Norovirus on Escape (10/15 sailing)

[LrgPizza]

While food borne pathogens are rare, they can and do occur, but the incubation time, the length of serious symptoms, etc., can vary by individual.

 

While many think touching the face is the main cause, and it is one transmission vector, a more common one and one often overlooked is eating with your fingers. If your fingers become contaminated by touching contaminated tongs getting a burger bun, and then your contaminated fingers pick up that burger, the bun is now contaminated, and you ingest the virus without actually touching face or eyes. My suggestion at all times for cruise ships is to never eat anything with your fingers.

 

I've commented about this before on this forum. We always see and hear about people "washy washy" as they enter the buffet, for example. This certainly helps prevent OTHERS from getting sick, but it does little to help prevent ourselves from getting sick. A better way is to serve ourselves (with tongs or whatever), and then go wash our hands before we actually eat anything with them. Yet people don't ever seem to do this.

[Buccaneergirl]

I've commented about this before on this forum. We always see and hear about people "washy washy" as they enter the buffet, for example. This certainly helps prevent OTHERS from getting sick, but it does little to help prevent ourselves from getting sick. A better way is to serve ourselves (with tongs or whatever), and then go wash our hands before we actually eat anything with them. Yet people don't ever seem to do this.

 

 

That is exactly what Dh and I do.....wash our hands after we have gotten our food from the buffet and before we eat. Those tongs have to many cooties!

 

Hope you are feeling better AdoraBelle!

[sjnyc323]

Sorry you got sick

 

 

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[justhappy]

Does anyone have any idea how the cruise line will communicate if they plan a delayed boarding as a result of cleaning the ship?

 

Would it be via email, phone call? Our family is on tomorrow's sailing and I'm trying to plan drive time to the port. Appreciate any experience you can share.

 

We got a phone call today, boarding is delayed till 1 pm. That is, they are asking for cruisers to arrive no sooner than 1 pm.

[Sissaaaaaa]

If only people would wash their hands ....

 

On the rare occasion that we do eat at the buffet, we wash our hands before putting anything into our mouths. I can't imagine the number of people who use the restroom and do not wash their hands. Ick!

[cruiseman90]

I didn't catch it, but both my father and grandmother were infected. When it came to my grandmother, the disease ran its' course in less than a day. My father on the other hand was confined to our cabin for two days.

 

My mother and I weren't allowed to get off the ship in Nassau just because we shared a cabin with someone who had it, even though we had no symptoms. As I'm typing this, they're quarantining the families affected by the disease (including unaffected members) in the Manhattan Room until disembarkation.

[sjnyc323]

I didn't catch it, but both my father and grandmother were infected. When it came to my grandmother, the disease ran its' course in less than a day. My father on the other hand was confined to our cabin for two days.

 

 

 

My mother and I weren't allowed to get off the ship in Nassau just because we shared a cabin with someone who had it, even though we had no symptoms. As I'm typing this, they're quarantining the families affected by the disease (including unaffected members) in the Manhattan Room until disembarkation.

 

 

 

I hope your father and grandmother are feeling better now

Sorry your cruise was ruined

 

 

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[cruiseman90]

I hope your father and grandmother are feeling better now

Sorry your cruise was ruined

 

 

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They're feeling much better now, thankfully :). My grandmother was already back in action by Thursday, and my father was well enough to venture out of the stateroom last night.

 

Thank you for the kind wishes!

[Missilecop3]

with the delaying til 1300 the ship will be cleaner than regular times. I'm sure they are going from bottom to top cleaning. I am on the Dec 3 sailing.

[crisndeefromde]

I was scheduled to be on the Escape sailing this Saturday but due to the post from AdoraBelle, I contacted my doctor and he feels it is not safe for me to go.

 

If anyone on the current cruise has a copy of the flyer about the virus, could you please post it so I can try and get a refund from the insurance company. I cancelled regardless because the risk is too great for me, but if NCL does not officially classify this as an outbreak, I will have to have proof to get a full refund. Thanks so much and for those of you going out Saturday.....washy, washy.

 

There is nothing posted on the VSP on the CDC site for breakout of Noro on this ship so perhaps the numbers are within the limits or under control. The fact that the ship is delaying boarding until after 1pm has the crew doing massive cleaning. Probably the cleanest ship of anywhere after this is done and they may have procedures in place to still serve you in the buffet and anywhere where guests can touch food access until they make sure no one else affected. it could be food borne with the short time others are reporting their illness but these GI viruses are everywhere all the time...So please be careful. Its just not a ship thing....

[BirdTravels]

with the delaying til 1300 the ship will be cleaner than regular times. I'm sure they are going from bottom to top cleaning. I am on the Dec 3 sailing.

 

It is partly because they want separation between infected persons leaving the ship and new people coming in. Including disinfecting the gangway and terminal.

[crisndeefromde]

Yes they sure are. Hopefully everyone will be good and stay healthy this cruise.

[cincicruisers]

My greatest fear is not getting Noro, but getting it on day I am to fly home. It's one thing to be quarantined to my cabin, it's another thing to be boarding a plane for a three hour flight!! I don't know what would happen if I had upper/lower issues on flight.

 

My family gives me a hard time and says I am being overly nervous when I use a rubber glove on right hand when going to the buffet. We have only been on one "sick ship" but that was enough.

[Monstica]

My greatest fear is not getting Noro, but getting it on day I am to fly home. It's one thing to be quarantined to my cabin, it's another thing to be boarding a plane for a three hour flight!! I don't know what would happen if I had upper/lower issues on flight.

 

My family gives me a hard time and says I am being overly nervous when I use a rubber glove on right hand when going to the buffet. We have only been on one "sick ship" but that was enough.

 

 

I had food poisoning on the way back from Italy and vomited on my flight from Naples to Milan and from Milan to New York. I became an expert at being able to get sick in small bags etc. It was absolutely awful. I had a whole group of church ladies praying for me in the row behind me lol! One of them gave me a dramamine and it really did help. I have used dramamine with stomach viruses going forward especially when my young kids were home with me and it always worked. In the grand scheme of things it stunk but not the worst thing that can happen to you.

[Oldgoat61]

My wife and I were on a B2B cruise on the Pearl a yr and a half ago. I caught the virus the 4th night of the cruise on the first leg. I was in my cabin for a 36 hrs, and missed two islands. Fortunately my wife didn't get it.

 

On return to Miami, they removed everyone but the necessary crew, and fogged the ship as well as the terminal. Got a free tour of Miami while they cleaned. We still had issues on the second leg, and really didn't get back to normal (coffee maker in room, utensils at the tables, tongs at the buffet) until most of the second leg of the cruise. It is a beast of a virus, so wash your hands well. Keep in mind that any, and all surfaces are suspect.

 

[luvcruzing]

My family gives me a hard time and says I am being overly nervous when I use a rubber glove on right hand when going to the buffet.

 

That really is not a bad idea, especially since I sometimes cruise solo and would hate to leave my meal to wash my hands, only to find the table cleared when I got back.

[Hurricane88]

Yes was a virus...a family several doors down from us was quarantined. Security had to guard them because one member of the family was attempting to leave the room and would not cooperate with the crew.

 

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[sjnyc323]

Yes was a virus...a family several doors down from us was quarantined. Security had to guard them because one member of the family was attempting to leave the room and would not cooperate with the crew.

 

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How selfish people are with no regards to getting others ill

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

That's awful!! I'm glad you're better now. To the people who said the ship will be the cleanest on the next sailing...Though you would think so and to a degree it's true, I've noticed over the years that the next sailing often still has cases of noro despite the deep clean. Then after that second sailing, it seems to be fine.

 

 

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[17cruisesnsl]

That's awful!! I'm glad you're better now. To the people who said the ship will be the cleanest on the next sailing...Though you would think so and to a degree it's true, I've noticed over the years that the next sailing often still has cases of noro despite the deep clean. Then after that second sailing, it seems to be fine.

 

 

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That was our experience on the Crown Princess in Jan 2012 - the outbreak was not handled well; Captain kept announcing staff was tired and would get to sick passengers eventually. My elderly mom got it and then I got it within a day of being home. Luckily we were both ok on the flight home. A former colleague was on the next sailing - they returned to port after only 3 days.

 

They grouped all passengers that had been quarantined into separate disembarkation areas and buses to the airport. Always wondered if they disinfected those buses before boarding embarking passengers.

 

My letter to Princess, without criticism but with a few suggestions - like providing disposable gloves to the cabin mates of ill passengers, making sure people understood what quarantined meant, etc - was not acknowledged.

 

To the extent one can take precautions, I bring chlorox wipes (Noro is resistant and only wipes with a high enough percentage of bleach are effective) and wipe down all hard surfaces in the Cabin - I mean no disrespect to the cabin stewards, they do a great job. I also bring disposable gloves, Imodium, and Gatorade powder just in case but mainly I bring plans for a great vacation and positive thoughts that it won't happen again.

 

The best precaution is hand hygiene. I work in healthcare and the importance of thorough hand washing cannot be underestimated. Noro is stubborn and can live on surfaces for 12 days, can live on laundry if water isn't super hot, etc. Washy washy on NCL may cause us to smile or laugh but it is a serious deterrent as is washing your hands, rubbing vigorously for at least 30 seconds -and don't forget under your fingernails.

 

Hope everyone who was ill is feeling better and everyone departing today has a healthy and enjoyable cruise.

[jdmerck]

Whats bad about this, is i was on the same cruise, i was soooo sick Tuesday night with a severe sinus infection, so i stayed in my room, our room steward which never came to turn our beds down till 9pm asked if i was ok cause i didn't look good, i was all like yeah not feeling good, then at 11pm by son comes in the room hands me the Noro paper and at first i thought i was turned in, but it was telling everyone what was going on. Im sorry for those who got sick... hope yall are better,im glad i brought a Z pack on board with me cause i felt like death

[Mikew0805]

Thanks to the well wishers!

 

I keep wondering about this info quoted above--the way many of us 'presented' within hours with symptoms makes me wonder if 'food-borne illness' instead, and I thought I'd read of longer quarantines for noro. However, they did use the word 'norovirus' in the health flyers.

 

(Not trying to blame the cruise line or anyone, I'm just naturally curious and wondering if I could have done anything differently to avoid it, i.e., did I just not wash my hands that one crucial time, or did we all eat the same bad dish. I do see that chengpk75 says food-borne is unlikely.)

 

They seem to have upgrade security to the point that even the studio lounge now has a crew member handling the tea and snack area, which wasn't true this morning.

 

Keep hands clean, do not touch your food with your hands... use utensils at all times. Do not put your fingers/hands in your mouth, nose, eyes, ears. If you do all this, then the ONLY way you can get norovirus is if it originates with the ones preparing the food.

 

Stay away from buffets were ignorant guests tend to touch a utensil to get food, and then put the utensil down where the handle touches the food. I mean seriously?? These people drive me nuts!!

[dexddd]

My greatest fear is not getting Noro, but getting it on day I am to fly home. It's one thing to be quarantined to my cabin, it's another thing to be boarding a plane for a three hour flight!! I don't know what would happen if I had upper/lower issues on flight.

 

My family gives me a hard time and says I am being overly nervous when I use a rubber glove on right hand when going to the buffet. We have only been on one "sick ship" but that was enough.

 

What do you do when you have to do transactions with ship's card? I keep thinking all the exchanging of key cards could be a prime source of transmission.

[pieshops]

That's awful!! I'm glad you're better now. To the people who said the ship will be the cleanest on the next sailing...Though you would think so and to a degree it's true, I've noticed over the years that the next sailing often still has cases of noro despite the deep clean. Then after that second sailing, it seems to be fine.

 

 

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It really does not matter how sparkling clean the ship is, all it take is one person who is sick to touch a hand rail on a stair case and then someone else touches it and grabs a hot dog to eat. Best precaution is to be careful what you touch and wash your hands thoroughly and often

[lilmac0168]

AdoraBelle I hope that you are felling better. I was on this cruise and I'm pretty sure that the next sailing will have the cleanest ship to sail on. I was impressed at how quickly things changed when the Captain announced that there were at least 20 confirmed cases on board. To answer the question on the key cards - they were sanitizing the card before they handed it back to you - and the cleaning solution sometimes made the cards not work. The amount of gel that came out of the hand sanitizers increased as well. Buffet was changed - you didn't touch food or drinks they handed you everything. The only disappointing change in the routine was MargarittaVille and the morning buffet/coffee drink station disappeared after Wednesday. I felt bad for the crew and all the extra cleaning that was being done but it was necessary.