Norovirus on Ventura

[TinyDancer12]

Sorry to hear that NV was onboard Ventura but interested to read about anti-viral foam - hadn't heard of it!

 

With a 3 year old who loves pressing lift buttons, will hold on to any handrail and is forever putting her hands in her mouth, I'm thinking I'll invest in that along with the anti-bac gel we usually have!

 

Luckily she's obsessed with anything remotely 'cosmetic' and loves using hand gel, so fingers crossed we'll be fine. :D:D

 

I agree that it is astounding the number of people that don't wash their hands. If my daughter knows the importance of washing her hands after going to the bathroom, then you'd think an adult would! Crazy!

[daiB]

Appreciate that Dai

 

 

 

The 3 cruises I have had so far on Celebrity were in the summer on Eclipse and it seemed a cleaner ship, with attendants outside all restaurants and washroom attendants.

 

Also a younger clientele

 

 

 

I have mostly been on P&O in the winter with older pax who I perceive, rightly or wrongly, to pay less attention to hand washing etc

 

 

 

Eclipse is an exceptionally clean ship - I am off on Constellation on May and will see if the standards are maintained

 

 

So very clean ships can get NV as Eclipse did on May 25th and June 30th 2013. If people do not wash their hands no ship will stay NV free once it is on board.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[the english lady]

I buy the Boots own brand anti-viral foam. The larger bottle is far more economical but a bit big for carrying around. I have the small size for my bag then when it's empty decant some from the large bottle into it.

 

Yes that is the one. I now only buy the small ones as they fit in my bag, and I use a bottle per cruise...rather than having one bottle lasting 1-2 cruises (and you don't know how long it is effective for in the bottle)

I don't know if any other companies make anti virus hand foam but def boots do..usually found near to the anti bac ones, so make sure you get the right one.

[Pennbank]

I buy the Boots own brand anti-viral foam. The larger bottle is far more economical but a bit big for carrying around. I have the small size for my bag then when it's empty decant some from the large bottle into it.

 

In 50ml and 200ml bottles

The use by date is usually on the base of the bottle.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Pennbank

[Ginb56]

We use the Boots anti viral foam too when cruising - handbag size is easy and so simple to use. I also use it when visiting my Mum in her care home or hospital, where NV is always a risk. So a good investment...

[Freddydanby]

I was on the Ventura docking 20/3/16. All restaurants had a crew member at every entrance with hand-gel from the moment we embarked, as did various points around the ship. If some people disregard basic hygiene in their cabins or public cloakrooms there is little the crew can do about it, and a virus at large will spread via these people. My spouse had the virus and we both felt it was dealt with excellently.....there again, we did play by the rules!

[CCFC]

The Purell hand sanitisers used on the ships are now anti-viral.

 

https://www.sellesmedical.co.uk/store/product/3176-Purell-VF481-Antiviral-Alcohol-Hand-Gel-350ml-9696-12

 

I still carry the Boots foam with me too.

[Clodia]

I noticed the anti viral gel on my last cruise and also that it doesn't seem as harsh as the other gel. I unfortunately am allergic to these gels so I have a real problem on longer cruises; once the skin starts to strip from my fingers the staff are too frightened to insist on my using it so i fall back on good old soap and water and handwashing.

[Mysticalmother]

I noticed the anti viral gel on my last cruise and also that it doesn't seem as harsh as the other gel. I unfortunately am allergic to these gels so I have a real problem on longer cruises; once the skin starts to strip from my fingers the staff are too frightened to insist on my using it so i fall back on good old soap and water and handwashing.

 

I have a similar problem too...but have found that after washing my hands, if I put on a generous dollop of my (special, medical) hand cream I can then use the hand gels. A bit OTT but it does stop the skin stripping!

[Eglesbrech]

Has anyone heard anything as yet from those travelling on the current Ventura cruise. Have P&O managed to contain the virus?

[jeanlyon]

Why on earth would someone think that it is just older people with bad hygiene? What a terrible generalisation.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Why on earth would someone think that it is just older people with bad hygiene? What a terrible generalisation.

 

Probably because a lot of older people were brought up in houses that didn't have hot running water, and so they idea of washing hands 18 times a day would have been considered a bit odd. OCD, in fact, if that term had been invented then. And for the ones who did have hot water, there's a fair chance that their parents didn't.

 

So now the implication is that our ancestors lived their lives like filthy dogs and were very very unhealthy, and yet they look at the evidence of themselves (ie. still alive) and they won't believe it.

 

Incidentally, what about dogs? If touching a lift button is dangerous, how do dog owners manage? Touching a dog must be a far more dangerous thing to do. I was at a football match tonight, and saw a man with a dog, which he must have touched to put the lead on' then he bought a pie and ate it, with his fingers. Do you think he's still alive? Never shake hands with a dog owner.

[dsrdsrdsr]

PS - above post wasn't intended to be directed at jeanlyon, although it comes across that way because of the quote. The rant was general, it's just the first paragraph - reason why older people may be less "clean" - that was a reply to jean.

Edited March 23, 2016 by dsrdsrdsr

[gadabout60]

Why on earth would someone think that it is just older people with bad hygiene? What a terrible generalisation.

 

Jean

Original post was from me and you will see I said it was my perception on cruises and that of course not all older pax are like this.

 

The folks I personally have seen in the buffet handling food and putting it back have been older.

The ladies I see leaving the bathroom without washing hands have been older

[lovelyjubbly]

Thank you all for your replies - obviously Boots is the place to go :)

[jeanlyon]

I just find it an odd generalisation. I have seen many age groups in the buffet and to be honest, they are all as bad as each other, picking up biscuits or rolls and putting them down again. Filling water bottles from the tap that says DONT! Ha ha, I am a dog owner and I'm sure I don't wash my hands every time I touch my dog, but I appear to be very healthy!

Edited March 23, 2016 by jeanlyon

[davecttr]

I now consider myself an expert on gastric upsets as I have contracted one norovirus and two enteritis episodes on my last 4 cruises. This despite now being semi obsessed with hand washing etc.

 

Things the cruise line should do;

 

1. enforce hand washing/antiviral gel at all food venues on ALL cruise days.

 

2. in the buffet provide each user with an individual pair of tongs each time they enter the buffet. I saw this in a cafe in Singapore, freshly sterilised ones available, brilliant.

 

3. encourage the use of cutlery to pick up buffet items. I use a fork to pick up toast etc etc.

 

4. have soup etc served by staff.

 

5. have plenty of paper napkins available with bins nearby so you can use them if you have to touch serving utensils.

 

6. more staff training is needed. I once watched a lady use tongs to select items and then dump the tongs on the counter. The crew member wearing plastic gloves adjusted the tongs, and then adjusted all the other tongs on the counter, aargh! thats the viral particles on all the tongs then, I backed away aghast.

 

7. consider changing the buffets to crew serving only at all times. this will mean using more staff which can come from one of the main dining rooms which is converted to staff served buffet service as well. the cruise line will benefit from less staff overall and the passengers will benefit from less illness.

 

8. sterilise the casino chips, cards and tables at least daily. The staff on my last cruise did not know how you could sterilise chips, easy i said, bung them in a net bag and wash and rinse at high temperature :rolleyes: "but the ship labels would come off" they said. "stamp the name on" I said. It is not rocket science.

 

9. lock down EVERYONE in the cabin?

[daiB]

I now consider myself an expert on gastric upsets as I have contracted one norovirus and two enteritis episodes on my last 4 cruises. This despite now being semi obsessed with hand washing etc.

 

 

 

Things the cruise line should do;

 

 

 

1. enforce hand washing/antiviral gel at all food venues on ALL cruise days.

 

 

 

2. in the buffet provide each user with an individual pair of tongs each time they enter the buffet. I saw this in a cafe in Singapore, freshly sterilised ones available, brilliant.

 

 

 

3. encourage the use of cutlery to pick up buffet items. I use a fork to pick up toast etc etc.

 

 

 

4. have soup etc served by staff.

 

 

 

5. have plenty of paper napkins available with bins nearby so you can use them if you have to touch serving utensils.

 

 

 

6. more staff training is needed. I once watched a lady use tongs to select items and then dump the tongs on the counter. The crew member wearing plastic gloves adjusted the tongs, and then adjusted all the other tongs on the counter, aargh! thats the viral particles on all the tongs then, I backed away aghast.

 

 

 

7. consider changing the buffets to crew serving only at all times. this will mean using more staff which can come from one of the main dining rooms which is converted to staff served buffet service as well. the cruise line will benefit from less staff overall and the passengers will benefit from less illness.

 

 

 

8. sterilise the casino chips, cards and tables at least daily. The staff on my last cruise did not know how you could sterilise chips, easy i said, bung them in a net bag and wash and rinse at high temperature :rolleyes: "but the ship labels would come off" they said. "stamp the name on" I said. It is not rocket science.

 

 

 

9. lock down EVERYONE in the cabin?

 

 

Dave,

 

The last one shows your liberal tendencies coming out. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[davecttr]

Dave,

 

The last one shows your liberal tendencies coming out. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

thank you Dai ;)

[dsrdsrdsr]

Things the cruise line should do;

 

2. in the buffet provide each user with an individual pair of tongs each time they enter the buffet. I saw this in a cafe in Singapore, freshly sterilised ones available, brilliant.

 

6. more staff training is needed. I once watched a lady use tongs to select items and then dump the tongs on the counter. The crew member wearing plastic gloves adjusted the tongs, and then adjusted all the other tongs on the counter, aargh! thats the viral particles on all the tongs then, I backed away aghast.

 

Number 2 is impractical because of vegetarians. If I use my sterilised tongs for the meat and then the veg, the vegetarian behind me won't have anything to eat.

 

Number 6 is taking it to extremes. If a passenger is so sickly that he cannot touch anything which has been touched by someone who has touched something that has been touched by any other passenger, then I think he needs a different holiday - possibly on a desert island. ;)

 

Some other good points though - but surely they already have lots of paper serviettes around the place?

[Crowbar 123]

I was also on this cruise and have been shocked by the poor food hygiene practices of P&O, I had severe food poisoning on board not norovirus.

Given the practices I witnessed onboard, I believe a lot of the people that were displaying gastro problems were also poisoned.

P&O are not going to tell customers they have food poisoning they will fob you off with norovirus, sure some passengers may have had a virus but after what I saw I know people were being given contaminated food.

I will give you one example of what I saw on board.

At the pool side grill I witnessed staff handling raw meat products then turning around and grabbing handfuls of fries and salad and thus cross contaminating finished product.

He then proceeded to handle plates and cutlery, I tried to warn the guy in front of me, he just glared at me and walked off.

I really hope that guy got sick.

I'm afraid it got worse in the buffet restaurant and public health England will be getting the full details in due course.

Oh and all of the basic food hygiene failings I saw was after they had implemented the intensive cleaning regime.

My message is simple

Do not book with P&O (my local roadside burger van has better food hygiene)

[partrick]

We recently went on a Carribean cruise on Adonia and after 48 hours I went down with Swine Flu, which I must have taken with me, as we discovered other family and friends at home had the same. I gave my wife the bug 24 hours later and we were isolated in our cabin, which thankfully was a Penthouse suite, for 4 days. The medical staff were excellent, as were the room staff who cleansed our cabin twice daily. The nurse attended morning and afternoon and the doctor phoned each day. Fortunatley we didn't spread the bug as no one else suffered, which is pleasing. Unfortunaley we missed 3 islands, but watched from our balcony. I cannot praise P&O more for the way they handled my illness and sorted refunds for trip we had paid for

[AchileLauro]

I now consider myself an expert on gastric upsets as I have contracted one norovirus and two enteritis episodes on my last 4 cruises. This despite now being semi obsessed with hand washing etc.

 

Things the cruise line should do;

 

1. enforce hand washing/antiviral gel at all food venues on ALL cruise days.

 

2. in the buffet provide each user with an individual pair of tongs each time they enter the buffet. I saw this in a cafe in Singapore, freshly sterilised ones available, brilliant.

 

3. encourage the use of cutlery to pick up buffet items. I use a fork to pick up toast etc etc.

 

4. have soup etc served by staff.

 

5. have plenty of paper napkins available with bins nearby so you can use them if you have to touch serving utensils.

 

6. more staff training is needed. I once watched a lady use tongs to select items and then dump the tongs on the counter. The crew member wearing plastic gloves adjusted the tongs, and then adjusted all the other tongs on the counter, aargh! thats the viral particles on all the tongs then, I backed away aghast.

 

7. consider changing the buffets to crew serving only at all times. this will mean using more staff which can come from one of the main dining rooms which is converted to staff served buffet service as well. the cruise line will benefit from less staff overall and the passengers will benefit from less illness.

 

8. sterilise the casino chips, cards and tables at least daily. The staff on my last cruise did not know how you could sterilise chips, easy i said, bung them in a net bag and wash and rinse at high temperature :rolleyes: "but the ship labels would come off" they said. "stamp the name on" I said. It is not rocket science.

 

9. lock down EVERYONE in the cabin?

 

+1 I am in total agreement.

 

I am not one that is easily frightened but the thought of another dose of Norvo Virus similar to the one that I suffered on Canberra in 1986 scares me. I was very seriously ill for several days and my immune system was hit all to hell for many months after. I was young and in the peak of fitness at the time and I can fully understand how the virus could have been life threatening to the very young or someone elderly or suffering from certain conditions.

 

I must admit that it took me a few years before I was brave enough to venture aboard a cruise ship again for fear of catching the lurgy once again. So far I have been lucky but I have been on several cruises where there have been outbreaks.

 

In addition to watching people dodge the hand sanitisers and walk straight past the sinks when leaving the lavatories, the one thing that really annoys me on cruises is old ladies carrying around handkerchiefs in their sweaty hand and running them along handrails and door latches.

[jeanlyon]

Although I am very sorry for those who get sick on their holiday, a lot of us on here have been on many cruises. I think I have been on 11. How many of us have been ill? Me? Never. YET!

[daiB]

Although I am very sorry for those who get sick on their holiday, a lot of us on here have been on many cruises. I think I have been on 11. How many of us have been ill? Me? Never. YET!

 

 

The largest number I have seen on P&O was Aurora 10/12 years ago when there were 500 staff crew affected. So that is 17%. However I have found on for Voyager of the Seas with 800 cases.

 

Most of the other events reported on a site called cruise junkie have less but the average for 2012 was 173 persons, 2013 was 108 persons and 2014 209. The usual outbreak is in the region of 5% to 10% of the ships complement of passengers and staff.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app