Noro on the Liberty?

[pollux]

Just got off the Liberty Friday.

Yes, there was noro on board and lots off pax and crew got sick.

As off 500 no one knows they ship does not give out those numbers.

But it was a great cruise.

[Love2travel4]

We were on this cruise. My mother got sick, VERY SICK, for 2 days. We always come prepared with our own meds. I bought her some ginger ale and got saltines. I also bring my own Lysol and Clorox wipes. I sanitized our cabin. I was VERY lucky not to get it. Mom stayed in the cabin for a few days, even after feeling better as she was exhausted. I talked to MANY families that had sick members as well. We never received any letters.

 

Just be smart people....wash your hands, if you're sick, stay in your cabin!

[Dabaras]

I was on this cruise and was one of the people in quarantine for 24 hours. No shot was given to me, just some pills. I imaging the shot was for nausea that reached the point of not being able to not throw up. The medical center was packed when I was there, but that meant that there was 6-7 people in there rather than 1-2. Definitely not Carnival's fault, just the fault of the people who didn't practice hygiene. I washed my hands frequently, but sometimes you can do everything right and still get hit. We got a letter giving us a credit on our next cruise. It was for a weird amount, so I imagine it was port fees for Aruba. I got a letter saying that in-room movie purchases would be refunded. I didn't get the letter until I was already free from isolation. I slept for 19 of the 24 hours. With a wife working in public schools, anywhere you have mass gatherings of people, viruses will spread. If you don't ever want to get sick, don't travel, don't leave your home, lock yourself in a closet and don't come out.

[wanttoBcruising]

Also on that cruise, talked to many who got sick - but doubt it was anywhere near this '500' business. Think it was a combo of 2 things: 1) maybe some food poisoning, the tuna salad mentioned so many times to make suspect that among others; and 2) yes some Noro. Towards end of the trip, I saw crew w/ black/blue lights examining public walls, corners near elevators looking for hand prints - and scrubbing them clean. FWIW I'm always careful of what I eat, what I touch, always wash hands - did ok this trip.

[hirent]

They have a hand sanitizer at the beginning of the buffet which is great I totally utilize that but after you've touched all the serving utensils not many think to go back to hit the hand sanitizer again..I wish they had one at the END of the buffet line as well. Would make more sense! Hit it at the beginning and at the end! It sucks that folks miss so much of their vacation and are violently ill because someone couldn't take 2 seconds to wash their hands or practice ANY KIND of proper hygiene!

 

Hand sanitizers don't work against Norovirus.

Hand sanitizers contain alcohol which is the primary active ingredient against bacteria & viruses. However, the Norwalk virus (Norovirus) is not affected much by alcohol at all.

Hence hand sanitizers are practically useless against Norovirus.

 

Best is soap and hot water!

 

Personally, I hate using hand sanitizers and prefer washing with hot water and soap.

 

Also, approx 30%-33% of infected people don't show any symptoms and do not get sick, but they do carry and transmit the virus unknowingly.

There is no cure and we can only wait it out.

The infection does provide immunity for a few weeks/months.

Different strains of the virus affect people differently.

It is also fascinating because the virus is tenacious and has many variants.

Edited April 9, 2016 by hirent

[sjn911]

The little grade school I went to in Billings, Montana had a child die recently with H1N1 flu virus..as per paper. I sometimes wonder if the late spring flu is a culprit. I think that was the one that went around when I was in grade school...the older bird one..all we can do is keep hands clean and do not touch your face until you have done the long hand wash.

 

I sometimes think those looser plastic gloves would be good to hand passengers to dish up with..since the culprit is the food stations. Some people only eat in dining room due to this...but that is not fun on Carnival or any mainstream cruise in between excursions.

[ferfoodle]

I was also on this cruise. I noticed the last couple of days staff were posted in the buffet asking everyone to use hand sanitizer before touching anything in the lines. Other than a couple of announcements to practice hand hygiene, I would never have guessed there was an outbreak. I never ran into anyone who claimed they had gotten ill. I too seriously doubt there were hundreds affected.

 

Now last year on the Pride repo - we saw a total different approach when people started getting ill with a gastro-intestinal out break. (Most people were only affected for 12-24 hours. We also met well over a hundred people through the course of the 2 weeks who had become ill with it.) Starting on day 3 of our 14 day cruise the hand sanitizer stations were put out everywhere. By day 5, all passengers were "personally" squeezed hand sanitizer on there hands from staff when entering the main dining room and when returning to the ship from port. For over a week, room stewards and other staff were day and night wiping down every surface with "bleach" smelling cleaners. A couple of days the smell of bleach was so strong in the elevators I couldn't ride in them. Our staterooms were cleaned daily with this bleachy cleaner too. Now that was a sick ship - but still the best cruise I have had to date.

[hirent]

I noticed the last couple of days staff were posted in the buffet asking everyone to use hand sanitizer before touching anything in the lines.

By day 5, all passengers were "personally" squeezed hand sanitizer on there hands from staff when entering the main dining room and when returning to the ship from port.

 

I would refuse to do so, since I don't want the chemicals from the sanitizer left on my hands. I prefer hot water and plain soap every time.

Water washes everything away, alcohol evaporates to leave behind residue.

Hand sanitizer is supplementary to soap & water; it can't and shouldn't replace it. And it doesn't work on Norovirus in any case.

But I guess sanitizer is the only way for cruise ships to enforce some hygiene.

[Kriswinegar]

on Disney, many employees, like 10 or more, stand at the entrance to each dining area. they have noise makers of some kind in hand. they ensure everyone that comes through door has hand wipe. Every meal, every door/