Poor old ms Prinsendam - Live

[Paul123]

The poor old ms Prinsendam is certain in the wars…..well certainly regarding sick passengers anyway.

We have now been a week under in the dreaded CODE RED regime for a week. The poor crew must be exhausted with all the extra duties involved while this code is enforced. No body can help themselves to anything in the buffet lido area. Staff is there to hand out everything and anything including even a glass of iced water. No salt or pepper sellers to be seen. Tables have to be constantly cleaned and the buffet section specially manned. The cabin staffs have special two men hit squads that go into action when a passenger goes down with the virus. Room service staff must wear masks and special protective gloves when entering ‘sick’ cabins. On port days teams of over worked stewards have to fumigate all vehicles used by passengers (excluding privately arranged ones) before they are allowed to depart the docks. Extra staff is there when you return from a tour or whatever to make sure you are appropriately sanitized. The medical staff, of three people including the doctor, must be quite exhausted and at wits end with it all.

Yesterday on the Prinsendam all shore leave for the crew was cancelled, as it was all hands on deck, so to speak, as the whole ship was given a super-sanitization. Every cabin was given the treatment with fridges taken out and sanitized as well as the area where they are housed and all other crooks and crannies. Even the casino and entertainment staff were utilised in the exercise so it could be completed before the ship sailed from the port.

Today casino croupiers and dancers from the shows are there in the Lido buffet area helping serve passengers with food and drinks. We understand this is to give the regular staff a bit of a rest bite as they are all working extra hours and it must be having its toll although they all remain cheerful. What a crew on this ship.

We will not know exactly how the sanitization exercise worked for a few days I suppose. Of course the ship’s announcements, while acknowledging the problem, never actually say how bad it might be and what %’s are involved of crew and passengers. You can’t blame them for that. I suspect that the figures are still in the very low numbers but it appears that some people continue not to report themselves sick because of the quarantine restrictions on them and their cabin partners!! So official numbers may be a bit misleading.

On my daily blog http://grandvoyageofsouthamerica.blogspot.com/ I hope to keep the story live and up-to-date and hope to report the all clear soon. Others here are also posting daily blogs and I can recommend the Bill and Mary Ann one from the Prinsendam found on these HAL board threads.

Hotel Manager Françoise Birarda is doing a sterling job and should be commended for his diligence and foresight in everything he is doing with his hard working staff (and others) to eradicate the illness on the poor old Prinsendam. He must be under considerable pressure.

[Sage]

Thank you for updating the problem on the Prinsendam. I have been following along on your blog and totally love each and every word and photo. I hope that the "ship" gets well soon.

[jjeffjb]

I wish all the cruise lines had crew members serving the food in the buffet. Oceania does just that and it's reassuring to know that the food is more likely to be safe. We've all seen people reaching with their hands for food. I saw one man squeezing several rolls before taking one. Yuk!

[Paul123]

Thank you for updating the problem on the Prinsendam. I have been following along on your blog and totally love each and every word and photo. I hope that the "ship" gets well soon.

Thanks for the thoughts and good wishes

Paul

[jhannah]

Sure, passengers are inconvenienced. But I can't even imagine what a mess this is for the crews to be dealing with. Kudos to them all for their diligence in trying to get it all cleared up.

[JimVrhovac]

Thew really frustating thing is that one of the passangers is probably responsible for bringing the bug onto the ship and the whole ship is going to pay for it.

Good Luck

Ruth & Jim

[Paul123]

This morning still have non-wait staff serving in the Lido. Today it's the turn of the band members. Understand that Captain asked them to perform this service as not enough usual crew available. Captain announced last night that this was the first day(yesterday) that number of sick passengers (crew) had not increases so hope we are winning battle. Free wine with dinner last night on Captains account....big deal.

[luvcruisn']

Paul - just wanted to tell you that your blog is great. I check each day for new postings.

[MightyQuinn]

Paul, let me add my thanks to you for sharing your blog with us. I check it regularly for new posts & pics. Such a delightful read of the ups & downs on the lovely Prinsendam. Hope the ship returns to full health very soon.

[Paul123]

Thank you MightyQuinn and Luvcrusin for your kind comments.

We had a really great day today on Robinson Crusoe Island. Not sure about the health of the ship as no news from the captain today. Maybe more tomorrow. All the tenders are funigated each time they pick pax up abd return them to the ship. They are really fighting this thing. Poor crew just stay cheerful but it must be a starain on them. Nice to have the young dancing girls serving you your tea or coffee in the morning in the Lido. I usually go for seconds now....LOL.

[DFD1]

Paul....Incredible blog. Great fun to read. Stay well. Thanks so much.

[MightyQuinn]

Paul, I see on your blog that you had Frank Buckingham as your table host last nite. Great score! I can only imagine what an enjoyable evening you had comparing notes on your common heritage. There’s no doubt you had better entertainment at dinner than anything else on-board.

Frank was the lecturer when we were on Prinsendam in ’08 for a Kiel Canal & Baltics itinerary. He was SO popular that, in addition to his scheduled lectures, he gave us an impromptu talk about growing up in England. Sounds rather boring but it was riveting. The place was packed to hear his lively, witty & sometimes scathing accounts. He was hilarious. Did you get the sense that he’ll stay with HAL for a while yet? I’ve read accounts here that he may be retiring.

[blue whale]

Paul,

I guess we got lucky when we transferred our reservation from the 2010 to the 2011. Hopefully, the ship will be "shipshape" by then.

Dorothy

[Copper10-8]

Paul, I see on your blog that you had Frank Buckingham as your table host last nite. Great score! I can only imagine what an enjoyable evening you had comparing notes on your common heritage. There’s no doubt you had better entertainment at dinner than anything else on-board.

Frank was the lecturer when we were on Prinsendam in ’08 for a Kiel Canal & Baltics itinerary. He was SO popular that, in addition to his scheduled lectures, he gave us an impromptu talk about growing up in England. Sounds rather boring but it was riveting. The place was packed to hear his lively, witty & sometimes scathing accounts. He was hilarious. Did you get the sense that he’ll stay with HAL for a while yet? I’ve read accounts here that he may be retiring.

Frank Buckingham, and his green blazer;), was the port lecturer on Rotterdam in Egypt, Rhodes, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Sevastopol, etc. in 2007. Great guy and what a bunch of knowledge! Enjoyed going to his lectures!

[PalmBeachMom]

Frank Buckingham, and his green blazer;), was the port lecturer on Rotterdam in Egypt, Rhodes, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Sevastopol, etc. in 2007. Great guy and what a bunch of knowledge! Enjoyed going to his lectures!

I am taking a similar cruise on the Prinsendam during September and I really hope Frank Buckingham is aboard. I have never had the pleasure of hearing him but by all reports he is amazing.

[Copper10-8]

I am taking a similar cruise on the Prinsendam during September and I really hope Frank Buckingham is aboard. I have never had the pleasure of hearing him but by all reports he is amazing.

Chances are pretty good he will be

[Boatdrill]

Thew really frustating thing is that one of the passangers is probably responsible for bringing the bug onto the ship and the whole ship is going to pay for it.


I believe I read that the virus came on in one of the Chilean ports when another ship in port the same day had it. So anyone could have brought it on...port agent, pilot, visitors, etc.

[LHC]

DD and I were aboard over the Holidays. We had a sewage problem in our room with usage of the shower two nights in a row, after alot of headaches, men in our room, missing dinners, wet smelly carpet, we were moved to another room.
Several of our tablemates got ill towards the end of our cruise with "upset stomachs", to be honest I felt terrible one day and DD a few days afterwards but we thought it was probably due to the experience of the first few days.

My hope was when they added the section during a dry dock period immediately after our cruise, they would have revamped and cleansed, and worked on the sewage and air conditioning which were problems through out the ship during our cruise.

Sorry to hear she is continuing to have problems especially on such a long voyage. I did receive a great upgrade from Seattle due to our discomforts for my next Holiday cruise. Doesn't help while you are experiencing the discomfort. Do not think I will ever sail on the Prinsendam again. Once was enough for me.

LHC

[chees]

She was on Code Red when we boarded in Rio and I heard they had up to 650 people ill on that cruise (cannot confirm). They cleaned her well when we boarded but we were on Code Red for several days. Finally, just before we got to the Falklands, Code Red was lifted. However, people got sick again in the Falklands so we were back on Code Red and they also closed the pools, hot tubs, thermal suites, etc.

My SIL got it and they sterilized her cabin. One dancer got it so both she and the other dancer were quarantined so no dancers in the show that night. Some singers got it, as well, so they had to keep reblocking the show. We were in a party of 6 and only one of us got it, but it was a real hardship for the crew. They had to work so hard, and pulled people to serve in the Lido from everywhere (although the girl who did the art auction said she did not have to help). :-(

The captain was very transparent about the problem and kept us up to speed. The funny part is, I had lunch with a friend today here in San Francisco and she, and her family, had suffered from Noro a few weeks ago. It is everywhere!

Tina

[Paul123]

We still have the CODE RED. Captain had been quiet about it for three days then yesterday afternoon said that they thought they were winning and about to lift some of the restrictions when a few more people went down with the virus yesterday morning. No more news. We are all just used to living with it now. Very hard on the staff.

Had a really bad night last night in the Southern Ocean and very few people around this morning. See my blog of today's date when I post later this afternoon.

As always the crew are just fantastic....all smiles and nothing too much for them despite extra work loads and rough seas.

Dorothy, yes you are right. Hopefully by next year they will have cleared up the virus and all the teething problems associated with the new cabins!!!!! Furthermore there should be no on going work on the ship to distract you unlike what we went through. Anyway we are still loving the cruise as you can see from my blog, hopefully.

Paul

[FireIce0010]

Hate to read stuff like this affecting the cruise. I saw recent photos of the changes made to this beautiful ship. The HAL fleet is becoming a chop block for the Carnival Corporation money machine. Sad.

[Randyk47]

Not directly related to the Prinsendam but I found this news bit this morning while looking at the news. http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1886205 Apparently even hospitals can get hit. :( We've been extremely fortunate and not be on a cruise with a significant outbreak.

[RuthC]

Apparently even hospitals can get hit. :(
It's everywhere! It's everywhere! Despite all the news reports of norovirus on ships, it is not a cruiser's illness.

Noro is found in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, the workplace. Anything you touch could be transferring the noro virus to your hand, which could then transfer to your system when you touch your face. The difference is that when you contract noro in the normal course of life, you do not know the source of the germ, and may not even recognize it as noro.

That noro was found in a hospital is not news.

[Paul123]

The captain gave us some welcome news in his lunch address from the Bridge today, namely that the CODE RED restrictions at the various restaurants on board were being lifted. We could now once again help ourselves to food from the buffet and presumably now use salt and pepper utensils.


He reported that yesterday was the first day no new cases of the norovirus had been reported to to the Medical Centre and it was hoped that the illness had now been defeated on the Prinsendam.

The ship's CODE RED vigilance started after our visit to Arica on 31st January so has been running for about 11 days or so. Lets hope there is no re-occurrence of this unpleasant and disruptive virus.

The management of the ship certainly did all in their power to fight this thing and the crew were just magnificent during this difficult period.

I continue my daily blog each day live from the Prinsendam which has its link as shown in the first post of this thread.