Noro On Board, And Yet People Still....

[SargassoPirate]

... don't take simple steps to protect themselves.

 

Received the noro notification letter in my cabin  two nights ago.

 

Washy washy is enforced at the entrance to the HC. A crew member has to hand you a silverware burrito and a plate.  The crew serves bulk food and even has to hand you individual portion containers. If you want to add some salt or pepper, you have to request a crew member to do it for you. The usual norovirus response.

 

It's very easy to keep from catching noro.  Just settle in at your table, pull your chair in, don't lay your silverware directly on the table, and BEFORE you touch your face with your hands or touch any food going into your mouth, sanitize your hands.  You do carry your own sanitizer, correct?

 

Norovirus is spread the fecal-oral route and all you need to do is break the chain of transmission.  Act as if every surface is contaminated and simply wash your hands often and sanitize them before you touch your face or your food.

 

Fifty plus cruises so far, several with norovirus outbreaks, and I've never been sick yet.

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by SargassoPirate

[Roberto256]

4 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

 

It's very easy to keep from catching noro.  Just settle in at your table, pull your chair in, don't lay your silverware directly on the table, and BEFORE you touch your face with your hands or touch any food going into your mouth, sanitize your hands.  You do carry your own sanitizer, correct?

 

 

But common hand sanitizer doesn't work against noro.

 

"Hand sanitizer does not work well against norovirus. Handwashing is always best. "

https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/prevention.html#:~:text=Hand sanitizer does not work well against norovirus.&text=Wash your hands with soap,%3A Clean Hands Save Lives.”

 

There are some specialized products which do claim to work against noro:

 

https://www.germstaruk.com/does-hand-sanitiser-kill-norovirus/

 

Purell also had a product, bit it looks like it is discontinued.

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.869087/full

[SargassoPirate]

Good points, roberto.  I carry clorox hand sanitizer to augment my frequent handwashing.  Purell stands are all over the ship and usually just a few steps away in the buffet. There have been several studies and not all hand sanitizers are the same.  Those formulated with alcohol or ethanol seem to be the most effective.

 

I'm still amazed at people who don't take the extra step after they have touched multiple common surfaces on the way to their table and as they get settled.

 

One needs to take extra precautions to protect yourself and not depend on others to wash their hands after using the restroom.

[PacnGoNow]

40 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

... don't take simple steps to protect themselves.

 

Received the noro notification letter in my cabin  two nights ago.

 

Washy washy is enforced at the entrance to the HC. A crew member has to hand you a silverware burrito and a plate.  The crew serves bulk food and even has to hand you individual portion containers. If you want to add some salt or pepper, you have to request a crew member to do it for you. The usual norovirus response.

 

It's very easy to keep from catching noro.  Just settle in at your table, pull your chair in, don't lay your silverware directly on the table, and BEFORE you touch your face with your hands or touch any food going into your mouth, sanitize your hands.  You do carry your own sanitizer, correct?

 

Norovirus is spread the fecal-oral route and all you need to do is break the chain of transmission.  Act as if every surface is contaminated and simply wash your hands often and sanitize them before you touch your face or your food.

 

Fifty plus cruises so far, several with norovirus outbreaks, and I've never been sick yet.

 

They did to go back to hand washing enforcement on the cruises again.

People just walk right by now, since

the protocols were dropped. Some ships don’t even have wash stations at the buffet.  
 

Noro can even be in the laundry. It’s hard to get rid of it on the ship.  Don’t eat the raw vegetables or salad either.

 

Our ship a few years ago and they delayed the embarkation in FLL for several hours due to cleaning and inspections.  
 

Good luck!  Stay safe on there. 

[PacnGoNow]

5 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Good points, roberto.  I carry clorox hand sanitizer to augment my frequent handwashing.  Purell stands are all over the ship and usually just a few steps away in the buffet. There have been several studies and not all hand sanitizers are the same.  Those formulated with alcohol or ethanol seem to be the most effective.

 

I'm still amazed at people who don't take the extra step after they have touched multiple common surfaces on the way to their table and as they get settled.

 

One needs to take extra precautions to protect yourself and not depend on others to wash their hands after using the restroom.

And the Captain should make an announcement that hand washing is required not recommended.  
Recommended means nothing to some people.

 

We take Clorox wipes too, but they are rough on the hands.  Good for surfaces.

[Dar & Bob]

Which ship are you on?

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Which ship are you on?

 

You beat me to it!  I was just about to ask the same...

[Cruise Raider]

52 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

And the Captain should make an announcement that hand washing is required not recommended.  
Recommended means nothing to some people.

 

We take Clorox wipes too, but they are rough on the hands.  Good for surfaces.

We were on a ship a number of years back and it kept getting hit with noro outbreaks .. I think for 3 cruises in a row.  The captain got on the PA and told us “if we ever wanted to get our tong privileges back, we needed to WASH OUR HANDS!”

That made me laugh … tong privileges!  😆 

 

Thankfully, we never contracted it .. we do constantly wash and sanitize our hands. 
 

 

[SargassoPirate]

57 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Which ship are you on?

 

Caribbean Princess.  

 

Noro is the bad news on this cruise and mostly an inconvenience.  The good news I've only seen one "covid quarantine table" outside a cabin and  it disappeared after a few days, most likely after some negative testing.

 

Very few passengers have been wearing masks and very few crew as well.  

 

 

 

 

[Bobbiegentry]

I’ve had both noro and Covid on board the Emerald (different trips). 

Give me Covid any day. 🤢🤢🤢
 

[cruzsnooze]

I suspect it's the crew that started the noro not the passengers. Once it's started it's hard to contain unless everyone does their part.

[Cruise Raider]

12 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I suspect it's the crew that started the noro not the passengers. Once it's started it's hard to contain unless everyone does their part.

What on earth would make you suspect that?  From what we’ve seen, the crew is trained in safe hygiene practices .. I’ve not always seen that with a small, but significant, percentage of passengers.  
 

[SargassoPirate]

12 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I suspect it's the crew that started the noro not the passengers. Once it's started it's hard to contain unless everyone does their part.

I always suspect food handlers and food staff.  Watch them wear those ubiquitous plastic gloves while touching multiple surfaces.  People think those gloves have some sort of magical disinfecting powers when all they really do is spread contaminates and keep the wearer's hands clean.

 

Covid has only made the rubber glove theater worse and when I question food supervisors why their staff are wearing gloves, the usual answer is that it makes the customer feel safer.

 

Can't get a plastic straw on board, but I wonder how many gloves they go through?

[Guest ldtr]

27 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I suspect it's the crew that started the noro not the passengers. Once it's started it's hard to contain unless everyone does their part.

Considering that Noro is a very common illness (19-21 million cases per year in the US) and we are in peak Noro season in North America right now, the odds are far more likely of it getting carried aboard by passengers.

[Ken the cruiser]

39 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I suspect it's the crew that started the noro not the passengers. Once it's started it's hard to contain unless everyone does their part.

I'm sure that's the case as no one uses the public restrooms on the ship anymore. 😂

Edited January 24, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

By the way when I saw this thread, I thought to myself cruising is definitely back, as I haven't seen a "noro" thread since before cruising started back up! 😂

[startedwithamouse]

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

... don't take simple steps to protect themselves.

 

Received the noro notification letter in my cabin  two nights ago.

 

Washy washy is enforced at the entrance to the HC. A crew member has to hand you a silverware burrito and a plate.  The crew serves bulk food and even has to hand you individual portion containers. If you want to add some salt or pepper, you have to request a crew member to do it for you. The usual norovirus response.

 

It's very easy to keep from catching noro.  Just settle in at your table, pull your chair in, don't lay your silverware directly on the table, and BEFORE you touch your face with your hands or touch any food going into your mouth, sanitize your hands.  You do carry your own sanitizer, correct?

 

Norovirus is spread the fecal-oral route and all you need to do is break the chain of transmission.  Act as if every surface is contaminated and simply wash your hands often and sanitize them before you touch your face or your food.

 

Fifty plus cruises so far, several with norovirus outbreaks, and I've never been sick yet.

 

Guess how many people wash their hands before AND after going through the buffet? We didn't see anyone else wash their hands AFTER getting a plate for 15 days this month. In addition to washing our hands twice, we also place our silverware on the napkin, never on the table. Countless cruises and never sick. We had a Norovirus outbreak on our November cruise, and easy to see why:  lots of finger licking and eating while wandering the buffet line. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by startedwithamouse

[coo359a2]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I'm sure that's the case as no one uses the public restrooms on the ship anymore. 😂

Wow, ships I have been on since the restart (12) have seen more than a few people using public bathrooms on each ship.  Also, it's interesting to see how many walk right past the sinks at the buffet and ignore the staff pointing out the sinks.  Most used excuse that I've heard if one is given, is that they are just walking through - of course this is after they make a detour for food..  

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

Wow, ships I have been on since the restart (12) have seen more than a few people using public bathrooms on each ship.  Also, it's interesting to see how many walk right past the sinks at the buffet and ignore the staff pointing out the sinks.  Most used excuse that I've heard if one is given, is that they are just walking through - of course this is after they make a detour for food..  

Us too. We always get a big smile from the washy-washy person when we head straight to the sinks without any extra effort of their part. 

[MissP22]

On the Enchanted they encouraged use of hand sanitizers and washing at the buffet but few people did. It was not enforced and as I recall not one time were we asked to wash up before eating. There were sanitizer dispensers at the DR entrances if you wanted to use them.

Very few passengers were wearing masks and hardly any crew. 

I did hear of once case of Covid and it did appear that they still had groups of cabins reserved to Covid cases since they were blocked off from entering. 

 

[coo359a2]

1 minute ago, MissP22 said:

On the Enchanted they encouraged use of hand sanitizers and washing at the buffet but few people did. It was not enforced and as I recall not one time were we asked to wash up before eating. There were sanitizer dispensers at the DR entrances if you wanted to use them.

Very few passengers were wearing masks and hardly any crew. 

I did hear of once case of Covid and it did appear that they still had groups of cabins reserved to Covid cases since they were blocked off from entering. 

 

On the Regal (Oct-Dec), we were asked or either motioned to go to the sinks.  After about 4 days, they knew we went on our own.  They knew what people were doing when not stopping and just shook their heads.  Told they they were too nice when people ignored them and  just walked on past.  

Very few masks were worn also and people crammed the elevators.  We would get off if too full. Emerald deck starboard after front elevators was blocked off so had no idea if any COVID cases.

[cruzsnooze]

7 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

What on earth would make you suspect that?  From what we’ve seen, the crew is trained in safe hygiene practices .. I’ve not always seen that with a small, but significant, percentage of passengers.  
 

Two reasons, first crew are in a hurry to get back to work and don't take the full 20 seconds to wash and use soap and water. Second, when three sailings in a row have noro as mentioned there's one common denominator, crew.

[GonzoWCS]

10 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

And the Captain should make an announcement that hand washing is required not recommended.  
Recommended means nothing to some people.

This!

[Thrak]

We use the handwashing facilities if we are going to eat in the buffet. Sometimes we use them just to pass through the buffet as it makes others feel better but it's actually pointless if we are just trying to get somewhere on the other side of the buffet. We were quite surprised when we sailed Ruby in December to find that there weren't any hand washing stations at the buffet entrances. It now seems "odd" to just walk in and get food without first using a hand washing station. Hopefully they will install some on Ruby.

[Guest ldtr]

40 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

Two reasons, first crew are in a hurry to get back to work and don't take the full 20 seconds to wash and use soap and water. Second, when three sailings in a row have noro as mentioned there's one common denominator, crew.

Ignoring things like Noro is basically spread by contaminated surfaces.  A surface contaminated on one cruise will remain contaminated into the next cruise.  Surfaces touched by departing passengers get touched by new passengers. 

 

Even if the ship goes through an extended deep clean and delays boarding for a few hours not all surfaces will get caught. Since such a deep clean does not occur unless the problem has gotten rather bad and for multiple cruises multiple cruises in a row having Noro is not unusual.

 

Also you often have passengers on B2B which could carry it from one cruise to another

 

Then you have the potential for it to be carried on board again by another passenger boarding.

Considering that 6% of the US population will get Noro during any given year, usually in a 4 month period the odds are pretty good that there will be at least one passenger boarding each cruise during that period.  After all we know how honest cruise passenger are when it comes down to missing their cruise or acknowledging that they have been or do feel ill.