Sensation-4/16/06 Any one SICK???

[lalaland]

I, along with 12 others went on the Sensation cruise. Out of the 12 a total of 9 were extremely sick. I was wondering if anyone else got sick???

We all had vomitting and diarrhea.

 

The nurses were extremely rude and not helpful at all. The Dr was a complete idiot and misdiagnosed my son who because of that went to the ER in Nassau. And when we were calmly explaining our situation to the nurse she was laughing at us. Thats when we had enough.

 

The staff you can tell is being overworked. The service is horibble. We bought the "unlimited" drink card, so when were sick we asked for drinks in our room, room service refused. I spoke with a mgr then guest relations and then a guest relations supervisor which all said go up to the bar and get your drinks we cant help you. Finally I spoke to a guest relations mgr who said she'd do it one time. After that we all paid $1.75 for ever sprite can we ordered.

 

My family has been on other cruiselines. Please do yourself a favor and go on anything else but not Carnival.

[Renee10]

I, along with 12 others went on the Sensation cruise. Out of the 12 a total of 9 were extremely sick. I was wondering if anyone else got sick???

We all had vomitting and diarrhea.

 

The nurses were extremely rude and not helpful at all. The Dr was a complete idiot and misdiagnosed my son who because of that went to the ER in Nassau. And when we were calmly explaining our situation to the nurse she was laughing at us. Thats when we had enough.

 

The staff you can tell is being overworked. The service is horibble. We bought the "unlimited" drink card, so when were sick we asked for drinks in our room, room service refused. I spoke with a mgr then guest relations and then a guest relations supervisor which all said go up to the bar and get your drinks we cant help you. Finally I spoke to a guest relations mgr who said she'd do it one time. After that we all paid $1.75 for ever sprite can we ordered.

 

My family has been on other cruiselines. Please do yourself a favor and go on anything else but not Carnival.

 

Wow, sorry to hear your group got sick. We were on the Fantasy 4/10-4/15, so we cruised right before you. Can you narrow it down to the food item (or other) that made you sick? That's terrible.

[LHP]

Wow, sorry to hear your group got sick. We were on the Fantasy 4/10-4/15, so we cruised right before you. Can you narrow it down to the food item (or other) that made you sick? That's terrible.

 

 

It's called the noro virus. It has had our elementary school looking deserted these past 2 weeks. Once it runs (no pun intended) its course, everything goes back to normal. It strikes cruises, schools, even hospitals.

 

For some reason it is worse during the winter. We have been on 3 Noro cruises and never got it. (even though my special needs son has to hold on the every rail and lives in the arcade). The medical "powers that be" claim that hand sanitizers are not affective against it. However, we have always made a practice of applying HS upon entering and leaving the room. Hubby takes wipes with him when he takes youngest son to the arcade.

 

On one cruise, all our tablemates got it and we still did not. I always bring my "medical bag" with me on all cruises to be prepared for anything short of major surgery!

[mlouhig7560]

We just got back form the same cruise sailed 4/16/06... None of of our party got sick and I had my 82 year old mother with us...last day we felt the boat a bit but that was the only time... It is said the drink cards are not for use with room service...we knew this before hand...brought on our own water, gingerale and a few sodas for the room no one gave us a problem.

[ptmom]

Also, how soon after boarding did you all get sick? My husband and coworkers going to a meeting got sick from the airplane trip... hit them 2-3 days later. Only the ones on the plane got sick. I have read many cases on cruise ships originate on the airplanes.

 

Either way that is too bad that you did not get treated well by medical staff.

[surfklutz]

Seems to me that Carnival could have taken more preventative steps to avoid the spread of noro-virus by not requiring that you go out in punlic to get your soft drinks. Would have been very smart to keep everyone in their stateroom who was sick. They need to re-think that.

[morganboys]

if like most flu like sicknesses the symptoms are the reminents of the sickness so most of you probably caught the roto prior to sailing and then had the after math of it while on the your cruise. probably not something you caught on the ship. As for the sodas. I didn't think you were able to use your pop card through room service so if that is the case that would explain your situation. these all appear to be the fault of carnival so I agree never sail carnival again. get real, it is unfortunate that most of you got sick but cant say I would blame carnival for that.

[richym1]

Bring Clorox wipes to clean those TV remotes!! Sick people that stay in the staterooms are all over the remotes! Sorry to hear about your lousy cruise.

[tess2cruz]

Not sure how effective it really is, but wouldn't it make since to start taking Airbourne a few days before leaving on your flight and cruise. I sure couldn't hurt. I took it days before my last one, only because I had caught a cold, and was feeling pretty good by the time I got on the ship. And an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

[salty dingo]

Unfortunately, the norovirus affects passengers on all ships. It is really quite common. I think it would be hard for the ship's DR to misdiagnose it.

 

Did they confine you to your stateroom? I have heard they do that when a passenger may infect others. If so, they should be able to cut you some slack on the drink card, or at least refund the unused portion.

 

Norovirus is spread mainly through sanitation issues - lack of handwashing from sick people and then others get infected when they touch something the sick person touched. Always a good idea to carry disinfecting wipes or alcohol gel and always use before eating.

 

Sorry you had to endure this, must have been awful.

[michigan tim]

On Carnivals norovirus TV channel it is stated that alcolhol based hand sanitizer and not effective but frequent hand washing is.

[loungelizard]

Since viruses are not bacterial in nature, "antibacterial" soaps are ineffective in killing them. In order for anything to be "sanitized" it needs to be thoroughly clean first. Wash your hands first...then sanitize them. Hand washing helps reduce the spread of viruses because of the friction created in the hand washing process which helps destroy virus cells. It's highly recommended to thoroughly wash/scrub your hands in as hot as water as you can tolerate for at least 30 seconds, preferably using a hand/nail brush to increase the friction. It's still a good idea to use antibacterial soap though because it will kill most bacteria that cause food-borne illnesses. Proper hand washing is the most important thing we all can do to keep ourselves and others healthy. If the ship's staff knew I may have a norovirus and suggested that I get my own drinks in a public place, further spreading the virus, I would have to say that they were incompetent, not overworked.

[Naismith]

Unfortunately, the norovirus affects passengers on all ships. It is really quite common. I think it would be hard for the ship's DR to misdiagnose it.

 

I'm not so sure. The term "norovirus" isn't a particular disease--it's a group of viruses.

 

And the symptoms are vague enough that the same gastroenteritis issues could be caused by lots of other things as well--other kinds of food poioning, various bacteria, and some parasites. The parasite giardia was largely responsible for moving to ice machines that spit out ice, rather than the old bin-and-scoop machines, which were rampant with infections.

 

Physicians might do a test for norovirus to track the condition for epidemiological purposes, but knowing exactly what it is doesn't much help the patient. For the patient, physicians just treat the symptoms.

 

One vicious thing about norovirus organisms is that a patient is infectious for at least three days (and perhaps up to two weeks) AFTER RECOVERY. This is very different from other conditions when one is most contagious before coming down with symptoms.

 

So it is really important to keep using scrupulously good hygiene after you are back on your feet, to protect others.

 

And I totally agree with what others have written about the danger of infection on airplanes. I often get a cold exactly 3 days after flying.

[Naismith]

On Carnivals norovirus TV channel it is stated that alcolhol based hand sanitizer and not effective but frequent hand washing is.

 

That is the official pronouncement right now, but it will be changing. Every study in the past three years on Medline (the index of peer-reviewed medical articles) finds that hand sanitizer is as effective as hand washing in medical settings. The caveats are that real people sometimes have longer fingernails, which is more of an issue (and hand-washing may be superior for them). Also, the sanitizer available in hospitals is 62-90% alcohol, while some over-the-counter products are as little as 40% alcohol--so go for the biggest proof you can find:)

[PACURN]

And I totally agree with what others have written about the danger of infection on airplanes. I often get a cold exactly 3 days after flying.

 

My fix for that is Airborne and a mask. I may look stupid but I don't get a cold.

[michigan tim]

That is the official pronouncement right now, but it will be changing. Every study in the past three years on Medline (the index of peer-reviewed medical articles) finds that hand sanitizer is as effective as hand washing in medical settings. The caveats are that real people sometimes have longer fingernails, which is more of an issue (and hand-washing may be superior for them). Also, the sanitizer available in hospitals is 62-90% alcohol, while some over-the-counter products are as little as 40% alcohol--so go for the biggest proof you can find:)

 

That makes sense to me. I have a MD friend who said that hand sanitizer has replaced soap at his practice.