People on the Infinity SICK (again ?)

[kennelgang]

Think you mean May 13th (?)

 

She isn't stopping in SD and is currently at sea heading for San Fran

[mrsflashgc]

I was on the Infinity last month after the Noro outbreak/cleaning in San Diego. Celebrity did an outstanding job of trying to contain the virus and I didn't mind the absence of self-serve in the Oceanview buffet or salt/pepper shakers on the table. What I find truly disgusting are all the people I saw walk into the buffet/dining area after sanitizing their hands with anti-bacterial gel, and then immediately cough/sneeze right into their hands! Ick, where do they think these germs will end up? Why can't people get into the habit of coughing/sneezing into the inside of their elbows? Just my pet peeve...

[Redtravel]

Infinity has noro virus too often. Sounds like a carrier is on the ship. It can remain on a person dormant and come out whenever it wants. I do not sail on the Infinity after a stressful cruise on Infinity with the virus.

[The 3 T's]

Calm down! I'm not criticizing Celebrity....we love them. I just have bad luck on my cruises with them for some reason. I'm thinking maybe it's from all the slots I touch in the casino, so I have started wiping those down on cruises now.

 

 

 

Michael

My husband and I sailed on the Celebrity Mercury out of Charleston, SC some years ago. I would say that 95.5% of the passengers and crew were sick with the virus. On most nights in the MDR, there were about 20 passengers dining, at the most. All meats were undercooked. Blood would be pooled in the dinner plates. I always order my beef to be cooked well. It did not happen. I ate very little meat, for this reason. Luckily, we did not get the virus. We saw that the crew were deep cleaning. Passengers clothes were ruined from the heavy use of bleach on the deck chairs, etc. Gritty disinfectant could be felt on handrails and chairs. Most passengers were compensated for their loss. We did not receive anything for our interrupted cruise. On our deck we had a valve that would go off about every 3 hours. The first time it went off, during the night, I got up to see if there was water coming under the door. It was that loud and frightening. No compensation, was given to us for this issue either. The ship was booked, no other rooms were available. We were fortunate that we did not get sick or have any personal items ruined. On each of the future cruises the passengers continued to get sick. They wanted to say that it was being brought on the ship from the city. The ship was eventually moved out of Charleston, SC. Some time later, I found a web site that had cruise ship reviews on it. Within it, I found one for the sick Mercury Ship. The ship was filthy. Mold, mildew,and dust on and in the drink containers. The rice and flour were stored in a room that had standing grey water. To the eye, the ship looked clean, upon inspection, not so. This ship had a history of having the virus. With all our education, do you not still see passengers standing in the buffet line snacking and handling the serving tools. I try to use my knuckles and elbows on elevators and push through doors. I tend to get sinus infections and then bronchitis. Wash those hands.:eek:

Edited May 15, 2015 by The 3 T's

[CruisingChick]

My husband and I sailed on the Celebrity Mercury out of Charleston' date=' SC some years ago. I would say that 95.5% of the passengers and crew were sick with the virus. [/quote']

 

We sailed on Mercury, March 29, 2010 out of Charleston. We had very late boarding and they even turned us away from the pier and told us not to come back until after 2:00 PM, once we came back we all had to get on buses to be brought into the terminal.

 

Noro precautions were on our sailing for at least 5 days of an 11 night cruise, maybe even 6. Our cruise was the first cruise with no illness on it out of Charleston.

Edited May 15, 2015 by CruisingChick

[The 3 T's]

We sailed on Mercury, March 29, 2010 out of Charleston. We had very late boarding and they even turned us away from the pier and told us not to come back until after 2:00 PM, once we came back we all had to get on buses to be brought into the terminal.

 

Noro precautions were on our sailing for at least 5 days of an 11 night cruise, maybe even 6. Our cruise was the first cruise with no illness on it out of Charleston.

 

Our sailing date was February 15, 2010. I'm glad that you were able to enjoy your cruise. I wish that Celebrity would return to Charleston.

[floridatravelersforlife]

WE were on the Valpariso to FLL cruise prior to the FLL to SD cruise which made the US media headlines. Our B2B2B2B mates on our cruise validated that there was noro all the way back to the last Antarctic Cruise from late February.

 

IMHO, Celebrity did not take enough precaution in the buffet to halt the spread. The lack of cooperation by many of the pax did not help.

[CruisingChick]

Our sailing date was February 15' date=' 2010. I'm glad that you were able to enjoy your cruise. I wish that Celebrity would return to Charleston.[/quote']

 

We live in CT but enjoyed sailing out of Charleston. Wish Celebrity would do a few different East Coast Ports.

[The 3 T's]

We live in CT but enjoyed sailing out of Charleston. Wish Celebrity would do a few different East Coast Ports.

 

They continue to drag their feet on improving the Charleston Port. That's one reason why the better cruise lines want dock there. Carnival has added some new cruise itineraries to Charleston. We are booked on the May 2016 cruise to Bermuda. It will only be the one sailing. We did sail out of Jacksonville, Fl., before they moved the Celebrity Zenith. That was a nice port.

[brownsage]

we were on the Infinity Apr 27 to May 16 and can confirm the outbreak. cleaning was in full force during the cruise and precautions were in effect.Luckily we came away unscathed.

[Jack & the Bunny]

We were on the Infinity during the noro outbreak. I was one of the sick ones.

 

There was enhanced sanitizing in many areas of the ship. Puddles of disinfectant were not uncommon on the tables in common areas. In spite of this, we were still serving ourselves with spoons and tongs in the Oceanview Cafe. That made no sense.

 

There was a bad odor of sewage in the solarium from the very first day we boarded.

 

We've tried to include these things in our comments to Celebrity but have heard nothing from them. We were booked again for the Infinity but have canceled. We'll think twice before sailing with Celebrity again.

[ptrpanpens]

They continue to drag their feet on improving the Charleston Port. That's one reason why the better cruise lines want dock there. Carnival has added some new cruise itineraries to Charleston. We are booked on the May 2016 cruise to Bermuda. It will only be the one sailing. We did sail out of Jacksonville' date=' Fl., before they moved the Celebrity Zenith. That was a nice port.[/quote']

 

The RCCL Serenade October 19 repositioning from Quebec to FLL stops in Charleston. The ship is full right now but I sm sure that will change after final payment. It is an excellent itinerary.

[marienbad]

We were on the Infinity during the noro outbreak. I was one of the sick ones.

 

There was enhanced sanitizing in many areas of the ship. Puddles of disinfectant were not uncommon on the tables in common areas. In spite of this, we were still serving ourselves with spoons and tongs in the Oceanview Cafe. That made no sense.

 

There was a bad odor of sewage in the solarium from the very first day we boarded.

 

We've tried to include these things in our comments to Celebrity but have heard nothing from them. We were booked again for the Infinity but have canceled. We'll think twice before sailing with Celebrity again.

 

While norovirus infections can occur on any cruiseship or elsewhere, it seems the situation on the Infinity is different. This year there have been cases in March, April and now May. Not sure whether this is a recurrent infection or a chronic condition on the ship, but it would give me pause in booking this ship. I am surprised that the CDC hasn't gotten involved to determine whether there is some condition on the ship that is the cause of these cases, and if so eradicate it. Also IMHO Celebrity should do everything possible to get to the bottom of this, before people stop booking the Infinity.

It might be worthwhile to have a continuing thread on these boards so that we can be apprised of the ship's condition.

[gimletgal]

Just off the ship. I can report that the Infinity is alive and well! We had 3 days of "code red" during our sailing, but after that, everything was normal. The ship is not the problem. It is the people on the ship who do not know what personal hygiene is and have no consideration for other passengers. Staff went out of their way to keep everything sanitized.

 

Noro can and will happen on any ship. To specifically single out the Infinity as being a "sick ship" is somewhat ludicrous. I would sail her again in a heartbeat! JMHO.

[marienbad]

Just off the ship. I can report that the Infinity is alive and well! We had 3 days of "code red" during our sailing, but after that, everything was normal. The ship is not the problem. It is the people on the ship who do not know what personal hygiene is and have no consideration for other passengers. Staff went out of their way to keep everything sanitized.

 

Noro can and will happen on any ship. To specifically single out the Infinity as being a "sick ship" is somewhat ludicrous. I would sail her again in a heartbeat! JMHO.

 

You are quite correct that Norovirus can happen on any ship, but what concerns me is why it has happened in March, April and May this year, and occurred last year as well. I have not heard about such recurrent infections on other ships. Certainly the passengers are one of the most frequent causes of the infection, but Celebrity cleaned the ship after one outbreak, passengers got off, and another outbreak occurred. I do not think the Infinity is a "sick" ship, but I think Celebrity should investigate where Norovirus might be lingering and eradicated it by their cleaning. I wonder whether for a time Celebrity should continue serving the passengers in buffet areas so that the chance of transmission through food and serving utensils is minimized.

[Seasidesue]

Just got back from May 15 cruise, 11 nt. San Francisco to Alaska and back. Those wonderful Celebrity people cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I had the most wonderful cruise, did not get sick. Loved Infinity, will only cruise Celebrity from here on! 💖

[NBCZero]

We just came back from the Infinity on May 26th and I agree, it isn't the ship but some passengers that don't know how to properly prevent spreading of germs.

 

From the CDC report of the sailing from March-April 2015:

 

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 106 of 2117 (5.00%)

 

Number of crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 6 of 964 (0.62%)

 

The percentages show the crew members pretty much know how to practice good hygiene.

 

I sprayed down our stateroom with lysol when we were first allowed in our room. I also wiped down our tables and chairs with antibacterial wipes and we used hand sanitizer (a lot)! I also avoided the use of public restrooms (minus 1 time).

 

The "code red" actions of not letting people serve themselves at the buffet was a little inconvenient, especially since I like things a certain way when I am selecting food and drinks, but I get what they were trying to do and can't fault them for taking the extra precautions.

 

I will add that I think our stateroom guys were great, but while trying to retrieve some papers that fell behind the drawer of the nightstand (you can't fully remove the drawers from the stand so you have to try and squeeze your hand and arm in and behind the open drawer) I found two plastic shopping bags from a Spanish language port and an envelope addressed to previous occupants of out stateroom. There will always be things that are hard to access and items that get overlooked, so I can't fault our stateroom guys for not finding those. I sprayed them down with lysol and tossed them in the trash :D.. the bags and envelope... not our stateroom attendants ;).

 

I've worked in hospitals and assisted living communities and there is a level of hygiene workers are taught and expected to perform, but I saw people slacking and that puts patients at risk... on the Celebrity Infinity, I never saw a crew member that slacked on performing proper hygiene. I did get annoyed with one though when we were coming back from Ketchikan. Several people, including my group, walked through the line to return to the ship without using the standing purell dispenser... no biggie. I went ahead and used it and then we all got our cards scanned. My group went through to the x-ray machine and the lady pulled the line belt closed in front of me. I thought she was holding the line and I mentioned to her I was with the group she just let through and she told me "Mam, you need to sanitize your hands" and then another crew member came over with there portable hand sanitizer. I told her I just did right outside the door and in fact I was the only person that I saw that did do that. She opened up the line and let me through... I called guest services and told them what happened and said while I understood they were taking precautions, they shouldn't single people out like that, especially when they singled out one of the people that actually sanitized on their own :D!

 

Sorry this is so long, but just wanted people concerned to know the levels of attention Celebrity is taking to ensure people stay healthy, but they can only do so much... it is up to the passenger to know proper hygiene and keep themselves healthy along with their fellow passengers. :)

[HokiePoq]

We are supposed to cruise out on the Infinity this Friday.

W just received an email saying people on the current cruise were sick and there would be a delay because of extra cleaning.

They just had this problem a few cruises ago.

Anyone on the Infinity now that can confirm this ???

 

I would not be surprised. We were on a Peru land tour followed by the Infinity Valpo-BA cruise in January. Many on the land tour got GI illnesses due to not following precautions in what they ate and drank prior to the cruise. It is possible that people routinely catch bugs and bring them on the Infinity on this itinerary.

Our cruise was fine otherwise.