Norovirus on Star Princess

[elliair]

A guy of our dinner table got quarantined on Golden Princess a couple of years ago after visiting the medical centre asking for immodium.

His wife maintained after 24 hours he felt fine but he wasn't allowed out of the cabin for 3 days.

Certainly put me off going anywhere near the medical centre if I had gippy guts. Just stop eating for 24 hours and drink loads of water.

 

Sent from my CUBOT MAGIC using Forums mobile app

 

IMHO, going to the doctor on board is the last resort. I carry everything with me to relieve whatever. I haven't ever had to use any of it, but you can't take what you don't have. Being quarantined is no fun either. If you're caught outside your cabin, they will probably put you off at the next port and you find your own way home.

[Thrak]

I use my knuckle to press elevator buttons. I use the hand rails on the stairs but, instead of using my hand, I lightly drape my arm over the railing. This gives me balance and control and the only part of my body to touch the railing is the inner part of my arm. Works well as I would actually have a tough time getting that part of my arm against my face to transmit anything. I wash my hands with soap every time I go to the cabin and usually again before leaving the cabin. I loved it on Caribbean Princess where they had installed actual hand washing stations outside the buffet. I'm sure some folks were appalled that we sometimes didn't use them but, when we had just been in the cabin, washed hands on entering and before leaving the cabin, and then walked straight to the buffet without using any doors, elevators, or stairs, it just seemed like overkill. Most of the time we did use the sinks outside the buffet and then I "doubled down" by adding the hand sanitizer as well.

 

Keep yourself clean and that's about all you can do. If you are really concerned then do as others have suggested and get wipes that specifically state they kill noro and wipe down all the surfaces in your cabin. Be aware that the steward will then enter your room after being in other rooms and will touch your door handles, etc. so you may want to do the wipe thing over and over and over. Too much hassle for me but then I've never contracted noro on a ship so maybe I'm not paranoid enough. I have, however, contracted a nasty cold on two different cruises.

 

Since the ship is being deep cleaned it is actually likely to be safer than a ship that didn't get a noro outbreak and so hasn't been deep cleaned. You are as likely to get noro at a school, a shopping center, a grocery store, etc. as you are on a ship. The ship is just held to higher standards and is required to report the incidence at a very low rate.

[Kingofcool1947]

:eek:D

We were on the Star Princess to Hawaii when noro broke out. One way you can tell that noro has broken out onboard, is when you see the salt and pepper shakers disappear off the tables. Wash your hands often, especially after you have used handrails, public restrooms. Stay out of the buffet. Even though they may have wash stations before entering the buffet, take a look around and you will see people practicing unhealthful things such as:

 

1. Licking their fingers while eating, then they go back to the buffet without washing their hands and touch the serving spoons.

 

 

2. Eating their food while going through the buffet line - french fries. They're usually found at the beginning of the buffet, and while eating their french fries and licking their fingers, they are touching the serving spoons.

 

3. Watch the waiters when they clean a table. They will wipe off the top of the table, but not the arms of the chairs. You come along and touch the arms of the chairs and inadvertent touch your face or mouth and you've come into contact with the virus.

 

4. Restrooms are located outside of the buffet. I've witnessed passengers leaving the restroom without washing their hands and head straight into the buffet.

 

5. I've seen passengers pick up a bread roll with their hands then decide they don't want it and puts it back.

 

Okay, you get the idea of what I have witnessed on my many cruises, I could go on with the horror stories. Bottom line is, avoid the buffet area as best you can. When noro hits, no one is allowed to serve themselves in the buffet. No salt and pepper shakers in the buffet or the dining room, they'll give you little packets of salt and pepper. No baskets of bread are on the dining room table in the MDR. The waiters will serve you. No serving yourself coffee or any beverage in the buffet.

 

Will cleaning make it any safer for you? NO! Make yourself safe though. We were on the Crown Princess and it came into port with the noro. They deep cleaned it, but next day out noro was on board. We left port at midnight and no one got to board until 4:00 pm. Princess emailed us and told us not to get to the port before 3:00 pm due to deep cleaning. Yeah right, we had flights to catch as we flew in the same day as the ship left. I think noro is the one thing that makes a Captain cringe, as it's a bad experience for everyone on board.

 

Take Clorox wipes with you and wipe your cabin down. Door knobs, telephone, TV remote, table tops (including balcony tables and chairs). I saw dirty diapers out on a balcony below us on our Alaskan cruise. They were laying on the table, chairs and deck. Bottom line, you do not know if a passenger in your cabin had noro. Stewards clean, but noro is lethal.

 

Good luck, take precautions, and have a great time! Alaska is beautiful!

 

Ewww. :eek: Finger lickers? In the buffet line? That’s some nasty PAXs behaving badly. Do you publicly shame these nasty PAXs, or call them out when you see them offending?

King

[ccndfw]

Even though there were signs stating not to fill water bottles , we saw people filling their water bottles thru the top that they obviously drank out of at the buffet. We notified the cruise staff and they did nothing. I wouldn’t use any of the self serve drink stations.

[JF - retired RRT]

oh thank you so much for explaining it in simplified terms to someone you think is non-medical.............

 

you are in fact incorrect

Thanks for that.

Learn something new every day.;)

[ColoradoMom!!]

I googled Noro a while ago to prepare for our upcoming trip.

 

There are very few products that will kill Noro.

 

I chose one and bought it off Amazon - but don't assume that your

Anti- bacterial wipes will have any impact on Noro

[mellon1]

We are supposed to board the Star this Saturday June 23rd and I just got emails saying that there are numerous cases of norovirus on the ship right now. Boarding is now delayed several hours for a deep cleaning and to sanitize the ship. We leave in the morning for Vancouver and this is not news I wanted to hear!

I am really worried about getting on a cruise after norovirus. Has anyone had any experience with that, and can I just hope that the cleaning will make it safer for us? Such a damper on the excitement I had until I got the email :-

 

We were on the Crown with it. Don't eat at the buffet; don't shake hands @ cocktail party with the captain after he shook everyone else's hand, and don't eat those nuts @ the captain's party or at the bar. Wash, wash wash. We also bring our own anti-bacterial soap and use our own rest room.

[chengkp75]

I googled Noro a while ago to prepare for our upcoming trip.

 

There are very few products that will kill Noro.

 

I chose one and bought it off Amazon - but don't assume that your

Anti- bacterial wipes will have any impact on Noro

 

And despite claims by the manufacturers, there are even less that are actually effective against noro. I've looked at the EPA list of effective agents against noro:

 

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-04/documents/list_g_disinfectant_list_3_15_18.pdf

 

and I only recognize a couple of disinfecting wipes that are sold to consumers, some from Clorox, and some from Oxivir. However, you must make sure that the EPA registration number found on the EPA list matches the product you are buying, otherwise they can be selling a product that is similar but with a different formulation.

[moki'smommy]

Obviously, using a product that will kill noro best for your cleaning/wipe down. However, even if the product you use will not kill noro, the act of wiping down the area will decrease the viral load (the number of viruses) if any are present. The less exposure, the better. Please DO get the correct wipes if you can, but cleaning with other products is better than not cleaning!

 

Soap, even anti-bacterial soap, does not kill the noro virus. Again, the fact that you have washed with soap and water sends the virus down the sink ...if it was on your hands.

 

The biggest problem with noro is that a person can be spreading the virus for a few days before they feel ill. Yes, it almost always enters the ship with a new person boarding...they may have felt ill but decided to cruise anyhow or may have not become symptomatic until after the cruise started. It really doesn't matter. What is important is that you protect yourself as much as possible.

Edited June 22, 2018 by moki'smommy

[ChrisB123]

Just for smiles, I and many more on this site have been on many cruises and never caught the virus. Common sense should take care of you. Just think of when you go to the grocery store and put your hands on the cart. They are dirty....YUCK, be as cautious on board the ship as you would be doing your weekly shopping. I wouldn't worry one little bit. A deep cleaning would make me feel even BETTER about my cruise, not more frightened. I feel bad for the staff who get little to no time off because of it. Have fun.

[elliair]

Just for smiles, I and many more on this site have been on many cruises and never caught the virus. Common sense should take care of you. Just think of when you go to the grocery store and put your hands on the cart. They are dirty....YUCK, be as cautious on board the ship as you would be doing your weekly shopping. I wouldn't worry one little bit. A deep cleaning would make me feel even BETTER about my cruise, not more frightened. I feel bad for the staff who get little to no time off because of it. Have fun.

 

All stores I go into have wipes as you enter and I wipe my cart down pretty good. Today I bought a pack of travel Clorox wipes and stuck it in my carry on bag. First thing I'll do on the airplane is wipe down my tray and arm rests. Those are supposedly the dirtiest germ things on a plane. Won't take long to wipe down a cabin. When we fly to Australia that will be a 15 hour flight for us, I want to stay healthy.

[ColoradoMom!!]

And despite claims by the manufacturers, there are even less that are actually effective against noro. I've looked at the EPA list of effective agents against noro:

 

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-04/documents/list_g_disinfectant_list_3_15_18.pdf

 

and I only recognize a couple of disinfecting wipes that are sold to consumers, some from Clorox, and some from Oxivir. However, you must make sure that the EPA registration number found on the EPA list matches the product you are buying, otherwise they can be selling a product that is similar but with a different formulation.

 

WOW - guess I didn't dig deep enough. Sadly on my last search I came across an interesting letter about the product I purchased:

 

https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2015/ucm453717.htm

 

Well darn! Guess I lost my psych advantage of thinking it works now too!I'll use it, but just wash, wash, wash - I do all the other great suggestions posted above as well.

 

And - yes, I use anti bacterial wipes on planes, TV remotes, etc. but NORO is a whole other animal unfortunately

[chengkp75]

WOW - guess I didn't dig deep enough. Sadly on my last search I came across an interesting letter about the product I purchased:

 

https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2015/ucm453717.htm

 

Well darn! Guess I lost my psych advantage of thinking it works now too!I'll use it, but just wash, wash, wash - I do all the other great suggestions posted above as well.

 

And - yes, I use anti bacterial wipes on planes, TV remotes, etc. but NORO is a whole other animal unfortunately

 

Yes, zylast has been making claims for years with no substantiating data, including being effective against ebola.

[riclop]

People don't wash there hands.

[moki'smommy]

People don't wash there hands.

They don't wash their hands either.

[AmazedByCruising]

Just a couple of comments.

 

Not exactly related to your answers in this thread so far, but what exactly happens when the ship does a "deep cleaning"? It sounds like an extreme measure, but when people can safely embark a few hours later it can't be much more than simply cleaning a bit more, maybe using a more aggressive solution than normal?

[moki'smommy]

Not exactly related to your answers in this thread so far, but what exactly happens when the ship does a "deep cleaning"? It sounds like an extreme measure, but when people can safely embark a few hours later it can't be much more than simply cleaning a bit more, maybe using a more aggressive solution than normal?

Basically, none of the crew involved with cleaning anything gets any time off during the change over. Everything except furniture is removed from the cabins, every hard surface is supposed to be wiped down with noro-killing chemicals. Note that I said "supposed to," that doesn't mean it happens. It should include things like window sills, door knobs, phone, and all little details. Couches and mattresses are vacuumed--no, it won't kill a virus, but it might lessen the amount present. I don't know whether they spray the couch or the room with disinfectant.

 

Out and about in the ship, everything is wiped down--every table, menu, chair, arms and legs of chairs, elevators from top to bottom with special attention to the buttons, every bannister. Every floor is cleaned, etc. Yes, a lot of this sounds like "normal" cleaning, but on a normal change over day it doesn't ALL happen after all the previous passengers are off and before the new ones get on. For instance, normally they might clean the elevators during the night. In this case, they want to be sure that no one from the previous cruise can have the opportunity to touch anything after it is cleaned--thus they are off the ship. They use different chemicals and change their gloves after each "space" so if there is anything, they are not spreading it. Every dish, piece of silverware, etc. will be re-washed, even though it was already washed after the previous use.

 

It's sort of the difference between wiping up the kitchen and doing the dishes after dinner each night and the "I'm going to clean the kitchen" kind of cleaning.

[Kingofcool1947]

My friend always brings a hand held black light on her cruises. Under the black light, she is always surprised what human junk she discovers on her bedspread, chairs, fold out sofa bed, toilets seat, and on the desk. Pretty nasty. :eek:

She brings a big container of Clorox wipes, and wipes down everything in the stateroom. She’s scared of catching Noro.

Enjoy your cruise.

King

[elliair]

:eek:D

 

Ewww. :eek: Finger lickers? In the buffet line? That’s some nasty PAXs behaving badly. Do you publicly shame these nasty PAXs, or call them out when you see them offending?

King

 

Every single cruise we have been on, I see finger lickers. Even in the MDR, I see it and people sitting at our table. It comes to people naturally who do it. What the heck are napkins for? Princess can save a ton of money not giving people napkins when all they have to do is lick their fingers! Next time you go on a cruise or even dine out, you will see people doing it. I did shame someone once only because I was behind them in line and they were chomping on their french fries. They licked their fingers and picked up the serving spoon. I told the passenger that they licked their fingers and picked up the serving spoon (it was a woman), and that to please not do that inside the buffet. She went off in a huff, and I got a clean serving spoon. I didn't care about her feelings, I cared about touching the spoon after her saliva was all over it. :evilsmile:

[victoriaj]

A tip for those wipes...wipe down the door knobs, safe and the phone.....

 

 

In addition to all the suggestions I also wipe down the light switches and dresser knobs. It always amazes me how much crud you get off the phone, not just the mouth/ear piece but the keypad. I also speak up when someone breezes past the hand sanitizer stations saying I washed my hands before I left the cabin, yes maybe you did but did you get transported to the dining room/buffet etc. No, I'll bet dollars to donuts you touched something on your way there. Please everyone besides washing your hands frequently use the sanitizer station so we can all have a good cruise.

[moki'smommy]

Sorry, but you missed quite a bit when it comes to deep cleaning a ship.

.

Fair enough. My info came from a server who went into great detail about his duties and glossed over some of what others were doing. Thanks for the full details.

[AmazedByCruising]

When we deep clean a ship, we usually hire an outside company that specializes in exactly this. They send us an army of specially trained staff

 

The final procedure is fogging..

 

The fogging is what I expected, but I thought it couldn't happen as people are allowed to embark just a few hours later. Glad to know that "deep cleaning" does imply such drastic measures.

 

The outside company: they must have like 40 or more people on standby for the occasional ship that needs a deep cleaning (maybe once a month even in FLL?). That must be extremely expensive unless they have a regular job where a ship in trouble is just the icing on the cake. What kind of company would that be?

[neverbeenhere]

Googles knows... cruise ship cleaning service

[AmazedByCruising]

Googles knows... cruise ship cleaning service

 

I found "Keeping a cruise ship clean and sanitary for employees and guests is no easy task, so it’s best to let the experts handle it. "

 

Nice to know Google tells you about the experts when you just happened to buy a 1.5 billion ship but didn't think about the cleaning.

[caribill]

I take Dial antibacterial soap on board now, wont kill viruses like Noro but will maybe work on bacteria like E Coli. 2 bars for $1 at $Tree stores.

 

It may not be available much longer https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/02/492394717/fda-bans-19-chemicals-used-in-antibacterial-soaps