Norovirus on Summit in May

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, coaster said:

Supplying food service gloves would help like I see locally at salad bars might help along with doing things like HAL where staff serves you at the buffet. It was a thing at the restart, but has since been ignored. Waiting for an outbreak is too late. Just be proactive.

Gloves only work for the staff who have to change them frequently. Gloves are a total waste of time for passengers because as soon as the first surface is touched the gloves are no cleaner than hands. Additionally if you then remove the gloves to eat any contamination is transferred to your hands making the situation worse.The answer is simple - wash your hands often and use the hand gel. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

Personally we would prefer the food in the buffet to always be served by the crew.

Which makes it a cafeteria. Ick.

[TeeRick]

As the COVID threat recedes, this is a reminder that the Norovirus threat is always present on ships.  

[floralscent]

With all due respect to all humans, I am one myself…once humans and their egos, attitudes and lack of caring for others kicks in, this is what happens. 
 

It literally blows my mind to watch SO MANY people walk right past all hand washing stations and hand sanitizer. Total disregard for others and TBH, lack of caring for their own health. 
 

I step off my soapbox now. Thank you all for being such a great source of information!!!! 🤗

[the penguins]

5 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Which makes it a cafeteria. Ick.

A "rose by another name". Same food, less infection - a win win.

[bboop51]

We were on this cruise. We could not  have been more cautious. Hand washing at every appropriate time (which we do anyway,) no elevators etc and yet my very healthy husband still got Norovirus. He was very sick. It left his immune system in the dumps. He is recovering slowly. 

I personally do no think the ship was prepared for the medical issues (Noro and the apparent Covid that also was discovered.)

 

[phoenix_dream]

I wish people would stop always assuming that people who don't use the hand sanitizer or wash their hands upon entering are unsanitary.  Speaking for myself, I often use the restroom prior to entering dining areas and wash my hands thoroughly, and leave without touching the door (attendant opens or I may use an elbow).  So I am just as sanitary as the hand washers inside.  I also practice good hygiene when gathering the food, and always use some hand sanitizer before eating that I bring with me - always - whether in the buffet or prior to dinner in the restaurants.  

 

Sorry - it's a pet peeve of mine and I don't want, nor deserve the scowls I get from some.

 

I also don't like the noro's on this ship; Covid's on that ship posts.  I know, I know, I don't have to read them.  But both viruses are here to stay folks.  Do we have to keep reporting on them?  It serves little purpose IMHO other than scaring people and making them tense about their upcoming cruises.  I understand not everyone agrees with me, and that's ok.  But that's my opinion.  One should always be following good hygiene and beyond that, and avoiding anyone visibly sick,  there is little else we can do about it if we want to travel.  

[NutsAboutGolf]

Got to bring up the elephant in the room...Most who think they're washing their hands aren't doing it long enough

 

While washing your hands for any duration is better than not washing them at all, it is generally recommended to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds to effectively remove germs and pathogens.  99% of the time, I do not see people do that, perhaps five seconds on average, which is not long enough to eliminate potential pathogens

 

This is why those automatic hand washers are helpful as one doesn't need to think about duration

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

I wish people would stop always assuming that people who don't use the hand sanitizer or wash their hands upon entering are unsanitary.  Speaking for myself, I often use the restroom prior to entering dining areas and wash my hands thoroughly, and leave without touching the door (attendant opens or I may use an elbow).  So I am just as sanitary as the hand washers inside.  I also practice good hygiene when gathering the food, and always use some hand sanitizer before eating that I bring with me - always - whether in the buffet or prior to dinner in the restaurants.  

 

Sorry - it's a pet peeve of mine and I don't want, nor deserve the scowls I get from some.

 

I also don't like the noro's on this ship; Covid's on that ship posts.  I know, I know, I don't have to read them.  But both viruses are here to stay folks.  Do we have to keep reporting on them?  It serves little purpose IMHO other than scaring people and making them tense about their upcoming cruises.  I understand not everyone agrees with me, and that's ok.  But that's my opinion.  One should always be following good hygiene and beyond that, and avoiding anyone visibly sick,  there is little else we can do about it if we want to travel.  

The problem is passengers and, more importantly the crew, don't see you doing your hand washing in the rest rooms and as you said you "often use the restrooms" but often is not always. Is it such an issue just to wash or sanitize as you enter the buffet/dining room?

Yes Covid and Noro will be with us forever but Novo is a "notifiable" disease and the ship must legally  report all cases before every docking and if numbers exceed certain levels docking can be refused.

[coaster]

Trusting and encouraging cruisers to do the right thing in regards to proper hand washing is a lost cause. Lazy and uncaring passengers will never go away. Cruise lines know now that serving plates of food by crew at buffets without sharing tongs can be accomplished due to the restart a couple of years ago. It will take a commitment on the cruise lines part to be proactive as extra  staffing costs are involved in doing this type of service. HAL has managed to do it for years. Kind of surprised the CDC has not mandated the need for crew to plate food in a buffet setting.

Edited June 8, 2023 by coaster

[PMT51]

I was surprised to find out that hand sanitizing gels are NOT effective against norovirus. 

https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/prevention.html

 

Learn something new every day.

[coaster]

Just now, PMT51 said:

I was surprised to find out that hand sanitizing gels are NOT effective against norovirus. 

https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/prevention.html

 

Learn something new every day.

Was not effective for Covid either. Gels are just theater. If everyone washed their their hands properly in the 'perfect world' all would be good. Never going to happen. The need for crew to plate food is the only option to be proactive against future outbreaks. 

[D. B.]

1 hour ago, coaster said:

Was not effective for Covid either. Gels are just theater. If everyone washed their their hands properly in the 'perfect world' all would be good. Never going to happen. The need for crew to plate food is the only option to be proactive against future outbreaks. 

I was just thinking that going on a cruise on a ship that had recently had an out brake would probably mean it would be the most sanitized ship in the fleet by the time we get onboard???

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I wish people would stop always assuming that people who don't use the hand sanitizer or wash their hands upon entering are unsanitary.  Speaking for myself, I often use the restroom prior to entering dining areas and wash my hands thoroughly, and leave without touching the door (attendant opens or I may use an elbow).  So I am just as sanitary as the hand washers inside.  I also practice good hygiene when gathering the food, and always use some hand sanitizer before eating that I bring with me - always - whether in the buffet or prior to dinner in the restaurants.  

 

Sorry - it's a pet peeve of mine and I don't want, nor deserve the scowls I get from some.

 

I also don't like the noro's on this ship; Covid's on that ship posts.  I know, I know, I don't have to read them.  But both viruses are here to stay folks.  Do we have to keep reporting on them?  It serves little purpose IMHO other than scaring people and making them tense about their upcoming cruises.  I understand not everyone agrees with me, and that's ok.  But that's my opinion.  One should always be following good hygiene and beyond that, and avoiding anyone visibly sick,  there is little else we can do about it if we want to travel.  

Agree with your post.  Norovirus on cruise ships is unfortunately as old as cruising (and passenger lines before that).  But I guess the posting here on CC about it has a value as it does remind some people that it is always a threat.  It is also a huge event and costly when the cruise ship and crew needs to deal with an outbreak.  They are vigilant, but passengers are passengers and not all are doing the right thing - extensive washing with soap and water.  But a lot of folks, me included and like you, wash in a restroom before entering dining areas or other public areas.  No value in judging people - nobody knows the individual situations.  By the way, you can pick up Noro at the Mast Grill, bars, the pool area, anywhere there are infected people touching things.  Not just the MDR or OVC.   It is quite common on land particularly from salad bars.  We just need to take care of ourselves (like with COVID) and assume most others are doing the right thing too.  But not everybody.

[TeeRick]

19 hours ago, bboop51 said:

We were on this cruise. We could not  have been more cautious. Hand washing at every appropriate time (which we do anyway,) no elevators etc and yet my very healthy husband still got Norovirus. He was very sick. It left his immune system in the dumps. He is recovering slowly. 

I personally do no think the ship was prepared for the medical issues (Noro and the apparent Covid that also was discovered.)

 

IMO the Celebrity ships are highly prepared for both Noro and Covid these days.

[NutsAboutGolf]

11 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

IMO the Celebrity ships are highly prepared for both Noro and Covid these days.

All cruise lines are, however the downside is it’s an extra duty for the crew who normally have time off

[bboop51]

9 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

IMO the Celebrity ships are highly prepared for both Noro and Covid these days.

You are entitled to your opinion, but we lived it. They may be prepared for the cleaning but not the patients, more than once calls for assistance were responded to (after long delays) by the same thing  we don't have enough staff. So we can agree to disagree. Our getting the ship was nightmare. We can leave it at that.

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, bboop51 said:

You are entitled to your opinion, but we lived it. They may be prepared for the cleaning but not the patients, more than once calls for assistance were responded to (after long delays) by the same thing  we don't have enough staff. So we can agree to disagree. Our getting the ship was nightmare. We can leave it at that.

OK thanks for clarifying.

[weregoingcruising]

On 6/8/2023 at 8:39 AM, floralscent said:

With all due respect to all humans, I am one myself…once humans and their egos, attitudes and lack of caring for others kicks in, this is what happens. 
 

It literally blows my mind to watch SO MANY people walk right past all hand washing stations and hand sanitizer. Total disregard for others and TBH, lack of caring for their own health. 
 

I step off my soapbox now. Thank you all for being such a great source of information!!!! 🤗

I agree and also think maybe they just washed and sanitized somewhere else. 

[bboop51]

15 minutes ago, weregoingcruising said:

I agree and also think maybe they just washed and sanitized somewhere else. 

Of interest, apparently hand sanitizer DO NOT kill the norovirus. PROPER hand washing  does it.

I was surprised.

[Cachecara]

9 hours ago, bboop51 said:

You are entitled to your opinion, but we lived it. They may be prepared for the cleaning but not the patients, more than once calls for assistance were responded to (after long delays) by the same thing  we don't have enough staff. So we can agree to disagree. Our getting the ship was nightmare. We can leave it at that.

I was on the May 15 cruise and know several who got Noro.  The sick bay was so overwhelmed they stopped allowing noro patients in and attended to them in their staterooms.  It was a circus.  Very long delays. 

[Jim_Iain]

Out of curiosity I checked the CDC to see how bad the outbreak was -

 

Cruise Ship: Celebrity Summit

Voyage Dates: May 15–May 25, 2023

Voyage number: 58978

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 152 of 2,144 (7.09%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 25 of 963 (2.60%)

[phoenix_dream]

On 6/8/2023 at 4:43 PM, the penguins said:

The problem is passengers and, more importantly the crew, don't see you doing your hand washing in the rest rooms and as you said you "often use the restrooms" but often is not always. Is it such an issue just to wash or sanitize as you enter the buffet/dining room?

Yes Covid and Noro will be with us forever but Novo is a "notifiable" disease and the ship must legally  report all cases before every docking and if numbers exceed certain levels docking can be refused.

As it happens, most often I do wash my hands on ships with sinks (and always if I have not just washed them), and always will use the sanitizer if it's available upon entering.  But I don't like being judged as non-sanitary if I've just washed thoroughly and don't care to do it again.  As it is, by the end of my cruises (and I usually do B2B) my hands are like sandpaper from all the washing and sanitizing. If you see someone licking their fingers and then picking up a serving utensil, then you know they are not being protective.  But I just don't like people ranting and raving that anyone who doesn't stop to wash their hands or bypasses the sanitizer is necessarily unclean.  There is no way to know that.  

[Wombservice]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Out of curiosity I checked the CDC to see how bad the outbreak was -

 

Cruise Ship: Celebrity Summit

Voyage Dates: May 15–May 25, 2023

Voyage number: 58978

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 152 of 2,144 (7.09%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 25 of 963 (2.60%)

Unfortunately, it seems as if it hasn’t yet been contained - there are still cases onboard now, and we’re boarding tomorrow.  Sure hope it’ll be eradicated by then!!!

 

 

[Laurab23]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Out of curiosity I checked the CDC to see how bad the outbreak was -

 

Cruise Ship: Celebrity Summit

Voyage Dates: May 15–May 25, 2023

Voyage number: 58978

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 152 of 2,144 (7.09%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 25 of 963 (2.60%)

We were on this cruise. I can't help but wonder how many did not report being ill after they heard others were being confined to their cabins. Not saying that they didn't chose to stay in their cabins,just that they didn't report it. In which case,the true numbers would be much higher. We will never know but I am glad that I am my cabin mate did not have any issues.

 

Laura