Worse than they thought

[tbill]

GMA is reporting this morning that after talking to passengers on board the Explorer of the Seas the situation on board is much worse than originally reported. They also reported that they are only refunding 50% of the cruise and offering 50% credit on future cruise. IMO that is a horrible compensation. The passengers that were not ill had a totally ruined vacation. They deserve a paid vacation for their troubles! ... and the poor sick passengers surely deserve a full refund. This is a horrible situation. I have four very good friends that are on that ship. I can't wait to see them on Thursday and get the real story. I will post a full review as reported by them.

[cruisinfanatic]

GMA is reporting this morning that after talking to passengers on board the Explorer of the Seas the situation on board is much worse than originally reported. They also reported that they are only refunding 50% of the cruise and offering 50% credit on future cruise. IMO that is a horrible compensation. The passengers that were not ill had a totally ruined vacation. They deserve a paid vacation for their troubles! ... and the poor sick passengers surely deserve a full refund. This is a horrible situation. I have four very good friends that are on that ship. I can't wait to see them on Thursday and get the real story. I will post a full review as reported by them.

Lets see, let me figure this out. Being refunded 50% off this cruise and 50% off the next. Isn't that the cost of a free cruise?

How do you know those not sick had a ruined vacation?

Edited January 28, 2014 by SeaUs

[grand isle joe]

I would bet that one of those "poor passengers" brought the Noro virus onto the ship and infected all the others. How is Royal Caribbean held totally responsible in the first place. If people just told the truth when questioned and WASHED THEIR HANDS it would be a better cruise all around. But like most things in today's life it's "all about ME" all the time.....I feel bad for the crew who had to clean up after those infected.

[Crusin6]

I would bet that one of those "poor passengers" brought the Noro virus onto the ship and infected all the others. How is Royal Caribbean held totally responsible in the first place. If people just told the truth when questioned and WASHED THEIR HANDS it would be a better cruise all around. But like most things in today's life it's "all about ME" all the time.....I feel bad for the crew who had to clean up after those infected.

 

No this is about a rccl canceled cruise.

[jakenashleysmom]

I would bet that one of those "poor passengers" brought the Noro virus onto the ship and infected all the others. How is Royal Caribbean held totally responsible in the first place. If people just told the truth when questioned and WASHED THEIR HANDS it would be a better cruise all around. But like most things in today's life it's "all about ME" all the time.....I feel bad for the crew who had to clean up after those infected.

 

TOTALLY agree.

[Tyron]

GMA is reporting this morning that after talking to passengers on board the Explorer of the Seas the situation on board is much worse than originally reported. They also reported that they are only refunding 50% of the cruise and offering 50% credit on future cruise. IMO that is a horrible compensation. The passengers that were not ill had a totally ruined vacation. They deserve a paid vacation for their troubles! ... and the poor sick passengers surely deserve a full refund. This is a horrible situation. I have four very good friends that are on that ship. I can't wait to see them on Thursday and get the real story. I will post a full review as reported by them.

 

IMO you should let anyone who wants to share "their" story from their perspective have that option. You doing so serves no purpose and would be highly suspect. :cool:

[gerif]

Wow, you really are obsessed with this, aren't you? Didn't you also report on yesterday's thread on this very subject (you really needed to start yet another thread?) that when your husband contracted noro on another cruise he chose to not report it such that he put fellow passengers at risk? These are the kinds of selfish people who are to blame for widespread passage of disease - those who feel they paid for their vacation and are going to enjoy it and to heck with everyone else.

[suizas]

This is not RCCL's fault. Anyone can get sick at any point in time. It is unfortunate, yes, that once the virus starts spreading others suffer. The ship didn't cause the virus, it is just a floating vessel that is containing it until it runs it course. To expect a full refund is nuts. When you sign up to go on a cruise ship or an airplane (or even walk into a doctors office!) you are aware of risks but you accept them at that time.

[Bobal]

I would bet that one of those "poor passengers" brought the Noro virus onto the ship and infected all the others. How is Royal Caribbean held totally responsible in the first place. If people just told the truth when questioned and WASHED THEIR HANDS it would be a better cruise all around. But like most things in today's life it's "all about ME" all the time.....I feel bad for the crew who had to clean up after those infected.

 

Actually, if you look at post #209 of the large thread on this http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41450765&highlight=honeymoon#post41450765 the poor woman disembarked the ship on the 21st and was ill within hours of disembarking. That bug was already on the ship!

[ginadc]

I think the questions of what is "owed" and whose "fault" it is (something that may never be determinable) are separate from what is the *right* thing to do. Thousands of passengers, through no fault of their own, paid a lot of money for a cruise they, for all intents and purposes, never got to take. Even if one or more of the passengers are at fault for knowingly getting on the ship while sick--not necessarily the case given the incubation period--how are you going to pinpoint which one or two passengers were "patient zero?" And should you not compensate the rest of the people who lost their vacation because you're thinking that at least some of them may be the "culprits?"

 

When we sailed on the Freedom in fall 2011, the first night out we sailed right through a massive storm with winds of up to 107 mph. It was *crazy*--a very scary night, ship tilting, elevators turned off, carts crashing in the MDR, broken liquor bottles pouring out in the Royal Promenade, and so on. Everyone got at least some OBC, and cabins like ours that had a ton of water incursion actually got a 50% credit toward a previous cruise. This is for a cruise that was not spoiled, for the most part--we had one scary night and some major cleanup in our cabin the next day. So if they gave us and other cabins with a lot of water in them 50% credit, I don't see it as fair that people who basically got no cruise *at all* get only the same level of compensation.

 

These noro stories are a big PR problem for the cruise ship industry. While noro is all over the place and you can get it anywhere, cruises are different in their "floating city" atmosphere. If there's a bad case of noro at your hotel, sometimes you can at least change hotels. You can't just switch ships mid-ocean. For the sake of passenger goodwill and image, I think the cruise lines simply need to budget for instances like this when noro causes a cancelled cruise, and refund passengers the full price paid. As I said, it's not a question of "fault" or "guilt"--it's about doing right by your customers, building goodwill, and protecting your image. Royal could get a lot of essentially free positive publicity now, to counter all the negative headlines, if they were generous about this issue.

[maggie cruises]

Lets see, let me figure this out. Being refunded 50% off this cruise and 50% off the next. Isn't that the cost of a free cruise?

How do you know those not sick had a ruined vacation?

 

no it is not free if you have out of pocket expenses of 50% for this cruise plus 50% of next cruise plus the incidentals.

 

I vote for full refund this cruise and be done with it not to mention the enormous amount of goodwill rccl will earn

[galavant3]

My son had noro on a cruise a few years ago and his cruise was basically ruined. We received no compensation. I'm not sure that it is reasonable to compensate everyone that gets sick on a cruise ship. I understand this was an extreme situation but to me, the compensation seems fair. Admittedly I wasn't there so I guess we'll need to wait until all the details are in to form a final opinion.

[leaveitallbehind]

That bug was already on the ship!

 

...but likely brought on previously by an already infected passenger. As I understand, it takes 24 hours or so for the virus to materialize with symptoms - and in her case perhaps it reached her late in the cruise so as not to develop until after she left. The possibility also exists that a similar situation could have happened with a crew member that would allow the virus to appear on two successive cruises.

 

No one - including you and the woman you refer to - knows exactly what transpired to draw any conclusions. It is an unfortunate situation that cruise lines take every precaution to prevent. But with as many passengers as board each ship each week, it sometimes isn't possible to prevent an outbreak.

Edited January 28, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[cruisinfanatic]

no it is not free if you have out of pocket expenses of 50% for this cruise plus 50% of next cruise plus the incidentals.

 

I vote for full refund this cruise and be done with it not to mention the enormous amount of goodwill rccl will earn

same expenses regardless

 

Suppose you hired a great band to play 10 hrs at you first daughter's wedding. Some of the band became very ill and had to quit after 8 hrs. They offered to refund you 50% of the cost AND give you 50% off for your second daughter's wedding.

I suspect you'd be very happy

Edited January 28, 2014 by SeaUs

[tbill]

IMO you should let anyone who wants to share "their" story from their perspective have that option. You doing so serves no purpose and would be highly suspect. :cool:

 

Why? She doesn't use the computer, how would it be suspect to write her blow by blow of what happened on the ship? Well I guess we will create a user name for her and she can dictate it to me?? LOL! Suspect? Really? Why on earth would it be suspect? SMH!!!

[NeoVega]

Actually, if you look at post #209 of the large thread on this http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41450765&highlight=honeymoon#post41450765 the poor woman disembarked the ship on the 21st and was ill within hours of disembarking. That bug was already on the ship!

 

WOW! I wonder how many cases of NORO were on the previous cruise of the EOS. It sure sounds like the crew did not take the "small" outbreak of NORO on the previous cruise seriously enough. If they had done the "deep" cleaning and taken precautions, perhaps the Big NORO outbreak on the EOS could have been avoided.

[MMOMOM]

I don't know since I wasn't there. However, I'll go with the person (not even sure what board since I receive posts from all CC boards in my feeds) but the point was 'it's flu season people, it happens'. Publicity comes in all directions, positive and negative and your more frequent outbreaks of Noro (if it was, I didn't know they actually defined it yet, but could be wrong) are during this time of year. All lines do their best to compensate their customers. But, let us not forget when the words gets out of people being sick, compensation, future cruise credits, etc. a lot of people will jump on the band wagon and get a belly ache! 'Just sayin'!! :)

[cruisinfanatic]

WOW! I wonder how many cases of NORO were on the previous cruise of the EOS. It sure sounds like the crew did not take the "small" outbreak of NORO on the previous cruise seriously enough. If they had done the "deep" cleaning and taken precautions, perhaps the Big NORO outbreak on the EOS could have been avoided.

all a lot of speculation as

you don't know how many were infected the week before

you don't know that the crew didn't take it seriously

you don't know the crew didn't deep clean and or take precautions

Edited January 28, 2014 by SeaUs

[Retired LEO]

No this is about a rccl canceled cruise.

 

And no fault on the cruse lines part.

[tbill]

I would bet that one of those "poor passengers" brought the Noro virus onto the ship and infected all the others. How is Royal Caribbean held totally responsible in the first place. If people just told the truth when questioned and WASHED THEIR HANDS it would be a better cruise all around. But like most things in today's life it's "all about ME" all the time.....I feel bad for the crew who had to clean up after those infected.

 

The report out there that the sickness started with contaminated food, not sick passengers. .. and yes, most people work hard all year and save for vacation and it should be "all about me".

[papaflamingo]

Tough group. Seems to me that the ship only came back 2 days early. That means that it was basically an 8 night cruise instead of 10. Now mind you I understand it wasn't a "dream cruise." But (now I haven't read all accounts), were all the passengers quarantined to their rooms? Or did they have normal run of the ship? If they had normal run of the ship, use of pools, all the restaurants and entertainment, then what they really missed was the port stops. And they spent a day and a half on San Juan, so they did get that port stop (don't know about others except Labadee). The crew spent days scrubbing the ship. In the WJ passengers were served food and not allowed to get it themselves. There were hand sanitizers all over the ship. In San Juan they extended their stay (I believe) to deep clean the ship. Exactly what more could RCCL have done? The decision to cut 2 days was made for the safety of those on board and those who will board next. A smart decision.

So, all passengers get a 50% refund AND a 50% credit toward another cruise. Some of you think that's not enough. That they should get a 100% refund of all costs involved plus a free cruise. You know, if they broke down on day one, drifted at sea for 4 days with no power (like a rival cruise line did), then certainly the vacation is "ruined." But that didn't happen. Those who weren't sick likely enjoyed, at least to a certain extent, the 8 nights they had. Those who were sick, well, unfortunately that's how it goes. Unless it is RCCL's fault (i.e. negligence), why are they 100% responsible?

Here's what I feel. If on day one all passengers were confined to their cabin and unable to take advantage of what the ship offers, then I'd certainly agree. But doesn't sound like anyone except sick people were confined at all. So if you go on a ship, you get sick and have to stay in bed, then the cruise line "owes" you some sort of compensation?

Y'all.... this is just part of life. That's why we have cruise insurance. If you suffer financial loss for certain events, the insurance covers it. You agree to this when you sign your cruise contract. If you don't like the contract, don't go on the cruise.

[Retired LEO]

The report out there that the sickness started with contaminated food, not sick passengers. .. and yes, most people work hard all year and save for vacation and it should be "all about me".

 

Provide a link to the "Official" report.

[leaveitallbehind]

Provide a link to the "Official" report.

 

Agree. I question if one yet exists as, to my understanding, the CDC is still conducting their investigation on board and will remain throughout the deep clean planned after its return to port. IMO, I doubt that a final and conclusive report will be completed until then. All likely just speculation at this point.

Edited January 28, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[maggie cruises]

My son had noro on a cruise a few years ago and his cruise was basically ruined. We received no compensation. I'm not sure that it is reasonable to compensate everyone that gets sick on a cruise ship. I understand this was an extreme situation but to me, the compensation seems fair. Admittedly I wasn't there so I guess we'll need to wait until all the details are in to form a final opinion.

 

your son's cruise was ruined, but did the ship turn around and go home essentially ending the cruise for the entire manifest?

 

close to 600 ill as of last night and the ship is on its way back and the cruise is no longer.

[papaflamingo]

The report out there that the sickness started with contaminated food, not sick passengers. .. and yes, most people work hard all year and save for vacation and it should be "all about me".

 

Ok...I never do this, but this comment just ticks me off. You know, I "work hard all year and save for vacation" too. And your attitude that "it should be all about me" is exactly the problem. Like it or not, you choose to vacation with 3500 other people. They also want the experience. But when you totally disregard their existence just because you "worked hard and saved" and paid for this cruise, you diminish their experience. Let me give you an example:

You are on day 2 of your cruise. You get norovirus. Do you go to Medical and get quarantined? NO. Do you stay in your cabin? NO. You know why? Because, by God you WORKED HARD AND SAVED for this vacation, and it's "all about me!" So the heck with the other 3499 passengers, they can just deal with it! Same with smoking in no smoking areas, cutting in line, being rude to the staff, being rude to other passengers, etc. etc. We see it all the time on these boards. The common comment: "I paid for it so it's all about me."

Great attitude. Tell you what... if you want an "all about me" vacation, go somewhere where there are no other people trying to enjoy their vacation. A mountain stream is nice. It's you and the fish. Of course the fish may not honor your "it's about me" vacation, and throw themselves into your boat, you may actually have to catch them.

Good luck!