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Noro on the Liberty?

stormy_weatherman
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BrotherCraig

BrotherCraig

Posted
Posted

Yes. Passengers are onboard posting about it.

 

"We're currently on the Liberty, 12 day Journey repositioning cruise from San Juan to Galveston. We seem to have a huge NORO VORUS outbreak on board, among guests and crew. We already missed 4 days of our cruise, because of my husband getting it, and now I caught it yesterday, which will keep me in bed until the end of our cruise, missing more than half of our cruise, and 2 ports of call. I'm very upset! This is our 5th cruise with Carnival, of which the 2nd one longer than a week. What is Carnival going to do to compensate the huge amount of passengers in the same position? They have given us all shots in our butt cheeks at the medical center, so it should be easy to verify...."

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chengkp75

chengkp75

Posted
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Don't doubt there is an outbreak onboard, but I'm having trouble with the "huge" and "500 people" statements. While the CDC VSP website has not been updated since the 2nd, I would think that if the outbreak had reached these levels, either 17% of passengers, or 12% of total pax/crew, there would have been an update, given that the trigger level for an update is 3% of pax or crew. We will see when she docks in Galveston, since anything as large as these reports will trigger an automatic response of a USPH inspection team coming to the ship.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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How long do these outbreaks last? We are sailing on her next week....now I'm very nervous. I have purell wipes for the cabin, I might get some more.

 

For the most part, that depends on the next bunch of passengers on your cruise, and how good their personal hygiene is. The ship can be sanitized top to bottom between cruises, and someone can bring it back onboard the next week.

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evandbob

evandbob

Posted
Posted (edited)

20 million people get norovirus in the US each year. It's not the ship that causes noro, but the person who is infected and brings the virus aboard.

 

The higher the % of people living in an area with noro, the higher the % of passengers boarding the next cruise in that port with the virus.

 

Washing hands with warm/hot water and soap to the tune of Happy Birthday twice, about 30 seconds, and wash hands frequently. The CDC recommends hand washing over sanitizers, but says you can use both.

Edited by evandbob
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elainmir

elainmir

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They have a hand sanitizer at the beginning of the buffet which is great I totally utilize that but after you've touched all the serving utensils not many think to go back to hit the hand sanitizer again..I wish they had one at the END of the buffet line as well. Would make more sense! Hit it at the beginning and at the end! It sucks that folks miss so much of their vacation and are violently ill because someone couldn't take 2 seconds to wash their hands or practice ANY KIND of proper hygiene!

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evandbob

evandbob

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They have a hand sanitizer at the beginning of the buffet which is great I totally utilize that but after you've touched all the serving utensils not many think to go back to hit the hand sanitizer again..I wish they had one at the END of the buffet line as well. Would make more sense! Hit it at the beginning and at the end! It sucks that folks miss so much of their vacation and are violently ill because someone couldn't take 2 seconds to wash their hands or practice ANY KIND of proper hygiene!

 

A news network actually went through a cruise ship and analyzed objects to see which ones were the germiest. The tongs and utensils at the buffet had the highest # of germs, they were absolutely the worst offenders.

 

Of course if Carnival went to staff handling the tongs all the time and not just after a Noro breakout, posters here would be screaming about food portion cuts, saving money, loss of individual freedom to the tong police (I think that's the 77th amendment), corporate big brotherism, etc.

 

Great point you make, elainmir, thanks. Can use sanitizers in the casino too.

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RuthlessBoss

RuthlessBoss

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They have a hand sanitizer at the beginning of the buffet which is great I totally utilize that but after you've touched all the serving utensils not many think to go back to hit the hand sanitizer again..I wish they had one at the END of the buffet line as well. Would make more sense! Hit it at the beginning and at the end! It sucks that folks miss so much of their vacation and are violently ill because someone couldn't take 2 seconds to wash their hands or practice ANY KIND of proper hygiene!

 

I wonder if it's feasible for an employee to hand out those individually wrapped paper cloths at dining entryways? Also, I was in a store today and there was a tall tower that released little wipes for customer use.

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StolidCruiser

StolidCruiser

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Great...I have an autoimmune disease so DH is freaked out about this, we sail in less than two weeks. He's considering canceling. When they get back to port will they do some type of sanitization or anything?

 

They will but that won't guarantee someone else doesn't bring it back on board.

 

Wash your hands, try not to touch your face and take precautions when using public facilities. You should be fine.

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RuthlessBoss

RuthlessBoss

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Hopefully nothing. Cruise line did not do anything wrong.

 

Other than port fees, I don't believe compensation is needed. Yes, some got sick, but the bulk didn't. If they had gotten sick at home, how could they pinpoint where they picked it up. Someone brought it on board either at the start or at a port stop.

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Sweet Dutch Girl

Sweet Dutch Girl

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Unless a disease outbreak is "environmentally" caused it isn't the fault of a school, an office building, a hotel, or a cruise ship. People who have recently been exposed to noro (aka, if their home city or town has an outbreak) they should think twice about going on vacation and exposing others. Hasn't the news been filled, recently, with areas of massive outbreaks.

 

I spent an entire cruise in my cabin, once, because I came down with a massive cold/flu. I just chalked it up to bad luck and work harder on keeping myself healthy before a cruise and not spending time with people I know are sick.

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DebJ14

DebJ14

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Yes, it is refreshing to see most are not blaming Carnival. Our grandkids school had so many out with GI symptoms that the CDC contacted the school for details. They advised the school it was most likely NORO. One of the grandkids had 10 out of his class of 22 last week.

 

Spring Break will probably break the cycle at the school, but I can see loads of kids from their school spreading it far and wide this week on Spring Break.

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LSUcajunmom

LSUcajunmom

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I'm a school teacher, so I know exactly what you are describing when it comes to illnesses across the school. I also believe that being a school teacher has helped my immune system and hopefully so if something is spreading on my cruise in less than 2 wks on Liberty.

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DenaInWyo

DenaInWyo

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A friend from a previous cruise is on the Liberty right now and posted on a social media site that she is ill :(

 

What Evandbob said. Wash your hands. Honestly that's the very best defense. Using the hand sanitizer after you've gone through the buffet line sounds like an excellent idea as well.

 

What's happening on that particular cruise really doesn't impact the future cruises on that ship. After they get back, chances are that'll be the cleanest ship in the fleet. All it will take is one person bringing it on board again, and boom, off they go again.

 

I'll be on the Liberty in less than 3 weeks. I'm not any more worried about her than I would be any other cruise line..or large public gathering for that matter. I go to a convention for gaming each year that hosts about 25k people. Same rules apply.

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stormy_weatherman

stormy_weatherman

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Posted (edited)

Do these things typically cause a delay in boarding when she gets to Galveston? Completely understandable if so, but we don't want to push ourselves too hard to make the 10 hour drive if our 11:30-12 check in time just means we will sit and wait a good while before boarding.

Edited by stormy_weatherman
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chengkp75

chengkp75

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Do these things typically cause a delay in boarding when she gets to Galveston? Completely understandable if so, but we don't want to push ourselves too hard to make the 10 hour drive if our 11:30-12 check in time just means we will sit and wait a good while before boarding.

 

That would depend on the severity of the outbreak, and that drives how time consuming the remediation methods are. It also depends on whether the line will get additional workers to assist with remediation and turn-around.

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TerReuv

TerReuv

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Posted
How long do these outbreaks last? We are sailing on her next week....now I'm very nervous. I have purell wipes for the cabin, I might get some more.

 

Don't bother with the Purell wipes. They won't kill Noro so it is a waste of your time.

 

Good hand washing is your best friend!

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