Holland West Coast (including Noordam) plagued with Norovirus

We were on the cruise going North to South the week before you boarded (on the Noordam). There were a ton of people sick on the ship. This is what I observed -

1 - A very dirty ship. It felt like nothing was getting wiped down or cleaned on a regular basis. We started avoiding certain bar/lounge areas because they were so dirty.

2 - The hand sanitizer stations were often empty (as in not even stocked). Stations that were stocked were often out of sanitizer or not working. There were employees literally holding the bags of sanitizer at some locations and manually squirting it into your hand.

3 - Many older people coughing without covering their mouth. These same people often using the hand rails (which we never touched - nor the buttons on the elevator).

4 - Filthy tables/chairs throughout the ship. Literally, I don't think anything ever got wiped down.

5 - To avoid the outbreak, we often tried to order room service. Often, nobody would pick up. If they did pick up and you were lucky enough to order, it took over an hour to get the food. If someone was in their room sick and couldn't get food delivered, it would force them out to the Lido to get something to eat. I think this could be a huge part of the issue. Also - they would often pick up our dirty dishes as they delivered your food. Hmm... I think there needs to be 2 systems in place.

It got so bad that I didn't even want to leave my room and if I did, I would take my sanitizing wipes (which I bring on every cruise to sanitize our room the minute we step foot in it) with me and wipe down the chair I was sitting in as well as the table I was using. The ship was disgusting. The staff acted put out if you asked them to clear dirty dishes (let alone wiping down a table). We did not get sick (thank god), but I too think it's ridiculous to have to pay to see the doctor if you think you have Noro. It sounds like a way for them to keep their official numbers down. We will never cruise on HAL again.

We are currently on the Noordam northbound from Vancouver, ending at Sitka (Anchorage) tomorrow, August 5.

This will be the third cruise in a row that the Noordam has had a huge Norovirus outbreak. The medical officer on this cruise refuses to confirm how many cases are on this current cruise.

Prior to the start of our cruise in Vancouver, we were sent an email by Holland telling us that our check-in would be delayed while they “super disinfected” the ship. This obviously didn’t work very well.

When we were checking in at Vancouver, the check-in clerk (a part-time, non-Holland employee) mentioned that the boarding was delayed due to “a couple cases of illness on the previous cruise”. I asked her who told her to say this, and she said they were briefed that day by someone from Holland.

The previous cruise has 142 reported cases! With the real number likely to be higher.

I came down with the illness overnight after leaving Skagway. I went down to medical to report my illness, and Holland wanted $95 for me to see the doctor. As there is no medication to treat Norovirus, I demurred from seeing the doctor. They told me that the only reports they take are after seeing the doctor. This is borderline fraud.

The CDC will at some point have a report about the number of cases on this cruise. But there’s clearly something systemic currently wrong on this ship. We’re previous cruisers on HAL in Europe, and we were surprised at the much different demographic on this cruise. The Lido Deck is generally jammed with cruisers while the dining rooms have been relatively empty. And there are lots of kids - and with the way children are let to run wild these days, it perhaps is part of the problem.

I’ve also found the last CDC inspection of this ship in April 2017, with a low score and NO remediation plan submitted by Holland.

I’ll have more to say after the cruise ends.