Virus on Nautica

[LHT28]

He got sick after we got off the ship and were doing our post-cruise stay in Beijing. He was okay up until then, but we toured the first day after getting off the ship and the next day he was sick and couldn't tour.

I do know of one woman who got sick before getting on the ship but apparently felt okay to tour. Who knows? All I know is even though I am sick I am glad I got sick AFTER I got home. At least I was able to see Asia.

 

Nancy

 

Thanks for the update

Yes always better if you do get sick to be at home ;)

 

On our river cruise 3 out of 4 of us got sick on the ship ...DH got sick when we got home ..thank goodness we were home ;)

[Lady Meer]

I cannot count the number of times I have been behind someone who sneezes without covering their face...I usually turn & walk in the other direction the germs can fly through the air several feet

 

We also noticed on our last cruise a number of diners using their table napkins as handkerchiefs :eek: YUK

[LHT28]

We also noticed on our last cruise a number of diners using their table napkins as handkerchiefs :eek: YUK

 

:eek::eek:

I hate that

I saw a man doing that on one of our cruises I should have told the waitstaff not to touch it but could not catch their attention

 

Lyn

[ORV]

:eek::eek:

I hate that

I saw a man doing that on one of our cruises I should have told the waitstaff not to touch it but could not catch their attention

 

Lyn

 

One of my pet peeves, people that blow their nose at the table, whether it's with a napkin or the handy hankerchief they keep in their pocket. In what world do these people think this is acceptable manners? Get up and go to the bathroom, good grief. :eek:

[LHT28]

One of my pet peeves, people that blow their nose at the table, whether it's with a napkin or the handy hankerchief they keep in their pocket. In what world do these people think this is acceptable manners? Get up and go to the bathroom, good grief. :eek:

 

And wash your hands

[NC Garden Traveler]

I'm not trying to re-start the 'flames' associated with this thread, but I think some follow-up comments and discussion may be useful.

 

I'm Nancy's friend who was on the Beijing-to-Bangkok cruise that responded to her e-mail asking if there was any illness aboard Nautica during our cruise. I am the source of the 20% illness estimate noted at the start of this thread. As such, I'd like to provide some first-hand comments regarding the basis for this estimate. I want to emphasize that I am a cruiser with a fairly good understanding of statistics, and not a medical professional. I also have a good understanding of facts versus inferences, and potential errors associated with interpretation of sparse information.

 

1. As introductory background, I coordinated private tours for a number of people during the cruise and made dinner reservations prior to cruise with most of these couples. Through these contacts as well as the Meet and Greet and daily Team Trivia, I had fairly frequent contact and communication with approximately 60 passengers, equal to just under 10% of the guests on the cruise.

 

2. When we boarded Nautica on March 10, all guests were given a letter stating that in excess of 2% of the guests aboard the previous cruise had reported illnesses and that this notification was being provided as required by the CDC. Note, 2% is the threshold level that requires notification, not the % of people actually ill. Nothing was said in the letter regarding that nature of those illnesses or what should be done if a guest became ill during our cruise.

 

3. At the CC Meet and Greet on March 11, several people brought up Oceania's '2% letter' but no one I talked to was aware of any sickness among current guests.

 

4. On March 12, we went with 2 other couples on a tour of Seoul. On the ride back to the ship, one of the husband's reported not feeling well and was nauseous.

 

5. On March 13, we had a dinner reservation in Polo with 3 other couples (none of whom had been on our tour in Seoul). That morning, all 3 couples reported that at least one of the pair was sick, that they had visited the on-board medical staff and had been quarantined in their room, and would not be able to join us for dinner. Over the next several hours, I saw several cabin stewards washing hand rails in the the hallways and stairwells, dining room personnel positioned near the hand 'sanitizer stations' at the entrance to all eateries, and that the self-service laundry was closed. I also noted that a large number of cabins (20-30%) in our hallway on Deck 7 had "privacy please - do not disturb" placards on their doors (which could be explained by slow recovery from jet lag, illness, or other things). At the Captain's reception that evening, we were told that the ship's crew would not be shaking hands to reduce the potential for spreading germs. At Polo, the waiter told us that the kitchen would not be able to serve any rare or meidum rare steaks. Taken as a whole, I inferred from these 'facts' that there was a substantial and widespread 'bug' aboard and that Oceania had implemented its 'action plan' to minimize further spread. However, there were no statements issued by Nautica explaining the situation to their guests or the what and why of the steps they were taking (other than hand sanitation).

 

4. On March 14, I accidentally walked down the the 4th deck corridor where the medical office is located and discovered a relatively long 'waiting line' in the hallway. We docked in Shanghai at 8:00, but were told that debarking had been delayed while the Chinese authorities reviewed unspecified conditions on the ship (which I interpretted to mean santitation and health information). The ship was cleared for debarkation at around 8:45.

 

5. On the morning of March 16, 3 of the 4 couples who had booked a private tour of Nagasaki on the March 17 indicated that at least one spouse was still not feeling well and might need to cancel. However, by that evening, everyone was feeling better and, except for one husband who felt weak and wanted to stay aboard to rest, everyone was ready to go on the tour.

 

6. Most of illness was intestinal and appeared to take 2-3 days to run its course. I was not aware of any additional intestinal illnesses after March 17. My e-mail response to Nancy on March 20, noted that sick passengers earlier in the cruise may have been "20% or more" earlier in the cruise but had decreased significantly.

 

7. No information was provided by Oceania staff during the cruise regarding how many people were affected, the nature of the illnesses, or things to do if further symptoms were noted.

 

8. During the latter half of the cruise, a number of passengers developed nasal congestion and a cough. Based simply on who was sick, it did not appear that the intestinal problems of the first week of the cruise and the coughing during the latter half were not directly related to each other. However, the heavy use of disinfectants to control the initial outbreak may have resulted in nasal and bronchial stress and led to subsequent coughing.

 

In summary, I understand Oceania's concerns about not causing a 'panic' by announcing widespread illness that makes it's way into the news media, and I think the Natica crew and medical staff did a good job getting the problem under control. However, I would encourage Oceania (and other cruise lines) to reassess their communication plan with passengers about the nature of any disease or illness outbreaks, and about meaningful preventive measures (other than hand washing and general sanitation). I'm surprised that the CDC requires cruise lines to notify passengers when more than 2% of the passengers on a prior cruise were ill, but that no additional notifications or information sharing is required if additional illnesses occur.

 

Several earlier posts on this thread noted that commenters should stick to 'facts' and not speculate. To those commenters I would reply that if you are sitting in the midst of illness and no one provides any information, speculation is inevitable and that honest discussion is the best approach to problem solving. If Chritopher Columbus had stuck to 'facts' (as they were then understood), he would have never left Spain.

 

I'll be happy to respond to any requests for additional details.

 

David