Independence Norovirus Outbreak?

Hubby and I will be on the December 30th sailing - it's our first cruise and we haven't been on vacation since well before our six-year-old son was born. I'm trying not to panic; hopefully everything will be in good shape by then.

 

I was wondering, though...it sounds like a lot of the trouble may be from sick passengers going down to the medical facilities. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to send medical personnel to the cabins? I could see there being an issue with not having enough people, but wherever they are they can only see one person at a time anyway.

Your doctor spends the day going from house to house?

Your doctor spends the day going from house to house?

Flashback... Marcus Welby, M.D. ;)

Flashback... Marcus Welby, M.D. ;)

Funny!:D

Your doctor spends the day going from house to house?

LOL - no, but I don't run a cruise ship where minimizing passenger exposure to a highly contagious virus could make the difference between a great vacation and another news cycle full of vomit horror stories about my ship.

Your doctor spends the day going from house to house?

Duh, OK, explosive diahrea and vomit...YES...doc should come to rooms, thus to not spread the virus.

Duh, OK, explosive diahrea and vomit...YES...doc should come to rooms, thus to not spread the virus.

Sounds like Room Service to me. Will the sick cruiser have to pay a RS charge for the doctors visit? ;)

Duh, OK, explosive diahrea and vomit...YES...doc should come to rooms, thus to not spread the virus.

Adults using that "word" just sound so intelligent. If you had a clue as to the suggested procedures for a physician to decontaminate him (her) self between patients you would realize how unrealistic your cabin call expectations actually are considering there number of sick patients on the ship was in the hundreds.

We are here at terminal 18 ready to board the Indy. As we sat here, they just handed out a flyer to everyone saying the boarding will be delayed until 12 noon and rooms won't be available until 3 pm as they are sanitizing the public areas and guest rooms. So sounds like they have more work to do.

Will be interesting to see how long they will implement the Noro protocol for our entire 9 day cruise.

Harry

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

Just got off Indy today, took forever to board as we had to wait. We were all starving since we didn't have lunch. My brother and SIL and nephews were on deck 3 and their rooms weren't ready with no toilet paper. Our room was ready on deck 9 when we entered it. But couldn't get my own drink at drink stations, tables were wet as they used the same wet yucky rag at every and any table. Windjammer never stayed open late, closed at 9pm every night. Had to sanitize hands entering at any place. Needless to say, I was glad to get off the ship. Didn't see anyone sick. Then people were wondering if I was on ill fated bus, but I did it the day before. What a cruise, first Noro then people thinking I was on the crashed bus.

On Indy now. Received handout in the terminal about delayed embarkation but we were onboard just before noon (sailing in a JS). WJ is self serve except for drinks. Cabins won't be accessible until 3pm.

Got off Indy today. I will start by saying that the crew worked very hard and went over and above to accommodate to this unique situation. Constant cleaning, wiping, squirting hand sanitizer and reminders for hand washing. My cabin steward looked exhausted on the first day. We boarded later in the day and he was still working on our room. These folks work hard.

Unfortunately, my daughter got very sick the second night. We called the infirmary the following morning which resulted in a 36 hour quarantine for everyone in our party (4 in our party, two adjoining balcony rooms). They took the situation very seriously. Dr. Came to our room. Took a report of everything that she had eaten for the previous 5 days on a CDC form. After oral meds did not work, dr came immediately with injection which calmed the vomiting and diarrhea. The cabin steward came very frequently to clean the room and shower after each episode. He was wonderful and gracious. We could have free movies and room service. We received phone calls around mealtime to take our orders. Guest services and infirmary called to check on us. Daughter felt better through the day, then it it my other daughter and myself. We are all better now, but did miss much of our cruise due to quarantine. RCI was VERY strict with this. We could not leave our room. No bars, no promenade, no walking on the top deck, no leaving the boat. Missed our day in Costa Maya. When quarantine was lifted, and we were able to move about freely, our sea pass card was still “coded” and security had to be called. Even this morning when we were disembarking.

This cruise was for my daughter’s 16th birthday, so the circumstances were disappointing and unfortunate. But we are keeping our perspective. RCI is trying to protect their passengers. And we are all going home safely today. A 36 hour quarantine is very small in the grand scheme of things, especially in light of those families that were affected by the tour bus tragedy.

And for those wondering, we received a letter noting RCI’s apologies and letting us know that we would be receiving partial cruise credit. Part of our drink package was also refunded.

Not the best vacation ever, but we feel that RCI handled the situation as best they could. It’s important to extend grace in times like this. It eventually comes back around. :)

Got off Indy today. I will start by saying that the crew worked very hard and went over and above to accommodate to this unique situation. Constant cleaning, wiping, squirting hand sanitizer and reminders for hand washing. My cabin steward looked exhausted on the first day. We boarded later in the day and he was still working on our room. These folks work hard.

Unfortunately, my daughter got very sick the second night. We called the infirmary the following morning which resulted in a 36 hour quarantine for everyone in our party (4 in our party, two adjoining balcony rooms). They took the situation very seriously. Dr. Came to our room. Took a report of everything that she had eaten for the previous 5 days on a CDC form. After oral meds did not work, dr came immediately with injection which calmed the vomiting and diarrhea. The cabin steward came very frequently to clean the room and shower after each episode. He was wonderful and gracious. We could have free movies and room service. We received phone calls around mealtime to take our orders. Guest services and infirmary called to check on us. Daughter felt better through the day, then it it my other daughter and myself. We are all better now, but did miss much of our cruise due to quarantine. RCI was VERY strict with this. We could not leave our room. No bars, no promenade, no walking on the top deck, no leaving the boat. Missed our day in Costa Maya. When quarantine was lifted, and we were able to move about freely, our sea pass card was still “coded” and security had to be called. Even this morning when we were disembarking.

 

This cruise was for my daughter’s 16th birthday, so the circumstances were disappointing and unfortunate. But we are keeping our perspective. RCI is trying to protect their passengers. And we are all going home safely today. A 36 hour quarantine is very small in the grand scheme of things, especially in light of those families that were affected by the tour bus tragedy.

 

And for those wondering, we received a letter noting RCI’s apologies and letting us know that we would be receiving partial cruise credit. Part of our drink package was also refunded.

 

 

Not the best vacation ever, but we feel that RCI handled the situation as best they could. It’s important to extend grace in times like this. It eventually comes back around. :)

Welcome to cruise critic. Maybe your next cruise will be a lot better cruise. ;)

Sorry the previous poster was sick. We were also on the cruise and I did not see any passengers that were obviously sick. I did see someone sanitizing a room halfway thru the cruise. The worker had on a gas mask and hall had biohazard bags to be taken in. We were happy to have all the extra precautions and were not at all bothered by the delay in boarding. It was only our second cruise so we did not really know what to expect anyway.

The workers were constantly cleaning everything though. I did notice that workers were getting the ice cream for you on deck 11 and you could not get your own coffee on café promenade. There was no tutti frutti salad bar. As you went into each venue you were squirted with sanitizer and not given much choice about it. Between shows, they would close Alahambra theater for sanitizing and then reopen for the next show.

We did not eat in WJ at all, as I wanted to stay away from sharing tongs with others. We did rewash and sanitize after looking at menus in MDR. We did not eat any finger foods. Utensils only and made a concerted effort to not touch hand rails, elevator buttons.... I did take a canister of Lysol wipes and wiped down our rooms at check in and several times during the cruise. Some people seemed put off by all of the precautions, but I was grateful for it.

All it takes is one sick person saying I'm not missing my cruise, and they board the ship sick and here we go. Buy insurance people, and if your sick stay home!

Last month the day before boarding my wife came down with Noro symptoms that lasted until the morning of departure. We could have made it to the port on time but didn't want to infect others so we stayed home. We did get a full reimbursement after submitting our Doctors report to our Chase Preferred credit card company. Thank heavens for Chase!

Thank you so much phylnbill. You did the right thing. So many are inconsiderate of everyone else and go no matter how ill they are!

Is anyone on the Indy now that can give an update to the conditions? Thank you!

Is anyone on the Indy now that can give an update to the conditions? Thank you!

Hi...on Indy now. Buffets are basically back to normal. Salad bar in the MDR is still served by staff, but Windjamer is all self-serve. There are people reminding you to sanitize and 'washy washy' at all food lines/entrances. The staff appear to be very diligent in cleaning the ship. There were notices given throughout regarding virus/noro outbreaks and ways to prevent it, but all-in-all, seems to be a fairly normal experience so far!

Hi...on Indy now. Buffets are basically back to normal. Salad bar in the MDR is still served by staff, but Windjamer is all self-serve. There are people reminding you to sanitize and 'washy washy' at all food lines/entrances. The staff appear to be very diligent in cleaning the ship. There were notices given throughout regarding virus/noro outbreaks and ways to prevent it, but all-in-all, seems to be a fairly normal experience so far!

Thanks for the update! That's great news!

Hi...on Indy now. Buffets are basically back to normal. Salad bar in the MDR is still served by staff, but Windjamer is all self-serve. There are people reminding you to sanitize and 'washy washy' at all food lines/entrances. The staff appear to be very diligent in cleaning the ship. There were notices given throughout regarding virus/noro outbreaks and ways to prevent it, but all-in-all, seems to be a fairly normal experience so far!

Great news, as we'll be on the Indy Feb. 1st. The passengers will be mostly from elsewhere, it's about 15% Americans and the rest from around 70 countries, so a better chance for "imported" germs. :eek:

"imported germs"...so what would they be?

"imported germs"...so what would they be?

Any illness that might be currently pandemic (or sub-pandemic) in their home countries. It will be a large number of people coming in from all over the world for the charter cruise, so the chances of overseas illnesses being imported and spread are elevated.

We haven't had significant issues reported in past years -- just the usual number of people with post-cruise sniffles and colds -- so I'm hoping for another good year.

Was on the 12/16 Sailing. They took amazing precautions. Wish I owned stock in Purell. They had staff with Purell before you could enter any food spot. Passengers were not allowed to touch anything in Windjammer, rather everything was served to you by staff. You were asked to use hand sanitizer even when you exited food areas. All handrails in stairs and hallways were constantly being wiped down. Some passengers were complaining that the rails were always wet, so they didn't think it was that safe. You were asked to use hand sanitizer when entering the Theater and the Studio B Ice Rink.

During muster drill we were advised that if we felt sick to go to the Medical Center for a "Free" check-up. Stuff happens, but they made every effort to make sure there was no repeat of the outbreak on our sailing. The embarkation was delayed and we all received Notices of it. We were asked not to arrive before 2 PM, but hundreds showed up earlier, so process was a little more screwed up than normal. Cabins were not available until about 4:30 PM, so they could be sanitized as well.

I was on the 12/21 sailing. Since the previous cruise was okay they relaxed the protocols. Cabins were stated to be ready at 3pm due to enhanced cleaning but were actually available just after 2pm. Upon arrival at the terminal they handed out letters explaining a delayed boarding at noon but they actually started before noon.

We were able to serve ourselves normally in the Windjammer. Normal hand sanitizers everywhere. I wasn't aware of any issues with any guests. Seemed like a normal cruise to me.

Overall an awesome Christmas cruise.

Following the 12/16 - 12/21 Indy Cruise - NO COMPLAINTS!

The crew did great - thankfully, no illnesses with our party and wasn't privy to anyone's woe.

Leaving on Allure next week for a seven day!