REGAL April 7 to 14 Ft Lauderdale

[daka]

Let me qualify, we are "experienced" cruisers having been on over 20 in the past 10 or so years.

We've been on Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity NCL and MSC.

This cruise was a disaster for me, in the early morning hours of Tuesday I got violently sick, just making it to the toilet and throwing up...till 8 the next morning.

I spent the next few days in the cabin on Chicken broth and crackers....Wednesday I went to the Medical center and tried to tell the doctor my symptoms, I said I thought I had food poisoning....he told me that HE is the DOCTOR and that I did not have food poisoning......but that I was to stay I my cabin for the next 24 hours and that they would "sanitize" the cabin, which they did....what a joke...2 guys came in and in 1 minute they "swiped" the  wall sink and desk top...

Later on in the cruise when I was feeling well enough to leave the vicinity of the cabin, we had dinner in the MDR, I had chicken breast...and more of the excellent chicken broth, this time with "alphabets"...finally by Friday I was recovered enough to feel "safe" wandering the ship.

We noticed at that point that the servers were now handing out plates and cutlery, rather than picking it up yourself. (And nothing on the tables...salt and pepper etc)

The Captain at that point made some announcements that there were 'LESS THAN 10% affected (what 250 people ?)

So, in general this cruise has TURNED ME OFF cruising for a while......

WATCH OUT FOR THE CAESAR SALAD.....

ps....we opted NOT to go on the Bar Hop...too chancy ...

Edited April 19, 2019 by daka

[dizneeboi]

We were on the same cruise and my husband also got violently ill Monday evening. We are also experienced cruisers and have never experienced a cruise like this.  The doctor told us the more you cruise the more likely you will come down with something. He may have had a point, but it certainly turned us off from cruising for a while, at least with Princess. 

[JimmyVWine]

Noro is certainly a risk inherent with cruising and it impacts all mass market cruise lines where thousands of people are forced to interact in close quarters. No individual cruise line is to blame. They don't introduce the virus to you. Other passengers do. Every passenger fills out a health form on boarding day and no one has ever confessed to being ill and turned around and gone home. Instead they hack and cough their way onto the ship. I once had a cabin adjacent to a quarantined passenger and he seriously sounded like he was going to die. Upon disembarkation day, a crew came in wearing hazmat gear and gutted the room, mattress and all. If I had gotten sick it would have been his fault, not Princess'.

 

Also, if you start to feel ill on the first full day of your cruise or early on the second day, it is equally likely that you were exposed at an airport, in a plane, or at the boarding terminal as it was that you were exposed on the ship. Pretty much a 50/50 proposition. And consider this. If you were exposed before boarding and brought the virus with you, you could have been the "alpha" passenger that got the other 250 people sick. No way to know. And of course, if you boarded before exhibiting symptoms, you would have no way of knowing so no one can blame you. Illness happens 

Edited April 20, 2019 by JimmyVWine

[daka]

JimmyVWine

Also, if you start to feel ill on the first full day of your cruise or early on the second day, it is equally likely that you were exposed at an airport, in a plane, or at the boarding terminal as it was that you were exposed on the ship. Pretty much a 50/50 proposition. And consider this. If you were exposed before boarding and brought the virus with you, you could have been the "alpha" passenger that got the other 250 people sick. No way to know. And of course, if you boarded before exhibiting symptoms, you would have no way of knowing so no one can blame you. Illness happens 

Edited 8 hours ago by JimmyVWine

In answer to your post....We live in Fort Lauderdale, 10 MINUTES FROM THE PORT, and when we arrived we walked DIRECTLY ONTO THE SHIP and I am convinced that my SICKNESS was a direct result of SOMETHING I ATE...

[JStar]

We were on this cruise also. Just to clarify the captain stated there were under 1 percent of passengers ill so nowhere near the 250 number you referenced. Closer to 25.

[Host CJSKIDS]

4 minutes ago, JStar said:

We were on this cruise also. Just to clarify the captain stated there were under 1 percent of passengers ill so nowhere near the 250 number you referenced. Closer to 25.

 

There must have been more than 25 people sick on the ship.  My friends were on that sailing as part of their b2b2b and are still on the ship.  Even those that were on the ship doing b2b were not allowed back on until 3 in the afternoon and the terminal was not going to be open to anyone until 3 pm so they could completely clean the ship.

[Colo Cruiser]

OP sorry you got so sick. It is a miserable thing to experience not only on a cruise/vacation but anytime.

I agree that it could have been acquired anywhere upon your arrival onboard.

Most always point to food poisoning because of the coincidence of eating sometime before the severe symptoms onset. 

The cruise lines get more scrutiny because of the detailed/records that they are required to keep along with reporting to CDC.

Noro is everywhere and it is carried everywhere. Hopefully you have recovered and get that I want to cruise feeling back again.

[MissP22]

I've found that Princess doesn't like to admit to cases of food poisoning. A similar incident happened to me a while back & if it were "Noro" , I wouldn't have been walking around a day later feeling OK.

[JimmyVWine]

5 hours ago, daka said:

I am convinced that my SICKNESS was a direct result of SOMETHING I ATE...

 

It is unlikely. Think about how food is prepared and served on a cruise ship. Volume, volume, volume. Cooking is done in vats, not pans. If there is tainted food, many people would be affected immediately and simultaneously. Questions get asked and the source is traced back.  If a doctor suspects food poisoning, every sick passenger will be asked to recount what and where they ate until the common source is detected. It is almost impossible for a single person to eat tainted food on a ship unless it is food that you brought on board yourself. Everything that you eat that is served by the ship is also eaten by dozens of others. The ship has an extreme interest in detecting and rectifying food taint. If the ship thought you had food poisoning you would know it by the way your case was handled. It sounds very much like your case was handled as noro.  

Edited April 20, 2019 by JimmyVWine

[hobbyfarmer2]

We were on the same cruise and were lucky not to get sick.  We witnessed several people refusing to wash their hands before the buffet despite crew imploring them to do so.  I witnessed a woman grabbing bacon strips from the pan using her fingers.  Another passenger yelled at her, "you got to be kidding".  Her excuse - she was getting a couple of strips for her husband and did not want to wait.  Worst cruise we have been on for passengers avoiding simple hygiene.  Sickening to watch.

 

DW and I wash our hands with soap and water 10-20 a day when cruising.  We try to avoid touching our faces or eyes with our hands as well.  Wash after using handrails or elevator buttons is key.  The Purell is useless against Noro so use after washing. We talked to two people at the airport who were on the same cruise and got sick.  They never reported so their cabin was not wiped down. 

 

There are always sick passengers on a ship carrying 3600+.  They are your biggest threat, not the captain or the crew.  

[hobbyfarmer2]

11 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I've found that Princess doesn't like to admit to cases of food poisoning. A similar incident happened to me a while back & if it were "Noro" , I wouldn't have been walking around a day later feeling OK.

Noro lasts 24-72 hrs.

[hobbyfarmer2]

On 4/19/2019 at 4:17 PM, daka said:

Let me qualify, we are "experienced" cruisers having been on over 20 in the past 10 or so years.

We've been on Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity NCL and MSC.

This cruise was a disaster for me, in the early morning hours of Tuesday I got violently sick, just making it to the toilet and throwing up...till 8 the next morning.

I spent the next few days in the cabin on Chicken broth and crackers....Wednesday I went to the Medical center and tried to tell the doctor my symptoms, I said I thought I had food poisoning....he told me that HE is the DOCTOR and that I did not have food poisoning......but that I was to stay I my cabin for the next 24 hours and that they would "sanitize" the cabin, which they did....what a joke...2 guys came in and in 1 minute they "swiped" the  wall sink and desk top...

Later on in the cruise when I was feeling well enough to leave the vicinity of the cabin, we had dinner in the MDR, I had chicken breast...and more of the excellent chicken broth, this time with "alphabets"...finally by Friday I was recovered enough to feel "safe" wandering the ship.

We noticed at that point that the servers were now handing out plates and cutlery, rather than picking it up yourself. (And nothing on the tables...salt and pepper etc)

The Captain at that point made some announcements that there were 'LESS THAN 10% affected (what 250 people ?)

So, in general this cruise has TURNED ME OFF cruising for a while......

WATCH OUT FOR THE CAESAR SALAD.....

ps....we opted NOT to go on the Bar Hop...too chancy ...

We were b2b on same cruise and had the Caesar every night in the MDR.  It was excellent, as usual, did not become ill.

Edited April 21, 2019 by hobbyfarmer2
Sp

[MissP22]

5 hours ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

Noro lasts 24-72 hrs.

Although they confined me to the cabin for a day or so they also told me that it wasn't food poisoning nor Noro. I actually felt pretty good when I did go to medical but they were skeptical & confined me anyway. 

 

[windsor26]

We must be lucky or fastidious  after 61 cruises we have never had noro and we have been on ships on yellow or red alert for it

 

Knuckle for the elevator buttons  don't use the hand rails unless you have to and wash wash wash

Sorry your cruise was spoiled