Crown princess steaming home!

[RD64]

If the ship has not been to any islands, it can't be something the passengers have brought back from the ports. It seems, to me anyway, that it is something on the ship. Will a two day cleaning be enough? Maybe Princess should err on the side of caution and take the ship out of service for a week....if this 2/3 day cleaning doesn't work, it will be a huge public relations nightmare for Princess, and the cruise industry.

[caribill]

If they hadn't made it to a foreign port since departing, how is it that they are allowed back into a US port?

 

It violates no rules to come back to the same port it left from.

[bjkTX]

Trouble is, if you carry Noro onto the ship, you probably won't have a fever. :(

 

I had what I assume to be Noro pretty bad last October after attending a party with a bunch of friends. Fifteen of us got horribly sick about 24-48 hours after the party, and only about six people escaped the horror. I have never been that sick in my life, lost 8 pounds overnight (OK, oversharing :D ) and never had a fever. The next day I could barely get off the couch. I feel bad for those who got sick on this cruise and hope that those who didn't still managed to enjoy five days at sea.

 

DW got terribly sick our last night on the Crown in October after a 12 day cruise - and was sick for a week - like you, she lost whatever she had gained the other 11 days! She was gracious enough to give it to me 2 days after we got home but I recovered before she did - it was nasty.

 

We leave on a cruise this weekend and she had me do a lot of research to see if she could do anything (other than what we already did) to prevent it - she says she never wants to go through that again.

 

We feel for the folks on the Crown.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Do you know how many times my husband has come out of the washroom and tell me that the man over there did not wash his hands.....

 

In my opinion some people just think that they are above all of this!!!

 

Yep! My DH has said the same. We both use a paper towel to shut off the water after we wash our hand and to open the door when we exit.

[Love.II.Cruise]

It violates no rules to come back to the same port it left from.

 

I agree, there are many cruises to nowhere. ;)

[RickSue]

Looking at the news reports over 300 passengers are sick and over 60 of the crew... Looks like a great deal if you didn't get sick though - a full refund, and a 25% credit towards your next cruise....

[Cruzin-K]

DW got terribly sick our last night on the Crown in October after a 12 day cruise - and was sick for a week - like you, she lost whatever she had gained the other 11 days! She was gracious enough to give it to me 2 days after we got home but I recovered before she did - it was nasty.

 

We leave on a cruise this weekend and she had me do a lot of research to see if she could do anything (other than what we already did) to prevent it - she says she never wants to go through that again.

 

We feel for the folks on the Crown.

 

Sorry you've experienced this too :( Part of me was afraid I was going to die. The other part was afraid I wouldn't :p

[PaulMedik]

That's not the problem, because it's not airborne. It can only be transferred by direct contact, which means infected people are touching surfaces that are then touched by others, and then it spreads. Cleaning the HVAC shouldn't make a difference.

 

 

Jenny,

 

By definition, spreading by the touching of infected surfaces results in indirect contact. There really is a difference because the offending speciman has to be viable on inanimate objects for that to occur.

 

Incidence of spreading via direct contact are fairly easy to control, but spreading by indirect contact is what causes the problem with this virus.

 

Proper hand washing and sanitation isn't enough; people have to stop putting their hands in their mouth, nose, eyes, and ears when this or any other virus is present. You don't catch this virus from other people; you deliver it by hand to yourself.

 

As for the HVAC, there should be minimal amounts if any noro in ducting, but when people are sick they begin spewing whatever coexisting illnesses they have thru the air and those will be carried by HVAC. Anyone ever throw up and then not cough or blow out extra air? ;)

 

The best possible scenario would be to quarantine the ship and passengers until everyone is healthy; that's never going to happen. Two days from now those who aren't currently ill, but who have been exposed are going to start their trips to the bathroom and praying to the porcelain godesses. During those two days before they have symptoms, they are contagious and will be sharing their illness with everyone they encounter. :o

[kywildcatfanone]

I was just reading the press release from Princess. It's a shame that this is happening to folks on board, and I feel for anyone who has been sick and confined to their cabin. It does seem like Princess is going to spend extra time cleaning this week and it certainly appears they are taking care of their passengers with the refund/hotel/airfare/future credit. I can only guess how expensive this week will be for them.

 

Mike

[RhondaPerr]

So sorry for the people on the Crown. You put so much planning into your vacation, and then "stuff" derails it! I really hope though that you do not give up on having a wonderful cruise in the future! I was on the Crown in July, and will be sailing again in April...this will be cruise number 30 for me. It really is the best vacation! Princess does do right by their passengers.

[julia]

We recently spent 13 days on the Celebrity Constellation under "code red" conditions and I frankly appreciated their diligence in keeping the noro at bay. Crews were constantly cleaning. hand sanitizers were dispensed by crew EVERYWHERE.... buffet, elevators, gangway, theater, shops. The buffet was fully manned and well served. Aside from the endless grumbling of some pax, our cruise was not impacted by these measures and I would gladly sail with them in place on all cruise ships. JMHO....

[OCruisers]

Maybe this ship needs to cancel a sailing or two so the crew and other employees can get rid of the virus....

 

So true! Easy to always blame this on the pax. Until Noro makes its run though the crew, staff, and officers ... it will continue to be a problem. Remember, those are the ones who remain on the ship sailing after sailing. :rolleyes:

[JimmyVWine]

Stop blaming others...Let's be positive!!!!

 

Nobody is blaming anyone. But to solve the problem, one has to identify the problem. And the statistics cannot lie. When the ship is only 2 days out of port and 5% of the crew is infected and only 1.7% of the passengers are, then the problem is arising predominately from the crew. This is undeniable. Positive thinking will not change that fact. All the sterilization in the world will not stop the ping-ponging of the virus until the crew is given time to get healthy. That's not blame. That is common sense.

[martyap]

Have friends on the Crown as we speak. Seems like the interest is to get back to Ft. Lauderdale by 6AM on Thursday.......disembark this group to spread their germs..........."clean" the ship once again........and get ready to head back out with another group on Saturday.:eek:

[kywildcatfanone]

It sounds like the cleaning will be more thorough:

 

"The enhanced disinfection of the ship in Fort Lauderdale will include bringing aboard additional cleaning crew to assist with a thorough sanitization of all public spaces and surfaces including soft furnishing and carpets, railings, door handles and the like. The staterooms will be sanitized multiple times before making up the rooms with fresh linens and towels on Saturday morning, just prior to passenger embarkation."

 

I am curious though, the crew that are sick, are they confined to their cabins until healthy, or will they put them off in Fort Lauderdale until they are healthy again? It seems to me, leaving sick people on the ship will not help ridding them of the virus.

 

Mike

[martyap]

It sounds like the cleaning will be more thorough:

 

"The enhanced disinfection of the ship in Fort Lauderdale will include bringing aboard additional cleaning crew to assist with a thorough sanitization of all public spaces and surfaces including soft furnishing and carpets, railings, door handles and the like. The staterooms will be sanitized multiple times before making up the rooms with fresh linens and towels on Saturday morning, just prior to passenger embarkation."

 

I am curious though, the crew that are sick, are they confined to their cabins until healthy, or will they put them off in Fort Lauderdale until they are healthy again? It seems to me, leaving sick people on the ship will not help ridding them of the virus.

 

Mike

The show must go on..........

[bplazo]

So sorry to hear about this. Hoping eveyone that is ill gets better.

[compozer]

Nobody is blaming anyone. But to solve the problem, one has to identify the problem. And the statistics cannot lie. When the ship is only 2 days out of port and 5% of the crew is infected and only 1.7% of the passengers are, then the problem is arising predominately from the crew. This is undeniable. Positive thinking will not change that fact. All the sterilization in the world will not stop the ping-ponging of the virus until the crew is given time to get healthy. That's not blame. That is common sense.

 

Yes, some people are - first it was passengers then others starting saying that if the ship was cleaned and the sick passengers gone, then it must be the crew that is spreading it. You'd be sick too if you had to clean up the bathroom after someone was sick, especially if they were one of the ones that isn't reporting it . The people on CC aren't the people that are in charge of identifying the problem. There are so many threads on this - every other thread talks about it - we aren't going to solve anything here.

 

Can't we all get along and start posting some nice things that we did or plan to do on our cruises. I'd even take another post about perks - haven't had one for a while.

[Barry H]

Friends on the Crown for a B2B are being put up in the Orlando Hilton. I guess there are insufficient rooms available in the Fort Lauderdale area. We will meet them on Saturday when we board and get all the gory details.

[geocruiser]

All I can say is on our cruise we did not know how it started.

[Loonbeam]

Wipe Info:

 

The standard Clorox Wipes, green pack, do not contain the best solutions for Noro, which is a pretty hardy bug.

 

The Clorox Germicidal Wipes do much better:

 

 

Amazon Link:

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=visualbasicres02&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B001B5OUZ4

 

More expensive, but very powerful (and stinky) are bleach wipes:

 

Amazon Link:

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=visualbasicres02&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B0050D0L3S

 

I've stuck with the Clorox Blue for the most part but if travelling in the winter I have been known to carry the bleach wipes (different brand I get from a relative who is a doctor but similar strength).

[Loonbeam]

Most casino chips nowadays are coated with something similar to Microban, which helps prevent the virus from adhering, its not perfect, but the casinos do not want their dealers getting sick either.

 

I was on the Celebrity Solstice on week 5 of continued Noro outbreaks. We had delayed boarding and our sailing had only a few cases. We waited in the loading area (not the check in are) for hours while the hazmat teams w/ their tanks of disinfection and white hazmat coveralls disinfected the ship.

As I said, there were still a few outbreaks on my sailing, fewer the next sailing and none reported after that.

One thing I noticed was that they were always cleaning around the ship... more often than usual. (poor crew had to be exhausted). They even took all the books out of the lending library. HOWEVER, the casino continued in full operation. Chips changed hands constantly and in none of my MANY MANY hours in the casino did I see the chips changed out or cleaned. Cards were not changed out any more often than usual. Since surface contact can spread the norovirus, I thought it rather "interesting" that the casino... a big money maker for cruise lines... was business as usual.

 

First thing when I get on a ship or in a hotel room, I take my clorox wipes and wipe down all the surfaced that I think I might be in contact with. Phones, remotes, door knobs etc etc. I like the idea also of spraying the surface of the bedspread thingy and the pillows. My travel companion thinks I'm a bit loony as I'm not scrupulously cleaning in my own home. I should have her read this thread.

[JimmyVWine]

Wipe Info:

 

The standard Clorox Wipes, green pack, do not contain the best solutions for Noro, which is a pretty hardy bug.

 

The Clorox Germicidal Wipes do much better:

 

 

Amazon Link:

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=visualbasicres02&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B001B5OUZ4

 

More expensive, but very powerful (and stinky) are bleach wipes:

 

Amazon Link:

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=visualbasicres02&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B0050D0L3S

 

I've stuck with the Clorox Blue for the most part but if travelling in the winter I have been known to carry the bleach wipes (different brand I get from a relative who is a doctor but similar strength).

thanks. Any idea if the germicidal Clorox wipes are generally available in places like Publix?

[cruzinchris]

All I can say is on our cruise we did not know how it started.

 

DH and I first noticed the "signs" of precautionary measures against illness on Friday morning at breakfast in DaVinci: No salt & pepper shakers or butter dishes on tables. DH walked through Horizon Court later in the day and noticed that crew were serving passengers.

 

While I was posting LIVE! here on CC, Captain Nash made his somber announcement about the overnight outbreak of Noro, and CD Lisa Ball reported on canceled activities. By late afternoon, DH was feeling unwell and spent the remaining hours onboard in our stateroom until we disembarked on Saturday.

 

Since there had been no indication of Norovirus until Friday morning, DH and I contend that the illness was brought onboard after our port calls in Curacao and/or Aruba that could have involved crew and/or passengers who disembarked the ship at one or both of these islands. DH and I did not eat, drink, or use restrooms on either island.

Chris

[Loonbeam]

I've seen them in wal-mart I think. Can't speak to publix.

 

thanks. Any idea if the germicidal Clorox wipes are generally available in places like Publix?