Norovirus on Brilliance

[mandyleighflies]

18 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

Well, the Lysol did nothing against Noro.   But the bleach should have killed it unless it was too diluted.  

Because I am an untrusting person, I don't believe that the rooms are deep cleaned between guests.   My plan is to bleach-clean our rooms before anyone else enters.  I also do a bedbug inspection in any hotel room.    
 

 

THIS. The first thing we do when we get into our stateroom is wipe down every surface with wipes and spray every door handle everyday. We do use Lysol though as they come in convenient travel sizes in wipes and sprays. No issues in our years of cruising with Lysol. I honestly did it after our first cruise in the late 90's (bringing things to clean/wipe down) as I am a texture person and whatever they "clean" with between guests leaves a sticky residue that I cannot stand. 

 

Another major benefit of traveling with Lysol spray is it cleans up the human odor in the cabin. I have two teenagers and omg....

[time4u2go]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't wipe down anything.  For what it's worth, I've never gotten sick on a cruise.

[Engineroom Snipe]

6 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't wipe down anything.  For what it's worth, I've never gotten sick on a cruise.

 

I have not historically wiped or disinfected the room. Everyone has their comfort level. I am a handwasher and sanitation gel type of person but not obsessive about it. I have not gotten sick on board to the best of my knowledge. Different types of foods, especially on vacation, can affect the GI tract but I did not attribute that to any infection. 😌 The system is showing its age. 😉

[BND]

46 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't wipe down anything.  For what it's worth, I've never gotten sick on a cruise.

We don't either and the worst thing I've ever had was a sinus infection in Apr 2022 and that came from a cold virus that was going around the ship, not from my cabin.  In 35 cruises, I've only been sick a couple of times and those were colds.  

[mandyleighflies]

59 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't wipe down anything.  For what it's worth, I've never gotten sick on a cruise.

 

I'm not overly worried about getting sick, it's a sticky residue and textures issue for me. I work on planes for a living....hand washing has served me well. I just like a fresh and clean space to "live in" and the wipes and spray keep it fresh for myself and my family. 

[HappyTexan44]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

How do you “bleach clean” when on a ship? I use wipes but I don’t know if they contain bleach

 

Well, in my case I plan on bringing a small bottle of bleach on board and a new sponge.  Dilute bleach with water in a drinking glass from the WJ.  

Note that we'll be driving so I don't need to worry about luggage space.  The bleach will obviously be in our carry-on though.  
 

I think the concern with Noro isn't that you are more likely to get it than on land, it is that the stakes are higher.  At home, I can take a day or so off work, use my own bathroom, watch some TV.   Not a big deal.  On a cruise, at minimum I'm missing out on vacation days.  I'd have to use the toilet in my tiny bathroom in my room, which has no ventilation.  Others in the same room are likely to get it too, so we'll be sharing.  Then on a ship you are stuck.  You can't leave and you are pretty crowded.  

I haven't been on a cruise yet.  I know hotel housekeeping is pretty disgusting.  Since the cabin attendant knows there will be tips, I assume cruise cabins are cleaned better.   But because the Noro stakes are high, I'll go ahead and bleach clean. 
 

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

Well, in my case I plan on bringing a small bottle of bleach on board and a new sponge.  Dilute bleach with water in a drinking glass from the WJ.  

Note that we'll be driving so I don't need to worry about luggage space.  The bleach will obviously be in our carry-on though.  
 

I think the concern with Noro isn't that you are more likely to get it than on land, it is that the stakes are higher.  At home, I can take a day or so off work, use my own bathroom, watch some TV.   Not a big deal.  On a cruise, at minimum I'm missing out on vacation days.  I'd have to use the toilet in my tiny bathroom in my room, which has no ventilation.  Others in the same room are likely to get it too, so we'll be sharing.  Then on a ship you are stuck.  You can't leave and you are pretty crowded.  

I haven't been on a cruise yet.  I know hotel housekeeping is pretty disgusting.  Since the cabin attendant knows there will be tips, I assume cruise cabins are cleaned better.   But because the Noro stakes are high, I'll go ahead and bleach clean. 
 

 

Some good valid points.

 

There are normally multiple bathrooms in a house. You can isolate from others in that way and the atmosphere does not demand that others have close proximity to you.

 

There is a negative pressure exhaust vent over the showers on ship which does help to isolate the odors and moisture in the ship's bathroom (head).

 

Maybe after your first cruise you will get a better handle on how they clean things compared to your expectations. 😁

[cruising sister]

On 1/23/2023 at 7:14 AM, ace2542 said:

And you will have immunity to it as well? What about the questionnaire though? Are you going to lie? Don't they ask about 48 hours before sailing?

Incubation for gastrointestinal illness is usually one to two days. If no symptoms by tomorrow the rest of us are good. As a pediatrician I would never expose people to infectious diseases. I am well aware of how all this works and I am extra cautious with good hand hygiene and mask wearing to protect others. 

[time4u2go]

11 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

The bleach will obviously be in our carry-on though.  

Be sure you warn the people that might open whatever bottle you have it in that it is bleach, in case they want to smell it to make sure it isn't alcohol!

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by time4u2go

[ace2542]

1 hour ago, cruising sister said:

Incubation for gastrointestinal illness is usually one to two days. If no symptoms by tomorrow the rest of us are good. As a pediatrician I would never expose people to infectious diseases. I am well aware of how all this works and I am extra cautious with good hand hygiene and mask wearing to protect others. 

You are unlikely to get a refund with noro unless I am mistaken? And would you have immunity after getting it so if was on the ship you wouldn't get it again? Or are their different strains? This happen in 2019 on the NCL Pearl T/A. I have always wondered if it had hung around from the previous cruise.

[cruising sister]

We have travel insurance so no worries. If we are recently recovered from Norovirus we would most likely not get it again on this cruise. There is no permanent immunity as with most viruses. It does hang on surfaces for many hours and is not killed with standard cleaners including hand sanitizers. That is why you need soap and water for hands and bleach solution for hard surfaces. It is a tricky bug. 
 

Our index case is well and back to school. No other casualties so far. 

[reallyitsmema]

2 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

Well, in my case I plan on bringing a small bottle of bleach on board and a new sponge.  Dilute bleach with water in a drinking glass from the WJ.  

Note that we'll be driving so I don't need to worry about luggage space.  The bleach will obviously be in our carry-on though.  
 

I think the concern with Noro isn't that you are more likely to get it than on land, it is that the stakes are higher.  At home, I can take a day or so off work, use my own bathroom, watch some TV.   Not a big deal.  On a cruise, at minimum I'm missing out on vacation days.  I'd have to use the toilet in my tiny bathroom in my room, which has no ventilation.  Others in the same room are likely to get it too, so we'll be sharing.  Then on a ship you are stuck.  You can't leave and you are pretty crowded.  

I haven't been on a cruise yet.  I know hotel housekeeping is pretty disgusting.  Since the cabin attendant knows there will be tips, I assume cruise cabins are cleaned better.   But because the Noro stakes are high, I'll go ahead and bleach clean. 
 

 

Bleach is on the prohibited list, it will likely be confiscated.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

[ace2542]

2 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

Well, in my case I plan on bringing a small bottle of bleach on board and a new sponge.  Dilute bleach with water in a drinking glass from the WJ.  

Note that we'll be driving so I don't need to worry about luggage space.  The bleach will obviously be in our carry-on though.  
 

I think the concern with Noro isn't that you are more likely to get it than on land, it is that the stakes are higher.  At home, I can take a day or so off work, use my own bathroom, watch some TV.   Not a big deal.  On a cruise, at minimum I'm missing out on vacation days.  I'd have to use the toilet in my tiny bathroom in my room, which has no ventilation.  Others in the same room are likely to get it too, so we'll be sharing.  Then on a ship you are stuck.  You can't leave and you are pretty crowded.  

I haven't been on a cruise yet.  I know hotel housekeeping is pretty disgusting.  Since the cabin attendant knows there will be tips, I assume cruise cabins are cleaned better.   But because the Noro stakes are high, I'll go ahead and bleach clean. 
 

You are worrying way too much about it you know. They do clean pretty well and impossible to tell if you have noro without a lab test correct? Just take immodium plus with you

[Ret MP]

34 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Bleach is on the prohibited list, it will likely be confiscated.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

Like many will point out, it will probably get by the pre-boarding checks.  The cruise industry is notorious for not enforcing their own rules.  That's not to say I suggest taking any prohibited items onboard.  I don't.  

[firefly333]

5 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

How many times did you get tested for Covid?  When my husband got it he didn’t test + until day 5.

 I got it the day we got off the Jewel NYE cruise and although I was really sick I didn’t test + until day 3.

I did think maybe I should go back and test again. Whatever I had got down into my lungs. Someone on my roll call said his doctor said he tested for pneumonia... didnt know that was a test. 

[lovesthebeach2]

13 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I did think maybe I should go back and test again. Whatever I had got down into my lungs. Someone on my roll call said his doctor said he tested for pneumonia... didnt know that was a test. 

A friend got off an NCL cruise last week and got really sick. She tested positive for Covid and Flu!

I had nothing in my lungs with Covid. Took over two weeks and I’m finally feeling good

feel better

[HappyTexan44]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Bleach is on the prohibited list, it will likely be confiscated.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

 

Well, poop.  
H2O2 works as well.   I guess I could bring a sealed bottle of that.   It shouldn't be considered a dangerous chemical.   My ENT says to use it to get rid of excessive ear wax.  
 

[Ret MP]

5 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

My ENT says to use it to get rid of excessive ear wax.  

My wife has done that for as long as I've known here ~50 years.  She has and does ear maintenance with it on the kid when they still lived at home.  I really dislike the feel of it.  But, it works well, so I go with the flow.  

[Ret MP]

26 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

My wife has done that for as long as I've known here ~50 years.  She has and does ear maintenance with it on the kid when they still lived at home.  I really dislike the feel of it.  But, it works well, so I go with the flow.  

"her" not "here".  Just thought I'd get that out there before the Snipe, gets me. 

[reallyitsmema]

41 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

Well, poop.  
H2O2 works as well.   I guess I could bring a sealed bottle of that.   It shouldn't be considered a dangerous chemical.   My ENT says to use it to get rid of excessive ear wax.  
 

 

Hydrogen peroxide is cheap and you will not be out a lot of money if they confiscate it, so worth a shot if you feel the need to wipe down your cabin.  Personally, if I was going to wipe down the whole cabin, I would look for a hospital grade wipe that would be easy to pack, easy to use and easy to dispose of instead of trying to mix something on the ship.  Bleach is deadly if mixed with the wrong chemical, so they do not want that brought on the ship.

[A&L_Ont]

4 hours ago, ace2542 said:

You are worrying way too much about it you know. They do clean pretty well and impossible to tell if you have noro without a lab test correct? Just take immodium plus with you

Yes, Ace is the voice of reason… welcome to 2023. 🎉🎉😀

[paross4]

I know they say Clorox wipes do not work but these claim to, based on the label and website.  (My bolding of the text)

 

We usually take these along to wipe things down.

 

Clorox Healthcare® Bleach Germicidal Wipes

 

• GERMICIDAL BLEACH WIPES: Clorox Healthcare ® Germicidal Bleach Wipes are a ready to use cleaner disinfectant; EPA registered to kill C. Difficile in 3 minutes and 58 other microorganisms in 1 minute or less
• ONE-STEP CLEANER DISINFECTANT: Clean, disinfect and deodorize with proven efficacy against outbreak-causing viruses like influenza A, influenza B and norovirus
• DISINFECT: Kills C. Difficile spores in 3 minutes and more than 55 HAI-causing pathogens in 1 minute; meets EPA criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19

[Morecruisesplz]

17 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Always wipe my cabin down after boarding

With?

[Amberle3]

9 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

I haven't been on a cruise yet.  I know hotel housekeeping is pretty disgusting.  Since the cabin attendant knows there will be tips, I assume cruise cabins are cleaned better.   

I think overall all aspects of a cruise ship are cleaned better.  One of the major differences between hotel housekeeping and cruise ship workers is that the hotel housekeeping staff leaves the property and goes home when their shift is finished.  On a cruise ship however the ship IS their home for the length of their contract with the cruise line. Sick hotel guests probably aren't too likely to get housekeeping staff sick, but sick cruise ship passengers are a different story.  Just like passengers are "stuck" on the ship, so are the staff so I think they put in a decent effort to try and keep everything clean.

[Ret MP]

21 minutes ago, paross4 said:

I know they say Clorox wipes do not work but these claim to, based on the label and website.  (My bolding of the text)

 

We usually take these along to wipe things down.

 

Clorox Healthcare® Bleach Germicidal Wipes

 

• GERMICIDAL BLEACH WIPES: Clorox Healthcare ® Germicidal Bleach Wipes are a ready to use cleaner disinfectant; EPA registered to kill C. Difficile in 3 minutes and 58 other microorganisms in 1 minute or less
• ONE-STEP CLEANER DISINFECTANT: Clean, disinfect and deodorize with proven efficacy against outbreak-causing viruses like influenza A, influenza B and norovirus
• DISINFECT: Kills C. Difficile spores in 3 minutes and more than 55 HAI-causing pathogens in 1 minute; meets EPA criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19

There are lots of products out there that do a good or great job of killing germs, viruses, what ever.  The problem is how long will they kill germs, viruses, what ever for.  I remember reading an ad in a magazine about a product (I can't remember its name) that will kill ~99.9% of all germs and protect the surface for up to 24 hours.  The "up to" is a tell.  So, I go on the products website and there were several germs listed that the product would protect would protect for < an hour, COVID was one of them.  I haven't research Clorox, I assume it a great product, we use it here, at home.  So, this is not to down play your post at all.  But, what I'm saying, before you accept what the advertisers tell you as total/complete truth, I'd check them out first.  

 

I assume that the handrails on a RCCL ship that seems to be sticky long after the cleaning is because they use a product that stays for a while.  

 

Killing germs for only a short period of time, especially in public places really doesn't stop or curb the spread of the virus or whatever the germ of the day is, generally speaking.