Koningsdam Code Red in St Thomas

[PAGA]

https://viconsortium.com/vi-health/virgin-islands-code-red-issued-for-cruise-at-wico-dock-as-virus-vomiting-outbreak-affects-passengers-coronavirus-not-detected-
 

Anyone have more info on this? Article implies source seems to be food poisoning from “one of the other islands” as opposed to Norovirus, so I’m guessing the affected passengers may have had an excursion or something in common? Food poisoning is pretty fast acting...last stop was St Kitts. Anyone have knowledge on this situation?

Edited January 30, 2020 by PAGA

[STANCPA44]

I am on the ship right now. There are number of cases of the Norovirus. So far it seems to be minor, the staff is out there with hand sanitizers, as a precaution.

[whitford]

Just missed this on it last week and everything was great.

[DivotMaker]

2 hours ago, STANCPA44 said:

I am on the ship right now. There are number of cases of the Norovirus. So far it seems to be minor, the staff is out there with hand sanitizers, as a precaution.

Thanks for reporting in.  Hopefully you're doing ok and are able to enjoy the remainder of your cruise.

 

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the info.

Hope everyone recovers quickly, and it doesn't spread.

[Seasick Sailor]

3 hours ago, STANCPA44 said:

I am on the ship right now. There are number of cases of the Norovirus. So far it seems to be minor, the staff is out there with hand sanitizers, as a precaution.

Unfortunately hand sanitizer won't help from recent news. Just wash, wash, wash your hands soap and water. Stay safe!

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, STANCPA44 said:

I am on the ship right now. There are number of cases of the Norovirus. So far it seems to be minor, the staff is out there with hand sanitizers, as a precaution.

 

Thanks for posting. The article said passengers were "vomiting en masse" which sounds alarming. I think HAL is very quick to go to code red, which is why they don't actually have passengers "vomiting en masse" as you hear about on other cruise lines. "An abundance of caution" seems to be the company expression. I'd rather have the minor restrictions of code red than a big outbreak of noro. A friend was on Something of the Seas about 6 yeas ago when the noro was so bad that they went back to Bayonne a day early to have a full day without passengers to deep clean the ship. 

 

And I agree with Seasick Sailor--wash your hands thoroughly and often!

 

[aliaschief]

On-board this great cruise. Sea day headed to Half Moon tomorrow. North Atlantic is like sailing on glass and sunny and blue skies.

 

Crew has been very aggressive in dealing with outbreak. Folks are directed to hand washing machines in Lido before entering.

 

There have been no alert messages and precaution announcements like yesterday.

 

For most a wonderful day at sea.

 

Theme is wash your hands a lot.

 

Back to looking for more whale spotting!😎

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sounds like HAL is doing the best they can to control the illness.

 

We have been on several HAL ships when we went into Code Red -- everything shut down.

[Spire2000]

My parents are on the ship. Haven't heard from them in a few days, which is probably a good sign as they would send a message if they were ill.

[Himself]

I hope they get it under vontrol.  I hope they do another deep clean in Ft. Lauderdale. I  go on the K'dam three weeks from Sunday. 

[Love the beach]

34 minutes ago, Himself said:

I hope they get it under vontrol.  I hope they do another deep clean in Ft. Lauderdale. I  go on the K'dam three weeks from Sunday. 

Me too! Looking forward to meeting you!

[Himself]

1 minute ago, Love the beach said:

Me too! Looking forward to meeting you!

 

 

I am old and fat!  Are you sure you want to meet me?

[Love the beach]

4 minutes ago, Himself said:

 

 

I am old and fat!  Are you sure you want to meet me?

Most of us "old timers" know who you are....have been reading your posts for years! See you at Mass, unless you are just on vacation!

[Himself]

6 minutes ago, Love the beach said:

Most of us "old timers" know who you are....have been reading your posts for years! See you at Mass, unless you are just on vacation!

 

 

 

I will be offering Mass each day.

[WHITELINEN]

Tonight they have the main pool complexly drained and half of the deck space cleared for power washing etc. There are deck hands with mask scrubbing the entire pool. There are three officers with flashlights shinning spot lights on to the stairs leading up to the two hot tubs. I have never seen such a thorough cleaning in my many years of sailing. 

Edited February 1, 2020 by WHITELINEN
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[PAGA]

Hmmm...so I was hoping I wouldn't need to make this follow-up comment, but it's bugging me. First and foremost, I wish everyone an amazing & healthy cruise onboard the Koningsdam - we were actually on her for 21 nights at this time last year and loved it. So what's on my mind is my original post includes reference to an article in the local Virgin Islands media published yesterday morning while the ship was docked in St Thomas ...it states someone from the ship advised the reporter that the passengers were not contagiously sick, but rather they had eaten something on another island that was causing the vomiting. As a part-time USVI resident, I have subscribed to the VI Consortium media outlet for 5 years - and I have never seen an article about the health status of a cruise vessel (and between St Thomas and St Croix we get plenty!). Not sure if it's just the world's heightened attention to Coronavirus that caused this article to be published...But it feels like the ship went out of its way to make sure the VI's taxi drivers, tour operators, restaurants, etc didn't refuse anyone passage by implying the passengers had food poisoning, not a highly contagious stomach virus. The article even states passengers were sent off the ship with "clean-up kits" - so sick and potentially sick passengers were getting off the ship and exposing others. I've been on plenty of ships with Norovirus and flu and I know what an amazing job is done to keep it from spreading onboard...but this situation has really drawn my attention to the potential health impact on local communities and potential to spread to other cruise ships' passengers in a busy port like St Thomas. And it's the deception of saying it was food poisoning and having that broadcast out through the media to local citizens that's really got me unsettled. Just had to vent. Thanks to those of you onboard who replied. Stay healthy!!

[aliaschief]

IMO it appears the crew has a pretty good grasp on this. Being on-board it’s pretty much normal other than us washing our hands a lot more.

 

Dinner in Pinnacle normal and great.

[slidergirl]

Instead of having crew doling out more hand sanitizer (worthless) for noro outbreaks, perhaps they should hand out food service gloves for guests to wear...  That, and routing everyone through a bathroom and observe them washing their hands...

 

 

[Crusinsusan2]

We were on the cruise prior to this one and due to the large amount of people utilizing the pools/spa's at the same time and the most important the color of the water we chose not to partake. Guessing they didn't drain them on turnaround day. Husband is in the pool construction business and actually said during our cruise the water quality was an accident waiting to happen. Just happy to see the photo that they have now drained the pools and disinfected as this could very well have been the source of the original outbreak.        

[3rdGenCunarder]

7 minutes ago, Crusinsusan2 said:

We were on the cruise prior to this one and due to the large amount of people utilizing the pools/spa's at the same time and the most important the color of the water we chose not to partake. Guessing they didn't drain them on turnaround day. Husband is in the pool construction business and actually said during our cruise the water quality was an accident waiting to happen. Just happy to see the photo that they have now drained the pools and disinfected as this could very well have been the source of the original outbreak.        

 

I hope they did the thermal pool, too. 

[marion10]

We are on back to back and have to leave the ship tomorrow from 10-2 for deep cleaning.

[PAGA]

4 minutes ago, marion10 said:

We are on back to back and have to leave the ship tomorrow from 10-2 for deep cleaning.

Hopefully that includes the time to clear the back to backs through Customs & Border Patrol...that process took us about 3 hours last year because people didn’t show up and they wouldn’t let us back onboard until every one was accounted for (and in our case it was guest musicians/entertainers who didn’t show up...so it was frustrating). Hopefully the sick passengers are not continuing the voyage and you get a healthy group boarding for your next journey!

[Crusinsusan2]

7 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I hope they did the thermal pool, too. 

 

Me too. Once water chemistry starts going south bacteria can spread like wildfire requiring a full drain and new start up chemicals. Public pool/spa water color and clarity always tells you everything you need to know as a consumer. Anything with even a hint of green and murky is definitely not where you want to be. We are actually super surprised that particularly on the warmer itineraries that the pools/spas are not drained every few days not weeks in between considering how many people at the same time are in such tight warm water spaces. No amount of chemical testing or balance can remedy this in such small bodies of water. Having said that, the pool showers w soap are in abundance as are the hand washing stations. It's all available it just depends on how many people choose to take that extra step to keep themselves and their fellow passengers healthy. Although I do love most of my fellow Hal cruisers I have no desire to sit in a dirty bathtub with them 🙂.                    

[3rdGenCunarder]

9 hours ago, Crusinsusan2 said:

 

Me too. Once water chemistry starts going south bacteria can spread like wildfire requiring a full drain and new start up chemicals. Public pool/spa water color and clarity always tells you everything you need to know as a consumer. Anything with even a hint of green and murky is definitely not where you want to be. We are actually super surprised that particularly on the warmer itineraries that the pools/spas are not drained every few days not weeks in between considering how many people at the same time are in such tight warm water spaces. No amount of chemical testing or balance can remedy this in such small bodies of water. Having said that, the pool showers w soap are in abundance as are the hand washing stations. It's all available it just depends on how many people choose to take that extra step to keep themselves and their fellow passengers healthy. Although I do love most of my fellow Hal cruisers I have no desire to sit in a dirty bathtub with them 🙂.                    

 

I rarely use the pools and the hot tubs near the pools. And once I see a parent take a kid into the hot tub, that one is off limits to me! That's why I like the thermal suite. The fact that they charge a lot for the pass keeps it from getting too crowded. And there's a shower right by the pool, easy to at least rinse off before you go. 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by 3rdGenCunarder
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