Anything new on Ruby Princess from Galveston? Norovirus on 05 March 2023 <and later> sailing?

[PaperSniper4]

Curious. I know the earlier dates had many Norovirus cases. We're on the 19 March 2023 sailing, so wondering how it's going.......🤔

 

 Doug

[CC Rider 69]

23 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Curious. I know the earlier dates had many Norovirus cases. We're on the 19 March 2023 sailing, so wondering how it's going.......🤔

 

 Doug

Following.............................................................we're on it too.

[trickylibrarian]

Us too.

[Times Prince]

The original report from CDC on the cruise ending March 5 indicated that Princess was performing the following actions: 

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.

 

The following cruise was noted as being delayed while Princess performed a deep clean of the ship.  If there was any Norovirus on following cruises it would have been brought onboard by new passengers, who contracted it traveling (air, hotel, restaurants).  In our experience there are always new cases, but not necessarily sufficient to trigger a reporting threshold. 

 

So for YOUR cruise keep on being consistent with your personal sanitation as recommend by the ship's doctor, and chances are you will have a safe, enjoyable cruise.

 

That's what we plan to do.

[cubfan63]

Just off Ruby Princess March 5 - 12, 2023, and now sitting at IAH waiting for flight. 

 

Cruise boarding started at 1:30 pm on the 5th. They listed boarding groups and time on emergency notification, but I arrived at 12:15 and was quickly up to Suite & Elite seating area (small lines). Shore staff apologized for no beverages and pastry in this seating areas, as restrictions due to prior cruise.

Kids clubs were supposed to be closed for 72 hours but then were allowed to reopen after 36 hours from sailing.  Having no children, this was not a problem for me. 

The crew serving the passengers in the buffet throughout the Cruise.   

Not sure if related to prior week issue, but fruits for juice bar came late and they opened at 9 instead of 7.  It appeared rest of morning they started at 7.  This is at Calypso bar. 

They served the bread and butter in the dining rooms, as well as sugar and sweetener, when these were wanted. Salt and Pepper shakers were consistently present on tables in the dining rooms from boarding. 
 

Porters did apparently stop taking luggage on 5th at certain point (seems to be about 2:30) so many had to carry all bags on to ship.  Checked bags with porters came later as well (was in room after dinner).
 

By the way, since boarding was delayed, DaVinci dining room opened on embarkation day for lunch from 1:30 to 3. This was a pleasant surprise. 

It really was a normal cruise (from my experience), and we had to the most beautiful weather in the 3 ports and at sea. 

[eclue]

Actually they ended the crew serving the food at the buffet on the Saturday of the cruise. We were then able to serve ourselves at the buffet.

It was a very nice cruise. We always eat in the buffet and it was not a problem. When noro is present, there is probably more transmission in the dining room with handling the chairs when sitting....

This is the time of year for noro to appear its ugly head on ships and also on shore.

 

[TexasBrit]

1 hour ago, cubfan63 said:

Just off Ruby Princess March 5 - 12, 2023, and now sitting at IAH waiting for flight. 

 

The crew serving the passengers in the buffet throughout the Cruise.   

8 minutes ago, eclue said:

Actually they ended the crew serving the food at the buffet on the Saturday of the cruise. We were then able to serve ourselves at the buffet.

I

 

 

Why are there two totally different comments about this? Which one is correct?

[eclue]

Just now, TexasBrit said:

Why are there two totally different comments about this? Which one is correct?

It could be the other poster never went to the buffet. We ate daily in the buffet and it was on Saturday when they opened the place to self serving....we had dinner there. I remember.

[TexasBrit]

6 minutes ago, eclue said:

It could be the other poster never went to the buffet. We ate daily in the buffet and it was on Saturday when they opened the place to self serving....we had dinner there. I remember.

Thank you.

This was the Saturday that was the last full day of the cruise, right? So from Sunday to Friday the food was served by the crew?

Maybe cubfan63 did just not go there on Saturday or Sunday morning.

 

We are booked on Ruby next month which is why I am very interested to get as much correct info as possible. 😇

Edited March 12, 2023 by TexasBrit
additional text

[eclue]

2 minutes ago, TexasBrit said:

Thank you.

This was the Saturday that was the last full day of the cruise, right? So from Sunday to Friday the food was served by the crew?

Maybe cubfan63 did just not go there on Saturday or Sunday morning.

Yes, we eat only  in the buffet.

[cubfan63]

I ate in the buffet Monday at lunch (at the less crowded Cafe Caribe) and Friday (a port day) at lunch on the port side.   And I didn’t walk thru on Saturday or this morning. I walked thru on all of the other days.  
 

Plenty of places to eat besides the buffet, so I prefer to eat at them (even did new Sabatini’s menu twice), and had meals at each of the dining rooms, including Botticelli (instead of the normal DaVinci) for breakfast this morning.  As noted, I even had DaVinci for embarkation lunch (which opened at 1:30 and ran thru 3).  
 

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by cubfan63

[Times Prince]

3 hours ago, TexasBrit said:

We are booked on Ruby next month which is why I am very interested to get as much correct info as possible. 😇

Better check the date for your cruise that's in your signature.  We're at sea on 4/23.

Our experience is that Norovirus is brought onboard by new passengers, especially after a deep cleaning such as occurred on March 5.   Personal hygiene and minimizing contact with potentially contaminated surfaces is key to avoiding this illness.   Have a safe journey!

Edited March 12, 2023 by Times Prince

[TexasBrit]

1 minute ago, Times Prince said:

Better check the date for your cruise that's in your signature.  We're at sea on 4/23.

Short for April 2023, just like all the other dates on there, month/year 🤣

[Southern_Roots]

Will be sailing Ruby on her March 26th sailing. Going to take the normal personal hygiene procedures and mask up on the elevators. Buffets is a no go for me and DH, always has been we prefer sit down service. I think this will be another lovely cruise if the right precautions are taken.

[PaperSniper4]

Sounds like the 5 March sailing went well. I hope the noro-demon can stay off the 12 March 2023 (and following cruises)! My wife and I are on the 19 March cruise.

 

If anyone is on the 12 March 2023 sailing, please post as the kind persons above did for the noro/covid procedures.

 

 Doug.

Edited March 13, 2023 by PaperSniper4