bluenosecruiser55

I wonder why most hospitals use dryers rather than paper towels. I prefer towels, but understand why dryers are more practical for many businesses, especially ships.

Wow, where are these hospitals that use hand dryers?? As I mentioned earlier, I have never ever seen or heard of hospitals using hand dryers, in Canada. That goes against infection control standards in so many ways. Hand washing might seem like a simple matter but I can assure you that the majority of the population does not wash or sanitize their hands effectively. We conduct hand washing and hand sanitizing simulations using a solution that when applied to the hands and checked under a black light, reveals just how effective your technique is. This is in a health care setting where everyone knows how to wash or sanitize their hands right? Wrong. That is why we do it. Google Hand Hygiene and the World Health Organization.

My comments are not assumptions. I have seen the removal of used dishes, soiled table cloths, napkins and the resetting of the table without any indication of hand hygiene in between.

With regard to wiping your mouth with a napkin being just as dirty as blowing your nose into it, you must be joking. Gently pressing a napkin to ones mouth to wipe away any possible food is a far cry from blowing mucous from your nose into a napkin. Yes the mouth is dirty but I have yet to see anyone stuff a napkin into their dirty mouth and run it around inside. However, based on some of the behaviours indicated on this thread, that might very well be happening.

Sorry, following the thread and my response ended up here. Reply to pacruise804

Wow, I see them cleaning the railings constantly.

Yes, I do as well, on all the different cruise lines, however if what they are cleaning with is not a disinfectant, then all they are doing is polishing. Various forms of bacteria can live on inanimate objects for months.

Best bet is to refrain if possible from touching railings. Just watch all the Hand coughers running their germ laden hands on those railings. That goes for a lot of things but then I am a germaphobe. Use that Purell every chance you get!

I can't answer that for hospitals, but I suspect that any business that uses dryers does so for long term cost reduction and not for health reasons.

I am an operating room nurse and have worked in health care for 44 years, in Canada. I have never seen or heard of dryers being used in place of paper towels in hospitals. For many reasons this would not be a desirable option in health care settings. Cost being the least of the problems.

Now that you mention it, sometime watch the servers clear a table with used silverware, glasses, plates, etc, then turn right around and grab a dessert utensil and put it in front of someone.

 

Bleh

My comments are not assumptions. I have seen the removal of used dishes, soiled table cloths, napkins and the resetting of the table without any indication of hand hygiene in between.

With regard to wiping your mouth with a napkin being just as dirty as blowing your nose into it, you must be joking. Gently pressing a napkin to ones mouth to wipe away any possible food is a far cry from blowing mucous from your nose into a napkin. Yes the mouth is dirty but I have yet to see anyone stuff a napkin into their dirty mouth and run it around inside. However, based on some of the behaviours indicated on this thread, that might very well be happening.

You've never sneezed before you had a chance to:

 

1) Make to the bathroom, which could be across ship?

 

2) Dig through your purse to find that tissue (not a problem I have as i don't carry a purse...I do have a hanky in my back pocket, but even then a sneeze can come on before I get to it)?

 

I'd rather someone, who suddenly has to sneeze do it into a table napkin which WILL BE STERILIZED AND WASHED before next use, than even their elbow crook where it could spray and might certainly stain their shirt. To me THAT'S common sense. Heck, you wipe your MOUTH with that napkin, which has plenty of nasty germs and probably some saliva on it. How is that much better?

I have to agree with you on the sudden sneeze. There is no time and you wouldn't do that into your elbow crook anyway, but blowing your nose into the dinner napkin when you have a choice, is just disgusting.

While the "Washy washy" girls will not give you any wall-to-wall counselling for not using the sanitizer, they will point it out to you several times and give you the evil eye if you don't use it. Of course, a little wall-to-wall counseling would be beneficial for some cruises.

 

So no, the won't "make" you use it but only a blind/deaf/a$$ person would not know that it is expected.

We did not see any crew members at any of the places to dine on the Carnival Horizon, offering hand sanitizer. The stand alone dispensers were there as well as the touch less hand washing area at the Marketplace but VERY few guests using them. We have seem the crew on RCI and Celebrity but they certainly don't "make" people use it and you do see people walk right by.

The thing is, if everyone is not in compliance, then the handles of the serving utensils at the buffets are "dirty" from all those who have coughed into their hands, passed the soap and water on the way out from the washrooms and God knows what else. We clean our hands only to have them contaminated moments later by those people. My solution was to carry a pocket size hand sanitizer and clean my hands again before eating.

I agree using a napkin instead of a tissue is no big deal. The napkins are washed. Once upon a time, babies used cloth diapers and those were washed and reused too. If poop will wash out of cloth I think snot will as well. I don't think blowing into a tissue at the table would be any less obnoxious.

The difference between using the napkin and a tissue is that the server or dining staff unknowingly, have to handle that disgusting, snotty, germ filled napkin and most likely not wash their hands before setting up the table for the next guests. Hopefully a tissue would be put into a pocket for later disposal. But judging by the observations and comments here, that would probably make too much sense. Another reason to carry a pocket size hand gel.

I see a lot of complaints about people blowing their nose into napkins. Where are they supposed to blow their nose into?

 

 

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How about excusing yourself and going to the washroom where there is tissue? Carry tissue in your pocket or in your purse. If you need to blow your nose, there’s a really good chance this was not the first time you needed to do it. Common sense.

When I posted this question I knew there were disgusting people out there but I have to admit this whole thing has far exceeded my imagination.

If people do these things in public I shudder to think about is done in private. l certainly hope some of the offenders read these comments and take note but then come to think of it, people doing these things probably don't have enough sense to think there is anything wrong in the first place.

NO WAY.... The pizza is good on carnival

I would say the pizza crust is good. Otherwise the choices are somewhat bland. The only pizza with vegetables is just mushroom. Too bad if you are a vegetarian and don't like mushrooms.

We are interested in any of the menus aboard the Horizon. The drink menus as well as the dining menus. And a special question regarding the Art of Dessert, is this in Fahrenheit 555?

Thanks for your information!:)

We were on the Horizon Inaugural Cruise. Overall we found the food to be terrible. A lot of fried foods, bland tasting dishes at the buffet, not a lot of healthy choices. The made to order omlets at breakfast were good. Many times things were warm to cold.

The first formal night they served lobster in the dining room and it was the best meal we had in the diningroom. The lobster was perfectly cooked. We only ended up going 4 times because of the menu choices and the very slow service.

The Bonsai Teppanaki Grill was excellent. We went there twice. The Seafood Shack was not good but that may have been what we ordered as others claimed their crab legs and steamed clams were quite good. The clam chowder was so, so and mine had a hair in it.

The lobster rolls have a lot of mayo!

Fahrenheit 555 was just ok. Not comparable to the other seafood steak house speciality restaurants we have experienced on other cruise lines. We did order the Art of Dessert which was a nice presentation however it was very sweet. Most of it we did not eat, sugar candy jelly logs, fudge, a white chocolate ? Dome with ice cream inside. The raspberry coulis was very good but was unfortunately just decoration.

The food at the The Blue Iguana was very good, fresh and tasty.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, good luck.

I don't see what's wrong with this. Maybe he was saving it for later? Bacon is good to eat later in the day. He had it wrapped up so it's not like it was getting dirty.

We saw a few Asian women take hard boiled eggs, the little boxes of cereal, small cartons of milk, bananas and crossiants all out of their knapsack while on a bus tour! Really. Guess no one told them lunch was included. And no it wasn’t their breakfast because I saw them at the breakfast buffet.

Maybe it’s just me but I have witnessed some pretty disgusting things on board cruises. On my recent Horizen cruise I saw a woman at a table for 8 in the dining room, flossing her teeth, looking at it and continuing. The other people at her table paid no mind to the activity. They were a group together and actually had 3 large tables.

Also found ......Toe nail clippings on one of our balcony chairs! This is a brand new ship. It wasn’t me or my husband. Where did that come from?

More stories from other cruises but just wondering??

Maybe this thread might enlighten people as to what is considered inappropriate and or offensive public behaviour.

Just returned from Carnival Horizen’s Inaugural Cruise. Brand new ship yet came home with respiratory infection which developed about 10 days into cruise. Noticed a lot of people coughing at Embarkation and throughout cruise.

Have been on 31 cruises with various cruise lines and have only been sick 4 times toward the end or after cruise. Always have a balcony and allow fresh air into the cabin periodically.

I am neurotic about sanitizing my environment on planes, hotels and cruise ships. I work in health care focusing on infection control and hand hygiene is paramount to me. Considering incubation period I am quite certain I picked this up on the ship despite my efforts. The people in the cabin next to us were constantly coughing. The majority of people STILL cough into their hands and contaminate everything they come in contact with. Blowing their noses into tissues and balling them up and stuffing them in their pockets. Yikes!!

I witnessed numerous people filling their personal water bottles at water and juice dispensers by placing the nozzle right into or at the very top of their bottles. I told one woman on that she couldn’t do that and she became aggressive and bilergant indicating she paid her money and could do what she liked and to mind my own business.

I tried to tell her it was unsanitary to fill it that way but she missed the point, still yelling at me. I saw so many disgusting behaviours that if I Cruise again, and it won’t be with Carnival but that’s another story, I will not eat at the buffet.

The soft ice cream, self serve area is another place to pick up germs. I saw kids taking cones and shoving them back when too many came out, touching the ice cream spout with fingers. I reported that to a crew member immediately who took care of the situation. This is what I saw in my brief visits to the buffet. Can only imagine what I didn’t see.

They have several Purell stands and even an excellent touch free hand washing area but not many people using either from what I saw.

There are lots of areas around the ship to be mindful of touching. I carry a pocket size hand sanitizer around with me. The public use computer and iPad stations are also teaming with bacteria and I would bet they are not sanitized.

Did you know that studies have shown personal mobile devices to have 18 times more bacteria than the flush handle of a public toilet?

Remember to wipe your devices regularly with Lysol wipes. It will not harm the screens.

No crew members were encouraging passengers to sanitize at dining areas. No signage.

I think Cruise Lines should make this a priority and post something daily in their bulletins about keeping healthy on board ship. Everyone is affected and can become infected in an environment such as a cruise ship.

Also unless your travel partner is as diligent as you are about hand hygiene, you are fighting a loosing battle.

Lots of good suggestions in the various threads. Good luck!

I am still sick in bed and missing work after my 17 day vacation . Guess it could have been worse.

Would love to know if anyone else on that cruise came back with a respiratory infection?

Just returned from Carnival Horizen’s Inaugural Cruise. Brand new ship yet came home with respiratory infection which developed about 10 days into cruise. Noticed a lot of people coughing at Embarkation and throughout cruise.

Have been on 31 cruises with various cruise lines and have only been sick 4 times toward the end or after cruise. Always have a balcony and allow fresh air into the cabin periodically.

I am neurotic about sanitizing my environment on planes, hotels and cruise ships. I work in health care focusing on infection control and hand hygiene is paramount to me. Considering incubation period I am quite certain I picked this up on the ship despite my efforts. The people in the cabin next to us were constantly coughing. The majority of people STILL

cough into their hands and contaminate everything they come in contact with.

I witnessed numerous people filling their personal water bottles at water and juice dispensers by placing the nozzle right into or at the very top of their bottles. I told one woman on that she couldn’t do that and she became aggressive and bilergant indicating she paid her money and could do what she liked and to mind my own business.

I tried to tell her it was unsanitary to fill it that way but she missed the point, still yelling at me. I saw so many disgusting behaviours that if I Cruise again, and it won’t be with Carnival but that’s another story, I will not eat at the buffet.

The soft ice cream, self serve area is another place to pick up germs. I saw kids taking cones and shoving them back when too many came out, touching the ice cream spout with fingers. I reported that to a crew member immediately who took care of the situation. This is what I saw in brief vista to buffet. Can only imagine what I didn’t see.

They have several Purell stands and even an excellent touch free hand washing area but not many people using either from what I saw.

No crew members are encouraging passengers to sanitize. No signage.

I think Cruise Lines should make this a priority and post something daily in their bulletins about keeping healthy on board ship. Everyone is affected and can become infected in an environment such as a cruise ship.

Also unless your travel partner is as diligent as you are about hand hygiene, you are fighting a loosing battle.

I am still sick in bed and missing work after my 17 day vacation . Guess it could have been worse.

Would love to know if anyone else on that cruise came back with a respiratory infection?