a bathroom. When it became evident that I was really ill, we called the ship's physician, who took one look at me, pronounced "norovirus", and I found myself and husband confined to our cabin, and me on an intravenous drip! Funny -- my husband never caught it, never was sick, and was cranky with me because we were confind...but there was no way I could venture outside the cabin...much too ill. Ruined a good part of the cruise for both of us. One nasty bug!

[califgary]

I had it 2 years ago... It was a surprise, but not to the point that you wont have a few minutes to get to a bathroom.

 

I'll give you a brief rundown of how it went: I felt great the night before, went out to eat, had drinks, came back to the hotel (I was in Fort Lauderdale)... then woke up at 5 am, sat up in bed thinking "yeah I dont feel great" couple min later decided I better get to the bathroom. Threw up once then I actually went and laid down feeling fine, so I just figured I ate too rich of a meal or something... didnt actually think anything of it, fell back asleep, woke up about an hour later, this time way worse feeling than before... threw up again, by then all hell was starting to break loose... brutally sick from about 6-7 am until about 3 or 4 pm then slowly started to feel better, the whole thing lasts about 24 hours. Problem is your're still contagious up to 3 days after you feel better.

 

This happened to my wife last Christmas on a Panama Cruise - it all went down the day we went through the canal - started early morning just like yours and she was "ok" by dinner and was able to eat a light meal - nothing happened to me (but I was outside most of the day enjoying the canal while she slept/barfed etc.)

[Tampa Girl]

These reports illustrate one very good reason for not closing down the public restrooms on the ships during code red. What a mess if no one could make it to their cabin!

[mudscraper]

I`ve had it twice. Not on a cruise. Besides living in the bathroom for two days it feels like a knife is being twisted in your stomach. Nasty stuff.