Ncl star right now

[Suzy69]

Anyone on the current sailing know why the level of cleanliness has gone up a lot?? I reckon there must be a bug or virus,and staff don't seem to be telling. I understand they don't want to cause alarm,

[firstimer2009]

I was on the Sept 22 sailing and got off ship Sept 29. I became horribly sick with an upper respiratory infection 3 days in. Half of the ship seemed to come down with it by the end.   Just got home from Rome last night and I’m still sick.  Feel for the people on the cruise this week. 

Edited October 5, 2019 by firstimer2009

[soccermom104]

We were on September 29 sailing. We heard 70 passengers, including my husband were sick with a gastro virus. We missed Corfu and Santorini and half the time in Mykonos due to quarantine and Kotor because of itinerary change and Argostoli because of thunderstorm that was clearing at the time decision to skip port was announced.  Although measures were put in place to contain the illness it really did ruin our trip and it was so disappointing to miss 4 out of 6 ports.

[julig22]

Local news in the states is calling for people to get flu shots early.  Apparently Australia has been hit hard already, so could easily be from an early flu season.

[firstimer2009]

@soccermom104  So sorry your husband was sick and quarantined.  I have such mixed feelings about cruising.  I enjoyed it but realize too much of it is out of your control.  Like illness and weather.  Also fellow passengers.  There was a huge fight above us the first night on the pool deck around midnight then it came into our hallway.  I think it was the two adjoining cabins next to us.  Then of course two doors down on the balcony were the people taking naked pictures of themselves with Santorini in the background.  And doing other things....

 

All in all I'm glad we did that cruise, and all the places we visited were beautiful but am unlikely to do another one.

[ollienbertsmum]

Oh my what chaos!!  I went on the week of 15th September and apart from missing Kotor which was expected it went perfectly.  We even got into several  ports early.  I don’t want to sound like I am gloating, more that it is such ‘the luck of the draw’ when it comes to bad weather and ugly passenger behaviour (why would you???).   Don’t let it put you off cruising.  

 

The one thing you cannot guarantee is that the ports on your itinerary will be visited.  However one thing you should be able to guarantee is that you will have a good time.  

[SummmerInKefalonia]

16 hours ago, soccermom104 said:

We were on September 29 sailing. We heard 70 passengers, including my husband were sick with a gastro virus. We missed Corfu and Santorini and half the time in Mykonos due to quarantine and Kotor because of itinerary change and Argostoli because of thunderstorm that was clearing at the time decision to skip port was announced.  Although measures were put in place to contain the illness it really did ruin our trip and it was so disappointing to miss 4 out of 6 ports.

So sad you missed Argostoli Kefalonia because of the thunderstorm... As the ship was leaving the weather got better and in half an hour after you left the sun came out... Captain should have waited to see how things were going with the storm. You came at 7.30 a.m. which was earlier than the scheduled time of arrival (9 a.m.) so he had 1,5 hour to decide. But instead he decided immediately that the port is skipped. For the record, after 8 a.m. the weather was sunny until afternoon...

Edited October 8, 2019 by SummmerInKefalonia

[firstimer2009]

We loved Argostoli.  That was where my cold bug was the worst and found a kind restaurant employee that helped us get to a Farmacia.  We went back to there  to have a fantastic meal.  The restaurant was The Empire and they have a sister restaurant in Chicago near where my friend lives.  Small world.

 

My husband and I decided if we ever wanted to spend a month chilling out on a beautiful Greek island with wonderful people and food it would be here.

[newmexicoNita]

On 10/5/2019 at 2:59 AM, Suzy69 said:

Anyone on the current sailing know why the level of cleanliness has gone up a lot?? I reckon there must be a bug or virus,and staff don't seem to be telling. I understand they don't want to cause alarm,

No, if there is a virus going around the ship will not try to hide it. They want everyone aware so they can be overly careful about trying to avoid the spreading of anything. I will have to ask, what do you mean by the level of cleanliness?

[newmexicoNita]

On 10/7/2019 at 7:58 PM, soccermom104 said:

We were on September 29 sailing. We heard 70 passengers, including my husband were sick with a gastro virus. We missed Corfu and Santorini and half the time in Mykonos due to quarantine and Kotor because of itinerary change and Argostoli because of thunderstorm that was clearing at the time decision to skip port was announced.  Although measures were put in place to contain the illness it really did ruin our trip and it was so disappointing to miss 4 out of 6 ports.

I am so sorry this had to happen to you. We have been on a few cruises where noro has been an issue and we know how careful the crew is to try and control it. We also feel for those who are guarantined.

[Suzy69]

10 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

No, if there is a virus going around the ship will not try to hide it. They want everyone aware so they can be overly careful about trying to avoid the spreading of anything. I will have to ask, what do you mean by the level of cleanliness?

The ship was always clean,however from Wed as soon as anyone got up Fri a seat,it was cleaned. From Fri you couldn't use utensils in buffet,or get your own drinks,nothing on tables,no menus out and bathroom doors wers all wedged open,so no one had any reason to touch handles. They definitely couldnt have dons any more,from what I saw.

[newmexicoNita]

1 minute ago, Suzy69 said:

The ship was always clean,however from Wed as soon as anyone got up Fri a seat,it was cleaned. From Fri you couldn't use utensils in buffet,or get your own drinks,nothing on tables,no menus out and bathroom doors wers all wedged open,so no one had any reason to touch handles. They definitely couldnt have dons any more,from what I saw.

OK that explains it and yes, it appears there was an outbreak of some kind, probably Noro. that is just how the management handles noro outbreaks. 

[firstimer2009]

2 hours ago, firstimer2009 said:

We loved Argostoli.  That was where my cold bug was the worst and found a kind restaurant employee that helped us get to a Farmacia.  We went back to there  to have a fantastic meal.  The restaurant was The Empire and they have a sister restaurant in Chicago near where my friend lives.  Small world.

 

My husband and I decided if we ever wanted to spend a month chilling out on a beautiful Greek island with wonderful people and food it would be here.

I misspoke.  The restaurant was The Premiere.  Too much Sudafed I think.

A pic with the owner and my husband.   

[Megalyn]

On 10/8/2019 at 11:52 AM, firstimer2009 said:

I have such mixed feelings about cruising.  I enjoyed it but realize too much of it is out of your control.  Like illness and weather.  Also fellow passengers.

 

But realistically, don't those same things apply to most travel?  Flights can be cancelled, weather can keep you stuck in a resort, other people in your hotel can be involved in a brawl, you can get sick anywhere.  The only piece exclusive to cruising is that you are trapped with the others.  But even with the upset happening on the cruise in Norway right now - the other passengers were able to simply avoid the atrium and stay away from the mob.  

[firstimer2009]

26 minutes ago, Megalyn said:

 

But realistically, don't those same things apply to most travel?  Flights can be cancelled, weather can keep you stuck in a resort, other people in your hotel can be involved in a brawl, you can get sick anywhere.  The only piece exclusive to cruising is that you are trapped with the others.  But even with the upset happening on the cruise in Norway right now - the other passengers were able to simply avoid the atrium and stay away from the mob.  

Yes I agree with all of that.  I traveled the U.S. for 25 years full time in my prior job and have been sick and encountered bad weather everywhere.  Including European vacations.  So I'm not a novice to any of it.  After the cruise ended we took a train to Rome and was there for 5 days.  I was just much happier there.  For me, being on a ship has much less options then being on land.  I prefer more options.

Edited October 10, 2019 by firstimer2009