Mercury passengers ill

[tangerinebunny]

I'm glad your family made it home w/o the virus, but it does sound as though the trip was stressful for everyone. And that some corporate decisions were not well thought out, to say the least. That poor crew, they've had such a hard time too.

 

We're on Mercury in mid May and really do appreciate hearing from you and others who have first hand experience.

[FinelyCruising]

Hello from the Mercury!

 

Thought I would send a quick update from the ship for those traveling next...

 

I think they are winning the battle here, only a few cases on board as far as I can tell.

 

When we boarded we were givien the option of not taking this cruise and a Letter of Credit would be granted the equivalent dollar toward another. So if you have any concerns, call your TA now before you go if you think you don't want to.

 

The ship is a bleach boat now. Not strong smelling as if I was cleaining my floor, it's an easier scent, it would have to be, but bleach is everywhere. Cabin doors, walls, every mirror is bleach filmed, can't even see your self to wash and get dressed. People clothes are getting damaged, so it is very, very hard to relax. Even up at the pool, they spray and it's wet and you sit down and you have no idea what you just sat in or rubbed against. Last night they wiped down the restroom every time someone exited.

 

The crew, the entire crew, is going non-stop, and I mean non-stop, and certain services are lacking as a result, so it's not easy for them and not easy for us.

 

The weather has been great, just great and we all are hoping for the best for the entire length of the cruise. Sorry I can't say it's better, but this is the way it is.:o

[hardingk]

Thanks for the update! I hope things go well the rest of the cruise for you! We board when you get off.

[Vernoncruise]

Hi, Rocky Top Mom. I agree - it was an enjoyable cruise, but definitely below "the should' - especially since we weren't warned at all about the existing situation. I even asked an employee who was cleaning when we boarded if people had been sick on the prior cruise, and he said no - it was just precautionary. Have you contacted Celebrity customer service at all? I haven't gotten anywhere when I expressed my concerns.

[NanD]

Sorry to read your post, FinelyCruising, as the current cleaning situation on Mercury mirrors ours' of Mar 17 - 27th....it's not the environment aboard the ship we all look forward to and anticipate, to say the least! I think it's also undeniable that the extra time and effort given to the super cleaning takes a toll in other areas of service.... and understandably so. We still enjoyed our cruise. For us there were lots of positives, and the inconveniences and withdrawal of some events/foods were minimal in comparison. I do, however, completely agree with those who are critical about the lack of information given prior to and during our sailing. By the time your group showed up, the Genie was out of the bottle. My biggest regret is I don't think we have a good feel for what the typical Celebrity experience entails, as our first cruise with X was clearly out of the norm. Your good news is numbers reporting ill have decreased, so looks as if things are turning around. I hope that trend holds. Stay well, and happy cruising.

Nan

[Mercruiser]

I am typing from the Internet Cafe at the PV cruise terminal. We are having a great time on the March 27 - April 3 Cruise. I have a travelogue running called Mercury Travelogue, March 27 Mexican Riviera.

Basically, the trip is going great for us. We are healthy and having a great time. Just had a great day at Mimasoyla beach (spelling?).

[Dorothy & Morty]

We just returned from the 3/6-17 sailing of the Mercury.

 

Although it is correct that a large number of crew and passengers were infected with the Norovirus, the "official" numbers reported were low. According to a fellow passenger that was a nurse, her husband was treated in the ship's medical facility, and the number of people being treated that that point (with two sea days left in the cruise) was over 400. In addition, she reported that a staff member indicated that an "elevated" amount of passengers on the previous sailing also reported illness with symptoms of the norovirus.

 

At the beginning of the cruise, hand sanitizers were available at the various eating venues, but no insistence on the part of the staff to use them was being done. About two days into the cruise, each cabin received a notice from the Captain to practice hand sanitation due to an increase in reported gastro-intestinal problems.

 

At the same time, you were no longer allowed to get your own food at the buffet. About 7 days into the cruise, you were not allowed to get your own drinks either. Hand sanitizing became mandatory to be able to access food venues. Staff was using a very strong disinfectant all over the ship and were wearing masks while doing so.

 

At no point were there any announcements that the problem was rapidly increasing. However, by the continual increase in disinfecting measures, it was obvious.

 

Many passengers we spoke with did admit to having symptoms at various times during the cruise, but did not receive treatment, either because the medical facility was very overcrowded when the went, or fear of being quarantined in their rooms, which recoverd passengers reported was being done by the ship's medical personnel.

 

There were many people absent from the dining rooms. Staff members were told to keep quiet, but a few we spoke with said the problem was the worst they have seen.

 

Do you think Celebrity is not being completely forthright about this issue?

 

We sure do !

 

Thank you for this report, we are going on the Millenium in 8 days and are scheduled to go on the Mercury Dec. 23rd. I will be very upset if it happens to us. I saw few disinfectant stations on the Millennium in Jan.

I think they should be all over everywhere. Are you listening Celebrity???

Dorothy & Morty

Frequent cruisers

[wave412]

Hi all

 

I, too, was on the Mercury Mar 17th sailing, and I was the only one of our group of four (and a baby, who I think was the initial carrier) who didn't get sick(at least I haven't as of today). I completely agree with NanD's posting. It was our first Celebrity cruise, too, and I don't think we really got a feel for what the total experience is like. We did have a great time despite the illness scare, and I definitely learned some valuable lessons about staying healthy in that kind of situation.

 

Here's hoping that they get the outbreak down to a minimal level, which it sounds like they're doing. =)

[NanD]

This link to a video report on the Mercury 3/17-27 sailling is on the Travelogue thread for the current cruise. Thought I'd add it here in case folks missed it since it's relavent to the discussion.

Nan

 

http://www.kusi.com/home/2533356.html?video=YHI&t=a

[bububr]

You guys weren't the ones with the baby in the central hot tub, were you. Early on there were familys with toddlers and infants in that central tub. We did advise the pool guys, but they did nothing about it. It does specify "ADULTS ONLY" in that tub.

 

I would really hate to think it was a family with children that caused this dilemma. Although there have been numerous outbreaks of NORO causing school closures across the country. You would only hear about it on local news as it is not a 'National' problem unless it affects a hotel or cruise ship.

 

This virus has a short life. even on a surface it can live only a few hours as it needs a host to grow and spread. I highly doubt the virus was on the ship already, and after seeing some of the sanitary practices of a few of the passengers in the terminal, not washing hands in the mens room, sneezing and coughing with out covering their mouths, wiping their eyes and noses with out washing hands...I'd be surprised if it wasn't brought on.

 

I to has a less than usual CELEBRITY vacation, but made the best of it. The line cannot guarantee or protect all if its passengers from exposer to other passengers. I do wish this had never happened. As a frequent cruiser with Celebrity I would like to think that at the least they would offer a token compensation in the form of room credits on a future RCCL or X cruise. I don't think I would agree with a refund.

 

In Our world of justice, a person/company has a right to fix a problem after it has happened regardless of responsibility..before litigation. Legally X doesn't have to do a thing unless proven without reasonable doubt that it HAD the virus already onboard, or a crew member was responsible for the illnesses.

 

When I think of this I have to wonder if I would have rather been in Cancun during the hurricanes, and would I had sued or complained to the hotel for lack of services, or in a hospital in New Orleans when the levys broke...It it their resposibility that my condition might be worsened of if I died because of the lack of availability for services? Some things we just cannot contol once they start. Noro/Norwalk/GI virus is one of them. We can however attempt to reduce the amount of persons affected by stringiant hand washing and disinfection of surfaces with a bleach solution. X did all it could to prevent to number of its passengers from getting ill. It had to reduce services because of this action, regardless of personal opinion.

 

Did I have a cruise that was less than expected, Yes. Is X directly responisble? I don't believe so, but we will never know. Do they HAVE TO OFFER some kind of compensation? No. However I think that they may, and should to show thier concern for the situation, and their appreciation for their regular clients. Do they owe us the world? NO, a token of their apology for the situation will do in the form of a future cruise or room credit.

 

Sorry if you disagree, but I am lying here in pain. I was thrown from a horse in Mazatlan. My x-ray results show a compression fracture in a lower vertebre. I was in pain AND BARELY ABLE TO GET AROUND FOR 7 DAYS OF THIS CRUISE. I'm not looking for sympathy...just the realization that the entire cruise was not bad, just sometimes inconvenient.

 

Dave:eek:

[FinelyCruising]

For the past two port days locals have been hired to assist in the sanitization efforts on board, so along with the staff who is going non-stop there are many others who are cleaning. You know they took the spa staff to clean aslo, so everyone works on this ship these days!

 

Every half hour is bleach patrol. A requirement. The elevators are literally dripping wet. The cabin doors are literally dripping wet, so it is very difficult to move around the interiors of the ship.

 

Agree, that this takes away from the other services materially, but one good thing is the sail away buffet as we leave Acapulco tonight is back on!

[Buckeye Geo]

FinelyCrusing: Thanks for your update. It is greatly appreciated. Have fun at the Acapulco Sailaway Buffet and stay out of those wet bleach spots.

[C 2 C]

Thanks for the updates. All of us must realize that $**t happens. Unfortunately this is the cause of the Norovirus. A baby in the hot tub? diapers?

 

The point that irritates me is that X posts rules because of potential problems and does not enforce them.. Emloyees do not enforce rules because pax will give them a negative rating; the employee will get punished so they do nothing.

 

I even asked an employee who was cleaning when we boarded if people had been sick on the prior cruise, and he said no - it was just precautionary.

First rule Deny, Deny, Deny.

 

It was a nice change if they gave you an opportunity to back out. Be forewarned.

 

Sometimes a journey goes wrong. Be prepared, that if you travel enough, eventually it will. And remember a ditty I remember so well:

Smile, thing could be worse. So I smiled, and sure enough, things got worse.:D

[FinelyCruising]

For those following this thread, things are definately getting better as far as no new cases, so all the hard work of the crew have paid off. We even had our mirrors wiped down last night, so we can see our selves again!

 

I am thinking that they have gotten the virus out of the ship and all the same efforts continue however, so for those boarding at the end of this week, I would expect you will continue to see what we have due to the fact that this is considered the season for this virus.

 

Otherwise, it is a nice itin and the weather has been just great!

[hardingk]

Thanks for the update. We are flying out tomorrow. We heard our boarding may be delayed as well for them to clean the ship again. Has anything been said about you guys having to get off the ship extra early like the last sailing?

[Buckeye Geo]

Thanks for the update. We are flying out tomorrow. We heard our boarding may be delayed as well for them to clean the ship again. Has anything been said about you guys having to get off the ship extra early like the last sailing?

 

Have a good cruise. Hope thing will be much improved for you and your shipmates. We fellow you on the 17th.

[cruisePRN]

If every passenger disembarks after their cruise then it has to be crew spreading/perpetrating the virus not passengers.

[hardingk]

Hopefully our sailing will be better!

[C 2 C]

If every passenger disembarks after their cruise then it has to be crew spreading/perpetrating the virus not passengers.

 

Could be baggage handlers who handle suitcases of infected passengers getting off and then handling suitcases of passengers getting on. When unpacking the next bunch restarts the process.

[cruisePRN]

Could be baggage handlers who handle suitcases of infected passengers getting off and then handling suitcases of passengers getting on. When unpacking the next bunch restarts the process.

 

I agree with this but it's not the new passengers it's something from the past. I sure hope they get a handle on this debacle.

[arabrab]

I was surprised to read this comment from the CDC in the San Diego Union article:

 

“I understand the ship smells like chlorine,” he said. “And the ship is now going beyond our minimum requirements for quarantining ill passengers – a full 48 hours instead of 24.”

 

Quarantining ill passengers for twice as long as the CDC recommends could likely have the effect of influencing even more passengers to not report symptoms -- losing two days of vacation to an enforced quarantine vs. one day is significant. I'm not sure that they thought this through very well.

[tangerinebunny]

If every passenger disembarks after their cruise then it has to be crew spreading/perpetrating the virus not passengers.

 

I read an abstract of a CDC article on a norovirus outbreak that occurred onboard an unnamed ship in the early 2000's. It reoccurred on six consecutive voyages and led them to believe that it was indeed being spread through the crew. Their suggestion was for the cruiseline to give more paid sick leave to the crew.

 

So it has happened in the past. I can't get the link to function but here's part of the article:

 

Dispatch

 

Norovirus Transmission on Cruise Ship

Elmira T. Isakbaeva,* Marc-Alain Widdowson,*† R. Suzanne Beard,* Sandra N. Bulens,*† James Mullins,* Stephan S. Monroe,* Joseph Bresee,* Patricia Sassano,‡ Elaine H. Cramer,* and Roger I. Glass*

*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; †Atlanta Research and Education Foundation, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; and ‡Bucks County Department of Health, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA

 

Suggested citation for this article

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

An outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis affected passengers on two consecutive cruises of ship X and continued on 4 subsequent cruises despite a 1-week sanitization. We documented transmission by food and person-to-person contact; persistence of virus despite sanitization onboard, including introductions of new strains; and seeding of an outbreak on land.

 

We describe an investigation of a norovirus gastroenteritis outbreak aboard a cruise ship affecting 6 consecutive cruises and the use of sequence analysis to determine modes of virus transmission. Noroviruses (NoV), are the most common cause of infectious acute gastroenteritis and are transmitted feco-orally through food and water, directly from person to person and by environmental contamination (1). These viruses are often responsible for protracted outbreaks in closed settings, such as cruise ships, nursing homes, and hospitals (2,3).

 

On November 20, 2002, cruise ship X recorded an elevated number of persons with acute gastroenteritis symptoms reporting to the ship's infirmary (84 [4%] of 2,318 passengers) during a 7-day vacation cruise from Florida to the Caribbean. According to federal regulations, when the incidence of acute gastroenteritis among passengers and crew exceeds 3%, an outbreak is defined and requires a formal investigation (4). The outbreak continued on the subsequent cruise (cruise 2), after which the vessel was removed from service for 1 week of aggressive sanitization. Despite cleaning, gastroenteritis also developed in 192 (8%) of 2,456 passengers and 23 (2.3%) of 999 crew on the following cruise (cruise 3). To determine the source of this continuing outbreak and to better understand the mechanisms of NoV transmission, we began an investigation on cruise 1 and collected stool specimens from persons with gastroenteritis on this cruise and the next 5 cruises.

 

The Study

We surveyed all 2,318 passengers on cruise 1 to determine dates of illness onset, symptoms, cabin locations, activities, and food consumption. We also performed a sanitary inspection of the ship. We suspected that initial infection among passengers on cruise 1 originated from a common food or water source and then continued to spread from person to person. Therefore, we conducted a case-control study with all passengers in whom illness developed early in the cruise (days 3 and 4) after embarkation (defined as day 1) and also with passengers who became ill later (day 5). Controls were systematically selected among passengers who reported no symptoms of gastroenteritis throughout the entire cruise. We continued to monitor the number of cases of acute gastroenteritis on the subsequent 5 cruises and collected fecal specimens from ill persons on all 6 cruises. During our shipboard investigation, we also obtained stool specimens from ill persons in a long-term care facility affected by an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis, in which the index patient was a passenger who returned ill to the facility after disembarking from cruise 1. All stool specimens were tested for NoV by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction, as previously described (5). The positive amplicons were sequenced, and sequences were compared for genetic diversity.

 

Figure 1

 

Click to view enlarged image

 

Figure 1. Number (%) of cases of acute gastroenteritis among 513 passengers and 74 crew by date of symptom onset...

 

 

Figure 2

 

 

Click to view enlarged image

 

Figure 2. Phylogram of 9 norovirus sequence types detected in outbreaks on ship X, 4 reference sequences from GenBank...

The outbreak began abruptly on day 2 of cruise 1 and continued on cruise 2 with new passengers. Despite sanitization of the ship for 1 week after cruise 2, illness was also reported among passengers on cruise 3 (Figure 1). On the subsequent cruises (4–6), the number of ill persons reporting to the infirmary remained above background levels but below 3%. Of the 2,318 surveyed passengers on cruise 1, 1,276 (55%) returned questionnaires, of these, 212 case-passengers and 265 control-passengers were enrolled in our study. We identified that eating breakfast at restaurant A on day 2 of the cruise was associated with illness among case-passengers with onset of symptoms on day 3 (odds ratio [OR] 4.04, p < 0.01) and that eating dinner at the same restaurant on day 2 was a risk factor for illness among case-passengers who became ill on day 4 (OR 2.8, p < 0.005). We also found that eating dinner at restaurant B aboard ship on day 3 was associated with illness among case-passengers with onset on day 5 (OR 2.3, p < 0.05). Restaurants A and B did not share a galley. Case-passengers with later onset of illness on day 5 were more likely than controls to have a cabin mate in whom gastroenteritis developed on days 3 or 4 (OR 2.01, p = 0.01), which suggests either infection by environmental contamination or by person-to-person spread.

 

Of 55 tested stool specimens from all 6 cruises, 25 (45%) were positive for NoV and belonged to 6 strains (Table). Norovirus was detected in at least 1 stool sample from all cruises, except cruise 4, where no stool samples were found positive, and in 2 samples of ill persons from the long-term care facility. The genetic sequences detected on cruises 1 and 2 were identical in regions B and C and belonged to a lineage of NoV within genogroup II (GII), cluster 4 (Figure 2), which has been provisionally described as the Farmington Hills strain (6). Five of the 8 NoV-positive specimens on cruise 3, which sailed after sanitization, contained 3 different sequences (X, Y, and Z). Sequence X was found in 1 sample and was identical to the sequence detected on cruises 1 and 2, which suggested that this strain may have persisted onboard despite cleaning. Sequence Y was found in 3 samples and differed from sequence X by 3 nucleotides (nt) in region C, which suggested that it was the predominant strain and probably newly introduced by passengers or crew at the start of cruise 3. Sequence Z was detected in 1 sample and belonged to the same lineage of NoV as the strain found on cruises 1 and 2 but to a different cluster (cluster 3), which suggested that it was also newly introduced onto cruise 3. Single stool samples from persons on cruises 5 and 6 contained a sequence that differed from the Farmington Hills strain by 3 nt and 1 nt, respectively, which suggested probable continuous reintroductions of closely related viruses aboard the ship. A sequence indistinguishable from that found on cruises 1 and 2 was also detected in stool samples from 2 persons ill in the outbreak that occurred in the long-term care facility, which suggested that virus was possibly introduced by the ill passenger from cruise 1. The environmental inspection of the ship identified no major violations.

 

Conclusions

We report on a large outbreak of NoV-related gastroenteritis that affected 6 consecutive cruises on 1 ship and recurred despite thorough sanitization after the second cruise. In the past, investigations of shipboard outbreaks of viral gastroenteritis were limited by the lack of adequate molecular methods for detecting and characterizing viruses (7). In this investigation, epidemiologic analysis suggested an initial foodborne source of infection with subsequent secondary spread from person to person, while molecular analysis provided several new insights into disease transmission. Application of genetic sequencing documented persistence of the same strain onboard between cruises by detecting identical sequences in stool samples from ill passengers before and after 1 week of the vessel's cleaning. Although these findings suggest that environmental contamination may have helped perpetuate the outbreak, infected crew members could have also been a reservoir of infection between cruises. Molecularly fingerprinting of detected viruses confirmed several introductions of new strains aboard, which underscores the difficulty in controlling outbreaks of NoV on cruise ships. Sequence analysis provided evidence that an outbreak of NoV in the care facility was caused by a person returning ill from an outbreak-affected cruise.

 

Like other outbreaks of viral gastroenteritis on cruise ships (3,6,8–11), this outbreak affected several hundred people, was transmitted by multiple modes, and recurred on subsequent cruises.

[FinelyCruising]

We have not heard anything about getting back early although the ship came in at 3am the day the last group returned so they could get a jump on the sanitization efforts. I would presume there may be delayed boardin again so that the efforts can be made in a similar fashion prior to your boarding. We did not board until about 4 and while we were held at the terminal others were held at the Sheraton. One day the dining room was closed for sanitization for breakfast and lunch and then reopened.

 

I think you will have a safe trip, and I know many here are seasoned cruisers so it will be a different experince, but one that you can adjust to. Food has been good, go for the pasta bar and the waffle bar a the back of the ship...it's all good!

 

Have a great time!

[cruisePRN]

I suspected all along it was the crew not passengers spreading the virus. Many crew are not as hygenically inclined as the passengers and as noted it is being perpetrated by non passengers now. I believe X did not do the right thing for people when they wanted to cancel and X said no refund.

On the Millenium X did an outstanding job.....go figure.

[YYC F/A]

Many crew are not as hygenically inclined as the passengers and as noted it is being perpetrated by non passengers now.

 

Do you have any evidence to substantiate that?

 

Undoubtedly, crew members will catch the infection in a large outbreak. It is possible that infection will continue among the crew community, with possible transmission to passengers, on subsequent cruises. Does that mean that crewmembers are not 'hygenically inclined'? Of course not.

 

On the contrary, in most cases of Noro, the percentage of crew members with the infection is substantially less than that of the passengers.

 

I believe one of the main points of tangerinebunny's post and the CDC article is that, by not providing (enough/any) paid sick time, crewmembers (who are already working for relatively low salaries) are more likely to continue working even if showing Noro symptoms and thus slow down the eradication process.

 

If that is the case, it would be a classic case of a 'Penny-wise, Pound-foolish' approach by the cruiselines where by saving a few $$ on sick pay, they incur countless costs from an outbreak taking much longer to eradicate.