Norovirus on Rotterdam / Mid-cruise Disinfection

[dalesyang]

Yeah i'm on the next cruise on Rotterdam that leaves on May 20.   I just got an email that our boarding is delayed because of cleaning to be done.          Now I'm packing masks,  extra liquid soap,  sandwich gloves, clorox wipes, and extra hand sanitizer.     Also, a bottle of Pepto bismo.       Maybe I should just cancel my cruise.      ugh.  

[ValleyPop]

23 hours ago, Crew News said:

As a current passenger on this cruise, I can report that all self-serve is cancelled and the Lido Market serving lines are encased in Saran Wrap to prevent passengers from touching food items. From the first day, passengers are served at the Beverage Station. 

 

Unfortunately, there are no handwashing facilities in the Lido Market.rather Purell stations with crew members encouraging passengers to have a squirt.  Many  passengers have reverted back to wearing masks to protect themselves from this contact virus. 

 

Other than the Captain's announcements to wash our hands often , I have heard little passenger conversation on the subject and /or the proliferation of cases.

 

I remember passing by a room on my first day at sea and hearing the occupant apologizing  to her Room Steward for vomiting all over the room. 

 

Currently onboard. Extensive cleaning yesterday. No longer permitted to have sugar dispensers on tables, but salt and pepper dispensers are okay to use?  That makes no sense to me. 
And yes there are sinks at the Lido, but only two per side. 

 

[QM2 Cruiser]

8 hours ago, RuthC said:

When I saw the cleaning for norovirus, there was a hazmat type team spraying. They didn't wipe things down. 

On previous cruises, I have noticed spraying too, performed by a dedicated cleaning team or crew member. However, this experience is different. In the public areas, they are disinfecting with rags and buckets of a foamy disinfectant. They have been wiping the foam onto all hard surfaces, and letting the foam air dry.

 

In the bars and lounges, it's the same waitstaff who serve drinks that have been doing the cleaning. Last night in BB Kings, the last music set ended 11:45PM. The waitress asked us if we wanted to order anything else before they close the bar. We declined, but sat there finishing our drinks. Moments later the waitress reappeared with plastic gloves on, a bucket, and a rag, and started to clean the tabletops around us. We left so that she could clean our table.

[QM2 Cruiser]

On a positive note, yesterday in Germany a pharmacist recommended a local brand of hand sanitizer that is labeled to be effective against Norovirus. The pharmacist translated the label for us, and indicated that a liberal quantity must be used so that hands remain wet for a minimum of 30 seconds to have any effect. I’ve never seen a hand sanitizer brand in the U.S. that kills Norovirus, so this is a first. The pharmacist said that it’s only available in Germany and Switzerland. We will be adding this to our hand washing routine and other precautionary measures. 

[3Shelaghs]

Looks like 99.9% alcohol based. Same as Purel. Only tried and true solutions I know of are .. beach, and Virox.. Wash your hand & use 99% alcohol sanitizer, &use Virox spray or wipes for your cabin & keep your hands out of your mouth.

[ExpatBride]

1 hour ago, 3Shelaghs said:

Looks like 99.9% alcohol based. Same as Purel. Only tried and true solutions I know of are .. beach, and Virox.. Wash your hand & use 99% alcohol sanitizer, &use Virox spray or wipes for your cabin & keep your hands out of your mouth.

 

It actually contains 85% Ethanol. The "99.99%" refers to the percentage of "germs" it supposedly kills. It claims "effectiveness" against Norovirus, so I suspect that the higher-than-average alcohol content (standard is around 70%) and some clever marketing speak are at play here.

[3Shelaghs]

3 hours ago, ExpatBride said:

 

It actually contains 85% Ethanol. The "99.99%" refers to the percentage of "germs" it supposedly kills. It claims "effectiveness" against Norovirus, 

I stand corrected 🙂 I have art supplies on the brain or home made window de-icing solutions(it's been cold here...ugh). The hospital had great plastic tubs like Clorox containers with good stuff in it, but $$$$. Wipe on let dry, or spray bottles with Virox, same application. Virox just hydrogen peroxide and ?It was the bubbling action that did the job. At beginning of pandemic, I had followed the "strange pneumonia" arising from China, so I loaded the suitcases with everything known to man kind that could prevent or treat whatever... not doing that this time. Will stick to soap and water and cabin sanitizer and take my chances????? famous last words...............

[ExpatBride]

42 minutes ago, 3Shelaghs said:

I stand corrected 🙂 I have art supplies on the brain or home made window de-icing solutions(it's been cold here...ugh). The hospital had great plastic tubs like Clorox containers with good stuff in it, but $$$$. Wipe on let dry, or spray bottles with Virox, same application. Virox just hydrogen peroxide and ?It was the bubbling action that did the job. At beginning of pandemic, I had followed the "strange pneumonia" arising from China, so I loaded the suitcases with everything known to man kind that could prevent or treat whatever... not doing that this time. Will stick to soap and water and cabin sanitizer and take my chances????? famous last words...............

 

My SO is a physician, and he was more confident that I was about the safety of traveling this summer. He said, "If you decide we shouldn't go, don't let COVID be the reason." 

He's been very informative, level-headed, and on-point throughout the past few years. I think you'll be just fine 🙂

 

[sciencewonk]

7 hours ago, ExpatBride said:

 

It actually contains 85% Ethanol. The "99.99%" refers to the percentage of "germs" it supposedly kills. It claims "effectiveness" against Norovirus, so I suspect that the higher-than-average alcohol content (standard is around 70%) and some clever marketing speak are at play here.

Norovirus is classified as "alcohol resistant" and cannot be effectively inactivated by alcohol-based hand sanitizers.  85% ethanol is actually less effective at inactivating viruses than 70% ethanol because there is not enough water in the higher concentration to allow the ethanol molecules to enter the virus particles.  I am skeptical of this product unless I see an EMA or PEI approval on the package.  (EMA is the FDA equivalent in the EU, PEI is the FDA equivalent in Germany)

[sailawayward]

On 5/18/2023 at 12:52 AM, dalesyang said:

Yeah i'm on the next cruise on Rotterdam that leaves on May 20.   I just got an email that our boarding is delayed because of cleaning to be done.          Now I'm packing masks,  extra liquid soap,  sandwich gloves, clorox wipes, and extra hand sanitizer.     Also, a bottle of Pepto bismo.       Maybe I should just cancel my cruise.      ugh.  

wouldn't you pack those items anyway?

[QM2 Cruiser]

On 5/18/2023 at 6:52 AM, dalesyang said:

Yeah i'm on the next cruise on Rotterdam that leaves on May 20.   I just got an email that our boarding is delayed because of cleaning to be done.          Now I'm packing masks,  extra liquid soap,  sandwich gloves, clorox wipes, and extra hand sanitizer.     Also, a bottle of Pepto bismo.       Maybe I should just cancel my cruise.      ugh.  

There’s no need to pack extra liquid hand soap. The Rotterdam has liquid hand soap dispensers in the cabins now. However, they no longer provide bar soap for the shower. I asked my cabin attendant for a bar of soap, and they discontinued it. You might want to bring bar soap if you like it for showering. I hope you have a good cruise!

[ClippyJoe]

I loved the hand wash stations on our last cruise. I was wishing we had them in our classrooms. I know the children would have been fascinated by them ! That would have made them wash their hands without reminders. Immersing my hands in that warm water made my arthritis feel better ! I could have kept my hands there for hours.I used them even if just passing through on the way to the elevator.

[3Shelaghs]

How's everyone feeling?? 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It has happened to us before.

[QM2 Cruiser]

On 5/21/2023 at 12:37 AM, 3Shelaghs said:

How's everyone feeling?? 

Escaped with just a head cold! Fortunately we have evaded the Noro!

[Haljo1935]

On a Princess ship a few years ago that had an active Noro outbreak. They did a deep clean as well as continuous cleaning of hard surfaces in all common areas (foamy liquid from buckets).

Salt, pepper, sugar, butter removed from all tables  - buffet and MDR. If you wanted S/P/Sugar/Creamer/Butter... servers would sprinkle/add it for you. Very strange to have someone put milk and sugar in my coffee and butter a roll...

Zero self serve anywhere. 

Announcements were frequently made and signs posted EVERYWHERE reminding to wash hands frequently, to minimize touching things and to use stateroom restrooms instead of public ones when possible.

We managed to avoid getting it, but there were a lot of sick passengers.

[RTCGA]

On 5/17/2023 at 8:53 AM, Crew News said:

As a current passenger on this cruise, I can report that all self-serve is cancelled and the Lido Market serving lines are encased in Saran Wrap to prevent passengers from touching food items. From the first day, passengers are served at the Beverage Station. 

 

Unfortunately, there are no handwashing facilities in the Lido Market.rather Purell stations with crew members encouraging passengers to have a squirt.  Many  passengers have reverted back to wearing masks to protect themselves from this contact virus. 

 

Other than the Captain's announcements to wash our hands often , I have heard little passenger conversation on the subject and /or the proliferation of cases.

 

I remember passing by a room on my first day at sea and hearing the occupant apologizing  to her Room Steward for vomiting all over the room. 

 

On 5/18/2023 at 6:50 AM, ValleyPop said:

 

Currently onboard. Extensive cleaning yesterday. No longer permitted to have sugar dispensers on tables, but salt and pepper dispensers are okay to use?  That makes no sense to me. 
And yes there are sinks at the Lido, but only two per side. 

 

 

There are actually 8 sinks in the Lido marketplace, two at each entrance forward and aft on both sides. I was onboard May 6-20 and I'm still here for May 20-27. There's someone reminding everyone to wash hands at all four entrances and there's never been a wait of more than perhaps a minute to do so.

 

I've asked a few crew how many were sick - three diferrent staff told me "about 40 cabins." Take that with a grain of salt. I'm glad to have not gotten ill. The minor annoyances with the protocols are much preferable to getting sick. It's part of life and part of travel. They've handled it well and it hasn't made my cruise less enjoyable. Keep your hands clean and away from your face. Think before touching surfaces or grabbing something in the buffet. If you're careful you can mitigate this stuff. Have five seconds of patience for the staff to hand you the sugar or cream or to pour you some water.

[ValleyPop]

Yes, you are correct. I poorly stated that. 
I meant as you enter from either the bow or aft there are two wash stations on each side. 
Your description is much better. 
Regarding the number of cases, we were told by numerous crew members that the outbreak peaked at about 60 cases in total. 

[3Shelaghs]

14 hours ago, QM2 Cruiser said:

Escaped with just a head cold! Fortunately we have evaded the Noro!

Darn for the head cold, but yeah for dodging the Noro!

[KAKcruiser]

Boarding for the May 27 sailing of the Rotterdam has been delayed until 2 pm to enable a deep cleaning of the ship.