Cruise ship returns a day early due to noro outbreak

[3rdGenCunarder]

14 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We carry swipes of bleach which is the only thing that will kill  the noro virus . Another thing to avoid noro any where is do not under any circumstances touch your face with your hands , use nuckle when  ordering the  ships elevators & then when touching  your  cabin deck level in the elevator  . 

 

 Using precautions above will stop you & others from contacting & or spreading the noro virus 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm very careful to use my knuckle on elevator buttons, and then I lean on and put my hands on the railing inside. Duh! I have to remind myself not to do that.

 

[bennybear]

I do like how HAL serves individual portions and crew dishes out other items in the buffet.   As unfortunately some people do not seem to realize the importance of hand washing.

[kalliekae]

 

I've sailed on Royal's mega ships and I respectfully disagree with this statement:  

 

"There is a big difference how this line handled it and how HAL does it. Definitely HAL handles it much more seriously."

 

Having sailed many times on HAL and Royal, I can tell you that I have seen no difference. Royal takes it very seriously and the ships are immaculate. In the dining rooms on Royal, there are no condiments or bread on the table until the waiter comes over and serves you one roll and some butter. Yes, dining utensils are on the table along with cloth napkins and a tablecloth. I don't think one can take issue with those being on the table. After all, a waiter must bring you the utensils at some point. A friend of mine was on the ship when the noro situation occurred. She said the staff was being very diligent going so far as to wipe down every hand hold on the climbing wall after EVERY person had finished their climb. I would say that was extremely diligent on their part as these climbing walls are huge and this took a lot of time to do each and every time. I have always seen Royal crews diligently cleaning the ship on all our cruises. 

 

Royal does have an open buffet, but people are literally stopped at the door and required to use hand sanitizer even if they say they have washed their hands. It is not voluntary. You are not seated unless you sanitize. Additionally, hand sanitizers are everywhere on the ships. Is it perfect? No, but I can honestly say that I have sailed on more HAL ships with noro than Royal ships. HAL has never offered us any type of credit or refund for a noro outbreak and I never expected one. Noro can happen anytime, anyplace. I applaud Royal for giving everyone a full refund on their cruise. 

 

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, kalliekae said:

I've sailed on Royal's mega ships and I respectfully disagree with this statement:  

 

"There is a big difference how this line handled it and how HAL does it. Definitely HAL handles it much more seriously."

I believe you are quoting Kazu's post above. I also believe you were probably referring to Royal Caribbean when you mentioned "Royal".
Kazu was not talking about Royal Caribbean; she even mentioned she was talking about a 'Premium' line she sailed on. No one would confuse Royal Caribbean with a premium line. She was referring to a cruise she has posted about more than once over the last few years; it was Oceania.

[POA1]

I may be dating myself here, but does anyone else remember learning "Who, What, When, Where, Why, And How"? for journalism?

 

This post is missing on so many cylinders - and @OlsSalt, you know I respect you - but "Royal Caribbean's 'Oasis of the Seas" - one of the largest cruise ships in the world* - returned to Port Canaveral due to Norovirus infections" would have been a must better headline.

 

I realize that your title is better for click-bait, but there's a reason that print newspapers are dying.**

 

=====

* - Not required for WWWWWH, but it adds interest,

 

** - To be clear, I don't blame you for the decine of print news. That clearly falls on the weak, shrugging shoulders of Justin Bieber.

 

[OlsSalt]

14 minutes ago, POA1 said:

I may be dating myself here, but does anyone else remember learning "Who, What, When, Where, Why, And How"? for journalism?

 

This post is missing on so many cylinders - and @OlsSalt, you know I respect you - but "Royal Caribbean's 'Oasis of the Seas" - one of the largest cruise ships in the world* - returned to Port Canaveral due to Norovirus infections" would have been a must better headline.

 

I realize that your title is better for click-bait, but there's a reason that print newspapers are dying.**

 

=====

* - Not required for WWWWWH, but it adds interest,

 

** - To be clear, I don't blame you for the decine of print news. That clearly falls on the weak, shrugging shoulders of Justin Bieber.

 

 

To clear this up: Because this is a HAL website, I did not want to use RCCL in  the title - it was also intended to be informational on a number of general interest levels; not "click bait":

 

1. large ships can appear to have large problems but still small percentages of actual incidence since there was another discussion going on about ship sizes;

2. also informative regarding what other cruise lines do when faced with these unfortunate incidents, and

3. probably most of all to see how these articles themselves can be inflammatory for the non-cruiser in case some run into those who believe cruise ships are little more than traveling petri dishes- to be forewarned is to be fore-armed about this particular noro incident. 

[TAD2005]

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

After at least two full days on the ship (not sure of the exact itinerary), it is much more believable that the problem came on with the embarking passengers, as this is closer to the normal incubation period of noro, then 6-8 hours after possible exposure on Labadee.

Many years ago, I was in a hotel in Mexico City for a week.   I was very diligent to not consume anything that was made of the local water, like ice cubes and I was fine for most of my stay.   One night, I screwed up and had some drinks in a bar with lots of ice.   Almost exactly 8 hours later, in the early hours of the morning,  I was on the can, and couldn't leave (pardon the gross images).  A local doctor called it intestinal virus from contaminated water and prescribed an anti-diarrhea drug.   I was miserable for 24 hours.   In those days, it didn't have the cutesy name of Noro-virus, it was called Montezuma's revenge.   But still the same effect.

[Copper10-8]

10 minutes ago, TAD2005 said:

Many years ago, I was in a hotel in Mexico City for a week.   I was very diligent to not consume anything that was made of the local water, like ice cubes and I was fine for most of my stay.   One night, I screwed up and had some drinks in a bar with lots of ice.   Almost exactly 8 hours later, in the early hours of the morning,  I was on the can, and couldn't leave (pardon the gross images).  A local doctor called it intestinal virus from contaminated water and prescribed an anti-diarrhea drug.   I was miserable for 24 hours.   In those days, it didn't have the cutesy name of Noro-virus, it was called Montezuma's revenge.   But still the same effect.

 

Montezuma's Revenge - Not a day at the beach 

 

[sprockie]

First thing I do when I arrive in our cabin is wipe down all door handles, drawer pulls, light switches, TV remote, sink, toilet etc etc with Lysol wipes.  I do the same to our airplane seats, tray, seatback pocket etc. Makes me feel better anyway.  I do everything to make sure I'm not hanging my head over my toilet for my vacation.

[OlsSalt]

CDC discusses current state of preventive treatment for TD - which can be bacterial, as well as viral or protozoan: good old Pepto-Bismol (BSS) proves its worth - if appropriate to take this OTC product

 

From the CDC:

Nonantimicrobial Drugs for Prophylaxis

The primary agent studied for prevention of TD, other than antimicrobial drugs, is bismuth subsalicylate (BSS), which is the active ingredient in adult formulations of Pepto-Bismol and Kaopectate. Studies from Mexico have shown that this agent (taken daily as either 2 oz of liquid or 2 chewable tablets 4 times per day) reduces the incidence of TD by approximately 50%. BSS commonly causes blackening of the tongue and stool and may cause nausea, constipation, and rarely tinnitus.

 

[sail7seas]

On 1/11/2019 at 7:06 PM, sfaaa said:

Last time I was in Labadee, there were flies hovering and landing on the salad, cut fruits and desserts at beach BBQ. I skipped them both. Didn't need the health risk.

 

You likely made a very smart, good choice.  🙂

 

 

 

 

sail.noordam@gmail.com

 

 

[POA1]

39 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

To clear this up: Because this is a HAL website, I did not want to use RCCL in  the title - it was also intended to be informational on a number of general interest levels; not "click bait":

 

1. large ships can appear to have large problems but still small percentages of actual incidence since there was another discussion going on about ship sizes;

2. also informative regarding what other cruise lines do when faced with these unfortunate incidents, and

3. probably most of all to see how these articles themselves can be inflammatory for the non-cruiser in case some run into those who believe cruise ships are little more than traveling petri dishes- to be forewarned is to be fore-armed about this particular noro incident. 

 

I was only kidding. I really did not mean for you to take me seriously. (I am 90% full of crap. The other 10% is bacon.) 

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

 

I was only kidding. I really did not mean for you to take me seriously. (I am 90% full of crap. The other 10% is bacon.) 

 

Joke's on me then. Missed it.  Rain drops are falling on my head right now in never-raining California. I guess I got pixilated by this very welcome change. More likely I am a dour and humorless old slug so these things just whiz past me.  Let the upticks begin. 

Edited January 13, 2019 by OlsSalt

[POA1]

51 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Joke's on me then. Missed it.  Rain drops are falling on my head right now in never-raining California. I guess I got pixilated by this very welcome change. More likely I am a dour and humorless old slug so these things just whiz past me.  Let the upticks begin. 

 

No, it's probably on me. 

[Copper10-8]

55 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Joke's on me then. Missed it.  Rain drops are falling on my head right now in never-raining California. I guess I got pixilated by this very welcome change. More likely I am a dour and humorless old slug so these things just whiz past me.  Let the upticks begin. 

 

It's dry over here

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

I was only kidding. I really did not mean for you to take me seriously. (I am 90% full of crap. The other 10% is bacon.) 

 

Shouldn't you allows a percentage for champagne?

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Shouldn't you allows a percentage for champagne?

 

Depends upon the brand of bubbly... this 90% might include some of the cheap HAL stuff. 

[cruisemom42]

17 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

A local doctor called it intestinal virus from contaminated water and prescribed an anti-diarrhea drug.   I was miserable for 24 hours.   In those days, it didn't have the cutesy name of Noro-virus, it was called Montezuma's revenge.   But still the same effect.

 

Not all cases of traveler's diarrhea are caused by the norovirus, which is a specific virus. There are many other causes, but the most common is actually enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), which is a bacteria.

[3rdGenCunarder]

16 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Not all cases of traveler's diarrhea are caused by the norovirus, which is a specific virus. There are many other causes, but the most common is actually enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), which is a bacteria.

 

E coli is the "original" Montezuma's revenge. This is usually the one you get from water, ice cubes made from local water, salad ingredients washed in local water. It's also spread in foods, and it's the reason previously frozen burgers must not be eaten rare. Read Robin Cook's novel Toxin and you'll never eat a fast-food burger again!! 😱

Edited January 13, 2019 by 3rdGenCunarder