norovirus again on Boudicca

[bermic]

Just got off the Boudicca this morning with a sick wife suffering from norovirus.We thought we had got away with not contracting the illness which we understand has affected 40% of the passengers and 10% of the crew but when my wife woke up this morning she suddenly felt very ill.What a journey home!!

There must be a serious problem with this ship as this is the second outbreak in as many months,either the ship is dirty or members of the crew are carrying this bug. This really has been the cruise from hell.:mad:

[Host Sharon]

It is usually brought on board by passengers and passed the same way...by passengers not using the hand gel in the restaurants or washing after using the toilets. I'm sorry your wife is ill. Hopefully she will have recovered well in time for Christmas.

[Oarsman55]

It is usually brought on board by passengers and passed the same way...by passengers not using the hand gel in the restaurants or washing after using the toilets. I'm sorry your wife is ill. Hopefully she will have recovered well in time for Christmas.

 

I'm no longer entirely convinced by this argument - there have been a couple of cases recently affecting top restaurants, and in both cases it has proved to come from the staff. It's obviously much easier for the authorities to isolate the cause in a small restaurant with fewer staff and customers, but if the staff have been proved to be the carriers in these cases, it would seem logical to think that this may apply on ships.

 

We'll probably never know.

[nanga gaat]

Very sorry to hear of your wife getting norovirus on Boudicca.

We were due to sail on Nov 18th for 18 nights in this ship but were advised there was norovirus onboard. I managed to cancel and get a full refund. Both that cruise and the previous cruise saw some passengers struck down with it.

The ship needs to be laid up for a few days and thoroughly sanitised instead of that she has sailed tonight for a mini cruise albeit a bit late (2000).

[westmorland sailor]

I contracted the norovirus during the 8th November cruise. The Boudicca was first in the news with the virus as early as mid-October and here we are in middle of December and it is obvious that the virus is still on board. I understand that we took on extra medical staff in Lisbon to cope with the outbreak on board during our cruise. Fred Olsen cannot do more than try to contain an outbreak and we know how difficult it is for them but as I have said in posts in the past, the quick turn round of these ships must be adding to the problem. How can you properly disinfect them in so short a time.

 

Also it does make you wonder if someone on board is not the carrier - I agree that it is all too easy to blame embarking passengers. We were not informed of the problem before we embarked otherwise I would have cancelled the trip as I have an underlying medical condition. As soon as we went on board there were restrictions and that was before we left Portsmouth! This was taken off after two days and then put back on again when people fell ill.

 

I really like Fred Olsen but these outbreaks are putting me off booking with them again.

[merecat]

Has closed nursing homes ,hospitals ,delayed operations across the country ,its worse than the common cold ,too many people crowded in this small island of ours.

 

Its been around for decades but is getting worse.:eek:

[bermic]

Thank you all for your kind concern and good wishes regarding my wifes recovery.She was so ill yesterday that we could not complete a 4 hour car journey and we had to divert to our sons house who lives about half way where she went straight to bed and stayed there till this morning when we completed our journey home. I agree with previous comments about the quick turn round of these ships and feel cruise lines are putting their profits ahead of passenger safety.There is no excuse for people who have paid a lot of money and go on board a cruise ship feeling fit and well, to leave that ship feeling very ill and upset with the thought that a holiday that had been eagerly awaited, finishes up like this. I think Fred. Olsen have a lot to answer for because they MUST know that they have a serious problem with this ship,and they appear to be burying their heads in the sand and hoping it all goes away. I can assure them that listening to the angry fellow passengers on the cruise,they are going to be inundated with complaints and claims for compensation.

[WinnieB]

I am sorry to hear about your wife's illness. We were also on board. My husband was struck by the virus on Monday and was cabin bound for 48 hours. No fun, I can tell you, and we were two of the younger passengers. We felt very much for the older people affected.

 

Illness aside, closed pools/whirlpools, no casino, and a lesser experience in the restaurant - while no doubt necessary - pretty much put a damper on things for the rest of us. Added of course to the general paranoia of 'being next'.

 

I do have to say that I didn't hear anyone complain. People just seemed to battle through it as best as they could. However, Fred Olsen would be wrong to presume that customers' dignified acceptance of the situation warrants a lack of action on their behalf. Norovirus doesn't seem to happen as much on other lines, though that is only my perception.

[pacitoben]

No wonder cruise ships are often struck down with the Norovirus ! The first thing I noted, on a cruise to Norway last Spring, is how easily bugs could spread from cabin to cabin through the stuffy, hot, and unbelievably narrow, little corridors !! And NO, so called air conditioning does NOT help and can often make the situation actually worse !! It doesn't matter whether you are in first class accommodation or in "the hold", the hygiene facilities are all the same. Maids shunt through from room to room with the SAME cleaning equipment that has been used to "clean" the previous cabin and dirty towels and sheets, plus leftover breakfasts , are all left outside in the corridors - often for a considerable length of time. It only takes one bug carrier to set going a landslide through the whole of that corridor and then beyond !! Surely, if I was a Noro Bug I'd think I was in Paradise !!!

 

The greed of cruise lines has got to stop !! If there is a serious health problem on board then the ship has got to be put out of action for at least 96 hours and THOROUGHLY fumigated and ALL original cleaning cloths etc burnt, so that the continual return of bugs like the Norovirus, as has happened on the Boudicca, have some chance of being eradicated.

At the moment one lot of passengers is being tossed off and another load thrown in within a few hours - NOT GOOD ENOUGH !!!!!

[Freecall]

As long as cruise lines allow self service buffets this will be a problem. The antiseptic gel helps a little but the fact is there will be traces of the infection all over the ship which is picked up on people’s hands. This is then transferred to shared utensils at the buffet, gets on others hands and into their mouths.

 

Unfortunately in order to keep costs down, only the upmarket cruise lines now have 100% served eating.

 

This is not such a problem for the crew who isolate themselves from the passengers and tend not to share utensils. This is then reflected in the infection figures which in this case saw over 100 passengers fall ill but only 8 crew members.

[Berkshire Lass]

Whilst I do not absolve ship owners for some responsibility over Norovirus I would draw your attention to the following link:

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/outbreaks2009.html

It does show that all cruise lines seem to have this and other similar bugs at some time or other. The mention of cleaning cloths etc. gets me on to my pet bug in ships or hotels. My feelings are that cleaning cloths (specific ones for specific jobs) should be thrown away after each cabin/room cleaning. Also special attention should go into regular cleaning of light switches, door handles, TV remote controls (the average one has millions of germs) and also keyboards in the internet room. Buffets definitely are a source of cross contamination but, unfortunately, we all like them.

[Freecall]

Whilst I do not absolve ship owners for some responsibility over Norovirus I would draw your attention to the following link:

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/outbreaks2009.html

It does show that all cruise lines seem to have this and other similar bugs at some time or other. The mention of cleaning cloths etc. gets me on to my pet bug in ships or hotels. My feelings are that cleaning cloths (specific ones for specific jobs) should be thrown away after each cabin/room cleaning. Also special attention should go into regular cleaning of light switches, door handles, TV remote controls (the average one has millions of germs) and also keyboards in the internet room. Buffets definitely are a source of cross contamination but, unfortunately, we all like them.

 

The document makes interesting reading. I am sure that genuine efforts are made by the cruise lines to avoid the spread of infection. Apart from anything else, it is in their commercial interest to do so.

 

You are absolutely right that all cruise lines are affected and that the cleaning of areas of the ship that we all have to touch (stair rails, chairs, door handles….the list goes on) is an important part of this. It is the use of shared eating utensils that remains one of the principal problems however because of their relationship with ingestion of food.

 

The cruise lines know this and stop the practice when there is a severe outbreak on board (Celebrity do so at least) but simply do not have the facilities to maintain this level of service all the times.

[merecat]

When they have deep cleaned the ship ,they then need to do the embarkation lounge and walkways ,then the busses and taxi s ,it could be never ending.

 

People would still blame the ship if it was picked up off the suitcase handle that had been touched by a land side porter.:)

[bermic]

Some very interesting and constructive theories,and it is obvious that Norovirus can affect any cruise ship,but it appears that Boudicca gets more than her fair share of this bug.This is the question that needs answering.

[dorisday]

My Mom & I have just got off the Balmoral (Dec 19th). My Mother became very ill on the 2nd to last day & was quarantined & I came down with it on disembarkation day. :eek:

 

We were both so poorly we had to stop an extra night in Dover as I was not up to the 5hr drive home. :(

 

To Freds credit they couldnt do enought for my Mom while she was confined to our cabin, free movies, free water, free laundry, dining room menu available in the cabin & no medical assistance charge. They will also give us future cruise credit if we choice to book with them again :confused:

 

Noro isnt just a cruise ship curse, its everywhere, people need to wash their hands & cough into a hankie more often :mad:

[balf]

We have just come off Queen Victoria and as far as we were aware there was no sickness on the cruise (Christmas Markets) This is a brand new ship and one thing we noticed was that the public toilets did not have doors. (the design cleverly avoided privacy problems.) Inward opening doors are an obvious possible cause of infection and education of some people in basic hygene seems sadly lacking.

 

FO runs generally older ships and seems to have more problems than any other cruise line. Could this be a big part of the problem?

 

David.

[swanseajack]

No wonder cruise ships are often struck down with the Norovirus ! The first thing I noted, on a cruise to Norway last Spring, is how easily bugs could spread from cabin to cabin through the stuffy, hot, and unbelievably narrow, little corridors !! And NO, so called air conditioning does NOT help and can often make the situation actually worse !! It doesn't matter whether you are in first class accommodation or in "the hold", the hygiene facilities are all the same. Maids shunt through from room to room with the SAME cleaning equipment that has been used to "clean" the previous cabin and dirty towels and sheets, plus leftover breakfasts , are all left outside in the corridors - often for a considerable length of time. It only takes one bug carrier to set going a landslide through the whole of that corridor and then beyond !! Surely, if I was a Noro Bug I'd think I was in Paradise !!!

 

The greed of cruise lines has got to stop !! If there is a serious health problem on board then the ship has got to be put out of action for at least 96 hours and THOROUGHLY fumigated and ALL original cleaning cloths etc burnt, so that the continual return of bugs like the Norovirus, as has happened on the Boudicca, have some chance of being eradicated.

At the moment one lot of passengers is being tossed off and another load thrown in within a few hours - NOT GOOD ENOUGH !!!!!

 

Good points! I had this virus on the Balmoral, Transatlantic cruise, Sept - Nov 09 so I have every sympathy with more recent victims. We left the ship on 5th December and off it went to the Med, happily infecting other unsuspecting passengers, as I understand it.

 

Recently published research shows that the virus can live and be active for up to 14 days. So any surface touched by viral particles or reached by aerolisation of vomit that has not subsequently been adequately cleaned by bleach still has the potential for infecting or re-infecting - remote controls etc were mentioned on an earlier post, a prime example.

 

The handwash foam that was being used on my cruise was an anti bacterial, I believe, so would be useless to combat a viral infection. (I saw an anti viral handspray in Boots a few days ago).

 

As well as cruisejunkie's information, there are many sites that give useful information.

 

Any ships that dock in a US port (and I think Canada has a linked arrangement) can be subjected to an unannounced hygiene inspection by the US' Centre for Disease Control Vessel Sanitation Programme Their website lists detailed results of such inspections and that information includes violations found. The ship is marked out of 100 - a mark below 85 is unsatisfactory.

The website also gives the cruise lines' responses and their declared actions to rectify violations.

Medical records are checked as part of the VSP inspection and, if I understand correctly, the VSP inspector has the authority to stop a ship in its tracks if there is likely to be a health risk to current or embarking passengers.

 

Another useful site- as it lists 'healthiest' ships - is cruisinghealthy.com

 

I do so wish I had known about these resources before I booked.

I acknowledge that all such activities, sea and land based, come with many attached risks but I know that I would have been far more discriminating in my holiday choice!

 

I don't believe that cruise companies will ever put ships out of action for the time it would take to thoroughly disinfect an entire ship rather than this piecemeal stuff that seems to happen at the moment; let alone take the time out of their schedule to allow an infection to die off naturally, think of the compensation.......think of the profits.......!!

 

Remember the story put about earlier this year, blaming an elderly lady for that earlier infection - allegedly she 'escaped' from her cabin and wandered the ship infecting all she came into contact with. She has been vilified on certain sites - unjustifiably in my view. Never in a month of Sundays - she was used as a scapegoat!

[kelly@]

I just wanted to let you all know that we got word back from Fred. Olsen's press office today on the latest outbreak of the sickness bug on Boudicca.

 

On the 4-night mini-cruise which departed on Friday, there were 50 passengers and 5 crew were sick.

 

The ship arrived back in Portsmouth yesterday, and was cleared to leave on its 14-night Canary Islands cruise last night, on schedule.

 

At this point, no one is sick on this latest cruise.

 

We'll keep you posted if there is any change.

[mikey393]

My parents have just got back from the Mini cruise on the 22/12 & both contracted the bug & were extremely ill for 3 days. They are both in their 80's & due to go on the Boudicca again on the 5/1 on the Canary Islands cruise. I have told them to kick up a stink & refuse to sail on the boat again & demand their money back. Hopefully, their H.Q. will be open tomorrow to speak to someone who cancel their booking & arrange a full refund. If they have any problems I will try to speak to their Press Office myself. This ship has had this virus for some time now & I agree with an earlier comment that it needs to be laid up for a few days, stripped down & thoroughly sanitized. I also found out that Portsmouth Health inspectors failed it on 4 out of 10 areas & still passed it fit to sail again. I can't believe this was allowed to happen. Can someone enlighten me on this point please.

[mikey393]

Just found out from F.O. website that the Noro virus hasn't been sorted out & is still causing major problems on this ship. The above cruise D1001 is now delayed until 1800 on the 6th Jan. The current cruise is ending a day earlier on the 4th & they intend to thoroughly cleanse the boat from top to bottom in a 3 day blitz which someone recommended on this board. This should have be done long a go as this problem appears to have been going on for some time. I'm still going to urge my parents to go for a full refund for this cruise:( & compensation for their recent disastrous mini cruise. Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

[Oarsman55]

I think if I were in your position, I'd encourage my elderly parents to do what you suggest but it's impossible to make a decision until you've been told by Fred. Olsen what they intend to do regarding refunding their forthcoming cruise. My view, and it's a lay one so don't rely on it, is that by taking the ship out of service for a thorough clean they are admitting that the problem is within the ship and not with each new intake of passengers.

 

I would also suggest that another reason for fewer crew members being affected than passengers is that they have built up some immunity to this bug over their period of service.

[swanseajack]

Just found out from F.O. website that the Noro virus hasn't been sorted out & is still causing major problems on this ship. The above cruise D1001 is now delayed until 1800 on the 6th Jan. The current cruise is ending a day earlier on the 4th & they intend to thoroughly cleanse the boat from top to bottom in a 3 day blitz which someone recommended on this board. This should have be done long a go as this problem appears to have been going on for some time. I'm still going to urge my parents to go for a full refund for this cruise:( & compensation for their recent disastrous mini cruise. Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

 

My thoughts are in line with your instincts to cancel.

[mikey393]

Oarsman. They have spoken to Fred Olsen who have told them to deal via the travel agent. Basically, they can get a refund but need a doctor's letter which hopefully they will receive as my father has a hospital appointment which is reasonably urgent when they should be on the cruise.

Also, found out officially that clients going on the Jan 6th cruise will get a 1/13th refund for the cruise delay & loosing a day.

[Oarsman55]

Mikey, I was hoping for an update on your parents so thanks for that. Hope the refund goes through quickly for them and they are now fully recovered.

 

Edited to add: If your father was waiting for his hospital appointment at the time his cruise was booked, this could be rejected by his insurer, or Olsen, as a reason for a refund - may I suggest that he treads warily before making any claim.

[welwyngirl]

We have vowed never to sail with FO again. We had a shocking cruise last January where there were many cases of Norovirus. The whole cruise was a disaster. Our only reason for choosing that particular cruise was to visit Cape Verde Islands and, due to the sickness on board, we were not permitted to land. Whilst on board I heard from many passengers to were onboard a few months previously and had a similar outbreak. There is obviously something fundamentally wrong with the cruiseline and I would recommend cancelling, too!

 

We wrote to FO on our return but they were completey unsympathetic. I cannot believe some other cruise websites where the forum is full of people saying it's due to 'dirty, elderly passengers (usually men) causing the virus! That's both insulting and ridiculous. FO is not the only cruise line to attract either elderly or male passengers. I have never experienced any other norovirus-type viruses on any other lines or cruises I have completed - and I've done about 20 so far! From now on I'll stick to the excellent HAL, RCCL or Celebrity.