Explorer Virus Breakout

[TonyFred]

The story on the Explorer is below.

I was on the Jewel on the 2/05 sailing and my best friend was very sick along with several other passengers. Looks like the Explorer is having a similar situation. My friend was in our cabin from Wed night until Friday night but did not visit the ship's medical facility. (he did not want to even get out of bed because he was feeling so bad). Have any of you heard of any compensation (future cruise credits, onboard credit, etc) being given due to any of the illnesses? He really did miss a big portion of the cruise. We did not know about the other passengers being ill also until we got back and started reading about it on the message boards. It will NOT deter us from cruising again. Thanks very much for any info anyone might have on credits, etc.

Here is the story on the Explorer:

 

MIAMI (Reuters) - More than 200 passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and several crew members took ill with a stomach virus during a weeklong cruise, the Miami-based company said on Saturday.

Royal Caribbean International said 243 of 3,252 passengers on board the Explorer of the Seas had caught a norovirus, a common cause of infectious gastroenteritis prevalent in hospitals, nursing homes, cruise ships and other semi-enclosed environments. All those affected were treated.

Nineteen of the 1,184 crew members also took ill during the voyage, which made stops in Belize, Mexico's Yucatan and the Cayman Islands.

The vessel was due back in Miami on Sunday.

 

Royal Caribbean said it believed a passenger brought the virus on board.

Noroviruses are thought to affect an estimated 300 million people around the world every year, the cruise line noted.

[megessey]

Someone already started a thread about this.

[madforcruising]

Have any of you heard of any compensation (future cruise credits, onboard credit, etc) being given due to any of the illnesses? He really did miss a big portion of the cruise.

 

Just curious but why do you think there could be any sort of compensation for being ill on a cruise???

It´s sad your frind missed a portion of the cruise experience due to being ill, but ship happens. Ans outbreaks of gastro intestinal viruses are very common especially throughout the winter month.

 

BTW even if there were something like compensation (and I´m sure there isn´t and shouldn´t be) how do you think your friend get it without having reported his/her illness onboard. I don´t say he/she has not been ill but everybody could come up with this story after leaving.

 

No pun intended.

[threeofus]

IMHO - from what I have read on these threads, RCL reacts to the illness instead of taking precautions. Why they don't have anti-bacterial gel at the entrance to EVERY buffet as other lines do.

 

I know I know it doesn't actually kill viruses just bacteria - but it has to help.

 

Other lines have wipes and gel all the time and I wonder why they only bring it out when there is a breakout of illness. So for that reason....they should compensate.

 

Are you listening RCL...Cruisers WANT to wash their hands prior to entering the buffet. why not provide the gel as an ongoing precaution.

[grandsix]

Threeofus is right. Just came off the Grandeur and there were NO handcleaners on the entire ship. Does the Explorer have any?? Why wait for a problem to arise..........

[Clarkk W Griswald]

Other lines have wipes and gel all the time and I wonder why they only bring it out when there is a breakout of illness. So for that reason....they should compensate.

 

Are you listening RCL...Cruisers WANT to wash their hands prior to entering the buffet. why not provide the gel as an ongoing precaution.

 

Using the anti bacteria gel is not the same as washing your hands. And if "cruisers want to wash their hands prior to entering the buffet", no one is stopping them. Why is no one willing to take responsibility for themselves anymore? Someone always wants compensation for something.

[Nliedel]

Yo're in an enclosed enviroment with 3000 of your new best friends. It's like daycare on the high seas. If someone is sick everyone gets sick. It's one of the bad things about cruising but it does not happen on every single cruise and no, there is no and should be no compensation unless the schools want to send me money for that pinkeye that ran through the house like wildfire last week.

 

Oh and my opinion on the antibacterial gel? Didn't anyone's mother teach them to wash their hands? WASH YOUR HANDS! Gel helps but it's not a panacea. Just go to the bathroom and use soap and water. I was in a very nice restaurant with my husband last night and a well dressed woman was in the bathroom at the same time I was. I know that dress it was in one of my Talbott's catalogs and ran almost $200.00 (not sure expensive but not cheap either) and she walked out without washing her hands! 30 seconds, soap and water, works if the water is cold or hot. (Clark and I posted at the same time. Great minds). No washing your hands is not a cure all but it sure helps.

[wolfcathorse]

Threeofus is right. Just came off the Grandeur and there were NO handcleaners on the entire ship. Does the Explorer have any?? Why wait for a problem to arise..........

 

Some RCI ships do have them. Saw them on Vision of the Seas and I think someone else has reported that Jewel of the Seas actively promotes hand sanitation.

[CathyG]

Didn't anyone notice this happened last year? Good grief. And I agree, wash your hands. The restrooms are usually close to the restaurants so it's not like you have a long way to walk.

[threeofus]

Of course people wash their hands...but let's be logical here. You wash your hands in your statroom. On the way to the buffet you touch the elevator button, the handralls, etc. When you get to buffet your hands are crawling with the germs of people who didn't wash their hands.

 

Since we can't account for the hygiene or lack of it of others we are taking responsibility for our health...we want to wash everyone's germs off our recently washed hands.

 

It's as simple as that.

[cmich068]

Navigator had the gel everywhere.

 

And had he been sick, and reported the illness, missing the Cayman stop, RCCL would have given him a credit. But since it's not reported, you are out of luck.

[threeofus]

Ok follow this...you use the restroom...turn on the sink transfer your germs to the handles and wash your hands.

Now you have clean hands...and your turn off the sink and transfer the dirt right back to yourself.

Maybe the sink turns off by itself....

how about that tiny lever on the papertowel holder.....

how about the doornob?????

 

We can wash our hands from now until tomorrw but it ONE person doesn't we transfer it to each other.

 

Thus the gel at the entrance to the buffet.

Why would ANYONE argue that point???????

[Weez]

A link in the other thread indicated they are giving discounts on future cruises. I guess it's good for PR.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

Of course people wash their hands...but let's be logical here. You wash your hands in your statroom. On the way to the buffet you touch the elevator button, the handralls, etc. When you get to buffet your hands are crawling with the germs of people who didn't wash their hands.

 

Since we can't account for the hygiene or lack of it of others we are taking responsibility for our health...we want to wash everyone's germs off our recently washed hands.

 

It's as simple as that.

 

Another side of your logic....

You use the hand gel at the station in the buffet line. In line, you pick up the tongs or spatula that was touched by many pax before you. And guess what, many of those passengers didn't use the gel upon entering the buffet. And you know what, they all touched the elevator button and used the handrails on the way to the buffet. And some might not have even washed their hands. So, everyone else's germs are back on your hands. If if you use the gel after getting your food, you arrive at the table and pull out the chair (that is not even wiped off between uses like the table is) and all those nasty germs are back on you hands. Germs are everywhere.

[cmich068]

but only to people who were smart enough to report their illness.

 

Although the official total is 243, i would not be suprised it it was more around 300.

[Nliedel]

Of course people wash their hands...but let's be logical here. You wash your hands in your statroom. On the way to the buffet you touch the elevator button, the handralls, etc. When you get to buffet your hands are crawling with the germs of people who didn't wash their hands.

 

Since we can't account for the hygiene or lack of it of others we are taking responsibility for our health...we want to wash everyone's germs off our recently washed hands.

 

It's as simple as that.

 

There is a restroom right near the buffet on every ship and every line I have ever sailed on.

 

I just don't use gel. It is not as effective as the manufacturers would have you believe, it's full of alcohol which dries my hands to paper and the number of people that pass it by is so incredibly high. I am only saying that it's not a panacea. Hand washing has been shown to be very effective. We all encounter germs all the time. We all have some immunity or we would not have survived as a race. You are in a situation where people are stressed (travel) and in an enclosed space. Illness is bound to happen, it's a perfect enviroment. You cannot blame the cruiselines and it makes me sick when people expect money back because they got sick in this type of enviroment.

 

Hand washing is VERY effective. Study after study shows it. Wash before and after a meal. It just makes so much sense.

[v72sonic]

How about the people that also feel the need to lick their fingers at the buffets? Also, when I was on RCCL I saw a kid getting ice cream at the machine and then licked their finger and then used that same finger to wipe the machine where the ice cream comes out! GROSS...I was next in line and I walked away!

I have even seen people take their water bottles to the juice machine and fill them up...bottles that they have been drinking out of...not very sanitary!

OK....that was my 2 cents worth!

PS>>>>YES PLEASE WASH YOUR HANDS!

[Nliedel]

How about the people that also feel the need to lick their fingers at the buffets? Also, when I was on RCCL I saw a kid getting ice cream at the machine and then licked their finger and then used that same finger to wipe the machine where the ice cream comes out! GROSS...I was next in line and I walked away!

I have even seen people take their water bottles to the juice machine and fill them up...bottles that they have been drinking out of...not very sanitary!

OK....that was my 2 cents worth!

PS>>>>YES PLEASE WASH YOUR HANDS!

 

This is one of those situations where it's better not to know. Seriosuly. If you think about all the germs out there you will never leave your house! People do gross things then touch things. I can't let myself think about it (although I too would have walked away from the ice cream and probably reported the little monster).

 

I watch my sister in law (mother to the worlds most perfect baby, in her opinion) wiping every single germ every single time with a packet of disenfecting wipes and I just shake my head. It's one thing to be concerned but this child is so sanitized he squeeks! I guess I was more careful with my first too (ok not that careful). Now if they eat a little dirt, well it's just dirt. Washing hands? 100%. Being paranoid! no.. Oh and not reporting an illness on a cruiseship is, imo, wrong. Yes they are going to stick you in your cabin, tough muffins. I know that sounds cold but honestly I have seen sick passengers post here who act like they have gotten away with something because they did not report their illness. Shame on them.

[threeofus]

Nobody is saying that the gel is 100% effective....and of course licking your fingers transmits disease....

but something is better than nothing.

Seriously...why agrue this point????

 

The more you do to prevent transmission the better....

 

If RCL didn't think the gel was effective....then they wouldn't use it at all????

 

We're not advocating using the gel instead we're encouraging one more step.

[cmich068]

RCCL has keeped this relativly quiet, only Reuters, WFOR-TV Miami, and FOX News has picked this up.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

And another thing....

 

To all who believe they should be compensated for becoming ill while traveling.....

 

When you get a virus at home, who do you blame? Who do you demand compensation from? Because, of course, it's not your fault you got sick. Someone has to pay!!! Let's see, you were shopping at the grocery store and touched the shopping cart that many before you touched. Now we must make that store pay. I think free groceries are in order.

 

For those that don't see my sarcasm, I DO NOT belive this is the fault of the cruiseline. If you are worried about coming down with a virus while on vacation, maybe cruising is not for you. If you worry that much about germs, you shouldn't travel on a ship in close quarters with 3000+ people. And how many pax arrive at the port of departure by airplane? All that recycled air is bound to pass something around. Ever been on a plane and listened while another passenger is hacking out a lung? Maybe all these virus start out on the planes. Now I think I'll need to be compensated with free air travel.

 

So what it boils down to, if you are going to get sick, you are going to get sick. No one's fault. That's life.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

RCCL has keeped this relativly quiet, only Reuters, WFOR-TV Miami, and FOX News has picked this up.

 

It was on the Today show this morning. I honestly don't think RCI could keep this quiet even if they wanted to.

[threeofus]

But give us an extra layer of protection...make a big show of keeping disease off the ship....who knows it may keep us healthier and take the place of compensation.

 

A stitch in time saves nine.

An ounce of prevention is worth....

[jrmomof4]

Just another caveat, this time of year is notorious for these viruses. Here in Pennsylvania schools in the Allentown area have been shut down for the week due to outbreaks of GI virus. My children's school a few years back tried to avoid this thing by giving them a week off in February during the statistically high absentee week. It didn't make a hugh difference, the staff and kids continued to pass along the virus, so they went back to spring break around Easter.

jodi

[premiumrican]

Not only having the gels outside of the buffets but why don't they have the gels at every port of call as you enter the ship. Especially a ship that is stopping in Mexico. When I was on the Navigator doing the Eastern route there were no gel when entering back on to the ship. EXCEPT FOR OUR LAST PORT NASSAU!!! They were making everyone use the gel before reboarding. I found that strange. Does RCL know something about Nassau that they are not telling us?? Made me wonder.