Code Red on Noordam -

[cruz4evr]

I just contacted an agent with Holland America inquiring about the Noordam's departure to see if it was leaving at its normal time and was told it was. Then I proceeded to talk about the Norovirus and code red and was told they have no information on it. Basically they treated me as if I was a crank caller. Obviously they either don't know or they aren't disclosing the information. :( So for those of us going on this cruise, do we show up the regular time or later?

[bUU]

Did you contact Holland America, or an agent for Holland America? I suspect the latter are more likely to have up-to-date, late-breaking information like this.

[cruz4evr]

[quote name='bicker']Did you contact Holland America, or an agent for Holland America? I suspect the latter are more likely to have up-to-date, late-breaking information like this.[/quote]

After calling Holland America's number I was connected to someone that looked up the informatiion about the Noordam. I don't know if she is an agent or just a customer rep. I will contact my TA later today and see what information she has............would have called her first but she was out of town.

[scottie99]

I just made a call to my TA in New Jersey as the UK office could tell me nothing. She called HAL immediately for me and was told check-in was scheduled for 4pm. She said HAL told her it may begin earlier if 'they get the ship cleaned earlier'

[cruz4evr]

[quote name='scottie99']I just made a call to my TA in New Jersey as the UK office could tell me nothing. She called HAL immediately for me and was told check-in was scheduled for 4pm. She said HAL told her it may begin earlier if 'they get the ship cleaned earlier'[/quote]


Thanks scottie99 for the information. :) Let's hope they do a thorough cleaning and no one will be a carrier getting onboard.

[calm_seas]

[quote name='cruz4evr']I just contacted an agent with Holland America inquiring about the Noordam's departure to see if it was leaving at its normal time and was told it was. Then I proceeded to talk about the Norovirus and code red and was told they have no information on it. Basically they treated me as if I was a crank caller. Obviously they either don't know or they aren't disclosing the information. :( So for those of us going on this cruise, do we show up the regular time or later?[/QUOTE]

So far as I have been able to find from some of my contacts on ship, the Embarkation time for 1/16 sailing will be approximately 4PM (depending upon progress with cleaning). When embarkation is delayed, it is customary for sailaway AS SOON AS guests are embarked and life boat drill is completed. There is not usually a DEPARTURE time noted. Therefore, it is advisable for everyone to be ready to board at the time indicated in the letters that will be given out at the pier on embarkation day. I will post if I find out any further information that can be verified. Hope this helps.

[cruz4evr]

[quote name='calm_seas']So far as I have been able to find from some of my contacts on ship, the Embarkation time for 1/16 sailing will be approximately 4PM (depending upon progress with cleaning). When embarkation is delayed, it is customary for sailaway AS SOON AS guests are embarked and life boat drill is completed. There is not usually a DEPARTURE time noted. Therefore, it is advisable for everyone to be ready to board at the time indicated in the letters that will be given out at the pier on embarkation day. I will post if I find out any further information that can be verified. Hope this helps.[/quote]


Thanks calm seas for calming me down! :D

[sail7seas]

[B]With the posts here indicating how many people have been struck with this in the region, it seems impossible that all who board will be exposure free. Certainly some folks may not even know they have been exposed and could be spreading it. It's a nasty, so contagious, hard to get rid of germ.

Everyone be as careful as you can. Forget about shaking hands or any personal touching when you meet new people.
I do agree there must be some people who have a stronger resistance to it than others as my DH went and did and ate everything I did, we shared our cabin and everything yet he didn't get it (thankfully) but I did. Go Figure!B]

[caribbean girl]

[quote name='Wineguys']Sooooooo, you spoke with [B][U]patient zero[/U][/B]....très intéressant! I heard from someone else in a DVS on your deck who is down with the NV but didn't get it until yesterday. She spent a lot of time Saturday and Sunday in the Neptune Lounge. Well, I guess that is one of the risks of going to sea.

I may have contracted it once on the Constellation, but it was probably just food poisoning. It only lasted 18 hours and I was fine by morning. Nobody else around me got it and I should have never eaten anything called "seafood surprise" on the Lido Buffet. :p

Patrick[/quote]

Well...I must say, after reading all these posts, I'm beginning to feel [B]I'm[/B] getting Norovirus...and I'm not even on a cruise!!:eek: Thanks for making me chuckle at least one time, Patrick...:) (That is Endora, isn't it?)

Does anyone know if the virus is more prevalent in the winter months when we are all more prone to being sick? (colder weather, more indoor time, etc.) We are sailing in March and hope we can avoid it altogether. And we've never had to deal with any Noro on [B]any [/B]cruise we've ever been on, thankfully.

[sail7seas]

[B]Oh, there probably was some noro aboard but was in such small numbers, it was kept private from the guests.

We have heard of Noro outbreaks on the ships during the Alaska season so it isn't only a winter season virus.

[/B]

[scottie99]

[quote name='calm_seas']So far as I have been able to find from some of my contacts on ship, the Embarkation time for 1/16 sailing will be approximately 4PM (depending upon progress with cleaning). When embarkation is delayed, it is customary for sailaway AS SOON AS guests are embarked and life boat drill is completed. There is not usually a DEPARTURE time noted. Therefore, it is advisable for everyone to be ready to board at the time indicated in the letters that will be given out at the pier on embarkation day. I will post if I find out any further information that can be verified. Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]

Calm Seas, I believe you are on the ship at present. Do you know how many cases of noro there were? Do you feel it badly affected your cruise? Would you still have cruised if you knew how it was going to turn out?

[caribbean girl]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]Oh, there probably was some noro aboard but was in such small numbers, it was kept private from the guests.[/B]

[B]We have heard of Noro outbreaks on the ships during the Alaska season so it isn't only a winter season virus.[/B]

[/quote]

Perhaps you're correct.:rolleyes: I'm usually just thankful to be on vacation so I may not be paying very close attention to those kinds of details as long as I'm well. On one cruise, I had a bit of a 'funny' stomach...nothing major. In retrospect, I remember that, while on an excursion around Dominica, we ate some local fruit.:o I was the only one in the family who needed the stomach medicine. Still, I have to admit that I'm pretty careful about washing my hands and I use the hand sanitizers pretty religiously. So far, so good...:)

[caribbean girl]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]Oh, there probably was some noro aboard but was in such small numbers, it was kept private from the guests.[/B]

[B]We have heard of Noro outbreaks on the ships during the Alaska season so it isn't only a winter season virus.[/B]

[/quote]

Perhaps you're correct.:rolleyes: I'm usually just thankful to be on vacation so I may not be paying very close attention to those kinds of details as long as I'm well. On one cruise, I had a bit of a 'funny' stomach...nothing major. In retrospect, I remember that, while on an excursion around Dominica, we ate some local fruit.:o I was the only one in the family who needed the stomach medicine. Still, I have to admit that I'm pretty careful about washing my hands and I use the hand sanitizers pretty religiously. So far, so good...:)

[caribbean girl]

Pardon the double posts...that's twice today...:confused:

[cruz4evr]

I spoke with my TA regarding the code red and the Norovirus. She contacted 2 or three people at Holland America and they informed her that they have not been notified regarding this problem and that the Noordam will leave port at 4:45 on 1/16/08. She also said that if there is any problem they (Holland America) would be notified by e-mail as well as my TA.
My TA concluded by saying if she gets notification of any sort, she will let me know.

She also stated that if the outbreak was extremely serious, the CDC would step in and help with the disinfecting of the ship.

[moegab2]

[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Hi [/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I don't know who your TA spoke to but I called HAL yesterday when I first read about it on these boards and they were definately aware of the problem. I was told the ship would go through a complete scrub down and sanitizing process. The embarkation will now start at 4:00 PM and everyone will be given a $15 on board credit to cover lunch expenses. Since there are no eating facilities on the pier they will run complimemtary shuttles into mid-town Manhattan. [/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I did ask HAL to e-mail a confirmation of all this and they in fact did e-mail me one.[/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Hope this information helps.[/FONT][/B]

[jrzebird]

We had a chat with the Captain in the Queens Lounge this morning. He gave some numbers of those still affect and it was low, but they can't release the ship from the Code Red until 48 hours has passed without a new case. This means we will not get off the code before we leave the ship, which is what I expected. He never gave total numbers, but the daily tally seems to be anywhere from 12 to 37, with cases coming and going. I know of one person who has been sick since the second day and is still sick, yet his wife has not been sick. She was sick BEFORE the cruise. Several crew members are also sick and when they get it, their room mate is also quarantined.

To make matters ever more hectic for the Captain and crew, this cruise was the annual safety inspection cruise!

Most people are having a great cruise and this has affected us minimally.

[jrzebird]

oops,double post. Love the Internet service on the ship!

[cruz4evr]

[quote name='moegab2'][B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Hi [/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I don't know who your TA spoke to but I called HAL yesterday when I first read about it on these boards and they were definately aware of the problem. I was told the ship would go through a complete scrub down and sanitizing process. The embarkation will now start at 4:00 PM and everyone will be given a $15 on board credit to cover lunch expenses. Since there are no eating facilities on the pier they will run complimemtary shuttles into mid-town Manhattan. [/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I did ask HAL to e-mail a confirmation of all this and they in fact did e-mail me one.[/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Hope this information helps.[/FONT][/B][/quote]

Thanks for the information....:) I don't know who specifically my TA spoke to but it's interesting that some people at HAL are aware of the problem and some aren't. Something doesn't seem right. :confused:

[cruz4evr]

[quote name='jrzebird']We had a chat with the Captain in the Queens Lounge this morning. He gave some numbers of those still affect and it was low, but they can't release the ship from the Code Red until 48 hours has passed without a new case. This means we will not get off the code before we leave the ship, which is what I expected. He never gave total numbers, but the daily tally seems to be anywhere from 12 to 37, with cases coming and going. I know of one person who has been sick since the second day and is still sick, yet his wife has not been sick. She was sick BEFORE the cruise. Several crew members are also sick and when they get it, their room mate is also quarantined.

To make matters ever more hectic for the Captain and crew, this cruise was the annual safety inspection cruise!

Most people are having a great cruise and this has affected us minimally.[/quote]

Thanks for the information and let's hope that 48 hours will yield no new cases. :)

[moegab2]

[B]I have a group of 21 on the jan. 16th sailing so I need to up to date with all the info., I'm going to call HAL tomorrow just to confirm [U]AGAIN[/U] and will post what I find out. Happy Sailing!

[innlady1]

[quote name='jrzebird']We had a chat with the Captain in the Queens Lounge this morning. He gave some numbers of those still affect and it was low, but they can't release the ship from the Code Red until 48 hours has passed without a new case. This means we will not get off the code before we leave the ship, which is what I expected. He never gave total numbers, but the daily tally seems to be anywhere from 12 to 37, with cases coming and going. I know of one person who has been sick since the second day and is still sick, yet his wife has not been sick. She was sick BEFORE the cruise. Several crew members are also sick and when they get it, their room mate is also quarantined.

To make matters ever more hectic for the Captain and crew, this cruise was the annual safety inspection cruise!

Most people are having a great cruise and this has affected us minimally.[/quote]

Thank you, jrzebird, for the update. Have a great rest of your cruise...and I admire your positive attitude! :D

[mamaofami]

I just spoke to someone from ship's service about another matter, and he confirmed that the Noordam will be scrubbed down again this Wednesday. I guess a lot of people on this next cruise have been calling.

[innlady1]

[quote name='mamaofami']I just spoke to someone from ship's service about another matter, and he confirmed that the Noordam will be scrubbed down again this Wednesday. I guess a lot of people on this next cruise have been calling.[/quote]

Thank goodness they're doing that...great peace of mind for the cruises going forward.

[Georgeny]

JRZEBIRD,
Thank you again for being so informative.

George - sailing 1/16