Pearl never ending norovirus?

[PugetSound]

I was just reading a review of the 5/31-6/7 cruise and they did indeed still have the norovirus on board :(. Be prepared all you Alaska Pearl cruisers and wash your hands well and often.

[elruth]

I was on the April 6th 10 da cruise on the Pearl. That was the cruise after the outbreak so we had to wait several hrs before being able to board the ship since it was being cleaned and inspected. No coffee maker in room the first several days and no ice for several days and other precautions in place. In the buffet servers gave you the food. I actually felt ok about it because this meant the ship was cleaned. When we got home, I read online that they never were able to identify the virus. It said for our cruise " unknown ". We washed hands frequently and neither of us got sick and both of us are elderly. I was surprised when the room steward introduced himself and shook our hands! I immediately scrubbed my hands after he left.

[klr6773]

For those concerned about noro, a more important rule is to never eat anything with your fingers. Transmission from hands to food to mouth is a much more prevalent transmission vector than touching your face.

 

But hey, its a fine sunny summer day in Maine, finally, I'm dog tired from roofing my front porch, and I really don't want to do a noro or hand sanitizer debate now. I get enough of them during the peak noro seasons.

 

 

I'm sorry the thread is a bother to you. Your last sentence is pretty much why I started the thread today... Because we are not in January or February right now, and I am curious as to what's happening ( or possibly not happening) on the Pearl,that several have confirmed that Noro was apparent on the sailing they were on,or the sailing before their's. Even with the April sailing being noted as " unknown", some bug has made it rounds on the ship for a few months now.

 

I will take the precautions people have suggested and I plan to have a great time. Lord knows,maybe the luck that has me never even getting two lottery numbers on the same ticket will hopefully kick in and not let me be one of the handful that can get their trip ruined. It will be a few years until we get a chance to do another,so I'd love for this to be stress free!

[chengkp75]

I'm sorry the thread is a bother to you. Your last sentence is pretty much why I started the thread today... Because we are not in January or February right now, and I am curious as to what's happening ( or possibly not happening) on the Pearl,that several have confirmed that Noro was apparent on the sailing they were on,or the sailing before their's. Even with the April sailing being noted as " unknown", some bug has made it rounds on the ship for a few months now.

 

I will take the precautions people have suggested and I plan to have a great time. Lord knows,maybe the luck that has me never even getting two lottery numbers on the same ticket will hopefully kick in and not let me be one of the handful that can get their trip ruined. It will be a few years until we get a chance to do another,so I'd love for this to be stress free!

 

Hey, your OP wasn't a problem, I could just see this degenerating into another "my hand sanitizer or wipes is proven to kill everything, including Ebola" debate (and yes, I saw a manufacturer's claim to that effect last fall).

 

I've been trained by the USPH in their VSP requirements and protocols, and in disease remediation protocols, having worked as a senior officer on cruise ships. I know what works, what doesn't, how the disease is spread, and my aim is to educate cruisers about this, not repeatedly debunk manufacturer's claims. As I've said, I will always tell folks to do what makes them feel better, but do so armed with facts.

 

I just don't feel that because there was a reported spike in noro cases in March, and then again in May, that the ship has a continuing problem. Without a continuing series of reportable levels of cases in the interim, it is just an unfortunate circumstance of repeated re-infections. Even after the best of "deep cleanings", and even with supervision by USPH officials, the next passenger to board can re-infect surfaces onboard and re-start the whole process.

 

Noro is everywhere, you can pick it up from the handle of the shopping cart at your supermarket. If you practice good personal hygiene, and take normal, sensible precautions, you may never get it from anywhere. The vast majority of people on cruise ships do not come down with noro, even on cruises that reach the 3% level; 97% do not.

Edited June 11, 2015 by chengkp75

[newmexicoNita]

Wondering if anyone can give better insight for me- it seems that I've heard that the Pearl has been fighting the Norovirus since around January. While I don't want to be worried too much,it seems like the ship I'm about to board this weekend is having trouble shedding the bug. The CDC website is not current on info and I suspect a call to NCL won't get me the truth anyway. Wondering if it's still a very small percentage per sailing or if it's getting better or worse?

 

I planned to bring Clorox wipes and Lysol to keep our room disinfected. Planned to do less buffets and more sit down meals,as I read that's another good way to avoid germs,even though maybe at this point the buffets will be crew served the whole trip? Being many years on the food industry,I'm a natural frequent hand washer ..

 

Just a bit worried because I spent 3 weeks in May fighting a nasty cold- flu- cold- sinusitis/ ear infection. The last thing I want to do is end up even remotely sick again!

 

Is there a point that they will consider canceling or delaying a sailing to really take the time to deep clean? I know it's done daily but thinking this ship needs extra TLC.

Don't beleive everything you hear. Yes, they did have a really bad outbreak the last cruise in March and it carried over into April. We were on the April 6th sailing, the ship did all they could to control it and there were so few cases that had the previous cruise not been so bad none of us would have even known they had a couple people come down with NORO. As was posted here by someone on the ship, all the precausions were lifted not long after the sailing on Apr 16th as things were pretty much under control. There did seem to be an outbreak but nothing like the one in late March. I think we all need to realize NORO is everywhere, like it or not and unless there is a severe outbreak most of us are unaware of it.

 

Use your common sense, yes, bring wipes but don't expect them to do that much good, but washing your hands often, making sure you washy, washy, before eating any meal and be careful about using the public toilets and you should have a great, healthy cruise. I might add, if this is any consolation to you: NCL has one of the best records for controlling NORO and not having many outbreaks.

Edited June 11, 2015 by newmexicoNita

[khaide612]

Don't beleive everything you hear. Yes, they did have a really bad outbreak the last cruise in March and it carried over into April. We were on the April 6th sailing, the ship did all they could to control it and there were so few cases that had the previous cruise not been so bad none of us would have even known they had a couple people come down with NORO. As was posted here by someone on the ship, all the precausions were lifted not long after the sailing on Apr 16th as things were pretty much under control. There did seem to be an outbreak but nothing like the one in late March. I think we all need to realize NORO is everywhere, like it or not and unless there is a severe outbreak most of us are unaware of it.

 

Use your common sense, yes, bring wipes but don't expect them to do that much good, but washing your hands often, making sure you washy, washy, before eating any meal and be careful about using the public toilets and you should have a great, healthy cruise. I might add, if this is any consolation to you: NCL has one of the best records for controlling NORO and not having many outbreaks.

 

YES! There is probably NORO on every cruise. Some of these posts are making it sound like there is a huge conspiracy to cover it up. I've been on cruises with outbreaks and have never gotten it. NCL does a great job of trying to keep it contained.

[pixiedustdawn]

Just got off the Pearl. No Noro onboard. It was a wonderful cruise in Alaska!

[RetiredBird]

We were also on this sailing, and I second everything said above... They contained it to roughly 110 people.. Which I think is awesome :cool:

 

We to were on this sailing, and I third everything said above. The crew put in a 120% effort to keep the "bug" contained and they did a marvelous job. The captain brought the ship back into Port Miami a few hours earlier than scheduled so they could get corporate NCL and CDC teams on-board to help with the deep clean. The next cruise was due to leave port at 4PM, but due to the necessary "deep" clean they didn't depart until around 9PM that night. Since it was a two day at sea time, I believe the captain was able to make up the majority of the lost time.

[croozer65]

According to my 23andme DNA test, I'm immune from the most common form of the norovirus.

 

Sure you are.

[Sizzlechest]

Sure you are.

 

Read it and weep.

 

https://waa.ai/kz1z.png

Edited January 19, 2016 by Sizzlechest

[croozer65]

Read it and weep.

 

https://waa.ai/kz1z.png

 

I weep at your ignorance.

[shaun07]

Norovirus is now included as a perk for only a 25% fare hike :eek: