Noro - The Dreaded Word

[jwattle]

so my take away from all this is I can't/shouldn't french kiss my wife after she eats @ the buffet and goes to the casino

To reduce your odds, I'll just go to the casino sweetheart:evilsmile::hearteyes:

[Dobby_The_Ship_Elf]

I am the OP and would like to thank everyone for their efforts to educate me in how they have avoided Noro.

 

Most of all I would like to thank chenkp75 not only for his advice in this thread but his continued advice in so many other threads. He is on the 'inner circle' and as a fellow engineer in kind - I get his logic. His advice is logical to me so it makes sense.

 

What I get from it is that most importantly we all just need to not touch our face or eat food with our fingers/hands (pizza/burgers/bread rolls/ etc) even when it is offered as finger food .... ie cookies .....ask for cutlery or pass on that food item.

 

I shall remember to continue to scrub down before meals as if it was in preparation for a open heart surgery. While this may a trite comment to make I have always done the wash, lather, dry and then carried the paper towel to to door to then dispose of the towel in the bin as I exit, holding the door open with my foot.

 

More importantly .......I must remember to not NOT lick my fingers even if that ice cream melts and runs down my hand .........

 

I now know that I must insist that Mrs Elf wears food handling gloves when she treats me as an Elf God and hand feeds me grapes as I recline ........ perhaps I'll take a bullet for the team and report back ;p ............. What happens under the stairs stays under the stairs!!!!:cool:

[Keith1010]

When there is noro I know the ships use a product stronger then what they normally use.

 

Keith

[donaldsc]

Sorry if I’m being a bit obtuse here, but surely it doesn’t matter how well you clean your own cabin if the cabins around you have issues? The cabin attendants don’t change cleaning cloths between cabins, do they? So the cloth used to wipe down your bedside table has likely been used to wipe down the bedside table of at least three or four cabins around you. Would you insist on cleaning EVERY DAY after your cabin attendant has been through? Ugh!

 

We practice frequent hand washing, avoid touching our faces, and eat with cutlery in the main restaurants. That’s the extent of it and it works for us.[/quote]

 

How do you know. Just because you did not get Noro does not mean there is relationship between whatever you and not getting it. I don't bother to go through any of the anti-noro rituals and I have never gotten Noro. I could just as logically say that my lack of taking almost any precautions was the reason that I did not get it.

 

DON

[USCcruisecrazy]

:')

i am the op and would like to thank everyone for their efforts to educate me in how they have avoided noro.

 

Most of all i would like to thank chenkp75 not only for his advice in this thread but his continued advice in so many other threads. He is on the 'inner circle' and as a fellow engineer in kind - i get his logic. His advice is logical to me so it makes sense.

 

What i get from it is that most importantly we all just need to not touch our face or eat food with our fingers/hands (pizza/burgers/bread rolls/ etc) even when it is offered as finger food .... Ie cookies .....ask for cutlery or pass on that food item.

 

I shall remember to continue to scrub down before meals as if it was in preparation for a open heart surgery. While this may a trite comment to make i have always done the wash, lather, dry and then carried the paper towel to to door to then dispose of the towel in the bin as i exit, holding the door open with my foot.

 

More importantly .......i must remember to not not lick my fingers even if that ice cream melts and runs down my hand .........

 

I now know that i must insist that mrs elf wears food handling gloves when she treats me as an elf god and hand feeds me grapes as i recline ........ Perhaps i'll take a bullet for the team and report back ;p ............. What happens under the stairs stays under the stairs!!!!:cool:

 

:') :') :')

[Kingofcool1947]

When I board I carry a can of Glen 20 disinfectant, rubber gloves and my own wipes (chux) in my carry on to 'blitz' my state room items such as TV remote, all horizontal surfaces, curtain chains, etc etc <don't labour the point>.

 

When I hear about a ship having an outbreak of Noro on the ship I hear the staff carry out a 'deep clean' when next in port.

 

I read endless posts about the hand sanitiser used onboard being non effective against Noro.

 

I get the fact that soap and water is the only thing effective against Noro, does this mean I am wasting my time using disinfectant and should start washing my room down with soap & water from floor to ceiling ????

 

What I would like to know is when a ship has a Noro outbreak, what do the crew use to do a 'deep clean' and where do I get some of the same stuff ????

 

.

 

I have noticed there are many PAXs standing in the buffet line who take food, then eat the food with their hands and/or lick their fingers, as they go down the buffet line station. Do you say anything to those kind of PAXs?

And, would it seem odd to wear disposable latex gloves when handling the serving utensils in the buffet line? Then remove the gloves before sitting down and eating?

Edited November 9, 2017 by Kingofcool1947

[TFM70]

I take all of the usual precautions, plus I clean my hands one last time after I handle the menu.

[Cruise a holic]

My husband got noro on a Disney cruise a few years ago. He is immaculate and constantly washes his hands- you can get it from an elevator button, tongs in the buffet, the handrails, a chair- or even a handle on a bathroom door if you do not use a paper towel to open it. It is difficult to completely protect yourself from it. You just have to use good common sense and wash frequently. If washing isn't always possible, use hand sanitizer. I was fortunate and didn't get it from him. You also have to hope for good luck!! We also both noticed, some people do not wash their hands after exiting the bathroom!

[chengkp75]

While Virox is activated hydrogen peroxide, Virkon is 21% by weight potassium peroxymonosulfate, in concentrated form. When diluted to a 1% solution, it is considered a "high level" disinfectant, that will kill virtually all bacteria and viruses, including noro, with a 10 minute contact time. The recommended dilution of Virkon for non-food contact surfaces is 3%, which does not cut the contact time by a third, but instead it cuts it exponentially, to the 3rd power. Both products also contain surfactants, which break surface tension, allowing the viruses to be removed from the surfaces easier.

[Aus Traveller]

29 cruises for us, many with noro onboard (alert goes into effect when as few as 13 passengers are identified as having it). Have eaten bread rolls on every one. What we do is before meals we wash our hands in our cabin, and don't touch any surfaces with our hands, including railings and elevator controls. So far we have avoided noro.

 

The ship's Doctor always recommends washing hands as the best deterrent. It seems to work for us.

I agree that it is good practice to wash your hands before you go into the dining room for a meal, but even if you are careful, not touching railings and elevator controls, most people move their chair out to sit down, then move in in closer to the table as they sit down. I don't think we can be sure the chairs are totally virus-free.

 

We take similar precautions to you, but add the extra one of not putting food into our mouths that we have touched with our hands. This only applies when there is a red alert for noro when there is more risk of contracting it than other times.

[suzyed]

Purell makes a spray that kills Feline Calicivirus/Murine norovirus (non-enveloped viruses similar to norovirus) in 30 seconds. Leaves a little bit of residue but does not require gloves/masks and has no harsh fumes. Also does not require rinsing.

 

This is much better than the previous sprays that take up to 5-10 minutes. I bought a box of three from Amazon and broke one down into smaller bottles to spray.

I just got the same stuff for our cruise next week. I'm just going to carry one of the bottles around with me and spray spray spray!

[suzyed]

Sorry if I’m being a bit obtuse here, but surely it doesn’t matter how well you clean your own cabin if the cabins around you have issues? The cabin attendants don’t change cleaning cloths between cabins, do they? So the cloth used to wipe down your bedside table has likely been used to wipe down the bedside table of at least three or four cabins around you. Would you insist on cleaning EVERY DAY after your cabin attendant has been through? Ugh!

 

We practice frequent hand washing, avoid touching our faces, and eat with cutlery in the main restaurants. That’s the extent of it and it works for us.

How do we know the cutlery is clean?

[Kingofcool1947]

How do we know the cutlery is clean?

 

You don’t. Use alcohol preps to wipe down you cutlery before using?

Nothing is 100% certain except your death.

Hopefully, you can enjoy your cruise. :)

[drpack]

I heard about Zylast last year in another thread. Used it on our last cruise and since then.

 

 

Zylast was shown to kill more than 99.99% of 25 different, FDA-specified germs within 15 seconds. This testing was the first time a non-alcohol product, the Zylast Antiseptic Lotion, was demonstrated to kill germs faster than many alcohol sanitizers on the market today.

 

https://www.zylast.com/