Mercury Bleach Bash Not Recommended By CDC

I was on the March 27th Celebrity Mercury Mexican Rivera sailing out of San Diego. During that cruise mercury staff blasted the walls, elevators, doors, mirrors, etc with spray bottles of bleach every 30 minutes. They stated they were following the orders of the CDC. Well I have just received an email from the CDC stating they in fact did not recommend the spraying of bleach. They instead recommended spraying bleach into rags and wiping down the public areas. I personally am pi__ed off/upset with the lying the Celebrity management has been doing - I have letters from the captain which they stated they were just following orders of the CDC. I have pictures of 3-4 people walking down the hallways spraying bleach everywhere. Couple this with the fact that I have been ignored in emails, phone calls and letters to Celebrity Management I kinda believe this tells us what kind of company they really are. Has anyone out there gotten any response back? Does anyone feel that perhaps we should get together and hire an attorney? If you are not certain check the back of your bleach bottle and read the cautions. I believe this also took place on earlier cruises - did it?

Howdy bigbigtuna!

Welcome to the Help Forum where members ask for help in using the board's software. I fully understand your need to know more information from your fellow Cruise Critic members recently sailing on Mercury. However, your post is not on the correct forum for your type of post and the answers you seek.

To help you I am moving your post to the Celebrity Forum where it will be more on topic. There are other threads already posted regarding your subject.

Kat

I will join in your efforts. I have a $550 hospital bill for a lung infection caused by the bleaching. The bill, get this one, it's from the ship's hospital.

email me at:

gorskyge@msn.com

Overinvester

BigBigTuna,

WE WERE ON THE 3/17 SAILING AND THEY WERE DOING THE SAME THING.

FROM READING THESE BOARDS NOONE HAS RECEIVED A RESPONSE FROM CELEBRITY. (INCLUDING MYSELF)

PEOPLE HAVING BEEN CALLING, WRITING AND E-MAILING. MY TA SAYS IT CAN TAKE 4-6 WEEKS TO GET A REPLY.

I'm not exactly clear on what you would sue Celebrity for. It would seem to me that they, perhaps, misinterperated the instructions given by the CDC, or maybe thought if a little is good, a lot is better, in the hopes of keeping everyone healthy. How is that bad, exactly?

What is the nature of your complaint and what kind of compensation are you looking for? And are you aware that as soon as you get lawyers involved you run the risk of having to pay a lawyer whether or not you win and winning would cost you 30-50% of your settlement/award in lawyer fees?

Please elaborate on your thoughts here.

I will join in your efforts. I have a $550 hospital bill for a lung infection caused by the bleaching. The bill, get this one, it's from the ship's hospital.

Overinvester

How would you get a lung INFECTION from bleaching of the walls and stairwells, etc.?

Actually while working in daycare we had an outbreak of noro. The recommended proportion of bleach to water that effectively kills bacteria and viruses makes such a weak solution that clothing is rarely affected. Unfortunately many people figure if a little bleach is good then a lot must be better. Not true and actually dangerous! Inhaling strong bleach fumes can in fact cause lung irritation which then makes one more susceptible to infection. That is why most containers recommend using cleaners and bleach in a well ventilated area!

How would you get a lung INFECTION from bleaching of the walls and stairwells, etc.?

i would guess from breathing the fumes. duh.

i would guess from breathing the fumes. duh.

Uh, I think he means that it's unlikely someone would suffer an infection from breathing fumes from a bleach solution. Unless they had their bottles loaded up with Noro or Avian Flu or something. Irritation, maybe.

i would guess from breathing the fumes. duh.

You know that infections are caused by bacteria, right? How does breathing bleach cause bacteria to get into your lungs and cause an infection?

Now, I can see that if the fumes were very strong they could cause an irritation and even some breathing difficulty, if you had very weak lungs or the fumes were extremely strong. I still can't see how breathing the fumes from a weak bleach solution that is being spritzed on walls, elevators, handrails, etc, could cause a lung infection. So, my question stands....even if you don't like it. :)

Also, one of the most important reasons that you don't mix cleaning fluids in enclosed or poorly ventilated rooms is that some of the chemicals can mix and cause very noxious and dangerous fumes. I haven't heard that they used anything but a weak bleach solution. Maybe the OP or someone can tell us what strength the bleach mixture was mixed at......the percentage of Sodium Hypoclorite to water would be the most important factor here.

Just want to mention without appearing to be charterizing anyones motives....which appear to me to be abundantly clear from the OP's comments, that I have a sense that the dating of the CDC comments may overlap with the dates that the two CDC individuals boarded the ship in PV. The two CDC individuals were there, based on my conversation with the CDC prior to my boarding on 3/27, to provide several functions, one of which was training.

....So...if the CDC was on board to provide training, and the spraying was in effect as some from the 3/17 cruise have indicated it was...then I don't think that it was poo-poo'ed by the CDC and I think the facts suggesting that the Mercury's staff were acting contrary to what the CDC said may not be 100% correct.

The CDC boarded in PV, and if there was anything they felt was inappropriate then I'd think they would have intervened. So the David Fourney email and timing of it is questionable in my mind since the CDC was on board when all this horror was taking place, and they were in fact taking notes and giving direction.

Once again, not questioning motivation, just suggesting that there may be some misqueue that those seeking gains/additonal gains from the cruiseline and using this document as a reference may want to contemplate more fully before they take the cruiseline to task at being at fault for spraying based on the CDC when the 3/17 cruisers pointed toward spraying as well while the CDC was on board training the staff.....

If the spraying condoned/not condoned by the CDC did any passengers harm, then some sort of compensation, whether it be any cruise credit or at least payment of medical bills either shipboard and/or land based, should be made to passengers severely affected. Even though I was not a passenger on this sailing, I do suffer from severe respiratory trouble. If I was subjected to any of the bleaching that occured on the Mercury, I know that my breathing would be severely compromised.

The way I understand things, the CDC mentioned how things should have been handled. Whether or not they were instructing on what should be done to protect, it seems that there was a miscommunications on how things should have been handled by the crew in handling the Norvovirus.

I sincerely hope Celebrity is learning from this PR debacle, especially in light of how well they handled things on the Millie when she was in Chile.

Anita

I really feel the need to clear one thing up. Chemical irritation to the lungs makes them more susceptible to bacterial and viral infections. O f course that would only happen if you were exposed to bacteria and viruses after the irrritation occurs. I am a nurse of 30 some years and I assure all of you there is such a thing as chemical pneumonia which is in fact not caused by virus or bacteria but by inflamation of the tissue in the lungs afer exposure to chemicals which is why when there is a chlorine leak ( yes chlorine as in pools and bleach ) People are evacuated to protect their lungs. This can also occur when working with cleaning agents in an enclosed space or when cleaning agents are mixed incorrectly and fumes are created. As for compensation I agree that it seems that everyone is looking for a reason to make a quick buck or to get something for nothing. I'm sure the cruise lines can deal with these claims without any input from me. I'm sorry that some had bad cruise experiences. It's always dissapointing when one looks forward to a nice vacation and things don't go as planned! Hopefully those that got sick will have better luck on their next vacation!

Peg, thanks for taking the time to post what I have thought was common sense about the making the lungs more susceptible to infections. With your medical knowledge, maybe this will put the issue to rest.

I really wish we could get back to the way cruise critic used to be. A place to exchange information in a non threatening manner. If there is a disagreement on facts or info, it used to be stated and then we moved on. Now it seems people sit and wait for the next comment by the person they have decided to disagree with and post

with, sometimes, absurdly out there statements just to keep the mean spirited-ness going. This seems to be a place where people actually scan the boards and look for things to disagree with! What a shame!

I am far from a Pollyanna as I'm sure some of you will point out, but I am just tired of these boards not being as welcoming as they should be. How many new comers do you think pop in here, see some of these posts and never come back? Again, what a shame!

JMO and I am sure to be flamed. I don't care. I think it needed to be said. (BTW, I am triangling myself, so you don't have to bother)

Does anyone feel that perhaps we should get together and hire an attorney?

Yea, good luck with that. You let us know how that goes, OK?

note to any attorney reading: Who's ready to take this one on contingency? Anyone? Anyone?

Gail. triangling your self? Can I watch?:)

Phil

Sure, Phil! How about a Martini while we watch?:D

Sure, Phil! How about a Martini while we watch?:D

Tuggers, thanks! I was not even going to respond to this board but I agree I felt some of the posts sounded a bit nasty so I decided to respond. :o I'm with you where are the fun posts? I think we should all play nice now!!!! Martini's would definitly help!:D

Triangling yourself!!??!!! sounds kinky!;)

Gail - you are so right. It has just gotten out of hand on these boards. People who were on the cruise have posted their views and prospectives. That should be good enough and taken for what it is. But when there are others who were not even there, trying to pass judgement, discredit and arrogantly attempting to convince everyone that they know more then everyone else, it just becomes rude.

I've stopped posting over here because you are basically setting yourself up for someone to prove they know more than you. Just gets tiresome. Everyone needs to realize this board used to be helpful, supportive and informative. Not seeing much of that going on these day. What a shame.

I'll take my martini straight up, with extra olives please!

I agree with joelmarj. Some of the ill informed comments that are made on these boards toward people whose cruises were ruined by this senseless act (spraying bleach with no regard) should be ashamed.

I hope that the OP and others affected get a free cruise. IMO they deserve it for having their cruise ruined. And when they do get it (I am confident at you will) I hope they let everyone on here know!!!!

Okay, Martini's for BB, Joel and Marge, and mmp. I'll have a Limon' and fix one for anyone else who wants to join the 'let's play nice' movement!:D :D

I'll do a Kir Royal with Chambord ...pretty please:D

Dave:eek:

I'll have a bloody-tini please!!:D I just hope I don't triangle myself by accident:cool:

Drink orders coming at ya!