Crown nightmare

[rollnoles2]

You mean "frosting" isn't in style any more?:eek:

[bambam775]

I respect that everyone has a right to their own opinions & that these do differ greatly when discussing the same situation. That having been said, we were also on the 12/17 sailing of the Crown.

 

We have sailed on Celebrity 1 time before & this was our first on Princess. I agree that there were some unfortunate circumstances that could have 'ruined' it for some. I did not witness anyone 'panicking' over the gale force warning. I for one would rather have a warning & be able to prepare than be taken off guard. All the adults in our group of 8 opted for the patch that night, Wed night, just to be safe. I was happy that the gales never really came although there were rough seas much of the time. My DH had some sea sickness that caused him to avoid food for most of one day & miss the 1st Formal Night. That was a drag but what could we do? As we only have 1 other cruise to compare this to, yes there were some differences. I would rather have someone serve me in the buffet than have had more than the 9 cases of Noro on board. Staff was diligent at wiping down rails, door handles, etc. Our waiter in early traditional dining was excellent. He did have what seemed to be 1 off night but the next was right back on. I think the thing that bothered us, if it really even did, was the delay in embarkation without food. Complimentary drinks just somehow don't cut it for the 4 hours we waited to board. Yes, you could purchase food in the convention center but who really wants to do that when you should have been on board already having lunch at the buffet or in the MDR? The weather is out of anyone's control. We enjoyed ourselves & will sail Princess again, just maybe not the same itinerary.

[usahawk]

Why should have to lose a cruise because some idiots on the previous didn't wash there hands properly and used the hand sanitizer that available all over the ship . At what percentage does a cruise line cancel a cruise

10% ,20%,30% or 80% . The average Norovirus :D on a cruise involves only about 1% ( or 200 passengers of 2000).

Who will reimburse the line for lost revue . The fare paying passenger on all cruises will enviable:mad: pay something.

 

sorry but 1% of 2000 would be 20. but that is better yet

[Coral]

 

This trip was a tad different than other cruises we have been on, but we just found our way to have some fun! Both our girls had a blast! We went to a beautiful island, saw dolphins swimming beside the ship, played ping pong, .........

 

 

I read this too quickly the first time and had to laugh as I (thought I had) read "saw dolphins beside the ship playing ping pong....." :)

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[lovevacadays]

As I said the staff was so worried about passengers touching food. However this was not the case every Hanukkah service. No staff was passing out food there. They let us take whatever we want. So there I guess they did not worry about the spread of noro. And let me hear form all the princess loyalists, that this shows good procedure. just shows princess really has no idea how to deal with things. Also when we first arrived at embarkation, and did not get on the cruise until after 3 pm. Princess gave coffee or juice, however no food. One food stand with 3000 passengers to buy food with long lines. Traveling with small kids that arrived at 10 am, they could have had something for the passengers. Again lack of procedure. But this is my opinion.

 

Just curious - was the Buffet closed when you embarked? How about the Trident Grill on the Lido Deck? What was the "food stand" that was open to serve 3000 passengers?

 

Just a suggestion - you might want to consider spell and grammar check when you post. It would make your posts easier to read.

[Hunwolf]

You mean "frosting" isn't in style any more?:eek:

 

I have heard that white is the new red...:p

[lovevacadays]

Just curious - was the Buffet closed when you embarked? How about the Trident Grill on the Lido Deck? What was the "food stand" that was open to serve 3000 passengers?

 

Just a suggestion - you might want to consider spell and grammar check when you post. It would make your posts easier to read.

 

Sorry. I got my answer. I misread your post. Evidently, you were talking about food in the convention center while you were waiting.

[blueridgemama]

Just spray everyone down with bleach. Cruisers are a tough bunch.

 

 

If anyone remembers the Naked Gun movies there is a scene where Priscilla Presley and Leslie Nielson are practicing "safe sex." They are each encased head to toe in a giant condom. Maybe thats what we all need to do to protect ourself from all the nasty germs on the ship:D

[Mississippian]

BTW: If you didn't like the service in the buffet, why did you eat there?

Maybe they were hungry.

[satxdiver]

Wow. The OP posted a blistering cruise review. First the sickness is called noro for norovirus, a stomach problem caused by a virus common to the public. It can happen anywhere and at anytime. Sorry to hear of the noro breakout but sounds like the crew was doing everything to stop it. It happens so get over it.

 

The seas are an act of nature (or God if you are so inclined). They sometimes are just downright inhospitable and we are all at their mercy. Hurricanes fall in the same category so we brace against them but suffer their wrath. Sorry to hear that your cruise had encountered such rough seas. The captain maybe should not have told you what was going on but some of us appreciate honesty and he was being honest as well as wringing his hands over the whole issue wanting to do more. There is nothing he could do.

 

I have found that if you are negative towards the crew or any company worker, it tends to come back to you. They realized what they were up against and tried hopefully to do a good job. Give them a little slack because they knew how bad it was and facing hundreds of hostile pax doesn't make one in a good mood. Human nature here.

 

I was not there and can be philosophical about the whole issue of course. I try to understand the situation partly because I am an engineer and environmentalist and understand that nature always has her way. However sometimes I too loose my cool only to regret it later.

 

With respect to going on RCL, I was on the Mariner departing Galveston on 12/4. We had a noro outbreak on the ship and the two sailings after that had a bigger outbreak. So good luck on that one. Also the weather was not all that nice. I think crummy is the word here but again mother nature rules that one. We had a bumpy ride two days crossing the Gulf but not the first time for us. We took it in stride since this is the world we live in. Not everything is perfect every time.

 

Just my two cents worth.

[Drill2dk]

If they still had the Nero outbreak and had contacted the CDC, which was given by letter to all cabins, why did they not delay the next sailing liKe they did with ours? Did they think that it did not work? Or did they not want Ito delay there more expensive holiday cruise. See it's all about the money and there inept attempt to control the situation. That my problem. My problem is that it did not make sense. Princess I hope looks at this and tries to fix the problems. Please people demand better! After this I will rest with thread and take it up with princess. I'm just trying to tell u what I think. I'm trying to give u insight to my experience. All who say they would have had a good time with this situation, are lying to them selves. It's easy to say ok,when it's not u. Happy Christmas and holidays to all.

[Whimsy]

To the OP poster, I am sorry you had such a bad experience. I can see where you feel you don't want to return to Princess and that is your option. I do think that delaying the embarkation to clean the ship is a good proactive measure. Serving people in the buffet is another as well as limiting things passengers could touch, etc. I would be more worried if I read that they had a Noro outbreak and didn't do any of these steps.

 

As for canceling the cruise, I think that would be a very bad idea as some have pointed out. We are sailing in January and there are 19 of us. I personally booked this cruise the first day it became availble for bookings. I would be very saddened if they canceled the cruise. I am hopeful that they have the Noro gone by the time we cruise but if there are still reports we will just practice being dilligent and hope none of us get sick.

 

Sorry that you came down with something. We got hit with something upon our return the first time we went to Mexico to an all inclusive. We just learned to be a bit more careful when we did it again.

 

I was on the same cruise 12/17 - 12/24 and have to say that I disagree with most of the negative comments.....note....most of the negative comments.

 

Yes, boarding was delayed a couple of hours, yes it was due to the Norovirus outbreak the week before. Yes the waves were rough, was it raining the whole time at sea....no, it wasn't. It rained in Curacao off and on and in Aruba most of the day....Weather is not a cruiselines fault.....not saying that you blamed the cruiseline, but the slant was in that direction. Yes, tendering into Princess Cays was horrendous but wasn't the end of the world. My goodness, the only thing food wise you couldn't get on the ship was a hot dog and hamburger.......too bad......the pizza was great that day! And before you flame me for this......we waited 45 minutes in the dining room for our tender number to be called and gave up. We chose not to let that ruin our trip.

 

Yes, we weren't able to serve ourselves in the buffet or anywhere else for that matter (read into this, the dining room and the specialty restaurants), but when served in the buffet, if we received less than we wanted, we simply smiled and asked for more....it wasn't a problem and no attitude was felt by any of the staff. They work hard on a regular day so the added duties of serving an ungrateful passenger in some cases......well, don't get me started....they deserve more pay than what they were getting. We have cruised 18 times over 5 different lines.....6 of them being on Princess and this was our first time experiencing the Norovirus outbreak. We never ran into a staff member in a bad mood or for that matter a passenger giving a staff member a hard time......thank goodness, otherwise I might have said something to the rude passenger for being rude and I'm not normally that way.

 

One poster said something about if there is a certain percentage of passengers sick, then they should cancel the cruise. On one hand I agree with that, the other hand I don't. I like the idea of having a week where they have time to completely sanitize the ship to eradicate the germs.....I also see that it would be completely against any financial sense to do that. Yeah, that sounds bad....I agree...but you have to try to look at both sides.

 

We always bring the wipes for sanitizing our hands/surfaces on every cruise and this one was no different. When we got to our cabin, we wiped every handle, door knob, button, switch and surface we could think of, twice.....if anything, it made us feel better. We also took caution in pressing the elevator buttons (with our elbows) and didn't eat until we could wash our hands. So imagine........, opening our cabin door (using the handle), then pressing the elevator button.......reaching the Horizon Court. We have to run our hands under the Purell hand sanitizer station, and are handed the silverware and a plate. We then go station to station and tell the crew person what we want and how much and then find a table. We sit down and wait for the server to come and take our drink order (even if its plain ice water)......we then take turns and go wash our hands in the public restroom (doors have been propped open) and then come back to eat. Is that such a terrible thing? Geez, took all of an extra 5 minutes in total.....do that multiple times over a cruise and I can see that perhaps a grand total of 30 minutes over the week was spent being cautious and prudent. I think its worth it, no matter how much you spent on this cruise, no matter how far you traveled......did you ever think that perhaps you might have caught the virus while you were on the plane, or in the rest area on the drive to the port or perhaps in your hotel room and it manifested itself while on board?

 

So, while there have been a few very negative reviews of this cruise so far.......I wanted to add that there is at least one pretty good review.

 

Oh, and as far as the captain inciting panic amongst the passengers for his comments about the GALE force winds and it not being like this in 20 yrs......yes, he said those things, but when he made that announcement, I was on the lido deck by the pool and I can safely say that with the probably 400 people around at that time (noon)......none of them panicked.....in fact, I would say that none of them noticed as they were swimming, drinking and eating to even give any concern to what he was saying.

 

No one has mentioned (at the time I am writing this post) that the first formal night show in the main theater was canceled due to the rough seas.......did that ruin your cruise? I don't think so......it was also a safety measure for the entertainers. When a cruiseline (ANY cruiseline) has to do a 360 degree change in their published plans due to weather......they are making every attempt to keep everyone happy......which they know as well as most people with common sense know...you can't please everyone all the time.

 

The original OP replied to some comments and said basically don't hate because you weren't there and that they are entitled to their opinion. Well, I agree, don't hate, they are entitled to their opinion, but there were others on the same cruise with a different experience and the other experiences should be heard too.

 

I do feel bad for those that became ill during the cruise because I know that they were confined to their cabins and that isn't fun for anyone. I know they they saved for a long time and made special plans, like the newlywed couple who got married during the first sea day and were so sick that night that they were confined to their cabin (for the worst reasons).......can you imagine your honeymoon spent being sick? Yeah, they'll talk about this for years to come but I hope they don't blame the cruiseline.

 

If you are still reading this opinion of mine.......I can say we had a really nice cruise, yes the seas were rough and our cabin shaked like crazy for a total 4 days of the 7 day cruise but we made the most of it. The crew we experienced were pleasant and missing their families so we tried to be more friendly to them during what has to be a really hard time for them.

 

Again, please don't flame anyone for posting their opinions.....we don't always have to agree with everything.....sometimes we just have to agree to disagree and for me, this is one of them. While I'm sure for the original poster it was the worst, for me it was very nice.

 

Michelle

 

I'm very happy you had a more postive experience. I am going to keep your ideas in mind and pass them along to the others traveling with us to hopefully keep us all well. Keep your hands washed and head to my cabin for the Bonine happy hour! :D

[srphnx]

What this and all the posts like this boil down to is that some people see something as a nightmare and others see it as an inconvenience that can be overcome. I prefer the more resilient attitude personally and strive to live that way.

[geoherb]

The CDC doesn't require cruise lines to report to it unless 2 percent or more of the crew and passengers report gastrointestinal symptoms. The CDC posts reports in which more than 3 percent do on its website here.

 

The CDC also has a page with details about the norovirus here. According to the CDC, the norovirus is not spread by air.

 

Perhaps the OP calls it the "nero" virus because he thinks that Princess fiddled while the passengers fumed.

 

Once again, I think Princess did a good job at keeping as many passengers well as possible. There were some glitches during this cruise, but they did not ruin our whole cruise. It was not our best cruise ever, but it was good enough that I put down an open deposit so that we can enjoy our future cruise credits on another Princess cruise next year.

[Pam in CA]

The CDC doesn't require cruise lines to report to it unless 2 percent or more of the crew and passengers report gastrointestinal symptoms. The CDC posts reports in which more than 3 percent do on its website here.

 

The CDC also has a page with details about the norovirus here. According to the CDC, the norovirus is not spread by air.

 

Perhaps the OP calls it the "nero" virus because he thinks that Princess fiddled while the passengers fumed.

Noro is a very common intestinal virus and you are just as likely to be infected at home as on a cruise ship. If every school was required to report Noro like cruise ships, chances are it would be nicknamed the "school virus." If every time 2% of all students were sick and they closed the school because of that, schools would be closed way too often. It doesn't make sense to cancel a cruise when 98% of the passengers are well and Princess is doing everything it can to minimize exposure. Is it perfect? No. Does it inconvenience some people? Yes. Cruise lines have vastly improved their procedures over the years and you rarely hear about an onboard infection any more. But passengers (and new crew members) bring it onboard. Short of doing a blood test on every person boarding (even shore officials) Noro is going to occur.

[jrzebird]

Oh my - I was trying to figure out what bothered me so much about the original post. I agree, everyone is entitled to an opinion - I've been the recipient of many flames here. But this one just hit me wrong. Then I realized that I had lived this nightmare. Not all the stuff that happened, but a passenger who reacted this way on a cruise I was on. Around day 3 they announced a Code Red, which lasted for the next 8 days. This was my first and I didn't know what to expect. Several people were upset. Then I got into line at the buffet behind a man who was going to do what he wanted to do. He didn't agree with being served and started to argue with the server. He tried to rip off the saran wrap and then he threw his plate at the buffet server!

 

Dinner was slow because they take away the salt and pepper shakers, sugar, rolls, anything you can touch. The staff was always pleasant, despite the extra work they had to do. Of course, if one is abused and being treated rudely by passengers, it's sometimes hard to keep up that cheerful attitude.

 

The protocol they use is what they are told they must use in order to contain the spread. They have no choice. Sure you paid for the cruise, but do you want to catch noro for that price? Now THAT would be something to complain about. Saying that they allowed your cruise to sail so they didn't have to cancel the next, pricier, cruise is ridiculous.

 

To cancel the cruise would be a nightmare. There are people from all over the world coming to cruise, not just a small area. Many arrive a week before to see some of the area. As others have said, it would be unfair to the 98% who are fine and will stay that way, to cancel it. I do know that, in the past, they often give you the choice to reschedule. I was disembarking when a hurricane was about to make landfall, and many people had to cancel the following cruise. They gave us the opportunity to stay on at a reduce price. And my 'noro' cruise also had an option for oncoming passengers to rebook.

 

I understand that HAL now has a peremptory 'Code Red' for the first three days of any cruise to keep people who may board, with the virus traveling silently with them, from taking hold. They employ this mainly in the dining venues. I'm not 100% sure of that, as I haven't experienced it first hand, but it makes sense. I'll let you know after my April cruise.

 

No, I don't think that it was the OP's perceptions of the cruise that bothered me, it was the way it was presented, and the finger pointing.

[Pam in CA]

I understand that HAL now has a peremptory 'Code Red' for the first three days of any cruise to keep people who may board, with the virus traveling silently with them, from taking hold. They employ this mainly in the dining venues. I'm not 100% sure of that, as I haven't experienced it first hand, but it makes sense. I'll let you know after my April cruise.

You are correct. For the first 48 hours, at least in the buffet, you cannot serve yourself anything. No iced tea, no coffee, no salad, no sandwich, no nothing unless served by staff. There are long lines for everything and HAL is not as set up for table service as Princess so you have no choice. On Princess, you can be seated at a table and someone will stop to ask if you want coffee, tea, juice, etc. Or, someone will have a cart serving beverages. Not so on HAL; you have to get in line and since they use plates rather than a platter, it usually takes 2-3 trips to your table because you can't carry more than one plate and beverage at a time. The food is excellent once you get it but you need to plan for meals taking longer.

 

Even with these measures, HAL also has Noro outbreaks. :(

[1 HappyCruiser]

We've sailed through a couple of norovirus trips throughout the years (both on a Princess ship) & the long lines at the buffet can be mostly avoided by simply adjusting your eating schedule slightly. It's a little inconvenient to eat at the earlier times for breakfast and lunch but showing up for breakfast at 8:30 AM or lunch at 12:30 PM and expecting to eat without any delays is ridiculous. If you can't adjust you schedule slightly during a ships emergency, then don't complain about any delays.

[geoherb]

One of my criticisms of this particular cruise was that I could not order room service one day at lunch. We had gone to the beach in Aruba for the morning and got back to the ship around 1 o'clock. I tried to call room service but got put on hold for about 10 minutes before I gave up. I figured if there were that many people ordering at that moment, service was going to be even slower.

 

We ended up going down to the International Cafe and having a lovely lunch down there. But it wasn't my first choice for lunch that day. (And of course Princess had canceled my real first choice--lunch in the dining room on a port day. The good news was that since our ship did not sail into Curacao until the 1 o'clock, they did serve lunch in the dining room that day. We ended up only missing lunch in the dining room the day we were in Aruba.)

 

And I wish Cruise Critic had a "like" button, for I'd give the previous two posters thumbs up.

[Sillyjilly]

Just got back from crown and it's was not pretty. Let me start by saying this is 6 princess cruise and 25 in total. So I have been on many ships and had lots of experience. Let's see I will start with embarkation, did not get on the ship until after 3pm due to Nero virus. Ok. Then ran into rough seas almost the whole trip. Mostly bad weather on this trip. This is not princess fault. However due to Nero virus on past cruise and on ours, I felt like we were on lock down. The buffet you could not touch the food, and they would give u one or two of something, if you asked for more they seemed annoyed. The staff was unpleasant in general due to being over worked due to outbreak. The captain said it's a cruise and these things happen. People were mistakenly being quarantined for having sea sickness due to abnormally rough seas. One child we ran into had thrown up after rough seas. Parents notified medical staff and they said they thought it was nero and they had to stay in his room for 48 hrs. They child never threw up again and no symptoms. Look if pay for something, they should make every effort for it to run smooth. Not a witch hunt because they can't stop the spread and there is panic among the staff.

If they can't deal with the outbreak, they should cancel the cruise. Take 24 hrs and clean the ship I would rather it been can cancelled, could make other

plan, instead of feeling trapped on a sick ship.

I think princess needs to change policy's, remember that this is vacation. Things happen, but they need to deal better. The captain also made announcements about the Gail force wind warning saying he had not seen this in 20yrs in the caribbean. This caused panic among passengers. The store were sold out of sea sickness meds. People were talking about 20 foot waves. I think it was not needed to bring panic to passenger. There are ways to say things. Well it just my take on thing. Me I think I'm done with princess. I think royal give and tries more. I have noticed changes on princess since they have been bought by carnival.

 

With over 60 cruises under my belt, I can say this can happen on ANY cruise line and it has............to me. Any if you think RCI would do things any differently, think again. Cruising may not be the vacation for you.

 

Thank your lucky stars you have only had this happen only once in 25 cruises. Really!

[Sillyjilly]

You are correct. For the first 48 hours, at least in the buffet, you cannot serve yourself anything. No iced tea, no coffee, no salad, no sandwich, no nothing unless served by staff. There are long lines for everything and HAL is not as set up for table service as Princess so you have no choice. On Princess, you can be seated at a table and someone will stop to ask if you want coffee, tea, juice, etc. Or, someone will have a cart serving beverages. Not so on HAL; you have to get in line and since they use plates rather than a platter, it usually takes 2-3 trips to your table because you can't carry more than one plate and beverage at a time. The food is excellent once you get it but you need to plan for meals taking longer.

 

Even with these measures, HAL also has Noro outbreaks. :(

 

I've been on 2 noro Hal cruises. Had to sit at embarkation for over 6 hours both times waiting to board while they sanitized. Did it ruin my cruise? HECK NO!

 

Poop happens on any and every cruise line. Good Grief.

[compozer]

I tried to call room service but got put on hold for about 10 minutes before I gave up.

.

 

That has been happening everyday now. Yesterday I was on hold 20 minutes and wanted lunch from the MDR, when she finally answered, she said it was 1:30 now and unch was over and too late to order from the MDR but I could order off the regular menu. If they would have picked up when I dialed, it was only 1:10.

The day before we ordered four wine glasses and a bucket of ice at 3:30. I has asked the gentleman who delivered our canapes. We waited and waited - missed having drinks at sail time. I called down to room service and was on hold at least 10 minutes - finally hung up. It did come a short time later - 6:00pm.

 

I really believe this is because of the number on this holiday cruise. I said after an Easter cruise 13 years ago, that I'd never do another holiday one and I don't think I ever will again. Too many large groups that get very loud after a few drinks. First night it was so loud in our corner of the dinning room that we could not carry on a conversation - couldn't hear anything the waitress said. We are now at a spot where there are only small tables - much better last night.

 

Then yesterday we walked around for a hour looking for a lounger. It was packed and all empty chairs were full of towels but I really hated to take any of them. PLEASE - put your towel away if you are leaving!!!

 

We are having a great time and won't let these things spoil it. The line for dinner last night went way into the atrium. I noticed most name tags on the doors on our floor mostly have four people in them and a few with three but not many doubles. Wish I knew how many people were on board. I also think I if we ever did a Christmas one again (here I go again) I'd pick a smaller ship.

 

Hope everyone had a Wonderful Christmas.

 

Question. If you had a flu shot back home this fall, does that work on the Noro???

[Coral]

 

Question. If you had a flu shot back home this fall, does that work on the Noro???

 

There is currently no vaccine for norovirus. So no. There is currently research into this and it is possible that there will be a preventative vaccine in the future.

 

Novovirus is the same as "the stomach flu" that people get all the time. It is the 2nd more common illness, next to the common cold.

[missymerv]

I was on the 12/3 sailing and this only being my 2nd cruise I think I was still wideyed and open to the newness of cruising. I did my homework thanks to all the wonderful information I found here. I was aware Noro could happen but thankfully it did not. I was aware that bad weather could happen and we did experience rough seas. I thought I would love Curacao but it was just ok. My attitude towards this whole thing I am on VACATION. I stood on line for 45 min to check in but made the best of it chatting with people standing around me. People who are annoyed for not starting their vacation at 12 versus 4 because of the ship sanitizing should be happy especially since they did not contract the virus and miss more than 4 hours sick in their rooms. Being on vacation meant I did not have lift a finger to cook or clean. DH and I got served, pampered and entertained by a great staff. I did use the hand sanitizers and ducked into the restrooms with the propped open doors to wash my hands was no big deal. BTW I now realize where the bleach mark on one of my tshirts came from.... gee I guess someone was doing their job :) Can't wait to cruise again!

[sunsetbeachgal]

A couple of things...we have sailed a Princess ship during a norovirus outbreak..my husband ended up getting it...it was handles very well and yes, we were inconvenienced especially him as he was quarantined, but we respected them trying to control this problem...was it our favorite Princess cruise, well no, but it happens and was handled and that is good enough for us.

 

Secondly, you can set your watch by the negative reviews that get posted during and around Christmas and holiday sailings. I think the ships operate above capacity, the dining rooms are stressed due to the large family groups and perhaps it is hard on the staff to be away from their families...not an excuse for anything below par, but it just seems an observation that the posts with alot of complaints are magnified around this time of year. And that phenomena is not limited to Princess!!