Grandeur--- Delayed boarding times.

Hello, this is Royal Caribbean International. We would like to provide you with some important information regarding your Tuesday, February 3 sailing onboard Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore. During the ship's last sailing, a number of guests experienced a gastrointestinal illness. We will conduct enhanced sanitizing onboard the ship and within the terminal to help prevent any illness from affecting your cruise. Therefore, your check-in and boarding time has been revised. Please verify your check-in appointment that corresponds to your deck number. Any guests arriving before their appointed check-in time will be asked to return at their assigned time in order to avoid congestion in the terminal.

Guests on Deck 8 should arrive at 1:30 PM.

Guests on Deck 7 should arrive at 2:10 PM.

Guests on Deck 4 should arrive at 2:50 PM.

Guests on Deck 3 should arrive at 3:20 PM.

Guests on Deck 2 should arrive at 4:00 PM.

Suite, Pinnacle, Diamond Plus, Diamond, Emerald and Platinum Guests can check-in any time at their convenience between the hours of 1:30 PM and 4:00 PM. We appreciate your assistance and thank you for your understanding

bosco

That's 2 ships so far this week.

Which other ship has come down with gastro illness?

Which other ship has come down with gastro illness?

Allure

'Tis the season for norovirus!:eek:

'Tis the season for norovirus!:eek:

It certainly is.

Tis the season....

I was just thinking, a couple days ago, that I have not heard anything about the Noro virus so far this year. Guess I shouldn't have thought about it. :rolleyes: Now, it is affecting my cruise. :( At least the ship will be super clean. ;)

Gwen :)

'Tis the season for norovirus!:eek:

Have a great trip.

I was one of the guest that got Noro. Not mush fun.

The Medical staff and crew were great.

I spent the last sea day in the room

Had to wait until ship was empty before they let us off..

Have a great trip.

I was one of the guest that got Noro. Not mush fun.

The Medical staff and crew were great.

I spent the last sea day in the room

Had to wait until ship was empty before they let us off..

Navigator out of Galveston got an similar email too....but it mentions nothing of cleaning or virus...but it does board by deck like this....

Deck by deck check in must present a real challenge at the terminal. Muster after dark?

So...what is the best way to protect against the Noro? My family is taking our very first cruise on the Grandeur leaving Feb 13 and I would hate to have it ruined by sickness. Besides washing our hands all the time, what advice do you have for a newbie?

So...what is the best way to protect against the Noro? My family is taking our very first cruise on the Grandeur leaving Feb 13 and I would hate to have it ruined by sickness. Besides washing our hands all the time, what advice do you have for a newbie?

wash your hands as frequently as possible. try to avoid touching your face or rubbing your eyes. use a paper towel to open doors of public restrooms after washing your hands. try to avoid touching handrails if possible. use your knuckle to press elevator buttons or let someone else touch them.

meh, if you do all that you could STILL possibly get it :( try not to worry, be as careful as you can and enjoy your cruise :) this problem should be long gone by then unless another sailing gets infected.

So...what is the best way to protect against the Noro? My family is taking our very first cruise on the Grandeur leaving Feb 13 and I would hate to have it ruined by sickness. Besides washing our hands all the time, what advice do you have for a newbie?

In my youth (if I can remember that far back) I used to be a nail biter. One of my first jobs in the real world dealt with laboratory work where I handled biological samples and toxic chemicals. I have never bitten another nail to this day.

Wash hands frequently, don't go around touching everything and keep your hands and fingers away from your mouth. Use hand sanitizers as directed and when offered.

Sit down at the table, adjust your chair, use the salt and pepper shakers and then re-sanitize and enjoy your meal.

Nothing is foolproof but all we can do is our best. Never had a problem after 15 years on ships even with several that had active Noro outbreaks.

bosco

CDC has this to say about NORO:

Clinical manifestations

The average incubation period for norovirus-associated

gastroenteritis is 12 to 48 hours, with a median period

of approximately 33 hours. Illness is characterized by

nausea, acute-onset vomiting, and watery, non-bloody

diarrhea with abdominal cramps. In addition, myalgia,

malaise, and headache are commonly reported. Lowgrade

fever is present in about half of cases. Dehydration

is the most common complication and may require

intravenous replacement fluids. Symptoms usually

last 24 to 60 hours. Up to 30% of infections may be

asymptomatic

NOTE: The last sentence...that is how so many people continue to become ill. People are walking around spreading the virus while they don't even know they are ill.

Bottom line: WASH your hands frequently, use tissue to open BR door, keep hands away from face. IF ill, call medical on ship, don't share.

If you are truly worried, don't eat finger food. Classic transmission vector is contaminated hand to serving tongs. Serving tongs to your hands. Your hands touch burger bun. You eat burger bun. Noro virus' mission accomplished.

Having said that, noro is everywhere, and your chances of contracting it onboard is only slightly more than ashore. Even a "deep cleaned" ship can be re-infected minutes after the deep cleaning by a new carrier boarding and touching a surface.

And I can not remember a single cruise when I was working the ships, where there wasn't at least one or two cases of GI illness. It happens.

That's 2 ships so far this week.

It's that time of year!

Lots of outbreaks in our part of the UK at the moment - our local hospital has two wards closed to visitors 😔

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

CDC has this to say about NORO:

Clinical manifestations

The average incubation period for norovirus-associated

gastroenteritis is 12 to 48 hours, with a median period

of approximately 33 hours. Illness is characterized by

nausea, acute-onset vomiting, and watery, non-bloody

diarrhea with abdominal cramps. In addition, myalgia,

malaise, and headache are commonly reported. Lowgrade

fever is present in about half of cases. Dehydration

is the most common complication and may require

intravenous replacement fluids. Symptoms usually

last 24 to 60 hours. Up to 30% of infections may be

asymptomatic

 

NOTE: The last sentence...that is how so many people continue to become ill. People are walking around spreading the virus while they don't even know they are ill.

 

Bottom line: WASH your hands frequently, use tissue to open BR door, keep hands away from face. IF ill, call medical on ship, don't share.

Noro is not fun. Dealt with it myself at a boarding summer camp I was working in back in the early 2000s. Hit in early June and in the middle of the mess 1 out of every 4 were bedridden at any time (of a camp with over 1k kids). After the first month-long session, we bleached everything to try and kill it. Even with the deep clean, it still spread into the second session, with the same thing. I personally caught it during the session break between the two and kept myself quarantined for a day or so after.

Its really not TOO bad if you get it. One day, you feel fine, it hits fast, hits hard, and as quick as it hits its gone. You just can't keep anything down while you have it.

The people I work with often ask if I'm afraid of "catching" noro.

A few years ago, I returned from a cruise, and the building (long term care) where I work was closed to visitors because of noro virus.

My motto is wash your hands and don't pick your nose.:o

Hello, this is Royal Caribbean International. We would like to provide you with some important information regarding your Tuesday, February 3 sailing onboard Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore. During the ship's last sailing, a number of guests experienced a gastrointestinal illness. We will conduct enhanced sanitizing onboard the ship and within the terminal to help prevent any illness from affecting your cruise. Therefore, your check-in and boarding time has been revised. Please verify your check-in appointment that corresponds to your deck number. Any guests arriving before their appointed check-in time will be asked to return at their assigned time in order to avoid congestion in the terminal.

 

Guests on Deck 8 should arrive at 1:30 PM.

Guests on Deck 7 should arrive at 2:10 PM.

Guests on Deck 4 should arrive at 2:50 PM.

Guests on Deck 3 should arrive at 3:20 PM.

Guests on Deck 2 should arrive at 4:00 PM.

 

Suite, Pinnacle, Diamond Plus, Diamond, Emerald and Platinum Guests can check-in any time at their convenience between the hours of 1:30 PM and 4:00 PM. We appreciate your assistance and thank you for your understanding

 

bosco

this is actually good though because believe me, you really want them to do a good job sanitizing the ship top to bottom after a norovirus hits!