sick on Mariner?

[BevMoney]

Ugggh! Do all bad hygiene people just sail RCL? They seem to have the most of these. CCL & NCL also carry thousands of passengers from the same ports.

[Guest LetMeGo]

Ugggh! Do all bad hygiene people just sail RCL? They seem to have the most of these.

 

Of course they do. Just like lists only happen on princess, rowdy party types only sail on Carnival, senior citizens sail HAL... And so on. ;)

[rfische1]

It's truly a small percentage that get sick. Yes, it's a crummy statistic if it's you, but still a very small number.

 

The numbers reported were much lower than what may have been the number of people actually stricken. Many passengers did not report this for fear of quarantine. I was on that ship and two of my family members got the virus but we did not seek medical help because my wife is in the profession. Neither her nor my son needed anything more than to ride it out. I took extra precautions to prevent spreading anything by constantly washing my hands and avoiding close contact with people. While not fun, we survived.

[Juardis]

The numbers reported were much lower than what may have been the number of people actually stricken. Many passengers did not report this for fear of quarantine. I was on that ship and two of my family members got the virus but we did not seek medical help because my wife is in the profession. Neither her nor my son needed anything more than to ride it out. I took extra precautions to prevent spreading anything by constantly washing my hands and avoiding close contact with people. While not fun, we survived.

I was on this ship with Rich and family and, although we did not get sick, I do want to reiterate that the actions taken by the RCI crew was prompt and aggressive. I think the virus was brought on board at St. Thomas since that is when the first cases were reported. We (the Juardis family) went to St. Thomas in the morning, but we ate lunch on board vs. in a restaurant on the island, so that may have helped us. Also, the Carnival Ship ELATION was also in port the same day we were. I heard, although I cannot confirm, that they too were affected by this virus.

[CruznTom]

If you watch the staff while onboard, you will notice they do not touch stair railings and make as little physical contact withpublic areas as possible.

As usual the media sensationalizes everything

"It will mark the second time this year the cruise ship will dock in Brevard County with more than 200 sick passengers" - Nowhere near that number will still be sick when they disembark.

[SC_Cruising]

I remember being concerned as we were to board The Mariner the very Sunday it came back to port from having norovirus. (This was January of last year)

 

I'll tell you my own opinion: If a ship has dealt with norovirus, the best time to get on it is right after it's come back to port. It's the cleanest - ever! Unfortunately, they have probably worked the employees to death, but the ship will never be cleaner.

 

We boarded, & all that week, we could see employees constantly cleaning. We'd get in the elevator - employees cleaning. No matter what deck we were on, there were employees constantly cleaning.

 

I did take some Clorox wipes with me & wiped down my room really well. I also heeded the well known of advice of wash, wash, washing those hands. We were all fine, & had a great cruise.:)

[spam-la]

Before my last trip on the Mariner, I went to Target and bought:

portable antibacterial wipes for my purse

antibacterial soap

a dispenser of antibacterial gel and lotion for the room

 

I used them freely and always grabbed the lower rail (like on a staircase) instead of the one everyone else touched. I work in a hospital so hand washing is a way of life.....good luck and have fun!

 

pam

[Guest LetMeGo]

I wrote this in another thread that was pulled of, but I might as well write it here too...

 

 

A casual reader might happen upon the CDC web page and read that there are 23 million people affected with norovirus every year, and that 10% of the reported outbreaks happen on cruise ships. Sounds kind of lot doesn't it?

 

Then again the Wikipedia article on Norovirus (which also mentions cruise ships as a typical place where the the virus spreads) states that the 25 outbreaks in year 2002 had some 2,600 infected people... Which is actually pretty darn good considering that there were more than 100,000 people cruising every week.

 

 

A quick calculation tells that some 0,5% of cruise passengers were affected by these outbreaks, while more than 5% of the people on land are affected every year... Furthermore I feel confident that most of the norovirus cases on ships do get reported because they tend to become an epidemic in the close quarters, while the people affected at home are affecting only their close relatives.

[JTJ]

I was out at Grills at PC yesterday afternoon, as the MOS sailed by and pax were waving someone yelled up "Don't Eat the Chicken". Here's a write up about the norvo problem.

 

http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060731/NEWS01/607310337/1006

[coaster]

Thanks for the link JTJ. Interesting the reported number of sick passengers has climbed to 328. Considering not all cases are reported, this is troubling for sure.

[griswalds]

I have always been surprised that cruise ships have not adopted hands free faucets and hand dryers so you can wash and dry your hands without touching anything. The other design that would help, would be to have bathroom doors set up so you do not have to turn the door knob when using it. This design is common at many airports. As we all know there are many people who do not wash their hands and pass on their germs to those who do. We also avoid the hand railing when going up and down the stairs on the ship. I certainly do not blame the crew for these outbreaks.

 

Griswalds

[HB Cruiser]

The way I understand it, the CDC requires all cruise ships to report to them if they have more than 5% of the passengers/staff get this virus. Do they require the schools, hospitals, Microsoft, or other businesses to do the same, no. If they did, the media would have a field day with them also.

 

I own a business (bowling center) and we keep it VERY clean. I feel I am less likely to get this virus on a cruise ship than my bowling center.

 

Tim

[rsinj]

You're comparing a weekly rate with an annual rate. This is more serious than you're making it.

 

Yes - so the point you're making is that there's a much higher percentage of people with awful personal hygiene habits taking cruises - that's the more serious issue.

 

It's a very simple problem to solve - one we all learned as youngsters - wash your hands...frequently. It's not a cruiseline problem - it's a passenger problem.

 

Howard

[Nliedel]

My mom would rise from the dead and beat my hind end if I ever so much as thought about leaving the bathroom without washing my hands. I hope to instill the same fear and trembling in my children :D

[droseball]

My mom would rise from the dead and beat my hind end if I ever so much as thought about leaving the bathroom without washing my hands. I hope to instill the same fear and trembling in my children :D

 

Haha! You are so funny! I did the same thing to my kids on this cruise (I was on Mariner this past week) by trying to instill fear in them, and needless to say, we didn't get sick. I was probably annoying about the hand washing thing and even told kids who weren't mine in restrooms to wash their hands if they tried to leave without doing it. I used to be an elementary school teacher so I just used my 'teacher voice' and they did it! Most were just shocked I guess that some random lady told them to wash their hands that they just did it. I did get strange looks however!

 

Denise :)

 

Also, I must say, I had read your thread of your experience on Crown the week before I left, and everytime the seas got rough, I thought of your experience! I didn't let it ruin my trip but I have to admit that I was more afraid of tipping over than getting sick!