Virus Outbreak....Small and Handled Well

[Brenda33]

My mom just got off the Explorer this morning and told me that they had a virus outbreak....only 40 people...which is great out of 3,000. She said they were passing out disinfectant wipes as people were entering the buffet and dining rooms. They changed the tongs at the buffet station every 30 minutes and the smell of bleach was around. So, even though they had an outbreak, it was very well controlled.

[grandsix]

My mom just got off the Explorer this morning and told me that they had a virus outbreak....only 40 people...which is great out of 3,000. She said they were passing out disinfectant wipes as people were entering the buffet and dining rooms. They changed the tongs at the buffet station every 30 minutes and the smell of bleach was around. So, even though they had an outbreak, it was very well controlled.

 

Management and the crew did a terrific job staying on top of things.

[DisneyBlonde]

How were the seas?

[Brenda33]

According to my mom, pretty rough. She said they had to even drain the pools at times.

[dizzy205]

That puts my mind at ease. We are sailing 1/11. I know it is more than 2 weeks away, but we were on a sailing that had an outbreak. The sailing before ours also had an outbreak, we were delayed for hours. Then, the next sailing was delayed 2 days for cleaning and sanitizing. This is good news for todays sailing and the next ones!

I hope everyone on the Explorer has a great time!! Tell her we will see her soon!

[MrPete]

Oh boy. Wouldn't want to be on the next one.

[whiteway906]

Not to worry...Got an email from one of my friends on the EOS crew. No crew was allowed shore leave today because it was "all hands on deck" for sanitizing the ship. Everyone had to help.

[crisndeefromde]

My mom just got off the Explorer this morning and told me that they had a virus outbreak....only 40 people...which is great out of 3,000. She said they were passing out disinfectant wipes as people were entering the buffet and dining rooms. They changed the tongs at the buffet station every 30 minutes and the smell of bleach was around. So, even though they had an outbreak, it was very well controlled.

 

We were on 11/30. It is their procedure now to hand out the wipes in the buffet and dining room . They were also changing out the tongs. When we took a galley tour, someone asked about this in the beginning and our chef told us it had been practice on board the explorer since before he came on in sept. Many of the crew eat in the windjammer too and they don't want to become ill either. Glad to hear controlled. This bug thing going around here lasts 12 hours and takes several days once you have been exposed for it to hit you. Probably got brought on that way. who knows. It can happen anywhere. I can't wait to get back on the 23 of Jan!

[satxdiver]

On my two cruises this year, I was surprised that they did not insist on the use of disinfectants in the MDR and WJ. Hopefully they have changed their operation to insist on pax using it. On the Princess they insisted it be used and had a crew member standing at the door for enforcement. On the HAL several years ago, they had changed the buffet to be served by the crew similar to some cafes here in the USA. The food was all behind glass and they put it on the plate for you. No plates could go back across the counter for additional items. You were given a new plate. They also insisted that hand sanitizer be used. RCI really needs to clean up their act and insist on better sanitization.

[aqhacruiser]

On my two cruises this year, I was surprised that they did not insist on the use of disinfectants in the MDR and WJ. Hopefully they have changed their operation to insist on pax using it. On the Princess they insisted it be used and had a crew member standing at the door for enforcement. On the HAL several years ago, they had changed the buffet to be served by the crew similar to some cafes here in the USA. The food was all behind glass and they put it on the plate for you. No plates could go back across the counter for additional items. You were given a new plate. They also insisted that hand sanitizer be used. RCI really needs to clean up their act and insist on better sanitization.

 

RCCL did always use the hand sanitizers but then the CDC announced last year they were not really effective and only good handwashing was effective so they did away with the sanitizers. On the 11/30/08 there were several people that had colds including the crew. As it's cold and flu season here did and I meet a few people that boarded with bad colds it's not surprising other caught it too. So a few days into the cruise they handed out the wipes. We were fine on the ship during the cruise but my DH did get a cold a couple of days after returning home however there are many people in my town with bad colds right now also ( an hour from the port of Bayonne) so it's that time of the year. If there is an upper respirtory virus or cold it's airborn so no matter how many wipes you use you stand a good chance of catching it if you are exposed to people that are ill. We try to get a lot of fresh air outside while on the ship and try to avoid closed in spaces if possible onboard during winter months especially if we see people coughing and sneezing. But really there's not much else you can do.

[aqhacruiser]

On my two cruises this year, I was surprised that they did not insist on the use of disinfectants in the MDR and WJ. Hopefully they have changed their operation to insist on pax using it. On the Princess they insisted it be used and had a crew member standing at the door for enforcement. On the HAL several years ago, they had changed the buffet to be served by the crew similar to some cafes here in the USA. The food was all behind glass and they put it on the plate for you. No plates could go back across the counter for additional items. You were given a new plate. They also insisted that hand sanitizer be used. RCI really needs to clean up their act and insist on better sanitization.

 

Speaking of HAL here are the 2008 norovirus outbreaks this year on cruise ships from the CDC and HAL shows up quite a few times but RCCL does not show up at all.

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/GIlist.htm#2008

[aqhacruiser]

Here is the recent CDC sanitation inspection report for the Explorer also:)

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/vsp/InspectionQueryTool/Forms/InspectionResults.aspx

[mchin]

My mom just got off the Explorer this morning and told me that they had a virus outbreak....only 40 people...which is great out of 3,000. She said they were passing out disinfectant wipes as people were entering the buffet and dining rooms. They changed the tongs at the buffet station every 30 minutes and the smell of bleach was around. So, even though they had an outbreak, it was very well controlled.

 

Was on the same sailing. Yes, some were sick and they did hand out sanitizer, but didn't seem to be anything more than what I've seen on previous sailings. The seas between NJ and the Carolinas were rough and some passengers suffered from motion sickness (so not all 40 people had a virus). My husband was one that suffered from motion sickness. The pools were emptied as we made a way down and then returned due to water temperatures. The pools were in full use in the warmer, yet rough waters.

[MarinerBride]

I wondered what happened to all the sanitizer. We got off of Majesty on Friday and the only sanitizer we could find was outside of the Windjammer, in wipe form, with no encouragement to use it at all. I always used it at the Windjammer and washed my hands relatively frequently. On Thursday night I started to feel a cold coming on, and I'm still battling it now. Maybe the hand sanitizers wouldn't have helped, but I would have felt better about it if they had.

[Klumzyboy]

My family was on the EOS last week also.

 

We thought "something was up" because of several changes we observed (such as mandatory hand wipes on boarding after day trips at later ports but not on earlier stops).

 

I admit RCI did an agressive job in sanitizing but be aware of the following-

 

2 comments:

 

(1) They never made any announcement about the outbreak; in fact pre-recorded announcements they DID make claimed everything being done was "normal" procedure to prevent spread of disease. It turns out they were not exactly honest with us and now, as a result, I no longer have the same level of "trust" in them I used to have.

 

(2) They apparently were using a plain bleach solution instead of another sanitizing agent, at least some of the time. My son, who happened to be wearing a new (and expensive black shirt) had the misfortune to lean up against a hand rail that had recently been sanitized, but not yet dry. The shirt was ruined with a white bleached out line later observed running horizontal across the back of the shirt.

 

I had seen a similar bleached out stain on the evening dress of another passenger's posterier earlier; not knowing what caused it, I naturally did not say anything to her (I did not know her), but it's now obvious to me that what happened to my son was not isolated.

 

Some of the sanitized surfaces, such as the elevator areas & stainless steel doors looked absolutely filthy AFTER they were sanitized! After drying there was a gross looking film with water marks (that nobody addressed for DAYS, even though senior members of the crew MUST have see it!) Looking at it made me want to put on rubber gloves before pressing the elevator button!

 

Yikes. Now you have the added worry about WHAT exactly they are using to sanitize, in addition to the germs. It's hard to avoid contacting not-yet- dry surfaces, given the way they were constantly sanitizing the tables, handrails, and armrests.

[IWORK2CRUISE]

You do need to be cautious when that many people are invilved.

 

As C&A Diamond members we obviously love Royal Caribbean.

We do feel though that NCL is more on top of the hand sanitizing.

On NCL shipe the sanitizers are always outside of all eating venues and they spray your hands when boarding and re-boarding the ships.

 

We always try to avoid touching things like hand rails and I have even mentioned to buffet servers when I have seen people lick their fingers and then pick up tongs or spoons. Yes, people do things like that but I don't know why!

 

The important thing is for all passengers to be conscientious and considerate.

Of course, I have also always thought that the airplane travel in confined space during the winter season sets you up to catch something!

[IWORK2CRUISE]

You do need to be cautious when that many people are involved.

 

As C&A Diamond members we obviously love Royal Caribbean.

We do feel though that NCL is more on top of the hand sanitizing.

On NCL ships the sanitizers are always outside of all eating venues and they spray your hands when boarding and re-boarding the ships.

 

We always try to avoid touching things like hand rails and I have even mentioned to buffet servers when I have seen people lick their fingers and then pick up tongs or spoons. Yes, people do things like that but I don't know why!

 

The important thing is for all passengers to be conscientious and considerate.

Of course, I have also always thought that the airplane travel in confined space during the winter season sets you up to catch something!