Noro on Galaxy right now, if you haven't already heard

[trcori]

I'm onboard Galaxy as the 4/1 Canal cruise winds down, at sea right now, second-to-last night before we return to Galveston. We'd noticed that starting this morning, the buffets suddenly changed to staff-served only -- and suddenly there were staff members patrolling everywhere with cleaning solution -- wiping down tables even while you're still sitting there, wiping all the handrails, decks being hosed off repeatedly during the day. A relatively high-ranking crew member confirmed to us in the late morning that there was some sort of illness problem but had no details. Then tonight the daily bulletin just came with the printout saying "During this cruise, there have [sic] been an elevated number of people onboard who experienced a gastrointestinal illness commonly known as a norovirus."

 

That's all we know. No details on numbers. Did notice a smaller dinner crowd last night, though it was closer to capacity tonight for the last formal night. Also one odd thing reported by my husband and son -- an attendant in the men's room closest to the main restaurant, enforcing hand-washing, carrying a camera (???).

 

We don't know anyone personally who's been sick with noro; my husband's got a bit of a cold and we've seen a LOT of people sneezing, so till the note came with the daily bulletin just now, we thought maybe the outbreak was something upper respiratory. So there you have it, just thought somebody would want to know. The cruise had been relatively uneventful otherwise (aside from a lot of technical difficulties; onboard interactive TV features down the whole time, A/V systems acting up, etc.) -- TR (onboard Galaxy till Thursday morning)

[elsje]

I'm onboard Galaxy as the 4/1 Canal cruise winds down, at sea right now, second-to-last night before we return to Galveston. We'd noticed that starting this morning, the buffets suddenly changed to staff-served only -- and suddenly there were staff members patrolling everywhere with cleaning solution -- wiping down tables even while you're still sitting there, wiping all the handrails, decks being hosed off repeatedly during the day. A relatively high-ranking crew member confirmed to us in the late morning that there was some sort of illness problem but had no details. Then tonight the daily bulletin just came with the printout saying "During this cruise, there have [sic] been an elevated number of people onboard who experienced a gastrointestinal illness commonly known as a norovirus."

 

That's all we know. No details on numbers. Did notice a smaller dinner crowd last night, though it was closer to capacity tonight for the last formal night. Also one odd thing reported by my husband and son -- an attendant in the men's room closest to the main restaurant, enforcing hand-washing, carrying a camera (???).

 

We don't know anyone personally who's been sick with noro; my husband's got a bit of a cold and we've seen a LOT of people sneezing, so till the note came with the daily bulletin just now, we thought maybe the outbreak was something upper respiratory. So there you have it, just thought somebody would want to know. The cruise had been relatively uneventful otherwise (aside from a lot of technical difficulties; onboard interactive TV features down the whole time, A/V systems acting up, etc.) -- TR (onboard Galaxy till Thursday morning)

 

Thanks for the update..We will be on the Trans Atlantic cruise on May 6th. I will be watching for some more updates. Wishing all of you a safe return and hopefully the "virus" can be kept under control.

Els

[tuggers]

Will be interesting to see if they start the bleach brigade on Galaxy. I do believe it was a function of the Captain we had on Mercury more than corporate.

[elsje]

Will be interesting to see if they start the bleach brigade on Galaxy. I do believe it was a function of the Captain we had on Mercury more than corporate.

 

Hi "Tuggers" ~ I have been reading your posts and I sure hope the Galaxy's virus, whatever it may be, can be contained. Wish more people would read these boards so they realize how important it is to wash hands.

So sorry that so many pax and crew were affected by the virus on the Mercury.

 

Hope your next sailing(s) will be better. Thanks for your updates ~ Els:)

[keela1eva2]

Would someone say it isn't true!. After all that I have read regarding Mercury on these boards I am dreading that Galaxy now has the Norwalk virus on board.

I also am booked on the T/A 5/6 and so am really concerned that the problem will persist as it has done on Marcury.

I have felt so sorry for the devastation this has caused for so many on Mercury and just hope that Mercury has now turned the corner. Hopefully if any problem on board Galaxy are dealt with quickly then it can recover quickly. If not I don't know!

 

Sue

[Eleris]

I am boarding the Galaxy tomorrow! Does anyone know what helps with symptoms if we should encounter this unfortunate bug. Since it is a virus there are no antibiotics but I am wondering if pepto or something like that is given. Besides drinking to avoid dehydration, does anyone know what the passengers where given? :eek:

[reklawr]

Learn about the Norwalk Virus (noro virus) here on WebMD.com

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/57/66054.htm

[reklawr]

Another good source of information:

Center for Disease control Q&A:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htm

[parrothead1]

My folks just got back from their 14 day Summit to Hawaii cruise this past Sunday. They started doing the same thing on Summit late last week. There were apparently a small number of reported cases of Noro-like symptoms and the crew on board Summit started following the same procedures as the Mercury. From what they were told there apparently seems to be a run of this virus again and not just Celebrity. They were told that there about 13 ships in the Pacific region report Noro-like symptoms.

 

People - WASH YOUR HANDS!! Just a general comment (Except for the one gentleman who was on Constellation the week of 3/4/06. I saw you twice not use the sink after using a public restroom. You know who you are!)

[Seabee]

 

People - WASH YOUR HANDS!! Just a general comment

 

Wouldn't it be easier just to not pee on your hands?:D (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

[skyview851]

I am boarding the Galaxy tomorrow! Does anyone know what helps with symptoms if we should encounter this unfortunate bug. Since it is a virus there are no antibiotics but I am wondering if pepto or something like that is given. Besides drinking to avoid dehydration, does anyone know what the passengers where given? :eek:

 

Eleris, We cruise right after you. Please let us know during your voyage how things are going. I hope that this will be a small isolated outbreak & that the future cruises are not affected.

[TEXASMUNK]

Don't know if we should bring Pepto or any other kind of sanitizer.

 

Going to call Celelbrity, doubt they will have anything to say, but what the heck

[jodisue]

They were told that there about 13 ships in the Pacific region report Noro-like symptoms.

 

 

Well, luckily I'm on the 6 May transATLANTIC cruise. :p Shouldn't be a problem for us, right? Right? :(

[tuggers]

Jim, if you want to be fully prepared, I would suggest the following:

Lomotil

Phenygrin (sp) for nausea

Cipro (in case what you get is bacterial not viral)

Purell (small bottles for pockets)

Wet Ones (individual packets)

[TEXASMUNK]

4-12-06 11:30am CDT

 

Our agent called Celebrity.

 

Boarding will be delayed on 4-13-06.

 

They will be scrubbing the ship.

 

They expect to have the norovirus beaten by the time passengers board.

 

Lessons learned after the Mercury problem

[boscobeans]

************Originally Posted by parrothead1

They were told that there about 13 ships in the Pacific region report Noro-like symptoms.***************

 

13 ships in the Pacific region???

 

I hope Celebrity as well as the other lines involved are taking a close look at the possibility of a food borne infection. Such items as fresh produce and other uncooked foods can be a major source of infection. Once produce is picked and given a quick wash (infected water???) to remove sand and surface dirt, it gets very little in the way of cleaning before it gets to your plate. One dirty well or contaminated water supply can easily infect tons and tons of produce. It would be interesting to see if there is a chain leading back to one supplier or even back to one farm.

boscobeans

[skyview851]

4-12-06 11:30am CDT

Our agent called Celebrity.

Boarding will be delayed on 4-13-06.

They will be scrubbing the ship.

They expect to have the norovirus beaten by the time passengers board.

Lessons learned after the Mercury problem

 

I would gladly delay my boarding or departure to increase the chances of having a noro-free cruise. This sounds like great news for future Galaxy cruisers.

[trcori]

Jim M's post about delayed boarding makes sense -- we got notices in our staterooms tonight that Galaxy would be arriving an hour early "for operational reasons" and everyone's scheduled disembarkation time is moving UP an hour -- so they'll get us out of the way early to have more time to scrub up for the next bunch. Things eased a tiny bit today in terms of the relentless disinfecting -- buffets were still served (although the Grand Buffet last night was a notable exception ... not very well-attended FWIW, anyway) -- but the armies of spray bottle-armed personnel were NOT in evidence. Hope all goes well for the next cruise. Again, this all happened in the last couple days of ours, and overall (aside from various Galaxy issues to be mentioned in my forthcoming review) it's been a very nice cruise with awesome weather (even an incredible downpour in Grand Cayman felt "awesome" in its own way) and relatively mellow seas, all ports fully enjoyed ... TR (hours away from docking back in Galveston, boo)

[a68vet]

Many thanks TR for keeping us posted on the status of the Galaxy. We are due to board tomorrow "sometime". Looking forward to a spic and span ship that has ALL the germs dead and gone! It should be cleaner than ordinary even, so how lucky can we get?

 

Glad you are thinking on the positive side of your cruise. I look forward to 11 days of great cruising but if I get 9 will be right happy with that!

 

SEA you around the boards.

 

don

[keela1eva2]

Hi I would like to wish you a very enjoyable holiday and sincerely hope that you will not be effected by the dreaded VIRUS.

 

Thanks for prewarning us to the possibility of the Norwalk on board. Glad that despite this you have had a good time. I am envious of the good weather. Hope that we too will have sunshine on our T/A 6/5 Safe journey home!

 

Sue

[C 2 C]

Wouldn't it be easier just to not pee on your hands?:D (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

 

Strangely the ammonia in urine should be lethal to the virus. It's the stuff from the other aperture that creates the problem. In days of old people would often pee on their wounds to sterilize the bacteria....

 

(read that in Wilbur Smith's tales of maritime history...)

[Cptn. Heimlich]

While aboard Summit to Hawaii in Feb, we noticed that before entering the Waterfall (Main Buffet) there was a hand sanitizer station where we would stop and get a squirt and continue on to eat. MOST PEOPLE DID NOT STOP TO SINITIZE THEIR HANDS. We found that disgusting.

Do your part and WASH.