Norvo Virus on QM2

[Salacia]

The only reference to norovirous in September in this thread occurred in 2006...

 

Right you are Underwater! Thanks for the correction. -Salacia

[grandsix]

Yes, it is true that we as passengers are responsible for good personal hygiene, as are the staff and crew. Ship management bears responsiblity for proper health measures on a broader scale. For example, as I commented previously on other threads, I was concerned when the water supply was cut off throughout the ship for several hours during the Dec 8 voyage and management made no provision of gratis bottled water with instructions to use it for hand washing after using the toilet during the hours tap water was unavailable.

 

Does anyone else have experience of the ship's water supply being shut off on other recent voyages? -And if so, were any provisions made for water to use for hand washing?

 

BTW, I undersand others have observed women leaving the WC without having washed their hands, and I agree that is awful. But my experience is different: in 8 voyages, I've never seen a few passenger or crew member who did not wash their hands after using the facilities. Oddly enough, I've never been on board when there was a noro outbreak either. (Am I lucky, or what!)

 

Regards,

Salacia

 

Cruising between 9 to 15 times a year, we can assure you Miss Salacia, that many women and men do not wash after using the restroom. That's a fact!!! This a major reason for the noro breakouts.

[Salacia]

Cruising between 9 to 15 times a year, we can assure you Miss Salacia, that many women and men do not wash after using the restroom. That's a fact!!! This a major reason for the noro breakouts.

 

Take it easy, Grandsix, I wasn't doubting you, or anyone else. You shared your experience, and I shared mine. They were different experiences, but that's life :)

[ColumbiaSC]

Thank you, grandsix, for your observation based on long-term experience --- cruising "between 9 to 15 times a year" as you say --- but unfortunately it doesn't stop or deter a determined poseur, whoever it might be. Keep on keeping on! As Alexander Pope observed,

[on these Cunards boards] "Where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise."

 

Lord Kay of Shandon.

[southwestie]

Thank you Grandsix, I know and trust your wisdom and sailing knowledge,it is without a doubt the very best knowledge,

[heywood]

As far as I know there was no outbreak, the times we were onboard. We always used the sanitizers on entry into Kings Court and at the individual counters too but as has been said, not all people used these services.

I rarely use the public bathrooms, that's one of the reasons I love being onboard, it's so easy to just go back to our room.

When we were onboard in Sept the priest used hand sanitizer before communion and although it was indelicately put, he stressed that he preferred people to receive communion on the hand rather than the tongue! I don't think many people do receive in that manner anymore!

I have always thought that Cunard are vigilant in attempts to prevent and it is up to everyone to be aware of the possibilities.

I don't understand what polofan means by,

"The ship has undergone a 'deep sanitisation" what this means is the normal cleaning crew don some plastic gloves and take twice as long to clean as normal (with little difference as an end result). "

I hope the outbreak is contained and most people enjoy their holiday and for those affected - a speedy recovery.

I had something similar a little while ago at home and it was horrid :eek:

[bphman]

Lets not lose sight of the fact that Norovirus is the second most common communicable disease next to the common cold. This is also the peak season for outbreaks. Alcohol based cleansers such as Purel are nothing more than window dressing as they have no effect on the virus although they are effective against bacterial disease. People are basically disgusting. The reach their dirty hands into bins of food. They lick their hands and then touch the service utensils. HAL used to have full service in the buffet areas but this has changed. I take most of my meals in the restaurant to avoid the many hands on the service pieces. People who don't wash their hands upon leaving the restrooms should be shot but that is my narrow view. The attitude is that "I am not the one making everyone ill but that it is the other person." I don't fault the cruise lines as it is the lack of common sense by fellow passengers that is to blame.

[Salacia]

As far as I know there was no outbreak, the times we were onboard. We always used the sanitizers on entry into Kings Court and at the individual counters too but as has been said, not all people used these services.

I rarely use the public bathrooms, that's one of the reasons I love being onboard, it's so easy to just go back to our room.

When we were onboard in Sept the priest used hand sanitizer before communion and although it was indelicately put, he stressed that he preferred people to receive communion on the hand rather than the tongue! I don't think many people do receive in that manner anymore!

I have always thought that Cunard are vigilant in attempts to prevent and it is up to everyone to be aware of the possibilities.

I don't understand what polofan means by,

"The ship has undergone a 'deep sanitisation" what this means is the normal cleaning crew don some plastic gloves and take twice as long to clean as normal (with little difference as an end result). "

I hope the outbreak is contained and most people enjoy their holiday and for those affected - a speedy recovery.

I had something similar a little while ago at home and it was horrid :eek:

 

Hi Heywood. I guess we were both lucky in never having been on board when there was an outbreak (before anyone gets upset, I am not doubting that there have been outbreaks - just that I, in my very limited experience, hadn't heard about them until very recently, but I certainly appreciate learning about it now.)

 

 

Your post regarding Communion was interesting. Glad to hear the good Father used hand sanitizer :) I guess there's another difference between sides of the Pond, because on this side, Communion is most often given (received?) in the hand.

 

Speaking of the priest...on the 27 Nov Voyage, the priest didn't meet the ship, no explanation was given. But passengers were advised that the ship hoped to have a priest after the next port, but to the best of my knowledge, no priest was "acquired" during that 11 day voyage. Sunday Catholic prayer service was once conducted by the entertainment director. Happily for our Jewish friends, Rabbi Silverman conducted Jewish services throughout the voyage.

 

I join you and others in sending best wishes for those curently on board QM2.

 

Heywood, good health and much happiness to you and yours in the new year.

 

Salacia

[polofan]

As far as I know there was no outbreak, the times we were onboard. We always used the sanitizers on entry into Kings Court and at the individual counters too but as has been said, not all people used these services.

I rarely use the public bathrooms, that's one of the reasons I love being onboard, it's so easy to just go back to our room.

When we were onboard in Sept the priest used hand sanitizer before communion and although it was indelicately put, he stressed that he preferred people to receive communion on the hand rather than the tongue! I don't think many people do receive in that manner anymore!

I have always thought that Cunard are vigilant in attempts to prevent and it is up to everyone to be aware of the possibilities.

I don't understand what polofan means by,

"The ship has undergone a 'deep sanitisation" what this means is the normal cleaning crew don some plastic gloves and take twice as long to clean as normal (with little difference as an end result). "

I hope the outbreak is contained and most people enjoy their holiday and for those affected - a speedy recovery.

I had something similar a little while ago at home and it was horrid :eek:

 

 

I'll explain: The cleaning crew undertake a reactive response to the situation, rather than proactive. The normal day-to-day cleaning regime adopted by the cleaning crew is simply not good enough - as seen by increased presence of cleaning staff and signage around the ship once an outbreak has reach red alert status. The response should be minimal as the ship should already adopt a proactive approach to dealing with a virus that is prominent this time of year. by saying the "cleaning crew don some plastic gloves and take twice as long to clean" I am stating the fact that little difference is being made, apart from basic window dressing to appease the few who pay little attention to hygiene upon the ship, and adopt the attitude that prima facie cunard is proactive. The company has heeded to international standards at a very basic level, there is no sanitation facilities when at anchor ports, Midnight mass was conducted as normal without requesting people use sanitiser before or indeed after.

The truth is, Cunard did not do enough to stop the outbreak from reaching passengers in the first place and I hope for the sake of passengers preparing for the world cruise next week, Cunard undergoes a complete deep clean, remove all crew showing signs of the virus and takes a few days to allow any particles of the virus to die off, but I am sure they won't. It'll be interesting to see how may law suits appear as a result of this...

[Salacia]

I'll explain: The cleaning crew undertake a reactive response to the situation, rather than proactive. The normal day-to-day cleaning regime adopted by the cleaning crew is simply not good enough - as seen by increased presence of cleaning staff and signage around the ship once an outbreak has reach red alert status. The response should be minimal as the ship should already adopt a proactive approach to dealing with a virus that is prominent this time of year. by saying the "cleaning crew don some plastic gloves and take twice as long to clean" I am stating the fact that little difference is being made, apart from basic window dressing to appease the few who pay little attention to hygiene upon the ship, and adopt the attitude that prima facie cunard is proactive. The company has heeded to international standards at a very basic level, there is no sanitation facilities when at anchor ports, Midnight mass was conducted as normal without requesting people use sanitiser before or indeed after.

The truth is, Cunard did not do enough to stop the outbreak from reaching passengers in the first place and I hope for the sake of passengers preparing for the world cruise next week, Cunard undergoes a complete deep clean, remove all crew showing signs of the virus and takes a few days to allow any particles of the virus to die off, but I am sure they won't. It'll be interesting to see how may law suits appear as a result of this...

 

Hi Polofan. Thanks for your post. I hope you are feeling better. Is the number of ill passengers decreasing?

 

I understand what you wrote, but just one very minor point: I believe the next cruise departing Brooklyn on 3 Jan isn't a world cruise, but rather a 10 night r/t NY-Caribbean cruise. Hopefully sunshine and fresh air will do its best.

 

Best wishes to you and your fellow passengers,

Salacia

[copacruiser]

As long as we're on the topic....does anyone know of any other Noro outbreaks this year on QM2 in addition to incidents in October and the current December cruise? My impression was that Noro was very rare on QM2 compared with other ships. Thanks. -Salacia

 

 

We were on QM2 WC Hong Kong to Sydney in Feb'10, my son contracted Norovirus and was isolated for 3 days, had to have food brought to his cabin by certain staff only and his room was for want of a common term"deeply sanitized" and "misted". We know of a few others around this time only because when he first was sick he had to go to the doctor- yes they made him walk from one end of the ship to the other(only just making it i might add)!! and there were a few other people being treated for the same symptoms.

He and we, were very particular in washing hands and using sanitizer so it can't always be avoided maybe just bad luck?:cool:

[Salacia]

As long as we're on the topic....does anyone know of any other Noro outbreaks this year on QM2 in addition to incidents in October and the current December cruise? My impression was that Noro was very rare on QM2 compared with other ships. Thanks. -Salacia

 

 

We were on QM2 WC Hong Kong to Sydney in Feb'10, my son contracted Norovirus and was isolated for 3 days, had to have food brought to his cabin by certain staff only and his room was for want of a common term"deeply sanitized" and "misted". We know of a few others around this time only because when he first was sick he had to go to the doctor- yes they made him walk from one end of the ship to the other(only just making it i might add)!! and there were a few other people being treated for the same symptoms.

He and we, were very particular in washing hands and using sanitizer so it can't always be avoided maybe just bad luck?:cool:

 

-----------------------

Copacruiser, oh dear! Sorry your son had that experience. Yikes...walking from one end of the ship to the other when sick with Noro must be awful. I think you might be right about noro isn't always avoidable, despite good washing/sanitizers...to quote a gambler, Life can be a real crap shoot :eek:

 

When one passenger in a cabin contracts noro on QM2, is the other passenger/s travelling with the sick passenger also confined in the same cabin even if they show no symptoms? Or is the sick passenger put in isolation? -Thanks & best regards, - Salacia

[Salacia]

Very interesting posts from fellow CC members indicate that they witnessed and/or experienced Norovirus outbreaks on QM2 in February, October and December 2010.

 

Any other reports of outbreaks on QM2 in 2010? Thanks. -Salacia

 

Corrected & updated

[copacruiser]

Salacia

 

No, they did not isolate any of us( 6 travellers) nor my daughter who was sharing the room, though the first night he had it, she couldnt stand the sound of him vomiting, so my husband went into the cabin with Novoboy Hubby came out fine the next morning, just tired!!:D

After that both kids were in the room with only him isolated.

Never fear the iron stomach of a 15y.o though, 3 days of isolation and bland food, he sure made up for those lost eating days on the remainder of the trip!

[heywood]

Thanks for the explanation re the cleansing routines Polofan. As Salacia points out, we must be quite fortunate in that we have no experience of novovirus on board and I naively thought that cleaning was effective.

 

 

Bst wishes to all affected and a quick recovery.

[heywood]

 

Heywood, good health and much happiness to you and yours in the new year.

 

Salacia

 

"And also with you" ;)

 

Happy New Year to you too - I look forward to many more words of wisdom from you, Salacia.

 

(I was looking at the photos from our walking tour of Brooklyn yesterday -great!)

[missfrankiecat]

I'll explain: The cleaning crew undertake a reactive response to the situation, rather than proactive. The normal day-to-day cleaning regime adopted by the cleaning crew is simply not good enough - as seen by increased presence of cleaning staff and signage around the ship once an outbreak has reach red alert status. The response should be minimal as the ship should already adopt a proactive approach to dealing with a virus that is prominent this time of year. by saying the "cleaning crew don some plastic gloves and take twice as long to clean" I am stating the fact that little difference is being made, apart from basic window dressing to appease the few who pay little attention to hygiene upon the ship, and adopt the attitude that prima facie cunard is proactive. The company has heeded to international standards at a very basic level, there is no sanitation facilities when at anchor ports, Midnight mass was conducted as normal without requesting people use sanitiser before or indeed after.

The truth is, Cunard did not do enough to stop the outbreak from reaching passengers in the first place and I hope for the sake of passengers preparing for the world cruise next week, Cunard undergoes a complete deep clean, remove all crew showing signs of the virus and takes a few days to allow any particles of the virus to die off, but I am sure they won't. It'll be interesting to see how may law suits appear as a result of this...

 

I cannot speak from personal experience of this outbreak obviously but I was on board in October/November during the Canadian outbreak and from my observations and discussions with staff the measures taken were highly proactive and far from window dressing. By way of example, cabin stewards in effected areas were no longer permitted to vacuum (because of cross cabin contamination) but had to use separate brushes and pans for each area, which were then sanitised. This one measure alone greatly adds to the cleaning burden placed on staff and would be impractical to have in place unless dictated by elevated risk. There were many others. Many, in themselves caused complaints - for eg, Senior Officers stopped shaking guests hands at receptions for the duration of the outbreak to set the example that reduced physical contact reduces risk of contamination (as well as reducing risk of infection of Senior staff!). Needless to say they were criticised for that by some passengers. It is very difficult to strike a balance between effective prevention and containment and passenger tolerance!

[southwestie]

The dealt with the whole thing is a very positive way, I could not fault anything that they did, the whole event was ended in a few days

[Annabelle Lee]

It is so nice for you to show your concern

for the young lad who had the Noro the Christmas

cruise on QM2. Hope it is all cleared up for your

sailing On Monday

Annabelle Lee:)

[cruzadict]

We are also on this cruise and the ship is still on red alert today. No drink menus on tables, no nibbles given automatically and the restaurant crew are really overworked as they have to work in shifts sanitising everywhere. Some of them are not very happy. We are some of the lucky ones who haven't contacted it but feel sorry for the people who are sick.

[Salacia]

We are also on this cruise and the ship is still on red alert today. No drink menus on tables, no nibbles given automatically and the restaurant crew are really overworked as they have to work in shifts sanitising everywhere. Some of them are not very happy. We are some of the lucky ones who haven't contacted it but feel sorry for the people who are sick.

 

Hi Cruzadict. Glad to hear your luck is good:) Very sorry for the passengers and crew who are ill. I can see from your post how hard it must be for the crew who were working so hard before they had to work even harder:eek:.

 

Bluemarble posted a link to the CDC yesterday, don't know if you've had a chance to check it out, but here's the most recent info (dated 28 Dec):

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 167 of 2,483 (6.73%)‬‬

Number of ill crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 28 of 1,234 (2.27%)‬

 

 

Are the pools on board open, or were they closed due to the outbreak? The webcam shows you're in Domenica today. Hope you're enjoying the day as much as possible.

 

Best wishes,

Salacia

[berpat]

Is Prescott making his own bed ? He should be good at it !!!!!

[Mattsmum]

We had a substantial Norovirus outbreak during the NY-San Fransisco segment of the 2007 QE2 world cruise. I was spared, fortunately.

 

I spoke with the CDC agents who boarded the ship in Acapulco to determine whether QE2 would be cleared for entry into Los Angeles. They stated that the protocols Cunard had implemented to deal with the outbreak went above and beyond what was required. They also noted there was little for them to do and that what Cunard had already done could serve as an example to other cruise lines.

 

When we arrived in LA, everyone was required to vacate the vessel which was "super-sanitized" (we all were given complimentary shore excursions). When we arrived a day later in San Francisco, the media, of course, was waiting for us, armed with cameras and mikes to interview passengers going ashore from the "death ship" which had just docked. LOL.

 

The outbreak was successfully contained, and there were no further outbreaks during the next 3 months of the cruise.

 

I recall that handrails and hard surfaces such as table tops and elevator buttons were being continually wiped down, salt and pepper shakers were removed from the Lido, puzzles and magazines disappeared, and all Officers' parties canceleled. Captain Ian McNaught was a great cheerleader in his daily announcements, keeping us well-informed and encouraging us to continue to follow the personal health and hygiene routines that were being recommended.

 

I am hoping that the same protocols have been implemented onboard Queen Mary 2 and that the Norovirus currently being reported will be effectively addressed.

 

Looking forward to having a great time again in less than a week on the January 3rd sailing!

 

Bobby

 

Hope this clears up soon - not a nice side to cruising is it.

 

Bobby I hope you enjoy your cruise - I will be watching the web cam and thinking about you on your travels.

[MsDeva]

The dealt with the whole thing is a very positive way, I could not fault anything that they did, the whole event was ended in a few days

 

 

I am amazed that you of all people would refer to this as an 'event'.

 

I feel very sorry for those pax on board who are as we speak confined to quarters, children included.

 

 

Some 'event' it is for them.

 

Best

Judy

[southwestie]

I am amazed that you of all people would refer to this as an 'event'.

 

I feel very sorry for those pax on board who are as we speak confined to quarters, children included.

 

 

Some 'event' it is for them.

 

Best

Judy

 

Maybe event is not the right word, and we ALL feel for them as has been said already