Viking Star 4/17/2016 stuck at Bordeaux

[screen-gem]

The Star's 4/17 Passage to Western Europe has been waylaid in Bordeaux. She arrived Saturday (April 23) on schedule, and was supposed to set sail for Le Havre on Sunday at 7pm. Unfortunately, an outbreak of GI illness (a k a Norwalk virus) has beset many passengers and crew. In light of the situation, Viking decided to halt the cruise at Bordeaux while they "assess the situation" and "consider all the options".

 

Today (Monday) was supposed to be a sea day en route to Le Havre. At 8:15am, passengers were advised they could go ashore at Bordeaux for the day, but should be back on board by 7pm when updates may be provided.

 

Viking staff have declined to provide any further information, which would allow guests to rearrange any private shore excursions they might have booked in Le Havre or London. However, the AIS tracking system now indicates expected arrival at Le Havre on Wednesday/27 at 04:00. If that's the case, it appears the planned overnight stop in London (Greenwich) will be dropped from the itinerary, making this a 5-port voyage.

[Peregrina651]

My heart goes out to those who have the virus. Rotovirus hit our family once. It was a horrible month as one by one we succumbed. Two of my adolescent children were hospitalized, one after the other, because of dehydration. DH and I were each laid low to a lesser degree and then it took me weeks to get my energy back.

[screen-gem]

Viking communication on-board has implicated the norovirus, which is similar to, but different from, rotavirus.

 

Usually reliable sources on board (some passengers) indicate the root cause of the GI problem was bad oysters. Oysters are often contaminated by norovirus.

 

Le Havre is still on the itinerary, just a day late. Viking has dropped the overnight at Greenwich, and replaced it by a stop at Tilbury (at the mouth of the Thames). Too bad - I was really looking forward to sailing up the Thames through the Barrier, and mooring on the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.

[id4elizabeth]

Oh screen-gem; so sorry to hear about this. There are worse places to be stuck than Bordeaux, but without prior planning to one/several of the wineries, it's hard to take full advantage. We did find a great museum of Medieval Arts there that was surprisingly good.

 

If you're going to Tilbury are they offering any excursions there? I wonder if Canteberry to too far. We went there out of Greenwich last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I sure hope that offer you something!

 

Best of luck to you and hope you remain well!

[screen-gem]

If you're going to Tilbury are they offering any excursions there? I wonder if Canteberry to too far. We went there out of Greenwich last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I sure hope that offer you something!

 

Information from Viking has been scant. Some would say non-existent. Tonight's Daily contained nothing - no explanation, no update on sailing schedule, no info on changes to the 'London' excursions nor changes to the schedule at Le Havre. This is in keeping with what appears to be a consistent policy at Viking to keep their customers in the dark.

 

I suspect they are scrambling to organize alternatives from Tilbury, but that's no excuse to not be forthright and upfront with those who are paying the bills.

[dancermom09]

We were on the Sea April 12-24, and both had something. Got sick on the sea day and missed going ashore at Naples. We suspected mussels or perhaps snails in Manfredi's, but only heard of a couple of other people getting sick. Avoided those items the rest of the trip!

[Fairfield Nana]

We have never cruised with Viking Oceans or Rivers, but have been an avid follower of this website since we booked our upcoming July 2016 Viking Homelands cruise over 2 years ago. I continue to be pleasantly surprised by their propensity (good luck?) to usually pull things out of the fire at the last moment, leaving their passengers with a positive experience. Hope this happens for y'all!!

[fnewman]

Aboard the Star: This has been a difficult experience for many passengers-obviously for those who have been ill, but also for those who had made private arrangements at the upcoming ports ( theater tickets in London, for example) based on the original schedule. Lots of rumors, but no confirmation of number of people involved (60-80?) and source ( food, tour busses, taxis, etc.). I don't think anyone will know for sure. The ship has been cleaned from top to bottom and the number of cases has deceased dramatically due to the various precautions implemented immediately by the ship's staff.

 

It could happen (and has happened) to almost every cruise line, so welcome to the club, Viking Ocean! We are just thankful to be among the healthy and appreciate the successful efforts to contain this outbreak!

[Squigmond]

Aboard the Star: This has been a difficult experience for many passengers-obviously for those who have been ill, but also for those who had made private arrangements at the upcoming ports ( theater tickets in London, for example) based on the original schedule. Lots of rumors, but no confirmation of number of people involved (60-80?) and source ( food, tour busses, taxis, etc.). I don't think anyone will know for sure. The ship has been cleaned from top to bottom and the number of cases has deceased dramatically due to the various precautions implemented immediately by the ship's staff.

 

It could happen (and has happened) to almost every cruise line, so welcome to the club, Viking Ocean! We are just thankful to be among the healthy and appreciate the successful efforts to contain this outbreak!

 

Very fair assessment by someone who is actually there and living it.

 

My guess is sabotage by CC posters that look for every opportunity to slam Viking. j/k

[Vineyard View]

Fnewman thanks for the reality check. We have experienced outbreaks on a couple different cruises - different cruise lines. It is such a disappointment to get sick while traveling. Been there. Done that - it doesn't make your current situation any better but unfortunately it happens to the best rated cruise lines - I hope it improves soon for all of you and you are able to move forward very quickly.

[screen-gem]

After a one-day delay at Bordeaux, the Star is again underway. Viking did an admirable job rearranging the excursions. The various tours at Le Havre (Paris,Normandy etc) were moved from Tuesday to Wednesday. That entailed rebooking all the local buses and guides en français. No small feat!

 

The stop at London changed from an overnight at Greenwich to a long day (11a-11p) at Tilbury. By eliminating the cruise up the Thames and the overnight, the time lost at Bordeaux was largely regained. A couple of the London tours were canceled (Windsor Castle, Caterbury), but most were rescheduled for Thursday, although with longer bus rides to/from the Tilbury Port.

 

The onboard staff manning the Excursions desk have done a great job under trying conditions to juggle the schedules, issue new tour tickets, deal with conflicts, etc. Good job, Viking.

[r@r4476]

I have just been able to read this forum and would like to comment, probably a bit late now but today we received a letter from Viking, as passengers on this cruise offering a pittance of $ off a next Viking cruise. My wife and I were onboard and must say the way this was handled was in our eyes good for Viking but not for those onboard especially those affected as we and many others we spoke were. The ambiance of the ship was destroyed, all movable decor was moved to be cleaned, the spas & pool were emptied, you were washing your hands at every doorway yet people were still seen with there dirty shoes up on coffee tables, some seemingly well heeled !! It is our total opinion that a very expensive 2 week cruise became a one week cruise. That we did not sail up & moor at Greenwich was such a disappointment to many people, to be docked at Tilbury was no comparison. You were

A. Because of a continually unsettled stomach and

B. Because you were afraid of what to eat, not able to enjoy any more of the food that was served onboard.

We are skeptical that this was Norovirus, rotavirus is more likely as the day before the outbreak was the monster seafood night....if this was Norovirus why then were hundreds of people taken on excursions off the ship on the lay day in Bordeaux ?? That is just so unbelievable, you are potentially just spreading that virus .....

When you see ambulances arriving and people being taken ashore you know that it is serious....

I have to add that cleaning the ship from top to bottom using a cloth dipped into the same bucket of water continually is not cleaning, it is wiping over and spreading the problem .... The crew did as they were instructed and it was obvious they were not happy to be cleaning the same place over & over & over ..... Enough said now but I am sorry Viking, you should be able to keep things like this in check before they happen ....

The Viking Star is an amazing ship and to cruise on her should be an amazing experience, some people have saved & waited a long time to do things like this and Viking should be making it up to all passengers who were affected by this terrible situation, which was not of their making ......

[Viking Cruises]

I have just been able to read this forum and would like to comment, probably a bit late now but today we received a letter from Viking, as passengers on this cruise offering a pittance of $ off a next Viking cruise. My wife and I were onboard and must say the way this was handled was in our eyes good for Viking but not for those onboard especially those affected as we and many others we spoke were. The ambiance of the ship was destroyed, all movable decor was moved to be cleaned, the spas & pool were emptied, you were washing your hands at every doorway yet people were still seen with there dirty shoes up on coffee tables, some seemingly well heeled !! It is our total opinion that a very expensive 2 week cruise became a one week cruise. That we did not sail up & moor at Greenwich was such a disappointment to many people, to be docked at Tilbury was no comparison. You were

A. Because of a continually unsettled stomach and

B. Because you were afraid of what to eat, not able to enjoy any more of the food that was served onboard.

We are skeptical that this was Norovirus, rotavirus is more likely as the day before the outbreak was the monster seafood night....if this was Norovirus why then were hundreds of people taken on excursions off the ship on the lay day in Bordeaux ?? That is just so unbelievable, you are potentially just spreading that virus .....

When you see ambulances arriving and people being taken ashore you know that it is serious....

I have to add that cleaning the ship from top to bottom using a cloth dipped into the same bucket of water continually is not cleaning, it is wiping over and spreading the problem .... The crew did as they were instructed and it was obvious they were not happy to be cleaning the same place over & over & over ..... Enough said now but I am sorry Viking, you should be able to keep things like this in check before they happen ....

The Viking Star is an amazing ship and to cruise on her should be an amazing experience, some people have saved & waited a long time to do things like this and Viking should be making it up to all passengers who were affected by this terrible situation, which was not of their making ......

 

Dear r@r4476,

 

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond to your comments.

 

We regret to learn of your disappointment and are interest in discussing the details of your concerns further. Should you wish to do the same, please contact us directly at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

King regards,

Viking Cruises

[screen-gem]

We are skeptical that this was Norovirus, rotavirus is more likely as the day before the outbreak was the monster seafood night....

 

@rr4476,

I diasagree that 'rotavirus is more likely'. According to US Dept of Health, Wikipedia, and other sources, rotavirus is the leading cause of gastroenteritis among infants and young children. Rotavirus infections are most common in infants 3 to 15 months old. According to these sources, it strikes adults less frequently, and when it does the symptoms are milder than in children.

 

On the other hand, noroviruses are highly contagious among adults and are recognized as major causes of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. Oysters are recognized as a frequent source of the virus. In particular, a paper in Journal of Medical Virology reports that "outbreaks of norovirus gastroenteritis are often associated with consumption of oysters". An article last year in Food Poison Journal titled Norovirus and Raw Oysters - a Nasty Mix states that "Oysters... also serve as a major reservoir for these pathogens".

 

This article in Nature World News "Oysters are Norovirus Factories" is also of interest.

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/16360/20150831/oysters-norovirus-factories-experts.htm

 

Given the sudden onset of illness on board the Star immediately after Friday's Seafood and Raw Oyster event, it seems more likely that norovirus was the cause, and that the source was the oysters. A nurse and a gastro-enterologist that we spoke to on board (both of whom had become ill) were of that opinion. However, we'll never really know for sure unless Viking took samples from guests who were ill, cultured the pathogen, compared the results with similar tests made on the shellfish that were served, (and then shares the results). According to the CDC website (US Centers for Disease Control), Viking is not presently a participant in the Vessel Sanitation Program. As such, they were not required to file an outbreak report on the incident with the CDC.

 

Of course, it doesn't really matter if it was rotavirus, norovirus, or some other bug. That fact is, some pathogen found its way on to the ship and was able to make a lot of people ill.

 

 

I have to add that cleaning the ship from top to bottom using a cloth dipped into the same bucket of water continually is not cleaning, it is wiping over and spreading the problem.

 

All the staff that I saw cleaning (and they did a lot of it: handrails, tables, chairs, even telephone handsets) were not using water; they were using some sort of a yellowish cleaning solution, which I assume was a suitable virucide. Frankly, I thought Viking's enhanced cleaning procedures and other measures in dealing with the outbreak were quite thorough.

 

But I agree with you that their remedial offer of a future cruise credit was underwhelming (you called it a 'pittance'), given the degree of disruption the Star experienced: no sail up the Thames, no overnight in Greenwich, no pools/spa for a week, and a lot of sick passengers.

 

One hopes Viking learns from this unfortunate incident. Given the evidence linking oysters to norovirus and thus to GI illness, perhaps they will refrain from serving raw shellfish on future voyages as a precautionary measure.

[CharTrav]

So sorry to read about this situation. When we did an Alaskan Cruise-tour with Holland America back in 2011 they were absolutely nuts about precautions regarding norovirus. During the initial land tour portion, everybody had to sanitize their hands before reboarding the bus. When we arrived at the cruise terminal in Seward we were required to complete a health report which gave them the authority to deny boarding to any passenger deemed a risk. Onboard ship the hand sanitizers were everywhere. The first day and a half we were not allowed to serve ourselves at the buffet. Before entering any restaurant on board they watched to make sure you sanitized your hands. Reboarding the ship after an excursion was the same, a crewman would not let you enter the ship until your hands were sanitized. Sounds excessive but nobody got sick on our tour.

 

Prayers ascending that everybody affected recovers completely and quickly.

[screen-gem]

Onboard ship the hand sanitizers were everywhere. The first day and a half we were not allowed to serve ourselves at the buffet. Before entering any restaurant on board they watched to make sure you sanitized your hands.

 

Upon return, I did some research into norovirus, and found that the alcohol-based spray sanitizers widely used on cruise ships (and elsewhere) are considered to be largely ineffective against it.

 

The New York Times reported that although alcohol-based disinfectants prevent certain strains of flu, they "may be useless" against viruses – including the norovirus – that are not coated in lipid envelopes.

Ref: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/really-the-claim-hand-sanitizer-stops-norovirus-spread/

 

The CDC states that "Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be used in addition to hand washing. But, they should not be used as a substitute for washing with soap and water".

Ref: http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/preventing-infection.html

 

"Alcohol sanitizers are known to be relatively less effective against these organisms, thus hand washing with soap and water (either antimicrobial or not) is widely recommended. Soap and water provides a physical removal mechanism in addition to antimicrobial action." according to Dr. John Hines, R&D Director for Deb Group.

 

In this regard, the designers of the Viking Star anticipated the need for proper hand washing in the event of an outbreak of GI illness. At both entrances to the World Café, there are washing stations with a pair of very stylish stainless-steel vessel sinks, soap dispensers, and one-use towels. Following the outbreak, crew members ensured that everyone entering the Café washed their hands with soap and water.

Edited May 23, 2016 by screen-gem