Riviera on Code Red again

We were handed the same questionnaire (2/12 cruise). But there were no instructions as what to do with it once filled out. My husband took it to the reception desk, where they seemed confused.

 

I suspect it went into the circular file.

We are on Riveria now and filled out the form. I started thinking we might have put the wrong cabin on it so I went to guest relations and told them. Their response was don't worry about it, it's not important. So I must agree, File 13 here it comes. 😳 Besides the form was kind of stupid wanting to know what you had for lunch and dinner on boarding day. Jeez, I can hardly remember what I had at Red Ginger last night.

We were handed the same questionnaire (2/12 cruise). But there were no instructions as what to do with it once filled out. My husband took it to the reception desk, where they seemed confused.

 

I suspect it went into the circular file.

We didn't get anything. Is this form just for those that became sick? Were you sick?

We are on Riveria now and filled out the form. I started thinking we might have put the wrong cabin on it so I went to guest relations and told them. Their response was don't worry about it, it's not important. So I must agree, File 13 here it comes. 😳 Besides the form was kind of stupid wanting to know what you had for lunch and dinner on boarding day. Jeez, I can hardly remember what I had at Red Ginger last night.

Disappointing response from guest relations.

We did not get those CDC questionnaires on the March 13-20 cruise on Riviera.

. The speculation about why Noro persists on Riviera is not as interesting to me as is Management's failure to put passengers first. We all paid for our cruises a while ago, and on time. Yet, O is not allowing people anxious about boarding Riviera the opportunity to cancel, penalty free. It may be legal to hang on to our money, but it is immoral. Many recent passengers have received a degraded product, and we know the details. Yet, we paid for a product including open venues, the full number of paid days aboard, Executive, Concierge Lounges, library, laundry, shops, et al., shore excursions that take place, clean and dry walls and furniture, you know, a cruise. O has failed to deliver on multiple occasions. No matter how the Noro got on board.

I couldn't agree more ... we would be perfectly happy to sail on a different ship with the credit ... even the same week.... but with no options we feel we will be sailing with or without nora on Rivera... this IS a luxury vacation for us... one that required a lot of saving and planning... just reading here about the situation is upsetting

We didn't get anything. Is this form just for those that became sick? Were you sick?

No I'm not sick thank goodness, but everyone got the form.

We are booked on the Miami to Barcelona transatlantic cruise next month.

Reading all these messages about the noro problems onboard, we are getting more and more concerned. I can understand a noro outbreak on a cruise ship, but noro being on a ship since November?

How will we be able to protect ourselves? It seems that the cause of the noro infection is still unknown, since the staff have not been able to address the problem.

We booked this cruise last week, and I think it is offensive that O lets you book a cruise on a evidently noro infested ship. Experiences from the past have learned us that the Miami office does not answer serious complaints as regards content, so writing to the head office is useless.

We will not be able to cancel this cruise without having to pay the full fare, air fare and hotels. I really regret not having read up this forum BEFORE booking this cruise and I feel seriously let down by Oceania. We have made several cruises on Oceania, four on Riviera, and I was always looking forward these cruises. Now I dread going, risking getting sick and being confined to our stateroom. What a way to spend your vacation!

The only thing we can do is wash our hands thoroughly and hope that every one else will do the same.

I couldn't agree more ... we would be perfectly happy to sail on a different ship with the credit ... even the same week.... but with no options we feel we will be sailing with or without nora on Rivera... this IS a luxury vacation for us... one that required a lot of saving and planning... just reading here about the situation is upsetting

riandei, I enjoyed your response. I understand why so many posters keep referring to poor hygiene they have observed. Unfortunately, they haven't accounted for the fact that human beings are also boarding other ships without the same outcome. What is important to me is O's response. This is, after all, a business. In the real world, consumers vote with their wallets and credit cards. For example, our next booking is not with O. I am reluctant to put more cash on O,s barrelhead. I doubt that we are the only ones.

Mary

Disappointing response from guest relations.

We did not get those CDC questionnaires on the March 13-20 cruise on Riviera.

Yes that was my exact thoughts!

We didn't get anything. Is this form just for those that became sick? Were you sick?

When we were on Marina's outbreak last April/May, my husband had checked in with the doctor and we did get the CDC questionnaire. (He was sprung from quarantine the next day so we assume they concluded he did not have Noro, just an ordinary intestinal problem.) I recall that they wanted to know more than just one's days food "intake", but several. Since we hadn't memorized exactly what we had eaten for 3 days, our answers were rather inaccurate, I am sure.

I think we turned that form in to the infirmary, but I can't be positive about that.

Mura

After doing quite a bit of research the last couple of days on the various norovirus, it is becoming more and more likely that the water system is contaminated. Somewhere in Europe, prior to the TA, they picked up some infected water. Norovirus is resilent/resistant to mild to medium chlorination. To adequately chlorinate or add other chemicals to the system would require shutting down the entire water system. This would mean no washing sheets, dishes, people, equipment, etc. for a period of hours/days. It would require draining the pools and scrubbing the walls, along with the spas. The entire water supply system would need to be properly treated, cleaned, purged, and refilled. This can not, nor will not be accomplished during a simple 4-6 hour turnaround between cruises. I don't think Oceania is committed to take the costly steps necessary to take care of this problem, so the conditions persist. Hoping it goes away is not working. Washing fresh foods and using the water, non boiled in food prep, teeth brushing, plus simple things like getting water in one's mouth during showers are sources of possible contamination.

The various viruses do prey on those with immune deficiencies more than others. Others may have natural resistance to certain of the virus, while others don't. Years ago, while living in Europe, we joked that we kept our blood alcohol levels high enough, in some third world locales, so to kill the virus. Actually, some external factors (high stomach acidity) do affect who gets what.

Don't know when Riveria's next dry dock is scheduled, but I'm not sure I'd expect much to change, under current SOP, until then.

To spindrift:

I'm hoping that Lyn was writing tic. The differences in odds on you breaking your leg on the golf course versus currently catching noro on the Riveria are orders of magnitudes different. So different, in fact, that it is silly to make any comparisons. :rolleyes:

No I'm not sick thank goodness, but everyone got the form.

That's good. :) I was asking mpfund if she and husband were sick on our 2/12 cruise. They are a couple we met and dined with in Jacques. I was curious why they would receive a form, but my husband and I did not. :confused:

hi there! My husband was sick; I was not. From the responses, looks like the forms were ignored.

hi there! My husband was sick; I was not. From the responses, looks like the forms were ignored.

We were not sick on the 2/12 cruise and did not get any forms from the CDC to fill out. Maybe if we all got forms they could pinpoint something about where people got sick. This seems to be the worst cruise of all. About 11% of the people sick. Lets find out where they went wrong.

I assume the CDC is aware of Riviera's continued problem fighting Noro. Do you think there's any chance of the CDC "quarantining" the ship when it returns to the US? I'm thinking we may need an intervention.....since O has failed to find the source (not without a valiant effort).

After doing quite a bit of research the last couple of days on the various norovirus, it is becoming more and more likely that the water system is contaminated. Somewhere in Europe, prior to the TA, they picked up some infected water. Norovirus is resilent/resistant to mild to medium chlorination. To adequately chlorinate or add other chemicals to the system would require shutting down the entire water system. This would mean no washing sheets, dishes, people, equipment, etc. for a period of hours/days. It would require draining the pools and scrubbing the walls, along with the spas. The entire water supply system would need to be properly treated, cleaned, purged, and refilled. This can not, nor will not be accomplished during a simple 4-6 hour turnaround between cruises. I don't think Oceania is committed to take the costly steps necessary to take care of this problem, so the conditions persist. Hoping it goes away is not working. Washing fresh foods and using the water, non boiled in food prep, teeth brushing, plus simple things like getting water in one's mouth during showers are sources of possible contamination.

 

 

 

The various viruses do prey on those with immune deficiencies more than others. Others may have natural resistance to certain of the virus, while others don't. Years ago, while living in Europe, we joked that we kept our blood alcohol levels high enough, in some third world locales, so to kill the virus. Actually, some external factors (high stomach acidity) do affect who gets what.

 

 

 

Don't know when Riveria's next dry dock is scheduled, but I'm not sure I'd expect much to change, under current SOP, until then.

 

 

 

To spindrift:

 

 

 

I'm hoping that Lyn was writing tic. The differences in odds on you breaking your leg on the golf course versus currently catching noro on the Riveria are orders of magnitudes different. So different, in fact, that it is silly to make any comparisons. :rolleyes:

I think your theory makes sense. However, I would suspect that the CDC has tested the water system. If the tests came back negative then it is not probably the source.

I'm hoping that Lyn was writing tic. The differences in odds on you breaking your leg on the golf course versus currently catching noro on the Riveria are orders of magnitudes different. So different, in fact, that it is silly to make any comparisons. :rolleyes:

Well I hope Brenda got the joke & did not take my comment too seriously ;)

maybe the questionnaire was to see if there were any places they may have eaten or been in common for those that became ill

If it was in the water then there would be a lot more people sick I would think or do the other 1100 + pax not drink tap water or get clean linens & towels

It is a conspiracy ..they only give so many people clean laundry to see if they can infect people with the noro infected water :rolleyes:

We were on the March 20 cruise (still in progress) and got off the ship a week early in Bonaire. We were denied docking in Aruba due to Norovirus. At that time 67 people were sick. The mood on the cruise was depressing. All the self serve stations were closed as well as the library and other amenities. We were allowed to dock in Bonaire since it was Good Friday and most of the stores were closed. I do not know if the ship was allowed to dock in the remainder of the ports or not since we elected to stay in Bonaire.

We were stunned at how poorly Oceania handled communications on the ship. I finally went on the CDC website to read the ship reports to find out what was really going on.

We are so disappointed in Oceania we just canceled a cruise we had booked for next January. If I had know about the Noro issues I would not have gone on this cruise. Everything on board changes during code red - it is not enjoyable. This is my first post... If I had read cruise critic before it would have saved me a lot of grief.

Disappointing response from guest relations.

We did not get those CDC questionnaires on the March 13-20 cruise on Riviera.

There wasn't any need for them during that cruise since not enough people were ill.

Does anyone know the current status of the Noro on Riviera?

Should I be re-thinking my July cruise on Riviera? 17 days potentially with Noro will make me very cranky!

We were on the February 12 sailing that was cut short because of the Noro virus. We did not get sick and did not receive the CDC questionnaire. I have contacted Oceania regarding my disappointment in how the management handled the information about the cruise and, as others, have heard nothing back.

Simply, Riveria should never have sailed on February 12 knowing that the Noro was on board. This was our second cruise on Riveria. First was fantastic a year ago. Over 35 cruises under our belt and this particular sailing is at the bottom . Simply put, we did not get what we paid for, even with the token amount returned.

I am so disappointed in Oceania. I really wanted them to be my favorite cruise line for future cruises! Sadly, because of how management handled this particular sailing, it cannot be. I will not waste my vacation time and money

Should I be re-thinking my July cruise on Riviera? 17 days potentially with Noro will make me very cranky!

I,too,am getting concerned,Hopefully by July someone will have put a stop to Riviera sailing if Noro is still around and refunded us.Although we have a 3 days stay in Rome beforehand.

It sounds so unbelievable that this is still going on.I am so sad to read of good,regular passengers of Oceania,being disappointed..A huge blow for us as we couldn't afford it last year and have saved hard for this trip..

This was in 2012::

The winter vomiting bug has swept through the UK, claiming more than one million victims, so it is no surprise that it is now doing the rounds on cruise ships as just one infected passenger coming on board can cause hundreds to fall sick.

The bad news for those who don’t want to share their cruise with norovirus is that travel insurance does not cover fear of sickness and cruise lines do not consider it a valid reason to cancel a booking. If you just decide you don’t want to go, you will lose your money.

Unfortunately, if you contract norovirus on a cruise and are quarantined in your cabin for a couple of days, you won’t get any compensation either. Quite the opposite.

More often than not you have to pay to see the doctor and for any medications prescribed, just as if you contracted any other illness on holiday (although the cost of medical treatment might be covered by your travel insurance).

However, compensation is payable if your cruise is cancelled or curtailed because of an outbreak of norovirus, but the level does vary so it is worth reading the cruise contract carefully.

When a norovirus outbreak forced a cruise on Marco Polo to be cancelled in July 2009, passengers were refunded the cost of the cruise plus their bar bills, and given a 50 per cent discount off a future cruise. In February this year, Crown Princess returned to port two days early after an outbreak and passengers were refunded their cruise fare and given a 25 per cent future cruise credit.

I,too,am getting concerned,Hopefully by July someone will have put a stop to Riviera sailing if Noro is still around and refunded us.Although we have a 3 days stay in Rome beforehand.

It sounds so unbelievable that this is still going on.I am so sad to read of good,regular passengers of Oceania,being disappointed..A huge blow for us as we couldn't afford it last year and have saved hard for this trip..

This was in 2012::

 

 

The winter vomiting bug has swept through the UK, claiming more than one million victims, so it is no surprise that it is now doing the rounds on cruise ships as just one infected passenger coming on board can cause hundreds to fall sick.

 

The bad news for those who don’t want to share their cruise with norovirus is that travel insurance does not cover fear of sickness and cruise lines do not consider it a valid reason to cancel a booking. If you just decide you don’t want to go, you will lose your money.

 

Unfortunately, if you contract norovirus on a cruise and are quarantined in your cabin for a couple of days, you won’t get any compensation either. Quite the opposite.

 

More often than not you have to pay to see the doctor and for any medications prescribed, just as if you contracted any other illness on holiday (although the cost of medical treatment might be covered by your travel insurance).

 

However, compensation is payable if your cruise is cancelled or curtailed because of an outbreak of norovirus, but the level does vary so it is worth reading the cruise contract carefully.

 

When a norovirus outbreak forced a cruise on Marco Polo to be cancelled in July 2009, passengers were refunded the cost of the cruise plus their bar bills, and given a 50 per cent discount off a future cruise. In February this year, Crown Princess returned to port two days early after an outbreak and passengers were refunded their cruise fare and given a 25 per cent future cruise credit.

CFAR (Cancel For Any Reason) insurance coverage through non-cruise line insurers would typically allow one to cancel "if worried" (ditto for safety reasons). Usually, 75% of the money would be refunded.

Cruise line coverage might only allow a credit for future travel on that line, but we only know what we've read here on CC, as we always get third party travel insurance.

CFAR adds approximately 50% to the cost of the insurance.

Should I be re-thinking my July cruise on Riviera? 17 days potentially with Noro will make me very cranky!

I wouldn't cancel. There ant much noro around in the summer. We are thoroughly enjoying the Riviera now despite the code red procedures. Many people on Th cruise, like us, aren't that bothered with some of the inconveniences. But we also have some people that think that this is the cruise from Hell. If we had no power for several days, then they would be correct; but we are enjoying the ports, the food in the restaurants is great and the ship is still beautiful.