Norovirus on Spirit

[ElizaBenet]

ElizBenet contradict yourself in your two postings. First you say that the cruise line can never get the room clean enough for the next cruisers and stay away, then you say that it's not caused by hand contact but fecal material and the NCL employees are intentionally doing it. That's almost slanderous and ludicrous. The most appalling thing is you got off the boat and flew home. How many people on that airplane do you think got infected by that virus? Those poor people might have been flying to their vacation. It's not NCL's fault that a virus is going around. It's probably someone like you who chose to travel when they were sick that spread it. I can't speak to how they handled it but I can say that thinking the best thing was vomit in the hall is absurd. That's why you're quarantined to your room.

 

Hmm... Thou doth protest too much!

 

First, do you honestly think that my husband threw up in the hallway ON PURPOSE?!?!? It was an accident! He threw up in the hallway trying to make it back from the medical room on the boat because the NCL doctor would not make "room" calls. My husband was so violently ill and his vomiting spells would come on so quickly, he had no control over them. I was actually at one point scared he might die. The first night he was ill I did not sleep. I would wake him up intermittently (when he wasn't awake vomitting) just to ensure he was still alive. It was absolutely horrifying!!!

 

And with regard to me supposedly contradicting myself, please read more carefully! You are not repeating what I actually stated. I stated that I had heard that. I actually think I heard that on a tv news report about one of the NCL ships out of Galveston where there was also an outbreak of the virus.

 

Also, with regard to us flying home, the doctor on the ship actually told us that it would be best if we flew back to the states if we had the means to do that!!! Personally, I think one of the reasons he said that is because my husband was so terribly ill and neither the ship nor Mexico have the facilites that American hospitals do. Between his medical degree and my husband's medical degree, I think they probably know better than you!

 

Everything I have posted is to warn others...to help others. If you choose not to believe me or to discount what I say, it is no skin off my back. I know that I will not cruise with NCL again!

 

Maybe others that read my post will be helped by it. Maybe someone will read this and choose not to book with Spirit or, at least, be prepared for what they may have to go throw on what they intended to be a great family trip. I sure wish I had been warned before I got on that ship.

 

Or maybe they may go on the Spirit and have a great time like other posters. If so, good for them!!!

 

All I am trying to do is to share my experience. You did not walk in my shoes so you do not know what my experiences were. Share your good experiences all you want, but do not discount mine.

 

Frankly, you (and a few others) are so overly defensive about NCL that I have to wonder if perhaps some of the posters and overly positive reviews are not NCL public relations people posing as cruisers. I have heard of vendors posing as posters on other (non-cruise related) boards and I am starting to think it may be going on here.

[ElizaBenet]

ElizBenet contradict yourself in your two postings. First you say that the cruise line can never get the room clean enough for the next cruisers and stay away, then you say that it's not caused by hand contact but fecal material and the NCL employees are intentionally doing it. That's almost slanderous and ludicrous. The most appalling thing is you got off the boat and flew home. How many people on that airplane do you think got infected by that virus? Those poor people might have been flying to their vacation. It's not NCL's fault that a virus is going around. It's probably someone like you who chose to travel when they were sick that spread it. I can't speak to how they handled it but I can say that thinking the best thing was vomit in the hall is absurd. That's why you're quarantined to your room.

 

Hmm... Thou doth protest too much!

 

First, do you honestly think that my husband threw up in the hallway ON PURPOSE?!?!? It was an accident! He threw up in the hallway trying to make it back from the medical room on the boat because the NCL doctor would not make "room" calls. My husband was so violently ill and his vomiting spells would come on so quickly, he had no control over them. I was actually at one point scared he might die. The first night he was ill I did not sleep. I would wake him up intermittently (when he wasn't awake vomitting) just to ensure he was still alive. It was absolutely horrifying!!!

 

And with regard to me supposedly contradicting myself, please read more carefully! You are not repeating what I actually stated. I stated that I had heard that. I actually think I heard that on a tv news report about one of the NCL ships out of Galveston where there was also an outbreak of the virus.

 

Also, with regard to us flying home, the doctor on the ship actually told us that it would be best if we flew back to the states if we had the means to do that!!! Personally, I think one of the reasons he said that is because my husband was so terribly ill and neither the ship nor Mexico have the facilites that American hospitals do. Between his medical degree and my husband's medical degree, I think they probably know better than you!

 

Everything I have posted is to warn others...to help others. If you choose not to believe me or to discount what I say, it is no skin off my back. I know that I will not cruise with NCL again!

 

Maybe others that read my post will be helped by it. Maybe someone will read this and choose not to book with Spirit or, at least, be prepared for what they may have to go throw on what they intended to be a great family trip. I sure wish I had been warned before I got on that ship.

 

Or maybe they may go on the Spirit and have a great time like other posters. If so, good for them!!!

 

All I am trying to do is to share my experience. You did not walk in my shoes so you do not know what my experiences were. Share your good experiences all you want, but do not discount mine.

 

Frankly, you (and a few others) are so overly defensive about NCL that I have to wonder if perhaps some of the posters and overly positive reviews are not NCL public relations people posing as cruisers. I have heard of vendors posing as posters on other (non-cruise related) boards and I am starting to think it may be going on here.

[pinkgusto]

My husband and I were fortunate not to get sick. Does anyone know how many people on the ship were sick? We heard of people that were sick, but did not know anyone directly.

 

We did have a great time!!! It was our first cruise, so we didn't know if that was "normal" or not! :)

[ute_fan]

Hmm... Thou doth protest too much!

 

 

And with regard to me supposedly contradicting myself, please read more carefully! You are not repeating what I actually stated. I stated that I had heard that. I actually think I heard that on a tv news report about one of the NCL ships out of Galveston where there was also an outbreak of the virus.

 

 

I'm sorry you had such a miserable experience, but did want to clarify something about this part of your post. NCL doesn't sail out of Galveston -- they used to sail out of Houston but are no longer doing that itinerary. If you heard something about a Galveston based ship, it wasn't NCL.

[ElizaBenet]

You may be right...it may have been out of Houston.

[ute_fan]

I think you missed the point -- NCL isn't sailing out of Texas at all this season. If it was a Texas port, it wasn't NCL.

[SunniLicious]

Does anyone know how many people on the ship were sick?

 

I heard Friday night that 80 people had been diagnosed.

[ElizaBenet]

I think you missed the point -- NCL isn't sailing out of Texas at all this season. If it was a Texas port, it wasn't NCL.

 

You may be right. I don't have a photographic memory for every detail of a news report I saw awhile back. Maybe it was another cruise line. However, I do remember thinking at the time that it was the cruiseline my DH and I were thinking about cruising when I heard the report...and we were only looking at NCL because we were only looking at the Spirit out of NOLA...so I tend to think the report was about NCL. And I also know Ithe news was Houston news. I assumed it was about a Galveston ship since Houston is so close to Galveston. Maybe the people complaining sailed out of New Orleans like me but just happened to live in Texas.

 

At any rate, good luck to you and happy cruising! I hope your cruising experience is better than mine was. I have no doubt that some people have good experiences on cruises. I went on a RC cruise a time back and had a great time...but this time was far from great.

[ute_fan]

Like I said, I'm sorry you had a bad experience on your cruise. Norovirus can strike any of the cruiselines at any given time -- it's certainly not limited to NCL. In fact, it also occurs frequently in hotels, schools, etc. If you do a "search" of the boards, you'll find that there are recent posts (within the last couple of weeks) of cases on HAL and Princess -- and that was just looking at the first few threads.

 

We're lucky because we haven't ever experienced this problem on a cruise. I can certainly understand why it would make for a miserable cruise, because my DD brought it home once from the assisted living facility she works for.

[Toyz711]

during the summer of 2006, every ship going to alaska had this problem. i was getting concerned, due to the fact we were having my FIL with us and he was losing his battle with cancer..with his weakened system he would be a likely one to get it. it wasn't just NCL, by a long shot...it was wide spread through the whole industry. just last week, it was reported on 2 or 3 ships (on cruise critics), all different cruise lines. (you can read other threads by clicking on "new posts" at the time of the page and see what is happening on that other boards)

that year, it seemed to be a warm weather problem...as the weather cooled off the sickness numbers dropped. any time you are somewhere with a very large group of people, you have to be as careful as you can be and hope that is enough. i travel with stuff for insects bites and whatever i think could lessen the effect of this virus.

[LilRhody]

Amazing how people go so nuts over this. Noro runs through schools, offices, cities, towns and, yes, cruise ships.

 

Our last cruise, on RCCI, was on a ship that returned to Miami the day we were to board her with so many people sick that the news crews were there waiting. Only a small handful of people got sick on our cruise (and there were about 3000 people on board).

 

I don't understand why people freak out so much about this - there is nothing the cruise lines can do other than keep things as clean as possible.

[ctdahlquist]

I'm sorry for all the extreme venting going on on this thread. My intention was only to keep tabs on the situation on the current cruise, but it appears I started a firestorm. Here are some of my observations:

 

Go to the CDC website, and you will see outbreaks on all cruise lines. I was unable to detect it being any worse on NCL. Previous studies have shown that initial infections may be food borne, in that an infected crew member accidently contaminates food products, and then it begins spreading person to person. Another possibility is passengers bringing this on board and then it spreads. It has nothing to do with NCL running the vessel.

 

I work at a university, and I've gotten this bug many times in the past. I had it last winter, in fact, but it lasted only about 18 hours, so I know what to expect if it happens. Hopefully, the strain I had last year is similar enough to the strain on the Spirit, so that I have some immunity.

 

Some of the conjecture and information being passed along here is pure nonsense. I can understand how getting sick can ruin a vacation, but you know what? %@ happens! We always want someone to blame. We want to hold someone responsible. The real culprit here is mother nature, but it isn't in vogue to hold mother nature responsible. People get sick, and it is unfortunate that it happens while on vacation, but it is a reality of life. How we deal with it says a lot about our character, and I believe, our ability to live a happy life.

[Ryan W.]

Hello, my name is Ryan and I am a fireman in Oklahoma City and have been for the last 12yrs. My family and I have been planning this trip for a long time. In all there were 22 of us friends and family and out of the 22, 7 of got sick and I'm not talking seasick. I myself had the bug on the second night of the cruise, it was horrible. I actually thought I was going to pass out from vomiting so violently and that my kids would find me on the bathroom floor. So if you are one of the people telling me that this stuff is everywhere and that I can get it in my home just as easy then I have to disagree. I have never been this sick in my entire life and I'm in realtivley good health at 34yoa.

[silkhair1]

I heard there was a big outbreak in New Orleans which is where I assume it came aboard the ship.

[silkhair1]

Everything I have posted is to warn others...to help others. If you choose not to believe me or to discount what I say, it is no skin off my back. I know that I will not cruise with NCL again!

 

 

I guess you will not be cruising on any cruise line again as it happens on them all. I could never give up cruising because of this.

 

I was in New Orleans and there was an outbreak there (in the state) It was on the news there. I am sorry you had a hard time, but to give up cruising forever........HMMMMM.

 

I know you said NCL, but they all get it.

[Whippets]

Just wondering, all of you who have cruised Spirit recently.......what cabins were you in?

 

We are boarding on the 27th.

[2boyzmom]

FYI - go over to the HAL boards. There's currently an outbreak on the Noordam too, this affects all cruiselines people...

[Hockey19]

Whippets- we were in 9686.

[zees4u]

We were in 9691, 9693, and 9695. No one in our party got sick. We had a great time. I am the paranoid type anyway and washed my hands VERY frequently and was always reminding the rest of my family too. I would even get up and wash my hands after using the pen that the bar servers gave me to sign my ticket. My family thinks I'm crazy....but we didn't get sick.

[scottyo72]

Well said, Ute Fan. We had a great time on the Spirit cruise under discussion. Before boarding everyone had to sign a statement that he or she had not had any GI symptoms. In the boarding materials there was a full 8.5" x 11" page describing norovirus and precautions to take. A summary of the information was printed in the Daily nearly every day, if not every day. The staff made announcements throughout the week. The cleaning and disinfection done onboard was obvious and extensive. Treatment for GI symptoms was free, and fees for excursions cancelled due to GI symptoms or quarantine were refunded without penalty.

 

I understand how this could put a damper on a vacation. Warnings and updates are entirely appropriate and appreciated; keep them coming. Spreading rumors and conspiracy theories about crew sabotage, fleet wide chronic infection, crew mistreatment, and "planted" positive posts without citing any sources strikes me as being less than constructive and helpful.

 

Like I said, I'm sorry you had a bad experience on your cruise. Norovirus can strike any of the cruiselines at any given time -- it's certainly not limited to NCL. In fact, it also occurs frequently in hotels, schools, etc. If you do a "search" of the boards, you'll find that there are recent posts (within the last couple of weeks) of cases on HAL and Princess -- and that was just looking at the first few threads.

 

We're lucky because we haven't ever experienced this problem on a cruise. I can certainly understand why it would make for a miserable cruise, because my DD brought it home once from the assisted living facility she works for.

[janiceah]

Hello, my name is Ryan and I am a fireman in Oklahoma City and have been for the last 12yrs. My family and I have been planning this trip for a long time. In all there were 22 of us friends and family and out of the 22, 7 of got sick and I'm not talking seasick. I myself had the bug on the second night of the cruise, it was horrible. I actually thought I was going to pass out from vomiting so violently and that my kids would find me on the bathroom floor. So if you are one of the people telling me that this stuff is everywhere and that I can get it in my home just as easy then I have to disagree. I have never been this sick in my entire life and I'm in realtivley good health at 34yoa.

Yes Ryan, you can get it anywhere. I just had it over the weekend and haven't had a stomach virus in 20 years. My daughter just had it, everyone where she works is having it and now it's going around where I work. I was sick all day, I was home alone and when I went to let the dogs out I was so lightheaded that I had to lay on the floor until they scratched at the door. Unfortunately on a cruise ship I'm sure with all those people in one place, it's easier to pass it around. But it does happen everywhere. Do some research on it and you'll see.

[Don Haynes]

I got it at work. I never felt so sick in my life. Couldn't eat anything that would stay in my stomach. Almost everyone at work got it too. Fortunately, after this bout with the noro virus, our employer spent some money to hire a new employee whose duty was to keep the break room spotlessly clean. And the new employee kept a record of who left their eating area clean and those who were pigs.

[SunniLicious]

So if you are one of the people telling me that this stuff is everywhere and that I can get it in my home just as easy then I have to disagree.

 

It's not just "our" opinion, that's the opinion of the Centers for Disease Control. 2006 statistics show more than twice as many norovirus cases in the US that year originated in restaurants as on cruise ships. It's common as dirt, but it happens to congregate in crowded locations.

 

Whippets - we were in cabin 11030. Our daughter went to the kids' club daily, certainly a hotbed for infection of any type, but we washed our and her hands frequently and certainly were a bit lucky as not only did none of us got sick, none of the acquaintances we made while onboard did either.

[LilRhody]

Amazing how people go so nuts over this. Noro runs through schools, offices, cities, towns and, yes, cruise ships.

 

Our last cruise, on RCCI, was on a ship that returned to Miami the day we were to board her with so many people sick that the news crews were there waiting. Only a small handful of people got sick on our cruise (and there were about 3000 people on board).

 

I don't understand why people freak out so much about this - there is nothing the cruise lines can do other than keep things as clean as possible.

[electricron]

Of 348 such outbreaks reported to CDC during January 1996–November 2000, a total of 39% occurred in restaurants; 29% occurred in nursing homes and hospitals; 12% in schools and day care centers; 10% in vacation settings, including cruise ships; and 9% in other settings.

 

Therefore, cruise ships outbreak percentage is LESS than 10%.

More than 90% of norovirus outbreaks occur elsewhere.

 

Source > http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/rr5009.pdf

 

More information that might be of interest.

For 348 outbreaks of NLV gastroenteritis reported to CDC during January 1996–November 2000, food was implicated in 39%, person-to-person contact in 12%, and water in 3%; 18% could not be linked to a specific transmission mode.

 

Read it and weep.:p