Noro On Equinox

[TourDeCruise]

I generally use straws, and always have been able to find them in the buffet near the packets of sweetener and lemon slices.

 

Also, in the same place in the Aqua Spa cafe. In addition to the straws in the Ocean View cafe as stated above, the MDR waiters will give you a straw if requested. They usually provide them for ice tea, but not for water and juice unless requested.

 

Other than the obvious inconvenience of finding yourselves on a "bleach cruise", how did you enjoy Equinox and the Southern Caribbean itinerary?

 

Suzanne: The cruise was still wonderful. It didn't have any impact on our cruise until around day 8. Wednesday lunch through Friday debarkation were the only days we couldn't serve ourselves. Our itinerary is the one with GC, Cartagena, Costa Rica, Colon, Belize, and Cozumel. Is this the itinerary you are doing?

 

Kathy

[wwcruisers]

Also, in the same place in the Aqua Spa cafe. In addition to the straws in the Ocean View cafe as stated above, the MDR waiters will give you a straw if requested. They usually provide them for ice tea, but not for water and juice unless requested.

 

 

 

Suzanne: The cruise was still wonderful. It didn't have any impact on our cruise until around day 8. Wednesday lunch through Friday debarkation were the only days we couldn't serve ourselves. Our itinerary is the one with GC, Cartagena, Costa Rica, Colon, Belize, and Cozumel. Is this the itinerary you are doing?

 

Kathy

 

Nope -- Southern Caribbean. Once again, we are fortunate to have a very active Roll-Call, and some folks over there were quite unnerved to hear reports of Noro on Equinox. I think that the calm, clear, detailed reports that you and Darcie (Kitty9) have provided on this thread went a long way toward calming their fears -- thanks! :cool:

[TourDeCruise]

We think we saw the signs in most or all Equinox bathrooms we visited. I know the information was in the Captain's "noro" letters, but I recall reminders and thinking to myself "should it be 30 seconds washing your hands with soap & water versus just 20 seconds?" We didn't need the reminders; this is our normal practice when out in public, followed by sanitizer in our cars or on the ship when available.

 

Nope -- Southern Caribbean. Once again, we are fortunate to have a very active Roll-Call, and some folks over there were quite unnerved to hear reports of Noro on Equinox. I think that the calm, clear, detailed reports that you and Darcie (Kitty9) have provided on this thread went a long way toward calming their fears -- thanks! :cool:

 

Any chance you might consider doing the January 20th Equinox cruise next year? It is the same itinerary that we just did. We are booked on that cruise which will be the 3rd January in a row for the Equinox. If you do it, maybe we could go to Silk Harvest ($25) one night for dinner or Bistro on Five ($5.00) for lunch or dinner? I would like to promise you no Noro on that cruise, but of course I can't make any promises on that! We are also booked for Hawaii & the Coastal cruises (b2b) as you know and for the Immersive Wine cruise (England, France, Spain, Portugal) in September; do you have any interest in the "Wine" cruise?

 

Oh, a couple important items. The Eclipse cruise this past November and the Equinox cruise both had the Tuscan Grill for the Captain's Club Elite breakfast (I don't know where for afternoon event as we didn't go). What a fabulous setting. We sat at tables overlooking the ship's wake. Also, if you have not been on the Equinox or Eclipse before, you will want to consider going to the Hot Glass show; they have numerous shows during the day and at night.

[GreenTreeFrog]

Kathy, how did you enjoy that itinerary? We are doing same cruise in March, can't wait to see these amazing countries. We wanted to see a bit of the Caribbean but not just a beach island after beach island trip, so chose this Central and St America Port cruise. Very excited!

 

Did you buy anything special in these places? Local product I mean.

[GreenTreeFrog]

Sth America, I meant!

[TourDeCruise]

Kathy, how did you enjoy that itinerary? We are doing same cruise in March, can't wait to see these amazing countries. We wanted to see a bit of the Caribbean but not just a beach island after beach island trip, so chose this Central and St America Port cruise. Very excited!

 

Did you buy anything special in these places? Local product I mean.

 

No, for buying but I am not a shopping-type person (wrong person to ask). They did have some nice gauze embroidered shirts in the cruise terminal in Colon and a nice open-air market at the cruise terminal in Costa Rica and nice shopping along the waterfront in Colon very near the cruise terminal. We enjoyed the Mayan ruins in Belize; we did Xuantanich this time and Lamanai last time and I recommend both. Most people would probably like Lamanai more because of the river boat ride, delicious Mayan lunch, rain forest, and the ruins. Old town Cartagena is a nice colonial, Spain-meets-Caribbean type town. The other ports are good for Mayan ruins (Cozumel & Belize) and wildlife. And of course, the Panama Canal in Colon unless you have done the full transit before. The "things" that seemed to be the big deal to buy there were embroidered shirts & skirts and coffee, but again, my shopping perspective and expertise are very limited.

 

We did enjoy the Discover Mexico and Chankanaab Park excursion in Cozumel too. A real bargain at $49.75 each as independently it costs $20 to get in Discover Mexico, $23 in Chankanaab Park (I think $40 if combo ticket), and $11 for a taxi (not $11 pp for taxi but for entire taxi) each way. The Celebrity excursion was only $49.75 for a 4.5 hour excursion, but our tour guide gave us an option of 45 minutes longer at Chankanaab or leave on time from Chankanaab - our choice where he arranged the taxi van for each choice without any additional cost to us (Celebrity excursion pays for taxi van). We had been to all the ports before so we just "hung out" in GC, Costa Rica, Colon, and Cartagena which meant basically did the Internet and went back to the ship plus walking around lovely old town Cartagena.

[believer33323]

Again, 59% of Noro cases come from long term care facilities. Only 9% come from cruise ships. I'm not worried. I would be more worried about grandma in the nursing home. WOW 59% is scary.

[phoenix_dream]

Found these statistics on the CDC web site for 2010-11

 

Setting of 1,518 Confirmed Norovirus Outbreaks, U.S., 2010-2011:

Long-term Care Facility 59%;

Restaurants 8%;

Party & Event 6%;

Hospital 4%;

School 4%;

Cruise Ship 4%;

Other & Unknown 15%

So you probably have a better chance getting the Noro off ship than on.

I did read that the new Sydney Noro is pretty strong and Purell does not work to kill it. They suggest cleaning surfaces with a Bleach & water mixture. It also stated that it is still contagious 3 days after getting better.

 

From the Mayo Clinic web site:

Norovirus. With norovirus — the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in adults — you're contagious from the moment you begin to feel ill. Symptoms appear within one to three days of exposure. Although you typically feel better after a day or two, you're contagious for at least three days after you've recovered. Some people may be contagious for up to two weeks after recovery. Also, children are often contagious for a longer period than are adults.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/norovirus-variant-sydney-2012-spreads-around-the-world-20130110-2cii2.html

Just FYI, there is a new version of Purell which is more in line with what the CDC says will kill the virus (it will say 'Advanced' on the label). I read through some of their detailed testing information on the CDC website (I guess I have too much time on my hands:)) and while the CDC is yet not 100% confident as to what will work and what will not (except for bleach), the formula is consistent with their recommendations. I believe this is also true for the benzethonium chloride, which is found in some brands of wipes.

[believer33323]

Just FYI, there is a new version of Purell which is more in line with what the CDC says will kill the virus (it will say 'Advanced' on the label). I read through some of their detailed testing information on the CDC website (I guess I have too much time on my hands:)) and while the CDC is yet not 100% confident as to what will work and what will not (except for bleach), the formula is consistent with their recommendations. I believe this is also true for the benzethonium chloride, which is found in some brands of wipes.

 

I was also reading about "Hydrogen peroxide" We have a bottle in our office that is 0.5% strength and it states that it will kill Noro in 5 seconds. The strength we buy in the store is way stronger than that. Not sure why you don't hear much on that.

[GreenTreeFrog]

No, for buying but I am not a shopping-type person (wrong person to ask). They did have some nice gauze embroidered shirts in the cruise terminal in Colon and a nice open-air market at the cruise terminal in Costa Rica and nice shopping along the waterfront in Colon very near the cruise terminal. We enjoyed the Mayan ruins in Belize; we did Xuantanich this time and Lamanai last time and I recommend both. Most people would probably like Lamanai more because of the river boat ride, delicious Mayan lunch, rain forest, and the ruins. Old town Cartagena is a nice colonial, Spain-meets-Caribbean type town. The other ports are good for Mayan ruins (Cozumel & Belize) and wildlife. And of course, the Panama Canal in Colon unless you have done the full transit before. The "things" that seemed to be the big deal to buy there were embroidered shirts & skirts and coffee, but again, my shopping perspective and expertise are very limited.

 

We did enjoy the Discover Mexico and Chankanaab Park excursion in Cozumel too. A real bargain at $49.75 each as independently it costs $20 to get in Discover Mexico, $23 in Chankanaab Park (I think $40 if combo ticket), and $11 for a taxi (not $11 pp for taxi but for entire taxi) each way. The Celebrity excursion was only $49.75 for a 4.5 hour excursion, but our tour guide gave us an option of 45 minutes longer at Chankanaab or leave on time from Chankanaab - our choice where he arranged the taxi van for each choice without any additional cost to us (Celebrity excursion pays for taxi van). We had been to all the ports before so we just "hung out" in GC, Costa Rica, Colon, and Cartagena which meant basically did the Internet and went back to the ship plus walking around lovely old town Cartagena.

 

Excellent info thank you!

 

We are doing Lamanai, very excited!

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

I generally use straws, and always have been able to find them in the buffet near the packets of sweetener and lemon slices.

Thanks. I will look for them in five weeks. Sounds like a good idea.

[CarpeDiem2]

Just got off the Equinox yesterday. The ship was cleaned top to bottom before embarkation. Everything, and I mean everything was cleaned in the cabins, most of which was removed according to our steward. Bit by bit decorative pillows, dust ruffle, decorative bed covering, magazines, books, etc were returned over the first 3-4 days. We weren't able to get into our cabins until 6:00pm. Embarkation and sailing were delayed. The ship was very, very clean. We didn't mind the delay as long as we stayed healthy. No one that I know got sick with Noro. About 4 -5 days into the cruise salt and pepper shakers, sugar, bread, etc returned to the tables. Buffet service returned to normal, although we wouldn't eat there.

 

Celebrity really took the problem seriously and we were really happy with their response.

[grandmother62]

Just got off the Equinox yesterday. The ship was cleaned top to bottom before embarkation. Everything, and I mean everything was cleaned in the cabins, most of which was removed according to our steward. Bit by bit decorative pillows, dust ruffle, decorative bed covering, magazines, books, etc were returned over the first 3-4 days. We weren't able to get into our cabins until 6:00pm. Embarkation and sailing were delayed. The ship was very, very clean. We didn't mind the delay as long as we stayed healthy. No one that I know got sick with Noro. About 4 -5 days into the cruise salt and pepper shakers, sugar, bread, etc returned to the tables. Buffet service returned to normal, although we wouldn't eat there.

 

Celebrity really took the problem seriously and we were really happy with their response.

 

Thanks so much for the update.....I have been wondering.......we cruise away on the 4th March so I appreciate you taking the time to write this. Hope you had a wonderful time.

[SeaGams]

Thanks so much for the update.....I have been wondering.......we cruise away on the 4th March so I appreciate you taking the time to write this. Hope you had a wonderful time.

 

I was on the same sailing as CarpeDiem2 and I have to second everything that was said. It appears as though the problem on the sailing immediately before ours started in the middle of the cruise, and it was determined that a passenger brought the noro virus on board from one of the ports and it spread from there. Our cabin steward told us that there are different timelines for sanitizing different items. For example noro can survive on an un-sanitized hard surface for only 12 hours but can live for up to 3 days on soft goods such as robes, duvets, carpets and bedskirts. The cabins were emptied and completely sprayed since the crew did not know for a fact if someone was ill and did not report it to the Medical Center. After the carpets were sprayed they were not vacuumed for three days so that the chemicals would kill any virus. We were all so grateful for Celebrity's aggressive proactive action and thankfully no one got ill on our sailing to the best of our knowledge. We too avoided the buffet because despite the noro hype there are still some people who are not careful or aware of their actions. For example I saw a gentleman in the Aqua Spa Cafe take a lunch plate, walk away and then came back and returned it to the serving area after discovering it wasn't what he wanted! Eew! Let's hope this was an isolated otbreak and that eveyone sailing Equinox has a great cruise.

 

Toni

[CarpeDiem2]

Yes, we had a great time. We met wonderful people on our roll call. In fact, it was a GREAT roll call.The ports were new to us so really enjoyable. It was a lot of fun.

 

(Also, we always kept our hands washed, carried hand wipes with us, and wiped down our cabin at the very beginning.)

[CarpeDiem2]

Toni, I'm

[wwcruisers]

Just got off the Equinox yesterday. The ship was cleaned top to bottom before embarkation. Everything, and I mean everything was cleaned in the cabins, most of which was removed according to our steward. Bit by bit decorative pillows, dust ruffle, decorative bed covering, magazines, books, etc were returned over the first 3-4 days. We weren't able to get into our cabins until 6:00pm. Embarkation and sailing were delayed. The ship was very, very clean. We didn't mind the delay as long as we stayed healthy. No one that I know got sick with Noro. About 4 -5 days into the cruise salt and pepper shakers, sugar, bread, etc returned to the tables. Buffet service returned to normal, although we wouldn't eat there.

 

Celebrity really took the problem seriously and we were really happy with their response.

 

Thank you so much for the detailed report. Since we're set to sail on Equinox in a few short weeks, that's exactly what we were hoping to hear! :cool:

[WonderMan3]

I was on the same sailing as CarpeDiem2 and I have to second everything that was said. It appears as though the problem on the sailing immediately before ours started in the middle of the cruise, and it was determined that a passenger brought the noro virus on board from one of the ports and it spread from there. Our cabin steward told us that there are different timelines for sanitizing different items. For example noro can survive on an un-sanitized hard surface for only 12 hours but can live for up to 3 days on soft goods such as robes, duvets, carpets and bedskirts. The cabins were emptied and completely sprayed since the crew did not know for a fact if someone was ill and did not report it to the Medical Center. After the carpets were sprayed they were not vacuumed for three days so that the chemicals would kill any virus. We were all so grateful for Celebrity's aggressive proactive action and thankfully no one got ill on our sailing to the best of our knowledge. We too avoided the buffet because despite the noro hype there are still some people who are not careful or aware of their actions. For example I saw a gentleman in the Aqua Spa Cafe take a lunch plate, walk away and then came back and returned it to the serving area after discovering it wasn't what he wanted! Eew! Let's hope this was an isolated otbreak and that eveyone sailing Equinox has a great cruise.

 

Toni

 

I was on the virus sailing. It would have to have been Cartagena or Grand Cayman where the passenger picked up the virus (if what you were told is true) as we first got word of something happening during our day in Panama. (Noro takes 24 to 48 hours to incubate after exposure). While we were on our tour we heard that a passenger on another tour threw up. We were also told that a passenger was taken to the hospital directly from an excursion (that one we weren't clear on if it was noro related or if it was the same pax as the one who threw up). When we got back to the ship there was a letter in our cabin advising that someone on one of the canal tours had noro.

[grandmother62]

Just got off the equinox last weekend, fabulous cruise on the Carribean, no signs of the virus. Just be aware USA customs was so slow. Two officers to clear the ship, took us hours. we had a 2 pm flight to Australia from Fort Lauderdale and made it by 5 minutes. Extremely stressful.