Should sick passengers be confined to quarters?

[CaroleLee]

With all the discussion about the norovirus on the Solstice I was wondering how people feel about sick passengers...

 

Interesting poll. Being semi retired from health care I know what havoc an epidemic can cause. That being said somewhere in insurance/company policy should be a chance for pax to disembark & return home ( if @ a reasonably located port-ie St. Thomas for cruises out of FLL) with reasonable refund of fare. What is "unfair" is often the DH/DW of the sick pax is also confimed even if they have no symptoms of illness. That being said WE all have to take RESPONSIBILY for OUR OWN ACTIONS. Buy cx for any reason insurance. If you don't feel well see your MD prior to departure( could simply be an allergy or a mild cold),wash your hands and always (as I do being mildy neurotic but cute)as soon as you enter your cabin use Clorox wipes on door knobs, furniture handles, bathroom fixtures & the REMOTE CONTROL, safe knobs etc. I also wipe down airplane armrests & tray tables. May be over kill but neither DH or I have ever been ill while traveling.

For those questioning the wipe question-they are sold in mini packs @ various stores. I take a few baggies & put the used wipes in the baggie & then dispose of it. Also I then use handsantizer.

Carole

[eandj]

In Hindsight. No. We should not have reported it. Nothing good came about from reporting it. Also, we lost out on over $400 from an excursion we could not go on because of the quarentine. (even though we tried to cancel 36 hrs in advance) .

 

This isn't true....at least in our case. We were most certainly able to cancel our excursion when I came down with a bronchial cold/infection. We were told because I went to the health center and there was "proof" that I was treated, I could get the refund, even tho we waited until the morning of just in case I was up to going. We had NO problems with the refund. Sounds like you didn't bother going to the health center to be diagnosed and perhaps pick up some medicinne for the symptoms. But if you did, I certainly would be forwarding the paper work for the refund now.

 

No , if you just tell the front desk you don't feel well, you won't get a refund. Otherwise there'd be a lot of people just wanting to change their schedules for a day and claiming illness. :o

 

If you have no paper work from the health center, not going there cost you the money. Not Celebrity. ;)

[GRBlizz]

Another question

If you got sick would you report yourself so you can be confined?

 

Excellent point. And really, the horns of the dilemma that any cruise line faces, isn't it?

[scf1270]

Good posts.

 

Carol - the only problem with getting the sickies home is that we wouldn't want to be stuck on a plane with them, either!

 

Sara

[jonedd]

One can carry and transmit all sorts of nasties without being sick or know that they are becoming sick. Behaviorally, it's a good bet that anytime you go in a public area, there was at least one person there before you that was not particularly "clean" The only thing you can do is protect yourself--clean your hands, don't rub your eyes, limit who handles your food, etc...

 

Would I turn myself in for isolation--it depends on what I had. If it was that big of an issue, the cruise line would have to find clean quarters for my cabin mate. If it were something airborne, I'd need to be removed from the ship.

[DuchessSophie]

I had the Noro last year on Freedom of the Seas. Now prior to this I always thought that I would never "out" myself and as such always brought onboard a variety of OTC meds in case I were to get it. Once I got it I can tell you that the thought of being confined was almost a blessing. Traveling too far from a bathroom is not something a Noro patient wants to do :eek: Secondly I dreaded the thought that someone else could possibly get it from me. When the "special" housekeeping crew came in to clean our statement I must of asked them 5 times if they would be back after we disembarked, which of course they said they would. I got Noro on day 2 of a 7 day cruise and although I enjoyed the cruise I really didn't eat anything all week. It takes awhile for your appetite to come back. I can't imagine someone not reporting their Noro.

[Kutty1101]

This isn't true....at least in our case. We were most certainly able to cancel our excursion when I came down with a bronchial cold/infection. We were told because I went to the health center and there was "proof" that I was treated, I could get the refund, even tho we waited until the morning of just in case I was up to going. We had NO problems with the refund. Sounds like you didn't bother going to the health center to be diagnosed and perhaps pick up some medicinne for the symptoms. But if you did, I certainly would be forwarding the paper work for the refund now.

 

No , if you just tell the front desk you don't feel well, you won't get a refund. Otherwise there'd be a lot of people just wanting to change their schedules for a day and claiming illness. :o

 

If you have no paper work from the health center, not going there cost you the money. Not Celebrity. ;)

 

We had 3 of the 4 passengers in our cabin physically seen and reported to the Medical Station on board, and Diagnosed with Noro. I went down to the Guest Relations with the paperwork in hand 36 hrs before our excursion, and they would not let us refund or cancel! They would not let my husband and sons get off the shop either (not that they were even healthy enough too.) It's something we are still fighting now. We have names and documentation. I've heard other Cruise Critic people say maybe we could not get a refund because Celebrity does have to pay the excursion companies.....but since we obviously contracted the illness onboard, I'd expect different. If YOU were lucky enough to get a refund, I'm glad. But Celebrity did not do this for us on the Jan 23rd sailing.

[Beach Nut]

Nobody seems to want to answer my question.

 

Despite being a handwasher and non-face-toucher par excellence, I came down with Noro on the third day into our Baltic cruise last May, at around 2330. After a horrible night, I went to the infirmary when it opened the next morning, even though I knew i'd probably be quarantined. They worked with me and lifted the quarantine after 38 hours of confinement. They were grateful that I had "turned myself in", and DH did the same thing when he came down with it 2 days later. He was quarantined for 32 hours and was released in time to go on our St. Petersburg private tour.

 

We got refunds of our very expensive ($109 pp) shore excursions in Warnemunde, Germany. Our cabin was treated at least twice a day, flowers and water were sent up, and everyone was very solicitous. Also, as a result we wound up befriending the assistant maitre d', who was helpful in sending bland food, and when we ran into him again on our Caribbean cruise last month on the Summit, he made sure that we were well taken care of with a nice table for two every night

 

We both would not hesitate to report it in the future if, God forbid, we get it again. It's the right thing to do, plain and simple.

 

The main problem is that the cabin has to be treated in a very aggressive way to prevent future occupants from getting it. Regular cleaning does not get at the Noro virus. So, those who hide their malady are endangering not only those on their cruise, but those who will be in their cabin on the next cruise as well. That's some pretty bad karma.

 

And yes, we had a great cruise in spite of the Noro experience.

 

Susan

[phoenix_dream]

I would be interested in knowing the difference between 'regular cleaning' and post-noro cleaning. Does anyone know? I would hope 'regular cleaning' used disinfectant on all hard surfaces? Perhaps there is extra care taken with the soft goods on 'noro' cleaning??

[eandj]

We had 3 of the 4 passengers in our cabin physically seen and reported to the Medical Station on board, and Diagnosed with Noro. I went down to the Guest Relations with the paperwork in hand 36 hrs before our excursion, and they would not let us refund or cancel! They would not let my husband and sons get off the shop either (not that they were even healthy enough too.) It's something we are still fighting now. We have names and documentation. I've heard other Cruise Critic people say maybe we could not get a refund because Celebrity does have to pay the excursion companies.....but since we obviously contracted the illness onboard, I'd expect different. If YOU were lucky enough to get a refund, I'm glad. But Celebrity did not do this for us on the Jan 23rd sailing.

 

 

My first question is ...who is "they"? WHO did you talk to? Just the person at the excursion desk?

then...You even added MORE info which argues the point of refund. I'm curious to know which excursion you were cancelling?? There is always a cancelation time allowed for the excursions. If you were indeed more than a day ahead, I'd argue that wasn't right either. Seems to me that the "dispute" for a refund should have been made at that point. At least to have the refund moved into your ship board account. It would have been eaiser to negotiate while onboard.

However at this point, I wouldn't give up. You make copies of every doctor visit with the diagnoses and treatment and call and get the name of the Celebrity person to deal with. Keep moving up the ladder of command at this point. Negotiate for an onboard credit on your next cruise, at least.

If there were a TON of people who developed Noro, then I can see why refunding cash/money wasn't going to be their going response. However that shouldn't have stopped you from negotiating for SOMETHING while onboard. An obc would have been my goal. And I know my DH wouldn't have left the ship without dealing with the right person when you are talking hundreds of dollars.:(

Good luck. Come on back and report what you ended up with. Will help others who might have a similar problem.

 

Was this your first X cruise? If not you could deal with Captains Club reps too.

[RDC1]

Would you really want to have a sick passenger (norovirus), departing ship, and going on a crowded airplane while sick. I would hate to be one of the passengers on that plane.

 

Lets face it there is no good solution for the sick passenger. The fairest would be for a published policy for the cruise line to reimbuse the passenger for a percentage of their cruise fair based upon the total days under quarentine divided by the total days of the cruise and for any excursions pruchased through the ship that cannot be taken due to the quarentine to be refunded. Certain services such as enhanced room services and waiving of some ship board fees that are associated with quarentine such as delivery of soft drinks, movie rentals, etc could also apply.

 

Clearly medical expenses with seeing on board staff would also be waived under such a policy.

 

 

 

 

Interesting poll. Being semi retired from health care I know what havoc an epidemic can cause. That being said somewhere in insurance/company policy should be a chance for pax to disembark & return home ( if @ a reasonably located port-ie St. Thomas for cruises out of FLL) with reasonable refund of fare. What is "unfair" is often the DH/DW of the sick pax is also confimed even if they have no symptoms of illness. That being said WE all have to take RESPONSIBILY for OUR OWN ACTIONS. Buy cx for any reason insurance. If you don't feel well see your MD prior to departure( could simply be an allergy or a mild cold),wash your hands and always (as I do being mildy neurotic but cute)as soon as you enter your cabin use Clorox wipes on door knobs, furniture handles, bathroom fixtures & the REMOTE CONTROL, safe knobs etc. I also wipe down airplane armrests & tray tables. May be over kill but neither DH or I have ever been ill while traveling.

For those questioning the wipe question-they are sold in mini packs @ various stores. I take a few baggies & put the used wipes in the baggie & then dispose of it. Also I then use handsantizer.

Carole

[sarahc78]

This thread makes me think of another question I have always wondered how people would respond.

[Mr. Luckytoo]

Would you really want to have a sick passenger (norovirus), departing ship, and going on a crowded airplane while sick. I would hate to be one of the passengers on that plane.

 

Lets face it there is no good solution for the sick passenger. The fairest would be for a published policy for the cruise line to reimbuse the passenger for a percentage of their cruise fair based upon the total days under quarentine divided by the total days of the cruise and for any excursions pruchased through the ship that cannot be taken due to the quarentine to be refunded. Certain services such as enhanced room services and waiving of some ship board fees that are associated with quarentine such as delivery of soft drinks, movie rentals, etc could also apply.

 

Clearly medical expenses with seeing on board staff would also be waived under such a policy.

 

Thank goodness most of the sickness's that we're talking about is noro and not something like measles, TB or heaven forbid smallpox!

[phoenix_dream]

My first question is ...who is "they"? WHO did you talk to? Just the person at the excursion desk?

then...You even added MORE info which argues the point of refund. I'm curious to know which excursion you were cancelling?? There is always a cancelation time allowed for the excursions. If you were indeed more than a day ahead, I'd argue that wasn't right either. Seems to me that the "dispute" for a refund should have been made at that point. At least to have the refund moved into your ship board account. It would have been eaiser to negotiate while onboard.

However at this point, I wouldn't give up. You make copies of every doctor visit with the diagnoses and treatment and call and get the name of the Celebrity person to deal with. Keep moving up the ladder of command at this point. Negotiate for an onboard credit on your next cruise, at least.

If there were a TON of people who developed Noro, then I can see why refunding cash/money wasn't going to be their going response. However that shouldn't have stopped you from negotiating for SOMETHING while onboard. An obc would have been my goal. And I know my DH wouldn't have left the ship without dealing with the right person when you are talking hundreds of dollars.:(

Good luck. Come on back and report what you ended up with. Will help others who might have a similar problem.

 

Was this your first X cruise? If not you could deal with Captains Club reps too.

According to the Celebrity website, prepaid shore excursions can be cancelled onboard up until the time sales for that port are closed. I have never been on a cruise where these sales were closed a full 36 hours before the date. It goes on to say that even after the sales for the port are closed, if you need to cancel they will try to fill your spots. If they cannot, then you are stuck with the cost. I think I have read all of the posts from passengers affected by noro on this particular cruise. No one else reported this problem. It seems to me if there is documentation to back up this claim, there is an excellent chance writing to Celebrity would result in a refund.

[kelmac]

Interesting thread. My wife and I were on the Queen Mary 2 this past winter break (the ship had about 170 cases of Noro), and two couples refused to stay in their cabin after they felt a bit better -- both couples were put off the ship at the next port.

My wife and I have been on several ships experiencing Noro outbreaks, but we have never experienced the disease. Perhaps it's because we are both teachers that our immune system has a bit of an edge after multiple exposures?

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Tink3]

We just got off the Summit and I felt they did a horrible job. My husband on the second night felt pains in his stomach and kept burping up lamb. No other symptoms. Went to the doctor as he felt he had food poisoining and they gave him a pill and said if he wasn't feeling better to come back. He went to dinner that night, went to the martini bar, went to breakfast the next morning (he was feeling better during all this the pains went away) then when we went to get off the ship for our excursion a message rang and they told him NO! We lost a day in Antuiga, our friends had no idea what happened as they were just with us and all was well and we did not get to do our excursion. So.....my answer to this question is if a person is having vomiting, diarahea symptoms then stay away from other guests. Do you think if my husband had any of those symptoms he would be attempting to go an a 4 hour excursion on ATV's? My Lord he had food poisoining and they marked his card Food Related and then kept us from going off the ship. But.....we went to the pool, had lunch with other guests, had dinner, had breakfast and went all around the ship that day. So you tell me if they do a good job keeping sick guests away from others. My husband was not sick so we had no problem going around the ship but lets say he really did have the other symptoms he was not monitored in any way on the ship. I even heard a man telling his wife he had stomach problems but was not going to go to the doctor. So......I guess that answered it for us. Many just won't go because they know what will happen. My husband gets food poison and goes and we lose a day at port.

[phoenix_dream]

We just got off the Summit and I felt they did a horrible job. My husband on the second night felt pains in his stomach and kept burping up lamb. No other symptoms. Went to the doctor as he felt he had food poisoining and they gave him a pill and said if he wasn't feeling better to come back. He went to dinner that night, went to the martini bar, went to breakfast the next morning (he was feeling better during all this the pains went away) then when we went to get off the ship for our excursion a message rang and they told him NO! We lost a day in Antuiga, our friends had no idea what happened as they were just with us and all was well and we did not get to do our excursion. So.....my answer to this question is if a person is having vomiting, diarahea symptoms then stay away from other guests. Do you think if my husband had any of those symptoms he would be attempting to go an a 4 hour excursion on ATV's? My Lord he had food poisoining and they marked his card Food Related and then kept us from going off the ship. But.....we went to the pool, had lunch with other guests, had dinner, had breakfast and went all around the ship that day. So you tell me if they do a good job keeping sick guests away from others. My husband was not sick so we had no problem going around the ship but lets say he really did have the other symptoms he was not monitored in any way on the ship. I even heard a man telling his wife he had stomach problems but was not going to go to the doctor. So......I guess that answered it for us. Many just won't go because they know what will happen. My husband gets food poison and goes and we lose a day at port.

I agree - the way they treated this was ridiculous. First not really identifying if it was noro and not quarantining you, but then not letting you off the ship. HUH?!?!?! You are either contagious or you are not. They seemed to want it both ways. I know we have one elderly aunt who travels with us who almost always experiences at least one day of acute stomach problems due to exhaustion and change of diet (details of which no one would want to hear:)). We always take care to make sure she does not report any of it as it is absolutely not due to noro or anything contagious and we don't want her confined irresponsibly.

[Tink3]

What struk me as funny was the only way they monitored it was getting off the ship. Say my husband did have this virus he was all over the ship without anyone even knowing. This was just strange to me. The place he could have gotten everyone else sick including the crew and they had no idea he was up and about. Now, maybe, just because he did not have this virus thing is why he was all about and if he did have it then maybe he would be curled up by the toilet and they would not have to worry but this proves our point that it was food related and not viral so why did we get punished and have to miss a port and an excursion? Live and learn is what I say. I am sure many people don't go to the doctor becaue of this very fact so who is really safe on the ship anyway?

[sasset]

I may have missed something in this thread. Crew was mentioned in some of the posts but most focused on passengers.

 

We made aquaintance with a bar waiter on Ininity and happened to see him on two subsequant cruises. On the most recent we saw him as bartender at the bar opposite the Cova (don't know what it is called) and it was obvious that he was feeling poorly. In conversation it came up that crew was discouraged from calling out sick and if they did they were docked pay as well as missing the tips they would have made while out.

[Tink3]

That is interesting. We were docked a port for no reason but they allow the crew to work or they will dock their pay. I would like to think that if a person had a gastrointestional problem they would not even attempt to leave the ship or their room. What I found to be a problem is that my husband clearly stated he felt he had food poisoining and clearly stated it was the lamb as that was what he kept getting indigestion from....they wrote that down on a card being that they wanted to know if anyone else came in with the symptoms and named the lamb. This made sense to my husband as it should be monitored. To never mention to him that any stomach related problem would flag him from getting off the ship for 24 hours was wrong. Even when he told security he would go to the doctor to get checked over to make sure he had nothing and went they still said NO! This was a joke to me as he then spent the day on the ship relaxing by the pool, bar and having lunch in the buffett with staff and passengers...go figure.