Noro on Riviera again

[ORV]

That is distressing to hear. So it continued almost a year (at least) after our NY-Lima cruise in April/May '15 on MARINA.

 

 

I'm not sure how you're figuring, looks to be around a month.

[shedridt]

If you read all the postings here you'd never leave home! If noro-virus (real or otherwise) doesn't get you, a mysterious cough will.

 

I dunno....we live a sort of slap-happy life in which we garden & get awfully mucky, & we have two dogs we kiss on the lips & goodness knows where they've been (they probably say the same of us!). We should have died a dozen times over in our own home, but we're still here & are almost entirely healthy! We dare to touch our eyes, noses & mouths with our own hands a dozen times a day, & have lived to tell the tale! And when we travel we are sensible - we don't eat street food, or drink local water in countries we shouldn't.

 

All of that aside, I will ding Oceania again on two points & they are (again!) that they really should post a crew member outside dining facilities & at embarkation points to insist that passengers use hand sanitizer. Other lines do it & we're not reading about Azamara or Seabourn having these problems so what does that suggest? Both lines in my admittedly limited experience do require this & what can it hurt?

 

Another really basic problem is one I observed daily in the Waves Grille & that is that bottles of mayonnaise & other condiments were left to toast gently in the Caribbean sun each & every day for hours at a time...now that is a real worry from anyone's perspective!

 

I honestly think my husband's problem on this cruise resulted either from fruit juice reconstituted with local water OR his love of Oceania's Caesar Salads, which he had noon & night. I switched out mid-way through the cruise & tried other things. Could Caesar be the culprit? Et tu, Brute!!!

 

We refuse to travel scared & if this is all we can talk about after traveling to 7 continents, we are fortunate indeed! Forego local produce & street food, & be sensible about eating salads in tropical climates - that's our mantra. It's worked for us over the long haul & we have no plan to give up on Oceania or travel in general over a fear of touching our eyes with contaminated hands....

[kitty9]

Unless Oceania has some special formula, basic hand sanitizers do not kill Noro. So, the whole business of having to use sanitizers when entering any venue, gives a false sense of security.

[hypercafe]

Altho it is not pleasant to have noro or any other sickness on vacation and away from home I think this whole thing is blown out of proportion. If 2% of the people on board are infected that's only 40 out of around 2000 crew and passengers. Reading some of this it sounds like people are talking about a plague ship.

[Lottie A]

Unless Oceania has some special formula, basic hand sanitizers do not kill Noro. So, the whole business of having to use sanitizers when entering any venue, gives a false sense of security.

 

You are quite correct .....but they do protect against other bacterial gastric complaints, which are often confused with Norovirus, so it doesn't hurt to use them. There are anti viral hand wash solutions available which are more expensive, which is why the cruise lines don't routinely use them. I always travel with some, just in case there is a Noro outbreak on the ship. It amazes me how many supposedly intelligent people leave the toilets without thoroughly washing their hands. Some don't wash them at all....but will redo their lipstick and my OH says the same of the Gents....but not the lippy redo obviously! :)

[sammiedawg]

It has been many years since epidemiology classes but the bottom line is people bring Noro virus into cruise ships, classrooms, college campuses, etc. Riviera is doing ten day Caribbean cruises this winter so that means a new group of 1,000 plus passengers embarks the ship every ten days. Crew members rotate in and out.

All cruise lines experience Noro. Riviera is not a "sick ship".

Food borne illness like E. coli is not the same illness as Noro.

Airlines are freaking germ factories with no disinfecting between flights. Many of us fly before we board. We all have lives before we cruise and come in contact with God knows what on a daily basis.

I call the cruise cough kennel cough, I've gotten it a few times and it can be really nasty.

 

Vigorous Hand washing with hot soapy water is the gold standard. As previously stated the hand gel is ineffective against Noro virus. It is fine to use for general purposes but take a minute and watch how many people use it. The hand gel squirts into the palm of their hand, they clap two hands together for a few seconds. Then they flip over their hands and dab the back of their hands together for a few seconds and they are "done".

[MVPinBoynton]

If you read all the postings here you'd never leave home! If noro-virus (real or otherwise) doesn't get you, a mysterious cough will.

 

I dunno....we live a sort of slap-happy life in which we garden & get awfully mucky, & we have two dogs we kiss on the lips & goodness knows where they've been (they probably say the same of us!). We should have died a dozen times over in our own home, but we're still here & are almost entirely healthy! We dare to touch our eyes, noses & mouths with our own hands a dozen times a day, & have lived to tell the tale! And when we travel we are sensible - we don't eat street food, or drink local water in countries we shouldn't.

 

All of that aside, I will ding Oceania again on two points & they are (again!) that they really should post a crew member outside dining facilities & at embarkation points to insist that passengers use hand sanitizer. Other lines do it & we're not reading about Azamara or Seabourn having these problems so what does that suggest? Both lines in my admittedly limited experience do require this & what can it hurt?

 

Another really basic problem is one I observed daily in the Waves Grille & that is that bottles of mayonnaise & other condiments were left to toast gently in the Caribbean sun each & every day for hours at a time...now that is a real worry from anyone's perspective!

 

I honestly think my husband's problem on this cruise resulted either from fruit juice reconstituted with local water OR his love of Oceania's Caesar Salads, which he had noon & night. I switched out mid-way through the cruise & tried other things. Could Caesar be the culprit? Et tu, Brute!!!

 

We refuse to travel scared & if this is all we can talk about after traveling to 7 continents, we are fortunate indeed! Forego local produce & street food, & be sensible about eating salads in tropical climates - that's our mantra. It's worked for us over the long haul & we have no plan to give up on Oceania or travel in general over a fear of touching our eyes with contaminated hands....

 

I do agree with your post; but did want to mention that the cruise before ours on the Azamara Quest in 2010 had a Noro outbreak, so we had to wait until the deep cleaning was complete. I guess the smaller ship outbreaks don't make the news.

[Paulchili]

It has been many years since epidemiology classes but the bottom line is people bring Noro virus into cruise ships, classrooms, college campuses, etc. Riviera is doing ten day Caribbean cruises this winter so that means a new group of 1,000 plus passengers embarks the ship every ten days. Crew members rotate in and out.

All cruise lines experience Noro. Riviera is not a "sick ship".

Food borne illness like E. coli is not the same illness as Noro.

Airlines are freaking germ factories with no disinfecting between flights. Many of us fly before we board. We all have lives before we cruise and come in contact with God knows what on a daily basis.

I call the cruise cough kennel cough, I've gotten it a few times and it can be really nasty.

 

Vigorous Hand washing with hot soapy water is the gold standard. As previously stated the hand gel is ineffective against Noro virus. It is fine to use for general purposes but take a minute and watch how many people use it. The hand gel squirts into the palm of their hand, they clap two hands together for a few seconds. Then they flip over their hands and dab the back of their hands together for a few seconds and they are "done".

 

Hear, hear - a most sensible post - factual rather than emotional.

[LHT28]

In the other thread a few months ago it was discussed the gel they use on the ships does help combat Noro

it is not the same gel you get at walmart

[corpkid]

Just going to chime in here with my 2 cents on this. We live in Orlando and frequent the theme parks (why not, right?). Well, a cruise ship is a LOT like a theme park in that there are a lot of people from a lot of places touching the same things as you, and there is lots of eating.

 

It took us about a year to figure out that obsessively washing your hands and avoiding touching certain surfaces was they key to preventing the colds we always seemed to catch that the parks. We nicknamed them "international colds" in my circle of theme park friends. :)

 

Seriously, the onus is on YOU to be aware and slightly OCD about hand washing and recognizing what NOT to touch. If only everyone was as hygienic as most of us, but it only takes a few bad players to ruin for many. Again, just my 2 cents and experience. Hope they get this ironed out once and for all.

[wristband]

2% is not "blowing the whole thing out of proportion." 2% is the bare minimum legal threshold applicable to ships docking in US ports per CDC requirements. The captain is obligated to inform both the CDC and pax and crew onboard once the 2% threshold is hit.

 

BUT...it does not mean ONLY 2% of 1,800 total individuals were affected by the virus. Might be 5% or 10% - who knows? - O will not announce the exact figure on board.

 

All of us can check the CDC web site once the outbreak report is filed to see actual numbers.

 

I have been on Riviera multiple times in three years - 2x had a "reportable" Noro outbreak, most recently in late November. Obviously, you can see for yourself if there is a problem. Fewer people in the dining venues, fevered activity to rub down tables and railings.

 

Nasty.

[shedridt]

Don't travel on Oceania ever again!

[Paulchili]

Don't travel on Oceania ever again!

 

I didn't know Oceania had exclusive rights on Noro - you learn something new every day :D

[HeatherInFlorida]

No one is ever thrilled to hear that Noro is aboard a ship ... especially when, like me, you're just about to embark that ship in a week.

 

But I'd forgotten how people on CC can literally beat this stuff until it is so dead that no miracle could possibly revive it and then start beating the poor dead horse again anyway. Noro occurs on all ships, all lines ... no one is exempt. It doesn't happen on the ship; people bring it to the ship and it spreads because of the contained environment.

 

So maybe we should never cruise again, never go to a hotel again, never board an airline again. Instead we can sit behind our keyboards and live vicariously through the wonderful world of social media. Maybe we should lock ourselves in our safe little homes and die of boredom instead.

[orchestrapal]

+1 Stuff happens!

[LHT28]

No reports from those onboard ???

 

They must have cut the internet connection or they are all deathly ill :eek:

[cruisingxpert]

No reports from those onboard ???

 

They must have cut the internet connection or they are all deathly ill :eek:

 

 

I was wondering about that too. Several who were going to be on this cruise talked about it before they boarded and now - not a peep. Hopefully, it's because they are having too good a time to bother.

If they weren't happy, I would imagine some of them would find time to tell us.:D

[LHT28]

I was wondering about that too. Several who were going to be on this cruise talked about it before they boarded and now - not a peep. Hopefully, it's because they are having too good a time to bother.

If they weren't happy, I would imagine some of them would find time to tell us.:D

 

You would think ;)

[shedridt]

We aren't hearing from them for a variety of reasons, to wit -

 

(1) They're all dead, from NoroVirus (undiagnosed but never mind that)

(2) They're all well & having a great time

(3) It was never a crisis to begin with, just a small minority of passengers who were not well for whatever reason from having too much rich food for 10 days to putting sun-baked mayonnaise on their burgers.

 

I would very much like to know whether there is now or has ever been an affirmative diagnosis of NoroVirus on Riviera - or is this a tummy thing attributable to indiscrete dining on land, or whatever. I think this has been blown way out of proportion & there's a sort of love affair going on with being associated in some way with a "Sick Ship". Riviera was spotlessly clean from what we could see of it...

 

And regardless of whether enforced use of hand-sanitizers prior to entering dining facilities is efficacious or not, I haven't heard widespread cries of NORO leveled at Azamara or Seabourn (our two favorite lines...) & they DO enforce use of hand-sanitizers. As I say, draw your own conclusions.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our Riviera cruise Feb 2-12 BTW....

[HeatherInFlorida]

I so wish CC had a "like" button because I'd click it on every post since my last one :):):). I agree that no news is good news. For sure someone would be posting "Help!!! Get me off this sick ship!"

 

I need to start packing.😃

[DrHemlock]

Shedridt: +1

[LHT28]

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our Riviera cruise Feb 2-12 BTW....

Wasn't that the cruise where it was supposedly reported??

 

Maybe the extra cleaning got it under control

[RJB]

We aren't hearing from them for a variety of reasons, to wit -

 

(1) They're all dead, from NoroVirus (undiagnosed but never mind that)

(2) They're all well & having a great time

(3) It was never a crisis to begin with, just a small minority of passengers who were not well for whatever reason from having too much rich food for 10 days to putting sun-baked mayonnaise on their burgers.

 

I would very much like to know whether there is now or has ever been an affirmative diagnosis of NoroVirus on Riviera - or is this a tummy thing attributable to indiscrete dining on land, or whatever. I think this has been blown way out of proportion & there's a sort of love affair going on with being associated in some way with a "Sick Ship". Riviera was spotlessly clean from what we could see of it...

 

And regardless of whether enforced use of hand-sanitizers prior to entering dining facilities is efficacious or not, I haven't heard widespread cries of NORO leveled at Azamara or Seabourn (our two favorite lines...) & they DO enforce use of hand-sanitizers. As I say, draw your own conclusions.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our Riviera cruise Feb 2-12 BTW....

Not dead. Sitting at beach in st Bart's having a great time. Crew doing a great job cleaning and seems to help. Will try to post when I get back to ship. Hard from an I phone.

[cruisingxpert]

Not dead. Sitting at beach in st Bart's having a great time. Crew doing a great job cleaning and seems to help. Will try to post when I get back to ship. Hard from an I phone.

 

Thanks for reporting back to us. Please tell me they are not serving beef

done to death:D

[sheri75]

I guess it is fine to mock people who truly got sick on the Feb. 2-12 cruise or the person who was taken away by ambulance in Key West. Or the couple that canceled their Feb. 12th cruise after being quarantined for 3 days and desperately ill. My husband got very ill early in the cruise and since he has battled a blood infection in the past, this was serious business. Oceania did not put the cleaning procedures into place until 3 days after he got sick. I believe they should have been put in place sooner so that less people got sick onboard our ship and so that it would have been eradicated by the time the Feb. 12th cruise took off.