Norovirus concerns - Sun Princess

WE are booked to sail out of Brisbane on Sun Princess on September 10 and have major concerns over yet another outbreak of Norovirus on the ship ... the fourth or fifth since February this year.

We would argue that the high number of outbreaks strongly suggests that passengers are not always to blame, but that the ship has a major problem.

We have serious health fears about the ship and it has rather taken the shine off our holiday which we had been really looking forward to.

We have asked Princess very politely if it would would consider switching our planned cruise to another Princess ship or at least provide us with a credit for use on a future Princess cruise.

We were given a flat refusal ... in fact a man in what was obviously an overseas call centre was quite rude and abrupt. No compassion there!

They made it quite clear that we could cancel and lose all our money ... no alternative.

We would have expected better from Princess Cruises ... or are WE being unreasonable?

We are Elite members which proves OUR previous loyalty to the company.

I understand your concerns, though from a corporate perspective if Princess were to grant your request to move because you are concerned over something that may or may not happen. What do they do when the other 1998 passengers ask to move to another cruise? In a perfect world there would be no noro on board as passengers and crew alike would never see it spread but it happens and to be honest it happens a heck of a lot more on land than we ever hear about.

Hi Womble,

What concerns me is the HIGH incidence of outbreaks on this particular ship! Surely it suggests more investigating.

Regards,

Dennis.

Your cruise is a month away - by that time it is likely there will be no noro on the Sun Princess. If there is, all you can reasonably do is take precautions.When we have been a ship where there is a red alert for noro, we do not touch any of our food with our hands.

It seems to come in cycles for ships, it isn't limited to Princess cruiselines. They do investigate the underlying issues when they do their inspections, no cruiseline wants noro onboard their ships as it is bad for business. The Sun is under going a deep clean at the end of its current cruise and even then the restrictions won't be lifted until they are certain the ship has been clear for a long enough period.

I understand where you are coming from Dennis, we have been on ships during red alert and post deep clean. Our normal routine has not been interrupted by either, just be a little more vigilant with washing your hands and touching food. Even on a ship without an outbreak you still have a chance to catch noro so we take the same precautions.

As for your cruise in September we are in the same boat (literally) as my wife and kids will be sailing on the Sun in about 2 weeks, they are looking forward to their holiday but are forearmed with the knowledge of what precautions are needed to avoid noro in case it is still about.

Hi Womble,

 

What concerns me is the HIGH incidence of outbreaks on this particular ship! Surely it suggests more investigating.

 

Regards,

Dennis.

Dennis, it's more about where this ship typically sails from. Cities that regularly have serious outbreaks of norovirus. If you fell ill at home would you worry about where you caught it? Would it stop you going to your local shopping centre, pub or club, anywhere where people congregate?

The differences with a cruise ship is:

a) they are obliged to report noro outbreaks and they take it seriously. They continuously sanitise the public spaces. Do you think your local shopping centre sanitises escalator or stair hand rails, lift buttons, shop counters, food court tables and chairs, supermarket trolleys when there is a noro outbreak in the area?

b) the media loves to point the finger at cruise ships. partly because the ships have to report it, and partly because they like to knock something they perceive as a luxury. If schools had to report noro outbreaks do you think there would be the same media beat ups about that?

We are on board 20/8 and will be cautious but not overly worried.

If you take correct hygienic precautions you should have no problems.

We are on the Sun on the 10th also,this is only my second cruise but I shall do the same as I do when I stay in hotels and spray all knobs taps to remotes etc with Glen 20 and again each time some other person has entered my room,use my hand wipes after I have sat down with my meal and wash my hands ,wash my hands,wash my hands

200 people approximately down with Noro. That leaves 1800 who were not affected.

People get on board carrying virus after travelling by air, public transport etc.

Shore excursions to islands, limited facilities for washing hands etc, take your hand sanitiser. Eating foods on islands, seen lobsters on BBQ along with hordes of flies, check out food, drink before you buy.

Practice heightened sanitary practices on board, wash hands after using toilets, so many don't and head to buffet!

Don't touch food with your hands, on one cruise a woman in front of me dropped something on the floor, picked it up and popped it back in serving tray yikes.

Wash hands after using stair rails, lift buttons, just be careful and use common sense.

Slow news day perhaps, as one great leader said be alert but not alarmed.

Enjoy your cruise.

You are being unreasonable. And paranoid.

Wash your hands. Don't touch your face.

Next question???

You are being unreasonable. And paranoid.

 

 

 

Wash your hands. Don't touch your face.

 

 

 

Next question???

There was someone on a FB forum who said they wipe their cutlery with antiseptic wipes before they eat. I wondered if they did this every time they visited a restaurant at home?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

There was someone on a FB forum who said they wipe their cutlery with antiseptic wipes before they eat. I wondered if they did this every time they visited a restaurant at home?

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don't think the cutlery poses a risk. It is the person's own hands. ;p

If people practice good hygiene and eating habits then there should be no issue. As for changing cruises due to a possible outbreak, good luck.

just got off the Sun Princess today. We were delayed boarding on the 10th due to noro on the previous cruise so the ship underwent a deep clean. We boarded on Thursday and restrictions (eg no self service in buffet, no library books, no salt and pepper shakers) were in place for the first few days. Also there was no champagne waterfall party on the first formal night (we all got free drinks vouchers instead). The Captain kept updating us saying that there were very few new cases and the situation was being monitored. The restrictions were finally lifted on the Tuesday and didn't hear of any problems after that.

 

We would argue that the high number of outbreaks strongly suggests that passengers are not always to blame, but that the ship has a major problem.

 

The only way to determine what is causing repeated outbreaks on the same ship is to do what the epidemiologists do, and study the track of reported illnesses on a daily basis. If the number of reported cases peaks during a cruise, and then tapers off towards the end of the cruise, followed by either a cruise with no reported case (I don't think I've ever seen a cruise without at least one GI case reported, so let's say "few"), and then a subsequent cruise with a spike, or a spike within a day or so of the start of the next cruise, they will say that the virus was re-introduced by a new passenger (the only change in the eco-system that could have caused a change in pattern). If the incidence spikes and remains high throughout a cruise, and remains high over the change of passengers, then they feel that it is a crew member who is re-introducing the virus or that the remediation methods are not working. So, simply saying that because a ship has multiple outbreaks over a few months, that the "ship" has a problem is not entirely valid, without further investigation.

I was on the effected sailing during February. To be honest it didnt overly effect our trip. Princess took appropriate action and luckily we didnt get the virus. Noro is everwhere. Atleast on a ship they alert you of the presence.

I am currrently on the Golden Princess. I was surprised to see supervised hand washing basins at either end of the buffet. Perhaps this needs to be included at the next dry dock for the Sun Princess, as I have not heard of any noro cases on this ship so far. It appears to have made a big difference. The hand sanitiser is still the norm for the MDRs.

To the OP, I wouldn't be too concerned about your upcoming cruise - be alert as normal and do the right things.She will have a very thorough clean before you board.

We got off the Sun Aug 20th. Our boarding on the 10th was delayed for both the ship and port terminal to be cleansed. I remember hearing at the time that Brisbane was experiencing higher than normal cases of gastro bugs. Once on board the normal practices of no self service, doors to public toilets left open and constant cleaning of tables and surfaces in common contact, etc. Not to mention constant reminders to wash hands and sanitise. We did not experience any problems nor did we hear of anyone with illness. Princess, like all other cruise lines, do a good job to minimise these outbreaks. I think we as passengers need to behave responsibly with personal hygiene too.