Greetings from Marina

[ORV]

One thing I didn't mention, there are a lot of people with colds, sniffles, deep croups and nose blowing is heard all over the ship.

[WpgCruise]

Thanks for the update.

 

Either myself or DW have come down with the Cruise Cough on probably half our cruises. Seems it's the nature of the beast, a closed environment anything contagious just circulates.

 

Hope you stay well through the rest of your cruise.

[YoHoHo]

One thing I didn't mention, there are a lot of people with colds, sniffles, deep croups and nose blowing is heard all over the ship.

That's me right now! Wish I was on a ship though. Wouldn't be looking forward to the flight home though with plugged ears.

[Semolina]

Has anyone thought to ask the GM onboard what the situation is with viruses right now. Who is the GM on the ship right now? It might be good to ask some questions.

[Semolina]

We have been in touch with a management contact that we have in head office and apparently the Coastguard picks ships that they check on a purely random basis. It has nothing to do with anything that might be happening onboard the Marina. So I think everyone can cross that concern off the list.

 

Please, keep up informing us all about the situation as you see it onboard.

Thanks everybody

[ORV]

Has anyone thought to ask the GM onboard what the situation is with viruses right now. Who is the GM on the ship right now? It might be good to ask some questions.

GM is Damien Lacroix, he hasn't been visible most of the trip.

 

There was an announcement this morning I didn't hear, but from what I've heard things are worse, not better.

[LHT28]

GM is Damien Lacroix, he hasn't been visible most of the trip.

 

There was an announcement this morning I didn't hear, but from what I've heard things are worse, not better.

 

worse in what way?

Are they taping people in their cabins like before ??

Have they been trusting sick people to do the right thing and stay in their cabins when they have G.I. problems?

Taking the key cards so they cannot wander on/off the ship at will ?

Have they confirmed there is NORO ?

[Iamthesea]

worse in what way?

Are they taping people in their cabins like before ??

Have they been trusting sick people to do the right thing and stay in their cabins when they have G.I. problems?

Taking the key cards so they cannot wander on/off the ship at will ?

Have they confirmed there is NORO ?

 

Washing down the walls? Every surface on the ship, including the staterooms?

 

I understood that taking the keys was to prevent passengers from roaming the ship and getting food and drink. When we were on the Noro cruise last year, they did this and then everyone had to have their key card checked when they entered a dining or bar venue. So if a quarantined person tried to sneak out and get something, they would not be allowed without a card and would then be escorted back to their staterooms. We saw this happen to one couple. Embarrassing for them!

[ORV]

I haven't seen any of those precautions, and haven't seen any tape on door. The captain mentioned that people shouldn't use public restrooms and should use the ones in their cabin. The public restroom doors are all taped open. The laundries are now closed. The CD used the term Code Red 2, whatever that means.

 

One more sea day and then in Miami.

[Semolina]

This doesn't sound good at all. However we were on a cruise on Regatta around South America a few years ago and Noro did get quite bad. It was a 30 days cruise but they gradually got it under control and cleared the ship. It seemed to be brought on in Lima. Perhaps it was the ceviche ice cream!

 

I don't think we have had Damien LaCroix on any of our cruises with O and we have done 20. Hmm, is he doing his job? That doesn't sound too good either.

This does seem to get more worrying. All you can do is keep washing hands and don't touch anything unless you have to. Even when there is no GI onboard I use our bathroom whenever possible because I read that this was a sensible thing to do. Maybe use those little tissues they put in the bathrooms to hold onto the railings on the stairs.

 

When does this cruise end? Is it the 22nd? Perhaps they can deep clean the ship before they have the new boardings.

 

Do the crew seem sick?

 

I wonder if it is harder to get rid of this problem on the bigger ships.

 

Keep posting and good luck.

[ORV]

CD's morning talk just said it is 1.5% of crew and passengers. From the start of the cruise to now there have been 19 people sick with GI. I'm surprised they released those numbers. Perhaps they have decided to be more transparent.

[courtjester777]

CDC requires Oceania to report if 3 % or more of crew and guests report GI symptoms.....1.5 % reported will still require due diligent and thorough cleaning by Oceania....I trust in their ability to stay on top of it!

[RJB]

GM is Damien Lacroix, he hasn't been visible most of the trip.

 

There was an announcement this morning I didn't hear, but from what I've heard things are worse, not better.

WE have been with Damien Lacroix for at least 3 cruises and think he it the best GM that Oceania has. I am sure he is very busy in the back of the house doing a lot of things that aren't seen by the passengers but are important to clean the ship and make sure things go right for all who are not sick. Hope things get better for everyone. :):):)

[LHT28]

CD's morning talk just said it is 1.5% of crew and passengers. From the start of the cruise to now there have been 19 people sick with GI. I'm surprised they released those numbers. Perhaps they have decided to be more transparent.

 

Well it is good they are sharing the info

Have they confirmed it to be Noro or just G.I. problems ?

[Sharkerella]

Well it is good they are sharing the info

Have they confirmed it to be Noro or just G.I. problems ?

 

They say it is acute gastroenteritis. But it seems like there has been a lot of sanitation activities going on for just 19 incidents. Maybe 19 incidents have been reported. Today the ship has gone into intense cleaning measures in preparation for their inspection in Miami. Our culinary class was canceled and the concierge lounge has no food or coffee. The bathrooms are wide open with paper on the handles. Tonight they will be removing all nonessential items from our cabin. Every night they have disinfected the halls on our deck. We know there is at least one of the reported instances on our deck after seeing the room service person carrying a food tray with plastic gloves and a mask. The railings in the halls and stairs have been wet in the mornings. They are certainly doing everything they can to turn this around and hopefully it won’t rear its head on the next cruise, but I would be very conscious of personal hygiene and be selective of what you eat. We have enjoyed our cruise but there was always the thought that we had disease on board. Good luck to all who are coming on board for the next cruise.

[LHT28]

It is possible some people are sick & do not report it then just go about their day & spread the virus as they go

 

I do hope they get whatever it is under control quickly

 

Lyn

[Iamthesea]

Ugh! Sounds familiar. And I agree that there are possibly, actually probably, more cases that have not been reported.

 

Will there be a crew change after this cruise because of the new sailing territory? That may help hold the spread of the virus to the next cruise.

 

For those boarding tomorrow, also be mindful of your hotel and germs. And please check in often with updates about your cruise in the next 10 days. ;)

 

This stomach virus is running rapid in the daycares in our town. My daughter works in a child study class at the local university. She says that they have had 7 children sick with this bug this past week and many of the parents also had it. There was another outbreak right before and during Christmas break among some young people and their parents in other schools.

[Semolina]

If it is a virus that's going around right now it seems it will be difficult to get rid of because more people will bring it onboard. My daughter had this virus just after Christmas and that was in Vancouver, so it is everywhere. I was thinking the same thing about the hotels. We are having one night in Miami before we join our friends for 3 nights, then we will board together. Maybe at least the bug isn't as bad as Noro. My daughter's lasted 24 hours.

I am supporting the request to watch the hygiene in the hotels before boarding. The bug will spread from ships to hotels and vica versa.

I hope that some of you on Marina next week will continue the updates on the health of the ship.

Good luck to everyone who is on her and have a great time! Here is to a healthy cruise.

[ORV]

We've been home, safe and well for a couple of days now with no ill effects. We were fortunate to not catch anything. One of the people traveling with us and another lady that I spoke with seemed to have the runny nose, yet anytime they were off the ship they were fine. We're assuming that would be a reaction to all the chemicals used in cleaning.

 

One thing to note, if you do the math the 1.5% were passengers only. There were 1207 passengers onboard. We were not told how many crew were sick. I do know that on our last two days our regular assistant steward was not around. I didn't ask questions about it as I didn't want to let my mind dwell on it too much.

 

I hope I haven't come off as complaining in this thread, as I said at the top, just trying to report the facts.

 

All in all we did enjoy this cruise, minus the enhanced cleaning. Here were some good things;

 

The specialty restaurants were about as good as I've ever had on Oceania.

 

The CD Peter Roberts, and assistant CD Jason, did a very good job. Peter was leaving for a while after our cruise.

 

We actually won money in the Casino. We took home more money than we brought, this included our spending money.( Although I still think the management policies in the casino are quite silly, tables closed from 5pm to 8pm?)

 

I didn't go to any shows, but heard the troupe was pretty good. The ones we interacted with throughout the cruise were very nice young folks.

 

The bar staff all did a great job.

 

There were a lot of activities. The ship is very well maintained. I heard rumors there is a gym on board.

 

I'm glad there is a live, on going thread to keep up with how things are progressing.

[RJB]

We've been home, safe and well for a couple of days now with no ill effects. We were fortunate to not catch anything. One of the people traveling with us and another lady that I spoke with seemed to have the runny nose, yet anytime they were off the ship they were fine. We're assuming that would be a reaction to all the chemicals used in cleaning.

 

One thing to note, if you do the math the 1.5% were passengers only. There were 1207 passengers onboard. We were not told how many crew were sick. I do know that on our last two days our regular assistant steward was not around. I didn't ask questions about it as I didn't want to let my mind dwell on it too much.

 

I hope I haven't come off as complaining in this thread, as I said at the top, just trying to report the facts.

 

All in all we did enjoy this cruise, minus the enhanced cleaning. Here were some good things;

 

The specialty restaurants were about as good as I've ever had on Oceania.

 

The CD Peter Roberts, and assistant CD Jason, did a very good job. Peter was leaving for a while after our cruise.

 

We actually won money in the Casino. We took home more money than we brought, this included our spending money.( Although I still think the management policies in the casino are quite silly, tables closed from 5pm to 8pm?)

 

I didn't go to any shows, but heard the troupe was pretty good. The ones we interacted with throughout the cruise were very nice young folks.

 

The bar staff all did a great job.

 

There were a lot of activities. The ship is very well maintained. I heard rumors there is a gym on board.

 

I'm glad there is a live, on going thread to keep up with how things are progressing.

I think you did a great job with this thread giving us the facts and your thoughts.

[Paulchili]

ORV,

Thanks for the updates. Sounds like you had a reasonably good cruise despite the less than ideal circumstances.

[mandy's mommy]

We've been home, safe and well for a couple of days now with no ill effects. We were fortunate to not catch anything. One of the people traveling with us and another lady that I spoke with seemed to have the runny nose, yet anytime they were off the ship they were fine. We're assuming that would be a reaction to all the chemicals used in cleaning.

 

One thing to note, if you do the math the 1.5% were passengers only. There were 1207 passengers onboard. We were not told how many crew were sick. I do know that on our last two days our regular assistant steward was not around. I didn't ask questions about it as I didn't want to let my mind dwell on it too much.

 

I hope I haven't come off as complaining in this thread, as I said at the top, just trying to report the facts.

 

All in all we did enjoy this cruise, minus the enhanced cleaning. Here were some good things;

 

The specialty restaurants were about as good as I've ever had on Oceania.

 

The CD Peter Roberts, and assistant CD Jason, did a very good job. Peter was leaving for a while after our cruise.

 

We actually won money in the Casino. We took home more money than we brought, this included our spending money.( Although I still think the management policies in the casino are quite silly, tables closed from 5pm to 8pm?)

 

I didn't go to any shows, but heard the troupe was pretty good. The ones we interacted with throughout the cruise were very nice young folks.

 

The bar staff all did a great job.

 

There were a lot of activities. The ship is very well maintained. I heard rumors there is a gym on board.

 

I'm glad there is a live, on going thread to keep up with how things are progressing.

 

Do you know who is going to be the CD on the upcoming cruises?

[ORV]

Do you know who is going to be the CD on the upcoming cruises?

 

You might try asking on the Live from thread.

[LHT28]

Do you know who is going to be the CD on the upcoming cruises?

 

even if the CD is on the ship now it can all change by next cruise

Sometimes even the CD might not know they are moving ship

[mightytraveler]

We too are home safe and sound and thankfully without having caught the gastro bug. I will echo what someone else said which is that my nose and throat drove me nuts on the boat but was fine any day in port. I was sure it was chemical related.

Cruise really was terrific and while illness problems are not preventable I believe Oceania did all they could to minimize the impact. Yes, it was a bit annoying to have food removed in Concierge Lounge and Library but annoying is better than getting ill. It's always tricky to determine how much transparency the boat should really offer to passengers. Some people will take it as useful info, others will panic.

We loved Peter and Jason who did all they could to make everything fun. The specialty restaurants are gems and the main dining room keeps up with the pace.

Me personally, I like a smaller boat so I may check itinerary's for their smaller ships.

Cheers to all who joined us.