Millennium = Norovirus!

[neilrr]

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

mdmourges - Mark - I totally agree with you. Also, don' forget the shopping carts and the filthy keyboards at work. If we all take the proper pre-cautions - hand washing, sanitizers, etc.. (not going over the top crazy) everyone generally will be fine.

 

Also, we always travel with our general medical things like immodium, tylenol, any creams, pills, sinus meds, etc.. We pack a full bag with all of our sundries and then pack that in a suitcase. We use to carry it on a plane as a carry-on -- but with fluids, etc.. you need to pack it in the suitcase. We provide an area to accommodate this bag within our luggage when we fly. IMHO everyone should make a bag like this and not wait until you are a mess and have to go the ships doctor and pay a fortune for minor illnesses.

[Bride2Be]

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

 

Hi Mark,

 

Noticed that you will be on the same cruise as we are and that you are from Baltimore, MD. Exactly where are you in Baltimore? We are actually in Abingdon in Harford County. Are you flying in the same day that the cruise leaves? We have a pretty interesting roll call going, so it would be great if you would join us. (Sorry to hijack the thread!)

 

Denise

[elena7seas]

I received an email this morning from a friend who embarked on the Millennium on February 22nd.

 

She told me that she is having a wonderful time, and relayed many details about her cruise, but did not mention anything at all about Noro.

 

As her husband has a compromised immune system at present (and she knows I am very concerned about his health), I'm sure she would have mentioned something if Noro was an issue on board at the present time.

[dkjretired]

I find it hard to believe that anyone would want the Norovirus - especially if they have any knowledge of how much it sucks to have it.

 

Our family (Husband, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, grandson and myself) had taken a trip to Disney World about 4 years ago. We live in Maryland and our daughter and her family were visiting us then. A week after flying home from Disney the Virus started with one of the grandchildren and eventually everyone of us. Due to its' timing our Doctor felt that we either got it on the plane or in the Airport Restaurant where we all had lunch during our layover.

 

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

WASH YOUR HANDS - AND YES I MEAN YOU TOO!

• How many people have you seen in the breakfast buffet line in their pajamas, with uncombed hair?
  
• If they could not take the time to brush their hair, or put clothes on, WHAT makes you think they washed their hands after they went to the bathroom??
  
• When you are behind "one of these people" and they reach in the roll basket ahead of you - what do you think? what do you do?
  
• REMEMBER when you are too well mannered and/or too shy to say something they may be giving YOU the NoroVirus!!
  
• 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
  
• IT IS NOT FAIR TO BLAME THE CRUISE LINE
  
• THIS IS ALMOST ALWAYS THE FAULT OF AN UNCLEAN PASSENGER!
  
• HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A PUBLIC RESTROOM AND SEEN PEOPLE LEAVE WITHOUT WASHING THEIR HANDS - WELL????
  

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!

 

Hand Sanitizers are feel good items put out by the cruiseline. They do nothing more than washing their hands. I do not like using them because they may be detrimental. I really get annoyed when people try and come on these boards and assume they know what best for everyone without knowing the facts...I wash my hands thoroughly but I do not wish to use hand sanitizers....

[Ashleyyy]

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.

 

I added that to my packing list. Thanks!

[cruiseman111111]

The ship needs to know if you are sick with NORO. If you bring your own medicine and don't report it to Medical, they can't quaranteen you to your room, and charge you for a doctor call and medicine. Also of course if everyone has their own medicine and stays away from Medical, they will under count the NORO cases to the CDC, or not report it at all. The dining room might be empty, as well as the shows, but every one is fine, they think.

[Greengo]

We were on the Millinium from January 22- February 1, 2010. (Southern Caribbean - San Juan RT) For the first 3-4 days, there were no salt & pepper shakers, butter dishes and bread baskets on the dining tables and no self service in the buffet. Waiters were posted outside the dining room and the buffet area to make sure tht everyone used the hand sanitizers before entering the dining room or buffet. The reason we were give was that they had had a previous problem with Norovirus.

 

In addition, our cabin steward explained that everything in the cabin had been sanitized in order to combat Norovirus. There was a white residue of something on the mirrors.

 

After the first few days, everything returned to normal. We saw no evidence of Norovirus; however, we all got colds (sneezing, congestion, etc.) Apparently they didn't contain it or were reinfected by subsequent passengers. We were apparently lucky.

[mistletoe]

I received an email this morning from a friend who embarked on the Millennium on February 22nd.

 

She told me that she is having a wonderful time, and relayed many details about her cruise, but did not mention anything at all about Noro.

 

As her husband has a compromised immune system at present (and she knows I am very concerned about his health), I'm sure she would have mentioned something if Noro was an issue on board at the present time.

 

Keep us all posted on how your friends make out on their cruise. It took my friend about 5 days before the "bug" hit him. We never heard about the Norovirus before that either. I can guarantee you that the cruise line will NOT mention ANYTHING about the virus until the word gets out and it becomes obvious to everyone. Even when my friend got sick, the cruise doctors kept telling him they had no idea what it could be! :confused: Hopefully your friends will not be affected. My wife and I went on the February 12th cruise with another couple. Out of the 4 of us, I was the only one who was not affected. So ya just never know. But after witnessing this crud in person, I wouldn't wish it on anyone!

[mistletoe]

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

 

We are all happy for you Mark! ;)

[c-legs]

((QUOTE---

 

!!!I can't beleive they make you sick, then charge you for medicine...What a racket!!

 

Hmmm.....are you 100 % SURE about what you just wrote ??? " ( the cruise line) make you sick "" ???

Better rephrase your toughts if you were hopefully NOT thinking of such an indictement....but if you WERE thinking exactly that, well, I feel sorry for you.

Cheers

[Solstice23]

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!!!

 

I am a neat freak and I find the opposite! so I think the shades you must have been wearing were tinted for what you wanted to see!

 

X and RCCL slam Carnival when it comes to clean beautiful ships! Happy cruising

[jaybird from SC]

Lest we forget, .... Ships don't cause Noro---people do. It's not the ship's fault that the virus is rampant. I'm convinced that they do everything in their power to prevent this kind of thing..

[RickT]

I'm on the Millie next week (March 5th) and wonder if anyone currently on board can provide an update. Any signs of the Noro virus?

[cruiseman111111]

I'm on the Millie next week (March 5th) and wonder if anyone currently on board can provide an update. Any signs of the Noro virus?

 

Unless they change name to Mercury, should be OK.

[elena7seas]

Keep us all posted on how your friends make out on their cruise. It took my friend about 5 days before the "bug" hit him. We never heard about the Norovirus before that either. I can guarantee you that the cruise line will NOT mention ANYTHING about the virus until the word gets out and it becomes obvious to everyone. Even when my friend got sick, the cruise doctors kept telling him they had no idea what it could be! :confused: Hopefully your friends will not be affected. My wife and I went on the February 12th cruise with another couple. Out of the 4 of us, I was the only one who was not affected. So ya just never know. But after witnessing this crud in person, I wouldn't wish it on anyone!

 

I just heard from my friends this morning. There is indeed Noro on the Millennium, but my friend said that the ship personnel are being terrific and have instituted "ultra safe conditions" and are making announcements about safety precautions a couple of times a day.

 

They are on Day 6 of this cruise, and one person from my friends' dining table has come down with Noro. They say that they are "having a very nice time, have met great people and the service is top notch".

 

My friends are both still in good health, and don't sound at all concerned.

[mistletoe]

I just heard from my friends this morning. There is indeed Noro on the Millennium, but my friend said that the ship personnel are being terrific and have instituted "ultra safe conditions" and are making announcements about safety precautions a couple of times a day.

 

They are on Day 6 of this cruise, and one person from my friends' dining table has come down with Noro. They say that they are "having a very nice time, have met great people and the service is top notch".

 

My friends are both still in good health, and don't sound at all concerned.

 

The ship's crew were terrific on our Feb 12th cruise too. But we had no announcements about the noro until about "day 8". Of course we knew about it before that because of personal experience. I am glad to hear that has changed for your friends' cruise. Maybe the cruise guests will take better precautions knowing what they are up against. And it really needs to be a shipwide effort to be effective (crew, guests and cruiseline). It only takes a few of those "idiots" to ruin it for everyone. I know I will always take greater precautions on any future cruises that I take because of this experience.

[RickT]

My TA just send me a note from X advising me that the ship is experiencing a Norwarlk like virus and that if I had existing health issues I may want to consider cancelling or rescheduling. The note also said they would help out if I had concerns.

 

A quick call to X resulted in a rep downplaying the issue.

 

Anyone on board have any up to date info? Nothing else on this board or on the news about it so hopefully any virus is just a minor outbreak.

[elena7seas]

My TA just send me a note from X advising me that the ship is experiencing a Norwarlk like virus and that if I had existing health issues I may want to consider cancelling or rescheduling. The note also said they would help out if I had concerns.

 

A quick call to X resulted in a rep downplaying the issue.

 

Anyone on board have any up to date info? Nothing else on this board or on the news about it so hopefully any virus is just a minor outbreak.

 

The February 22nd cruise is now listed on the CDC under VSP Vessel Sanitation Program reports. It was not listed a few days ago.

 

The report shows 145 of 2020 (7.18%) passengers reported ill and 23 of 938 (2.45%) crew reported ill.

 

They have not confirmed the diagnosis yet, but the report lists the predominant symptoms, which are GI related.

 

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/outbreak/2010/march05millennium.htm

 

I haven't heard anything further from my friends who are on this cruise (see post #90 above).

[elena7seas]

I have just heard from my friends on the Millennium. They have managed to avoid the Noro, although she says that there are quite a few who have been affected. Her post was a quick one, without too many details.

 

She says the staff have been wonderful, they had a "FABULOUS dinner in the Olympic" and they have been having a great trip all round.

[Ashleyyy]

I just got back from our trip on the Millie 3/5-3/15. I never heard of anyone getting sick and the food and service was EXCELLENT!

[CruisingEsq]

Thanks, Ashley...we're on in 9 days, and with the news about Mercury yesterday, understandably skittish. But, looking forward it nonetheless!

[dreamdoc]

For everyone concerned about norovirus on Millenium. Their inspections by cdc for the last ten years (google: cdc cruise lines) show no unsatisfactory scores (below 85). You can track all outbreaks on all the lines at cdc. Being very familiar with norovirus in hospitals, I am impressed and encouraged with their record and excited about my upcoming cruise on this ship.:D:p:o

[hajekfam]

Hand Sanitizers are feel good items put out by the cruiseline. They do nothing more than washing their hands. I do not like using them because they may be detrimental. I really get annoyed when people try and come on these boards and assume they know what best for everyone without knowing the facts...I wash my hands thoroughly but I do not wish to use hand sanitizers....

 

I agree with you, I also will wash my hands but not use sanitizers.

Sometimes I wonder if we are sterilizing ourselves into sickness. You hear so much more about illnesses now than when I was a kid. With all of this sanitization, are we actually making the germs more aggressive and are we losing our natural immunities?

Remember in the play "War of the Worlds" what killed the aliens was our germs that we had become immune to. :D

I feel sorry for those who did get sick on the ship. It is no fun being on a vacation and being sick.

But to dictate to others (or call them "IDIOTS") how they should handle their prevention methods is totally out of line.

[torontoboy]

Seems to be going around the Celebrity lines right now...

 

hopefully this will mean everyone will be over it and protected by my cruise in early april...

 

we were on ncl jade in january our group of 4 all came down with it one of are party got it twice hundreds of people had it i think half the ship i heard other lines gave you a rebate on how many days you were sick not ncl we will not cruise with them again this was our 15 cruise first time sick all the way to europe and we got confined to our cabins missed 2 ports very upsetting

[shoegal24]

I find it hard to believe that anyone would want the Norovirus - especially if they have any knowledge of how much it sucks to have it.

 

Our family (Husband, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, grandson and myself) had taken a trip to Disney World about 4 years ago. We live in Maryland and our daughter and her family were visiting us then. A week after flying home from Disney the Virus started with one of the grandchildren and eventually everyone of us. Due to its' timing our Doctor felt that we either got it on the plane or in the Airport Restaurant where we all had lunch during our layover.

 

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

WASH YOUR HANDS - AND YES I MEAN YOU TOO!

• How many people have you seen in the breakfast buffet line in their pajamas, with uncombed hair?
  
• If they could not take the time to brush their hair, or put clothes on, WHAT makes you think they washed their hands after they went to the bathroom??
  
• When you are behind "one of these people" and they reach in the roll basket ahead of you - what do you think? what do you do?
  
• REMEMBER when you are too well mannered and/or too shy to say something they may be giving YOU the NoroVirus!!
  
• 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
  
• IT IS NOT FAIR TO BLAME THE CRUISE LINE
  
• THIS IS ALMOST ALWAYS THE FAULT OF AN UNCLEAN PASSENGER!
  
• HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A PUBLIC RESTROOM AND SEEN PEOPLE LEAVE WITHOUT WASHING THEIR HANDS - WELL????
  

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'm sorry, this may be very off-topic but I had to respond to this. It's a large stretch and flawed reasoning to rely on the "parallel" that those who don't brush their hair or change before breakfast don't wash their hands. Two completely different issues here.

 

I am in law school and there are MANY times where I or my classmates are late for class, or running to get something to eat from Tim Hortons, and I don't have time or the energy to brush my hair or put on "acceptable" clothing. I don't care about my appearance all of the time.

 

However, I ALWAYS and I will repeat for emphasis... ALWAYS wash my hands after going to the bathroom, touching dirty carts at grocery store, touching money, blowing my nose, coughing, sneezing, shaking someone else's hand etc etc. I wash my hands as soon as I come home after I was out in public.

 

If anyone ever came up to me and accosted me about how I am endangering their health because "I must not wash my hands, as my hair isn't brushed", I very well might tell them to **** off.

 

It's one thing to tell a person to please use hand sanitizer after sneezing or coughing, it's certainly another to tell them they are spreading germs by not wearing "appropriate clothing" or brushing their hair.