Gastro illness on Royal Caribbean

[cruisingrandma04]

We are booked on an RCL cruise next year. I've been reading and hearing a lot about the gastro outbreaks which seem to haunt RCL more than other cruise lines. Any thoughts or experiences from those who cruise RCL?

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

[easyboy]

You can also post on the RCI Cruise Forum for some response.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cruisingrandma04]

Thank you.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

[Keith1010]

The story is all of the news including the national news.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

I read about the Noro virus on RI yesterday.

They aren't the only cruise line that gets hit by the virus. Over the years we have been on quite a few HAL cruises when the virus broke out or was already on the ship.

[champagne123]

Sick people, will knowingly continue boarding ships, going to work, events, shopping, on and on and on. The cruise lines have no control over it.

[Cam6959]

Noro Virus is a gastrointestinal illness that anyone can get if someone comes aboard who does their duty and does not wash their hands. They then walk out into the ship touching handrails, walls, serving ladles in the buffet.It happens everywhere not just on the cruise ship. I have seen the ships crew trying valiantly to keep up with it by having their workers walking up and down the stairs constantly wiping down handrails and reminding people politely to wash their hands. When the disease starts RC will generally have servers ladling your food for you so they are the only ones holding the ladle that takes away from the other duties or their time off though. I have been in the public restrooms on the ship and have watched people do their duty and walk out the door grabbing the door handle. (Knock on wood) So far my husband and I have avoided this dreaded disease by constantly washing our hands, using hand sanitizer and using chlorox wipes as we go up and down the stairs. Don't forget to use the hand sanitizer before going into the restaurants. They are right in the entrances.RC gets more attention than the other cruise lines because it is generally the best maintained of the mass cruise lines. If you have ever had the general stomach bug then you probably had Noro virus. it is everywhere.

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

You could always use masks, lots of sanitizers, latex gloves, don't touch handrails or elevator buttons, avoid the buffets certainly don't touch utensils others have touched unless protected, try to avoid snotty nosed kids, avoid large crowds, don't shake hands, can't imagine how you would protect yourself once you get off the ship.

 

The alternative is just regular hand washing and normal care.

 

hope this helps

[Gwendy]

Happens on all cruise lines. People board who are sick, people don’t practice basic hygiene, people handle food in buffet. I asked a nan once not to pick up food in the buffet with his fingers, but use the utensils, his response was “stupid woman”. Lol

 

On another cruise the lady in front of me dropped serving tongs on the floor, picked them up, replaced them in the food and said “you didn’t see that”.

Was hands frequently, use common sense, and just enjoy your cruise.

You can’t help what other people do, look after yourself.

[norfolk53golf]

Happens on all cruise lines. People board who are sick, people don’t practice basic hygiene, people handle food in buffet. I asked a nan once not to pick up food in the buffet with his fingers, but use the utensils, his response was “stupid woman”. Lol

 

On another cruise the lady in front of me dropped serving tongs on the floor, picked them up, replaced them in the food and said “you didn’t see that”.

Was hands frequently, use common sense, and just enjoy your cruise.

You can’t help what other people do, look after yourself.

Norovirus is prevalent anywhere where groups of people gather. It is particularly prevalent in pre schools, primary schools, aged care homes and etc, not only on cruise ships and is not limited to RCI. Unfortunately, as soon as there is an outbreak on a cruise ship the media jump on it. Personal hygiene is the best preventative, washy washy.

[Underwatr]

Here's the CDC webpage with information on GI illness outbreaks on cruise ships. The incidents on Royal Caribbean don't appear there yet (it takes a little while - I'm not doubting the outbreaks...).

 

You can see that it happens on a variety of lines.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm

[kawagama]

Having only been on two cruises, I am no expert, but I did see a big difference between HAL and RCI. On HAL our experience was that there were sanitizers everywhere you looked--in hallways, outside elevators, near all food venues--literally everywhere. On RCI we were squirted by a waiter when entering the buffet restaurant--not the dining room. I did not see sanitizers anywhere else. Also, on HAL, in the buffet restaurant, the public did not touch utensils. They had servers serving people according to their choices. If there was any way to help yourself, foods were already dished out onto plates or into bowls that sat on separate plates (desserts or small appetizers primarily). On RCI, anyone could touch any of the utensils and foods in the buffet, so despite being squirted on entry, all it took was one person to touch their nose or mouth and then touch utensils after entering. So, in our experience, I think HAL had the safer approach. We also did not get sick with noro on either, but did get colds on the RCI ship.

[Underwatr]

HAL had a number of Norovirus incidents this summer. Go to the CDC link above.

[WisconsinFan]

As others have mentioned Noro is everywhere. Once in awhile it will hit a local school so hard that they will close the school to disinfect, wiping down desks, doors and everything someone could touch.

 

As far as the person who never saw hand sanitizer on RC, they must not have been looking very hard. Heading into the buffett or into the main dining room there have been both stands with the sanitizer and employees squirting people. On the Harmony they also make you wash your hands before entering the Windjammer (but like the olden days of having to take a shower after PE class, many people just walked on by the sinks). Best practice is to wash your hands with soap, and perhaps skip buffets. You can also carry your own personal sized hand sanitizer- I do and boy is my husband happy after the part in church where we shake everyone's hands ;)

 

We have sailed HAL and did not have the food in the buffet served to us, but we did on the first day of our Disney cruise. Disney didn't serve after the first day or so- think that they figure out the incubation period and after that passed passengers could serve themselves.

[Underwatr]

I think HAL ships with the "Lido Market" concept have done away with most self-serve aside from packaged sandwiches and glasses of breakfast juice. We were on ms Amsterdam this summer and not having self-serve was one of the things that stood out.

[jlp20]

Noro is a nasty little bug {virus} that nasty, unclean people spread by not not performing personal hygiene. In short they, they use the toilet in a haphazard way and don't bother to wash their hands. They then contaminate everything they touch. Because it is a virus, hand sanitizers have no effect.

[Liz54]

The fact that hand sanitizers do not work causes confusion and probably more outbreaks. Scrub with soap and hot water. If really concerned, avoid the buffet.

[absolutonrox]

Happens on all cruise lines. People board who are sick, people don’t practice basic hygiene, people handle food in buffet. I asked a nan once not to pick up food in the buffet with his fingers, but use the utensils, his response was “stupid woman”. Lol

 

On another cruise the lady in front of me dropped serving tongs on the floor, picked them up, replaced them in the food and said “you didn’t see that”.

 

And people wonder why I hate buffets, even on land :rolleyes: I certainly would have "seen that" had I watched someone pick tongs up off the floor and put them back into a tray...

[jlp20]

While buffet is a concern, it is not the main culprit. s

Stairway handrails and elevator buttons top the list. While we would like to control other people actions, we can't. We can however control our own

KEEP YOUR FINGERS OUT OF YOUR MOUTH

DON'T PICK YOUR NOSE

TRY NOT TO RUB YOUR EYES

[Underwatr]

Some formulas of Purell have shown to be effective against Noro in a clinical setting, but no one cleans their hands with Purell using the recommended method (30 seconds of rubbing).

[jlp20]

I suspect that report. Years ago it was shown that Noro is best destroyed by bleach. Alcohol will kill it, but total immersion for 3-5 minutes are required. Since Purel is only 15% alcohol, you would have to put your hands into a bucket of the stuff for 15 minutes for any effect.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Underwatr]

There's a clinical study out there (but note - 90 seconds).

 

 

We wash our hands with soap & water.

[jlp20]

Study is paid for by Gojo, a sanitizer manufacturer. While I have used purel and the like. no matter the volume I've used, it evaporates well before 10 seconds have passed. How they kept hands "wet" for 15 seconds with a high alcohol content is beyond me.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Noro is a nasty little bug {virus} that nasty, unclean people spread by not not performing personal hygiene. In short they, they use the toilet in a haphazard way and don't bother to wash their hands. They then contaminate everything they touch. Because it is a virus, hand sanitizers have no effect.

little kids spread noro like wildfire, but I wouldn't call them nasty, unclean people.

[Gwendy]

And people wonder why I hate buffets, even on land :rolleyes: I certainly would have "seen that" had I watched someone pick tongs up off the floor and put them back into a tray...

 

 

 

As you can imagine I did “see that’ and removed tongs and notified attendant. Some people have no idea of basic hygiene.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums