sick aboard the Mariner April 11th

[JillSoccerMom]

We had a party of six on the Mariner April 11th -18th. Three out of six of us became very ill. I was one of them. Two of us went to the ship doctor and they said they were having a problem onboard with a stomach virus. They were checking the water. I was wondering if anyone got sick. Needless to say it ruined our vacation. We all got sick on different days. I will write a letter to Royal Caribbean. Dn't think it will do any good though.

The bad part was I got sick the day of the Meet and Mingle. It would have been great to meet some CC friends.

 

Jill

[izzyvet]

So sorry to hear that. Hope everyone is feeling better. I also was sick on my last cruise, luckily it was only for the first couple of days and at least I didn't have to try to go to work. Viruses are so nasty and they can spread so fast on an environment like a ship. I don't think I got mine on the ship though, I got sick too soon after boarding. (most viruses take 3-5 days to incubate)

 

Izzy

 

 

Until Carnival Pride:

 

Roll Call Explorer 5-23

Roll Call Pride 10/17

[JillyDog]

Jill - I was wondering why you weren't there, but then again, a few others weren't also. My daughter Lindsay did meet Ashley though and they really hit it off. We have some great pictures to email to Ashley. It took me a couple days to figure out that this Ashley was yours. When she said she was from Ohio...I just knew. I'm glad they got together anyway.

 

Trish

[Sue C.]

I was also on the Mariner from April 11-18th. I knew of no one who got sick. My dh had stomach cramps and threw up the first night, but I assume that was motion sickness. I gave him Bonine and after that he was fine.

 

My daughter's friend caught a cold, but that is the only person I knew of who got sick.

 

Sue

[Patty in NC]

HI! I was also on the Mariner on April 11. My son complained of not feeling well on either Friday or Saturday morning but nothing came of it. He just laid around in the cabin a little extra and was fine later. I think he might have been overtired.

 

However, some people we met from this board had a couple of sick people. The gentleman was sick on Tuesday and the son was sick on Thursday. Each one lasted about a day. I had wondered if there was a virus going around because I heard announcements on several occasions about hand washing, etc. There was also one of the TV stations that seemed to make a constant announcement. They even had hand sanitizer at the beginning of the buffet lines. I didn't notice it until a few days into the cruise, but I can't say it wasn't there all along.

 

Hope everyone is feeling better now.

 

Patty

[BEVGOO]

I have gotten sick several times on our cruises. Now I wash my hands and use hand cleaner constantly. It seems to help. Any time you have that many people together the chances of illness spreading are huge. I doesn't keep my from cruising because it can happen anywhere. Think of the number of people that pass through Las Vegas and touch the same slot machine (or in my case machines) that you touch.

[KShea]

3 out of 3000 got sick...what are you writing a letter to Royal Caribbean about? Why don't you call your lawyer and sue them...jeez....my two kids and my wife were sick a few weeks ago....maybe I should write a letter to the State of Connecticut maybe its the states fault that they got sick...people get sick that is a fact of life.....what is this world coming to? Always trying to blame somebody for something or to get something FREE....

 

Explorer Of The Seas 4/01

Navigator Of The Seas 6/14/03

Mariner Of The Seas 7/11/04

Until the Mariner of the Seas

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Go NY Jets

[pfleer]

Kevin - could you be a bigger jerk? She was just asking if anyone else on her cruise got sick. She was also told by staff that there was a stomach virus going around, so obviously more than 3 out of 3,000 were sick. Learn to read!

 

Thanks!

Peggy

 

Mariner,Here we come!! (Subtract 2 for my wedding)

[truffles2]

Dont blame it all on the cruise line. Wonder how many of those people had an airline flight where, in order to save some $$, they recirculated bad air.

 

until

Serenade Inaugural Transatlantic August 3, 2003

Until Grandeur Repositioning~ Bermuda to San Juan Oct. 31, 2003

 

 

until Mariner E Caribbean~Jan. 18, 2004

 

 

until Serenade S Caribbean~Feb. 28, 2004

 

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RCI 17, Celebrity 1

[Candleonwater]

Before you jump all over Kevin (although I'll admit his tone was harsh), he's got a point... why would writing a letter be necessary? Because people in your group got a bug SOMEWHERE? What do you hope to gain by doing so?

 

I got violently ill one night (same cruise), but just chaulked it up the food from Johnny Rockets.

 

No matter how well they clean the ship, people are going to get sick onboard. My mother got sick on our Disney cruise, pretty much wiped her out for a week. She didn't let it ruin her trip, and it's not stopping her from planning on going with me next year.

 

Mariner or Disney Wonder 3/27/05

Mariner of the Seas 4/11/04

Disney Magic 12/01/01

[PrincessUA]

Jill,

 

I was on the Mariner with you last week. My brother lives in St Thomas and works on one of the excursion boats. They were notified that the Princess boat that was in port had few possible cases of the Norwalk virus, but they were still letting people off the ship. They let the excursions know so that they can bleach everything down. I do not know how the boats can tell if people have Norwalk or a stomach flu, but that is what they were told. My brother's girlfriend works at the restaurant at Paradise Point and they were also told the same thing. It could not have been that many people infected or the Princess passengers would not have been allowed to disembark (I would hope).

 

It sounds like your party got sick before we got to St. Thomas though. I will say that the Mariner had more motion on it than any of the other five cruises I have been on, so that could have had a lot to do with it too. I had to take a Dramamine the first sea day and I was fine after that.

 

I hope this helps!

[sharonkaye]

Bring your own hand sanitizer and keep your hands off the hand rails!!

 

Royal Majesty '89,'90'91

Nordic Empress '95

Galaxy'98

Century '99

Majesty of the Seas '01

Constellation ''03

Mariner of the Seas '04

[Ocean Boy]

Voyager ships have a "society" of over 4000 people aboard. I would expect a number of illnesses every week in a population that size. It also makes sense that people traveling in groups would have several people in the group become ill when one person does. That is what viruses do. They are transmitted to those whom the sick person has contact with.

 

One is much more likely to pick up a virus on a plane with 300 people packed together in re-circulated air than on a ship. After a 2-3 day incubation period you become sick on your cruise.

 

What is the point in writing a letter to RCI about becoming sick? They already provided a doctor and medical facilities. What else are they supposed to do? If the ship has some sort of medical issue going on you can bet that RCI knows about it. And most likely, so does the news media.

[JillSoccerMom]

First of all I am sorry if I offened anyone. I am not blaming the cruise line for my illness unless it was food poisioning.

 

On Tuesday we ate lunch without the kids at Johnny Rockets. After I went to lie down and was going to go to the "Meet and Mingle". I became very ill and began vomiting and having diarrhea for several hours. I also had a fever (I always bring a thermoter and plenty of meds with me just in case) I thought I had food poisioning and stayed in my room for two days just in case I had a virus. My husband ate the same thing and didn't get sick. On Thusday my friend got very ill about midnight and went to his room. He had the same symptoms (fever vomiting and diarrhea) I called the nurse on call and she was upset that I was calling her at 2:30 in the morning. I told her that I just wanted to report that I was sick and now my friend was sick and wanted to know if there was a problem onboard. At first she said she could not tell me and then became a little nicer and said they are having a problem and knew it was a 24 hour stomach virus and they were checking the water. She wanted my friend to come down and get a shot and checked out. He couldn't get out of bed until the morning and when he went down my husband said there were about 10 other people there all vomiting. I thought he should stay in his room and not expose other people on the ship. He got the shot and it knocked him out for three days. Then Saturday night my daughter came down with it and we immediately took her to the doctor for the shot. Again there were several people in the office vomiting and this was about 1:00 in the morning. She said that the staff in the teen center would not let her DJ because some of the crew had gotten ill with a stomach virus and didn't want the kids touching the equipment. She got the shot and wasn't better until Monday.

I am writing a letter to let Royal Caribbean know about the illness. I am not going to sue them and I understand that they can't control the weather or illnesses by any means. I just want to let them know in case it was contaminated food or the Norwalk virus. I thought I would post to see if others were sick since there were quite a few people in the office both times we visitied the doctor.

Again, I am sorry if I offended anyone.

Jill

[KShea]

Peggy (pfleer) I may be a jerk. But maybe it is you who needs to learn to read.

 

JillSoccerMom:

"I will write a letter to Royal Caribbean. Dn't think it will do any good though."

 

...I wonder what that meant? Won't do any good? What won't do any good? I won't get a free cruise? Won't get any free coupons...lol..

Jill...I'm not offended. Its just why does someone think that the whole ship is effected with Norkwalk Virus because a few people are throwing up. If the medical staff did tell you it was some kind of 24 hour bug why did you feel you needed to inform Royal Caribbean if they already new?

 

Explorer Of The Seas 4/01

Navigator Of The Seas 6/14/03

Mariner Of The Seas 7/11/04

Until the Mariner of the Seas

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Go NY Jets

[nrdsb4]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PrincessUA:

Jill,

 

I was on the Mariner with you last week. My brother lives in St Thomas and works on one of the excursion boats. They were notified that the Princess boat that was in port had few possible cases of the Norwalk virus, but they were still letting people off the ship. They let the excursions know so that they can bleach everything down. I do not know how the boats can tell if people have Norwalk or a stomach flu,but that is what they were told. My brother's girlfriend works at the restaurant at Paradise Point and they were also told the same thing. It could not have been that many people infected or the Princess passengers would not have been allowed to disembark (I would hope).

 

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

There really is no such thing as "stomach flu," this is just a layman's term for an intestinal virus that manifests as stomach pain, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Norwalk is one of many intestinal viruses that have been seen on cruise ships in recent years. There is no way for ship authorities to determine whether someone has Norwalk or another intestinal virus. Food poisoning is pretty easy to determine. The OP states that her husband ate the same thing she did in JR and did not get sick. This suggests that she suffered from some type of virus. I, too, got the impression from her original post that she was intending to hold RCI responsible for her illness and hoped to receive some type of compensation. I would not be happy to contract this illness. She may have gotten it before she boarded, however. In any case, this is just one of the risks of traveling. I hope the OP and family have all recovered.

[nrdsb4]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JillSoccerMom:

At first she said she could not tell me and then became a little nicer and said they are having a problem and knew it was a 24 hour stomach virus and they were checking the water. She wanted my friend to come down and get a shot and checked out. He couldn't get out of bed until the morning and when he went down my husband said there were about 10 other people there all vomiting. I thought he should stay in his room and not expose other people on the ship. He got the shot and it knocked him out for three days.

Jill<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

I am a RN in an ICU and have given MANY shots for nausea/vomiting. I have never given a shot that knocked anyone out for three days. I have to wonder about the dose given for this or if the affected person has liver problems that kept the drug circulating in his system for days! Or perhaps the OP is exaggerating just a tad?

[hdawson]

Since soooo many people eat the same foods on a ship, food poisoning usually would effect hundreds of passengers. Not just a few. At the Johnny Rockets I've been to the food is turned over so often there isn't much chance of spoilage. Norwalk like virus` are only second in frequency to the common cold. Very common in nursing homes, day care, schools, etc. Anywhere large numbers of people are confined to a limited area. Cruise lines report to CDC for investigation when the virus effects either 2 or 3% of combined passengers & crew. The true test for Norwalk like virus is with a stool sample.

[JillSoccerMom]

Sorry everyone. Please let me explain. I am writing a letter to Royal Caribbean to express my concerns on how they are handling onboard illnesses. (not for a free coupon) I understand people get sick. I will tell you the medical staff really didn't care about my being sick and I was worried about leaving my cabin and stayed in for 2 days. I called to let them know that we had three cabins and one person from each cabin had been sick. I told them I would like to give them my room # so they could sanitize my room because I had not been seen by the medical facility. They said that they did not want it. If they told me a few days prior to that that they had a problem onboard and wanted my friend and daughter in their cabins for 48 hours (she said it was highly contagious) they should have handled this is a proper way. I was told that they weren't sure what was going on and they were checking everything including the water. My husband spoke to a woman in the medical facility and said she and her young son were there because of the same symptoms. She thought it was food poisoning. I myself have never had food poisioning and if that is in fact what I had it could have been from the buffet or dinner the night before. I just hope that noone else has this happen to them. People work very hard all year to take a vacation and I will be a little leary of cruising again because of this.

 

Jill

[JillSoccerMom]

By the way, I am not exaggerating about my friend sleeping for three days. He recieved the shot on Friday morning and slept until Monday. The only time he was awake was when we left the ship and traveling to the rental car. We stayed an extra day to go to Disney. My daughter had the shot Saturday night and slept until Monday morning. She didn't get to see the condo that we stayed at but she did make to MGM on Monday and felt much better. Anyway, we are all home safe and everyone is well.

 

Jill

[PrincessUA]

Jill,

 

I understood what you were asking, and that you were trying to find out if anybody else had the same problem. I am not sure why certain people overreacted so much, but to each their own.

 

I was just letting you know that the Princess was having problems also and they were in St Thomas when we were touching all the same door handles and items that we were. I also noticed that hand sanitizer appeared in the Windjammer a few days into the cruise, and that the Captain started reminding people to wash their hands which I have never heard them do before.

 

I am glad everyone you were with feel's better!

[jerseygirl3]

Not for nothing, but you mention that you called the on-call nurse at 2:30 in the morning to report that you were sick amd now you friend was sick and you wanted to know if there was a problem onboard???? I'm thinking that the nurse probably felt that could have waited until the morning to discuss.

 

I was in labor with my contractions 5 minutes apart and I still hesitated to call my OB/GYN in the middle of the night!!!

 

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but it seems to me that this illness was blown way out of proportion. Statistically-speaking, I'm sure it was a much lower percentage on your ship that got sick compared to a normal workplace when a stomach virus goes around.

 

caribbeanqueen3@comcast.net

[Sailfish]

Two years ago, my husband became very ill one afternoon. Around midnight, I made him go to the ship's medical center, as I had concerns he would become dehydrated. The nurse on call was very nice and gave him some gatorade and made note of his visit. The next day, the ship's physician spoke to my husband and sent up some medication (not sure what it was) and more gatorade. He was never asked to remain in his stateroom, however he did. My husband began feeling better within 48 hours.

 

I for one never got sick, so who know what caused him to be ill. I thought the ship's medical center staff handled things well. We were never charged for anything - the doctor's visit or even the medication.

 

It's never fun to get sick while on vacation, but washing your hands OFTEN really does help.

 

Suzi

 

 

05 July 2004 Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas

 

21 November 2004 Cruise Aboard Carnival's Pride

 

20 February 2005 Cruise Critic Group Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas

 

 

 

[BigDave]

"Norwalk type virus" is the modern more technical terminology for "stomach flu" class of viruses.

 

Same damn miserable thing.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PrincessUA:

I do not know how the boats can tell if people have Norwalk or a stomach flu, but that is what they were told.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

BigDave

 

My first cruise: Enchantment, Eastern Caribbean - 10/13/2002

My second cruise: Rhapsody, Western Caribbean - 4/4/2004

My next cruise: Radiance, Eastern Caribbean

[jerseygirl3]

Fear of dehydration would be a reasonable excuse to contact the ship's medical personnel in the middle of the night. Calling just to report you are ill and so is your friend and wondering if anything is going on seems like something that could have waited until the sun came up.

 

caribbeanqueen3@comcast.net