Caribbean Princess 2\2 Sailing Gastrointestinal Virus

[Colo Cruiser]

4 hours ago, Helenek8 said:

How do you think, Princess will refund the cruise? 

Future Cruise credit and partial refund. Usually a 1 year expiration on the FCC.

[rabin1]

They just terminated this cruise it is on its way back to Ft. Lauderdale.

[Helenek8]

3 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Future Cruise credit. Usually a 1 year expiration.

50% of the cruise fair has to be refunded + future cruise credit of 50% of the fair paid. I would prefer just total refund for this cruise. 

[MISTER 67]

On 2/6/2020 at 9:21 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

This happens on almost every cruise.

It is everywhere.

 

Wrong, we've been on 62 cruises and never had a ship that had the Norovirus, never ran into a passenger that complained about having it either.

What we haven't been lucky with is the common cold, have either come down with the sniffles either on the last couple days of the cruise or the day after we returned home, 4 times in our last 7 cruises.

 

[mamira90]

Just now, MISTER 67 said:

Wrong, we've been on 62 cruises and never had a ship that had the Norovirus, never ran into a passenger that complained about having it either.

What we haven't been lucky with is the common cold, have either come down with the sniffles either on the last couple days of the cruise or the day after we returned home, 4 times in our last 7 cruises.

 

Same, I have cruised for more than 15 years. Never had issue with virus that it was at least made as an announcement. But somehow always get sick once we get back home with a cold or major allergies lol 

[Colo Cruiser]

32 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

Wrong, we've been on 62 cruises and never had a ship that had the Norovirus, never ran into a passenger that complained about having it either.

What we haven't been lucky with is the common cold, have either come down with the sniffles either on the last couple days of the cruise or the day after we returned home, 4 times in our last 7 cruises.

 

Hence the word "Almost".  🙄

[reedprincess]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

From the CDC website at 3PM Eastern February 10:

 

Investigation Update on the Caribbean Princess

Related Pages

 

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises

Cruise Ship: Caribbean Princess

Voyage Dates: February 2–16, 2020

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 299 of 3,035 (9.9%)

Number of crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 22 of 1,161 (1.9%)

7.65% of total population is an unusually high percentage aboard, I can totally understand why they'd be returning early, and why ports with less robust health systems turned then away.  

Same happened with Queen Mary a couple years ago, denied several ports due to noro.. it's not unusual for ports to not want to let it ashore, but it's not frequent 

There's a current "panic" here in St Lucia after Britannia was in port yesterday, the ship's officials informed the port that they had noro cases, presumably diagnosed while they were in port, otherwise the port authorities would have known in advance...(it does have to be reported with the manifest, that's how ports know there's a health issue)...so, our taxi drivers, tour operators, shop Operators in port are now worried they may have been in contact with someone with noro... it's no joke on a small island with limited health care.  

3% is the official reporting threshold for ships to CDC, although most report earlier..

Thanks for the update...

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Daniel A said:

From the CDC website at 3PM Eastern February 10:

 

Investigation Update on the Caribbean Princess

Related Pages

 

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises

Cruise Ship: Caribbean Princess

Voyage Dates: February 2–16, 2020

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 299 of 3,035 (9.9%)

Number of crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 22 of 1,161 (1.9%)

This is a high number. Not good. I was on a cruise with 6% ill and thought that was high.

 

I personally am disappointed in the compensation. I know it is not Princess's fault but they could do a better job. I think buffets should be served always.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, MISTER 67 said:

Wrong, we've been on 62 cruises and never had a ship that had the Norovirus, never ran into a passenger that complained about having it either.

I've worked near 150 cruises, and I can't remember any of them where the medical department reported no cases of GI illness.

[MISTER 67]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

I've worked near 150 cruises, and I can't remember any of them where the medical department reported no cases of GI illness.

There's a difference between the Norovirus and tummy aches. 

I'll say it  again, 62 cruises and no Norovirus for us, if they have one case verified by the medical department on the ship they go into a code red situation where you are served everything from soup to nuts in the Lido buffet area. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by MISTER 67

[chengkp75]

8 hours ago, MISTER 67 said:

There's a difference between the Norovirus and tummy aches. 

I'll say it  again, 62 cruises and no Norovirus for us, if they have one case verified by the medical department on the ship they go into a code red situation where you are served everything from soup to nuts in the Lido buffet area. 

That's not been my experience.  Even with one or two confirmed cases of noro, they will only track, and will not start any "code red" remediation until you get closer to the 1% level.  Every ship, every cruise, has to make a report to the USPH/CDC regarding the number of GI illnesses during the cruise, 24 hours prior to entry to US, even if the number is zero.  While these reports are not published, you could likely file a FOI request for the cruises you've been on, and I would suspect you would be very surprised.

 

My time was before the advent of the field test kits, so the reported illnesses always went in as unspecified GI illness, until test results came back from the CDC.  And, not every case of noro is ever confirmed, as not every patient is willing to provide a stool sample for testing.

[Aus Traveller]

In my experience, the Code Red Alert is only put in place when the cases of Noro reach a certain percentage. If there are only a few cases, the Code Red isn't triggered.

 

We have been on around 85 cruises over several decades. There has been a Red Alert on many (maybe ten or 12) or those cruises. We have exercised caution during that time and haven't caught the bug.

[kathy49]

On 2/7/2020 at 1:10 PM, bhafcseagull said:

Denied entry to St Kitts today so cruising slowly to the next port, fingers crossed we are allowed off at that one 

frankly I am glad to see they are not taking ships in with this level of illness...why should they?

[kathy49]

On 2/9/2020 at 10:12 PM, samur said:

Also onboard and agree that there was a definite lack of enforcing hand washing when we boarded last Sunday.   I’m sure whoever brought this virus onboard will be well aware of the part they have played in ruining so many peoples cruise.  However Princess do need to take their share of the blame .

 

 

 

Sad that they have to have  people telling people to wash their hands etc. And clearly these germs are all over not just spread at the buffet.

[kathy49]

17 hours ago, Daniel A said:

So, what happens now?  Does Princess release this population out into Fort Lauderdale hotels?  Does Princess help with returning home.  Do these sick PAX get booked for air travel?

 

I not being critical, just wondering how it gets handled after they leave.

they certainly do and you could be sitting next to them on their flight from FLL.  Traveling in general is a crap shoot to catch a virus and I am beginning to think masks should be required on planes.  These people will be in hotels and all over and there is so much flu etc. going around now too.

[craftdoc]

Wow.  We were on this ship just before this cruise (disembarking Feb 2).  I didn't hear of any illness going around other than the crew member that had appendicitis and had to be left behind for surgery.  That's why the production show was changed - he was responsible for a critical safety maneuver.   What I am still curious about is the "incident" that occurred in the men's dressing room by the spa part way through the cruise.  I was told by a fellow passenger that someone died in the sauna.  There was a lot of activity that day by the spa - someone scrubbing the floor and we had to walk through the hair stations to get to the gym.   And there was crime scene tape and a guard at the door for the remainder of the cruise.  And when we arrived in port there were several police cars and unmarked cars with flashing lights.  I keep waiting for a press release - but it is still a mystery.

[kathy49]

16 minutes ago, craftdoc said:

Wow.  We were on this ship just before this cruise (disembarking Feb 2).  I didn't hear of any illness going around other than the crew member that had appendicitis and had to be left behind for surgery.  That's why the production show was changed - he was responsible for a critical safety maneuver.   What I am still curious about is the "incident" that occurred in the men's dressing room by the spa part way through the cruise.  I was told by a fellow passenger that someone died in the sauna.  There was a lot of activity that day by the spa - someone scrubbing the floor and we had to walk through the hair stations to get to the gym.   And there was crime scene tape and a guard at the door for the remainder of the cruise.  And when we arrived in port there were several police cars and unmarked cars with flashing lights.  I keep waiting for a press release - but it is still a mystery.

???

[dodger1964]

I wonder which employees have to collect the passengers/crew members stool samples? (from the usa today article) That has to be about the worse job assignment they have?

[Daniel A]

5 minutes ago, dodger1964 said:

I wonder which employees have to collect the passengers/crew members stool samples? (from the usa today article) That has to be about the worse job assignment they have?

I would imagine that the individual being tested collects the sample and places it into a container, just like giving a urine sample.

[chengkp75]

9 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I would imagine that the individual being tested collects the sample and places it into a container, just like giving a urine sample.

Yes, each patient does this, and this is why I say that not all passengers are willing to supply a sample.  I'll spare the gory details about collection.  When they were sent to CDC, they had to be held in the refrigerated drawers of the morgue, along with the crew's random drug urine samples.

[Mike_DeA]

23 hours ago, suekel said:

 

I never eat in the buffet, however I walk thru it a lot on the way to the pool.  Yes, people should wash their hands if they are eating but not everyone does.  There should be a path to the pool that doesn't take you thru the buffet.  

 

There likely is.  But you may have to walk to the other end of the ship and use the stairs/elevator there. 

[suekel]

8 minutes ago, Mike_DeA said:

 

There likely is.  But you may have to walk to the other end of the ship and use the stairs/elevator there. 

True.  But I and many others often have aft cabins so that ain't gonna happen😀

[Mike_DeA]

4 minutes ago, suekel said:

True.  But I and many others often have aft cabins so that ain't gonna happen😀

 

Ok then.  You do know that space is a premium on a cruise ship, right?  The designers aren't going take into account just the stubborn aft passengers.

 

Ok, how about going up one additional level above the pool, walking outside, then down the ubiquitous stairs to pool level?

[Daniel A]

37 minutes ago, Mike_DeA said:

 

Ok then.  You do know that space is a premium on a cruise ship, right?  The designers aren't going take into account just the stubborn aft passengers.

 

Ok, how about going up one additional level above the pool, walking outside, then down the ubiquitous stairs to pool level?

Really, all of this just to avoid washing your hands?

Edited February 11, 2020 by Daniel A

[FM]

The last incident of an outbreak of GI we encountered on a cruise was back in the 90's where we were boarded by CDC upon return to port.  DW ended up being one of five hospitalized in the ship's infirmary, receiving IV for rehydration.  So she was one of several interviewed one-on-one by CDC and asked to provide samples.  CDC also collected rectal swabs, whole stool samples and serum from a number of the ill passengers; serum samples and stool sample were also collected from well persons.  As per the CDC, the illness was characterized predominately by diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, headache and fever lasting 24 to 48 hours.  We received a detailed eight-page report from CDC several months later outlining the results of their investigation. This wasn't the first time we've been boarded by CDC, as our very first cruise, our honeymoon cruise, also had an outbreak. In that instance, I was the one that became ill.  Despite these two incidents, we continue to enjoy cruising as long as we feel that the cruise industry and the cruise lines make passenger safety their number one priority. 

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by FM