Divina is beautiful but probably needs a good sanitizing asap

We had a great time aboard Divina for the Monsters of Rock cruise last week... however it appears about 1/2 the ship's passengers came back with some kind of illness. It starts with a loss of voice but feeling ok for a day, then head and chest congestion, sore throat, coughing, aches and fever set in. I've been fighting this off for 6 days now and still not over it after a steroid shot, decongestant shot and antibiotics. Some people have tested positive for flu while others, myself included, did not even though we all have the exact same symptoms. I was told my test could be false negative cause it was taken well past the 48 hour mark of symptom onset.?.

We definitely passed something around that boat.... and some still on there who are doing all 3 in a row are reporting more passengers experiencing same thing. (Today marks the 3 sailing of 3 in row music based chartered cruises...)

Now my thoughts on the ship: She is a lovely ship. Something didn't seem quiet right with the humidity inside though particularly in the lounges on 6 & 7 and theatre. It would be cool (although not as cool as I would've liked) inside but the air so wet feeling, you would instantly feel sticky. I know you are on the water and some humidity to be expected but this felt more than what should be normal. It was less humid outside than inside. I've been on several different cruise lines and ships and never experienced air so wet feeling indoors. The air conditioning just didn't seem to be cutting it. Even our cabin on 8 was humid and warmer than I would prefer with the thermostat as low as it would go.

The buffet food was decent but not great... I was surprised at how bland the pastas were being an Italian ship. Better than what we had on Poesia the last couple years. I never made it to any of the main dining rooms. I also noticed on the last night, I got water out of the ice machine and it had a brown tint to it. I hadn't noticed it when using the frosted plastic cups but that last night they put out white Styrofoam ones and you could see it was off.

The staff I think got fed up with our crazy bunch as the first couple days everyone was very nice but as time went on, some got pretty cranky... particularly pool bar staff. Some down right rude at the end. I'm sure that group is a bit overwhelming to them but their job is customer service so they should never be so nasty.

We had a great time aboard Divina for the Monsters of Rock cruise last week... however it appears about 1/2 the ship's passengers came back with some kind of illness. It starts with a loss of voice but feeling ok for a day, then head and chest congestion, sore throat, coughing, aches and fever set in. I've been fighting this off for 6 days now and still not over it after a steroid shot, decongestant shot and antibiotics. Some people have tested positive for flu while others, myself included, did not even though we all have the exact same symptoms. I was told my test could be false negative cause it was taken well past the 48 hour mark of symptom onset.?.

 

We definitely passed something around that boat.... and some still on there who are doing all 3 in a row are reporting more passengers experiencing same thing. (Today marks the 3 sailing of 3 in row music based chartered cruises...)

 

Now my thoughts on the ship: She is a lovely ship. Something didn't seem quiet right with the humidity inside though particularly in the lounges on 6 & 7 and theatre. It would be cool (although not as cool as I would've liked) inside but the air so wet feeling, you would instantly feel sticky. I know you are on the water and some humidity to be expected but this felt more than what should be normal. It was less humid outside than inside. I've been on several different cruise lines and ships and never experienced air so wet feeling indoors. The air conditioning just didn't seem to be cutting it. Even our cabin on 8 was humid and warmer than I would prefer with the thermostat as low as it would go.

 

Your review is of great interest to me and I just posted my own review yesterday. I disembarked the day you got on (March 29). Ours was not a charter or special interest cruise, but we did have about 1000 kids onboard as it was a school holiday in South Florida. Anyway I had no symptoms at all on the cruise, but driving home last Saturday from the ship my throat started to feel dry and I started to have congestion. I didn't think much of it. The next day I was sick as a dog and had a 101 fever. I went to urgent care and was diagnosed with the flu (even though I had a flu shot this year). They put me on Tamiflu. I wasn't getting better and my right eye and ear were infected and I could not even hear out of my right ear. My regular doctor referred me to an ear, nose, and throat specialist and turns out I had a very contagious infection in my inner ear and eye. He put me on steroids and a heavy duty antibiotic plus drops for the eye. I'm almost over the flu and the eye has healed, but the ear will take some time and I will be off work. Regarding the infection I told him about the cruise and my doctor felt I probably got the infection (and the flu) from the ship. I did swim in the pool and did put my head under water. I did not go to any beaches on this trip. We had a ton of kids onboard and you know they tend to never wash their hands. No doubt they spread germs all over the ship.

Anyway I don't recall ever being so sick in my life, and while I didn't want to blame the DIVINA, after reading your post I felt compelled to tell my story as well. I do want to add I felt the DIVINA was an extremely clean ship, but something might have been going on where the pool (Garden Pool in my case) may not have been chlorinated properly. It was like people soup in the pools and I should have never gotten in. I sailed with my partner who did not swim and would never swim in a cruise ship pool, and he is perfectly fine.

Regarding your comment about the a/c. We were in cabin 8091 and the air worked great. It would get frigid in there if we wanted, but I understand what you mean about it feeling a little moist. Even when it was cold in the cabin, there was a certain moistness that you could feel on the carpet, towels, and sheets.

Ernie

Ouch! Hope you feel better soon Ernie! We were all ready to strangle the people in our group for bringing the virus on board if we found out who all did it. lol ... when it sounds like it was already on board when we arrived. :( I can say I did not get in the pools or hot tubs so hopefully it will stop at the flu like whatever.

Ouch! Hope you feel better soon Ernie! We were all ready to strangle the people in our group for bringing the virus on board if we found out who all did it. lol ... when it sounds like it was already on board when we arrived. :( I can say I did not get in the pools or hot tubs so hopefully it will stop at the flu like whatever.

Yes I'm guessing it was already onboard from my cruise and those 1000 kids! LOL I can laugh about it now but there was no laughing this past week. I don't think I got the flu from the pool, but perhaps the ear and eye infection. Normally I might have been able to fight off that infection naturally but since the flu was probably already taking hold my immune system was compromised. At least I didn't feel any symptoms until the day I disembarked. Funny how that worked out. Honestly I can't imagine actually being on the ship being as sick as I was last week. That would have been hell.

Glad you're on the road to recovery as well! Looks like each of us brought home a special souvenir from DIVINA we hadn't planned on. LOL

Ernie

Yuk. I board on Saturday.

It's posts like these that make me think twice about cruising. And I'm just about to purchase for Sept cruise on the Divina.

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It's posts like these that make me think twice about cruising. And I'm just about to purchase for Sept cruise on the Divina.

 

 

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If it makes you feel any better, I've been on over 100 cruises and this is the first time this has happened. I have gotten small colds after cruises before, and noro-virus one time (it was gone in 24 hours), but nothing as severe as this. I think generally it's rare and the cruise lines do a great job keeping everything clean. Of course when you get 4000 people in a confined area for a week, it's possible something could spread.

If it makes you feel any better, I've been on over 100 cruises and this is the first time this has happened. I have gotten small colds after cruises before, and noro-virus one time (it was gone in 24 hours), but nothing as severe as this. I think generally it's rare and the cruise lines do a great job keeping everything clean. Of course when you get 4000 people in a confined area for a week, it's possible something could spread.

Yes, I appreciate the odds are against becoming sick from a cruise. I'm trying to convince myself to go on this ship just before a conference in Florida but if I get sick it would ruin the entire trip, and worse potentially disrupt the value of the conference itself (which takes enough out of me anyway with late nights and early mornings...). If I could, I'd go on the cruise after the conference, but the timing doesn't work out for that. Still on the fence about this.

Thanks for posting your experience on the Divina - it is helpful!

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We were told by a staff member that there were over 500 kids onboard, it just FELT like 1000 on our March 22 - 29 cruise, lol!

We were told by a staff member that there were over 500 kids onboard, it just FELT like 1000 on our March 22 - 29 cruise, lol!

I was told by a staff member it was in the 900's, and that almost every 3rd/4th berth on the ship was filled! Go figure. LOL Frankly it felt like 2000!

Yes, I appreciate the odds are against becoming sick from a cruise. I'm trying to convince myself to go on this ship .....

beware, there are too many diapers in the pools.

Yes, I appreciate the odds are against becoming sick from a cruise. I'm trying to convince myself to go on this ship just before a conference in Florida but if I get sick it would ruin the entire trip, and worse potentially disrupt the value of the conference itself (which takes enough out of me anyway with late nights and early mornings...). If I could, I'd go on the cruise after the conference, but the timing doesn't work out for that. Still on the fence about this.

We were on the Divina in February, on a 7-day charter. I don't know of anybody that got sick like what has been described here. Neither of us got sick nor did any of our friends (it being a charter, we have lots of friends on the February cruise every year). So, I don't think you should be too afraid of going on a cruise.

beware, there are too many diapers in the pools.

Hmm, our charter had no kids on-board, could that be the difference? :)

It's posts like these that make me think twice about cruising. And I'm just about to purchase for Sept cruise on the Divina.

 

 

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I'm feeling miserably sick from a viral infection - maybe I should think twice about visiting my local shops in future?

Seriously though, anywhere you get people you will get illness. And where you have people who have invested money and emotion in being there, you will get people who are sick and insist on mingling with others despite their illness and potential for infection. Its just human nature. All you can do is protect yourself as best as possible via good nutrition, sleep, exercise and appropriate vaccinations. Then cross your fingers - after washing them of course! And don't touch the banisters! :P

beware, there are too many diapers in the pools.

I doubt I would frequent the pools, though I suppose it's possible. The spa, on the other hand, is a distinct possibility.

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I'm feeling miserably sick from a viral infection - maybe I should think twice about visiting my local shops in future?

I know you think this is a joke but yes, you should. I tell my staff to work remotely when they feel ill, and I definitely restrict my time out of home (to the pharmacy, etc) when I'm not feeling well. It's really just common courtesy.

Seriously though, anywhere you get people you will get illness. And where you have people who have invested money and emotion in being there, you will get people who are sick and insist on mingling with others despite their illness and potential for infection. Its just human nature. All you can do is protect yourself as best as possible via good nutrition, sleep, exercise and appropriate vaccinations. Then cross your fingers - after washing them of course! And don't touch the banisters! :P

I used to travel quite a bit for work and unfortunately still do now and then. The chance of becoming ill when traveling, at least in my experience, is much higher than when I'm not. You're absolutely correct about washing...I wash upwards of 5-10 times per day when traveling, and depending on circumstance will be one of those people who politely refuse to shake hands (especially if at a restaurant, etc). Since I started doing these preventative steps I've found that I become ill much less than I did previously.

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It's posts like these that make me think twice about cruising. And I'm just about to purchase for Sept cruise on the Divina.

 

 

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In fairness, then you need to think twice about flying, boarding a bus or train or trolley. And let's not let your restaurant choices off the hook either.

Cruises that get 'sick' get reported (if they have US port stop). Those other modes of transportation never get reported. Restaurants get inspected, but not all agencies have high standards.

Luck of the draw and personal responsibility, IMHO. But I eat at Mexican street taco and thai street satay stands, so what do I know.

Okmyx, post #15 - great advice.

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I know you think this is a joke but yes, you should. I tell my staff to work remotely when they feel ill, and I definitely restrict my time out of home (to the pharmacy, etc) when I'm not feeling well. It's really just common courtesy.

Don't worry, I do! Thank heavens for online groceries and free delivery! Now if only I had thought to cocoon myself away from others BEFORE I encountered someone who was infectious!

Unfortunately I tend to get quite a few viruses over winter because I am professional home stay carer to international students - and they tend to bring with them viral strains that I haven't yet developed an immunity to.

I used to travel quite a bit for work and unfortunately still do now and then. The chance of becoming ill when traveling, at least in my experience, is much higher than when I'm not. You're absolutely correct about washing...I wash upwards of 5-10 times per day when traveling, and depending on circumstance will be one of those people who politely refuse to shake hands (especially if at a restaurant, etc). Since I started doing these preventative steps I've found that I become ill much less than I did previously.

 

 

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I'm a frequent hand washer also. And I clean all communal surfaces such as doorknobs, banisters, light switches, taps etc with a bleach solution every Friday (or daily when we have sickos in the house like we do now). The problem is when the viral agents are airborne. :/

I learned my lesson after getting quite sick on 3 cruises in a row.

Someone had posted on CC to have your ac filter in your cabin changed.

I had them do that on my last 2 cruises and you wouldn't believe how filthy they were, black mold, etc. I was told they should be changed every few months, but was told it looked like mine hadn't been changed in a year. So, since I started making them do that, I haven't been sick on my last 2 cruises.

Simple thoughts that 'some' don't practice,,,(our opinion)

1) Wash your hands after going to the bathroom, sorry to say but you'll see as many as 50% of people leaving a bathroom on a ship, in a casino, in a restaurant, in a mall, etc. without washing their hands!:mad: PIGS are everywhere!

2) MSC promo to families with 'kids sail free' means you'll see a lot more kids! Stay away from 'pools/outdoor bath tubs' filled with people/kids, of course you're more likely to get sick, on any ship, on any line! But kids aren't the only problem, its everyone who is a pig, and doesn't wash their hands!

Example: HAL, 'NOT' the most family friendly cruise line has the most CDC reported incidents of any cruise line in the last 10 years, (4x's more then Carnival) so there's a lot of old pigs not washing their hands either! Saying that, we've cruised HAL, never got sick!

3) Never touch any food in the buffet where the serving handle is laying in the food, that entire tray of food is contaminated! Never touch any buffet food that 'pig people' from the pool dripped pool water onto! It's like bath tub gravy on your food!:eek:

4) Try not to touch anything anyone else has touched! Obviously you can't do this 100%, but the 'less' you touch like hand rails, public pens/pencils, door handles, elevator buttons, etc., the better off you'll be! And if you touch anything the public has touched, don't put your hands near your face until after you wash them! This we practice everywhere, not just on ships! Remember the 50% figures of #1 when you touch something!

About the AC/humidity,,

Our experience, no ship AC will keep the 'average' person cool, especially in the humid hot Caribbean! It seems most are set to keep those sensitive to the cold comfortable! You can ask each ship's maint. dept. to come to your cabin, and turn your AC to high, which it usually isn't set on, We have done this many times on different lines, and there is a big difference!

On MSC, some of the moisture talk could also be the Divina's advertised energy conservation, AC not set high enough to save money/energy! I heard the lights automatically go off when you leave the room, maybe the AC shuts off too?!

3500 people in small confined places like on a ship always feel warm to us, its crowded, and sometimes uncomfortable, that's why we buy a balcony, it gives us a sense of getting away from it all when we want!:D

Just our thinking, our opinion, but then we've never gotten sick in 30 plus years of cruising either! Might we suggest you drink more alcoholic beverages in the future!:D

I know you think this is a joke but yes, you should. I tell my staff to work remotely when they feel ill, and I definitely restrict my time out of home (to the pharmacy, etc) when I'm not feeling well. It's really just common courtesy.

 

 

 

Exactly Okmyx! Its rude to be out and around people when you are carrying something highly contagious!

 

 

Being in a closed environment, people are bound to get sick. Same with airplanes. AND if this was just a handful of people that got this exact same illness, I wouldn't really have thought anything about it. However, this is a very large percentage of the people that were on the ship all with the exact same symptoms and a few have ended up turning into pneumonia. It would be a good thing for the staff to do a little extra disinfecting of surfaces on the ship being that so many of us got sick. I'm not sure how long these germs will survive on surfaces but they are some nasty little buggers.

 

I washed my hands multiple times a day, use a paper towel to open door on way out, used the Purrell every time I passed a dispenser... but I still managed to pick it up. :-/

We had a great time aboard Divina for the Monsters of Rock cruise last week... however it appears about 1/2 the ship's passengers came back with some kind of illness. It starts with a loss of voice but feeling ok for a day, then head and chest congestion, sore throat, coughing, aches and fever set in. I've been fighting this off for 6 days now and still not over it after a steroid shot, decongestant shot and antibiotics. Some people have tested positive for flu while others, myself included, did not even though we all have the exact same symptoms. I was told my test could be false negative cause it was taken well past the 48 hour mark of symptom onset.?.

 

We definitely passed something around that boat.... and some still on there who are doing all 3 in a row are reporting more passengers experiencing same thing. (Today marks the 3 sailing of 3 in row music based chartered cruises...)

 

Now my thoughts on the ship: She is a lovely ship. Something didn't seem quiet right with the humidity inside though particularly in the lounges on 6 & 7 and theatre. It would be cool (although not as cool as I would've liked) inside but the air so wet feeling, you would instantly feel sticky. I know you are on the water and some humidity to be expected but this felt more than what should be normal. It was less humid outside than inside. I've been on several different cruise lines and ships and never experienced air so wet feeling indoors. The air conditioning just didn't seem to be cutting it. Even our cabin on 8 was humid and warmer than I would prefer with the thermostat as low as it would go.

 

The buffet food was decent but not great... I was surprised at how bland the pastas were being an Italian ship. Better than what we had on Poesia the last couple years. I never made it to any of the main dining rooms. I also noticed on the last night, I got water out of the ice machine and it had a brown tint to it. I hadn't noticed it when using the frosted plastic cups but that last night they put out white Styrofoam ones and you could see it was off.

 

The staff I think got fed up with our crazy bunch as the first couple days everyone was very nice but as time went on, some got pretty cranky... particularly pool bar staff. Some down right rude at the end. I'm sure that group is a bit overwhelming to them but their job is customer service so they should never be so nasty.

They usually clean it twice as normal after Monsters of the rock cruise:cool: WE been on one after Monsters..... they had to drain the pool and sanitize it:cool: no mantion smell in hallways ....

Simple thoughts that 'some' don't practice,,,(our opinion)

 

1) Wash your hands after going to the bathroom, sorry to say but you'll see as many as 50% of people leaving a bathroom on a ship, in a casino, in a restaurant, in a mall, etc. without washing their hands!:mad: PIGS are everywhere!

 

2) MSC promo to families with 'kids sail free' means you'll see a lot more kids! Stay away from 'pools/outdoor bath tubs' filled with people/kids, of course you're more likely to get sick, on any ship, on any line! But kids aren't the only problem, its everyone who is a pig, and doesn't wash their hands!

Example: HAL, 'NOT' the most family friendly cruise line has the most CDC reported incidents of any cruise line in the last 10 years, (4x's more then Carnival) so there's a lot of old pigs not washing their hands either! Saying that, we've cruised HAL, never got sick!

 

3) Never touch any food in the buffet where the serving handle is laying in the food, that entire tray of food is contaminated! Never touch any buffet food that 'pig people' from the pool dripped pool water onto! It's like bath tub gravy on your food!:eek:

 

4) Try not to touch anything anyone else has touched! Obviously you can't do this 100%, but the 'less' you touch like hand rails, public pens/pencils, door handles, elevator buttons, etc., the better off you'll be! And if you touch anything the public has touched, don't put your hands near your face until after you wash them! This we practice everywhere, not just on ships! Remember the 50% figures of #1 when you touch something!

 

About the AC/humidity,,

Our experience, no ship AC will keep the 'average' person cool, especially in the humid hot Caribbean! It seems most are set to keep those sensitive to the cold comfortable! You can ask each ship's maint. dept. to come to your cabin, and turn your AC to high, which it usually isn't set on, We have done this many times on different lines, and there is a big difference!

On MSC, some of the moisture talk could also be the Divina's advertised energy conservation, AC not set high enough to save money/energy! I heard the lights automatically go off when you leave the room, maybe the AC shuts off too?!

3500 people in small confined places like on a ship always feel warm to us, its crowded, and sometimes uncomfortable, that's why we buy a balcony, it gives us a sense of getting away from it all when we want!:D

 

Just our thinking, our opinion, but then we've never gotten sick in 30 plus years of cruising either! Might we suggest you drink more alcoholic beverages in the future!:D

We had shore excursion to Embera Village in Panama from MSC ,next day one lady was making big fuss about "dirty" food in village and how all men in their party got sick . My DH told me after that he is not surprised because he saw them in washroom ...no hand wash was on list . CD asking 100 times not to eat outside the ship in some ports but what we see? 30% go straight to local restaurant in port )

They usually clean it twice as normal after Monsters of the rock cruise:cool: WE been on one after Monsters..... they had to drain the pool and sanitize it:cool: no mantion smell in hallways ....

:D That would NOT surprise me.... our drunk ass rowdy bunch leaves the ship in a MESS. They did drain the indoor pool one night while we were on board.

They usually clean it twice as normal after Monsters of the rock cruise:cool: WE been on one after Monsters..... they had to drain the pool and sanitize it:cool: no mantion smell in hallways ....

The pools are drained each night as I understand as they are salt water pools!

I would be interested in hearing from past cruisers if they saw the pools emptied!

As far as how many were sick, if it reached the numbers another poster mentioned it would have been reported to the CDC, as this is mandatory for all US home ported ships which the Divina is!