Viking Sky - Norovirus

[mbtabby]

While traveling on Viking Sky's February 26 cruise from Barcelona to Rome, my partner came down with Norovirus and was confined to our stateroom for 4 of the 7 days of the cruise.  Needless to say, the cruise was ruined for both of us.  The ship's nurse did come to our cabin several times to check on him, as well as request he fill out the requisite CDC forms and provide a letter from the Captain notifying him to remain in the cabin until he was symptom free for 24 hours.  Our disembarkation occurred before the symptoms passed.  

 

I though his case was isolated, until the Captain announced there was norovirus on board and instituted mandatory hand-washing prior to entering any dining facility. 

 

Did anyone else on board suffer from norovirus while on board? 

 

 

[miami mama]

And mandatory hand washing was not required before this? What year are we in, 2019?

[mbtabby]

No - prior to the announcement, the only people I noticed using the sinks were the ship's officers, passengers were asked to hold their hands under the hand sanitizers which sprayed out a light mist.  After the announcement, passengers were instructed to wash their hands prior to entering the dining areas.  

[Jim Avery]

OMG!  Masks don't stop noro??

[Mich3554]

Yes, there was a norovirus outbreak on board the Jupiter.  Hand washing was even more firmly encouraged, the buffet went fro self served to being served and all public bathrooms and public facilities (like the fitness center) were closed.  I guess this went on 4-5 days?  

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, mbtabby said:

While traveling on Viking Sky's February 26 cruise from Barcelona to Rome, my partner came down with Norovirus and was confined to our stateroom for 4 of the 7 days of the cruise.  Needless to say, the cruise was ruined for both of us.  The ship's nurse did come to our cabin several times to check on him, as well as request he fill out the requisite CDC forms and provide a letter from the Captain notifying him to remain in the cabin until he was symptom free for 24 hours.  Our disembarkation occurred before the symptoms passed.  

 

I though his case was isolated, until the Captain announced there was norovirus on board and instituted mandatory hand-washing prior to entering any dining facility. 

 

Did anyone else on board suffer from norovirus while on board? 

 

Norovirus (Gastro-Intestinal) outbreaks on cruise ships are fairly common. Cruise lines have multiple levels of response based on the percentage of infected pax/crew. If you know what to look for, you can have a reasonable guess as to the Noro level being experienced.

 

Worst situation we experienced was Diamond Princess when almost 50% of pax were infected, however that level is very rare.

 

If he still had symptoms when you disembarked you are very fortunate, if you were permitted by the local authorities to travel home. Many countries would have placed you in quarantine ashore.

[longterm]

12 hours ago, mbtabby said:

No - prior to the announcement, the only people I noticed using the sinks were the ship's officers, passengers were asked to hold their hands under the hand sanitizers which sprayed out a light mist.  After the announcement, passengers were instructed to wash their hands prior to entering the dining areas.  

Our exprience is totally different.

 

We're right now headed to Athens on the Viking Sky, having boarded in Rome; we did another Viking ocean just a few months ago in the Caribbean. 

On both cruises, we've been asked to wash our hands before entering the World Cafe (which is the only restaurant that has the hand-washing stations at the entrance). This is definitely nothing new; we did it while in the Caribbean as well.

[Mich3554]

2 hours ago, longterm said:

Our exprience is totally different.

 

We're right now headed to Athens on the Viking Sky, having boarded in Rome; we did another Viking ocean just a few months ago in the Caribbean. 

On both cruises, we've been asked to wash our hands before entering the World Cafe (which is the only restaurant that has the hand-washing stations at the entrance). This is definitely nothing new; we did it while in the Caribbean as well.

This was my experience too, after being on the Jupiter nearly 2 months.  I would guesstimate that 95% of the people entering stopped and washed their hands.  

[philw1776]

I had hoped that one good thing about Covid would be folks taking better sanitary precautions.
I was wrong.
 

[SJD117]

37 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

I had hoped that one good thing about Covid would be folks taking better sanitary precautions.
I was wrong.
 

Hope springs eternal.

[TayanaLorna]

On 3/17/2022 at 6:14 PM, miami mama said:

And mandatory hand washing was not required before this? What year are we in, 2019?

On our TA aboard the Sea from day 1 a crew member stood in front of the sanitizer spray and directed passengers to wash their hands upon entering.  Well into our 2nd week and 3 days into the Atlantic we had a GI outbreak.  Self serve of anything was strictly prohibited, pools, tubs and spa were closed down.  Infected were told to stay in cabins.  We didn't know if it was norovirus or food poisoning and I don't think Viking did either.  When Viking began questioning the affected about what they ate we suspected they were narrowing it down to the food.  They even put a survey in everyones cabin.  It turned out to be food poisoning from the lobster roll.  I believe 130 passengers and crew got sick.  Its on cruisemapper.com under Viking Sea and Accidents if anyone is interested.

 

Not knowing what it was, even so, we still saw people reaching for plated items in the World Cafe.  I wanted to slap their hands away.  We decided to order room service in our cabin that night.  

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

On our TA aboard the Sea from day 1 a crew member stood in front of the sanitizer spray and directed passengers to wash their hands upon entering.  Well into our 2nd week and 3 days into the Atlantic we had a GI outbreak.  Self serve of anything was strictly prohibited, pools, tubs and spa were closed down.  Infected were told to stay in cabins.  We didn't know if it was norovirus or food poisoning and I don't think Viking did either.  When Viking began questioning the affected about what they ate we suspected they were narrowing it down to the food.  They even put a survey in everyones cabin.  It turned out to be food poisoning from the lobster roll.  I believe 130 passengers and crew got sick.  Its on cruisemapper.com under Viking Sea and Accidents if anyone is interested.

 

Not knowing what it was, even so, we still saw people reaching for plated items in the World Cafe.  I wanted to slap their hands away.  We decided to order room service in our cabin that night.  

 

No matter how diligent the galley is with storage temps and prep, I have also seen a significant GI outbreak due to food, which ended up affecting about 50% of the pax.

 

The ship brought a significant quantity of fresh fruit aboard in Okinawa and they had a tropical party on the Sun Deck that night, with a fresh fruit buffet. The calls to the Medical Centre started about 08:00 the next morning, with about 250 in the first hour.

 

Our son was Senior 2nd Officer and called us to advise they went straight to Noro "Red" protocols, so the Bridge Team was in lock down. Didn't see him and couldn't go to the Officer's Mess/Wardroom for the remainder of the cruise.

 

They generally suspect food, when the numbers are large and they report over a short period. 

[chengkp75]

5 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

The ship brought a significant quantity of fresh fruit aboard in Okinawa and they had a tropical party on the Sun Deck that night, with a fresh fruit buffet. The calls to the Medical Centre started about 08:00 the next morning, with about 250 in the first hour.

Knowing the Japanese method of fertilizing crops, I suspect that the chlorine sanitizing wash was either bypassed, or not sufficiently concentrated.  This is why the USPH/CDC requires all "potentially hazardous foods" to be from verifiable sources.

[TayanaLorna]

22 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

No matter how diligent the galley is with storage temps and prep, I have also seen a significant GI outbreak due to food, which ended up affecting about 50% of the pax.

 

The ship brought a significant quantity of fresh fruit aboard in Okinawa and they had a tropical party on the Sun Deck that night, with a fresh fruit buffet. The calls to the Medical Centre started about 08:00 the next morning, with about 250 in the first hour.

 

Our son was Senior 2nd Officer and called us to advise they went straight to Noro "Red" protocols, so the Bridge Team was in lock down. Didn't see him and couldn't go to the Officer's Mess/Wardroom for the remainder of the cruise.

 

They generally suspect food, when the numbers are large and they report over a short period. 

No matter how diligent the galley is with storage temps and prep, I have also seen a significant GI outbreak due to food.  

 

Agreed, it can happen anywhere.  We didn't get sick because we don't eat lobster.  

[Mike981]

Unfortunately I am very susceptible to food poisoning. I feel bad for anyone who gets it.

[mbtabby]

Once my partner became ill, I ate every subsequent meal at the World Cafe as I felt more comfortable there than dining alone in one of the sit-down restaurants.  I felt somewhat like the lone unmatched animal on Noah's Arc.  I typically sat close to the Cafe entry and it noticed it wasn't until day 5 of our cruise, after the Captain's norovirus announcement that hand washing became mandatory prior to entry.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded to this query.  Needless to say, it was a miserable cruise for both of us.  I was hopeful we could go on future river cruises, but my partner never wants to step foot on a cruise of any type ever again.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, mbtabby said:

Once my partner became ill, I ate every subsequent meal at the World Cafe as I felt more comfortable there than dining alone in one of the sit-down restaurants.  I felt somewhat like the lone unmatched animal on Noah's Arc.  I typically sat close to the Cafe entry and it noticed it wasn't until day 5 of our cruise, after the Captain's norovirus announcement that hand washing became mandatory prior to entry.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded to this query.  Needless to say, it was a miserable cruise for both of us.  I was hopeful we could go on future river cruises, but my partner never wants to step foot on a cruise of any type ever again.

 

May I suggest reviewing the number of Noro incidents. I spent almost 40 years working at sea on mostly pax vessels and have many hundreds of days as a pax. With basic precautions, I have only experienced Noro once and that was on a ship with over 50% of the pax infected.

 

Lots of ship have had GI issues, but the actual percentage of infected pax is normally fairly low.

[lackcreativity]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

May I suggest reviewing the number of Noro incidents. I spent almost 40 years working at sea on mostly pax vessels and have many hundreds of days as a pax. With basic precautions, I have only experienced Noro once and that was on a ship with over 50% of the pax infected.

 

Lots of ship have had GI issues, but the actual percentage of infected pax is normally fairly low.

Thanks for putting this in perspective. We board the Sky in 20 days, and for our first trip in three years, I don't need anything else to be fretting over! All the routine pre-travel concerns along with the Covid requirements are quite enough to manage. Can't wait to be safely aboard and on our way.