Disappointing Handling of Vomit in Room - Does it pay to complain?

[zeppgirl]

I think they could have handled it better and I would have gone to management to complain.  That being said, I think you had a good chance of getting sick no matter what since you were in close quarters near each other and you may have caught what he had initially.  So while I would state what happened in a review, I would not expect any compensation other than an apology and promise to work on protocol.

[Newleno]

the survey wont do any good, if you want a response you have to write a letter or email.

[waterbug123]

On 3/2/2020 at 3:02 PM, PhoenixCruiser said:

You reported it to Guest Services and can mention it on the survey.

 

I would not bother writing to Royal, your cruise is done and they have other pressing issues at the moment. 

 

I disagree.  This isn't about the OP's situation at this point; it's about guest services and the room steward being non-respponsive ad not following procedures.  When that happens with regard to a medical or safety concern, it needs to be reported.  At the very least, there are reprimands and re-training to be done!

 

On 3/2/2020 at 4:03 PM, cruiselvr04 said:

  What about the next cruiser who had vomit on the floor and a dirty runner?

This put the next cruise at risk. 

 

Corporate does need to know

 

Exactly.  Imagine if you boarded a cruise and someone said the last family in the room had all been sick and one had vomited all over the bed but the comforter and blue thing weren't changed, and soiled linens were put on the carpet?   Gross!

 

On 3/2/2020 at 4:24 PM, cello56 said:

You should have gone up the "Chain on Command" while you were on board. Your Cabin Steward does not work for Guest Services - they work for the Head Housekeeper, who in turn reports to the Hotel Director. You should have asked to speak to the Head Housekeeper. They would have made sure this was taken care of in an expedient and safe manner. Hope your family is feeling better.  

 

This. And while the steward doesn't work for guest services, the person there should have referred you to the head housekeeper and/or the hotel director.  Hence, they need some retraining as well.

 

On 3/2/2020 at 6:15 PM, mr walker said:

This story is very unlike the experiences we have had in similar circumstances....On one cruise I had a severe gastro illness ...I was given medication, a handout on 'noro' diet and quarantined to cabin.... They provided a hazard bag for the trash... The free room service extended to bottled water & 'sports' drinks to replace the electrolytes lost. They also provided free movies....Our cabin attendant cleaned our room after the initial sickness, and each day did a thorough clean, suited up in protective gear. The cleaning included wiping all surfaces, including walls. Bedding was bagged separately. He apologized each day for servicing our room 'late' as he was required to leave our room to last to avoid infecting the other cabins....I received regular phone calls from the medical centre & guest services enquiring on my condition.

 

All of this shows that there ARE proper procedures in place, and those weren't followed in the OP's case. That needs to be reported.

 

On 3/2/2020 at 7:00 PM, Snit13 said:

 

 

[BrandFam4]

Agreed, this was very poorly handled. I would write a straight to the point email with all facts listed. When my daughter was sea sick on the first night of our cruise, they immediately cleaned everything up and medical called us before we even made it back to our room. Thankfully some Dramamine did the trick and she was fine the rest of the cruise. 

[Chip and Dale]

On 3/2/2020 at 1:11 PM, spangnash said:

We just returned from sailing Adventure of the Seas.  While sailing, my 8 year old son woke in the middle of the night (midnight) vomiting, all over his pull-down pullman bed.  We immediately called down to guest services to ask for fresh bedding.  It took us 1.5 hours to get fresh bedding to our room (after multiple calls, and multiple visits to our room from staff without fresh bedding - there seemed to be a great deal of confusion, which confused us since we had simply asked for fresh bedding).  They took the soiled bedding away (which we had removed from the bed ourselves immediately, and tried to wrap up as much as possible to keep the vomit contained).  The vomit had soaked through to the mattress, so they had to take the mattress away, and didn't have any spares, so we made a make-shift bed for our son on the floor.  He had a small trash can next to him, but as he continued to vomit consistently for the next 8 hours, we were not 100% successful in getting him to get 100% percent of it in the bucket, so some if it landed on his 'new' bedding.  We also realized in the morning that some of the vomit from his pull-down pullman bed had gotten on the bed below him (we had 2 adjoining balcony rooms - both with pull-down pullman beds).  Again, we tried to wrap up all of the soiled bedding to contain it as much as possible.  There were no attendants in the hall at 8/8:30am, so I headed down to guest services to ask someone to please remove the soiled bedding and provide fresh linens as quickly as possible as we were running very low on clean bedding and towels.  Again, it took 1.5 hours for someone to arrive, and when they did, they proceeded to pull apart our 'wrapped' mess of bedding (with random vomit all over it), on our state room floor, and proceeded to remove the duvet from the duvet cover, and place a new cover on it.  We were floored that they would take this mess apart on our carpeted floor (if I were home, I would deal with the mess in a tiled area), and that they wouldn't wash the entire duvet (given that the vomit most certainly leaked through the cover).  We had to insist to our state room attendant that a new duvet be provided (something he agreed to, but was clearly annoyed).  He also removed the blue decorative runner from the mess, and folded it up to place back on the bed later (again, without inspecting it for any vomit).  Not surprisingly, my husband fell ill the next day, and me the day after that (we washed our hands as often as physically possible, but I think we would have needed Hazmat suits to avoid the germs throughout the room).  Obviously, our cruise was drastically affected by these events.  We understand that illnesses happen, but we were greatly disappointed by the lack of urgency/priority our situation was treated with, and were shocked that there isn't better protocol/processes to handle soiled bedding - we were made to feel as though we were just a huge inconvenience.  

 

I submitted this information via the post-trip survey I was sent yesterday, but does it pay to submit a 'formal complaint' via email somehow?  If so, should I send it to the CEO?  It seems they really need to come up with a better way to handle this situations.

 

Thank you.

I have not read all responses. But I am going to weigh in with a suggestion. 
 

We cruise frequently and have seen ships where cabin stewards pay very close attention to anyone vomiting and also have seen a lack of concern by crew regarding germs and illness. 
 

if it had happened to my family I would definitely send an email to the CEO or whomever at the top. If you don’t tell them they  may not know and better practices will NOT be put in place!

 

Airplanes, resorts and cruise ships are living Petrie dishes! An example........the tablecloths at lunch or dinner being used by two or more seatings. I have insisted many times that a dirty tablecloth is replaced. 
 

In light of the Coronavirus and ongoing issues with norovirus, it is imperative that protocols are out in place and followed to keep all of us and our families safe and healthy!  They cannot resolve a situation that they are unaware of. 
 

If the situation had occurred with my family I would DEFINITELY contact management and provide details. 
Dee

[cndcruiser65]

I would complain to head office, this was not handled correctively.  Your room should have been completely washed down and disinfected.  The vomit most likely got into areas that a light cleaning could not get to.  This would also make the room smell as it dries.  Disinfecting is the only way to make sure the virus is not passed on. This was not fair to you and the next guest using that room.

[happymanitee]

I’ve had 2 kids vomit on 2 separate cruises.  Both times I think it was just too much food/ sea-sickness because they woke up, vomited, and then said they felt better and were fine the rest of the trip.  Both times, it was around 2 am.  For my daughter, she threw up in her Pullman bed.  I took all the sheets off and wrapped them up and wiped everything down with Clorox wipes which I always have.  She slept in our bed the rest of the night. In the morning, they took everything and replaced it.  
the second time, my son vomited all over the cabin room floor....like everywhere.  When I called the main desk, they told me they would call our steward.  So, I guess they woke up our poor steward and he came to the room with a wet vac at 2 am to clean our floors.  I felt bad, but there was no way we could’ve cleaned it up ourselves.  He was SUPER nice.  This was on Liberty and he is still one of the best stewards we’ve ever had.  He cleaned everything and then left a fan in the room to dry the floor.  Medical called is the next day to check on our son, but he was fine.  I am so glad my kids are finally old enough to recognize that feeling and make it to the bathroom in time!  Plus, the last time my son complained of nausea, I gave him some meclizine and he felt better.  

[oyme]

OP did you ever write in and did you ever get any response??

[Jetdriver787]

Only, you will never guess what happened straight after…..? 😷

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, oyme said:

OP did you ever write in and did you ever get any response??

It appears as though their last posts on CC were this thread, so I’m not sure if they will get back to you. 

[A&L_Ont]

Calling @Biker19 Check the dates of the posts above. 😉

[Biker19]

[kitkat343]

I don't know how helpful it is with norovirus, but whenever my family gets hit with the stomach bug zofran has been really helpful.  We have an online pharmacy write us a prescription before cruises and take some medication with us since its been helpful for us in the past.

Edited March 31 by kitkat343

[Yorkvillain]

11 hours ago, oyme said:

OP did you ever write in and did you ever get any response??

Were you doing a search for “vomit” and this thread popped up? 

[island lady]

11 hours ago, oyme said:

OP did you ever write in and did you ever get any response??

 

By now that is some pretty old barf...not to mention the kid is four years older.  😉 

[oyme]

On 3/31/2024 at 6:31 AM, island lady said:

 

By now that is some pretty old barf...not to mention the kid is four years older.  😉 

I meant what happened back then, they never came back to update and they just left me hanging here on the edge of my seat. 😭 Yes, I realize it was an old post but I was hoping OP would somehow see the activity...

Edited April 7 by oyme

[oyme]

On 3/31/2024 at 6:29 AM, Yorkvillain said:

Were you doing a search for “vomit” and this thread popped up? 

I forget but I was doing a Google search on something. Pretty sure not vomit, though!

[Merion_Mom]

1 minute ago, oyme said:

I meant what happened back then, they never came back to update and they just left me hanging here on the edge of my seat. 😭

 

You've been hanging for three years????  And didn't fall off?

[oyme]

2 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

You've been hanging for three years????  And didn't fall off?

I've been hanging since March 30th (2024). 😅

Edited April 7 by oyme

[Jasukkie]

I started reading and thought of my time in Covid isolation with the spray cleaners they give you and thought, why didn't they drop off linen and the sprays? I wouldn't want anyone entering the room and spreading it. But I would want cleaning stuff and lots of towels etc. Then I saw the date lol. 

[oyme]

Glad you saw the date  😄 But I really wish OP would update, lol.

Edited April 7 by oyme

[Biker19]

24 minutes ago, oyme said:

But I really wish OP would update, lol.

@spangnash may not be following CC. 

[Jetdriver787]

The oldest is now on the cusp of becoming a teenager! My guess is they would trade their souls for those simple days of vomit on the bedsheets!

[IsanTom]

On 3/2/2020 at 1:25 PM, trey420 said:

You think y'all got hit with norovirus? 

 

I would hate to have to clean it up too but if it's your job, it's your job.  I don't have any kids not sure what I'd do in that situation.  If it were just me I'd just be sick all night most likely and try to fix in the morning. 

 

What do you want the cruise company to do?  The most I expect is a canned apology letter. I do wish you luck in resolution. 

I agree!