Millennium = Norovirus!

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Certainly this disease is prevalent at home, office, or school.

 

But at those places, there's not 2000 people who paid alot of money for a vacation. Also, it's quite different IMO being sick in your OWN HOME, with more than a 200 sq-ft cabin, with your own bed, own bathroom, own food, more comforts, your real doctor in closer proximity......then getting sick in the middle of the ocean or foreign country.

[Denny01]

Personally I agree with SeaBlu's philosophy that it would be a good idea to for someone to 'help' others follow basic hygiene including using the provided hand sanitizers, but it won't work, and I wouldn't try it. If someone doesn't follow the basics, a stranger pointing that out is going to result in a confrontation, especially over something so personal.

 

Example: a cruise reviewer found the 'forced' use of a hand sanitizer offered by crew at the dining entries to be apparently so intimidating they listed it as a negative cruise experience since it dried out their hands and was being actively pressed on them, i.e. forced. When pointed out this was for overall health protection, the response was still very defensive, i.e. I don't need them pushing this on me.

 

So here is someone aware of the reasons to use hand sanitizers, but wouldn't use it due to dry hands, and took offense at the crew making it avail - think what the reaction would be to you, a stranger, telling that person to use the dispenser.

 

I'd rather approach a great big guy with a biker t-shirt with chains on in the MDR and tell him he wasn't properly dressed, then stop some stranger and tell them they weren't following proper hygiene and to use the sanitizer.

 

Denny 'the chicken', cluck, cluck, cluck

[pspercy]

The media has done a stupendous job . . . by chomping at the bit to almost gleefully report . .

 

Exactly.

Bad news sells and they don't care about facts or fairness, of course most can barely spell "science" or "medicine" so just pile on the hype instead - much more fun to bash a big corporation.

[dkjretired]

Certainly this disease is prevalent at home, office, or school.

 

But at those places, there's not 2000 people who paid alot of money for a vacation. Also, it's quite different IMO being sick in your OWN HOME, with more than a 200 sq-ft cabin, with your own bed, own bathroom, own food, more comforts, your real doctor in closer proximity......then getting sick in the middle of the ocean or foreign country.

 

Your absolutely right and the problem I believe lies with the news media. As someone pointed out when was the last time you saw a report of this occurring at a prison, nursing home, etc. It has even been named in some sources as the cruise ship disease. We need to wash our hands and hope for the best. It is also important to keep things in perspective, last year 3800 people got Noro on cruise ships as opposed to something like 35 million Americans having the disease.

[DocJohnB]

Why do you believe it was a passenger rather than a crew member?

 

Why would you believe it is not?

 

1) More passengers vs crew.

 

Just odds.

[DDWW]

 

And every one of those ships you cruised on (RCL and Princess) had some crewmenber and passenger come down sick for the past 3, 4..10 weeks prior to your specific cruise. Just as every ship you plan on cruising on will have sick crewmenbers and passgengers before, while and after you cruise. But we all should be concerned over large outbreaks, and that is why the CDC tracks those. that didn't occur on your ship prior to your cruise. There is a high chance, a lot more probable, that a passenger brought it on.

 

Denny

 

Well, We would not go on the Mercury now for it's next cruise. We would try to change to another ship or postpone for a few months. That is just us. After being through it, spending 4 days in bed soaking the mattress with our waste on a trip that coast us $6,000, we may be a bit more cautious than you. The outbreak before us, a crew member said, involved over 300 passengers/crew. It did not make national news and we did not check with CDC.

So it goes.

DDWW

[travelingmom37]

Seems we have all experienced a Noro/Bleach cruise. Like some other posters, I do not blame the cruise line and hope they maximize efforts to curtail the spread of illness.

Here are some very basic tips beyond washing after the restroom and before meals. Nothing new here. If you know these already, feel free to add more, ignore...

 

-do not touch handrails on stairs and elevators

- use your elbow/wrist/pencil ... to press elevator buttons

-use a paper towel, your shirt, whatever to open/ close bathroom doors.

-carry little wipes to wipe down public keyboards, phones, etc.

- wipe off your cabin door handles, phone, remote control, etc. on arrival.

 

Do any or none of these as you choose. I have school aged kids so many of these practices are just part of our regular flu season precautions.

 

That said, people still get sick, hope for the best and enjoy your holiday.

[gracecarmo]

We do all the things mentioned above, and also wipe down the ice bucket handle.

Items that could travel from room to room could have some nasty germs.

On our last cruise on the Connie, the lady next to our cabin had a very bad cough, and she stayed in her cabin the entire time of the two week cruise.

Room to room contamination is a possible spread of any type of virus.

What about the cleaning cloths that are used? Do they change them for every room?

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Denny...

 

You're right. These days even a basic suggestion to someone can result in confrontation, or even shooting. It's the product of lack of discipline, decorum, and bad messages via music and pop culture. Hence, schoolyard brawls resemble gang-type beatings you'd see on Yo' MTV raps, vs just two kids duking it out for a few minutes.

 

On my recent cruise when an elevator opened, a lady(large French woman. Yeah, the Ugly American lives in France) was inside just hacking away. Nasty cough. So I politely said I'll wait for the next one. A few of her friends nodded in displeasure and one even said "she's just coughing".

 

I kid you not, the next day at buffet, one of the ice makers didn't work, hence a bucket of ice and ladle. This SAME women had her personal coffee cup....realized the icemaker didn't work. So she dunks her PERSONAL cup into the ice bucket. And I see all sorts of coffee mixed in with some of the ice. So I told DW to avoid that ice-station. Then told a crew member about it. Saw a few of the woman's friends take ice out of that basket to. Yeah, I admit I chuckled. Then saw the bucket exchanged.

 

Summary: Don't try to mud wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it.

[witt]

We just returned from the Millennium last night and everyone looked like the walking wounded. Everyone we talked to had some symptom of the virus. All the people at our table we sick with it including my husband and myself - vomiting and disentary very severely. People missed going out at many ports and missed many dinners and were self medicating with Imodium and apple juice because the cost to see the doctor was $150.00 which Celebrity should have waved considering the illness was contacted on that ship. We love crusing with Celebrity but this may be our last one with them because the staff and anyone in authority met our complaints we no comments and blank stares. Celebrity should offer compensation to the many passengers who missed so much of their cruise experience because they had to remain in their staterooms to nurse themselves back to health. I agree with others who have said that the Millennium

(this was our third cruise on it) is definitely looking aged and needs serious refurbishing.

We sailed on the Solstice last year and would recommend that ship very hightly - great crew, great shows, great food. A stunningly beautiful ship.

 

I got it bad on Thurs. about 1:30 PM. and hardly ate anything for the next 3 days. Ruined the last 4 days of my trip. My wife got it on Sat. By Sun. everyone we spoke to knew someone who had it. Went to the Dr. and got pills and a bill for $154.00 (no complaint there. If I went to the Dr. on land there would have been a charge). In the med center every morning the lines were out the door. For those of you that saw the Dr. check your receipt with the diagnosis. This made me really angry. The diagnosis on the receipt said "INDIGESTION" with no mention of vomiting or diarrhea even though they were on the form to be checked. (By the way. I threw up when they were taking my vital signs and the nurse had to remove the blood pressure cuff so I could get to the restroom). My wife went back to the Dr. to insist that vomiting and diarrhea were checked for our insurance purposes. He complied with no problem. The only reason I can account for this is so they don't have to report it as what it was. Definitely a bummer for us. Until Thurs. it was a great cruise.

[Ashleyyy]

Uh oh. My grandma, mom and myself leave for the Millennium next week! Is there anything we should bring just in case? :eek:

[neilrr]

Thier ships are far from the cleanest out there. We sailed the Horizon out of Tampa several years ago and it was filthy.. We sailed several times on the Century and it got really run down before it's refurb. Dirty as well. In my opinion Carnival is by far the cleanest cruise line out there. NCL Is also pretty good. But RCCL and Celebrity are DIRTY!!!

 

Then I suggest you continue cruising with Carnival and steer clear of the filthy, dirty, run down ships of Celebrity!

 

I have done quite a bit of cruising and really find your comments rather offensive. I know you are entitled to your own opinion, but I have found Celebrity ships to to be one cleanest lines in the industry. I have been through their kitchens and behind the scene areas as well, and it was immaculate.

 

I suggest you check Celebrity's CDC record for your information. As for the Noro -- it can happen on any ship, at any time and I am sure Celebrity will quickly get it straightened out .

 

And as Lysolqn said -- cruise with other lines and steer clear of those filthy, dirty and run down ships of Celebrity.

[mcvalette]

I also am one of the IDIOTS who wont use it, I do however, wash my hands and refuse to touch things that are going to spread germs, handrails, door handles and such.....and guess what...I NEVER got sick...hubby did the last night and he used hand sanitizer every single chance he had...so hand sanitizer doesnt always help. I only heard of a few people getting sick...It was a wonderful vacation for me and I will use Celebrity again.

[mcvalette]

Why do people insist on seeing a dr when they know whats wrong...when you leave your cabin with the virus you choose to spread it to everyone else who isnt sick. You dont need a pill to feel better. Dehydration can be helped with hot tea and chicken soup just as well as a pill. So stay in your cabin like my hubby did and stop trying to make other people sick so you feel better when you have something to complain about. My vacation was wonderful and our cabin steward was also wonderful the way he took extra measures to keep the cabin sanitized an hot tea available at all times of the day. OH, and my hubby is looking forward to sailing with Celebrity again. He doesnt blame them one bit for being sick.

[paulabr]

Any one read the AARP magazine that just came out? It's a story about Holland America, and what they tell the next cruisers after a break out. Please read it if you can. (This break out had to be a while back.)

Insurance won't help,

"Unfortunately standard trip insurance does not cover a traveler's decision to forgo a cruise on a sick ship. Neither does your credit card's purchase-guarantee plan. and cruise lines won't nesessarily call to warn you of an outbreak. So it's up to you to ask before you leave home."

( aarp.org/money )

 

just passing it along

[Cruisenouvelle]

After reading all the replys in this thread - I sat back and thought to myself...truly, what is it that people are upset about? Are they upset at Celebrity for not handling things the way they thought should have been handled?....are they upset at the thought of someone bringing the virus on board? In all reality, it boils down to people being upset because their long awaited, much anticipated, vacation was ruined by an unfortunate incident.

 

Also, being sick while away from home is awful! Not having the comforts of home, the ability to get in to see your "own" doctor, being so sick and feeling that you may need an ER, the thought of being sick enough that you may need to be in a hospital in a foreign country - all these things run through your head when you're ill and stuck on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

 

We just got back from the Eastern Caribbean aboard the Magic and I had worried myself terribly before we left because the Wonder had a bad bug.

We took alot of extra precautions onboard to protect ourselves and thankfully noone in our party of 8 came down with anything.

 

My heart goes out to those who were ill and missed out on what could have been a wonderful vacaton. Wishing all those getting ready to leave on their cruise a safe and happy trip!

 

Well said.

[KidsAtSea]

Fyi

CDC Scores.pdf

[lysolqn]

Fyi

[attach]147754[/attach]

 

Just a thought, but I doubt CDC scores are a reliable resource for judging whether or not pax on any given ship are more or less likely to contract a noro-like virus. Imperfect scores resulting from obvious hygiene-related sanitation issues might be an indicator, but CDC scores often reflect point deductions for food/beverage storage and service issues unrelated to sanitation. I'm making an assumption that Mercury will undergo a particularly thorough inspection upon return to Charleston later this week but with all the cleaning and sanitizing currently taking place on the ship and all that will take place once pax disembark, I wouldn't be surprised if it scores rather high, in spite of the number of ill pax and crew on the current cruise.

[newsman]

Let's see, Millie got a 95 from the CDC on Feb. 2. I was on the Feb. 1 sailing. The ship had a noro outbreak right before our sailing and another afterword. The CDC numbers don't give any indication of noro possibilities.

 

But the bins of ice with scoops in the ice in the buffet, slot machines that still actually cash out coins instead of paper slips, mold in the cracked grout of not just our shower but the bathroom floor, rusted lamps in our room, people taking then putting food back at the buffet and people coughing and sneezing all through the cruise without covering their mouths are probably good indications noro is probably not far away.

[mistletoe]

Uh oh. My grandma, mom and myself leave for the Millennium next week! Is there anything we should bring just in case? :eek:

 

Trust me Ashley, Whatever my friend got on our February 12th cruise, you definitely don't want it. My suggestion would be to see a family doctor and see if he/she will give you some prescription drugs to take with you "just in case". If you have to pay for drugs on a cruise, I'm pretty sure the price will be higher than you would pay at home. Of course there is no guarantee your family physician will give you something unless you are already exhibiting some symptoms. But it might be worth a try.

 

My friend wasted a couple days in bed before he finally got a prescription that worked from the Cruise doctor. But once he did, his symptoms got better fairly fast. According the the hand-written label on the bottles, my friend got "lomotil 2.5 mg" tablets to be taken once every 8 hours and "Metoclopramide 10mg" tablets to be taken once every 12 hours.

 

Of course I have NO idea if these drugs would be appropriate for you or your family, but they did help my friend and even my wife who took some of my friend's leftover tablets on the last day of the cruise.

 

Good Luck on the cruise!:)

[Cassarino]

Uh oh. My grandma, mom and myself leave for the Millennium next week! Is there anything we should bring just in case? :eek:

I would recommend you take Imodium with you and packets of Gatorade that can be mixed with bottled water. I didn't know that you could purchase Gatorade in packet form but that is what some friends of ours who went to the doctor on board were given. Apple juice (which the Millennium ran out of) will also help with dehydration. May you have a virus-free cruise.

[tango9]

We were on the Millie 1/21-2/1. When we first embarked, they were extremely cautious about germs. We were not allowed to get our own coffee or water from the dispensers, nor pick out our own food at the buffet. They handed out purell everywhere. After several days they stopped this. I think that they try very hard on this subject. I do not think there was a virus problem during our cruise, but wonder if there was on the cruise that just disembarked

[oldmanbob]

...

 

The way to stop the spread of this TERRIBLE disease is SO SIMPLE!

WASH YOUR HANDS - AND YES I MEAN YOU TOO!

 

• When a crew member is standing outside of the Buffet Area with a container of Hand Sanitizer trying to get everyone to sanitize their hands before going to the buffet - what do you do when you see fellow passengers push by without using the sanitizer?
  
• Have you ever thought of saying something?
  
• Should we all take a stronger approach?
  
• IT IS OUR CRUISE TOO
  
• IT IS OUR HEALTH TOO
  
• 
  

PERHAPS IT IS TIME WE ALL STARTED TELLING FELLOW PASSENGERS THAT IT IS UNACCEPTABLE TO THE REST OF US WHEN THEY "ROLL OUT OF BED" AND COME TO THE BREAKFAST BUFFET" LOOKING DIRTY!

 

I really don't care if they get pi**ed off at me - just so they wash up and get dressed before they come out it public! Didn't their Mother's teach them ANYTHING!

 

 

I agree.. to many people are unsanitary. The few can ruin it for the many. Even at work in a well heeled corporate environment, I see it everyday. Even seen my boss walk out without washing. I'll never shake his hand again.

 

Perhaps I'll get a custom tee shirt made before my cruise that says something like... "Please wash your hands and use the sanitizer... I paid too much for this cruise to get sick because you're lazy"

 

I could wear it around the ship and perhaps get the message across without peeving someone off so I do not get stomped on. (I'm with ya Denny)

 

My wishes to all to be cautious and still have a great and safe cruise.

 

OMB

[Fl Star]

My 92yr.old mother who is under 100lbs. came down with the norovirus on the Millemmium last Thurs. And, yes, she was as sick as a dog. She just started to eat some solid food on Wed. Feb. 23. Still isn't herself.

 

P.S. She thought the food looked beautiful but tasted awful.

[mdmourges]

This is joke, right? People talking about ice machines, money out of slot machines, etc. Let's see, today when I go to work I will grab a bannister someone else has touched, I will shake hands with a stranger, I will probably use someone else's computer or phone, I will go to a restaurant that probably is far dirtier than anything on the seas, someone in my presences will sneeze or cough, I will work in a building that has poor circulation (and I will be inside of it most of the day), etc. etc. Oh yeah, I will have to be subjected to the possibility of an H1N1 outbreak. I am going on Millennium 3/15 and I am not going to let these posts put the fear of God into me. If I get sick, I get sick, just like I might today in the "real" world. And if I do get sick, I am not going to look to someone else to blame.

 

Mark