More Noro on Sea Princess

[ChelleR]

I just received an email from Princess letting us know that embarkation will be delayed on Wednesday for its scheduled round-trip sailing to Alaska.

 

I am disappointed about not being able to board until 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm...but will keep a positive outlook if it prevents further outbreaks. This current outbreak is not listed on the CDC website...so I suppose its good that the outbreak isn't severe enough to qualify...but feel bad for those passengers who apparently have become ill.

 

I'm not sure why the Sea Princess is having so many issues this Alaska season...

[RickEk]

I just received an email from Princess letting us know that embarkation will be delayed on Wednesday for its scheduled round-trip sailing to Alaska.

 

I am disappointed about not being able to board until 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm...but will keep a positive outlook if it prevents further outbreaks. This current outbreak is not listed on the CDC website...so I suppose its good that the outbreak isn't severe enough to qualify...but feel bad for those passengers who apparently have become ill.

 

I'm not sure why the Sea Princess is having so many issues this Alaska season...

 

That's too bad, but the truth of the matter is that noro is brought on board by the passengers... hopefully they'll be able to sanitize the ship thoroughly for the next round of passengers. Just be careful...

[dfields1814]

We are on the next (July 9th) cruise so I hope your cruise will be the last one for the clean up

 

Does the mean that boarding will start sometime between 4:00 and 6:30. Or all the boarding will be done in those 2 and half hours and sails at 6:30?

[ChelleR]

 

Does the mean that boarding will start sometime between 4:00 and 6:30. Or all the boarding will be done in those 2 and half hours and sails at 6:30?

 

Paul...this is the email we received:

 

Sea Princess Sailing June 29, 2011

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ITINERARY CHANGES AND CRUISE CHECK IN

 

On the current sailing of Sea Princess there has been an increase in the number of cases of gastrointestinal illness amongst passengers caused by Norovirus, a common illness. It will be necessary for the ship to undergo a prolonged and additional disinfection in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 29, 2011. As a consequence, embarkation will be delayed.

 

Cruise check-in is now scheduled to begin at 4:30pm. To ensure a smooth start to your voyage, we operate a staggered check-in schedule as noted below determined by your deck and cabin number. We kindly request that you plan to arrive at your scheduled check-in time.

 

4:30pm- Aloha, Plaza & Riviera Decks / Cabins A201-A745, P225-P349, R303-R351

5:15pm - Caribe & Emerald Decks / Cabins C201-C749, E301-E353

6:00pm - Baja & Dolphin Decks / Cabins B201-B755, D201-D753

 

Passengers arriving prior to 4:30pm will be asked to return when check-in begins as there is very limited seating space in the terminal.

 

All passengers must be onboard by 6:30pm.

 

Thank you for your attention to this important message. Please refer to princess.com for updated information.

[biggerbearmom]

Boarding will be staggered with the first group on at 4:30 and the last group boarding at 6:00pm.

[Toto2Kansas]

It sounds like (from that schedule) that the ship is scheduled to now sail at 7:00 PM

[jimmynterry]

Can the luggage be dropped off the pier before 430?

[dfields1814]

Normally we would ignore the schedule they send by e mail and board when we get to the ship. But in this case, it looks like they will be pretty serious about it with the staggered boarding. So I guess I would comply and plan accordingly. If this affects us on the next cruise my daughter would board first and my wife and would board in the second group. That would not be too bad. I am sure we can find something to in SF for a couple of hours

 

How would they handle people who have the first seating in traditional dining on that day? Are they just out of luck for that first day? Just curious. This would not affect us too bad in that we have anytime dining. They also have to get the muster drill in there sometime.

 

To me I have a routine on the first day. That TV show Monk to me was not comedy. It was high drama! I like things the same. So I don't like any change to routine on that first day. But on the other hand... a change in routine versus noro virus.. I will gladly take the change in routine.

 

If you are on that Wed. cruise .. have a great time... don't get sick ... and keep that ship in good shape for us who will be on on the next cruise.

[Belle]

Read the attachment to the e-mail, says

that in 72 hours the number of sick people

has gone down. Doing cleaning to be safe.

 

On the June 9th cruise, same thing, sailing late.

I read that they had open seating for all, 1st night.

Lifeboat drill was held the next morning because

of cruising late.

[ggprincess2004]

Normally we would ignore the schedule they send by e mail and board when we get to the ship. But in this case, it looks like they will be pretty serious about it with the staggered boarding. So I guess I would comply and plan accordingly. If this affects us on the next cruise my daughter would board first and my wife and would board in the second group. That would not be too bad. I am sure we can find something to in SF for a couple of hours

 

How would they handle people who have the first seating in traditional dining on that day? Are they just out of luck for that first day? Just curious. This would not affect us too bad in that we have anytime dining. They also have to get the muster drill in there sometime.

 

To me I have a routine on the first day. That TV show Monk to me was not comedy. It was high drama! I like things the same. So I don't like any change to routine on that first day. But on the other hand... a change in routine versus noro virus.. I will gladly take the change in routine.

 

If you are on that Wed. cruise .. have a great time... don't get sick ... and keep that ship in good shape for us who will be on on the next cruise.

 

The family could still board together even though you are scheduled at different times. If this is in force for my Aug 18 cruise, we will still be helping my parents through the boarding process and will all go together, although not until boarding has begun.

 

In a situation like this, both the anytime and fixed seating dining rooms will be open seating that evening. No one will be out of luck, dinner will be served, but it will all be open seating.

 

Now let's get that ship healthy and keep it healthy. I don't want my parents to have to cope with noro!

[5:00_Somewhere]

We have friends who are apparently on your cruise, as they just got the same notice. Hopefully the delayed boarding will allow the crew to scrub the ship to within an inch of its "life" so you all won't have to worry about this nasty bug. Good for you for keeping a positive attitude. After 1 day at sea, I'll bet you will have forgotten about the whole thing. Best of luck! :D

[drandyl]

Thanks for posting this 'heads-up'!

[Belle]

Some wrote on the roll call for 6/29

that they called Princess and you

can drop your luggage off after 9am.

 

If me, I would wait till all the former

passengers were off. So my luggage

didn't get mixed up. Sure they do a

good job of keeping track but who knows

what might happen. It's a busy morning

especially with the cleaning going on.

[gdisney]

Wow, this has been going on for awhile now on the Sea Princess. I first heard about it from a friend who was on the May 20 sailing. My parents were on the June 9 and had delayed boarding like this; they didn't get on till almost 7pm and skipped the MDR the first night due to the enormous lines. Their itinerary was shifted around and they substituted Ketchikan for Haines, and were in Juneau a different day than planned, which caused them to have to tender in there. I hope we don't have similar problems on our July 19 sailing!

[mckenzi]

Dont worry there have been a few people sick...maybe 20. We are all fine the weather has been great and the seas like glass!!! One of the best cruises I have done! I would happily stay onboard with the Noro! Happy Sailing!:D

[laura1960]

Mckenzi, this is GREAT to hear (well, not so great if you're one of the 20, or their family members) but it's good to know that the norovirus has not reached epic proportions on the ship.

What sort of precautions is the ship taking (i.e., hand sanitizers, no self-serve at the buffet, etc?)

Glad you are having a great cruise!

[Quenby]

If the ship is back at RED level, it ususally means 5% are sick :(

[ofthesea]

I just came off this cruise yesterday... and honestly norovirus it's nasty but it's not something you should pull your hair about... i was on deck 5 and 3 people in my hall got noro and no one in my family got it. Alongs you take the precautions you'll be okay. Listen to the crew workers as they understand norovirus more than the passengers do. 53 people got norovirus SYMPTOMS during my cruise... and there is what 2000 [a little less than that] passengers. I would consider that a small handful. But that small handful of passengers did make the buffet from self serve to the buffet stewards serving you... it was slightly annoying but understandable and i'm not going to complain...

 

just don't go all crazy about it, if you get it, you get it, it's basically the stomach flu. the only thing i do say is, if you get it, don't be scared to report it because if you don't and you walk out of your room, you increase the chances of getting everyone else sick...

my room cleaner said that people got norovirus from outside the ship and brought it back on...

 

well fun cruising to you!

sea princess is still a beautiful ship with a WONDERFUL crew onboard.

[Cyclospora]

I was on the sailing on the 9th and I can understand the comment about bringing it on board. Whereas there was hand gel at every restaurant there was no hand gel at security when you got back on the boat after a shore visit. Maybe there should have been?

[repo-cruiser]

From all reports on Noro it is usually crew members who go off the ship and then bring it back on. Fact. ;)

[malteaser]

We were on the June 9th sailing and due to the extra cleaning, we sailed at 8:00pm. They used both Rigoletto and Traviata dining rooms for open seating dinner that began immedately upon boarding thru around 9:00pm.

 

We arrived around 5:00pm for boarding and there was a huge line. However there was a separate boarding entrance for Platinum, Elite and Suite passengers so that was great. We checked in quickly and then waited in a lounge in the terminal until time to board.

 

We stayed on Code Red for 7 days, then the last 3 days we went to Code Yellow. We then were able to serve ourselves in the buffet, however in the dining room, we still had packets of salt and pepper and bread and butter were still served to us rather than being left on the table. I think not having the bread left on the table was probably a good thing!

 

Have a great cruise!

 

We went to Sitka, Juneau, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and Victoria. We skipped Haines and they moved Juneau to a different day.

[JGetCRUSING]

Noro is a horrible virus. it may be a bummer to board late but its better than getting sick :) I had norovirus about 5 years ago and let me tell you it was not a walk in the park i lost 13 lbs in 5 days because of it. I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy. I hope they can get it under control..not that im going on princess anytime soon, but for those of you who are take hand sanitizer and use it wherever you go.

[shepp]

I hope they can get it under control..not that im going on princess anytime soon, but for those of you who are take hand sanitizer and use it wherever you go.

 

No no no! WASH your hands.

 

"Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) in place of soap and water in nursing homes represents one of the greatest institutional risk factors for the spread of noroviruses and can lead to outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis.

 

"Dr. Titus thought the study showed soap was more effective than ABHS for a simple reason: friction. 'Most soaps and sanitizers are considered to be antibacterial,' she said. 'Here, we're talking about a virus.'"

 

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/737884

 

(Whoops...sorry...I added the above link before discovering that you have to have an account to access the article. Googling "hand sanitizer norovirus" should get you directly there, though.)

[JGetCRUSING]

that works too.

[shepp]

that works too.

 

Not to sound argumentative, but it's not a matter of "too" (except perhaps in the sense of adding alcohol-based sanitizers to a good hand-washing routine). Most sanitizers aren't effective against noro - which can actually develop resistance to the stuff - and can instill a false sense of security (which might be why lines no longer seem as insistent about using it). Unless it's a sanitizer specifically aimed at noro, you might as well save some money and just scrub with lots of soap and hot water for the duration of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." (You might refrain from singing out loud in the public washrooms, though, unless you want to get weird looks.)