Norovirus strikes 31-day cruise to Vancouver

[DixieQuilter]

Holland America used to announce that passengers would not be charged a fee by the medical office when reporting gastro-intestinal symptoms. I think that policy encouraged people to report and to act more responsibily. Now, the medical office charges $64 for a nurse to come to your cabin and take your temperature and offer lomotil. Many people don't report because they don't want to pay that fee. I was on that cruise and although I reported symptoms immediately - housekeeping did not get the word from medical for 36 hours! In the meantime, my cabin steward was in and out of my cabin and my soiled bathroom linens were mixed with the general population. It just seems like the first call medical should make is to housekeeping so that "super" procedures can be put into place. I agree about the policy of ALL passengers in a cabin where one is ill being quarantined was not well implemented. I know it began to go through the crew. At one point 6 girls were out of the spa (only three were ill but the roommates had to be quarantined too). I didn't feel well for 8 days out of the 14 day cruise. Awful!

 

I personally believe that this outbreak was started by a crew member, because the first announcement mentioned that "all affected crew members" had been quarantined. This was before anyone in my group of 50 got sick and, as i said earlier, approximately 50% of our group had it. ALL passengers in a cabin were not quarantined which I am thankful for since I did not get the illness that my cabin mate had. She asked the medical staff what I should do and was told that I should take normal precautions - increased hand washing/sanitizing.

[Northshorecruisers]

I feel so sorry for the passengers on that cruise. I can only imagine if people were breaking quarantine it was just a vicious cycle that would never get better.

 

Having had noro once, I don't know how anyone could break quarantine. All I wanted to do was die.

[generichandle]

FYI; Purell is NOT a help against noroVIRUS. Purell is anti-bacterial, not anti-viral. There IS an excellent step to take though. WASH YOUR HANDS. Thoroughly. Before and after all meals. With water hot as you can stand it.

 

I worked many years in nursing homes, and noro showed all the time. We, of course, used gloves for all contact. But even so, wash hands thoroughly before and after, and everytime you pass within sight of a restroom, for that matter. It is effective.

 

My last trip was a Panama Canal on the Amsterdam. I got noro, so did a lot of others. It was Code Red when it pulled in, before we boarded, and we were given many options to trade to other sailings. But it wasn't possible to change, so we tried our best while onboard. I followed all restrictions, and all those others seemed pretty good on that trip. But it was still Curosao, 13 days after sailing, before Code Red was lifted. Norovirus is tough, and nothing is gauranteed to work except to avoid anywhere it is. But handwashing religiously is most effective.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I am lecturing [though that can be part of my job so I have the habit]. Be brave and try not to miss your sailing unless it is just too rampant. Take your precautions. And remember that even when all activities are canceled and it's a sea day; you are at sea! That, in itself, can be something to appreciate!

 

Doug

[Storylady]

A friend of mine was on the Volendam since the middle of March. She had a good review of Code Red and what HAL did to try to get rid of it. I am posting as I thought some might be interested as it is so detailed.

 

 

"Hi! Was a great cruise! No problems for us, but then we were very careful. Can't applaud the ship's staff and crew enough for doing their best to keep us healthy. The virus came on in during our second visit to Busan, South Korea. It was fast hitting and would have been much shorter if people had done as they were told. Too often they wanted to be out and about and were spreading the germs on whatever they touched. Much of the staff were working 12 - 16 hour days or much longer shifts...even the entertainers were everywhere with sanitizer. A staff member accompanied every excursion with sanitizer at every time on and off the buses. The problems were stubborn passengers. If they had symptoms they didn't notify the front desk or if they were in quarantine they would sneak out to go to the Ledo, etc. Our second visit to Kobe, everyone was paid extra and shuttled to wherever, so the entire ship could be empty for deep cleaning! The newly embarking passengers couldn't board until after 2:30. We had booked an extra, day-long excursion to Kyoto, so were away much longer. They even took all bedding, robes, beverages, etc. from rooms and replaced them. On the Kobe to Kobe cruise, a group of 450 Japanese came on the ship and perhaps didn't help the situation by either not understanding or not being cooperative. After they disembarked things cleared quickly, but there were still a few uncooperative passengers."

[hal lover]

That's what always worries me - people being contagious before they exhibit symptoms. We had a code red on a smaller ship that shall remain nameless, and we could see people behaving badly all the time - thinking they were healthy, I suppose, but they might have been spreading germs everywhere. Also, I overheard one man telling a group at his table in the Lido that he had been sick the day before, but now he was "fine". I was so mad. I mentioned it to the CD, and he threw up his hands. He and the Captain both came down with it. It is hard to give up 3 days of your trip for maybe 6 hours of vomiting and the other, but think of the others on board, please. And, of course, at the end of the cruise, even those staying on had to go off for the day while deep-cleaning took place, which must cost a lot.

 

So, if you are staying on for the next leg of the cruise and you have the virus, do they make the sick person go ashore? That would be terrible!:eek:

[harrodsfan]

I got food poisoning on my last Regent Cruise. I was sick for three hours and then fine but weak. I kept DH was fine. Three days in my cabin would have been ridiculous. BTY it was the caviar that made me sick..i got it on the ship at brunch.

[mowmow]

Unfortunately, the alcohol hand sanitizers do very little to contain norovirus. They are useful against other bugs though, so are better than nothing. I think they give people a dangerous and false sense of security.

 

As the above poster stated, the best thing you can do is WASH your hands vigorously for two minutes. Frequently and before every snack/meal. Don't shake hands with people, and keep your hands away from your face.

 

Obviously ill people should certainly quarantine themselves, but norovirus is actually shed by people for up to two weeks after symptoms resolve. Some people contract the disease and shed virus, but have subclinical or no symptoms.

 

It's easily passed along by touching surfaces like door handles, railings, elevator buttons, buffet tongs. It's also often spread by ill food service workers washing/preparing uncooked fruits/vegies with improperly washed hands. It's unlikely to be spread in a properly chlorinated pool or hot tub, but when lots of sick people are around, it's probably wise to eliminate the possibility.

 

I hope we don't have norovirus on our cruise; I'd be really bummed if I was on a code red cruise.

[arewethereyet]

Unfortunately, the alcohol hand sanitizers do very little to contain norovirus. They are useful against other bugs though, so are better than nothing. I think they give people a dangerous and false sense of security.

 

As the above poster stated, the best thing you can do is WASH your hands vigorously for two minutes. Frequently and before every snack/meal. Don't shake hands with people, and keep your hands away from your face.

 

Obviously ill people should certainly quarantine themselves, but norovirus is actually shed by people for up to two weeks after symptoms resolve. Some people contract the disease and shed virus, but have subclinical or no symptoms.

 

It's easily passed along by touching surfaces like door handles, railings, elevator buttons, buffet tongs. It's also often spread by ill food service workers washing/preparing uncooked fruits/vegies with improperly washed hands. It's unlikely to be spread in a properly chlorinated pool or hot tub, but when lots of sick people are around, it's probably wise to eliminate the possibility.

 

I hope we don't have norovirus on our cruise; I'd be really bummed if I was on a code red cruise.

Good advice. But, I don't think I have ever seen a person wash their hands for 2 minutes outside of a hospital.

[arewethereyet]

I got food poisoning on my last Regent Cruise. I was sick for three hours and then fine but weak. I kept DH was fine. Three days in my cabin would have been ridiculous. BTY it was the caviar that made me sick..i got it on the ship at brunch.

That's terrible. Did a lot of people get sick on the caviar?

[isujim]

I have never had the experience in all my cruises of experiencing a Code Red situation (and hope I never do)

 

Is quarantine voluntary? Do they just ask you to stay in your cabin and expect you to do the right thing? Then are you cleared by the doctor before the quarantine is lifted? Curious as to how this works.

[Vict0riann]

I know on the cruise when we had an outbreak of gastroenteritis, no one ever actually called it "Noro" - the nurses collected specimens when they could, and said they were sending them to the CDC - who knows how long it would take to get results back to confirm. DH and I were under the weather for just a few hours - perhaps we had some resistance - but DD was ill for much longer, and much sicker. We all remained in the suite for the quarantine period, until the nurse checked on us, and signed off on us. DD stayed in the room for another day, just because she felt so weak and tired. So maybe DH and I just had food poisoning, and should have kept it to ourselves!! I don't think so! I think it's best to let the professionals on board to tell you what the problem is, even if it means you lose a couple of days of your cruise.

[sail7seas]

So, if you are staying on for the next leg of the cruise and you have the virus, do they make the sick person go ashore? That would be terrible!:eek:

 

 

I wonder the same thing.

 

 

 

 

I got food poisoning on my last Regent Cruise. I was sick for three hours and then fine but weak. I kept DH was fine. Three days in my cabin would have been ridiculous. BTY it was the caviar that made me sick..i got it on the ship at brunch.

 

 

You were still very contagious even after you felt better. You can spread the virus if you were out and about and touching anything on the ship. Three days in your cabin while perhaps unpleasant is not ridiculous given how contagious noro virus is.

 

How did you determine it was food poisoning vs noro virus?

Only lab tests can positively identify noro and it takes days for the same to give lab resutls.

 

[Vict0riann]

After the three of us were cleared (this was in the Med) after our quarantine, and the fumigation team wanted to come in in their white suits, etc., we (DH and I) went off for the day, but DD still felt weak and tired, they allowed her to sit on the balcony while they worked on the suite, and then she came in while they did the balcony. I suppose she might have gone to another part of the ship, even, as she was out of quarantine. That was not the last day of the cruise, though, and I'm not sure what they did with sick or quarantined passengers when we reached Civitavecchia. It would not have been pleasant to be trying to travel while still feeling sick!