Celebrity Solstice Norovirus question?????????

Hi fellow Celebrity cruisers.

Going on the Solstice for our 1st time in late January. The ship has presently got the Norovirus and has done so for the past 2 cruises.

Is there anyone out there that has any knowledge of how long this virus takes to wipe out. I know it is probably hard to determine but any experiences with this situation would help us. Just a tad concerned about the situation.

Regards Bob.:)

The virus itself can live for quite a while on surfaces (days to weeks). So the ship will be getting wiped down continuously if there is an outbreak. Watch out for bleach on railings etc, Don't lean against anything or you might get bleach on your clothes. People are contagious once they have symptoms and usually for a few days after they feel better.

Noro is primarily spread through contact so you have to touch something contaminated once on your hands it can get into your mouth. Don't touch handrails, when pressing elevator buttons use your knuckles. Stay out of the public restrooms as much as you can and if you use them use a paper towel when you are touching things. Wash your hands often and keep them away from your mouth.

We were on either the Solstice or Millenium a couple of years ago when there was a pretty large outbreak. It seemed like every door and railing was always wet with bleach. But none of our large group caught anything. A little care on what you touch can really reduce your risk.

Looking at the U.S. CDC website for norovirus incidents for 2017, there are only 2 cases when there was infection on 2 consecutive cruises. (Keep in mind that a 3% threshold must be past for an infection to be reported).

I believe there was a case more than 15 years ago on the old Celebrity Mercury when the virus continued on so many consecutive cruises (maybe 4?) that the US health authorities issued a Do Not Sail for the next cruise.

As you know, the Solstice is currently in Australia, and the health officials have their own rules. In any case, I would expect the 2 months until your cruise in January is plenty of time to solve the problem.

Good information! The first thing I do on EVERY cruise is wipe down everything in my cabin with antibacterial wipes. Always practice hand hygiene when the hand sanitizer is offered and in public areas. Wash or sanitize your hands before and after touching your face or using the bathroom. The cruise line has processes in place to address any outbreaks, so be sure to do your part to prevent this from happening and enjoy your cruise!

The SHIP doesn't have noro...the PASSENGERS/crew might....it's a sneaky virus....you can have it and be contagious BEFORE you know you're sick...that's why it's so hard to control. Once you get the symptoms, it's unlikely you'll be "out and about"...you feel like you're dying and won't want to be far from your bathroom.

Face-touching is the main means of transmittal.....just having germs on your hands won't make you ill...but give them an entry point via nose, mouth or eyes, and WHAMMY....you've got it!

Good information! The first thing I do on EVERY cruise is wipe down everything in my cabin with antibacterial wipes. Always practice hand hygiene when the hand sanitizer is offered and in public areas. Wash or sanitize your hands before and after touching your face or using the bathroom. The cruise line has processes in place to address any outbreaks, so be sure to do your part to prevent this from happening and enjoy your cruise!

Most store bought wipes will not kill Norovirus. You need something stronger than a standard antibacterial wipe. Just like antibiotics wont do anything to kill it in you. There are some products that formulated to kill viruses such as noro.

Clorox hydrogen peroxide wipes are said to kill it and there are a few other products formulated to kill it too. So be sure to check if the product you are buying will actually be effective.

So far so good on the Solstice. We boarded Monday after the deep clean. So far, no indication of sickness. Still providing individual packets of sugar, salt, pepper upon request. Think food is being served in the buffet but I have not been there.

Hi fellow Celebrity cruisers.

 

Going on the Solstice for our 1st time in late January. The ship has presently got the Norovirus and has done so for the past 2 cruises.

Is there anyone out there that has any knowledge of how long this virus takes to wipe out. I know it is probably hard to determine but any experiences with this situation would help us. Just a tad concerned about the situation.

 

Regards Bob.:)

There are cases on the current sailing to NZ (check the other two threads on here for more info), apperently the numbers are small. Google "Solstice Norovirus" for Australian media reports and a statement from Celebrity. I hope everyone recovers well and (because it's all about me :)) that it's sorted before we sail on 25 November.

Wet Ones in the red or yellow pack have the chemical that kills Norovirus. The individual wipes do not.

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Thanks guys for all your answers. Appreciate them.

Wet Ones in the red or yellow pack have the chemical that kills Norovirus. The individual wipes do not.

 

 

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For whatever it's worth, I found a link on the Center for Disease Control website (https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/preventing-infection.html) to a list of EPA registered products that are effective against norovirus:

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/list_g_norovirus.pdf

But only a few of these products are shown as wipes, and most of the list is brands I've never heard of. I don't see Wet Ones listed specifically on this list, but I guess it could be they do kill norovirus and just never bothered to register with the EPA. Or perhaps this list is more for commercial and hospital use, which is why it shows unknown brands and not common consumer brands such as Wet Ones.

Looking at the U.S. CDC website for norovirus incidents for 2017, there are only 2 cases when there was infection on 2 consecutive cruises. (Keep in mind that a 3% threshold must be past for an infection to be reported).

Just to clarify, the level at which cruise lines are required to report a noro virus episode on board a ship is 2%, not 3%. So as example if there are 3,000 passengers on board, the CDC does not require a filing until there are 60 reported cases of illness.

There are also different levels of "alert" on board that are scaled with the number of reported cases, with each providing more intense public area cleaning and food handling practices designed to reduce the opportunity for the virus to spread further. Affected passengers will be quarantined in their stateroom, typically for 48 hours, to reduce further passenger exposure.

While any thought of noro is unsettling on a ship, you are just as likely to contract it in a school, mall, restaurant, or any other land based public areas. Keep in mind it is not the ship that is making you ill but infected passengers who carried the illness on board.

And to keep it in perspective, on that same 3,000 passenger ship with 60 cases (which again is the reporting threshold) there are also 2,940 passengers who are not affected.

Glad to hear that the number of people with Noro is small. We're supposed to be sailing on Solstice soon. Hopefully they'll get it under control.

Anti-bacterial Wet Ones have the chemical that kills Norovirus.

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Anti-bacterial Wet Ones have the chemical that kills Norovirus.

 

 

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To OP - Internet rumors say that Wet Ones Anti-Bacterial Wipes kill norovirus. Wet Ones have not been proven to kill norovirus, per the manufacturer's own statements. You need to have a product with bleach to kill the norovirus.

We've been on 3 cruises that have had it onboard, just be vigilant with Hot water and soap and top it with gel. We've had one where the week was spent being served in the buffet, no salt and pepper on tables, even served at coffee machines in ocean view. You can do all sorts to reduce risk.

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Bit of misinformation coming here.

The EPA list of effective agents against noro is just that, all the chemicals and products that have been shown to be effective against noro. Most of these are commercial products, because at the concentration levels that are effective, you have to be trained and certified to use them. There are very few consumer products on this list. If a company had a product that they could prove, rather than claim, was effective against noro, they would register it with the EPA so that they could tout that in their advertising. Manufacturers can make all the claims they want, unless someone makes a complaint to the EPA or FDA about their advertising possibly being false, there is no need to prove anything.

While many consumer products have the ingredients that are effective against noro, they are not in the concentration sufficient to be effective in the contact time the product allows (either the time you wipe down, or the time until the chemical dries). This report must be made 24 hours prior to entering a US port.

And, "anti-bacterial" wipes may be effective against bacteria, and even some viruses, but non-encapsulated viruses like noro are extremely resistant to most anything other than very strong bleach, quats (quaternary ammonium chloride), or benzethonium chloride (much stronger than anything available to consumers).

As for reporting to the CDC, every cruise ship, every time it enters a US port from a foreign port, whether there have been any cases of GI illness, has to make a report to the CDC (even if it to say "none"). When the number of reportable cases reaches 2% of passengers or crew (pax and crew are not combined in the reportable case totals), a second "special" report must be made, at the time that the 2% trigger level is reached. Neither the normal report, nor this first special report are posted on the CDC website.

When the number of reportable cases reaches 3%, a second special report must be made, and this is the only report that is posted on the CDC website for the public to view. So, in fact, in the example posted above, you would never know about the cruise that had 60 out of 3000 ill. You would only see a report when 90+ became ill.

Anti-bacterial Wet Ones have the chemical that kills Norovirus.

 

 

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Norovirus is virus, hence the name. Antibacterial wipes only impact on bacteria.

Bit of misinformation coming here.

 

The EPA list of effective agents against noro is just that, all the chemicals and products that have been shown to be effective against noro. Most of these are commercial products, because at the concentration levels that are effective, you have to be trained and certified to use them. There are very few consumer products on this list. If a company had a product that they could prove, rather than claim, was effective against noro, they would register it with the EPA so that they could tout that in their advertising. Manufacturers can make all the claims they want, unless someone makes a complaint to the EPA or FDA about their advertising possibly being false, there is no need to prove anything.

 

While many consumer products have the ingredients that are effective against noro, they are not in the concentration sufficient to be effective in the contact time the product allows (either the time you wipe down, or the time until the chemical dries). This report must be made 24 hours prior to entering a US port.

 

And, "anti-bacterial" wipes may be effective against bacteria, and even some viruses, but non-encapsulated viruses like noro are extremely resistant to most anything other than very strong bleach, quats (quaternary ammonium chloride), or benzethonium chloride (much stronger than anything available to consumers).

 

As for reporting to the CDC, every cruise ship, every time it enters a US port from a foreign port, whether there have been any cases of GI illness, has to make a report to the CDC (even if it to say "none"). When the number of reportable cases reaches 2% of passengers or crew (pax and crew are not combined in the reportable case totals), a second "special" report must be made, at the time that the 2% trigger level is reached. Neither the normal report, nor this first special report are posted on the CDC website.

 

When the number of reportable cases reaches 3%, a second special report must be made, and this is the only report that is posted on the CDC website for the public to view. So, in fact, in the example posted above, you would never know about the cruise that had 60 out of 3000 ill. You would only see a report when 90+ became ill.

Ok, help me understand something. Does hand washing kill the norovirus? Instead of using bleach or high concentration chemicals should I just lather up some hand soap and wipe everything in the cabin with the soap lather and then rinse after 30 sec? This would seem easier,

Ok, help me understand something. Does hand washing kill the norovirus? Instead of using bleach or high concentration chemicals should I just lather up some hand soap and wipe everything in the cabin with the soap lather and then rinse after 30 sec? This would seem easier,

Hand washing does not really "kill" any virus or bacteria, though some soaps have anti-bacterial agents in them, that if the contact time is sufficient (the length of time you wash your hands) will have additional benefits.

Soap is not a disinfecting agent. Soap is a lubricant. Think about it, soap is made from animal fat and lye. What hand washing does is loosen the germs (viruses or bacteria) from your skin, and the water rinses it away, still alive. Soap increases the lubrication to remove the outer layer of dead skin cells where the germs are attached more readily, and again it is all washed down the drain.

To use common soap to disinfect surfaces, you need the scrubbing action (friction between hands when hand washing)to loosen the germs, and you then need a method to dispose of the still living, but loose germs. Are you going to spray down the room with the shower head? Wipe it down with a wet towel, and never recontact an area of the towel back onto the surface to prevent redepositing germs? Without a good quantity of water to flush away the soap and germs, disinfecting hard surfaces (and especially soft surfaces) is best done with chemical sanitizers.

Just piping in my two cents... Wife and I were on the Honolulu Sydney Oct2-20th Cruise... Last three days were awful. Rooms need two bathrooms == and I'm not joking.. Crew had hard time filling room service orders... Once you are confined to your room (voluntarily, your TV room service menu screen changes to "Dial 51" for room service, and when called you're told what you can have.. (toast-cold by the time you get it) --chicken noodle soup--crackers---etc).. not a fun time.. Everything served with plastic utensils and paper plates..

BTW. Sydney Was Fantastic !

I was on the November 7 sailing out of Auckland. We had a delayed boarding so that the ship and terminal could be thoroughly cleaned. The first five days were spent on high alert. Cleaning was going on constantly and only packets of sugar, salt, pepper, etc. No menus, no ice on martini bar, etc. It worked! Day five the alert was lifted and cruise life went back to normal. I heard "rumors" of sick passengers, but never saw any evidence.

I was on the November 7 sailing out of Auckland. We had a delayed boarding so that the ship and terminal could be thoroughly cleaned. The first five days were spent on high alert. Cleaning was going on constantly and only packets of sugar, salt, pepper, etc. No menus, no ice on martini bar, etc. It worked! Day five the alert was lifted and cruise life went back to normal. I heard "rumors" of sick passengers, but never saw any evidence.

We were on same cruise and the only sickness we heard of was a couple of people with the flu.

Back from sailing Sydney-Auckland Nov 25- Dec 9. First 3 days precautions, then normal operation. No problems reported.

Back from sailing Sydney-Auckland Nov 25- Dec 9. First 3 days precautions, then normal operation. No problems reported.

that's good to hear - we are on Solstice 29 March 2018 out of Sydney and hope the Norovirus issue is well and truly gone by then!