Disappointing Handling of Vomit in Room - Does it pay to complain?

[spangnash]

We just returned from sailing Adventure of the Seas.  While sailing, my 8 year old son woke in the middle of the night (midnight) vomiting, all over his pull-down pullman bed.  We immediately called down to guest services to ask for fresh bedding.  It took us 1.5 hours to get fresh bedding to our room (after multiple calls, and multiple visits to our room from staff without fresh bedding - there seemed to be a great deal of confusion, which confused us since we had simply asked for fresh bedding).  They took the soiled bedding away (which we had removed from the bed ourselves immediately, and tried to wrap up as much as possible to keep the vomit contained).  The vomit had soaked through to the mattress, so they had to take the mattress away, and didn't have any spares, so we made a make-shift bed for our son on the floor.  He had a small trash can next to him, but as he continued to vomit consistently for the next 8 hours, we were not 100% successful in getting him to get 100% percent of it in the bucket, so some if it landed on his 'new' bedding.  We also realized in the morning that some of the vomit from his pull-down pullman bed had gotten on the bed below him (we had 2 adjoining balcony rooms - both with pull-down pullman beds).  Again, we tried to wrap up all of the soiled bedding to contain it as much as possible.  There were no attendants in the hall at 8/8:30am, so I headed down to guest services to ask someone to please remove the soiled bedding and provide fresh linens as quickly as possible as we were running very low on clean bedding and towels.  Again, it took 1.5 hours for someone to arrive, and when they did, they proceeded to pull apart our 'wrapped' mess of bedding (with random vomit all over it), on our state room floor, and proceeded to remove the duvet from the duvet cover, and place a new cover on it.  We were floored that they would take this mess apart on our carpeted floor (if I were home, I would deal with the mess in a tiled area), and that they wouldn't wash the entire duvet (given that the vomit most certainly leaked through the cover).  We had to insist to our state room attendant that a new duvet be provided (something he agreed to, but was clearly annoyed).  He also removed the blue decorative runner from the mess, and folded it up to place back on the bed later (again, without inspecting it for any vomit).  Not surprisingly, my husband fell ill the next day, and me the day after that (we washed our hands as often as physically possible, but I think we would have needed Hazmat suits to avoid the germs throughout the room).  Obviously, our cruise was drastically affected by these events.  We understand that illnesses happen, but we were greatly disappointed by the lack of urgency/priority our situation was treated with, and were shocked that there isn't better protocol/processes to handle soiled bedding - we were made to feel as though we were just a huge inconvenience.  

 

I submitted this information via the post-trip survey I was sent yesterday, but does it pay to submit a 'formal complaint' via email somehow?  If so, should I send it to the CEO?  It seems they really need to come up with a better way to handle this situations.

 

Thank you.

[trey420]

You think y'all got hit with norovirus? 

 

I would hate to have to clean it up too but if it's your job, it's your job.  I don't have any kids not sure what I'd do in that situation.  If it were just me I'd just be sick all night most likely and try to fix in the morning. 

 

What do you want the cruise company to do?  The most I expect is a canned apology letter. I do wish you luck in resolution. 

[KelSny1011]

19 minutes ago, spangnash said:

We just returned from sailing Adventure of the Seas.  While sailing, my 8 year old son woke in the middle of the night (midnight) vomiting, all over his pull-down pullman bed.  We immediately called down to guest services to ask for fresh bedding.  It took us 1.5 hours to get fresh bedding to our room (after multiple calls, and multiple visits to our room from staff without fresh bedding - there seemed to be a great deal of confusion, which confused us since we had simply asked for fresh bedding).  They took the soiled bedding away (which we had removed from the bed ourselves immediately, and tried to wrap up as much as possible to keep the vomit contained).  The vomit had soaked through to the mattress, so they had to take the mattress away, and didn't have any spares, so we made a make-shift bed for our son on the floor.  He had a small trash can next to him, but as he continued to vomit consistently for the next 8 hours, we were not 100% successful in getting him to get 100% percent of it in the bucket, so some if it landed on his 'new' bedding.  We also realized in the morning that some of the vomit from his pull-down pullman bed had gotten on the bed below him (we had 2 adjoining balcony rooms - both with pull-down pullman beds).  Again, we tried to wrap up all of the soiled bedding to contain it as much as possible.  There were no attendants in the hall at 

 

I submitted this information via the post-trip survey I was sent yesterday, but does it pay to submit a 'formal complaint' via email somehow?  If so, should I send it to the CEO?  It seems they really need to come up with a better way to handle this situations.

 

Thank you.

 

Never know what type of response you'll get, but good luck.  Hope you all are feeling much better.

mbayley@rccl.com

[spangnash]

17 minutes ago, trey420 said:

You think y'all got hit with norovirus? 

 

I would hate to have to clean it up too but if it's your job, it's your job.  I don't have any kids not sure what I'd do in that situation.  If it were just me I'd just be sick all night most likely and try to fix in the morning. 

 

What do you want the cruise company to do?  The most I expect is a canned apology letter. I do wish you luck in resolution. 

 

I guess I would assume it was norovirus or some similar type of bug.  I don't really expect much in response, but would be curious to know if there really is no better protocol that should have been followed.  Did we just get a bad set of staff (especially our room attendant, who we had frustration with with starting day 1), or do they really not have better plans in place?  

[Scoobydobe7]

Wondering if you were confined to your room?? If it was norovirus, I would hope so.  Hope you are all feeling better,

[cruisinmeme]

My grandson woke up about 2;30 am throwing his guts up.  I called to see if i could take him to medical.  They didnt open until like 8:00. I was waiting at the door at 8:00. After his shot and medicine stopped.  Did it occur to go to medical and maybe this would of stoped.  Granddaughter, my husband nor myself got sick.

[DCL2RCI]

First, I'm sorry your trip was adversely affected by illness - never fun to be sick on vacation! Which night of the cruise was this? Ideally it would have been pushed up the chain while onboard (to supervisor, to hotel manager, etc), but I can't tell what night this was from your summary of events. Did you and your husband fall ill on the cruise, or after? Any involvement of the ship's medical facility?

[Canadian Tyler]

I'm surprised your soon wasn't told to go to the medical facility.

My wife vomited on the gangway coming back from Labadee on the Oasis norovirus cruise last year (before anyone knew it was norovirus). We got a call from security to our room that afternoon and were told to report to medical. If this didn't happen with your son, I'd think those protocols weren't followed, in addition to the issues with replacing the bedding.

 

Hope he's feeling better now.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Canadian Tyler

[spangnash]

21 minutes ago, cruisinmeme said:

My grandson woke up about 2;30 am throwing his guts up.  I called to see if i could take him to medical.  They didnt open until like 8:00. I was waiting at the door at 8:00. After his shot and medicine stopped.  Did it occur to go to medical and maybe this would of stoped.  Granddaughter, my husband nor myself got sick.

My son was throwing up from midnight to a bit before 8am.  By the time the clinic opened, the vomiting was done.  😕

[spangnash]

11 minutes ago, DCL2RCI said:

First, I'm sorry your trip was adversely affected by illness - never fun to be sick on vacation! Which night of the cruise was this? Ideally it would have been pushed up the chain while onboard (to supervisor, to hotel manager, etc), but I can't tell what night this was from your summary of events. Did you and your husband fall ill on the cruise, or after? Any involvement of the ship's medical facility?

It was on the 4th night of a 6 night cruise.  My son threw up from midnight until a bit before 8am.  When I went to guest services on the following morning, she just mentioned that we could bring him down to the clinic, but, we weren't sure what the purpose of visiting the clinic would be... we figured we wouldn't bring him to the doctor for a stomach bug at home, so we weren't sure what the purpose would be bringing him on the ship, especially since he was done vomiting by the time it opened.  Please know, we certainly planned on keeping him in the room for the rest of the cruise (which we did, until it was time to disembark on the last day)... and the rest of us barely left the room... my husband fell ill at noon the last day of the cruise; at that time, we kept him in 'his' room, and put the rest of us in 'Grandma's room.  I fell ill on the way home.  😕  We got a visit from the supervisor on the last day asking if we needed anything else, but by then, we really didn't need anything (My husband was able to make it to the bathroom when he got sick), and quite frankly, I was too exhausted and overwhelmed (trying to keep a 5 year old boy, a 6 year old boy with autism /ADHD/hyperactivity, and an 8 year old boy content in a tiny state room was stressful) in the moment to think to complain to the supervisor in the moment, especially with our state attendant standing right there.  😕.  Now I'm just wondering if it is worth my time and energy to file a complaint.  Will they even do anything?

[DCL2RCI]

2 minutes ago, spangnash said:

 Now I'm just wondering if it is worth my time and energy to file a complaint.  Will they even do anything?

Honestly, probably not. You might get some of the same advice from them that you would get here - which is, essentially, push for better service while you are on the ship - and you would get (as someone above mentioned) a canned apology letter. If you're thinking compensation or credit - magic eight-ball says "unlikely".

Posting here was probably a good idea, though, it will give you reassurance that what you experienced is 1) not sufficient 2) not usual. I think you had a poor experience, but I wouldn't let it deter you from future cruises (maybe wash hands a little better next time).

[spangnash]

22 minutes ago, Canadian Tyler said:

I'm surprised your soon wasn't told to go to the medical facility.

My wife vomited on the gangway coming back from Labadee on the Oasis norovirus cruise last year (before anyone knew it was norovirus). We got a call from security to our room that afternoon and were told to report to medical. If this didn't happen with your son, I'd think those protocols weren't followed, in addition to the issues with replacing the bedding.

 

Hope he's feeling better now.

When I went to guest services around 8 or 8:30 the morning following his middle of the night vomiting, the gal told me I could take him to the clinic, but in no way 'told me' to take him there.  By then he was done puking, so we didn't know there would be any benefit to anyone for us to take him... we kept him quarantined to our room for the rest of the cruise.  I will say that it never occurred to me that they would have any medicine that would have helped my husband the next day... had I know that/thought of it, we would have absolutely taken him.  (Someone had told me they could have given him Zofran... is that all they would have given him?  I took Zofran when I was pregnant and it did absolutely nothing to help with my ongoing morning sickness - which was really all day sickness.)  Do you mind sharing how was your wife's situation was handled by the clinic?  Did they provide medicine?  Put her under some sort of quarantine?  Do they have some place for sick people to actually 'stay' outside of the state room?

 

[PhoenixCruiser]

You reported it to Guest Services and can mention it on the survey.

 

I would not bother writing to Royal, your cruise is done and they have other pressing issues at the moment. 

[Canadian Tyler]

8 minutes ago, spangnash said:

When I went to guest services around 8 or 8:30 the morning following his middle of the night vomiting, the gal told me I could take him to the clinic, but in no way 'told me' to take him there.  By then he was done puking, so we didn't know there would be any benefit to anyone for us to take him... we kept him quarantined to our room for the rest of the cruise.  I will say that it never occurred to me that they would have any medicine that would have helped my husband the next day... had I know that/thought of it, we would have absolutely taken him.  (Someone had told me they could have given him Zofran... is that all they would have given him?  I took Zofran when I was pregnant and it did absolutely nothing to help with my ongoing morning sickness - which was really all day sickness.)  Do you mind sharing how was your wife's situation was handled by the clinic?  Did they provide medicine?  Put her under some sort of quarantine?  Do they have some place for sick people to actually 'stay' outside of the state room?

 

 

In our case, we were prescribed medication and quarantined in our stateroom for a total of 52 hours (24 hours after the last symptom.) She got sick first in the afternoon, and I got sick that night.

When we got the call from security to report to medical, it didn't sound optional. I can't recall the name of the medication we were prescribed - but it worked like a charm. As an aside, the medical care we received was top notch and everything was handled well. Our room was sanitized and they even went as far to swap out the magazines and all bedding.

I was told that they had a flag on our Seapass cards that we were under quarantine, which had to be cleared by the doctor before we could disembark the ship at the end of the cruise.

 

I would assume this would be standard procedure anytime there's vomit, but maybe it varies from case to case.

[Bloodgem]

1 hour ago, KelSny1011 said:

 

Never know what type of response you'll get, but good luck.  Hope you all are feeling much better.

mbayley@rccl.com

I have to agree.  You may get nothing but it might make you and your husband feel better, that you have written to them.

 

If you find yourself in a similar situation try to borrow some books and games from Adventure Ocean.

Hope you are all feeling better 😊

[cruiselvr04]

Unfortunately you had a steward who didn't want to deal with the situation.   Although I don't really blame him, it is part of the job.

 

I'd email just to simply state the facts.  I'd be voicing concern that you were afraid it would be passed on to others.   What about the next cruiser who had vomit on the floor and a dirty runner?

This put the next cruise at risk. 

 

Corporate does need to know these things so they can educate their employees on how to deal with things.  If it's not addressed that the steward was really slow to action it will happen again to someone else in another situation. 

[cello56]

You should have gone up the "Chain on Command" while you were on board. Your Cabin Steward does not work for Guest Services - they work for the Head Housekeeper, who in turn reports to the Hotel Director. You should have asked to speak to the Head Housekeeper. They would have made sure this was taken care of in an expedient and safe manner. Hope your family is feeling better.  

[mr walker]

This story is very unlike the experiences we have had in similar circumstances.

 

On one cruise I had a severe gastro illness - I can only guess it was noro. I was infected it seems before boarding as others who had attended a party with me, got the same sickness - they weren't going on the cruise with us. I only learned that after returning from the cruise 10 days later.

 

When the symptoms started (on day 1) I presented to the medical centre. I was given medication, a handout on 'noro' diet and quarantined to cabin. I was instructed to call room service & they would deliver food from the 'noro' list. They provided a hazard bag for the trash & I had to call again to have them collect the tray & was told specifically not to put the tray in the hallway. The free room service extended to bottled water & 'sports' drinks to replace the electrolytes lost. They also provided free movies.

 

Our cabin attendant cleaned our room after the initial sickness, and each day did a thorough clean, suited up in protective gear. The cleaning included wiping all surfaces, including walls. Bedding was bagged separately. He apologized each day for servicing our room 'late' as he was required to leave our room to last to avoid infecting the other cabins.

 

I received regular phone calls from the medical centre & guest services enquiring on my condition. The nurse advised that I needed to stay quarantined for 24 hours after the last episode. After a couple of days the illness subsided and 24 hrs passed without incident & they called me as normal & asked me about time since last incident and released me to resume my holiday.

 

I received no charges for the medical, including the medication provided & received a FCC equal to the value of the days quarantined. 

 

The whole situation was very well handled by all RC staff & crew, in a professional and empathetic manner.

[ReneeFLL]

Requesting extra towels would have been good to keep by his head to avoid any vomit from getting on the bedding if he didn't make it into the trash can.

[Snit13]

2 hours ago, cello56 said:

You should have gone up the "Chain on Command" while you were on board. Your Cabin Steward does not work for Guest Services - they work for the Head Housekeeper, who in turn reports to the Hotel Director. You should have asked to speak to the Head Housekeeper. They would have made sure this was taken care of in an expedient and safe manner. Hope your family is feeling better.  

In my opinion this is the most appropriate response to this situation.  From personal experience on a cruise I was informed that all towels or bedding which has bodily fluids/waste on it must be placed in a plastic bag and burned.  Plastic bags were furnished daily and linen was placed in bag and then in garbage to be burned.  It is not allowed to be washed to prevent contaminating other linens.  Every cruise I have been on "37" I have been given a business card with the name and phone extension of the cabin steward.  I would have immediately called the cabin steward and if I was not satisfied I would have found his/her supervisor and if necessary the Head of Housekeeping and if all else failed the Hotel Director.  This situation had nothing to do with Guest Services as they are not responsible for your cabin.  You can notify headquarters but you should have taken care of this issue as soon as possible on the ship.  If my child was ill I would certainly would have wanted the services of the medical staff first thing in the morning.  Many illnesses can cause the issues you described.

[Ocean Boy]

57 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

 From personal experience on a cruise I was informed that all towels or bedding which has bodily fluids/waste on it must be placed in a plastic bag and burned.  Plastic bags were furnished daily and linen was placed in bag and then in garbage to be burned.  It is not allowed to be washed to prevent contaminating other linens.   

Then they must be burning a lot of sheets at the end of each cruise.😯

[snorkel2]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

This story is very unlike the experiences we have had in similar circumstances.

 

On one cruise I had a severe gastro illness - I can only guess it was noro. I was infected it seems before boarding as others who had attended a party with me, got the same sickness - they weren't going on the cruise with us. I only learned that after returning from the cruise 10 days later.

 

When the symptoms started (on day 1) I presented to the medical centre. I was given medication, a handout on 'noro' diet and quarantined to cabin. I was instructed to call room service & they would deliver food from the 'noro' list. They provided a hazard bag for the trash & I had to call again to have them collect the tray & was told specifically not to put the tray in the hallway. The free room service extended to bottled water & 'sports' drinks to replace the electrolytes lost. They also provided free movies.

 

Our cabin attendant cleaned our room after the initial sickness, and each day did a thorough clean, suited up in protective gear. The cleaning included wiping all surfaces, including walls. Bedding was bagged separately. He apologized each day for servicing our room 'late' as he was required to leave our room to last to avoid infecting the other cabins.

 

I received regular phone calls from the medical centre & guest services enquiring on my condition. The nurse advised that I needed to stay quarantined for 24 hours after the last episode. After a couple of days the illness subsided and 24 hrs passed without incident & they called me as normal & asked me about time since last incident and released me to resume my holiday.

 

I received no charges for the medical, including the medication provided & received a FCC equal to the value of the days quarantined. 

 

The whole situation was very well handled by all RC staff & crew, in a professional and empathetic manner.

I got sick on a cruise a few years ago and it was handled exactly as stated above. It was early morning the 8th day of our cruise and after seeing the doctor for a shot and some pills I was good to go next day after I had a re-check. My husband never got sick. We were treated very well. Royal went above and beyond. Our stateroom attendant was awesome. 🙂

[pcur]

Just random thoughts on this subject, with no particular person's post in mind.

 

I raised two sons, and had an incident with my youngest when he was 14:  he decided to experiment with alcohol on a 95-degree day.  When he was "finished" vomiting, but having MAJOR dry heaves, he was still in the ER the next morning due to dehydration.  8 hours of vomiting is serious.

 

An elderly member of my family on a cruise once had a night time "accident".  I put a $20 bill on top of the sheets I pulled off the bed, after I went out and requested what needed to be replaced by the cabin steward.  Extra cleaning requires an extra tip IMO.

 

All cabin stewards give you their contact number now (ask for it if you don't get it on embarkation day).  I'd call and leave a message about the problem and what I needed. 

 

Also, there are almost always extra blankets, duvets, and sometimes pillows under the beds and in the closet.  With a small child, making a "nest" in the bathroom or shower with the extra linens not only gets the child to a place where additional vomit doesn't affect the upholstered/carpeted areas, but it's a good place to store the soiled stuff.  Leave the door open for ventilation.  If he/she barfs in there, it's a much easier clean-up.

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, snorkel2 said:

I got sick on a cruise a few years ago and it was handled exactly as stated above. It was early morning the 8th day of our cruise and after seeing the doctor for a shot and some pills I was good to go next day after I had a re-check. My husband never got sick. We were treated very well. Royal went above and beyond. Our stateroom attendant was awesome. 🙂

My Mother had the same great experience when she became sick with probably the noro.  I remember her telling me it was better than getting sick at home.  Dr came to their cabin as he didnt want them entering public area elevators etc. Gave her some medicine even ordered for some tea  and water to be delivered to room to keep her hydrated.  Was a sea day so my Dad spent day on balcony reading and napping while my Mom rested.  The medicine they gave her worked immediately.  They were able to leave for port day the next day.  My Dad never got it.  

She thought it was great how the Dr came to her instead of getting dressed and dealing with finding medical ctr when you feel miserable.

[Lady Chew]

 I think you SHOULD report this incident to HQ.  This was totally mishandled by staff.  Unrolling soiled bedding in the cabin?  Not removing ALL of the bedding to be replaced?  Not wiping down (sanitizing) walls & other surfaces that may have been contaminated?   Completely & utterly wrong, and it should be passed on.  Seems like everyone from Guest Services to Housekeeping to Cabin Steward needs training.  

 

Sounds like this was the flu, rather than Noro, which I think causes eruptions at both ends.  If a ship can't handle that, how on earth can they hope to deal with the Coronavirus?

 

The Hotel Director needs to called out for this as well.  

Edited March 4, 2020 by Lady Chew