Hundreds get sick with intestinal bug on 3rd straight cruise

[StevefromOhio]

I'm not sure what the definition is of a "case" and an "event" -neither term is used in the referenced SC DHEC document. They did state however

 

Since January 1, 2010 SC DHEC has investigated forty five (45) outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness that are either laboratory-confirmed Norovirus or have epidemiologic features similar to Norovirus. This represents a three-fold increase in the number of Norovirus outbreaks when compared to the previous three years of data.

 

A "three-fold increase" does not sound "near normal" to me. What is your basis to say "The fact remains that they are near normal in Noro Virus events"?

 

Thom

 

It appears my information was not correct or my interpretation was wrong for which i apologize. We do not need any further poor quality information posted. I will be more precise in the future.

 

Steve

[missygirl]

Ahhhh, cruzeluver, common sense.

 

jtutak:

 

Did the taxi drivers from the airport, stay the same for all 3? Yep

What about the baggage handlers/porters? Did they stay the same? Yep

Same for the employees of hotels in the Charleston area.

 

There are many, many other people who had a common impact on all three cruises.

 

You don't have to fall for the excuse that it is the passengers "fault", but the odds are great that is the case. But why do you want to assign "fault"? It is happenstance, not fault. IMO

 

 

It could be coming from delivery trucks loading the ship in port...just a thought.

 

Missygirl

[Cruiser1547228475]

To be safe if there's an out break reported .

I won't be on that ship :rolleyes:

[C 2 C]

A lot of disease is linked to how strong the immune system is....... that only 2% of crew had been sick vs 20% of passengers. Younger, stronger immune systems than the 60 plus age of the passengers. Just a fact of life.

 

The crew is also exposed to a non sterile home environment where everyone is not obsessed in trying to live in a pristine environment. What most cruisers are missing is exposure to mild forms of "stuff" in order to build up the immune system. A visit to the occasional farm might increase the resistance of many.

 

Because people are pretty consistent in their habits the true surprise is that they are not sick nor carriers all the time.

Until our 36 hour bout with GI on Equinox in January, we had survived 6 shipboard GI outbreaks that affected 5-20 % of passengers, including one on Mercury in Dec. 2006(?) .

[gillianrose]

We were on Mercury 10 years ago & IMO it needs major refurbishment or sell. 13 years of passenger bugs onboard.

 

The only "bugs" that might survive 13 years onboard are electronic. :rolleyes:

[salty dingo]

... get out of the kitchen.

 

If you can't tolerate Norovirus, don't cruise. Same goes for any public place, like a hospital.

[richk]

Jtutak, thank you for a true opinion.

 

For Salty Dog, GermanCruiser, etc

 

 

Do you really believe that the celebrity communications satellite was out of operations for 3 days due to malfunction. I have never heard such nonsense in my life. The Big X has a unfortunate situation and let's just get this resolved.

 

Imagine all the press if everyone could get their information out there!

 

One question,Why are the cruise critters using pathetic excuses? I suspect this will go on until the sellout of these posts stop being happy with 25% off and all the other trash that goes with it for free on the Mercury during this unfortunate time. I direct you to pathetic people who think that taking all they can get during this time is a great deal, where normal people would just like a peaceful and safe cruise with clean conditions.

 

Cruise Critics? No, Cruise Creatures, Yes

[sasset]

On our most recent cruise on the Summit (about a year ago) there were no Noro issues but we always assume that it's a possibility. We wash religiously and use the sanitizers. We went to use the restrooms nearest the customer service desk on three and found that there was no hot water. As I went back to customer service I saw the head of housekeeping (we had met on another issue) and reported the hot water outage to him. His response was that we should just a use different restroom.

 

I think that says alot.

[Putterdude]

Does anyone know if Celebrity's incidence of Norovirus has been higher than other lines recently? I know all ships have some problems sometimes but to me Celebrity has had more than share this year.

[C 2 C]

This thread was a sticky after our outbreak in Dec 2006

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=458673&highlight=

[Beach4me]

Do you really believe that the celebrity communications satellite was out of operations for 3 days due to malfunction. I have never heard such nonsense in my life.

 

richk - I had to laugh when I saw this post. I was on a Princess ship a couple years ago when we got hit with Noro at the CDC reportable leve. This might come as a suprise (NOT!) - but the darn computers/internet connectivity went down for the better part of 3 days at the end of the voyage. Sounds like Noro is a computer/communications virus as well! ;)

[willie2845]

This thread was a sticky after our outbreak in Dec 2006

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=458673&highlight=

:DWhat is X 100 club? If it's points we'd like to join you!!!:)

[C 2 C]

:DWhat is X 100 club? If it's points we'd like to join you!!!:)

 

 

There are now five or six Celebrity cruisers who have more than 100 cruise credits. If you want to join you must become addicted to Cruising, Celebrity style. :D

[salty dingo]

We sailed Mercury out of San Diego a few years back. We were delayed a few hours due to a Noro outbreak on the prior cruise. The staff did a great job and took all the necessary steps:

• No self-service food or drink - staff served you everything
  
• No salt/pepper on tables - staff seasoned food at table
  
• Sanitizers everywhere, and people stationed to spray disinfectant directly onto your hands - mandatory.
  
• People cleaning all touchable surfaces with bleach, constantly
  

The fact is that people infect themselves with Noro through unsanitary habits. The most obvious one is going to the bathroom and not washing hands afterward. Sure, others catch the virus from touching areas infected by others, but touching the virus is not enough to get you ill.

 

You ALSO have to put your unwashed hands in your mouth. Yecch! But don't blame the cruise line for people eating hamburgers and french fries with their bare unwashed hands!

[StevefromOhio]

We chose to cruise Celebrity again because of pleasant cruises with them before.

We chose them in spite of the poor terminal at Charleston. (One of my favorite cites)

We cancelled the cruise because of what we feared would be a reduced overall experience.

Too much bleach.... reduced services...and lastly the norovirus.

Celebrity has done all that could be expected to eliminate the problem without success.

We will keep Celebrity on our short list of companies we will use along with SilverSea and Seabourn.

We hope that all that sail on Sundays departure enjoy their cruise and they have a healthy journey.

Let's stop demonizing Celebrity. They are one of the top in their field.

 

Steve

[richk]

Thank you Steve for your take on this matter. The only question i have is, Have you heard if the CDC is investigating the city and the port or are they recommending closing down the Mercury for 4 day ?

 

It would be headlines if they are closing the port !

[AngelEyesNC]

Hey these Celebrity passengers are not all from South Carolina!! That virus is everywhere. There are many other states and countries represented on this ship..

 

My wife and I were on the latest Mercury Cruise. The OVERWHELMING majority of people on that ship were from South Carolina. There is no doubt in my mind that it has less to do with the ship and more to do with people bringing it on board with them.

[tammymacb]

Let me tell you, this has been a mess in Charleston. I work as a nurse in one of the big downtown ERs. We've seen more nausea, vomiting and diarrhea complaints in the last few weeks than I can remember. We've had several cruisers through, and now we're seeing a ton of sick locals. I think that cruisers are brining it out into the community after their trip....ugly, ugly, ugly.

 

Just a reminder. You cannot wash your hands enough.

 

Hope this gets better....for you future cruisers and me, who's stuck in the ER working every weekend....

[willie2845]

 

There are now five or six Celebrity cruisers who have more than 100 cruise credits. If you want to join you must become addicted to Cruising, Celebrity style. :D

 

We will be there soon! We are addicted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dancindukes]

Let me tell you, this has been a mess in Charleston. I work as a nurse in one of the big downtown ERs. We've seen more nausea, vomiting and diarrhea complaints in the last few weeks than I can remember. We've had several cruisers through, and now we're seeing a ton of sick locals. I think that cruisers are brining it out into the community after their trip....ugly, ugly, ugly.

 

Just a reminder. You cannot wash your hands enough.

 

Hope this gets better....for you future cruisers and me, who's stuck in the ER working every weekend....

 

We cruise often on Carnival. How helpful is a can of Lysol for the cabin and the gel antibacterial hand washes?

[Cobraman]

Forget Lysol. Get a couple of travel-size spray bottles of PureGreen 24 and some non-alcohol hand cleaner, such as Soapopular, etc.

 

You will be fine.

[Beach4me]

We cruise often on Carnival. How helpful is a can of Lysol for the cabin and the gel antibacterial hand washes?

 

I always take a can of Lysol with me. And, I always re-spray the cabin after the steward has been in. I take the fresh linen scent - and if for no other reason, it was a lifesaver when I did get sick with Noro on a ship because I could elimate some of the sick smell in the cabin.

 

btw - I do take hand santizer with me but I also take along a box of handi-wipes and fresh-wipes (for the bottom after using the bathroom). There's one brand of handi-wipes that are really soapy (wet ones) that I keep on me at all times.

 

The absolute biggest thing is to get out of the habit of touching anything on your face unless you've just gotten out of the shower. No rubbing of the eyes, scratching of the nose, finger-applied lip sunscreen, etc.

 

Be diligent...and enjoy!

[Cobraman]

I agree with the "no touching the face" rule. That is really key to staying healthy

[dzd]

The 30th!????? I have a cruise booked on Mercury out of Charleston that leaves on the 29th. So I think that has to be incorrect.

 

 

Looks like the mercury wont be all that magical this time!