Hand washing

[davecttr]

I was happy to find the buffet on Aurora had 4 hand washing stations with plenty of paper towels which apart from hand drying I used to handle the serving utensils. 

 

Does Arcadia's Belvedere buffet have hand washing stations?

[david63]

29 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I was happy to find the buffet on Aurora had 4 hand washing stations

But were passengers using them?

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

I was happy to find the buffet on Aurora had 4 hand washing stations with plenty of paper towels which apart from hand drying I used to handle the serving utensils. 

 

Does Arcadia's Belvedere buffet have hand washing stations?

I believe they were installed on Aurora the last time she had a major refurb. Sorry, not been on Arcadia for a long time now...

[davecttr]

49 minutes ago, david63 said:

But were passengers using them?

Some but not many

 

 

[gsmt47471015]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

But were passengers using them?

Dream on 🤣🤣

[Palaceman]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

I was happy to find the buffet on Aurora had 4 hand washing stations with plenty of paper towels which apart from hand drying I used to handle the serving utensils. 

 

Does Arcadia's Belvedere buffet have hand washing stations?

Yes there is hand washing stations on Arcadia buffet. Unfortunately on our 16 night cruise on her recently I could count the number of people I saw using them on one hand and one of those was my wife!

[July morning]

We were on a ship with the hand washing basins and the woman in front of me nearly lost her rings she had to quickly put her hand in a fist! I used it after her but removed my rings for safety 😂

[Cristaltips]

21 hours ago, Palaceman said:

Yes there is hand washing stations on Arcadia buffet. Unfortunately on our 16 night cruise on her recently I could count the number of people I saw using them on one hand and one of those was my wife!

On Arcadia last August, there was no hot water in any of the public toilets, male or female.  I found it really concerning . No wonder they’ve had problems with a gastric bug

[davecttr]

57 minutes ago, Cristaltips said:

On Arcadia last August, there was no hot water in any of the public toilets, male or female.  I found it really concerning . No wonder they’ve had problems with a gastric bug

Cold water is just fine, it is the physical action of scrubbing your hands that flushes the virus down the plughole. Warm water is more comfortable but water hot enough to kill virus would scald your hands. Apparently 60 degrees C for a few minutes will do it, also use hand sanitiser but there is not one that has been proved to kill viruses of the Norovirus type.

[Cristaltips]

Cold water is just fine, it is the physical action of scrubbing your hands that flushes the virus down the plughole. Warm water is more comfortable but water hot enough to kill virus would scald your hands. Apparently 60 degrees C for a few minutes will do it, also use hand sanitiser but there is not one that has been proved to kill viruses of the Norovirus type.
 

Sorry, I’m old school. If I’ve been to the toilet or am about to eat, I want to wash my hands in HOT water

[Winifred 22]

Temperature of the water makes no difference, It’s the actually washing of the hands that matters. Lots or recent research confirms this. 

[Selbourne]

On 7/29/2023 at 11:14 AM, david63 said:

But were passengers using them?

Whilst there’s no getting away from the fact that most people walk straight past the hand washing stations, even when intending to use the buffet, it’s worth remembering that not everyone needs to stop and wash their hands.
 

We never use the buffet, but walked through it at least half a dozen times on our recent cruise getting from the aft lifts to the Crows Nest or vice-versa. The first time a staff member stopped me but let me carry on when I explained that we weren’t using the buffet, but thereafter there was nobody manning them. Have to say I think I only noticed them being used once. As I say, we don’t use the buffet 🤢😂

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Whilst there’s no getting away from the fact that most people walk straight past the hand washing stations, even when intending to use the buffet, it’s worth remembering that not everyone needs to stop and wash their hands.
 

We never use the buffet, but walked through it at least half a dozen times on our recent cruise getting from the aft lifts to the Crows Nest or vice-versa. The first time a staff member stopped me but let me carry on when I explained that we weren’t using the buffet, but thereafter there was nobody manning them. Have to say I think I only noticed them being used once. As I say, we don’t use the buffet 🤢😂

The Crow's Nest must have been rammed if all the people we saw not washing their hands were just passing through😂

I heard one lady pushing a wheelchair proclaim loudly 'It's OK, I washed my hands earlier'... 

Andy 

[smokey01]

4 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

The Crow's Nest must have been rammed if all the people we saw not washing their hands were just passing through😂

I heard one lady pushing a wheelchair proclaim loudly 'It's OK, I washed my hands earlier'... 

Andy 

I do use the buffet regularly and I do NOT tend to use the buffet wash basins as before I eat there I wash my hands in my cabin with ‘special’ soap as I have skin allergies. I cruise regularly over many years and have never caught a ‘bug’. I am VERY conscious of what I touch I.e. stair railings or lift buttons when getting from my cabin to the buffet. You have to understand it is the old hidden disabilities so please do not judge. 

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, smokey01 said:

I do use the buffet regularly and I do NOT tend to use the buffet wash basins as before I eat there I wash my hands in my cabin with ‘special’ soap as I have skin allergies. I cruise regularly over many years and have never caught a ‘bug’. I am VERY conscious of what I touch I.e. stair railings or lift buttons when getting from my cabin to the buffet. You have to understand it is the old hidden disabilities so please do not judge. 

Yep, totally understand about hidden disabilities, we deal with it every day... 

Sad that 99% of the passengers using the buffet all have hidden disabilities.😂

I don't doubt there are exceptions like yourself, but I'm sure the majority I saw just don't care... 

Andy 

 

 

[smokey01]

Just now, AndyMichelle said:

Yep, totally understand about hidden disabilities, we deal with it every day... 

Sad that 99% of the passengers using the buffet all have hidden disabilities.😂

I don't doubt there are exceptions like yourself, but I'm sure the majority I saw just don't care... 

Andy 

 

 

I do agree with you but being forced to use ‘buffet’ soap would be so painful to me that I would have to stop cruising. My comment was not really meant to be aimed directly at you but it is a source of embarrassment to me that I have to bypass buffet sinks even though I know I am very hygienic minded. I do know it annoys ‘normal’ people and I understand why and all I can say is I so wish I was ‘normal’.

 

[AndyMichelle]

13 minutes ago, smokey01 said:

I do agree with you but being forced to use ‘buffet’ soap would be so painful to me that I would have to stop cruising. My comment was not really meant to be aimed directly at you but it is a source of embarrassment to me that I have to bypass buffet sinks even though I know I am very hygienic minded. I do know it annoys ‘normal’ people and I understand why and all I can say is I so wish I was ‘normal’.

 

Totally understand. 

I admit, I would have probably wrongly assumed you just didn't care, but if the majority were participating, I doubt I would take any notice of the odd one... 

I will think twice before judging in the future. 

Andy 

[kalos]

33 minutes ago, smokey01 said:

I so wish I was ‘normal’.

 

Don't we all but for different reasons ,you do your best and that's good enough for me ,

I will not judge you ,promise.

Let them who think they are super clean ,cast the first bug 😉

 

As I have posted before we have to hope others are as clean well but as I have seen,

not just in the buffet , incidents in the mdr as well , but we are talking of washing hands .

Using the VENTURA as an example , other posters have said ,people walk through the

buffet, using the walk way , just getting from A to B so hard to work out ,who's done what.

Go down to deck 5 Cinnamon , how many people do you see ,nipping into the loo's at the 

entrance wash their hands , or do they maybe go for a bit of Gel as they do up in the buffet ?

I use both venues for info.

 

Take care !

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, smokey01 said:

I do use the buffet regularly and I do NOT tend to use the buffet wash basins as before I eat there I wash my hands in my cabin with ‘special’ soap as I have skin allergies. I cruise regularly over many years and have never caught a ‘bug’. I am VERY conscious of what I touch I.e. stair railings or lift buttons when getting from my cabin to the buffet. You have to understand it is the old hidden disabilities so please do not judge. 

I know exactly what you mean.

 

For me it's the hand gel that they use. It makes my hands extremely red and itchy - it's very uncomfortable after a day of using the gel, and after a few days use, the itching would drive me distracted.

 

I'm ok with soap, so I like it when they have sinks at the entrance to the buffet, so I can wash my hands and be seen to wash my hands.

 

However, when there's no sinks, I wash my hands in my cabin before going to the buffet, and I'm very careful not to touch anything on my way there.  However, I'm aware that I have to be seen to use the gel, in order to avoid constant explanations to the crew and also to avoid judgement from other passengers. So I conceal a tissue in my palm, and catch the gel in the tissue to avoid it going on my hand - therefore appearances are maintained 

[davecttr]

I use Boots Anti Viral Hand foam which is not alcohol based, dermatologically tested and claims to kill 99.99% of enveloped viruses and harmful bacteria. I have some 50ml dispensers and top up from the 200ml size to save money.

 

Note that Norovirus is NOT an enveloped virus which is why frequent hand washing is a good idea.

 

Another good idea when using the buffet is to use hand towels from the dispensers to handle the serving utensils.

 

Whoever comes up with a safe hand sanitiser that kills non-enveloped viruses should make a fortune.

[tacticalbanjo]

I agree that the majority of people don't care about washing their hands. I was on Britannia in June and the use of handwashing stations at the buffet was minimal. When people did use them they didn't wash for long enough, just a quick rub and rinse.

 

Having said that, the one time I have caught noro on a cruise ship (not P&O!) it just so happened to be the night after the waiter at our table in the MDR was absent due to feeling unwell. We assumed he had the spicy cough until one by one we succumbed to the dreaded noro.

[Cloudyrain]

On 7/30/2023 at 11:14 AM, davecttr said:

Cold water is just fine, it is the physical action of scrubbing your hands that flushes the virus down the plughole. Warm water is more comfortable but water hot enough to kill virus would scald your hands. Apparently 60 degrees C for a few minutes will do it, also use hand sanitiser but there is not one that has been proved to kill viruses of the Norovirus type.

That’s really why they have taken the trays away - P&O are now relying on burning hot plates destroying the germs that people haven’t bothered to wash away 😉