Noro Virus Outbreak on Xmas Cruise? Sun Princess

[Pushka]

Ronald that sounds like a very difficult time for your family. Your comments are really interesting. As for patients with symptoms having to attend the medical centre, that is ridiculous. And a great way of spreading the illness further in its early infectious stage.

[bazzaw]

Yes great idea, the hand sanitisers are good but they are not enough on their own.:D

 

My understanding is that , in fact, the hand sanitizers are no good at all to kill viruses -- which is what Norovirus is. Great for bacteria -- but useless for Norovirus. It could even be that the use of these onboard cruiseships is what is causing outbreaks on Noro -- whereby people think that using the sanitizer is "good enough", but frequent hand washing is what is needed.

 

Barry

[nikel]

Maybe it might also be a good idea if nobody us allowed into the buffet unless they sanitize from the stations at the entrance

[MicCanberra]

My understanding is that , in fact, the hand sanitizers are no good at all to kill viruses -- which is what Norovirus is. Great for bacteria -- but useless for Norovirus. It could even be that the use of these onboard cruiseships is what is causing outbreaks on Noro -- whereby people think that using the sanitizer is "good enough", but frequent hand washing is what is needed.

 

Barry

I agree, Hand washing is the best way to keep clean and virus free, the sanitising is really only a back up to maintain the risk of other germs being spread.:D

[MicCanberra]

Maybe it might also be a good idea if nobody us allowed into the buffet unless they sanitize from the stations at the entrance

Hand washing stations may be needed, my wife and I always use the bathrooms prior to eating, especially in the buffet, so that we can wash our hands before eating.:D

[HPSOV]

Once you get the injection from the medical centre does the vomitting stop?

[NSWP]

Maybe it might also be a good idea if nobody us allowed into the buffet unless they sanitize from the stations at the entrance

Yes of course, but my observations of staff at buffet entrance even with hand held sanitisers .. some pax just walk past them and refuse to be sanitised, selfish so and so's. We need the hygiene police at the MDR and Buffet entrances.

 

Talking about various lines here, Princess, Celebrity, P&O UK which have been my recent cruise lines.

[Pushka]

The Princess crew were vigilant. Even had to wash if you walked through the front entrance of the buffet to a table then back to the front entrance to go back into the food area. No reason/excuses accepted.

[MicCanberra]

The Princess crew were vigilant. Even had to wash if you walked through the front entrance of the buffet to a table then back to the front entrance to go back into the food area. No reason/excuses accepted.

 

Some staff are more forceful than others. I would say that if you haven't sanitised that there is no entry, but I don't work there.:D

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Kevin I recall seeing a lady spew day 2 breakky @ horizons. I assumed it was sea sickness, but we did comment as to how she could be sea sick in such calm waters. So sorry your family were struck down. I hope it doesn't put your family off cruising.

 

I would be keen to hear back from you re princess's response.

 

I also thought it interesting that trivia with all the shared pencils still went ahead despite the virus.

[rkmw]

The Princess crew were vigilant. Even had to wash if you walked through the front entrance of the buffet to a table then back to the front entrance to go back into the food area. No reason/excuses accepted.

 

i have found with princess its a hit & miss, its not policed enough in the buffet

[Aus Traveller]

Once you get the injection from the medical centre does the vomitting stop?

Yes. I think the injection is Phenergin and it is likely to make you sleep for many hours. People have reported that, after that, they don't get seasick on that cruise.:)

 

On one very rough cruise when I was quite sick I went to the medical centre and asked for the injection, but the nurse said she wouldn't give it to me until I had had some Avomine. If that didn't work after half an hour or so, she would give me the injection. I didn't need the injection. :)

[Zanny]

Hi, I have just heard that Noro is still on the Sun Princess and the staff are serving everything from what i can gather. Apparently the passengers on the current trip were not advised to the out break on the Xmas cruise When they came on that the ship was on Red alert .(although i had read here that some of the passengers got an email regarding delayayed boarding.

Has any one else heard any more??:confused::(

Regards Zanny

[windsor26]

Hi, I have just heard that Noro is still on the Sun Princess and the staff are serving everything from what i can gather. Apparently the passengers on the current trip were not advised to the out break on the Xmas cruise When they came on that the ship was on Red alert .(although i had read here that some of the passengers got an email regarding delayayed boarding.

Has any one else heard any more??:confused::(

Regards Zanny

 

I left the Xmas cruise in Sydney and having spoken to the head waiter the night before he advised that although the matter had improved greatly they were not reducing to yellow as there would be new people coming on the ship from White Bay terminal which has inferior facilities. He also said everyone would be leaving the ship even the transit passengers as they were again doing a deep clean - as they did when we embarked (I sat waiting beside a lady who was in transit and was waiting to return to the ship where her husband was ill in bed.)

 

They did everything they could while we were on the ship to keep us safe and they were vigilent about the hand cleaner at all eating places with many head waiters at the door of the MDR's with a 'squirter' of gunk

[Zanny]

Hi, Windsor 26 thanks for your reply? Are you going to do a review of your cruise? I am going on the Sun on Jan25th so i would be interested in hearing what you thought of your cruise. I have been on the Sun 4 years ago so i am looking forward to seeing the changes for myself although i have seen the photos of the refurbishment on the princess site.

Regards Zanny:)

[eljay62]

Hi, I have just heard that Noro is still on the Sun Princess and the staff are serving everything from what i can gather. Apparently the passengers on the current trip were not advised to the out break on the Xmas cruise When they came on that the ship was on Red alert .(although i had read here that some of the passengers got an email regarding delayayed boarding.

Has any one else heard any more??:confused::(

Regards Zanny

 

There is no Noro on the ship & from day 2 we have been serving ourselves. Sanitising is being strictly enforced at all food venues.

 

We were on board by 1pm & sailed by 4.30pm so no major delays at all.

Edited January 5, 2014 by eljay62

[MicCanberra]

There is no Noro on the ship & from day 2 we have been serving ourselves. Sanitising is being strictly enforced at all food venues.

 

We were on board by 1pm & sailed by 4.30pm so no major delays at all.

 

That is good to hear, enjoy your cruise.:D

[Zanny]

Hi, Eljay 62.

Thanks for clearing this matter up .I only saw this posted yesterday some where. Glad you are on the cruise enjoying yourselves have a great trip.

regards Zanny:)

[windsor26]

Hi, Windsor 26 thanks for your reply? Are you going to do a review of your cruise? I am going on the Sun on Jan25th so i would be interested in hearing what you thought of your cruise. I have been on the Sun 4 years ago so i am looking forward to seeing the changes for myself although i have seen the photos of the refurbishment on the princess site.

Regards Zanny:)

 

Sorry no review this time We enjoyed the Sun as we knew her well I was in two minds about the changes I really think the sushi bar/restaurant with a $20 charge was a mistake This takes away a complete martini bar and sitting area for the whole of the day and when the sushi is open we never saw more than 2 tables in use.

Although the new layout of the Horizon is better in most places (ie far more seating as they got rid of the banquette seats) The arrangement has large flawes. The toast, muffins and rolls at breakfast (and during the day) are where the dance floor used to be and the eggs and other fried breakfast items are back in the normal place so this entails a long walk to get the toast and butter first and as they are designated as separate areas they need hand disinfection each time and with a plate loaded this is difficult. They really MUST replace the toast etc next to the fried and scrambled eggs.

The replacement carpets and new fabric for the upholstery is nice and clean looking.

The staff were excellent and there is now an ATM where the Captains Circle lady used to sit.

Our cruise was strange inasmuch as there were only 57 elite passengers on board and 168 platinum This meant that some of the servers in the shops did not understand the 10% discount they got and they tried to say that if an item was on 'special' they could not give the discount as well. It needed a visit to the Shop Supervisor and from her to the servers to sort this out.

Some of the bar staff were not up to date on the rules and tried to say that you could NOT buy soda from the tap at $1.50 but had to purchase a can. This was sorted out eventually.

The laundry may have problems because although they would not have a lot of free service with so few elite two of our laundry packages were delivered to the wrong cabins and we had to chase for them getting the last one at 10pm on the last night!!

The Maitre D was not the best (for us that is) as we had a large table for 12 and only us on it for 2 nights although we asked to be moved we were told there was a waiting list!!!!!!!!!!! Lots of empty seats at tables in the second sitting where we were and EVENTUALLY after very hard sell on our part and refusing to sit at the designated table on our own we were put on another table (in the same waiter's area - which was good as they were excellent) and enjoyed the company of 4 other couples. The Head waiter did not seem on top of this problem He did however realise he had boobed and spent the rest of the cruise ensuring that we noticed him and he spoke with us (even when we were having coffee in a cafe on land)

We enjoyed our cruise - first Xmas one for us - and thought they did a good job for the children.

The drinks on the welcome and return cruise get togethers were good (not so watered down) and they served red and white wine if you asked.

Would say - as I did on my paperwork to Princess - the Christmas dinner was the worst we have ever had on Princess cruise ship. Perhaps our hopes were too high but I did expect a rich dark hot christmas pudding (cold pale tan colour with little fruit) and the mince pies were no fruit but a sort of marzipan crumble inside. Did not eat either after the first taste.

Spoke with the Dawn Princess cruisers who were in Dunedin with nus and they had hot black puddings so down to the Chef it would seem.

Hope you have a great time on your cruise and enjoy everything:D

[eljay62]

Hi, Eljay 62.

Thanks for clearing this matter up .I only saw this posted yesterday some where. Glad you are on the cruise enjoying yourselves have a great trip.

regards Zanny:)

 

Zanny,

Cruise is going well. Having a wonderful time. Some oldies are starting to be a bit rude & a few coughs & colds but otherwise it's fun & sun all the way :-)

[Zanny]

Hi, Windsor26 Thank You for doing a quick review of the ship. Glad to hear that you had a good time. Some of the reviews on this ship lately haven't been that good.

its a shame that your Xmas dinner wasn't what you had expected i thought that this would have been great as it was a special cruise being Xmas and the chef would have excelled in this area.

Thanks Zanny:)

[Zanny]

Hi, Eljay62. glad that you are having a good time? Have you done the ships tours or organized some yourselves? We are going on the same iterenery on Jan 25th cruise. i have noticed on the web cam that the seas have been calm? Hope we don't get a cyclone.

What would the average age be on your cruise? my son and his mate are going and they are 22 and 23 i have told them that this ship attracts the older age group but they wanted to go to Fiji?

Another question do they still have Guess jewelery on the ship? and have they still got a good range of Clinique cosmetics on board.

Thanks Zanny:)

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Windsor. Great post. Thanks so much for your comments. It's a shame your "mini" review will get lost in this thread. It wouldn't take much to copy n paste it into a review article you know!! ;) :p :)

[MicCanberra]

Sorry no review this time We enjoyed the Sun as we knew her well I was in two minds about the changes I really think the sushi bar/restaurant with a $20 charge was a mistake This takes away a complete martini bar and sitting area for the whole of the day and when the sushi is open we never saw more than 2 tables in use.

Although the new layout of the Horizon is better in most places (ie far more seating as they got rid of the banquette seats) The arrangement has large flawes. The toast, muffins and rolls at breakfast (and during the day) are where the dance floor used to be and the eggs and other fried breakfast items are back in the normal place so this entails a long walk to get the toast and butter first and as they are designated as separate areas they need hand disinfection each time and with a plate loaded this is difficult. They really MUST replace the toast etc next to the fried and scrambled eggs.

The replacement carpets and new fabric for the upholstery is nice and clean looking.

The staff were excellent and there is now an ATM where the Captains Circle lady used to sit.

Our cruise was strange inasmuch as there were only 57 elite passengers on board and 168 platinum This meant that some of the servers in the shops did not understand the 10% discount they got and they tried to say that if an item was on 'special' they could not give the discount as well. It needed a visit to the Shop Supervisor and from her to the servers to sort this out.

Some of the bar staff were not up to date on the rules and tried to say that you could NOT buy soda from the tap at $1.50 but had to purchase a can. This was sorted out eventually.

The laundry may have problems because although they would not have a lot of free service with so few elite two of our laundry packages were delivered to the wrong cabins and we had to chase for them getting the last one at 10pm on the last night!!

The Maitre D was not the best (for us that is) as we had a large table for 12 and only us on it for 2 nights although we asked to be moved we were told there was a waiting list!!!!!!!!!!! Lots of empty seats at tables in the second sitting where we were and EVENTUALLY after very hard sell on our part and refusing to sit at the designated table on our own we were put on another table (in the same waiter's area - which was good as they were excellent) and enjoyed the company of 4 other couples. The Head waiter did not seem on top of this problem He did however realise he had boobed and spent the rest of the cruise ensuring that we noticed him and he spoke with us (even when we were having coffee in a cafe on land)

We enjoyed our cruise - first Xmas one for us - and thought they did a good job for the children.

The drinks on the welcome and return cruise get togethers were good (not so watered down) and they served red and white wine if you asked.

Would say - as I did on my paperwork to Princess - the Christmas dinner was the worst we have ever had on Princess cruise ship. Perhaps our hopes were too high but I did expect a rich dark hot christmas pudding (cold pale tan colour with little fruit) and the mince pies were no fruit but a sort of marzipan crumble inside. Did not eat either after the first taste.

Spoke with the Dawn Princess cruisers who were in Dunedin with nus and they had hot black puddings so down to the Chef it would seem.

Hope you have a great time on your cruise and enjoy everything:D

 

Thanks for your "no review" review.:D

[windsor26]

Windsor. Great post. Thanks so much for your comments. It's a shame your "mini" review will get lost in this thread. It wouldn't take much to copy n paste it into a review article you know!! ;) :p :)

 

Hi It was not meant to be a 'review' just a few comments in reply to questions. I usually do a 'live from' but this cruise was to be a lazy one and so I did not do one this time Happy to answer questions