Worse than they thought

[ryano]

The report out there that the sickness started with contaminated food, not sick passengers. .. .

 

Unless you have a link to an official story, you have nothing but rumor.

 

You DO know the difference between official report and rumor dont you? :rolleyes:

[maggie cruises]

And no fault on the cruse lines part.

 

I am not the poster you quoted, but it is being reported here that the previous cruise had some pax get sick 24 hours after disembarking.

 

I would venture to guess the CDC is not only looking at pax health but the sanitary conditions on the ship as well.

 

so it is actually POSSIBLE that the ship is at fault as well as pax who may have unintentionally or intentionally brought the virus on.

 

It helps to see both sides of something like this and explore all the possibilities. Well at least that is how I see things.

[Tyron]

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!!!

 

Because everything you're posting is from the rumor mill. And there's no way for anyone to know your "friend" actually exists. LOL. :p:D

[booboojoy]

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".

 

oh tbill....I thought you learned something yesterday with all the posts. noro does not come from contaminated food...remember? you learned that the ship was not sick until people didn't wash their hands ad made it and others sick. now you can tell your good friends that you know what happened.....they didn't wash their hands.

[tbill]

Unless you have a link to an official story, you have nothing but rumor.

 

You DO know the difference between official report and rumor dont you? :rolleyes:

 

Where is the official report that it was started by a passenger? You do know the difference between official report and rumor don't you :rolleyes:

[phoenix1181]

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.

 

YES!

 

A few years ago I was sick while on a cruise. It was not Noro & I was not confined to my cabin although I did, by choice, spend most of my time there. My cruise was ruined and all I got from RCCL was a VERY large bill for the care I received. Should I have gotten more than that?

[tbill]

oh tbill....I thought you learned something yesterday with all the posts. noro does not come from contaminated food...remember? you learned that the ship was not sick until people didn't wash their hands ad made it and others sick. now you can tell your good friends that you know what happened.....they didn't wash their hands.

 

Do you have that in an official report, or are you an expert on Noro? Please display your "official" source. Thank you. :rolleyes:

[tbill]

Because everything you're posting is from the rumor mill. And there's no way for anyone to know your "friend" actually exists. LOL. :p:D

 

It is actually four friends that are on the ship. I have provided links to all of what I posted yesterday. How do you figure its rumor with links provided? :p

Edited January 28, 2014 by tbill

[Retired LEO]

Where is the official report that it was started by a passenger? You do know the difference between official report and rumor don't you :rolleyes:

 

You're the one that stated that you have the report. We're waiting for you to provide it.

[leaveitallbehind]

I am not the poster you quoted, but it is being reported here that the previous cruise had some pax get sick 24 hours after disembarking.

 

As I understand it, the virus takes 24 hours or so to present with symptoms once contracted - it is not immediate. Very possible that woman contracted the virus late in the cruise and not show symptoms until after she disembarked and was home.

[NYTwinsMom]

DH and I will be on the Explorer in 12 days and I'm not too worried. The ship should be cleaner now than it has been in a very long time. A couple of years ago we boarded a Princess ship that had just been sanitized for an outbreak and we were confident then that it was a good time to get on the ship and I feel the same now.

IMHO, Passengers boarding should tell if they are sick, maybe the buffet staff could dish out the food for the passengers, if people would wash their hands and use sanitizers some of these outbreaks could be minimized.

Could've, would've, should've doesn't really matter because a lot of people don't follow rules and think of others. But we are going and expect to have a great time. :)

[LMaxwell]

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.

 

What did they report originally and how has the Disney-owned companies story now changed that it is even worse than originally reported by them? I'm not sure there has been any new information since yesterday that indicates it is even "worse". What is the baseline here? Actual facts or tabloid TV sensationalism? I'm not downplaying the event and saying a great number of people are ill, I'm just asking to understand what "much worse" means.

[squadron]

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?

 

I think that is a fair offer. Put the two together and you have a free cruise. How can they offer more?

[nbsjcruiser]

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?

 

Missed stops and 20% of your cruise vacation cut short. So now you're sitting in NY or wherever, freezing your spondulicks off instead of a nice warm sunny beach. Safe to say, if it was me I'd consider the whole affair a disaster. Ruined? Yep.

[tbill]

It is caused by infected people, contaminated food or water and touching contaminated surfaces. How would they even be able to ever state "officially" how the outbreak started?

 

http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/overview.html

 

Norovirus is a very contagious virus. You can get norovirus from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes your stomach or intestines or both to get inflamed (acute gastroenteritis). This leads you to have stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea and to throw up.

 

Anyone can be infected with norovirus and get sick. Also, you can have norovirus illness many times in your life. Norovirus illness can be serious, especially for young children and older adults.

 

Norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in the United States. Each year, it causes 19-21 million illnesses and contributes to 56,000-71,000 hospitalizations and 570-800 deaths. Norovirus is also the most common cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the United States.

 

The best way to help prevent norovirus is to practice proper hand washing and general cleanliness.

[tbill]

I think that is a fair offer. Put the two together and you have a free cruise. How can they offer more?

 

Right, assuming you can get more time off from work to cruise again, and assuming you have the money to pay the other 50% plus travel expenses. Its a crappy compensation... IMO.

[booboojoy]

Do you have that in an official report, or are you an expert on Noro? Please display your "official" source. Thank you. :rolleyes:

you have searched for enough reports to prove this noro theory wrong..so I don't have to do it. find a report that does not say WASH YOUR HANDS!!

[tbill]

What did they report originally and how has the Disney-owned companies story now changed that it is even worse than originally reported by them? I'm not sure there has been any new information since yesterday that indicates it is even "worse". What is the baseline here? Actual facts or tabloid TV sensationalism? I'm not downplaying the event and saying a great number of people are ill, I'm just asking to understand what "much worse" means.

 

Well I'm sure you can watch the Good Morning America segment from this morning online. They interviewed passengers that are actually on the ship.

[maggie cruises]

As I understand it, the virus takes 24 hours or so to present with symptoms once contracted - it is not immediate. Very possible that woman contracted the virus late in the cruise and not show symptoms until after she disembarked and was home.

 

I would hope the CDC people on board have some way of investigating the number of pax that became ill 24 hour after leaving the previous cruise.

 

This type of thing would certainly be part of the investigative process on the part of the CDC one could assume

Edited January 28, 2014 by maggie cruises

[maggie cruises]

hmmm...totally forgot who the parent company of ABC is and need to look at it in that context from now on especially regarding cruise ship reporting.

[tbill]

you have searched for enough reports to prove this noro theory wrong..so I don't have to do it. find a report that does not say WASH YOUR HANDS!!

 

I never disputed the fact that hands should be washed. That also goes for the cruise staff as well. Just saying.

[DreamingBig1]

No reason to bash the OP. I happen to agree with the poster who said the there is a difference between what RCI or other is legally obligated to do, but whether it's the right thing to do.

 

My take on the matter. That's the offer, there are probably considerations for additional compensation on a case by case basis.

 

RCI did do the right thing by heading back and scrubbing down their ship. Is the offer enough. Not sure? Stuff happens.

 

RCI will probably act in accordance with how this plays out.

 

Those questioning the veracity of the OP. It's not as though the OP is acting like they were on the cruise. There is no reason to believe she/he is lying.

[Beachdude]

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.

 

There is more to deep cleaning than just dusting off a few things on the ship. Literally everything is sterilized. And while that seems obvious, folks who haven’t experienced it don’t understand the huge inconvenience to the passengers and crew. Passengers on the following cruise will likely not have many of the items in their room that isn’t attached to the floor or walls that they are accustomed to because they are taken away to be sterilized. In our experience, passengers will not be allowed serve themselves ANYTHING including all beverages as well as condiments at the table like sugar, salt and pepper. If you want any of those items for your meal, you will have to ask for it. And they will be served with tongs.

 

Sally and I were talking about this last night and we feel sorry for everyone on the next cruise out because they will be inconvenienced a lot. Just imagine standing in line for 15 minutes every morning to get a cup of coffee and orange juice. You learn to get your drink first so your eggs and oatmeal don’t get cold. Oh, you want salt and pepper for those eggs, where is that waiter anyways? New proceedures are not normal for the crew, so they aren’t very good at it at first.

 

And speaking of the poor crew. You can see it in their eyes because not only do they have to deal with the grumpy inconvenienced passengers, they pull double duty in the crew stations as well performing the same sterilizing procedures. We heard that the crew got a maximum of 4 hours sleep a day until the ship got back to normal. Not sure when normal comes, we still didn’t see normal even after our 12 day cruise. But we didn’t have a single passenger or crew member get the Noro. They did a pretty good job. Still, after that experience, I would cancel if I were on the new cruise out on the Explorer. Not because of the virus, but because of the sterilization procedures the ship will have to perform.

 

So you can see why a ship might try to quarantine one or two cases to prevent the other extreme. Once a ship has to go full sterilization, it a couple weeks pain in the rear for everyone including the next couple weeks of passengers.

 

Burt

[LMaxwell]

Well I'm sure you can watch the Good Morning America segment from this morning online. They interviewed passengers that are actually on the ship.

 

I'm not able to right now, and since you started the thread maybe you can explain what you meant. What you typed has no baseline to it. Define "much worse" to me.

[DreamingBig1]

Look, My opinion is that the cruise is not what the paying guests expected the vacation to be. It may or may not be the fault of the cruise line. That fact will probably never be known for sure. The best customer service would be for RCCL to give a 100% refund for this cruise. I never said they should provide a future cruise and I do not think they need to do that. Those are words put in my mouth. If some feel this is not a logical conclusion, so be it but it is my opinion. :8

 

In fairness to Royal, these things do happen. That's a very bad precedent to set, and it would probably open up the door for people to expect a full refund because they caught a virus.

 

Maybe reimburse some of the on board purchases would be a good compromise?

 

Stuff happens, I went to Bush Gardens last summer with the family. It rained the entire day. We rode three rides. It was frustrating, but it's a risk we knew was there. We didn't get a refund or any reimbursement.

 

Did Royal do everything they could have to stop the spread or even to not happen. Not sure. Let's hope if there is something they can do, they do and then act accordingly. If there is something they can do, lets also hope they do not dig their heels in. I believe Royal does what they can do, however people and organizations do drop the ball.

 

Sometimes these events make for a better cruise line. One would hope.

Edited January 28, 2014 by DreamingBig1