a quick alert...norwalk virus

[travler153]

Sorry guys...but we're on the Seadream 1 now and a norwalk virus has spread to over 40 passengers. They never told us, but 30 cases were reported last voyage. We are leaving the cruise in St barts tomorrow and we will get a pro-rata refund. They are being nice about it, but we're all sick as dogs. I would call Miami if I were sceduled for a voyage in the near future.

MG

[loving life]

Ok, This is troublesome... we're getting on the yacht in 3 weeks. When you say Norwalk, can you expand? Vomitting, the runs, intense stomach pain? I wonder how and if they can sanitize a boat for something like that?

Hmmm...

[DisneyJen]

Sorry to hear about this travler153. I can imagine how upset you are as well as sick:mad:

[cruiseyguy]

It could be a lot of things, including simple flu. It's not Norwalk until it's confirmed as Norwalk. Unfortunately, "Norwalk" has become the generic term for all mass illness outbeaks on ships.

[Welshapple]

Really bad luck, Traveller153. Sorry it spoiled your vacation.

 

We left SD1 in San Juan on October 26 after the 11 day Transatlantic crossing - which was absolutely wonderful - and everyone on board was fine. That is except for one passenger who fell early in the crossing. She broke a leg or something and the Captain made it to San Juan one day early so that she could get hospital attention. We stayed in port all day, which was fine as it made packing that much easier.

 

Perhaps someone on the 4 day cruise before yours brought it on board. Hope you have got over it by now.

[Sunshine11]

The comments posted by travler153 are not accurate and are misleading. Should you wish to obtain accurate information, you ought to contact SeaDream Yacht Club directly.

[its_my_dime]

The comments posted by travler153 are not accurate and are misleading. Should you wish to obtain accurate information, you ought to contact SeaDream Yacht Club directly.

 

If you have more accurate or more current information on this issue, please post it here.

 

Thank you.

[travler153]

We have left the ship in St Barts and we will have to get home from here. Now I have more time to give details. The term norwalk virus was given to us in a letter from the captain of the vessel on tuesday, simultaneous to his public addeess announcement. It stated that 9 passengers had contracted the illness on board and they had been quarantined to their rooms.All public bathrooms would be closed. My wife had severe stomach cramps since Monday night. We went to the pursers desk and the doctor was there. He gave my wife 6 pills and a CDC form to fill out and give back to the desk.Others followed us to his desk with similar symptoms. I asked him if we should stay in our rooms. He said no, go to dinner and enjoy! Scary...no appetite, and dangerous I thought. Next morning, my turn. I saw Dr Nestor at 8 am. He said no other cases overnight and I was the first that day. He said 15 total now. By Tuesday afternoon, while I remained in bed, my wife went off to Saba, meeting 3 other couples, minus their spouses. All of them also saw Dr Nestor, and they were all his first and only patients of the day! Two crew members confided to us that it started on the 4 day cruise previous to ours...30 cases.., that they know about it and they are doing their best to control it. I,m just trying to save you from 48 hours of you know what.

[luvtojump]

Dear Traveler 153,

 

Why did you get off the ship? If your wife was sick on Monday night but felt well enough to go to Saba on Tuesday afternoon, it must be true that the symptoms only last 24-48 hours. If you were sick on Tuesday, you should be better by now also. No?

 

I don't understand. So now you are on your own to get back from St. Barts?

[frequent traveler]

I can only sympathize with being sick. Its no fun on a vacation.:(

 

I can be a very harsh critic of what I perceive to be lax safety, cleanliness, or health practices but from what I've observed on Sea Dream II on the recent crossing, the illness was not due to any lack of standards on Sea Dream.

 

Being on the ship non-stop for 12 nights, I saw a lot more than I observed on the 7 night on a different island every day prior cruises. Public restroom facilities were cleaned intensely several times daily. Stair railings are wiped down several times daily. The galley is immaculate and is also cleaned multiple times daily -the handling of the meat and fish exceeds what I've observed in my days of working in the restaurant and bar industry in the US. The bar areas were cleaned repeatedly and not with the same towel.

 

My husband and I once spent a week at a Four Seasons in Mexico, one of the top rated hotels in the world. We became extremely ill after eating and drinking only on site at the hotel. I am convinced to this day that it was caused by the lettuce or other leaf produce.

 

Its great that Sea Dream gave you the option to disembark and a pro rata refund. :)

 

FT

[travler153]

We chose to leave because we were uncertain if a person could be reinfected with the illness. Since it was still being transmitted we thought it better to leave. As I stated in my opening post,the crew was being nice about it, and the cruiseline was great to give us the option to leave. I suggested that future cruisers call Miami for an update. As for us, we,ll take a ferry to St Martin and fly home from there. Thanks for caring. I only tried to give others a heads up. Good luck.

[caviargal]

I had the Norwalk on NCLs Dream 2 years ago. I am in excellent health and it kicked my butt! I had a high fever, constant vomitting and diareah. The nurse came and gave me a shot. I hallucianted for the worst of it and was just sick as a dog for 2 days. I was quarantined (over 200 of us on that trip), and given a package of Gatorade and some crackers, along with the CDC form referenced previously.

 

It took a week to get back to normal.

 

Affected passengers got a shipboard credit of $200.

[randomwalk]

Is this Norwalk virus a reason not to go on the SD1 in December? Does the boat need to be taken off-line and sanitized somehow?? Not experienced with this stuff. Thanks!

[luvtojump]

Traveler153,

 

I never knew it could be retransmitted. That would be aweful. Are you saying that the cruise line knew about the outbreak and did not inform you at time of embarkation? If so, that is very risky for you and them.

[CruiserJen]

Seabourn Spirit was attacked by pirates at 5:30 a.m off the coast of Somalia. The ship was hit with gunshots and rocket launched grenades that landed in one of the staterooms!

 

Check out the Seabourn CC page for full details including a photo of the pirates from a pax onboard during the attack...

 

Jen

[dewla]

Um, what does the pirate attack have to do with Norwalk?

 

Can they cleanse the ship of the virus?

[frequent traveler]

Two theories:rolleyes:

 

If the pirates had been successful, that would have been a cruise spoiler in excess of Norwalk (as they held hostages of a UN ship for more than 100 days, no getting off in ST. BArts)

 

Or alternatively, if the pirates had been able to board a ship with Norwalk, they would rapidly become so sick the crew could throw them overboard!!!

 

FT

[voyageur]

I love those two theories!

 

As for Norwalk... we will be on the SeaDream1 next week. She was brought to port a day early after that particular cruise and completely sanitized.. I'm not the least bit worried.

[travelchik]

we'll be on sd I w/o nov 27. maybe i should stock up on immodium????

 

this is not good news, but hopefully they have it under control.

[loving life]

hi folks,

i have heard from our travel agent that sd1 docked two days early to have the ship cleaned/scrubbed from top to bottom and that presently everyone is in perfect health.

 

if it really was norwalk i don't think immodium would help very much.

 

you know, if it wasn't for this forum it never would have occurred to me that the 7 day holiday we have so been looking forward to could be so quickly ruined...

 

the time is approaching rapidly and we can't wait to get on board and meet you all!

[travler153]

I'm glad to hear that the cruise was terminated early so that the ship could be sanitized. As for us, we made it home fine and we feel much better now. As for SeaDream, they were wonderful in resolving the financial end of our transaction. It's good to do business with a reputable company. Enjoy your cruises.

[dewla]

Have fun on your cruise! Let us know if everyone stayed well!!!

[zqvol]

It seems to me that there is a lot of misinformation about this particular illness. It would be wise to check the CDC web site for information. (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htm)

[zqvol]

Here is another link: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/Norovirus/Norovirus.htm

[Dream Vacationer]

Traveler153,

 

I never knew it could be retransmitted. That would be aweful. Are you saying that the cruise line knew about the outbreak and did not inform you at time of embarkation? If so, that is very risky for you and them.

 

Yes, that is exactly what happened!!!!! They told no one what had happenned when we got on at San Juan. Did not say anything until 2 days later at St. Martin, and even then they did not give us all the facts. They minimized the seriousness of it and how long it lasts. And while it is true that anybody, could bring such a thing on board at any time, the biggest problem here was Sea Dream's reacton to it, which was very poor indeed - completely cold and callous in my opinion. The illness ruined our vacation on board and our shore side vacation afterwards. And we, like most of the people I talked to, received no help from them at all. I cannot imagine a worse response from a company. We were even treated better by our hotel after we got off- after finding out that we had been ill, people kept asking us if we felt better. A small thing perhaps, but more than we got from Sea Dream. Sea Dream should, I think (1) never let us on board and (2) after that mistake, they should have stopped the cruise as soon as the first people got sick, and (3) either way they should have given us all the facts. A company really shows what it is like when something goes wrong, and in my opinion, in this case, that was exactly what Sea Dream did. And since we are back, I have heard nothing from them to cause me to change my mind, about the quality of service provided. So again, if it were me, and I could do so without penalty, I would cancel my Sea Dream cruise, and go with a more competant and caring comapny( by the way, though I have not been on either, I can't count the number of people on our cruise, who told me that Seabourn and Silversea, were much, much better, especially service wise)