Norovirus onboard the Summit 9/21/13

[cruisinnannie]

The 9/21/13 Canada and New England sailing was my fourth cruise on the Summit. It was a cruise my sister and I took and we were excited about visiting the ports in the northeast and Canada. While onbaoard the Summit, my sister had a email from a friend who had been aboard the Summit on the previous cruise. He let us know that there was noro onboard and that three people in his party had contracted norovirus. At least one other passenger from the previous cruise has also posted on Cruise Critic about the presence of norovirus on the previous cruise.

 

My sister and I have both sailed a good number of times on Celebrity and came onboard with two types of hand sanitizers. We were quickly aware that there were stations with Purell at the Cosmopolitan Restaurant and the Oceanview Cafe, but crew members were not standing there and offering the sanitizer. Many people entered the areas without sanitizing. Several days passed before crew members routinely offered the sanitizer to passengers.

 

Four days into the cruise I came down with norovirus and was confined to our room for 24 hours. Soon after that, the ship was put on Code Red and announcements were made about the presence of norovirus on the ship. At our dining table, four out of six passengers contracted norovirus and one tablemate was confined in her room for three days. During conversations with many other passengers, it appeared that the virus was widespead. We learned that Canadian health officials were boarding the ship in Sydney, Nova Scotia and Quebec City and that American health officials would be boarding the ship in Prince Edward Island.

 

When we disembarked the Summit this morning one of the terminal employees told us that there were 371 cases of confirmed norovirus onboard the ship and that several passengers left the ship this morning in ambulances. This most likely does not reflect the total number of cases as some passengers do not report their illnesses to the Medical Center. I am very disappointed in Celebrity and their delay in informing passengers of this situation. I am interested in learning the total number of cases of norovirus on the Summit when it is reported by the CDC.

[CruisingChick]

I am so sorry you were sick.

 

We were on the September 7 Summit cruise and my DH became sick on the morning day 10

 

Celebrity did nothing to try and prevent the spread. Throughout our entire cruise the buffet was all self serve, hot and cold dishes, there was rarely anyone at the entrances to the buffet or MDR offering hand sanitizer, the hand sanitizer stands were often empty.

 

We did not see any increase in cleaning or public areas with or without bleach.

 

They did bleach our room after my DH was well enough to leave.

 

They knew people were becoming sick but not ever mention it

[edjny]

I see the Summit finally got underway. It is almost 11:00pm Eastern and the Summit is heading to Portland and located just off-shore of Jones Beach (Robert Moses State Park). It is listed as only going 13 knots. :confused: I would have thought that they would have been going a lot faster to make up for the late start.

[CruisingChick]

Thanks for reporting that. I kept wondering if they had left yet. It takes no time at all to get to Portland.

 

One cruise we were on we had to stay in Portland an extra 12 hours because of a storm coming up the east coast.

 

Instead of leaving at 7 pm we didn't leave until the next morning at 7 am We still made it back to Bayonne well on time.

[howdydoo47]

I totally agree with CruisingChick that the Summit did not do enough in sanitizing the ship when they knew full well that people were getting the virus. DH got it on day 10 and I got it on day 12. It should be interesting to find out how many passengers actually were affected by the virus, including those that did not seek medical assistance. We'll probably never know.

[cruisinnannie]

It is rather sad that they did not take things seriously and in the end the situation became much worse on our cruise and so many people became sick. I am not likely to travel on the Summit again.

[edjny]

It is rather sad that they did not take things seriously and in the end the situation became much worse on our cruise and so many people became sick. I am not likely to travel on the Summit again.

 

People get sick all the time when they are packed in crowded and close confines. It can happen when you grab the shopping cart in the supermarket, go to the movies, punch an elevator button and so many other ways. If you ever touch something that other people who may be sick or contagious touch, you may also get sick.

 

People getting Noro just don't get the press reports when it happens off of a ship.

[Lolotte]

We were on the Sept 1st Summit cruise to Bermuda, there was no norovirus then but there was no precaution taken at the entrances of the dining room and buffet and not much cleaning going on even if it was seemingly clean enough. I just felt it was playing with fire. I have never seen this on a ship and I have sailed celebrity 16 times.

[micmacmissy]

Last time we sailed on Royal caribbean there was an outbreak. The change in crew was obvious- no one would let you into the buffet without hand sanitizer, and there were crew members spraying handrails and wiping down elevators.

 

We even saw a table of crew members in the main dining room wiping down menus. I don't think we used the stairs without seeing at least one crew member wiping down the handrails.

 

Sure enough, by day 5 the captain made an annoucement that there were no new cases.

 

Noro is inevitable, but there is no reason why the ship shouldn't respond immediately to get it under control...unless, of course, their crew was really affected by it as well.

[Lolotte]

On our Summit cruise it was the first time in many years that the officers ( and captain) shook hands at the receptions.