Just back from Xpedition

[gooch47]

Hello, all.

 

I just returned from our 10-day Xpedition to the Galapagos. If you like wildlife, this is a vacation you must not miss.

 

We only had 59 passengers on board. It was like a big family outing. Excellent service with so few passengers, but I have a feeling it is always like that.

 

We did have an outbreak of an intestinal problem. Probably Norovirus. I'd estimate 90% of the group had it at least one day. An older woman was down at least 3 days. I've been looking at other threads/posts about this. Sounds like it is almost the rule, not the exception, for this ship. Too bad.

 

Does anyone know what the music was that was played during the PPT presentation on the last night? The CD they give you with the photos doesn't have the music and I'd love to use it for my own Pinnacle video of the cruise.

 

If anyone on our cruise reads this, I'm "Linda" of "Linda and Don" fame.

[Deb C.]

HI and welcome. I see that this was your first posting!

 

I have always wanted to go to the Galapagos. Rather expensive to go solo though. Maybe someday!

 

I see you are also from Central Ohio. Anywhere near Richland Co.? Just wondering if we were close to each other!

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise!! :cool: Deb C.

[Meribeth]

Do you think the illness came from something they ate in Quito? Thanks for your report -- we leave tomorrow.

[DaytonGirl]

I was on the cruise the week before you.

 

I loved the music also. It really added drama to the pictures. I can't help you recreate it though since I have no idea what it is called.

 

I also had the intestinal issues, along with a few others. It was the first time I have ever visited a ship's doctor. I really don't think it's Norovirus, the symptoms are not the same. It's also not because of Quito, I had it the last morning of the trip.

 

I truly believe that it's just unusual bacteria that is affecting people, not something contagious. More like the infamous Montezuma's Revenge. We were eating and drinking food from unusual places. Not the mention the fact that were all tracking what Freddie referred to as "Sea Lion Surprises" back to the ship on our shoes. Just think what it smells like in some places we walked!

 

I wouldn't worry about going. It wasn't that bad, you just had to be in proximity to a bathroom for a while:)

 

I would do it again in half a second.

 

BTW - I was religious about using hand sanitizers

[Kamper]

That's a huge proportion of passengers. I thought that Celebrity had gotten a handle on this problem. I'd like to hear more specifics about the severity of the illness.

[arabrab]

Given the oft repeated issues with this ship I'd be wondering if some of the crew are silent carriers -- infected with the virus and able to pass it on to others but not showing symptoms themselves.

[kwsunset]

The natural good bacteria found on food of North and South America are different and you need to have the antibodies of the South in order to avoid some cramps and dirareah. Once your body has these, they are with you forever and further trips will not be a problem. It is minor discomfort in most cases, but there are simple remedies you can obtain from the ships doctor or your home doctor before you go.

[Keksie]

What is the best time of year to go on this trip?

[gooch47]

Given the oft repeated issues with this ship I'd be wondering if some of the crew are silent carriers -- infected with the virus and able to pass it on to others but not showing symptoms themselves.

 

We wondered about that, too. But I think the most likely answer is the food. Not that it is food poisoning, mind you, just not what we are used to eating.

 

I suppose I could have gotten it in Quito, but too many passengers were coming down with it at the end of the cruise for that to have been the whole story. The ship's people were bragging that a lot of the things they use are locally produced. Back to the unfamiliar food theory.

 

We really want to go back again, despite the illness. We talked with several people including a passenger named "Linda" who had been to the Galapagos 21 times. The consensus seemed to be October. The baby sea lions are being born then and there are lots of baby birds.

 

Deb, we live on the east side of Franklin County.

[bunnybear]

I will try to avoid the tummy problems - but plan on enjoying every minute of this adventure. I loaded up on hand sanitizer and pepto. I will write my impressions upon my return.

[Tellurian]

I was on the March 26-April 2 sailing. There was some illness, mostly mild, and some that kept folks in bed a 1/2 - 2 days - no apparent rhyme nor reason. Some people arrived feeling bad, others felt sick mid-week or even at the very end. Everyone just reacts differently to different food, climate, etc. I ate and drank everything - fruit, salads, ice, buffet food, ice cream, etc. and did not get sick at all. I was careful to use sanitizer--provided in dispensers where you reboard the ship after excursions by the podium where you sign-in as returned. One comment I will make, is that I saw folks who had declared their GI tracts out of order eating and drinking things that would not help them get better. Special diet plates (you know, bland white food) were available for people whose tummies were turbulent. In at least some cases, people just went back to too-rugged food too soon. Keep in mind too, that some travelers were on various meds that could have caused side effects or lowered their immune systems, i.e. anti-malarial drugs for pre or post inland trips, etc. It was an incredible trip!! I forgot one other precaution I took for the trip, as I have in the past for travel to places notorious for turista: I took 10 drops of grapefruit seed extract (GSE from NutriBiotic) in water or juice, twice a day. Whether it worked because it helped or worked with a placebo effect, it gave my body an effective defense against whatever ailed anyone.

[gooch47]

I had the bland diet for lunch and dinner the day I was sick and watched what I ate and drank the rest of the trip. That may have been one reason I wasn't affected as badly.

 

The worst case was an elderly woman who looked pretty fragile to begin with.

 

My husband never actually got the intestinal problems, but did come down with a bad cold. You put that many strangers together in tight quarters and they are bound to pass things around.

[snorklinbarb]

Just happened to thank the poster over on the great "video" thread that we loved seeing the animals/sealife/birds of the Galapagos when we were on Xpedition in Jan. 2005. Unfortunately it was one of the very sick ships (with a report to the CDC). About half were down (though not all reported to the doctor) and some quite severely. One retired pilot said he'd never been so sick in his life. It was definitely not the usual "moderate" stomach thing people had experienced in travelling to many many exotic areas of the globe. Our group had been all over the world and those affected said they'd never had such virulent vomiting & diarrhea.

 

Reports were rampant for months before my cruise about illness. Before going I contacted Mr. Michael Sheehan, Corp. Communications spokesman for RCCL, to discuss my concerns. He declared there had been only 1 outbreak months before and that there was no illness on the ship. I pointed to report after report on Cruise Critic of sickness and asked if we could delay our trip by a few weeks until Celebrity had gotten a handle on the problem.

 

The answer was if you choose to wait a few weeks, we will cancel your current lower price booking and rebook at the then prevailing much higher price. So we decided to take his word, consult our doctor and do the best.

 

The whole trip we chewed Pepto tablets several times a day per our doctor's recommendation, beginning the day we left the US. We avoided all veg. & fruit at the Marriott in Quito, never drank water or ice anywhere, including the ship, used anti-bacterial wipes religiously (including in the DR where sick people were allowed to freely dine on their special diets of boiled pot., rice & hard boiled eggs). It was almost impossible to avoid what the doctor said was a bacteria-caused outbreak.

 

During this time, the Hotel Mgr, Restaurant Mgr or the CD never mentioned that we had a problem & what they were doing about it. No announcements were made, no notice in the daily paper and eyes averted if you asked questions. Everyday more & more would come down with it and opt out of precious excursion time. I was very lucky not to get ill until returning to Quito after the Galapagos portion, and my husband was never ill. After I came home the doctor put me on Cipro, etc.

 

When I got home I wrote extensive emails & followed up with a personal call to Mr. Sheehan telling him all about what guests experienced. We also took issue with the cruiseline's lack of protocol. We continued to share utensils at the buffet, proper cleaning of rooms was not done (same rags, sick rooms & healthy ones), pressed the HD to finally get one hand sanitizer installed while onboard, and so on.

 

Reading about some of the Mercury's current travails and Celebrity's belated responses brings back memories of our trip. Perhaps some of the problems did begin in Quito, as RCCL later said to me. My response is then warn your passengers in Quito instead of telling them that "everything at the Marriott and Crater Restaurant is OK to eat or drink." After all, the 10 or 11 night package was under Celebrity's umbrella, not just the time spent on the ship itself. We told the Celebrity reps when we got back to Quito all about the high % of ill passengers and, of course, they say it's not from Quito!

 

Boy, I didn't think over a year later we'd still be discussing all the illness on the Xpedition. Has anyone contacted msheehan@rccl.com to discuss the continuing illness saga? One has to wonder why the ships recently seem to be going out with 50-75 people (instead of the full 96 we had). A premium priced product going out 1/2 full certainly couldn't be what the cruiseline aims for.

 

While we were onboard we were told privately by one of the naturalists (who work on different Galapagos ships depending where they're needed) that the Xpedition was noted for its outbreaks, compared to some of the other vendors.

 

You can go back and do a search and find thread after thread about this continuing sickness problem. We were even called "germophobes" here on the Celebrity board for trying to share our collective experience & suggestions for avoiding becoming ill. At that time I didn't expect to come back here to find the same prevailing conditions.

 

We never did ask for or receive any compensation nor even an apology from the cruiseline. Their line continued to be that a sick passenger must have brought it onboard. Period.

 

Too bad, because the ship is quite nice and the Galapagos are truly a once in a lifetime experience.

 

If you are going, please consult your doctor before going. You wouldn't want to miss out on a good part of a fantastic opportunity.

[Kamper]

I'm scheduled to go this Nov. I had read the past reports that SnorklnBarb mentioned before I booked but, it seemed like they had gotten a handle on the cause of the illness. Now I'm not so sure. I don't believe the responses that it's people in close proximity or just different food either. Gastro-intestinal illness like that described comes from drinking or eating something contaiminated. That can happen because your hands are contaiminated, the utensils are or because whoever prepared it is sick (and possibly doesn't know it). I've been to South America before and I eat fruits grown there (they sell them in the grocery store) regularly. I would bet that the problem is in the kitchen. It will be interesting to hear back from those on last week's and this week's cruise.

[snorklinbarb]

Hi gooch,

 

You mention on your other thread that you remember seeing only the one hand sanitizer next to the zodiaks loading platform. Wow. I truly hope that's not true. Mr. Sheehan did assure me that they would be following the full protocol on the smaller ships as on the larger ones (though that protocol seems to be falling short recently) and we specifically talked about the globe sanitizers with the alcohol-based disinfectant.

 

The one you may have seen is actually a little jerry-built soap dispenser that the HD hooked up on our cruise, only because we made such a fuss. They filled it with the thicker liquid. It was at least better than nothing.

 

No globes in the DR's where all that illness spreads? You've got to be kidding. As you know, the Xpedition is open seating and with the 96 pax we had, every seat was filled. So we'd sit down and be joined by nice folks, and then the "special diet" food would be delivered to someone (and there you sat) and they'd proceed to tell you how sick they were. No one was quarantined to their cabins.

 

Some people emerged too soon to go back on excursions. I guess a pricetag north of $5000pp or more tends to remind people of how much they're losing of a 7 day experience if they're down for 1-2 days. They would have to call the panga drivers out to pick up someone here and there as there were no bathrooms around, of course.

 

Your doctor's invoice wasn't marked properly? Perhaps you weren't then "counted" as sick with the GI (or as folks here on this board have dubbed it the Galapagos Gallop). On our cruise I believe 19 were officially reported by the ship (which put them way way over the CDC reporting limit), but by the end of the week, just counting sick ones on our fingers, we exceeded 42.:eek:

 

You paid $40 for treatment. On our cruise there were so many sick that they stopped charging. They even ran out of Gatorade and Pedialyte.:rolleyes:

[gooch47]

I was one of the first, I think. I got sick early Tuesday morning. I had heard of only one other before that. I did notice later in the week that they weren't quite as free with the Gator Aid.

 

My invoice was only marked for diahrrhea. So maybe it wasn't an oversight then? I never vomited, though. Just cramps and nausea.

[CruisenOne]

Have been watching this Post with much interest.

 

We are booked in Nov. -- Over Thanksgiving.

 

Please keep the info coming.

[CSloan]

Have been watching this Post with much interest.

 

We are booked in Nov. -- Over Thanksgiving.

 

Please keep the info coming.

 

CruisenOne- There's a roll call with TWO Cruise Critics for this cruise. Join us!

[Babo02]

snorklin'barb, your post is making me very nervous. My husband has a sensitive stomach as do I and to read that so many are getting sick is very disconcerting. We are booked on the June 4 cruise and it's too late to change things now, but I will be packing our own personal hand sanitizers and we will be extremely careful about what we eat. We have both been prescribed Cipro to take along, but I hate to think that either of us might miss some of the island visits due to 'turista'. We also plan to use the Pepto regimen.

We've been on a few cruises and have never experienced even a single day of illness, so will keep our fingers crossed that our good luck continues.

[SheilaNC]

This has been said before, but since this is a new thread, I'll comment again. Take PeptoBismol (or store brand of same) prophylactically for 3 days prior to leaving the US and continue to take it a few times a day at least for the first few days onboard. It may cause a dark tongue (not a problem but some people don't like the way it looks). Go to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov) and search for info about Travel, Traveler's Diarrhea, and Ecuador. Don't order drinks with ice in them in Quito - onboard the reverse osmosis system makes it OK to use ice there.

Remember that you will be in places where diseases, food, water and organisms are different from what your body is used to. Prevent what you can and be prepared with medications if you get unlucky and get something. I was sick for only a day or two and it started in Quito after I had food from a buffet and a glass of Sangria with ice in it. Others who had the same things did not get sick, so who knows??? It's a marvelous trip and clearly a trip of a lifetime. I would go back in a heartbeat and loved every minute (even the queasy ones :))

 

Enjoy!

 

PS I am a registered nurse and a diehard traveler.

[Babo02]

I knew about the Pepto, but couldn't recall all of the details or where the information was posted. I will print it out to take along on the trip. As I mentioned, my husband and I have been quite lucky in our travels as far as stomach problems go, so I'm hoping that with the combination of Pepto Bismal and good common sense we will have a trouble-free trip.

[SheilaNC]

If anyone on this board hasn't seen the Galapagos video, be sure to check out this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=331659 It's a long download but definitely worth it. Felt like I was back on the Xpedition.

[patlanta]

In July 2005 over half of our group of 10 people got ill at different times during the Xpedition cruise. Since people before us had written what the doctor had said about qetting it in Quito and bringing it onboard, I just shook my head when I overheard heard her saying it on our cruise.

 

Elderly people seemed to become the most ill, usually two days. Imodium and/or chewable Dramamine helped most of those who got ill. The pre-cruise Pepto stopped us up too well and we had to cut way back on the CDC recommended dosage.

 

There were two packages of hand sanitizer in the cabin at the beginning but they were never replaced after those two were used. We made it a practice to use the sanitizer-filled globes down where you come up from the zodiacs but many others ignored it. IMHO they should also have them by the dining room entrance.

 

If you're planning on going to Macchu Picchu after the cruise, you might want to rearrange and do it before, just in case you get too ill. We did have people who had to cancel that portion of their vacation.

 

The zodiacs will take a person who has "the urge to splurge" back to the ship as they are available.

 

It's a wonderful place to visit and with proper preparation and caution--nothing not boiled or peeled--you should have a really great experience.

[Emdee]

We were on August 2005 and none of us got sick. Even among other passengers there were just a couple who were ill. That being said we have travelled all over the world and our insides are used to the south american bugs and are quite hardy as well. We also took medication for the altitude sickness when we were in Peru so it was quite comfortable in Quito. The altitude can make one queasy.

[Keksie]

Do you recommend altitude medicine for Quito and if so is it available OTC?