Norovirus Issue and subsequent compensation

[Cuizer2]

:o My wife and I recently completed a Med Cruise during which we endured a bout of Norovirus. As a result, we were not able to conduct our tours in Egypt which was the main reason for our taking the cruise.

 

On one hand we feel that the cruise line should offer us some compensation for this situation, since we were healthy when we came aboard and abided by all the personal hygiene requirements. On the other hand, the crew was extremely diligent with antibacterial spraying, we were given medical attention by a nurse and medications for no charge, no hassle for canceling the tours, etc.

 

Can someone give us their "take" on this. This was our 13th cruise but we're still a bit shaken by it. Thank you.

 

Can you prove the cruise line was negligent and that negligence resulted in your getting sick? If so, you can pursue the issue. If not, don't waste your time.

 

The bottom line is, sometimes things go wrong. Unless you can prove it is the cruise's fault, you are just going to be wasting your time and money and the cruise line's time and money.

[lady_cruiser]

On the other hand, the crew was extremely diligent with antibacterial spraying, we were given medical attention by a nurse and medications for no charge, no hassle for canceling the tours, etc.

 

Can someone give us their "take" on this. This was our 13th cruise but we're still a bit shaken by it. Thank you.

 

First I do hope you and your wife are feeling better and if not God Speed for a speedy recovery.

 

But, I think your above quote says it all especially about the free medical attention.

 

My take on this is that it is not the cruiseline's fault that some passenger came on-board sick and spread the virus to other passengers. Just like I know that it wasn't Carnival's fault that I missed 3 weeks of week last month. One week because I was on a cruise and the following two weeks because I came back with a bad case of bronchitis. In fact half of the passengers walking off the ship with us was also coughing, sneezing, clearing their throats like they were sore, etc.

 

As stated many times here at Cruise Critic, Norovirus is every where; schools, nursing homes, offices, malls, etc.

 

Lets Think of it another way. If one of us had had superbowl tickets or tickets to a broadway show that we had been looking forward to seeing and had to cancel because someone in our office came to work one day with a "virus". Then all of a sudden everyone in our work place seem to be getting this virus because "it is something in the air." We wouldn't expect our boss to reimburse us for the cost of the tickets that we couldn't now use because we are sick with "a virus" now could we?" It's the same with a cruise line, they can't be responsible because some other passenger spread the virus.

 

Too bad that you can't find that passenger that started the virus in the first place and, as Ann Landers use to say, "give them 10 lashes with a wet noodle."

 

Heres hoping that all your next cruises will be illness free.

[Langley Cruisers]

Sorry, double post.

[Langley Cruisers]

OP, sorry you were ill. I know what it's like to feel like a vacation was "wasted", if you will. But as others have said, you have no case and will receive absolutely nothing in the way of compensation, despite any efforts you may have taken to avoid illness. Noro happens everywhere - who knows, you may have even brought it with you after contracting it on the airplane you flew on, the grocery store where you shopped before boarding, etc. Know what I mean?

 

If you had been at an all-inclusive resort and gotten ill, would you ask them for compensation? What about visiting family in another part of the country or overseas... would you expect them to compensate you? I'm simply saying this could and does happen anywhere, not just cruise ships.

 

Again, sorry. Hopefully you can get back to Egypt another time.

[onesycamore]

In spring of '09, wife and I were on Celebrity Millenium (Alaska to Vancouver) and I came down with Norovirus. Ship's doc got to me about 12 hours after I reached for them, and by then most symptoms had passed. Doc asked me and my wife to stay in our room for 24 hours after any symptoms. Wife was fine but stayed in room with me for the day. About 6 weeks later, we received compensation for the 3 days (~$1,200). I was told by our travel agent that this was better comp than he had ever heard of.

[beachchick]

*most* people? I'm a Registered Nurse and I've never heard of that. LOL

I'll get that Vitamin D on the pool deck with a Cocoloco, please!

 

I've never heard of that either. I'm not a nurse or in the medical professions, but I try to keep up with things. We take extra Vitamin D to help prevent colon cancer and heart disease because long-term studies have shown those benefits. We also know that Vitamin D deficiency is rampant because so many of us wear sunscreen all the time. We actually try to get about 10 minutes of unprotected exposure on our arms, shoulders, and face 3 to 4 times per week.

 

I think the OP exhibits the extent to which we have become an overly litigious society. People wanting "compensation" for every little inconvenience that they suffer, either real or imaginary. Norovirus could have been contracted anywhere. Despite the popular image that it is a "cruise ship disease" it is not. To paraphrase Seinfeld's Soup N***: "No compensation for you!"

 

So much so that it's possible other passengers picked it up on land either shortly before boarding or even at an early port stop and weren't even aware they brought it onboard.

 

I'm sure that many people do lie on the health forms and I know many people are very selfish and believe "I paid for this vacation, darn it; even though I'm sick, I'm not staying in my cabin; who cares if others get sick too." Of course, it can be problematic if someone truly has just overindulged or eaten something in port that didn't agree with them. If that happened to us, we would voluntarily quarantine ourselves for the 12 to 15 hours that such things usually last. (Yet another reason we don't cruise without a balcony!) By then we'd know if we needed to see the doctor for a true communicable illness.

 

beachchick

[hcf]

:o My wife and I recently completed a Med Cruise during which we endured a bout of Norovirus. As a result, we were not able to conduct our tours in Egypt which was the main reason for our taking the cruise.

 

On one hand we feel that the cruise line should offer us some compensation for this situation, since we were healthy when we came aboard and abided by all the personal hygiene requirements. On the other hand, the crew was extremely diligent with antibacterial spraying, we were given medical attention by a nurse and medications for no charge, no hassle for canceling the tours, etc.

 

Can someone give us their "take" on this. This was our 13th cruise but we're still a bit shaken by it. Thank you.

 

My opinion or "take" on this is based on my own personal observations on the 1/24/2010 cruise on the NCL Jade. I don't know what ship you were on, but certain facts regarding norovirus infection according to the CDC apply across the board.

 

While I agree that some people who might have chosen not to report to the ship's doctor, but it doesn't mean they weren't sequestered in their staterooms. Ask anyone who was infected with the stomach virus on this cruise, how far could/did they dare to wander from their cabins without fear of unpredictable expulsion from either end.

 

Before we get into the "blame the victim" mentality that the cruise ship companies are trying to get us to do, let's look at the some information.

 

According to the CDC, the incubation time for this virus is 24 to 48 hours. So, many people are not aware that they are carriers until the symptoms start to manifest. Carriers without symptoms board the ship, get put into crowded eating conditions without proper sanitization, can spread the virus exponentially. Just as it can spread easily from person to person and not necessarily limited to the hands, it can be transmitted via contact with contaminated fomites, e.g. un-sanitized tables, used silverware, dishes, and napkins. Again, it doesn't matter how much you sanitize your hands or avoid touching door knobs or railings, you can still easily pick it up from the very table you eat on that has not been wiped nor sanitized after other people had used it ....imagine what can get directly into your mouth....from someone else's mouth. :eek:

 

On the NCL Jade, passengers were kept from entering their staterooms for several hours after boarding due to necessary sanitizing scrub down to "disinfect" the ship from the existing norovirus infection. A buffet was offered while the passengers were waiting, in a venue that did not have the capacity to service the size of the passenger population all at once. Passengers were packed shoulder to shoulder as they inched along waiting to get food served to them by a NCL server at each food station. This situation fostered unavoidable direct human contact as people tried to move from station line to station line without bumping into fellow passengers also balancing food-laden plates in their hands. Getting a couple of food items first and returning for other items was deterred by the daunting thought of having to get in long lines again. Furthermore, the eating area was also packed, every seat occupied. To find a table, passengers circled the tables continually like playing musical chair, to grab a table before anyone else does, even if the previous occupants had not totally departed. Eventually, a crew member came along and collected the used plates, silverware, glasses, and napkins left by the previous occupants. This process continued throughout the afternoon, with each table having served several different parties of passengers before it got randomly sanitized by a crew member with a spray bottle of disinfectant. Surprisingly, this method of "sanitizing" protocol continued throughout the length of the cruise, when there were no crowds. Used napkins, food containers, etc. continued to be picked up by a worker, leaving an empty, but contaminated, table surface to lure the next unsuspecting victim(s). I have photos of rings from juice glasses and crumbs on table tops as people plunk down their plates of food and eat their food. At least, those were visible, what about the invisible virus left on the table surface from contact with the napkin that had been used to wipe someone's mouth, or the fork that had been IN someone's mouth?

 

Imagine you were a passenger who came onboard fully trusting you can protect yourself if you followed the ship's edict to sanitize your hands vigilantly, avoid touching door knobs, railings, etc., would you suspect that you could so easily contract the virus at the food venue opened to welcome you..especially when the ship had just finished sanitizing from top to bottom? Passengers were set up as sitting ducks for blatant victims of virus exposure from day one.

 

I believe NCL is not only responsible for its inability to eradicate or even to contain this virus, it is responsible for putting every passenger in jeopardy of catching this virus and pay the consequences of suffering physically, missing excursions, losing fees paid, not to mention the disappointment and anguish. In addition, its policy of deceit with the denial of the severity of the virus infection robbed the passengers of the option of not boarding the ship at this time.

 

It is time that NCL takes ownership for the negligence which led to the consequences for the passengers. Some kind of restitution is very much in order.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Sorry that you both got the Noro virus while you were cruising.

 

As for compensation -- no you shouldn't get anything.

 

There is no proof that you got it on the ship.

[luddite]

 

 

 

 

I believe NCL is not only responsible for its inability to eradicate or even to contain this virus, it is responsible for putting every passenger in jeopardy of catching this virus and pay the consequences of suffering physically, missing excursions, losing fees paid, not to mention the disappointment and anguish. In addition, its policy of deceit with the denial of the severity of the virus infection robbed the passengers of the option of not boarding the ship at this time.

 

It is time that NCL takes ownership for the negligence which led to the consequences for the passengers. Some kind of restitution is very much in order.

 

You don't really believe that, do you?

Seriously?

[jollyjones]

 

I believe NCL is not only responsible for its inability to eradicate or even to contain this virus, it is responsible for putting every passenger in jeopardy of catching this virus and pay the consequences of suffering physically, missing excursions, losing fees paid, not to mention the disappointment and anguish. In addition, its policy of deceit with the denial of the severity of the virus infection robbed the passengers of the option of not boarding the ship at this time.

 

It is time that NCL takes ownership for the negligence which led to the consequences for the passengers. Some kind of restitution is very much in order.

 

OMG ... I hope you didn't fly to your embarkation port ... or take a taxi ... or stay in a hotel ... or eat in any restaurant pre-boarding ... or buy anything in a store ... or ... or ... or .... if you ever get the slightest sniffle or touch of indigestion, you'll be spending the rest of your life suing everybody.

[Shorex]

 

I have photos of rings from juice glasses and crumbs on table tops as people plunk down their plates of food and eat their food. At least, those were visible, what about the invisible virus left on the table surface from contact with the napkin that had been used to wipe someone's mouth, or the fork that had been IN someone's mouth?

 

Imagine you were a passenger who came onboard fully trusting you can protect yourself if you followed the ship's edict to sanitize your hands vigilantly, avoid touching door knobs, railings, etc., would you suspect that you could so easily contract the virus at the food venue opened to welcome you..especially when the ship had just finished sanitizing from top to bottom? Passengers were set up as sitting ducks for blatant victims of virus exposure from day one.

 

 

LOL. Really, this sounds just like the overly dramatic language that lawyers use in their complaints. Pictures of crumbs on a table? Who takes pictures of crumbs on a table unless you're gearing up for a lawsuit?

 

Guess you are really lucky that you did not get sick, but if you did those pictures of crumbs would have come in handy!

[FlyerTalker]

Let's see....ppicciri made that one post and gone. Troll??

 

To ppicciri and hcf: If you really want to try to get compensation from a company, why not spill hot coffee into your lap. Or file a grievance with the Federal Bureau of Protecting You From Everything. It's part of the Department of Entitlements. Oh, I forgot that agency isn't established.....yet.

 

Final thoughts: Take a good look at the concept of "gross negligence". And at your own expectations of the world around you.

[MoYerclan]

I have photos of rings from juice glasses and crumbs on table tops as people plunk down their plates of food and eat their food. At least, those were visible, what about the invisible virus left on the table surface from contact with the napkin that had been used to wipe someone's mouth, or the fork that had been IN someone's mouth?

 

 

...ok.. I give. Exactly what risk are juice rings and bread crumbs to your health again...? That's just hysterical!!

As for the napkin... who uses a used napkin left at a table?

[lovevacadays]

seriously? this question was asked?:eek:

[jollyjones]

I notice the opening post was the OP's first and only post ... troll, perhaps? Maybe time to quit this thread?

[irwinler]

Both DH and I got the norovirus on the NCL Jewel a couple of years ago and were confined to our cabin for 3 days! We missed one port of call. We were each compensated $100 for a total of $200 applied to our account. We were not charged for any of the medical care or medications.

NMI

[mjkacmom]

While I agree that some people who might have chosen not to report to the ship's doctor, but it doesn't mean they weren't sequestered in their staterooms. Ask anyone who was infected with the stomach virus on this cruise, how far could/did they dare to wander from their cabins without fear of unpredictable expulsion from either end.

.

 

I couldn't agree more - it's most likely picked up from someone who doesn't have symptoms yet. If I had a stomach virus, there is NO WAY I'm leaving the cabin! Heck, I had one last month, and dedicated an entire bathroom to my use only!

[BruceMuzz]

Both DH and I got the norovirus on the NCL Jewel a couple of years ago and were confined to our cabin for 3 days! We missed one port of call. We were each compensated $100 for a total of $200 applied to our account. We were not charged for any of the medical care or medications.

NMI

 

Sadly, one of the changes that we see taking place in the cruise industry is a cutback on the compensation paid out for NLV quarantive.

The number and frequency of NLV outbreaks on ships has increased at such an alarming rate (but still much lower than on land) that the cruise lines are balking at paying people to suffer from what is essentially the flu.

 

Only a few cruise lines are still refunding missed days due to quarantine. Those will stop shortly as well.

[BND]

Sadly, one of the changes that we see taking place in the cruise industry is a cutback on the compensation paid out for NLV quarantive.

The number and frequency of NLV outbreaks on ships has increased at such an alarming rate (but still much lower than on land) that the cruise lines are balking at paying people to suffer from what is essentially the flu.

 

Only a few cruise lines are still refunding missed days due to quarantine. Those will stop shortly as well.

 

Why is it "sadly"? Norovirus is a stomach virus. Why should anyone get compensation for something that you caught from someone else, and someone who probably didn't know they were contagious? Many people have had it at one time or another. I hate to tell everyone, but the reason they quarantine people besides how contagious it is, is because 1, some people have no common sense and will not quarantine themselves and 2, it's to appease other cruisers. The fact is, as with most viruses, you are contagious before you show symptoms and the cruiseline is not at any fault when it starts spreading. It's not because handrails weren't wiped down, it's because people who are contagious actually open doors, touch utensils, spend time around other people, etc. I think it's ridiculous to expect the cruiseline to reimburse you for being sick. A hotel certainly won't do it. I certainly wouldn't expect anything except maybe room service so we could eat.

[Cuizer2]

I certainly wouldn't expect anything except maybe room service so we could eat.

 

If you have the Norovirus, do you really want to eat? :confused:

[smeyer418]

did you buy insurance? many times your own insurance will pay for days "lost" to Novo virus....but you have to prove your were confined(I hope you have a doctors note).

 

The cruise lines don't insure you against these things. If you write and complain they will sometimes issue a credit for you to use on your next cruise. Rarely do they refund anything.

 

You are generally responsible for your own health. I don't eat at buffets because they are germ central no matter how clean they may appear(or dirty for that matter) and I wash my own hands a lot and take a paper towel to open the bathroom door as I leave. I had the mummy's tummy one day....but brought along my own medicine and didn't see the doctor...

 

If you have only gotten ill once in 13 cruises you are probably are ahead of the game and should just chalk this up as your time and move on.

[room010]

People are going to be demanding compensation for getting seasick next :rolleyes: It's the cruiselines' fault that the sea gets rough.

[Hlitner]

We never did understand the logic that said a cruise line was responsible for Noro or most other illnesses. If one gets food poisoning than you have a legitimate claim. But catching a virus (as in flu, Noro, etc) is not the responsibility of the cruise line. We have also heard passengers trying to demand compensation for rough seas (I swear this is true). Personally, I wanted compensation because a rude lady cut in front of me on a buffet line and got the last piece of cake! Now that is an issue :)

 

Hank

[room010]

Many people seem to think that noro and food poisoning are the same thing, probably because they have almost identical symptoms. Noro is mostly just bad luck. Food poisoning is entirely different and it's possible that the cruiseline would be responsible if they haven't been following the correct food hygiene protocols.

[Cuizer2]

It's the cruiselines' fault that the sea gets rough.

 

That is my understanding too.