Galveston VSP Investigation Ruby Princess on 3/5

[SeaHunt]

I didn't see this posted yet, so here is the CDC info on the current Ruby cruise. Mainly posting for those on the next sailing from Galveston because it could be delayed due to Vessel Sanitation Program inspectors meeting the ship on 3/5:

(BTW we have sailed on many ships after something like this (including crew in Hazmat suits spraying the ship, pre-Covid) and have never had any problems)

 

Investigation Update on the Ruby Princess

 

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises

Cruise Ship: Ruby Princess

Voyage Dates: February 26–March 5, 2023

Voyage Number: RU305P

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 199 of 2,881 (6.61%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 20 of 1,159 (1.73%)

Predominant symptoms: vomiting and diarrhea

Causative agent: unknown

 

Actions: In response to the outbreak, Princess Cruises and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

• Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to the ship’s outbreak prevention and response plan.
• Collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases to send to the CDC lab for pathogenic identification.

 

VSP epidemiologists and environmental health officers will board the ship in Galveston, Texas, on March 5 to conduct a formal outbreak investigation.

 

Note: The gastrointestinal illness cases reported are totals for the entire voyage and do not represent the number of active (symptomatic) gastrointestinal cases at any given port of call or at disembarkation.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/outbreak/2023/Ruby-Princess_2-26.html

 

I'm no doctor, but JMO could be Noro?

[PacnGoNow]

5 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

I didn't see this posted yet, so here is the CDC info on the current Ruby cruise. Mainly posting for those on the next sailing from Galveston because it could be delayed due to Vessel Sanitation Program inspectors meeting the ship on 3/5:

(BTW we have sailed on many ships after something like this (including crew in Hazmat suits spraying the ship, pre-Covid) and have never had any problems)

 

Investigation Update on the Ruby Princess

 

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises

Cruise Ship: Ruby Princess

Voyage Dates: February 26–March 5, 2023

Voyage Number: RU305P

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 199 of 2,881 (6.61%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 20 of 1,159 (1.73%)

Predominant symptoms: vomiting and diarrhea

Causative agent: unknown

 

Actions: In response to the outbreak, Princess Cruises and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

• Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to the ship’s outbreak prevention and response plan.
• Collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases to send to the CDC lab for pathogenic identification.

 

VSP epidemiologists and environmental health officers will board the ship in Galveston, Texas, on March 5 to conduct a formal outbreak investigation.

 

Note: The gastrointestinal illness cases reported are totals for the entire voyage and do not represent the number of active (symptomatic) gastrointestinal cases at any given port of call or at disembarkation.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/outbreak/2023/Ruby-Princess_2-26.html

 

I'm no doctor, but JMO could be Noro?

Either Noro or bad food poisoning. 

[Alaska59]

We received our delayed check-in time. Now it is 1:00 PM and was only delayed by two hours. We received an additional $43.00/person on board credit. That’s a meal at the grill for us.

[Times Prince]

Sounds like norovirus.

 

We've cruised when every ship in the Caribbean had norovirus outbreaks.

Make sure you observe good sanitation per the ship's doctor recommendations and you should be OK.

[damiross]

1 hour ago, SeaHunt said:

VSP epidemiologists

Inquiring minds want to know what VSP means?  Vision Service Plan? Very Severe Pain? Very Stupid People? Valley State Prison?  Virginia Serves Pensioners? Vera's Sainted Parents?

 

 

[SeaHunt]

26 minutes ago, damiross said:

Inquiring minds want to know what VSP means?  Vision Service Plan? Very Severe Pain? Very Stupid People? Valley State Prison?  Virginia Serves Pensioners? Vera's Sainted Parents?

 

 

 

Vessel Sanitation Program 😊 I like yours better LOL.

Edited March 4, 2023 by SeaHunt

[eclue]

Really 6% is not soooo sooo terrible....people just need to wash their hands a bit more....

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, eclue said:

Really 6% is not soooo sooo terrible....people just need to wash their hands a bit more....

Ship's have to report at 3% I believe.

 

I was on a ship with 6% and it is quite a bit. Venues were closed due to people having thrown up there, staff in hazmat suits cleaning. I was on a B2B and Princess paid for all of us to to go on a shore excursion as we couldn't stay on the ship on turnaround day.

 

I agree about washing hands.

[satxdiver]

Thanks for the info on the Ruby VSP.  We will be boarding the Ruby in four weeks.  In the past we have been on ships hit pretty hard with noro and managed to escape getting it.  I agree wash your hands often and particularly after using the restrooms (head on a ship).  We generally stay away from the WFM due to the threat of illness and only eat food that is served to us by the ship staff.  

[coo359a2]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Ship's have to report at 3% I believe.

 

I was on a ship with 6% and it is quite a bit. Venues were closed due to people having thrown up there, staff in hazmat suits cleaning. I was on a B2B and Princess paid for all of us to to go on a shore excursion as we couldn't stay on the ship on turnaround day.

 

I agree about washing hands.

Would think that with the symptoms described in above posts that  people would be staying in their cabins and not being sick around the ship.  Of course after 90 cruises, I have no idea how quick you know something is wrong - besides when you would get the above symptoms .  I don't use public toilets and don't need to be told to wash hands before going in the buffet.

[Coral]

16 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

Would think that with the symptoms described in above posts that  people would be staying in their cabins and not being sick around the ship.  Of course after 90 cruises, I have no idea how quick you know something is wrong - besides when you would get the above symptoms .  I don't use public toilets and don't need to be told to wash hands before going in the buffet.

We saw people throwing up in the dining room. There was caution tape where venues were closed where people had been sick and they were fumigating. It was pretty disturbing.

[HikaruTsuki]

21 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

Would think that with the symptoms described in above posts that  people would be staying in their cabins and not being sick around the ship.  Of course after 90 cruises, I have no idea how quick you know something is wrong - besides when you would get the above symptoms .  I don't use public toilets and don't need to be told to wash hands before going in the buffet.

 

A person can feel fine for a few days before they become ill, and it rushes up very unexpectedly. One minute you're fine, the next you're vomiting in a public setting. This is just of the reason norovirus spreads so badly. 

[PrincessLuver]

There have been a number of news reports this week that several regions of the US are reporting unusually high outbreaks of norovirus so that could be a factor too.

[dreaminofcruisin]

Perhaps they should install sinks by the buffet on the Ruby like most Princess ships have. I was so surprised when we were on her last fall that there were no sinks. 😔

[christraveller]

Center for Disease Control headquartered in Atlanta has a fabulous website about terrible infectious diseases. 
 

norovirus info:  https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/index.html

 

usually fecal oral transmission. Poo to fingers to surface to fingers to food or  inside of mouth. That chain of transmission is broken at any point?  No transmission.   How do you break it?   Soap and water to fingers, surfaces, or time while Virus dries out and dies. Dishwasher with sanitizer cycle and soap. 

 

i had this once. Walked into a bank dining room, felt well in the elevator and sudden inexorable projectile vomiting while approaching  our table. It was surreal.  Then fever chills, and more… took 3 days. Not recommended!

 

handwashing with soap and water. Let staff serve you for the first few days (or wear gloves handling buffet utensils)…

stay well. 

Edited March 4, 2023 by christraveller
Updated info

[brisalta]

5 hours ago, damiross said:

Inquiring minds want to know what VSP means?  Vision Service Plan? Very Severe Pain? Very Stupid People? Valley State Prison?  Virginia Serves Pensioners? Vera's Sainted Parents?

 

 

 

Vessel Sanitation Program.  It is in the original comment.

[chengkp75]

12 hours ago, SeaHunt said:

I'm no doctor, but JMO could be Noro?

Cause will always be listed as "unknown" until tests confirm that it is or is not noro.  While the ships have onboard testing kits, the results are not perfect, so CDC typically wants a lab test to confirm.

10 hours ago, Coral said:

Ship's have to report at 3% I believe.

Ships report at 0% (they have to report every time the ship returns to the US, whether any GI illness has been reported or not).  Then, they have to report if 2% of pax and crew report GI illness, and again at 3%.

[coo359a2]

8 hours ago, Coral said:

We saw people throwing up in the dining room. There was caution tape where venues were closed where people had been sick and they were fumigating. It was pretty disturbing.

I bet it was - especially in the dining room.  Glad I was never in the MDR at that time.

[coo359a2]

8 hours ago, HikaruTsuki said:

 

A person can feel fine for a few days before they become ill, and it rushes up very unexpectedly. One minute you're fine, the next you're vomiting in a public setting. This is just of the reason norovirus spreads so badly. 

Thanks for explaining.  We would always know something (Noro probably pre pandemic) was starting on the ship  when salt and pepper shakers were removed from the tables in the buffet.  Luckily, missed anyone being sick while in the buffet.

[BamaVol]

They delayed boarding of our 3/2 sailing on the Caribbean due to noro on the previous cruise. I have seen no evidence of it yet. Nor do I wish to. 

[Coral]

On 3/4/2023 at 4:57 AM, chengkp75 said:

Cause will always be listed as "unknown" until tests confirm that it is or is not noro.  While the ships have onboard testing kits, the results are not perfect, so CDC typically wants a lab test to confirm.

Ships report at 0% (they have to report every time the ship returns to the US, whether any GI illness has been reported or not).  Then, they have to report if 2% of pax and crew report GI illness, and again at 3%.

Thank you. It used to be reported on CDC's website when it was 3%. This was years ago and I haven't kept up.

[chengkp75]

22 minutes ago, Coral said:

Thank you. It used to be reported on CDC's website when it was 3%. This was years ago and I haven't kept up.

The first two reports (the mandatory clearance report, and the 2% report) are not made public, but the 3% report is published as an "update" report.  The 2% report has to list the remediation methods the ship is using, and the 3% report has to list changes to the methods since the infection rate is still increasing, and triggers a review by the USPH of the remediation methods, and possibly the dispatch of a team to inspect remediation procedures.  They are still reported on the CDC website.  Many folks thought the only time noro was reported was at the 3% level, but this is not correct.  I can't remember a single cruise of the roughly 140 week long cruises I worked, where there wasn't a single case of GI illness that was reported.

 

The two RCI ships reporting "updates" in 2023 have just over 3% cases reported, and are in the "monitoring" status, while Ruby Princess, at 6% has had a team dispatched to investigate.

Edited March 5, 2023 by chengkp75

[Coral]

37 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The first two reports (the mandatory clearance report, and the 2% report) are not made public, but the 3% report is published as an "update" report.  The 2% report has to list the remediation methods the ship is using, and the 3% report has to list changes to the methods since the infection rate is still increasing, and triggers a review by the USPH of the remediation methods, and possibly the dispatch of a team to inspect remediation procedures.  They are still reported on the CDC website.  Many folks thought the only time noro was reported was at the 3% level, but this is not correct.  I can't remember a single cruise of the roughly 140 week long cruises I worked, where there wasn't a single case of GI illness that was reported.

 

The two RCI ships reporting "updates" in 2023 have just over 3% cases reported, and are in the "monitoring" status, while Ruby Princess, at 6% has had a team dispatched to investigate.

As always - thank you!

 

I tagged you on a question on the River Cruise board about will a Dyson hair appliance work on river cruises. Not sure if you can answer that one: 

 

[Grammyluvs]

On 3/3/2023 at 4:36 PM, SeaHunt said:

I didn't see this posted yet, so here is the CDC info on the current Ruby cruise. Mainly posting for those on the next sailing from Galveston because it could be delayed due to Vessel Sanitation Program inspectors meeting the ship on 3/5:

(BTW we have sailed on many ships after something like this (including crew in Hazmat suits spraying the ship, pre-Covid) and have never had any problems)

 

Investigation Update on the Ruby Princess

 

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises

Cruise Ship: Ruby Princess

Voyage Dates: February 26–March 5, 2023

Voyage Number: RU305P

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 199 of 2,881 (6.61%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 20 of 1,159 (1.73%)

Predominant symptoms: vomiting and diarrhea

Causative agent: unknown

 

Actions: In response to the outbreak, Princess Cruises and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

• Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to the ship’s outbreak prevention and response plan.
• Collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases to send to the CDC lab for pathogenic identification.

 

VSP epidemiologists and environmental health officers will board the ship in Galveston, Texas, on March 5 to conduct a formal outbreak investigation.

 

Note: The gastrointestinal illness cases reported are totals for the entire voyage and do not represent the number of active (symptomatic) gastrointestinal cases at any given port of call or at disembarkation.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/outbreak/2023/Ruby-Princess_2-26.html

 

I'm no doctor, but JMO could be Noro?

As of 5:25 she is still docked

[Cajuntraveler]

Ruby Princess left the port around 6PM.