Anthem of the seas is headed back to Cape Liberty now due to a storm

[mmckm]

Ok whatever, to whoever made the comments about the sheets, but my sheets smelled bad (from the moment they were on the bed). AND, I went DAYS without clean towels and when I asked, I got my head bitten off by the horrible stateroom attendant, who btw, got $20 from us on dat 1. It's something I do every trip.

 

But it doesn't matter anyways because it has been resolved. The same stateroom attendant who cleans the captain's room, the hotel director's room AND the cruise director's room. And guess what???? He's actually doing his JOB, you know the same job the other guy never did. And also, I haven't had the time or working Internet to tell you the WHOLE story.

 

So you people can think what you want of me, but the matter of the fact is, you're not going here dealing with the crap I am. So say whatever you want to me because I'm don't arguing with Internet strangers. I'm doing my own and don't care what anyone says. So I'm going to my other thread to finish my review. I'm done with defending myself to people who don't matter :D

 

That why we never tip till the end. A tip is earned, bribery never works.

[Overtyme]

RC has been sailing year round out NJ since 2004.

 

 

The position by some that RC should stop cruising out of NJ/NYC Metro area during the Winter months is ridiculous.

Why stop there? What about all Summer during hurricane season?

Maybe they should just pack it in and quit the cruise industry all together? [emoji849]

It's unfortunate that these things seem to have all hit at once, but they're not the first ship to get slammed by a bad storm and not the first ship to get hit by the noro virus.

They won't be the last either.

But one thing is definite.

Things can only get better!

[rjrice1]

I just heard on the news it was noro virus.

Being a nurse in a dementia nursing home... the flu is going like wild fire

I call it the the 3 P's... puke, pee and pop. lol

Hand washing is one of the most prevention of spreading germs..

Don't touch those nasty hand rails, use paper towels to turn on the water and shut in off in the bathroom, and another to open the doors..

I even use paper products to flush the toilet..

Was at Walmart this am...left the bathroom, didn't wash her hands, and touching all the produce... gross . Said out loud to my DH do you know washing hands after using the bathroom will prevent the spread of germs.. he looked at me as if I was crazy..

[GolfMom321]

what it comes down to is the captain on this ship made a huge mistake during then last storm. he was real lucky that the ship was not heavily damaged or worse yet passengers were not seriously hurt. rccl is covering their butts!

 

noro happens, it is a common illness when this many people or in close proximity of each other.

 

compensation is fair those current passengers. only bad part is paying those nyc hotel prices for those staying for their original flight plans and not to mention taxi fares and food.

 

Really? Interesting, since the captain on this ship is Captain Anders, and the Captain on THAT ship was Captain Claus.

 

This is how rumors spread--people who don't know pretending they do. :confused:

[e2011]

My uncle was a merchant marine and said that putting cruise ships in New York in the winter is asking for trouble. The Atlantic can get wicked storms out of no where. He said many times his supply ship would sail from NY to Bermuda and the weather could go from 15mph winds and 6 foot waves to 60 mph and 40 foot waves in just a few hours! Very unpredictable and not appropriate for a cruise ship.

Edited February 29, 2016 by e2011

[cruisenfever]

what it comes down to is the captain on this ship made a huge mistake during then last storm. he was real lucky that the ship was not heavily damaged or worse yet passengers were not seriously hurt. rccl is covering their butts!

 

noro happens, it is a common illness when this many people or in close proximity of each other.

 

compensation is fair those current passengers. only bad part is paying those nyc hotel prices for those staying for their original flight plans and not to mention taxi fares and food.

Here is part of what was included in the email that Michael Bayley, CEO of RCI, sent to all Travel Agents on February 16, 2016....

 

Dear valued travel partner,

 

I want to give you an update and some additional information on Anthem of the Seas.

 

As many of you know, last week Anthem of the Seas encountered a storm that was dramatically stronger than all official weather forecasts. U.S. Coast Guard and other investigators have relayed information to us that our captain followed proper procedure in managing the ship in the storm. They praised him for making decisions that kept our guests and crew safe, kept the ship seaworthy and led to only four minor injuries in a ship with more than 6,000 people on board. The ship passed all safety inspections. All but a few minor repairs have been completed. Anthem is back at sea.

Edited February 29, 2016 by cruisenfever

[chengkp75]

My uncle was a merchant marine and said that putting cruise ships in New York in the winter is asking for trouble. The Atlantic can get wicked storms out of no where. He said many times his supply ship would sail from NY to Bermuda and the weather could go from 15mph winds and 6 foot waves to 60 mph and 40 foot waves in just a few hours! Very unpredictable and not appropriate for a cruise ship.

 

And I'm a merchant ship's officer as well, and have worked cruise ships, and I don't see any real problem with cruising from the NE in winter, as long as the guests know that it won't be sunny Caribbean weather.

[LMaxwell]

The position by some that RC should stop cruising out of NJ/NYC Metro area during the Winter months is ridiculous.

Why stop there? What about all Summer during hurricane season?

Maybe they should just pack it in and quit the cruise industry all together? [emoji849]

 

In the event of a Hurricane, when departing from a southern port right into the Caribbean you can really divert in any direction. There are plenty of ports to call on and areas to sail to.

 

When you leave in the winter from the northeast you really only go one way; south, hugging the eastern seaboard, and if there's a big winter storm out there you don't have a lot of options for diverting.

 

I believe now at least 4 cruises since January 12th have been impacted by weather related incidents. Two cruise itineraries were impacted (one lengthened, one shortened and completely changed), you had THE BIG STORM itinerary, and now you have this cruise itinerary being impacted. Depending on the path of the storm, the next itinerary could be impacted. It seems like they've had only one sailing in the last 45 days not impacted by weather related delays. The cruise not impacted by delays still had some impact to features and amenities from damage from the previous itinerary.

 

So I think it at least should raise the question if it is worth sailing out of the region 12 months a year as opposed to 8 or 9 months. But, other ships sail from the same region and are more or less uneventful; so is this just a string of bad luck and unlikely to occur again?

 

There's damage RCI can measure in dollars and cents, but there's also incalculable damage to the brand and industry as well. I have friends who haven't cruised but have considered it and the news the past few weeks have put the kaibosh on it for them and made them think we're crazy for choosing this type of vacation. Of course that's a rather shallow opinion based more on ignorance than knowledge, but I think it speaks to a lot of public perception about cruising in general. I mean just read the comments on any news story out there.

 

Are there and Mid-Lantic ports RCI could use otherwise? Charleston?

[TravelingAPor]

Is this the ship with a sick passenger near Virginia, last week, when the ship sailed out of NJ?

[gaylemh]

So is it a storm or noro? When Oceania brought Riviera back to Miami 2 days early to clean for noro last week they paid for hotel rooms for those 2 nights. For everyone on the ship that wanted them they had buses waiting at the pier to get them there. The right thing to do.

 

Did they also reimburse for 2 days and give a FCC for 50% off?

[cruisenfever]

Is this the ship with a sick passenger near Virginia, last week, when the ship sailed out of NJ?

I believe it was.

[chengkp75]

Okay, noro virus. I don't want to hijack this thread, but it seems it has moved to a noro discussion, so since its been a while since I've posted some facts about noro, this may be pretty long. If you're not interested, fine, move along, and I apologize for being windy.

 

Not sure about the statement about under cooked chicken at Chipotle, as this does not cause noro, it is an e coli or salmonella problem. Last I heard, it was due to ill workers not following proper hand sanitation. Anyway.

 

How is noro transmitted? There are basically two transmission vectors; infected surfaces, and infected "ready to eat" food (fruits and vegetables). Because all noro comes down to a fecal to oral cross-contamination, where someone who has the virus does not practice good sanitation after using the bathroom, and gets the virus on his/her hands. This can then be transferred to surfaces or to fresh food, and subsequently to you.

 

Given the USPH's requirements for cruise ships to follow with regards to food safety, from sourcing to receiving to storage, preparation and handling, including the sanitizing of all "ready to eat" food in a chlorine solution before it is prepared (all fruits and vegetables), there is little likelihood of getting it from food onboard.

 

So, someone brings it onboard. How does the CDC study noro outbreaks on cruise ships? By the number of sick people? Not really, that is one of the least significant figures they look at. They study the trend, since the ship has to submit reports daily once a "special report" is sent at 2% reportable cases. They look to see if the number of new cases increases or decreases, and whether the numbers right before and right after turn-around day spike either up or down. They also look at the questionnaire that is filled out when you report to medical with GI symptoms. They are very good at finding commonalities to lead them to "patient zero", or the person most likely who brought the virus onboard.

 

Now we come to the age old: is it the passengers or crew that bring noro onboard? question. Let me start by asking whether your personal hygiene procedures change when you travel, or when you go to work? Most people would say, no, and I'd agree. Now, if a crew member brought noro onboard, it would spread because of his/her poor hygiene, and this poor hygiene would not change over the 9 months that the crew member is working on the ship. Therefore, you would expect to see noro cases every cruise, which you don't, and you would see the trend as mentioned above, hold constant over the turn around day period.

 

So, what changes on a cruise ship every week? The passengers and their personal hygiene. This is why even when a ship has a "deep cleaning", it can have noro the next day, if an infected person joins the ship and contaminates surfaces immediately after the deep clean. This trend is generally indicated by a building of case numbers at the start of a cruise, and then the numbers dropping towards the end of the cruise, as those susceptible have had their dose, and are getting better, and then the next cruise the numbers start to rise again.

 

Can a crew member bring noro onboard? Sure. But remember, transmission is from someone actively infected, and who practices poor hygiene. Transmission from an active carrier to a surface, to your hands, which then touch another surface (but you wash your hands so you don't get sick), which another person touches and then gets sick is not that common. Noro needs a host to spread, so that person needs to ingest the virus to have it multiply and then observe poor hygiene to get the virus back on their hands. Do crew get sick from noro, and spread it once onboard? Sure. But as miserable as a passenger may be with noro, the crew know that the longer it runs its course onboard, the harder their workload is, and the more likely they are to get sick, so they will work on hygiene to prevent it as much as possible.

[chengkp75]

Here is part of what was included in the email that Michael Bayley, CEO of RCI, sent to all Travel Agents on February 16, 2016....

 

Dear valued travel partner,

 

I want to give you an update and some additional information on Anthem of the Seas.

 

As many of you know, last week Anthem of the Seas encountered a storm that was dramatically stronger than all official weather forecasts. U.S. Coast Guard and other investigators have relayed information to us that our captain followed proper procedure in managing the ship in the storm. They praised him for making decisions that kept our guests and crew safe, kept the ship seaworthy and led to only four minor injuries in a ship with more than 6,000 people on board. The ship passed all safety inspections. All but a few minor repairs have been completed. Anthem is back at sea.

 

Bingo. Here's to all the folks who are calling for the Captain's firing. The highlighted section above shows that the BMA and the USCG have found that the Captain followed proper procedure, which as I have stated all along, means that he followed the company's ISM (International Safety Management) system procedures, and as long as he did this, there would be no censure of any kind against him. Now, the BMA and the USCG are looking to see if best industry practices and RCI's ISM policies need to be adjusted, but under existing procedures, the Captain did nothing wrong.

 

Thank you for posting this.

Edited March 1, 2016 by chengkp75

[BND]

For all those that think RCI shouldn't sail out of the NE in the winter, I have a simple answer. YOU don't cruise then and let the rest of us who have done it continue to do so and decide for ourselves. If you don't like it, why do you need to demand that others not be able to?

 

For the poster whose uncle was a merchant marine, I'll raise you one, my DH is a retired US Navy Captain and he has no issue with us sailing out of the NE. He does expect we'll encounter weather occasionally, but the US Navy sails much smaller ships that list a lot farther due to their design and they continue to sail.

 

As for noro, if everyone ashore had to follow the same reporting requirements as cruise ships do, some of you would never leave your house. Also, more than likely it's a cruiser who either doesn't report being sick (shocker huh?) or doesn't know it brings it aboard. This time of year is prime time for noro and many other illnesses. Some of you need to do yourselves a favor and search CC for noro outbreaks and see what time of year they're mostly reported.

Edited March 1, 2016 by BND

[cruisenfever]

Bingo. Here's to all the folks who are calling for the Captain's firing. The highlighted section above shows that the BMA and the USCG have found that the Captain followed proper procedure, which as I have stated all along, means that he followed the company's ISM (International Safety Management) system procedures, and as long as he did this, there would be no censure of any kind against him. Now, the BMA and the USCG are looking to see if best industry practices and RCI's ISM policies need to be adjusted, but under existing procedures, the Captain did nothing wrong.

 

Thank you for posting this.

You're welcome. Though you do know that there will be those that still won't believe what they read.:p

[foxgoodrich]

Here is part of what was included in the email that Michael Bayley, CEO of RCI, sent to all Travel Agents on February 16, 2016....

 

Dear valued travel partner,

 

I want to give you an update and some additional information on Anthem of the Seas.

 

As many of you know, last week Anthem of the Seas encountered a storm that was dramatically stronger than all official weather forecasts. U.S. Coast Guard and other investigators have relayed information to us that our captain followed proper procedure in managing the ship in the storm. They praised him for making decisions that kept our guests and crew safe, kept the ship seaworthy and led to only four minor injuries in a ship with more than 6,000 people on board. The ship passed all safety inspections. All but a few minor repairs have been completed. Anthem is back at sea.

 

Thanks for posting that, Patti! Do you know when Captain Andersen will be back aboard?

Judy

[OBX-Cruisers]

Noro Virus. Go have a drink at the schooner bar and they give you a narrow mouth glass jar with peanuts. Watch people put their hands inside the jar to reach the peanuts but when they are finished and leave their table the waitress takes the jar to another table . More hands in the jar.

 

I once worked with a microbiologist that did a small study on those snack jars in the bar. Samples taken at 1/2 hr intervals had rather impressive increases in bacterial counts.......not a pretty thought

Double eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

[BND]

I once worked with a microbiologist that did a small study on those snack jars in the bar. Samples taken at 1/2 hr intervals had rather impressive increases in bacterial counts.......not a pretty thought

Double eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

 

Yeah, well, a computer keyboard is worse than most toilet seats, so you can test anything and find high counts. Just google and you'll find out more than you ever want to know. Not all bacteria will make you sick.

[ducklite]

 

 

If you don't use the credit, do they give it back in cash or a credit to your credit card? Do you need to stand in line for two hours to get the refund back to the card, or is it automatic?

[cecelia0613]

So is it a storm or noro? When Oceania brought Riviera back to Miami 2 days early to clean for noro last week they paid for hotel rooms for those 2 nights. For everyone on the ship that wanted them they had buses waiting at the pier to get them there. The right thing to do.

 

On the news this evening they quoted Royal Caribbean as saying they are returning because of the potential storm, not because of the noro. They said that they have seen 10 new noro cases each day out of 6000.

 

It's also funny how this morning on the Today show they were talking about the flu epidemic in New York getting worse...I wonder how many people who were sick from the New York/New Jersey area got on and filled out their health questionnaire and lied. It's not the cruise lines fault that the ship has noro...it's the people who are only thinking of themselves fault. Sorry, just my opinion.

 

Personally, I think what we are seeing now is going to become the NEW NORM...now that they got so much grief from that cruise they will be overcompensating and turning all the ships around...and I believe you will only see compensation for missed cruise days, not for entire trips. I personally don't have a problem with it. When you cruise, just like with any vacation, you take a risk of having your trip interrupted by weather. You can't control it and now with all the law suits and complaints they are doing what they feel is best.

 

Who would you sue if you had a vacation to Key West and a hurricane came through and messed up your plans...

[OBX-Cruisers]

Yeah, well, a computer keyboard is worse than most toilet seats, so you can test anything and find high counts. Just google and you'll find out more than you ever want to know. Not all bacteria will make you sick.

 

Excellent point. I should have added the bacteria in those bar samples were fecal bacteria...........didn't want to gross everyone out..........but unfortunately not everyone washes when leaving the rest rooms...been there saw than often...YUCK

 

For keyboards you mentioned:

Most cruise lines have sanitizing wipes in the computer lounges. I ALWAYS wipe the keyboard, the desk, the mouse pad and mouse and the arms of the chairs if they have arms...........pays to be safe as I had Noro on one of our 24 cruises and NEVER want to get it again.............and haven't so far and not looking to get it either.

Those sanitizing wipe typically contain hydrogen peroxide which is actually a pretty darn effective sanitizer.......use them as we often do on many of the frequently touched surfaces in the cabin the first day we board.

Edited March 1, 2016 by OBX-Cruisers

[cecelia0613]

I don't understand why everyone thinks that it is always passengers that bring noro onto ships. Isn't it possible a food source is the problem? Look what happened to Chipotle.

 

I think that was deemed to be an e coli outbreak and not noro.

[a way we go]

All I say is WOW,so much about nothing

[cpufrost]

 

Who would you sue if you had a vacation to Key West and a hurricane came through and messed up your plans...

 

It's crazy what people will sue for today.

 

They could sue The Weather Channel.

Or the developer of the weather app that was wrong on their phone.

Tim Cook because he's at the helm of Apple computer that made their iphone.

New Balance because they made their shoes that caused them to slip and fall on a wet deck.

 

And speaking of decks...

 

Some folks need to think about playing with a full one before stepping on the first foot out the door.

 

You get the idea. ;)

[OBX-Cruisers]

Back on the topic of weather vs. Anthem of the Seas:

 

Here is a link to the NOAA Wind/Wave analysis for today.

 

Whatever RCL sees that is threatening, I invite you to see if you can find it for yourself. I see highest waves of around 12 ft off of Cape Hatteras where the sea lanes are and higher at 16 ft. more inshore. Winds? I don't see them on the map, can you find the 100 mph winds someone mentioned on this board?

 

http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/shtml/ira1.gif