Noro Virus????

[jlmkey]

Whats this I keep hearing about the Noro virus...is there a vaccine...do I need it....Emerald Princess...5-9-2010. Starting to get concerned.

JLMKEY:confused:

[Rob & Beckys mom]

Whats this I keep hearing about the Noro virus...is there a vaccine...do I need it....Emerald Princess...5-9-2010. Starting to get concerned.

JLMKEY:confused:

 

 

Sorry, no vaccine. I would be first in line if there was such a thing as I had the dreaded Noro & it is not something you would wish to repeat. They do have a shot (not sure what it is) that will stop the nausea & knock you out for a few hours, and that is a true blessing. Still takes a few days to recover tho...almost like a bad flu. Jan

[Toto2Kansas]

Whats this I keep hearing about the Noro virus...is there a vaccine...do I need it....Emerald Princess...5-9-2010. Starting to get concerned.

JLMKEY:confused:

 

"Norovirus is the leading cause of gastrointestinal illness in the United States."

It isn't just onboard cruise ships, but can be found almost everywhere.

 

The main way to stay healthy during your cruise is to wash your hands whenever possible and keep them away from your mouth and face.

[Tina G]

It's what we used to call the stomach flu. You can catch it anywhere. Wash your hands a lot. When 3000 passengers are confined on one ship, viruses will be shared. You probably have already had it a few times in your life.

[Pam in CA]

Whats this I keep hearing about the Noro virus...is there a vaccine...do I need it....Emerald Princess...5-9-2010. Starting to get concerned.

Norovirus is everywhere... at church, schools, supermarkets, etc., anywhere and everywhere people gather. Unlike schools, churches, etc., cruiselines must report the number of cases to the CDC which is why it's picked up by the media and called the "cruise ship sickness." In actuality, it's the most common form of the "stomach bug." There's no vaccine. Just make sure you wash your hands frequently, use public bathrooms only if you must, and be careful handling food.

[PescadoAmarillo]

You probably have already had it a few times in your life.

When I was a kid in our overcrowded school in the 60s, I used to get it once a school year. And whenever anyone in the family got it, regardless of Mom's precautions, we all would get it. I remember it being one day of hell, a second day of purgatory, and then I was fine. Unless you have other health issues, it's not the end of the world. And handwashing certainly helps (and has kept us healthy on cruises), but I've heard from others on this board where even that didn't prevent them from getting sick.

[NotWthOutablcony]

No worries, none of my family has ever contracted Noro on any of our many cruises. Like Pam said, its everywhere! I am a compulsive hand washer lol, I avoid touching handrails, door handles etc. and any time I leave a venue I wash my hands or use my hand sanitizer which they have placed all over the ship, I use it before I eat also, especially after visiting the buffet, and like another poster said, I don't touch my nose, eyes or face in general. Your probably more likely to catch it from a grocery cart anyway, thank goodness for those handi wipes! :D Relax, as long as you wash your hands, you should be fine, also avoid any passengers who may look ill, our last cruise they had the "Everything is $20 and under" sale in one of the dining rooms, it was cold so we all thought we'd pick up a sweatshirt or two, according to mine, I sailed to Antartica! :D LOL, anyhow, there was a lady there who did not look good, heavy sweats, green tinge, coughing, sneezing, and wiping her nose off on her hand, yuck! Once my mother and I saw her, we quickly scooped our entire group up and everyone used hand sanitizer, for all we know the poor gal could have been having hot flashes but you just don't wan't to chance it, so keep a keen eye out on your fellow passengers and avoid being in small spaces with others for too long, like elevators, anything airborn will run rampant in a small space like that. I buy individually packaged sanitizing wipes and little aerosol cans of lysol, those both get used on any machine I play in the casino, just a thought, we also spray down EVERYTHING in the room the minute we arrive, remote front and back, the 200 light switches, the door handles front and back the balcony railing, the arms of the chairs, the handles on the drawers, safe and fridge, anywhere you might touch, I go a little overboard I know, but nothing is too overboard if I'm on a cruise, I'd hate to be confined to my cabin and feeling horrible the whole time after shelling out a few grand. Wow this post became much longer than I had anticipated :o

[Pam in CA]

I'd hate to be confined to my cabin and feeling horrible the whole time after shelling out a few grand.

A couple of years ago, we were on the Royal Princess and did an overnight in Jerusalem on a Princess excursion. The hotel was filthy dirty... disgusting... and I'm not talking about a little dust or mildew. About 36 hours after leaving the hotel, I was in Cairo on a tour and got violently ill. My sister stayed on the ship and got sick with the same thing I did at the same time. I stayed in my cabin for almost four days and the last thing I wanted to do was leave it; I just wanted to stay curled up on my bed. Yes, I lost about 1/3 of my cruise days but again, that was furthest from my mind. And, at no time did I consider asking for a refund or anything else because there's no way we could prove where or how we got sick. FYI, the Medical Center was great, checking in on me 2x a day and making sure my cabin was cleaned (by what looked like a hazmat team) twice a day. I lost 10lb by the time I got home, which I celebrated but I don't recommend the "diet."

[shushu]

wash,wash and wash your hands at all time. not only sanitizing...:)

[dickwho]

Coming back to Oz from the UK on the QE2, the staff stood at the beginning of the serving lines in the buffet area, and at the entrance to the dining rooms, and had everyone accept a squirt of some hand cleanser. It was also available in the lavs, and in our cabins.

 

This appeared to work, and in the 50 or so days that we were on board I heard of no cases occurring of Noro Virus.

 

Unfortunately I got the flu which was on the rampage, despite having my annual flu shot. Northern hemisphere version no doubt.;)

 

Does Princess do this, or was is it a knee jerk reaction after bad press by Cunard?

[Kiwis Afloat]

Noro virus was on our cruise in January. It just meant that there was hand sanitizer at entry to each restaurant and the staff had to serve you your food in the buffet (no help yourself).

We have always been hand-washers (after the bathroom etc). We did not get it and would not be bothered if we heard it was on another cruise in the future. Enjoy your cruise and relax. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have been on quite a few cruises where the ship was already in Code Red or went into Code Red during the cruise. Neither of us have ever gotten the Noro.

 

I do always keep a bottle of Purell in the cabin bathroom and a small one in our back pack.

 

Biggest thing to remember -- WASH YOUR HANDS!!!

[uppitycats]

On my last cruise, our embarkation was delayed because they had to sanitize the ship, and all through our cruise there were hand sanitizers everywhere, no one could help themselves from the buffet (the crew was there to serve the food), lots and lots of extra cleaning going on.

 

None in my group got sick. While we were inconvenienced a bit by all the precautions, we still had a great time.

 

Just be thorough about hand washing. But if you DO get sick, please don't continue to move around throughout the ship! Norovirus is very easy to transmit to others. Stay in your cabin, call the infirmary, get treatment (if there is noro on the ship, often the treatment is free), and get well!

[ovccruiser]

Noro Virus in many many disguises, but ultimately sickness and diorhia:( I have had this bug on beach holidays in Cornwall UK, when working and been laid up for a few days, at home during christmas but as yet, not on a cruise, fingers firmly crossed. As another poster has said, cruise ships have to notofy the authorities when the have an outbreak so we all hear about it, in much the same way as UK hospitals notify when wards are closed down and visitors not allowed in. It is fairly comon in most schools and other areas where people gather. If there is an outbreak on board ship, it is very unusual for it to affect the whole ship, some people seem to have a natural imunity to the disease. Have a good cruise.

[JohnMI]

Also, just to calm you a bit... You should know that for the CDC to release a public report that there was an "outbreak" on a ship, only 3% of the passengers have to have norovirus.

 

In other words, if you are on a ship of 2000-3000 people, you might hear about an "outbreak" when only 60-90 people are sick.

 

I think a lot of times, people hear about an "outbreak" of norovirus on a cruise ship and think that thousands of people are ill. That usually isn't the case -- even with fairly bad "outbreaks."

 

So, you could be on a "norovirus outbreak" ship and have a very, very good chance of not being ill at all -- the vast majority of passengers during an "outbreak" are fine!

 

- John...

[jasbooks]

Just spent 7 days on the Emerald princess. After we sailed found out that there was an outbreak on the prior cruise. Thre was also an outbreak on our cruise, but never did hear exactly how many passangers fell ill. There is hand sanitizer available all over the ship. Let other people push the elevator buttons for you, only use the bathroom in your stateroom.

[ISurfTooMuch]

As with many illnesses, hand sanitizer is your friend. My wife keeps a tiny bottle of it in her purse at all times, and we use it before we eat. This won't guarantee you won't get it, but it can at least lower the odds. And you might even offer it to your tablemates at dinner. You're helping them stay healthy, and, if they have it, you're decreasing the odds that you'll pick it up from them.

 

If people would do things like simply washing their hands after using the restroom, things like this wouldn't happen as often. I'm shocked at the number of times I notice someone use a public restroom and then walk out without washing their hands. That's gross.

[dkjretired]

As with many illnesses, hand sanitizer is your friend. My wife keeps a tiny bottle of it in her purse at all times, and we use it before we eat. This won't guarantee you won't get it, but it can at least lower the odds. And you might even offer it to your tablemates at dinner. You're helping them stay healthy, and, if they have it, you're decreasing the odds that you'll pick it up from them.

 

If people would do things like simply washing their hands after using the restroom, things like this wouldn't happen as often. I'm shocked at the number of times I notice someone use a public restroom and then walk out without washing their hands. That's gross.

\

 

Wash your hands as much as possible. Also, there are many out there who do not believe that hand sanitizer is your friend, that it may actually kill the germs that are there to protect you. IMHO, they are a feel good measure put out by the cruise lines. Wash your hands is the best measure.