CruiserPK

I am planning to write up and post photos of our 2/12 - 2/20 (shortened) cruise later this afternoon. Can't decide if I should post here, on the 25% thread, or start a new thread. :rolleyes: This thread has become a discussion of all things from blame to talking about many different cruises and what happened on those cruise versus the 2/12 cruise. :eek: Getting confusing. :confused:

Glad to hear you are posting pictures. I wish I would have taken some pictures of the dripping walls and staff spraying in the casino, where guest were sitting, in mask, protective clothing, and rubber gloves and boots.

I would like to see the pictures on a new thread.

I took tons of photos of the cleaning crew and some in my cabin of all the wet surfaces. Unless you were there, it is hard to comprehend how this impacted your vacation. Looking forward to reading your review and seeing your photos.

Sounds just like our 2/12 cruise except that maybe the staff/crew got a rest and/or Oceania brought in some outside cleaners to do the jobs that the crew should not have had to do to begin with. I assume that service is back to normal Oceania standards?

 

You are correct that no one person is to blame. Oceania is now doing what it can to get the situation under control. I do hope it works. ;)

 

The public bathrooms are mentioned a few times here...a place that I tried to avoid altogether on cruiseships. It's just not the exit doors that one need to worry about. If a passenger goes into a bathroom stall, they must first flush using a finger and then open the stall latch to get out. If that passenger failed to wash their hands afterward, they could be picking up the germs of a sick passenger that was in that stall, prior.

 

With passengers running in and out of those restrooms, have there been cleaning procedures between patrons? I used the public restroom on our embarkation day, before we could get into our stateroom, and again on our last night when we were dining in Polo. Neither time did I see an attendant in the washrooms. In fact, the washroom outside of Polo's was not very clean. On our particular cruiseline of choice, there seem to always be washroom attendants cleaning up as passengers come and go.

 

I am planning to write up and post photos of our 2/12 - 2/20 (shortened) cruise later this afternoon. Can't decide if I should post here, on the 25% thread, or start a new thread. :rolleyes: This thread has become a discussion of all things from blame to talking about many different cruises and what happened on those cruise versus the 2/12 cruise. :eek: Getting confusing. :confused:

Except for embarkation day, I never used a public restroom on our 2/12 cruise. That seemed to be a logical place to avoid given our situation. Having a washroom attendant would have been a great solution, not just keeping the outside door open. I also avoided all elevators and never touched a handrail while walking up and down stairs. Now I know that is not possible for all guests, but it worked well for my husband and me. I certainly hope the current voyage goes without an incident.

I think everyone on this forum should take a little time to read the CDC report on all the lapses on Riviera and then make a judgement !!!

 

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionDetailReport.aspx?ColI=MTg3ODAxOTg%3d-XwyRKC/Tqa8%3d

 

I picked out one of the many items in breach of Hygine requirements which interestingly referes to the Dec 2nd cruise.

 

Item No.: 11

Site: Medical-Crew Member Late Reporting of Acute Gastroenteritis (AGE)

Violation: On 13 December, a junior utility cleaner (food worker) had an onset of AGE symptoms at 0930, reported to medical at 2115 and worked while symptomatic. On 4 December, a waitress (food worker) had on onset of AGE symptoms at 0930, reported to medical at 1700, and worked while symptomatic. On 4 December, an assistant buffet waiter (food worker) had an onset of AGE symptoms at 1800, reported to medical on 5 December at 1015, and worked and ate at the crew mess while symptomatic. On 24 November, an assistant cabin steward had on onset of AGE symptoms at 0230, reported to medical at 1530, and worked and ate at the crew mess while symptomatic. All four food workers were disciplined for late reporting of AGE symptoms.

Recommendation: When food employees meet the case definition for AGE, ensure the following actions are taken: (1) isolate in cabin or designated restricted area until symptom-free for a minimum of 48 hours; (2) follow-up with and receive approval by designated medical personnel before returning crew to work; (3) document date and time of last symptom and clearance to return to work. When nonfood employees meet the case definition for AGE, ensure the following actions are taken: (1) isolate in cabin or designated restricted area until symptom-free for a minimum of 24 hours; (2) follow-up with and receive approval by designated medical personnel before returning crew to work; (3) document the date and time of last symptom and clearance to return to work.

I absolutely agree. The line management on the ship needs some serious work if they are going to continue to have these Norovirus outbreaks. Also, the senior management on the ship needs to take better care of their passengers. They hid behind their doors during on our 2/12 cruise and we found our information on the CDC website. Our prior 55 days at sea with O had been fabulous and this was so disappointing.

Very disturbing news. I can't imagine CDC is very happy with this cruise line at the moment.

We have always noticed the procedure getting on and off the ship with the ID cards issued to guests. The security person who takes your card has just touched the cards of the hundreds of people before you.

 

At our gym we hold up our cards and the receptionist wands the cards ... the cards never leave our hands. No transmission of pathogens.

 

Given the recent norovirus situation on the Riveria wouldn't this make sense?

On our 2/12 voyage, we held up our cards and they were scanned. The security person never touched my card that I recall.

Something that has not been talked about is the fact that probably many more people were afflicted with Noro that the "official" number on the CDC report. It has been often stated that people do what they want and once they find out that they will be quarantined, they don't report to the sick bay or let the official on board know. With that said, there is no way to know how many actual people were sick to so no way to know how many went to each hotel or on airplanes heading for home.

 

It has already been reported by a person professing to not be sick that he or she was put on a bus with sick people. Also, so far no indication that anyone has or has not boarded Riviera on this message board so no telling how much Noro is floating around Miami.

 

What a fine kettle of fish you've gotten us into Oceania!!!!! Wondering what might be on the evening news tonight??

The numbers on the CDC website for sick passengers from our 2/12 voyage has now increased to 124 which is over 10% of the passengers. Considering one passenger has already reported being sick at one of the hotels, the accurate number will never be known. However, an outbreak at one of the Miami hotels where the passengers stayed post cruise will be a real problem for O.

Well i guess those that posted that the hotel they are at thought it was mechanical issues.... must be liars then

I was the one who wrote about the mechanical issues that were mentioned by a member of the staff at the Grand Hyatt Coral Gables. A friend arrived just after we did and one of the hotel employees greeted her with with the comment that he was sorry they experienced mechanical issues on the ship and their cruise was cut short. Perhaps this employee was not informed of the virus and assumed the ship had mechanical trouble. I don't know but was not trying to be accused of lying.

We were on the Nov18-Dec 2 cruise with a Noro outbreak that affected all on the ship. Not only were we not given official information, we did not get any port charges back for missing Bermuda, nor were we offered any $ - whether in OBC/refund or % off a future cruise. On a recent cruise with another line we missed the port of Grand Cayman - within 5 minutes of the Captain making the decision he made an announcement that included an apology. Later in the day yet another apology by the Captain, followed by a letter delivered to our cabin. Every passenger received a $50 OBC and a glass of champagne with dinner. A class act! I am totally on the side of the passengers - corporate Oceania needs to rethink how they treat their customers - first timers - or loyal followers. We have been on several ships that had Noro on board - code orange and red. In comparing how the illness was handled from one line to another Oceania loses - big time!

I would love to know what cruise line handled your missed port situation if you are willing to share. That was the perfect way to make the guests feel valued. The note of apology and OBC would have been satisfactory but the champagne added a really nice touch. That was exactly the correct response and leads to loyalty to a cruise line. Oceania has gone totally in the opposite direction with their handling of all the recent Norovirus outbreaks on Riviera.

Does anyone know what this "fog" agent is? :confused::confused:

I was told it was Oxivir. Here is a link to some information about the product: http://www.diversey.com/cleanerandhealthier/en/products/oxivir

I know this was a bad cruise, but don't toss the baby out with he bath water. We were on Oceania in April and I don't believe it's possible to bring a line down in 10 months. But this will be a true test given the last 10 days. If the staff can bounce back from this, I'll give them a huge gold star.

Heather I certainly hope your cruise lives up to your expectations and no further Norovirus episodes happen on Riviera. It is a beautiful ship but there is much for the home office to learn from the last couple of months with all the Norovirus outbreaks on Riviera. Management ashore and onboard the ship left the dirty work to the lower level staff for the 2/12 sailing and refused to interface with their customers.

The "fogging" was done on our cruise both during the nights along the halls, and during at least one morning in staterooms on our deck. We walked into the fog when leaving our stateroom one morning. Scary!

I also walked into the "fogging" when I was trying to access the private spa terrace deck one morning. The entire hallway was filled with fog and there was no sign telling passengers to refrain from opening the door. I immediately covered my face and left as quickly as possible. Agree that it was scary.

I have decided to wait a couple of days before I post my thoughts regarding my experience on this notorious Riviera cruise.

 

However, I really enjoyed seeing three Oceania employees sitting outside the door of the private breakfast buffet room of our Miami hotel set up for the 80 or so passengers bussed here last night from Riviera while we all served ourselves breakfast this morning with shared utensils, etc.

This is exactly why we left the ship by taxi to the Grand Hyatt and left the hotel at 6am the following morning. I knew the breakfast buffet was cause for concern. There was also a buffet of light snacks available when we arrived on Saturday night. It included platters of sandwiches and sweets that were self serve only.

While I certainly have empathy for those passengers that were onboard the Riviera on the last cruise, it seems that passengers are looking for whom to blame and Oceania seems the likely choice. As has been mentioned, suing Oceania will get you nowhere and may be a exercise in futility.

 

From what I'm reading, the service suffered (amongst other things) partially because the crew were spending so much time disinfecting the ship. Passengers had to deal with wet surfaces which must have been uncomfortable (to say the least). My question to the passengers (once you have had a chance to recover from the cruise), is what, IYO (in your opinion) what was the crew suppose to do? Nothing? IMO, the ship had to be disinfected - every possible surface - in order to begin the containment of the virus.

 

There is no question that this was not a pleasant cruise, however, if the equivalent of "Typhoid Mary" boarded the ship - told no one - did not visit the doctor or stay in her cabin and people began to get sick, is this Oceania's.fault?

 

If you read the contract between Oceania and passengers, they have no legal liability. However, Oceania management cares very much about their passengers and therefore offered the 25% discount and 25% off a future cruise (in addition to "housing" passengers for 2 nights).

 

In any case, perhaps the Center for Disease Control should look more deeply into what, if any, possible immunity crew members and/or children have when it comes to norovirus. Are most crew members immune because of something they do or because they have been able to build up immunity after being around sick passengers for so long?[/quote

 

The Norovirus can live a very long time on many surfaces. Why wouldn't we think Oceania is responsible when 3% had the virus two days into our cruise which is within the normal incubation period? We were allowed on a ship that had not been thoroughly sanitized. The library was open on embarkation day and locked the next day because it had not been sanitized. However, many of us had already gotten books. Perhaps someone got sick from handling a book that had virus germs. The casino was not being appropriately cleaned with sanitizer after people used the slot machines. Decks of cards and gaming chips were used daily during the cruise at the gambling tables yet we were not given mid cruise comment cards due to possible contamination. We wrongly assumed the casino would be shut down and looked there after the announcement was made that we reached the 3% threshold and CDC had to be notified. To my knowledge, it was open throughout the cruise.

 

We boarded only 30 minutes after normal boarding, not the 2 hours suggested in the email we received. We were not allowed in cabins until much later than normal and I suspect that passengers may have wandered around since nothing was roped off. I don't think this was the fault of the passengers. If you had no prior experience with Norovirus you had no idea how critical it was to avoid any public spaces until you knew they had been appropriately cleaned. Roping off the areas or having doors shut with signs on them would have been an appropriate option, or better yet, don't let passengers board until the ship has been totally cleaned after an outbreak of the Norovirus.

 

It is an all around terrible situation that was made worse yesterday with people getting sick after we disembarked. I feel terrible for those boarding tomorrow. I don't see how it will be possible to make that ship Norovirus free in such a short period of time.

We spoke with passengers who were quarantined two days to six of the eight days of the cruise. And both husband and wife quarantined together. On the last days we had to show our shipboard cards at each restaurant to ensure we were not quarantined. Last night we were met at the Miami pier by all personnel wearing masks and gloves. We felt like outcasts. Then we boarded a bus for hotel paid for by Oceania. Today I'm sick and taking medicine.

Having survived the cruise, now I get sick. But there were many on the bus who had been quarantined. We should not have gotten on the bus. So sad an experience. And no 25 percent is not enough!

I am so sorry you got sick today. We skipped the bus ride and took a cab last night after getting off the boat very early after they called for disembarkation. (No flaming please, it was our color called) We left the hotel at 6:00am this morning to avoid any further contact with anyone that might have contracted the Norovirus at the end of the cruise. We arm praying we stay well. Hopefully this doesn't last too long for you.

Maybe the cabin they were in had a bad connection some cabins are just not the best location to get a signal for internet

 

I had to go to another area on the ship to get a signal

I wish that had been the case. He called reception and was told his internet had been disconnected.

The sense I got was that this was due to the person breaking quarantine. Perhaps the person in question was sneaking down to use the computer room and denying the access was the only way to force compliance. From what I am reading, there are always some people who think the rules do not apply to them and try to break the quarantine. But I am guessing.

 

Donna

 

 

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The person I heard about was a retired judge and he did not ever consider breaking quarantine. We must be speaking about two different passengers.

However, I was told there was a passenger who kept sneaking down to gamble and actually was caught sick at one of the slot machines. The story is that he was thrown off the ship.

A letter was sent from Oceania to the TA's advising that we will have late boarding tomorrow. I posted the contents of that letter on our roll call so you can read it there if you like. The boarding time for suites is 1:30 PM and general boarding at 2 PM. If that changes, or I hear any additional info, I will post it on our roll call.

We got the identical email for our sailing on 2/12 and the ship actually boarded just 30 minutes late. When we arrived at the terminal just before 12:00pm, there were passengers who had already boarded the ship.

Why would internet access be denied? Bad publicity? And if someone is quarantined due to a cabin mate's illness, how does he eat? Will food be delivered? Will some type of nourishment be delivered for ill person? Will the cabin be cleaned? I understand why the medical center must be notified. But must a visit (and exorbitant charge) be necessary? I've never needed to visit a doctor for a stomach virus. I want to be prepared and follow protocol, but this is a cruise, not a prison, and blocking internet seems way out of order!

I heard about the internet denial last night at the bar in our hotel after we got off the ship. While I did not talk to the passenger affected, a friend did. Food was delivered with disposable plate, cups etc. We saw the red hazmat bags in the hall for the laundry of those in quarantine. I have no knowledge as to whether crew members cleaned the cabins.

The compensation package is woefully inadequate. Another issue to consider is your personal health Which you cannot quality in $$. My concern is the constant inhalation of harsh chemicals and the fact that we were in that situation for 8 straight days. I intend to seek medical advice once I have returned home.

The staff at the Grand Hyatt Coral Gables thought the passengers were there for two nights due to a mechanical issue on the ship. This was my experience at one hotel, and who knows about the others. I know passengers were also at airport hotels, a Marriott someone in the area, the Pullman and the Trump Doral.

I'm writing from our hotel in Miami, excited to be headed to the airport this morning. As someone posted, the norovirus can happen on any ship, but, how the cruise ship handles the situation is a true test of the management at the head office and onboard the ship. In this case, both were reactive instead of proactive and the senior staff onboard were practically invisible. A passenger who happened to be a retired director of the CDC in Canada had a lot to say about the disease, chemicals being used on ship and the opportunities for passengers still to be infected once off the ship. Suffice it to say, we were sent off the ship none the wiser thanks to O, but most thankful for the guidance to leave our luggage in the garage and to clean everything with Lysol. Staff at our hotel in Miami thought the ship had mechanical problems so who knows which hotels (there are many) could now have a norovirus outbreak in Miami.

My biggest concern is the chemicals that we were exposed to constantly. These were harsh chemicals that were on as many surfaces as the poor working people chould get to. For example, a member in the gym saw me wiping down a mat prior to use. He said that I didn't need too, that the chemical he had used was 10 times stronger than the Lysol wipes provided. I was concerned there might be pregnant crew members aboard and expressed this thought to one of the staff. Unfortunately there was one who was put in isolation due to stomach pain and hopefully she and her baby survive this horrible situation.

I would never knowingly board a cruise ship that had a history of norovirus after this fiasco of a trip. We are very thankful neither of us have gotten the sick, but will remain diligent for the next few days. I really hope CDC keeps this ship in Miami for a week for a top to bottom thorough cleaning. Clearly there are problems that need to be addressed.

We boarded a sick ship on February 12th and unfortunately the voyage has deteriorated greatly the more days we have sailed. The only information we have received has been through the CDC website and not from any senior staff onboard who have been barely visible. Everything about this cruise has been vastly altered from a normal cruise and frankly our goal is to disembark without getting the Norovirus. Oceania has given us a 25% refund for a cruise that has been shortened by basically 25% of our voyage. A speed route back to Miami for two days is not a normal cruise experience. Please do not judge how we should feel about this compensation. I am hoping our trip insurance will cover the two days we are off the ship and some other expenses we are incurring to get safely back home.

We are greatly enjoying our Uniworld cruise now on River Ambassador. While my husband and I are early 60's, the fitness director thought I was 50. I run marathons, he plays golf and we also bike at home. The fitness facilities and accessibility to bikes is a huge plus for us and they do not offer that on Viking. I need to be active every day and it is possible with Uniworld. As a side note, our ocean cruising preferences are Oceania and used to be Regent (over 125 nights) until they were taken over.

We are on a Uniworld cruise departing 8/9 from Vienna to Basil. Today, our travel agent informed us that we are now on a different vessel changed from River Ambassador to River Duchess, but our cruise is still on as planned. Hopefully the recent rainfall will keep us from having any ship changes or unplanned bus excursions.

Just so people do not think the above post is from a "troll", it is not. My husband started his own cruise critic account and wrote our final conclusions to our cruise from December. It is quite sad that after so many wonderful Regent cruises, our last few were not up to prior standards that we had come to love about the brand.