30+ people sick on Princess just in SF

[Scrapchick]

Whenever I read these threads, I wonder how they know it is noro virus, say as opposed to food poisoning? In the past I've heard medical practitioners say that most people who think they have stomach flu are actually experiencing food poisoning. Not trying to create controversy here, just curious.

 

It is an ecoli virus I believe and you can get it through food that is contaminated. I believe that they are one in the same.

 

All I can tell you in this case is that the captain said the CDC was involved and had confirmed Noro as the cause of the gastroenteritis after doing lab testing.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I hope everyone feels better soon.

 

I boarded Celebrity Century on the 5th of April. Before we were allowed to board they sprayed our hands with sanitizer. Maybe I've had that done on embarkation before but I don't remember it. I asked if there was a Noro Virus outbreak onboard and I was told no but the ship next-door has the virus. The ship the crewmember was referring to was the Crown Princess.

 

The Celebrity Century and the Crown Princess were together several times during the week. Some people were a bit nervous at the thought of possible contamination. Now me, I just wanted to board the Crown Princess, watch a little MUTS and have a few chocolate chip cookies.

[Scrapchick]

I hope everyone feels better soon.

 

I boarded Celebrity Century on the 5th of April. Before we were allowed to board they sprayed our hands with sanitizer. Maybe I've had that done on embarkation before but I don't remember it. I asked if there was a Noro Virus outbreak onboard and I was told no but the ship next-door has the virus. The ship the crewmember was referring to was the Crown Princess.

 

The Celebrity Century and the Crown Princess were together several times during the week. Some people were a bit nervous at the thought of possible contamination. Now me, I just wanted to board the Crown Princess, watch a little MUTS and have a few chocolate chip cookies.

 

Funny! We kept seeing your ship everywhere… If you had been on ours you would have shivered in the fog hidden under blankets watching MUTS and you definitely would not have been allowed to select your own cookies!

 

Question for you… What was the Century like? I know Celebrity is getting rid of it and had always dismissed it as too old for us, but I thought it looked fantastic in port, way more modern than I had envisioned. The pro pics on Celebrity's website looked great too, but you were on it… What did you think?

 

Incidentally… No hand sanitizing was required on reboarding the Crown… One of the many areas I felt they could have done more to show what was being done to contain the noro virus and reassure passengers. Plus it just plain old makes sense...

Edited April 13, 2014 by Scrapchick

[OceanDreaming2]

 

Incidentally… No hand sanitizing was required on reboarding the Crown… One of the many areas I felt they could have done more to show what was being done to contain the noro virus and reassure passengers. Plus it just plain old makes sense...

 

We were on the 4/5 sailing of the Crown Princess too and have to agree with you 100% about the hand sanitizing (or lack of it) when we boarded the ship. Yes, there were hand sanitizers at the entrances of the dining rooms/buffet but they could have been at embarkation, at the casino, elevators, etc.

 

A couple other points...

 

Why only announcements in English? It seemed there was a huge population of non-English speaking passengers aboard.

 

I wondered aloud if the table servers washed their hands each time they removed plates/utensils from the tables? Supposedly they have been trained to do this, but it was not apparent. Maybe gloves would be a good idea.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Funny! We kept seeing your ship everywhere… If you had been on ours you would have shivered in the fog hidden under blankets watching MUTS and you definitely would not have been allowed to select your own cookies!

 

Question for you… What was the Century like? I know Celebrity is getting rid of it and had always dismissed it as too old for us, but I thought it looked fantastic in port, way more modern than I had envisioned. The pro pics on Celebrity's website looked great too, but you were on it… What did you think?

 

Incidentally… No hand sanitizing was required on reboarding the Crown… One of the many areas I felt they could have done more to show what was being done to contain the noro virus and reassure passengers. Plus it just plain old makes sense...

 

This was my first Celebrity cruise. I chose the Century over the Crown Princess due to the itinerary. The Century is much older and it shows in several areas. Even with all the wear and tear we had a fabulous time. I will say that the food was 100% better than my last cruise four weeks ago on the Sapphire Princess.

 

Hand sanitizing was required on the Century on reboarding at every port, the buffet, main dining room, and even when entering the theater. Combine all that sanitizer with washing my hands 5 million times and my skin is so dry it hurts. :(

 

We did have a few issues onboard so maybe I will post a comparison.

[Salacia]

Whenever I read these threads, I wonder how they know it is noro virus, say as opposed to food poisoning? In the past I've heard medical practitioners say that most people who think they have stomach flu are actually experiencing food poisoning. Not trying to create controversy here, just curious.

 

It is an ecoli virus I believe and you can get it through food that is contaminated. I believe that they are one in the same.

 

Hi harrodsfan. No, noro virus and E.coli are not one in the same.

E.coli is a bacterial strain, recognizable by lab tests, with several variants, and requiring additional medical follow-up for those diagnosed with a E.coli - as opposed to noro which is a virus (again, a broad term for many different viral strains).

 

Lab tests from specimens of some passengers and crew members who report gastrointestinal symptoms are sent to the CDC lab for analysis, although I've read that some ships have the technology to do their own analysis (sorry, I have no reference for that other than what I've read on Cruise Critic).

 

For additional information regarding E.coli, see http://www.foodsafety.gov/poisoning/causes/bacteriaviruses/ecoli/

http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/

 

 

Thanks for asking the question. We can only benefit by knowing more, and fearing less. Cheers, -Salacia

Edited April 13, 2014 by Salacia

[geocruiser]

I was lucky to be able to have lunch and a tour with my TA whaen NCL Break-a-Way came to Port C. on 4/1/14. The BEST thing I ever saw on a cruise ship was at the entrance to their buffet. There were two sets of sinks (four on each side of the entrance) to the buffet besides the sanitizers. This was the first time I ever saw a washing station by a buffet. I thought it was great!

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I was lucky to be able to have lunch and a tour with my TA whaen NCL Break-a-Way came to Port C. on 4/1/14. The BEST thing I ever saw on a cruise ship was at the entrance to their buffet. There were two sets of sinks (four on each side of the entrance) to the buffet besides the sanitizers. This was the first time I ever saw a washing station by a buffet. I thought it was great!

 

What a great idea. Correct me if I'm wrong but when it comes to hand sanitizer, isn't it only effective three times and then you must wash your hands with soap and water?

[Loonbeam]

Hand sanitizer in most cases is not effective on noro at all or minimally. Even when distributed most people don't use it correctly (ensure that it covers all skin from fingertips to below wrist joint, including between fingers). Watch people as they use it and see how many just rub their hands together like starting a fire. And once it dries, you are completely exposed to contamination again.

 

 

What a great idea. Correct me if I'm wrong but when it comes to hand sanitizer, isn't it only effective three times and then you must wash your hands with soap and water?

[fabby50]

We were on this cruise - we had a great time and did not get ill. Our understanding is Princess is participating in a program with the CDC working on the norovirus problem. When more than 1% of the passengers get ill from noro, they report it. Not all cruise lines are participating in this program.

 

A ship is a great rumor mill and rumors abounded while on board. I was more curious about the ambulance and elderly man who was taken off in Ensenada with his wife and what happened to them. No stories in the paper/news about that.

 

Our understanding is the voyage before ours also had noro and that was the delay in boarding. We were not allowed to board until after 4 pm. Instead of standing in line and complaining, we toured the destroyer. Princess arranged with the tour company for 1/2 price tickets. We then walked down to a restaurant and had lunch. Beautiful weather and sort of like an extra port day. Once the line to board got moving, we've never gotten on board a ship quicker. No sitting and waiting, just move, move move.

 

Daily announcements were made about the virus status and "wash your hands" was the chant. We were also given several flyers and a survey to complete at the end of the trip to help Princess/the CDC.

 

Getting off the ship was the fastest ever - we went to the lounge where we were supposed to meet a few minutes early and were actually off the ship before we were even supposed to start waiting. We were in our car by 8:10 am. Never sat down or stood in getting off, even in a customs line.

 

It was a great trip.

[seattlec5]

We were on this cruise - we had a great time and did not get ill. Our understanding is Princess is participating in a program with the CDC working on the norovirus problem. When more than 1% of the passengers get ill from noro, they report it. Not all cruise lines are participating in this program.

 

A ship is a great rumor mill and rumors abounded while on board. I was more curious about the ambulance and elderly man who was taken off in Ensenada with his wife and what happened to them. No stories in the paper/news about that.

 

Our understanding is the voyage before ours also had noro and that was the delay in boarding. We were not allowed to board until after 4 pm. Instead of standing in line and complaining, we toured the destroyer. Princess arranged with the tour company for 1/2 price tickets. We then walked down to a restaurant and had lunch. Beautiful weather and sort of like an extra port day. Once the line to board got moving, we've never gotten on board a ship quicker. No sitting and waiting, just move, move move.

 

Daily announcements were made about the virus status and "wash your hands" was the chant. We were also given several flyers and a survey to complete at the end of the trip to help Princess/the CDC.

 

Getting off the ship was the fastest ever - we went to the lounge where we were supposed to meet a few minutes early and were actually off the ship before we were even supposed to start waiting. We were in our car by 8:10 am. Never sat down or stood in getting off, even in a customs line.

 

It was a great trip.

 

I agree. We were on the same April 5 cruise and indeed there were all of the measures involved with managing the norovirus for the entire cruise, but other than needing a slight bit more patience in the buffet, there really was not an impact to us versus any none-noro cruise. We obviously felt bad for anyone who was ill and had their week significantly impacted, but for the 97% of the passengers who were not ill, I do not think the impact was significant enough to say it was a horrible week.

 

I was however a bit perturbed by some of the passengers who, despite numerous updates from the captain, the printed notices that were given to everyone upon boarding and during the cruise, and the efforts of the crew, nevertheless maintained a "me first" attitude, continuing to reach in and grab food from the Horizon Court rather than wait 10 seconds to be served, etc. Our thoughts were, "thanks for potentially recontaminating that area"... When we saw that behavior we did not have any food from that area during that session.

 

Most people seemed to be complying with the requirements and making the best of the cruise and indeed seemed to have a pretty good time. I certainly was not hampered from doing or eating anything I wanted all week, which included Vines, the IC, main dining room, Crown Grill, Sabatini's and Horizon Court. We chose to enjoy our week, others who seemed to be in the minority, chose to be unpleasant and miserable even though they were not ill. Their choice.

 

Sail away was only an hour late, and after that the ship made all of the ports on schedule. Weather was pretty good overall with sunshine in every port, with the exception of some morning fog at Santa Barbara. No rain, mild to warm temps, no complaints.:)

[RickEk]

I was lucky to be able to have lunch and a tour with my TA whaen NCL Break-a-Way came to Port C. on 4/1/14. The BEST thing I ever saw on a cruise ship was at the entrance to their buffet. There were two sets of sinks (four on each side of the entrance) to the buffet besides the sanitizers. This was the first time I ever saw a washing station by a buffet. I thought it was great!

 

From what I understand, the Royal (and Regal) Princess have sinks at the entrances to the Horizon Court too...

 

Oh, and why must people persist in calling the USS Iowa a destroyer?? She's a battleship folks! A battlewagon, one of the mightiest surface ships ever to sail. She could fire a shell from her berth and hit downtown LA... :)

Edited April 14, 2014 by RickEk

[west coast cruiser]

I agree. We were on the same April 5 cruise and indeed there were all of the measures involved with managing the norovirus for the entire cruise, but other than needing a slight bit more patience in the buffet, there really was not an impact to us versus any none-noro cruise. We obviously felt bad for anyone who was ill and had their week significantly impacted, but for the 97% of the passengers who were not ill, I do not think the impact was significant enough to say it was a horrible week.

 

I was however a bit perturbed by some of the passengers who, despite numerous updates from the captain, the printed notices that were given to everyone upon boarding and during the cruise, and the efforts of the crew, nevertheless maintained a "me first" attitude, continuing to reach in and grab food from the Horizon Court rather than wait 10 seconds to be served, etc. Our thoughts were, "thanks for potentially recontaminating that area"... When we saw that behavior we did not have any food from that area during that session.

 

Most people seemed to be complying with the requirements and making the best of the cruise and indeed seemed to have a pretty good time. I certainly was not hampered from doing or eating anything I wanted all week, which included Vines, the IC, main dining room, Crown Grill, Sabatini's and Horizon Court. We chose to enjoy our week, others who seemed to be in the minority, chose to be unpleasant and miserable even though they were not ill. Their choice.

 

Sail away was only an hour late, and after that the ship made all of the ports on schedule. Weather was pretty good overall with sunshine in every port, with the exception of some morning fog at Santa Barbara. No rain, mild to warm temps, no complaints.:)

 

Thank you for your positive comments. I got off the Crown on the 5th. We had a wonderful cruise. As you said, sorry for those who were sick. But the complainers comments got the media all stirred up and gave the Crown some publicity that in imho she did not need.

[Salacia]

Thank you for your positive comments. I got off the Crown on the 5th. We had a wonderful cruise. As you said, sorry for those who were sick. But the complainers comments got the media all stirred up and gave the Crown some publicity that in imho she did not need.

 

Hi west coast cruiser. Do you think the people in the ports where the ship docked had a right to know the extent of the outbreak of gastrointestinal illness (to the limited effect cruise lines are forthcoming with that information) - or should their local media (subsequently picked up by international media) just ignore reporting news regarding cruise ships?

 

I've a passenger on ships where there was a noro outbreak, and I've never heard official reports on board regarding the specific number of passengers and crew reporting ill - most often, I've only found information that was later reported by the ship, appearing on the CDC website.

 

While I agree with you that Crown Princess - or any other ship - does not need bad publicity, people do have a right to know and, sadly, it seems we can't rely on cruise lines to be transparent.

 

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. Nothing like being on the sea!:)

Cheers,

Salacia

Edited April 16, 2014 by Salacia

[west coast cruiser]

Hi west coast cruiser. Do you think the people in the ports where the ship docked had a right to know the extent of the outbreak of gastrointestinal illness (to the limited effect cruise lines are forthcoming with that information) - or should their local media (subsequently picked up by international media) just ignore reporting news regarding cruise ships?

 

I've a passenger on ships where there was a noro outbreak, and I've never heard official reports on board regarding the specific number of passengers and crew reporting ill - most often, I've only found information that was later reported by the ship, appearing on the CDC website.

 

While I agree with you that Crown Princess - or any other ship - does not need bad publicity, people do have a right to know and, sadly, it seems we can't rely on cruise lines to be transparent.

 

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. Nothing like being on the sea!:)

Cheers,

Salacia

 

I can certainly understand the Ports concern after all the attention in the media. However I still think the media loves to jump on the cruise lines. This was unfortunate but when you have this many people together in confined quarters you are going to have some issues. I felt that the Captain was very up front about the situation and I was very impressed with the way they handled it. If it had been as bad as the media was playing it up I think the CDC would have hauled the ship in. I don't mean to down play those who were sick in any way.

WCC

[ldubs]

i get sooooooo tired of this stuff. People at work always ask me about it. The so called "news reporters" love to jump on this stuff and blow it all out of proportion. My wife is sick right now. Nobody is reporting the "news" that she (and another 100 or so people) have "come down with" or "are suffering from" whatever it is she has. If she was currently on a cruise though, it would be big "news".

 

 

Sorry -- miscued this. Hope your wife is feeling better.

[rtlk]

Seems strange to me that we have not seen a single post from the ship this week, either good or bad? With as much noise that came from this board last week to have things go totally silent makes you wonder what is happening on that ship have I missed something?

[

[bcnvcanada]

The ship went to Mexico this week, stops in P.V and Cabo today.

Will be doing a California run the next three weeks, so we should here

more than.

[Mrs.Gosse]

If you have had a stomach bug ever in your life, you likely had Norovirus. I am concerned about it only because it has been through my work and my home twice this year and I see how QUICKLY it is spread. I was so miserable the last time I had it, I can't bear the idea of having it on the ship. Luckily it lasts about 2 days and it is a 7 days cruise so I would only miss about 30% if it did happen.

[RickEk]

Seems strange to me that we have not seen a single post from the ship this week, either good or bad? With as much noise that came from this board last week to have things go totally silent makes you wonder what is happening on that ship have I missed something?

[

 

As Pam said on another thread, "no news is good news". You can bet that folks would be squawking if the situation was getting worse.

[MauiLvrs]

As Pam said on another thread, "no news is good news". You can bet that folks would be squawking if the situation was getting worse.

 

Awesome cruise!

A little chilly today and probably tomorrow.

 

We havent heard a thing about noro:D:D:D

Released from code red in Cabo :D

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T217A using Forums mobile app

[Colo Cruiser]

There ya go!

[cibaygirls]

Awesome cruise!

A little chilly today and probably tomorrow.

 

We havent heard a thing about noro:D:D:D

Released from code red in Cabo :D

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T217A using Forums mobile app

 

Thank you for sharing that news. I sail on the Crown on 5/3 and have been paying attention to this, as has my roll call!! I will certainly report back her when I am on board if there is anything siginificant to report

 

Dana

[akeasley]

From what I understand, the Royal (and Regal) Princess have sinks at the entrances to the Horizon Court too...

 

Oh, and why must people persist in calling the USS Iowa a destroyer?? She's a battleship folks! A battlewagon, one of the mightiest surface ships ever to sail. She could fire a shell from her berth and hit downtown LA... :)

 

 

The Royal does have a sink outside the buffet but usually the floor around the sink was really wet so if you wanted to wash your hands, you would then get your shoes wet. I didn't see many people using the sink during my cruise but hopefully it's increased over the last few months.

 

Last week on the Grand an employee stood right by the hand sanitizer at the entrance of the buffet and made you use it. Hopefully it helped some and we didn't have any noro issues. I was really nervous after docking alongside the Crown in San Diego.

Edited April 18, 2014 by akeasley

[caribill]

Last week on the Grand an employee stood right by the hand sanitizer at the entrance of the buffet and made you use it. Hopefully it helped some and we didn't have any noro issues.

 

It may have hurt rather than helped.

 

Hand washing is the suggested method. It does not kill the virus, but washes it down the drain.

 

The hand sanitizer also does not kill the virus, but the rubbing of hands can send any existing virus particles into the air for others to inhale.