Sick room steward. What would you do?

[lindaler]

On our first day, we met our room steward. He seemed very nice and hard working. The next day we came back to our room to find someone very different in our room. He explained that our room steward was very ill and he was filling in. He was normally a busboy and this was new to him. The following day our regular room steward was back. He said he felt better but was still stifling and coughing. 14 days later he was still coughing and wiping his nose. He was congested and was never better the whole cruise. We know he filled our ice bucket while he coughed, cleaned our glasses after his wiped sniffles, and turned down our beds while he coughed. By the end of the cruise DH was ill, coughing, sinus running and congested. The couple in the cabin next to us was the same. We found out that at least five couples near us had one person ill with the coughing.

 

What we want to know is how can you protect yourself from illness if your own room steward is coughing as he wipes down the desk, brings in glasses and turns down your bed? We understand that it is not feasible to have him not work for more than a day but maybe he should have worn a mask or plastic gloves or something to help us stay healthy.

 

We know that our steward was hard working, and good at what he does so we didn't want to get him in trouble but by the time we were done with the cruise we were both suffering from the same symptom as our steward. What would you do? What could we have done to stay healthy? He basically touched everything in our room. Can bedding carry germs? Does the railing in the bathroom? The sink faucet? Drinking glasses, ice buckets and door handles? What would you have done?

[Seminole1975]

I think I would have talked to the supervisor of the room stewards and expressed my concern.

[GUEST080219]

I would have done the same like the rest of the year. There are sick and coughing people around all the time. In supermarkets, public transport, work place, bars, night clubs, random people who used the same elevator, ...

[RuthlessBoss]

You said 14 days later? I'm not a squealer but if it had continued that long, I would have spoken to someone about it.

[bbryan5]

People get sick, not much you can do about it.

[LrgPizza]

Poor guy! I hate when I have to work when feeling under the weather.

 

What would I do? Nothing. Live in a bubble in my house, I suppose, but that's never been my style.

[RuthlessBoss]

People get sick, not much you can do about it.

 

This true, but it went on daily and would you feel comfortable having a sick person touching your belongings several times a day?

[bbryan5]

This true, but it went on daily and would you feel comfortable having a sick person touching your belongings several times a day?

 

Like someone else mentioned, can't live in a bubble.

[Rosy1013]

You said 14 days later? I'm not a squealer but if it had continued that long, I would have spoken to someone about it.

 

Same. I feel bad for the guy, but I would have said something.

[Crusin6]

I would have said something

 

14 days? Too long

 

 

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[mking8288]

By day 3 or 4, have a direct face-to-face conversation with the hotel director or asst hotel director/supervisor about it.

 

RS shared his sleeping cabin with several others and it's not good for them either with the wall of silence. He could've been instructed by his superior to wear a facial mask while working along with latex gloves at a minimum if being confined to sick bay is not an option.

 

For our HCF employees, under similar conditions - they would not be allowed to report for work or send to health services and only return to duty with a certificate of fitness, and not be in direct contact with the public (in this case, passengers on the ship) ... maybe report to back office duties doing behind-the-scene work to protect everyone's well beings. Was RS treated & medications prescribed as appropriate, and his conditions typically should improve and recovery in 7 to 10 days, maybe less - unless it's symptomatic of more seriously underlying medical conditions, i.e. active TB (not to scare OP or sound the false alarm)

 

Contact one's own PCP for a consult with the doctor just to play it safe. Did other guests in that corridor seek medical help while onboard or nothing at all ?

[LrgPizza]

Contact one's own PCP for a consult with the doctor just to play it safe. Did other guests in that corridor seek medical help while onboard or nothing at all ?

 

Who seeks medical help for symptoms of the common cold? :confused:

[lindaler]

Most other passengers self medicated to keep going and not ruin their vacation. I imagine the steward was also self medicated to keep from reporting and having it on his record or having to stop working. He probably did not use a mask so others would not notice.

[fshagan]

I would talk to the hotel director or his supervisor. You have no idea what he has, and it could be something serious. If they wouldn't pull him off duty, I would tell him not to clean the room.

[mking8288]

Who seeks medical help for symptoms of the common cold? :confused:

Rather than self-prescribe, a qualified medical practitioner can evaluate to determine if it is just a common cold or rule out a more serious condition.

 

Given the crew's typical work day & the need for up to 12 hours of rest/sleep as part of the "natural" un-aided recovery ... and what if that's a whooping cough or sinus infection with similar symptoms. A quick screening test can be given, not something the crew members have easy access to or trained to diagnose.

 

From OP's description, his RS was likely ill already when they embark and remained so 14 days later, there is more to it than a common cold, IMO - and, living/sleeping in extremely closed quarters with roommates is - suffice to say - not good nor acceptable.

Edited May 8, 2016 by mking8288

[blackwing]

I agree that I would have said something. If the sub had said the regular guy was sick and then you see the guy the next day and he still looks really sick, I would have said something to the Hotel Director. I would have felt bad that he might be docked pay, but at the end of the day, your steward touches everything in your room. He touches light switches, balcony door handle, remote control, box of Kleenex, possibly your toothbrush, etc. Not to mention the probable sneezing and germs spread in your cabin. The cabins are tiny and there's not a lot of places to hide from germs.

 

I also agree that if he was going to keep working, I would have insisted that they make him wear gloves and a face mask.

 

Also... Sick for 14 days? That's not just a cold. That's something else. Bacterial or strep or something.

[skbswa]

I would put the do not disturb sign on and just go without him cleaning.

[luvtheships]

I would put the do not disturb sign on and just go without him cleaning.

 

 

Exactly

 

And I would have contacted the head of housekeeping and arranged to pick up myself or have someone else deliver 3 day supplies of towels

 

 

Alternately but that would really piss everyone off....I would suggest/ask/insist that a different steward was assigned to my cabin but that would undoubtedly be difficult to arrange

[luvtheships]

By day 3 or 4, have a direct face-to-face conversation with the hotel director or asst hotel director/supervisor about it.

 

 

 

RS shared his sleeping cabin with several others and it's not good for them either with the wall of silence. He could've been instructed by his superior to wear a facial mask while working along with latex gloves at a minimum if being confined to sick bay is not an option.

 

 

 

For our HCF employees, under similar conditions - they would not be allowed to report for work or send to health services and only return to duty with a certificate of fitness, and not be in direct contact with the public (in this case, passengers on the ship) ... maybe report to back office duties doing behind-the-scene work to protect everyone's well beings. Was RS treated & medications prescribed as appropriate, and his conditions typically should improve and recovery in 7 to 10 days, maybe less - unless it's symptomatic of more seriously underlying medical conditions, i.e. active TB (not to scare OP or sound the false alarm)

 

 

 

Contact one's own PCP for a consult with the doctor just to play it safe. Did other guests in that corridor seek medical help while onboard or nothing at all ?

 

 

I didn't think about TB but that definitely could be a possibility given his living conditions etc.

 

Everyone in this case was negligent

 

The steward for not reporting sick

 

And if he did in fact report sick,

his supervisor for making him continue to work

 

The op for not reporting the sick steward to the hotel director

 

And for letting him continue to enter the cabin

 

 

Of course we don't actually know how sick the steward really was or if in fact it was the entire 14 days as we were not the occupants of the cabin but if everything is as posted then something is wrong if Ncl knew he was sick and continued to have him work

 

At minimum he should have been under doctors care

 

And yes at Ncl expense as we are not talking about Ncl providing plan b we are talking a regimen of antibiotics

[Barb Nahoumi]

Who seeks medical help for symptoms of the common cold? :confused:

 

You do if the common cold turns into bronchitis, which just happened to me.

[hawkeyetlse]

The steward for not reporting sick

He must have reported if he was replaced on Day 2. Especially if the replacement was a busboy :confused: who would normally be absolutely prohibited from being inside any guest stateroom.

 

I would have said something just to make sure that the hotel department was aware of the issue. I would have been kind of resigned to getting sick, but if I had to go to the medical center, I would hope not to have to pay for the visit.

 

I don't really think a mask and gloves would have kept the OP healthy. The only thing would have been not to let the steward into their room anymore (and even that might have been too late, for all we know he was already contagious on Day 1 with whatever and everyone in those cabins was already doomed).

 

But one thing about the OP's story puzzles me. It sounds like they continued asking for ice every day and using their drinking glasses :confused::confused::confused:

[cruisin07family]

My son is a theatre tech on a NCL ship and he reported a few weeks back that it seemed about half the crew had some kind of crap going on and he had pneumonia. Even with pneumonia he was only given off two days for bedrest. Most of the crew cannot take time off for sick. I can only imagine how bad those RS must feel working such long hours and possibly doing so with a fever.

 

I agree with speaking to the HD and possibly putting up the Do not disturb indicator for a bit.

[lindaler]

 

But one thing about the OP's story puzzles me. It sounds like they continued asking for ice every day and using their drinking glasses :confused::confused::confused:

 

 

We brought glasses back and kept them in a cupboard that he didn't clean or if we had to we washed them ourselves before using them. Our problem was we thought he was on the mend since his day off. We should have done what was suggested and put up a do not disturb sign but didn't think about it. You just expect him to get better and when you don't see him every day and you ask him, "how are you" and he tells you he is much better, you believe him. Several days later we caught him cleaning in our room and saw that he was no better. By then the deed was done and we had been exposed.

[luvtheships]

Fwiw since we have started taking January cruises we have also started a regimen of daily zinc /vitamin C/multi vitamins around October

 

We always did the multi/ vitamin c thing anyway and none of us including the teens and young adults and the nursing student have been sick with a cold in years

 

We added the zinc part in the winters going from October to may and on the rare occasion where a sniffle or sore throat seems imminent we just pop an extra zinc and again....no illness surfaces

 

 

Btw my doctor poo poohed the idea of vitamins 15 years ago....but now omg...they are oh so concerned about your vitamin d /b12 etc levels

 

They make me laugh how conveniently they forget their previous advice that vitamins were unproven

 

My all time fav is the vitamin d thing....they go nuts if you sit in the sun ....then get nuts when your d levels are low. Lol. It's amusing

 

I just smile and say ok

 

Bottom line IMHO zinc works be it taken regularly or just when feeling something coming on

 

I won't travel anymore without it

[luvtheships]

Maybe a bottle of zinc for the steward is what those that insist on gifting the crew should give them. Lol