What Steps Does Royal Caribbean Take To Keep The Buffet Clean?

[avalon007]

We have eaten most breakfasts & lunches in the WJ on our 60 days of cruising to date with no ill effects.

 

But having said that I'm very much aware of potential issues & try to be careful to avoid situations where contamination can occur.

 

I do take my food from the back of the trays due to the tong handles being sat on top of the food, I do not touch the food below with my arm or clothing.

 

When at the table I don't let the eating end of my cutlery sit on the table surface, I rest them on my plate or use a clean napkin like a mini tablecloth.

 

I never eat the soft serve ice cream cone base, just the ice cream & the top of the cone that has been inside the dispenser.

 

I report any issues immediately to the crew & last cruise found a desert spoon immersed in the chocolate sauce, the crew member I told took it away straight away.

 

Try to eat at the buffet early before too many people have been handling tongs etc.

 

If I see children going to use their hands, I tell them to use the tongs because hands can spread germs.

 

I bring my own Australian made foaming hand sanitiser that kills Noro & is not alcohol & stays active on your hands or surfaces for up to 4 hours.

 

I use my knuckles to press lift buttons & use paper towel to open bathroom doors.

 

I try my best to wipe down the cabins often touched surfaces with wet ones on entering (light switches, draw handles, remote control etc)

 

But I don't let myself get paranoid, I just practice common sense & basic sanitary behaviour.

 

I think the crew try & do the right thing, after all a Noro outbreak is a big pain for them creating more work.

 

Unfortunately there will always be the piggy people out there who have no awareness of how to be responsible, but they probably don't wash their hands at home after going to the bathroom either!

 

I have seen some people in the WJ sit a small plate of food that has been in contact with the bench surfaces on top of their main plate of food!

 

As I have stated before, I seriously think RCCL should have a basic hygiene crash course when they do the muster drill for the benefit of the ignorant passengers.:D

[connes1]

We have eaten most breakfasts & lunches in the WJ on our 60 days of cruising to date with no ill effects.

 

But having said that I'm very much aware of potential issues & try to be careful to avoid situations where contamination can occur.

 

I do take my food from the back of the trays due to the tong handles being sat on top of the food, I do not touch the food below with my arm or clothing.

 

When at the table I don't let the eating end of my cutlery sit on the table surface, I rest them on my plate or use a clean napkin like a mini tablecloth.

 

I never eat the soft serve ice cream cone base, just the ice cream & the top of the cone that has been inside the dispenser.

 

I report any issues immediately to the crew & last cruise found a desert spoon immersed in the chocolate sauce, the crew member I told took it away straight away.

 

Try to eat at the buffet early before too many people have been handling tongs etc.

 

If I see children going to use their hands, I tell them to use the tongs because hands can spread germs.

 

I bring my own Australian made foaming hand sanitiser that kills Noro & is not alcohol & stays active on your hands or surfaces for up to 4 hours.

 

I use my knuckles to press lift buttons & use paper towel to open bathroom doors.

 

I try my best to wipe down the cabins often touched surfaces with wet ones on entering (light switches, draw handles, remote control etc)

 

But I don't let myself get paranoid, I just practice common sense & basic sanitary behaviour.

 

I think the crew try & do the right thing, after all a Noro outbreak is a big pain for them creating more work.

 

Unfortunately there will always be the piggy people out there who have no awareness of how to be responsible, but they probably don't wash their hands at home after going to the bathroom either!

 

I have seen some people in the WJ sit a small plate of food that has been in contact with the bench surfaces on top of their main plate of food!

 

As I have stated before, I seriously think RCCL should have a basic hygiene crash course when they do the muster drill for the benefit of the ignorant passengers.:D

 

Thanks for your post. You are able to communicate what I couldn't. I do the same things you do in the windjammer and throughout the ship. I am also so glad you brought up hand sanitizers (alcohol) as it does not prevent noro. Best way for prevention is wash hands often with warm water for 20 seconds. The other thing to remember is not to be overly concerned about getting sick and have a great time:-)

 

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[lmares1968]

Here is an interesting experiment for those who want to know more about and sanitizers:)

 

http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/Home/which-hand-sanitizers-kill-stomach-flu-viruses

[avalon007]

There does seem to be mixed message about what kills Noro out there.

 

The issue with alcohol based hand sanitisers is that they dry rapidly & have less persistence of active ingredients on the hands than non alcohol based, plus they are very drying to the skin.

 

The main source of disinfectant in hospitals is bleach derived cleaners & numerous independent studies show Benzalkonium Chloride (BAC) to be effective in reducing Noro virus. So it is still one of best choices at this stage.

 

There are also recent studies showing even better solutions such as Sodium Metasilicate (SMS) but it is not safe to put on skin as it is corrosive, some are used as a surface cleaner or washing agents for industrial applications.

 

Here is some interesting new research from 2013 that copper surfaces kill Noro, interesting options for the future.

 

There is also a Noro vaccine in development that helps reduce symptoms.

 

Unfortunately even though washing of hands has been shown to be one of the best defences against Noro, you need to wash for at least 20 seconds, which most people don't. I have also read that drying hands with paper towel helps reduce the amount of residual germs on hands after washing better than hot air hand dryers.

 

Some research also shows that people who use hand sanitisers only instead of washing hands could also be spreading the disease more readily.:eek:

 

No easy fix for Noro unfortunately. :(

[Remm1024]

From some articles I have seen, hydrogen peroxide is stated to help kill the norovirus. It is safe to use on skin and surfaces. We will be trying it out on our cruise leaving tomorrow.

 

 

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[thecruiserofships]

From some articles I have seen, hydrogen peroxide is stated to help kill the norovirus. It is safe to use on skin and surfaces. We will be trying it out on our cruise leaving tomorrow.

 

 

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Share with all of us how this works out! Any information about how to keep norovirus away is great!

[Remm1024]

The articles state that hydrogen peroxide kills viruses on all types of surfaces. Hydrogen peroxide wipes take 3 minutes to kill the virus and only 1 minute if you use the spray. We sailed on the Navigator March 9-16 and had no problems with the virus. We never heard of anyone getting the virus on this cruise.

 

 

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[connes1]

Ewww Gross:( I wish Royal Caribbean would enforce that if you are a kid you must have your parents with you. Lets say your son or daughter had a food allergy and ate something they were not supposed to. Or if they would just scoop up the fries as this kid did.

 

I could never imagine letting my kid go to the buffet alone if I knew even for a second he would use his hands to eat the food.

 

Glad Royal was on the ball and replaced the fries. What if the kid had Noro Virus or a Cold?

 

Why do Parents let their kids go alone if they don't even use the proper serving tongs?

I have a young child and I always go through buffet lines with him. He is not allowed to touch the tongs/food but he can tell me what he wants and I will get it for him. This allows him to see how to properly go through a buffet line (don't touch the food with your hands). Unfortunately some people just leave their common sense and parenting skills on land.

 

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[WetToes]

... Unfortunately some people just leave their common sense and parenting skills on land.

 

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Some people just never had common sense. You can spot them on land too.

[Missus Makkem]

We do eat at the buffet occasionally. No matter how much we sanitize our hands before entering the buffet, we still end up contaminating them again when we sit down and scoot our chairs in. The bottom of the chair is almost always sticky and if you grab the chair seat to scoot under the table, you just picked up a bunch of germs. Of course, when we can find booth seating, that eliminates one source of germs. We've learned not to stress over it. Just wash and sanitize on entry, try not to follow a finger licker through the buffet line, and then rely on our immune systems to take care of the rest.

 

Linda

 

Good job the waiter scoots your chair for you in the MD

Mmm then what happens.

[impatientlywaiting]

We eat all our meals either in the Windjammer or Park Cafe in the Solarium. When we were on the Legend in April/May, every 30 minutes all of the utensils at the buffet stations were changed out. There were quite a few crew members standing watch at the buffet stations to make sure people didn't use their hands. I was very pleased to see their diligence.

[WetToes]

We do eat at the buffet occasionally. No matter how much we sanitize our hands before entering the buffet, we still end up contaminating them again when we sit down and scoot our chairs in. The bottom of the chair is almost always sticky and if you grab the chair seat to scoot under the table, you just picked up a bunch of germs. Of course, when we can find booth seating, that eliminates one source of germs. We've learned not to stress over it. Just wash and sanitize on entry, try not to follow a finger licker through the buffet line, and then rely on our immune systems to take care of the rest.

 

Linda

 

We (I) always carry wet wipes. When I seat myself and scoot the chair in, (I try to do this without my hands, ... disgusting under there), I use the wipes afterward.. Makes me feel better.

[TEXASMUNK]

One poster referred to a gentleman being "Chinese" and was immediately attacked as making a racist comment.

I am fed up with the PC police!

Might his description have meant the gentleman did not speak English?

Possibly!

 

But no! Much for righteous to accuse the poster of being a racist!

 

Please , before you get all pompous, recognize that not everything, everybody says has any "racist" overtones!

 

PS..every ship, every line is subject to unannounced government inspections. You can review via the CDC.

[squadron]

Doesn't help with the one that counts (Noro).

 

I'm not condoning some buffet food "breachs" but having worked in schools I have seen children happily share food, drinks etc and survived nicely. To a point

I think our immune systems protect us and we aren't going to immediately fall deathly ill in most instances if someone eats a French fry while in line. I don't want to spend my vacation in a state of anxiety. What about your office lunch room - there I have seen some horrors in the fridge, tables not cleaned and so on. No washy hands before entering!

[Dardreamer]

I read an article from a well known doctor who stated that menus are one of the highest germ collectors anywhere. Even at the highest end restaurants. Think about it, how often do they change the menu cover and do they wipe them down after each order. No. He stated he orders from a menu and then goes and washes his hands. You can't barricade yourself from every germ everywhere but he said "menus" get handled by hundreds of people and his research said they were the highest contaminated object in a restaurant (other than the bathroom!). Just a little fact for you.

[delirious9876]

If it had been a "white man" would you have specifically stated so twice in your post?????:rolleyes:

Thanks for making that point. I was just going to :-)

[delirious9876]

Sounds like you have some racial issues you should address first; if you can ignore the story and jump onto an absurd tangent as you did. You need to let go of your hate, friend. :(

No, I think Brigbound, you maybe need to examine the way you communicate