Norovirus

[ONECRUISER]

58 minutes ago, CEOofVacation said:

Are you sure that a third had it?  Anything more than 2% has to be reported to CDC.  There is nothing regarding the Rhapsody sailing on the CDC site.  Also, how did you know that people were coming out of bathrooms without washing their hands?  Norovirus is highly contagious and someone with good hygiene practice can still contract it.

Agree, but probably just misinformed. If 1/3 had it we'd have heard about it when was mandatory reported. 

[sargejenn]

15 hours ago, Teacher42 said:

Obviously 500 or so of us failed to follow proper hygiene , unless it can be proved otherwise.

 

Contracting the virus does NOT necessarily mean you failed to follow proper hygiene.  Most articles about Norovirus advise that alcohol based hand cleaners are not very effective against Noro - only warm water and soap hand washing is.  So a passenger making a best faith effort to “washy washy” with hand cleaner at every possible point can still be unlucky and get sick.  

 

Please be sensitive and not cast others in such a negative light without some basis in fact.  Thanks.  

[GarlicBread]

1 hour ago, fla gang said:

I wonder what other Royal ships are experiencing guests sick with Gastro illness?

 

Every ship, on the majority of cruises. 

 

Just rarely becomes an outbreak like this one. 

[boscobeans]

35 minutes ago, MTLCRUISER72 said:

😂 No seriously .

 

Like I have stated already, I have no reason to recommend this product other than the fact that is does kill Noro on surfaces. Does not require rinsing , hasn't stained anything in the years we've been using it and the worst smell it has is that of evaporating alcohol. 

 

Alpet D-2 Surface sanitizer.  FOR SURFACES-NOT INTENDED AS A HAND SANITIZER

 

We just bought a 32 ounce bottle on line for about $17.00 and it includes a large sprayer for the entire bottle. 

 

When we first started using it years ago we would bring the sealed bottle on in our carry on bag, but since have learned that about 8 ounces is enough  hence the smaller bottles. ( PACKED IN LEAKPROOF PLASTIC BAGGIES.)

[Teacher42]

Dear Sarg, I do not disagree, but all the 'washy-washy'  in  the world is not going to help us all if your infected fellow passengers do not follow decent protocols. Like in prior posts, quarantined passengers sneaking out of their cabins, not washing their hands in the restrooms, coughing in our faces, or just coughing all over the furniture, vomiting on the floor in front of us and splattering our shoes or just walking through it unaware we are tracking it back to our cabins. How can an avowed misanthrope, like myself be so sensitive of such insensitive  actions of others?

[CEOofVacation]

17 minutes ago, GarlicBread said:

 

Every ship, on the majority of cruises. 

 

Just rarely becomes an outbreak like this one. 

On a side note, I started feeling nauseated towards the end of dinner one evening on our Apr/May 2018 Greek isles cruise on Celebrity Reflection. That day, we ate lunch at a nice Greek restaurant in Athens, followed by a slice of watery gluten-free cake from Cafe Al Bacio and a scoop of gelato on our return to the ship.  That was my one indulgence on that cruise.  I threw up twice within an hour after dinner.  I called guest services and no one answered.  I called the emergency line and was scolded.  We headed down to medical center and they were closed and many of the crew members on that deck had no idea on how to get hold of them.  Someone finally got hold of a nurse and we saw her, followed by the doctor.  The doctor said I had food poisoning and they had ZERO reported case of norovirus onboard.  We were relieved to hear it.  He gave me a shot and said I should be able to sleep.  If I vomited again, to come back at 8am.  I slept well and was fine thereafter.

[platina416]

I just bought these and having it shipped to my local Staples. Will be using these to wipe the surfaces of the room before we enter (we leave on the Oasis on the 20th). These wipes are listed on the EPA PDF that someone posted about, and listed on Clorox's site https://www.cloroxpro.com/pathogens/norovirus/. 
 

https://www.staples.ca/en/abc/product_900546_1-CA_1_20001

 

I will probably wait before getting some good hand sanitizer. Hopefully the people leaving on the 13th have no more incidences, and if so we will just resort to good old handwashing with soap and avoiding touching what we don't need to. 

 

[Teacher42]

Dear CEO, Sounds more likely that the culprit in your case was that 'nice' Greek restaurant in Athens. Since doctor reported zero cases on board at that time. More than you, must have had the watery gf cake and gelato.  Brings to mind a gentlemen in our travel group who had a last delightful meal in Vietnam before our flight back home after our cruise. He developed symptoms on the flight, we shared our car service with him on the way from the airport. We had the driver pull off to the side of the road so he could jump out and vomit.  It is no joke and no amount of immunity is built up at our age for this kind of thing. When we arrived at his home he called his son  and had himself checked into the hospital.

     We learned that should you desire to eat in a foreign country it is best to get or go with a local that frequents the establishment regularly, or in our case we invited the piano player on board to take us all to his favorite restaurants in ports, our treat. He always recommended what or what not to eat. Perhaps we were just lucky or perhaps not.

Edited January 12, 2019 by Teacher42

[MTLCRUISER72]

1 hour ago, boscobeans said:

 

Like I have stated already, I have no reason to recommend this product other than the fact that is does kill Noro on surfaces. Does not require rinsing , hasn't stained anything in the years we've been using it and the worst smell it has is that of evaporating alcohol. 

 

Alpet D-2 Surface sanitizer.  FOR SURFACES-NOT INTENDED AS A HAND SANITIZER

 

We just bought a 32 ounce bottle on line for about $17.00 and it includes a large sprayer for the entire bottle. 

 

When we first started using it years ago we would bring the sealed bottle on in our carry on bag, but since have learned that about 8 ounces is enough  hence the smaller bottles. ( PACKED IN LEAKPROOF PLASTIC BAGGIES.)

Thanks, I was thinking about that and/or Purefypro which already comes in travel size spray. And to be on the safe side Clorox wipes.

[cruisegirl1]

I wish all the Oasis passengers well. By know they are all off the ship. I hope RCCL also sanitizes the terminal so the passengers getting on this Sunday stay healthy.   Same for those getting off and then those getting on Enchantment Monday.  

 

M

[netwitt]

Curious, when the outbreak starts is there any announcement so passengers can take precautions?

[NouCruzer]

This CDC presentation is an excellent source of information on Noro infections, transmission and infection control.  

 

https://www.cdc.gov/hai/pdfs/norovirus/norovirus-gen508.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

[coaster]

6 hours ago, CEOofVacation said:

Are you sure that a third had it?  Anything more than 2% has to be reported to CDC.  There is nothing regarding the Rhapsody sailing on the CDC site.  Also, how did you know that people were coming out of bathrooms without washing their hands?  Norovirus is highly contagious and someone with good hygiene practice can still contract it.

Rhapsody was not sailing from a US port  on Nov 13 2018 when the previous poster shared an issue with norovirus.   CDC is not involved with investigating illness on ships worldwide. They are focused on ships departing from the US.  Not fair to attack the messenger unless you analyze and have a understanding of the facts involved.

Edited January 12, 2019 by coaster

[Teacher42]

To all, Having gone to the recent post by NouCruzer  and the link most graciously provided. The CDC has a protocol for sanitizing using bleach and hydrogen peroxide for norovirus. Since other prior posts have reported that the norovirus remains present in the saliva for up to 3-4 days after symptoms pass, perhaps it would be advisable for those with symptoms to begin brushing their teeth with glyoxide, an oral antiseptic of 3% peroxide, as an added prophylatic.

[NouCruzer]

Teacher42,

 

The salient point made in the CDC presentation is that the infectivity of virus that is shed after resolution of symptoms is simply not known.  And virus (detectable by the RT-PCR test described) can be shed for much longer in other body excretions for times that are greater than the 3-4 days in saliva.  Given the lack of evidence that noro can be transmitted via saliva exposure, normal oral hygiene is likely to be sufficient.

[squadron]

7 hours ago, fla gang said:

I wonder what other Royal ships are experiencing guests sick with Gastro illness?

Don't you wonder about all the other cruise ship lines?  It is not just Royal problem.  Schools are germ fests this time of year as any parent or teacher can tell you.

[coaster]

3 minutes ago, squadron said:

Don't you wonder about all the other cruise ship lines?  It is not just Royal problem.  Schools are germ fests this time of year as any parent or teacher can tell you.

Plus many younger children are in daycare and share a confined communal area because both parents have to work to make a decent living.

[Maraprince]

6 hours ago, CEOofVacation said:

On a side note, I started feeling nauseated towards the end of dinner one evening on our Apr/May 2018 Greek isles cruise on Celebrity Reflection. That day, we ate lunch at a nice Greek restaurant in Athens, followed by a slice of watery gluten-free cake from Cafe Al Bacio and a scoop of gelato on our return to the ship.  That was my one indulgence on that cruise.  I threw up twice within an hour after dinner.  I called guest services and no one answered.  I called the emergency line and was scolded.  We headed down to medical center and they were closed and many of the crew members on that deck had no idea on how to get hold of them.  Someone finally got hold of a nurse and we saw her, followed by the doctor.  The doctor said I had food poisoning and they had ZERO reported case of norovirus onboard.  We were relieved to hear it.  He gave me a shot and said I should be able to sleep.  If I vomited again, to come back at 8am.  I slept well and was fine thereafter.

 

If you have food poisoning it hits you very hard and very soon after eating a meal.  Noro is a slower process and you start feeling unwell gradually depending on how great your exposure is.  Speaking as someone who has had both once on a flight returning to NY and last year with RCL.

 

MARAPRINCE

[rt1092]

Not going back 12 pages. Just read this page. I heard from the most reliable source. That they think it was a child in Adventure Ocean the vomited 2 hours after leaving port. Makes sense that this could cause the perfect storm. The kids get infected they pass it to other kids, parents and siblings, and they pass it to others.  Royal bent over backwards to accommodate everyone. I still can't believe they gave 100% refunds and not future cruise certificates. Plus they offered to pay up to $200 for a hotel room, and up to $200 for airline change fees.. The B2bs were transferred to a hotel  and given meal vouchers. Then they are to be escorted back to the ship in the morning. I'm sure the shareholders are having a fit. This cost Royal big time both in cash and bad PR. All in all I don't think any cruise line could have handled it better.

[Mikew0805]

21 hours ago, Miss Studio said:

I’m freaking out, a little bit, but trying to keep things in perspective. As I sit in my hotel room, a couple of hours away from Tampa, I saw an “over the top” report of the Oasis situation!  The reporter called it the “Barf Boat”!  So crass!  My Husband and I are getting ready to board the Rhapsody tomorrow.  An earlier post here says that the flu is on that ship.  I will turn Diamond after this cruise, but that diamond is very quickly loosing its sparkle! 

It's flu season. I would be that it is more than just Rhapsody that has a passenger or two with the flu. 

[sfaaa]

Besides public washrooms and common areas, another high risk area on the ship is the gym. Common courtesy dictates that  you are supposed to wipe down the gym equipment with sanitizing wipes after each use. This quite often is not the case as some inconsiderate users would drip sweat onto the gym equipment and then just get up and walk away when they are done. Saw this many times to my dismay.

Edited January 13, 2019 by sfaaa

[John&LaLa]

12 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

They might be magnets rather than tape.  I’m rather short and won’t be climbing up for a closer look at how it is adhered.... no need to make a total spectacle of myself.

 

Last night a parting questionnaire was delivered.  It is to be left on the vanity of each stateroom indicating if anybody in stateroom had experienced GI symptoms during the  sailing.  The cruiseline is clearly doing all they can to have the ship clean and ready for the next cruise.

 

We did not get a survey

[Mikew0805]

12 hours ago, Miss Studio said:

I guess I didn’t make my point clear.  I just wanted to point out that being in closed quarters with a bunch of people is always going to be a risk.  Some people are just plain nasty.  Some people don’t think anything of spreading their germs...whether it’s noro, flu, or a common cold.

That is a pretty snotty (no pun intended) thing to say. You realize a person is contagious BEFORE symptoms of the flu begin... right? Which means they do not know they are sick. Also, some people are spreading rhinovirus, and never get symptoms of a cold. 

[Mikew0805]

6 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We did not get a survey

Well... they're not stupid.🤣

 

...wait

Edited January 13, 2019 by Mikew0805

[h20skibum]

10 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Common courtesy dictates that  you are supposed to wipe down the gym equipment with sanitizing wipes after each use. This quite often is the case as some inconsiderate users would drip sweat onto the gym equipment and then just get up and walk away when they are done. Saw this many times to my dismay

 

This is why we always wipe down the equipment before we use it.