Ventura - level 3?

[Snow Hill]

25 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

I believe they should be reporting outbreaks of Norovirus and the like to Public Health England. 
 

 

If you want to read about the procedures for dealing with outbreaks then you can find it all here, although publish in 2007 still applicable today.

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f0280ed915d74e6227e0f/2007_guideline_norovirus_cruiseships.pdf

 

 

[tring]

8 hours ago, NewWestwardbound said:

A further question if I may. To whom do ships operating out of UK report cases of Norovirus, and are such reports accessible to members of the public? 

 

They need to be reported to port health, which is a section of the local environmental health department, so a local authority department.  Could make a freedom of information request.  Port health staff will regularly go onto ships if there is an outbreak onboard.  They cannot inspect what happens when at sea though.

 

When we were on Aurora 26th April to 15th May.  We witnessed a man vomiting in the buffet, yet I saw the same man in the public areas of the ship twice later the same day.  I mentioned it to an officer in the buffet at a later date and was told they cordon the area off and clean and the passenger is told to go to their cabin and call the medical team.  No procedure to make sure they report it and isolate though.  The "hot" food in the buffet was constantly vaguely warm when we ate, which is something they should not be allowing at all.  Also, I was in the ladies toilet when a young lady was "cleaning" them.  She went into each cubicle in turn, looked at the loo, folded the paper into a point, then moved onto the next cubicle.  Surely at least the toilet seat, flush and door handles should be wiped with bleach or other disinfectant.  I presume she was not doing what she had been told to do, but is too much expected of the staff?

 

I think management should be more involved in making sure things are kept as they should be, especially food temperatures and passengers should be made to isolate - they could stop their card being used and telephone the cabin at times to make sure they are there. 

 

 

Edited May 26 by tring

[FangedRose]

30 minutes ago, tring said:

Also, I was in the ladies toilet when a young lady was "cleaning" them.  She went into each cubicle in turn, looked at the loo, folded the paper into a point, then moved onto the next cubicle.  S

How do you know she was meant to be cleaning them? Perhaps she was just replenishing the supplies.

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

 

I think management should be more involved in making sure things are kept as they should be, especially food temperatures and passengers should be made to isolate - they could stop their card being used and telephone the cabin at times to make sure they are there. 

 

 

IMO EVERYONE in the cabin should be isolated if norovirus is involved. Also buffets should be serving plated food at all times

[tring]

1 hour ago, FangedRose said:

How do you know she was meant to be cleaning them? Perhaps she was just replenishing the supplies.

 

Maybe, but all the cleaning equipment was near the sinks, so would seem strange to me if that was the case.  I still say it is management who should make sure everything is run properly and it is management who I would criticise, as I had said.  I am genuinely surprised that the temperature of the "hot" food on the servery is not monitored correctly, for instance, to make sure it stays hot.  That should be easy to manage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FangedRose]

8 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Maybe, but all the cleaning equipment was near the sinks, so would seem strange to me if that was the case.  I still say it is management who should make sure everything is run properly and it is management who I would criticise, as I had said.  I am genuinely surprised that the temperature of the "hot" food on the servery is not monitored correctly, for instance, to make sure it stays hot.  That should be easy to manage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ate in the Buffet and found the food to be a fine temperature.

[jeanlyon]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

IMO EVERYONE in the cabin should be isolated if norovirus is involved. Also buffets should be serving plated food at all times

Why?  It's entirely possible for the other person not to be infected.  In fact it's probably quite often that the other person doesn't have it.

[Eglesbrech]

11 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Why?  It's entirely possible for the other person not to be infected.  In fact it's probably quite often that the other person doesn't have it.

Exactly. I had noro last year but my husband (who has the constitution of an ox) was perfectly well throughout.

 

Add to that the possibility that it would be difficult to legally justify the confinement of a perfectly healthy person?
 

While it is sensible and necessary to confine someone with an active infection and regulations provide for this, I very much doubt they allow the confinement of someone perfectly healthy. I will stand corrected if someone knows otherwise.

Edited May 26 by Eglesbrech

[davecttr]

10 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Why?  It's entirely possible for the other person not to be infected.  In fact it's probably quite often that the other person doesn't have it.

Because norovirus is spread by touching contaminated surfaces and it only takes a few viral particles to infect someone. My experience was cabin sanitation was cursory with several areas missed, possibly because there was no supervisor present to ensure the job was done properly.

[molecrochip]

18 hours ago, mercury7289 said:

Very sorry,the protocols to identify crew was not evident on Aurora R407,crew working although obviously unwell in dining rooms.

Identifying and testing sick crew will not be happening in front of passengers.

 

Responses need to be proportionate. Quarantine if you have Noro, mask if you have cruise cough etc.

 

As for person giving out pagers: if all they are doing is issuing them then cleaning hands between is not necessary. They should be cleaned on return which is often to a different person.

[davecttr]

3 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Exactly. I had noro last year but my husband (who has the constitution of an ox) was perfectly well throughout.

 

Add to that the possibility that it would be difficult to legally justify the confinement of a perfectly healthy person?
 

While it is sensible and necessary to confine someone with an active infection and regulations provide for this, I very much doubt they allow the confinement of someone perfectly healthy. I will stand corrected if someone knows otherwise.

That perfectly healthy person could be carrying viral particles about their person. Apparently it is possible to be infectious a short time before symptoms appear

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Because norovirus is spread by touching contaminated surfaces and it only takes a few viral particles to infect someone. My experience was cabin sanitation was cursory with several areas missed, possibly because there was no supervisor present to ensure the job was done properly.

When I was I’ll last year (for clarity on Fred not P&O). I cleaned everything myself in addition to the hard work put in by the cabin steward.

 

I was scrupulous about that and my own personal hygiene.

 

Consequently my husband was fine.

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, davecttr said:

That perfectly healthy person could be carrying viral particles about their person. Apparently it is possible to be infectious a short time before symptoms appear

And then again they could be perfectly healthy and also scrupulously hygienic.

 

 

[NewWestwardbound]

#72   

 

Posted 13 hours ago

   19 hours ago,  molecrochip said: 

 

- Most ships operating out of UK reporting high cases of norovirus.

 

A further question if I may. To whom do ships operating out of UK report cases of Norovirus, and are such reports accessible to members of the public? 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

@molecrochip Did you have a view on the above?

 

 

[mercury7289]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

Identifying and testing sick crew will not be happening in front of passengers.

 

Responses need to be proportionate. Quarantine if you have Noro, mask if you have cruise cough etc.

 

As for person giving out pagers: if all they are doing is issuing them then cleaning hands between is not necessary. They should be cleaned on return which is often to a different person.

I would not expect it to.

Pagers were being returned and put straight back in the charging cabinet,which is my point,the different person was out and about taking guests to there tables.This was from day one.

[nosapphire]

As a matter of curiosity, those of you who spotted things not being done properly (pagers not cleaned between return and issue, toilets or cabins not properly cleaned, etc) complain directly to either ship management or (after return) to P&O?

 

[Snow Hill]

12 hours ago, NewWestwardbound said:

 

#72   

 

Posted 13 hours ago

   19 hours ago,  molecrochip said: 

 

- Most ships operating out of UK reporting high cases of norovirus.

 

A further question if I may. To whom do ships operating out of UK report cases of Norovirus, and are such reports accessible to members of the public? 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

@molecrochip Did you have a view on the above?

 

 

You could submit a FOI to Southampton City Council for those sailing out of the city. 

 

https://scccrmportal.southampton.gov.uk/services/foi-submission-form

[tring]

12 hours ago, nosapphire said:

As a matter of curiosity, those of you who spotted things not being done properly (pagers not cleaned between return and issue, toilets or cabins not properly cleaned, etc) complain directly to either ship management or (after return) to P&O?

 

 

As I had mentioned I did, to an officer in the buffet and not just about the man who I had seen vomiting.  The officer in the buffet did not seem at all bothered though and just told me what their systems where regards when people are ill in their area, saying it is up the the passenger if they even bother reporting it to the medical centre.  I would hope that was just a response to me, not wanting to show any fault on behalf of P&O (which TBH I would expect) and that he did in fact take the matter seriously and take it further, and reported it to more senior staff. 

 

If he had not taken it seriously, then that is a very unfortunate situation for P&O, since it would be far better that they did take note of such feedback.     

[terrierjohn]

17 hours ago, davecttr said:

That perfectly healthy person could be carrying viral particles about their person. Apparently it is possible to be infectious a short time before symptoms appear

I'm sure you are correct, but equally the other cabin occupant might not be infected, so until someone shows symptoms I don't believe it is necessary for them to be quarantined.

[cimarron42]

Just a small update after a few days onboard Ventura:

Buffet service quite slow - long queues are common throughout the day. Then you also have to queue to get water, tea and coffee as they are made for you at the machines rather than self service. I’ve found the food in the buffet this cruise to be much worse than previous P&O cruises. 
No food being served at all in the Glass House - disappointed as we had OBC we were going to use in there.  
Restaurant food has been good but the choices are limited in my opinion. Too many repeat dishes on offer each night. 
Getting drinks in a bar area is okay when it’s quiet but when full there doesn’t appear to be enough staff vs the number of guests. I’ve waited over 20 mins some evenings for a waiter to come and take a simple drinks order. I’ve tried going directly to the bar to be told to sit down and wait for service. 
Buffet again - late night snacks from 10.30pm have been massively scaled back. No hot food at all. Just very small sandwiches, biscuits and cheese. 

[Cathygh]

1 hour ago, cimarron42 said:

Just a small update after a few days onboard Ventura:

Buffet service quite slow - long queues are common throughout the day. Then you also have to queue to get water, tea and coffee as they are made for you at the machines rather than self service. I’ve found the food in the buffet this cruise to be much worse than previous P&O cruises. 
No food being served at all in the Glass House - disappointed as we had OBC we were going to use in there.  
Restaurant food has been good but the choices are limited in my opinion. Too many repeat dishes on offer each night. 
Getting drinks in a bar area is okay when it’s quiet but when full there doesn’t appear to be enough staff vs the number of guests. I’ve waited over 20 mins some evenings for a waiter to come and take a simple drinks order. I’ve tried going directly to the bar to be told to sit down and wait for service. 
Buffet again - late night snacks from 10.30pm have been massively scaled back. No hot food at all. Just very small sandwiches, biscuits and cheese. 

I wonder if some of these issues are caused by staff being ill? Or pehaps some of them did go on strike as they threatened to do? 

[MFEE]

Thanks for the updat, It is good they are taking precautions, without extra staff the downside is things will take longer which is a shame. 

[nosapphire]

On 5/29/2024 at 9:38 AM, Cathygh said:

I wonder if some of these issues are caused by staff being ill? Or pehaps some of them did go on strike as they threatened to do? 

The apparent shortage of staff in the bars and restaurants during actions taken to control Noro (or anything else) will be because staff have been taken away to serve at areas that were previously self service.

 

[cimarron42]

End of this cruise - Captain said in his announcement last night that the passengers and crew had done an amazing job with washing hands etc. 

He said the number of tummy bug cases seen during this week was no more than the standard baseline that would be expected for this time of year. 
 

[MFEE]

That’s great !