Worse than they thought

[Thetrail]

GMA is reporting this morning that after talking to passengers on board the Explorer of the Seas the situation on board is much worse than originally reported. They also reported that they are only refunding 50% of the cruise and offering 50% credit on future cruise. IMO that is a horrible compensation. The passengers that were not ill had a totally ruined vacation. They deserve a paid vacation for their troubles! ... and the poor sick passengers surely deserve a full refund. This is a horrible situation. I have four very good friends that are on that ship. I can't wait to see them on Thursday and get the real story. I will post a full review as reported by them.

Have you spoke with everyone on the ship? Do you ever go back and read your posts? Just saying....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[WetToes]

I would bet that one of those "poor passengers" brought the Noro virus onto the ship and infected all the others. How is Royal Caribbean held totally responsible in the first place. If people just told the truth when questioned and WASHED THEIR HANDS it would be a better cruise all around. But like most things in today's life it's "all about ME" all the time.....I feel bad for the crew who had to clean up after those infected.

 

You tell 'em Joe!

[Thetrail]

no it is not free if you have out of pocket expenses of 50% for this cruise plus 50% of next cruise plus the incidentals.

 

I vote for full refund this cruise and be done with it not to mention the enormous amount of goodwill rccl will earn

Maybe RCL should give everyone two free cruises and make everyone':rolleyes:s mortgage for a year and throw in a voucher for a new car also....:rolleyes:

[WetToes]

No this is about a rccl canceled cruise.

 

Canceled cruise? No

Cut short? Yes

[Thetrail]

you have searched for enough reports to prove this noro theory wrong..so I don't have to do it. find a report that does not say WASH YOUR HANDS!!

There are some folks that will argue till they are blue in the face, and are wrong anyway. Hit the ignore button and they have no forum. When someone posts something and rants and raves with no knowledge, proof or common sense, don't respond to the post, as much as you'd like too....K.O.....:)

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Nothing productive can come from this. Why don't you guys just apologize to each other and be done with it? This post has gotten personal in many ways. It's just opinions and words people. S@-t$ and giggles people.

You might want to read the thread again. That was my first post on here. I don't mind people having opinions, but be logical and don't contradict what you said earlier. That's what I was pointing out. I never got personal. As you said "it's just opinions and words."

[mcatmcat]

It's funny how people take this news

 

If you come to cruise critic most people blame the airline or the passengers

If you talk to people in the street, the cruise line is the one responsible lol

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[BTraveling47]

I am onboard the Explorer traveling with my husband and another couple. Three were sick -- very sick. The numbers of passengers affected by the virus reported at first did not take into account those who were sick but stayed in their cabins and did not report to the medical facility. Yesterday forms were distributed to gather the names of those passengers. The Captain and crew have been amazing. They have been working non-stop since early Wednesday morning. The compensation we will receive is adequate. We were able to visit two of the four ports and we've tried to make the best of an unpleasant situation. In addition, the amount passengers paid for various beverage packages was refunded in full. Mimosas and bloody mary's were served with breakfast. This may not sound like much for someone is sitting at home reading this, but for us here it was a very nice treat. RCCL is trying their best and it is appreciated. Will I sail again with RCCL - absolutely.

[brigittetom]

If I were one of the "well" people on this cruise, I would be thrilled with RCL's compensation.

 

The passengers not affected put up with a few inconvieniences, but still enjoy the cruise and every thing the ship has to offer. Missing a few ports and 2 days out of ten is not exactly a total bust.

[tbill]

I am onboard the Explorer traveling with my husband and another couple. Three were sick -- very sick. The numbers of passengers affected by the virus reported at first did not take into account those who were sick but stayed in their cabins and did not report to the medical facility. Yesterday forms were distributed to gather the names of those passengers. The Captain and crew have been amazing. They have been working non-stop since early Wednesday morning. The compensation we will receive is adequate. We were able to visit two of the four ports and we've tried to make the best of an unpleasant situation. In addition, the amount passengers paid for various beverage packages was refunded in full. Mimosas and bloody mary's were served with breakfast. This may not sound like much for someone is sitting at home reading this, but for us here it was a very nice treat. RCCL is trying their best and it is appreciated. Will I sail again with RCCL - absolutely.

 

Good to hear. Glad you are ok and satisfied with the compensation. Safe travels home.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

I am onboard the Explorer traveling with my husband and another couple. Three were sick -- very sick. The numbers of passengers affected by the virus reported at first did not take into account those who were sick but stayed in their cabins and did not report to the medical facility. Yesterday forms were distributed to gather the names of those passengers. The Captain and crew have been amazing. They have been working non-stop since early Wednesday morning. The compensation we will receive is adequate. We were able to visit two of the four ports and we've tried to make the best of an unpleasant situation. In addition, the amount passengers paid for various beverage packages was refunded in full. Mimosas and bloody mary's were served with breakfast. This may not sound like much for someone is sitting at home reading this, but for us here it was a very nice treat. RCCL is trying their best and it is appreciated. Will I sail again with RCCL - absolutely.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience - really sorry about your cruise. I'm sure the crew appreciates your good attitude throughout the ordeal. Have a safe trip home.

[lakelorain]

I am onboard the Explorer traveling with my husband and another couple. Three were sick -- very sick. The numbers of passengers affected by the virus reported at first did not take into account those who were sick but stayed in their cabins and did not report to the medical facility. Yesterday forms were distributed to gather the names of those passengers. The Captain and crew have been amazing. They have been working non-stop since early Wednesday morning. The compensation we will receive is adequate. We were able to visit two of the four ports and we've tried to make the best of an unpleasant situation. In addition, the amount passengers paid for various beverage packages was refunded in full. Mimosas and bloody mary's were served with breakfast. This may not sound like much for someone is sitting at home reading this, but for us here it was a very nice treat. RCCL is trying their best and it is appreciated. Will I sail again with RCCL - absolutely.

 

 

Thanks for the update. It's good to know that RC is doing the right thing. To me, the way I'm treated is more important than the money. Glad they are treating you right.

Safe travels home.

[BecciBoo]

 

Chill Pill anyone:)

[Missus Makkem]

 

Chill Pill anyone:)

 

Only if it gets rid of Norovirus :rolleyes:

[rsail203]

My wife was sick for 2 days and I was for 1. This was our 18th cruise and definitely our worst. Even on the days that we weren't sick our stomachs were jumpy and we had much less appetite than we normally have on a cruise. The virus seems to be almost completely gone as far as I can tell, though some people still have problems. Our dinner table mate got sick again 2 nights ago, but told me she'll be at dinner tonight. Surprisingly, they've made tonight the 2nd formal night but the people at our table think this is a bit too much and we're going for nice shirts and pants. i really can't see putting on a tux tonight as I feel our real cruise ended 2 days ago when we turned away from St. Martin and headed back to NJ.

 

I feel the compensation is reasonable as long as we can use the future 50% on our already booked Quantum cruise, Nobody on the ship has quarenteed that as yet, but they think it will be allowed, If not, we have a problem.

 

Rich

[mrsdoc3]

There is more to deep cleaning than just dusting off a few things on the ship. Literally everything is sterilized. And while that seems obvious, folks who haven’t experienced it don’t understand the huge inconvenience to the passengers and crew. Passengers on the following cruise will likely not have many of the items in their room that isn’t attached to the floor or walls that they are accustomed to because they are taken away to be sterilized. In our experience, passengers will not be allowed serve themselves ANYTHING including all beverages as well as condiments at the table like sugar, salt and pepper. If you want any of those items for your meal, you will have to ask for it. And they will be served with tongs.

 

Sally and I were talking about this last night and we feel sorry for everyone on the next cruise out because they will be inconvenienced a lot. Just imagine standing in line for 15 minutes every morning to get a cup of coffee and orange juice. You learn to get your drink first so your eggs and oatmeal don’t get cold. Oh, you want salt and pepper for those eggs, where is that waiter anyways? New proceedures are not normal for the crew, so they aren’t very good at it at first.

 

And speaking of the poor crew. You can see it in their eyes because not only do they have to deal with the grumpy inconvenienced passengers, they pull double duty in the crew stations as well performing the same sterilizing procedures. We heard that the crew got a maximum of 4 hours sleep a day until the ship got back to normal. Not sure when normal comes, we still didn’t see normal even after our 12 day cruise. But we didn’t have a single passenger or crew member get the Noro. They did a pretty good job. Still, after that experience, I would cancel if I were on the new cruise out on the Explorer. Not because of the virus, but because of the sterilization procedures the ship will have to perform.

 

So you can see why a ship might try to quarantine one or two cases to prevent the other extreme. Once a ship has to go full sterilization, it a couple weeks pain in the rear for everyone including the next couple weeks of passengers.

 

Burt

 

I was on the Navigator the cruise following a noro outbreak. We had some delayed boarding and a delayed departure, but only by about an hour.

 

Staff was serving food in the buffet, and most beverages were pre-poured, so they had one available to hand to you as you walked by -- no waiting. I didn't notice a dearth of amenities in my cabin because of sanitation. Everything seem to be as it should be.

 

I'm sure the staff worked extra long hours, but I saw mostly smiling faces in the buffet. I saw some entertainers as well as mainentance workers serving food. The mainenance guys seemed to be smiling the most. I got the impression they liked being able to help passengers with something other than clogged toilets.

[repo-cruiser]

Not only is everyone getting the 50/50 deal, but they are also getting airline change fees and accommodations required due to the early return covered. And those who were confined to cabins will also get credit towards a future cruise for each day they were confined.

 

I'd say that's a pretty fair deal.

 

When you get sick at home, you don't expect the doctor to visit you for free, your rent/mortgage/bills don't stop, and the chicken soup doesn't just materialize out of thin air.

 

Ahh but while I'm sick at home in bed I am still getting paid by my employer.

 

It's funny how everyone blames "passengers coming on board" with the illness, yet most of the time it is crew members coming on board sick and hiding illness because they need the money to send back home , so they hide their illness so they can work. This has been proven a lot in past Noro incidents.

[BTraveling47]

sorry -- posted incorrect info -- beverage packages were not reimbursed, relied on information from fellow passenger. I apologize.

[Crusin6]

For the life of me I can’t understand why people get so ‘worked up’ on these threads around here. Who really cares what the OP’s opinion is? So he/she doesn’t think the compensation is fair. So What? Some others think that the compensation offered is more than fair. Again so what? The only people whose opinion matters initially are the 3,000 on the ship who were actually affected by this and particularly the hundreds who were ill. I suspect that the repeat cruisers on the ship will more than likely be satisfied with Royal’s offer because they are the ones who would make use of the 50% discount on a future cruise. The first timers may be less satisfied as some of them will value that part of the offer at Zero as they will be put off cruising altogether by this incident and will have no intention of booking another cruise. Over the longer term, Royal will also have to deal with the opinions of people who may or may not book a cruise with them in the future, and who will take Royal’s response to this incident into account when making their decision (BTW 99.9% of those people are not members of Cruise Critic). And that’s for Royal’s marketing and sales people to get ‘worked up’ over, not me.

 

But if people still want to get ‘worked up’ so be it. It does make for entertaining reading.:D

 

The only reason I go on cruisecritic is for the entertainment value. When it gets too boring it is very easy to spice it up a little as well. Lol

Edited January 28, 2014 by Crusin6

[primo1]

I can see it now. Future cruising will change to. Nobody allowed to board until after 4:00 (allow time for real cleaning) And instead of having those silly photos when you board, you will be quickly observed by a Medical person.

[Crusin6]

My wife was sick for 2 days and I was for 1. This was our 18th cruise and definitely our worst. Even on the days that we weren't sick our stomachs were jumpy and we had much less appetite than we normally have on a cruise. The virus seems to be almost completely gone as far as I can tell, though some people still have problems. Our dinner table mate got sick again 2 nights ago, but told me she'll be at dinner tonight. Surprisingly, they've made tonight the 2nd formal night but the people at our table think this is a bit too much and we're going for nice shirts and pants. i really can't see putting on a tux tonight as I feel our real cruise ended 2 days ago when we turned away from St. Martin and headed back to NJ.

 

I feel the compensation is reasonable as long as we can use the future 50% on our already booked Quantum cruise, Nobody on the ship has quarenteed that as yet, but they think it will be allowed, If not, we have a problem.

 

Rich

 

They want to sell pix that is why they are doing formal night. In addition to the possibility of increased alcohol sales.

 

However I bet many pax actually want this so they can dress up. After all they did go out and buy a whole new wardrobe Lol

 

Btw the wardrobe comment is a joke and happy to hear the worst is over

Edited January 28, 2014 by Crusin6

[webteach]

After teaching elementary school for 30 years, I know this is the time for the stomach bug ,and I have seen how it tears through a population. I could have a perfectly fine class at the start of the day and by lunchtime, it would be a disaster.

I had the noro on a cruise some years ago- ugly ,but it does pass quickly. Advantage being that any weight gain was quickly negated!

That being said, I do not like to see kids handling food in the WJ and tend to avoid going there altogether.

[bighairtexan]

Passengers (and/or crew) could have also brought the noro virus on at ANY port. Upon embarkation, halfway through the cruise… any time.

 

I tend to look first at the passengers for a couple of reasons. How many of us have been in the public restrooms and watched as people left the stall (not the handicapped stall that has a sink) and just walked out of the bathroom w/o hand washing? I want to go running after them saying "Please PLEASE wash your hands."

 

How often have you seen people pick something up DIRECTLY (no tongs) from the food trays at the buffet? Handle several pieces of fruit before they decide on the perfect one. Handle the tongs and then place them back… right on top of the food, handle and all. And it's adults as well as children.

 

Besides the awful time the sick passenger has to go through, the crew HATES having noro on the ship. Wait staff has to serve in the buffet, the salt and pepper is no longer on the tables, etc etc etc. They also have LOTS of extra cleaning/disinfecting to do. Like they aren't worked hard enough as it is! Consequently the crew USUALLY is scrupulous about hand washing and other sanitation measures.

I'm not implying that the crew is above suspicion, but they're not the first place I'd look. Nor is the FOOD. And it certainly isn't the ship itself, spontaneously generating a virus.

 

If nothing else this should be a huge reminder to everyone to wash hands…. a LOT!

[Beachdude]

I was on the Navigator the cruise following a noro outbreak. We had some delayed boarding and a delayed departure, but only by about an hour.

 

Staff was serving food in the buffet, and most beverages were pre-poured, so they had one available to hand to you as you walked by -- no waiting. I didn't notice a dearth of amenities in my cabin because of sanitation. Everything seem to be as it should be.

 

I'm sure the staff worked extra long hours, but I saw mostly smiling faces in the buffet. I saw some entertainers as well as mainentance workers serving food. The mainenance guys seemed to be smiling the most. I got the impression they liked being able to help passengers with something other than clogged toilets.

 

We were on Celebrity and they weren't near as organized. They did have water and tea poured and waiting, but the pour hot and fruit drinks at request. We got use to not adding salt or pepper to our meals because it took to long to wait. I did try to stock up on sugar when I could for the coffee. It was this way pretty much the whole cruise.

 

Burt

[nolesrule]

Ahh but while I'm sick at home in bed I am still getting paid by my employer.

 

And my wife gets paid by her employer whether she is sick at home in bed or is on a cruise.

 

But I'm a self employed contract programmer. I charge my clients by the hour, so if I'm not working, I'm not getting paid. That said, I build in a certain number of anticipated days off into the rate i charge, but it takes the entire fiscal year to accrue the revenue for those days off in real dollars.