Journey Is A Sick Ship

[Andy]

And I for one venture to ask one question? Why is it rampant year after year on both Celebrity and now Azamara? Why doesn't it happen on either Oceania or Regent? Can anyone out there tell me why?

 

Rampant ? That is far too strong of a word. It happens, and it can happen on any line, any place (NOT ONLY Cruise Ships), anywhere, and at any time. I think Celebrity / Azamara has done an excellent job dealing with this, considering how difficult this situation is for everyone involved. Keep in mind, that in most cases, it is the passengers who bring the illness to the ship !

 

From what I have been reading, I believe that recent noro outbreaks have been fairly calm, relative to the past couple of years. No doubt, it is a concern though.

 

The interesting part about this thread, is that it turned into a hot topic, based on 1 poster telling us it was widespread on 1 sailing, when in fact, it affected a extremely small percentage of passengers.

 

If everyone could be more careful about their sanitary habits, we probably wouldnt be having this discussion. Let's hope that everyone becomes more aware about this illness, and how they can take steps to reduce the odds of having problems.

[Charles4515]

And I for one venture to ask one question? Why is it rampant year after year on both Celebrity and now Azamara? Why doesn't it happen on either Oceania or Regent? Can anyone out there tell me why?

 

It happens on those lines also. On every cruise line.

[qe2]

I can't help but think that many of these problems are coming from airlines who don't clean but only pick up trash between flights.

Airlines are a hot bed for germs and no one is accusing them. Just imagine how many people sick have sat in your airline seat since it has been cleaned , or guess when the last time it was cleaned! Yuck! These poeple get on the ships and about 3 days later get sick and blame the cruise lines.

There are outbreaks in schools and hotels also. It is unfortunate but it is a fact of life and the cruiselines are doing their best to fight the situation. The only way that they can be free of illiness is to be free of passengers!

[Charles4515]

Rampant ? That is far too strong of a word. It happens, and it can happen on any line, any place (NOT ONLY Cruise Ships), anywhere, and at any time. I think Celebrity / Azamara has done an excellent job dealing with this, considering how difficult this situation is for everyone involved. Keep in mind, that in most cases, it is the passengers who bring the illness to the ship !

 

From what I have been reading, I believe that recent noro outbreaks have been fairly calm, relative to the past couple of years. No doubt, it is a concern though.

 

The interesting part about this thread, is that it turned into a hot topic, based on 1 poster telling us it was widespread on 1 sailing, when in fact, it affected a extremely small percentage of passengers.

 

If everyone could be more careful about their sanitary habits, we probably wouldnt be having this discussion. Let's hope that everyone becomes more aware about this illness, and how they can take steps to reduce the odds of having problems.

 

As you say rampant does not fit. It was only a few cases and unlike many of the other outbreaks on cruise ships it did not spread to hundreds of people ill on the ship. So I agree they appear to have done well in containing the virus.

 

My take on the one poster if he really was for real--- is that from the vantage point of someone suffering from it at the time it might have seemed like the whole world was falling apart when in fact it was only his small part of it-- so he lost perspective about the extent of the outbreak.

[JoeAndMichael]

We've been on most of Celebrity's ships (they run Azamara) and will soon take the Quest.

 

In the past we've seen staff walking up and down the stairs wiping the railings with alcohol wipes and they have liquid hand sanitizer dispensers at the entrance to all the food venues. When I opened one of the cabin safes, you could smell a recent rubbing alcohol wipedown.

 

I don't think there's a lot more anyone running a closed environment could do that Celebrity hasn't done...

 

...except this mixed message: sometimes the buffet servers insist on portioning everything onto your plate and at other times let you serve yourself. The latter, obviously, is much more risky than the former. I think they should be consistent about not allowing passengers to touch the food serving utensils.

 

Please just remember that any "closed" environment like a ship, a plane or your carpool make spreading disease way too easy. By recirculating the air, planes are far worse spreaders of disease. At least on ships, the air is refreshed frequently by everyone who opens a door to go on deck or on their verandah.

 

We love Celebrity and their ships have all been spotless. I expect Azamara to be even better if that's possible.

[mcdermott]

I arrived in Valpariso for an NCL cruise Chile Faulklands etc. After a 14 hour flight and 2 nights in an hotel in Santiago to be greeted with we have a bug on board the ship and if you would like your money back you can have it.This was the first time I had had contact with this virus and we boarded the ship after investing so much time and money.The attitude was that this had just happened but when we boarded there were films about the virus and the treatment should you contract it which I did.

Before we left Valpariso we had people in our hotel to ill to fly home after cruises on Princess and also Holand America.I think it is common place and that personal hygeine is the only way out but not everyone adheres to strict personal hygiene.On and RCI ship in the med people were jumping the line and missing the sanitizers just to be in the dinning room 10 seconds earlier if they do this perhaps they dont wash there hands when they should.I always carry sanitizer in my hand luggage just in case but then again maybe Im paranoid

[hotzej]

I appreciate everyone's concern over this subject, but, please let's not forget that school children get sick, sometimes, many times per year. Granted they have different diseases, but, the fact is that in a large group of people the chances of getting ill increase.

 

Use common sense. It's better getting sick on a cruise than at work. Enjoy your future cruises.

[Playful Mermaid]

It's better getting sick on a cruise than at work.

 

Hi Bill: As one who has had Noro on a cruise, I would beg to differ, on that point. On my cruise I spent many thousands of dollars for the cruise and spent my last week of vacation, from work for the year, to take my cruise. I don't think it was the cruise lines fault, but given the choice, I would have much rather been sick at work than loose most of my vacation time on a cruise ship! I normally love the rocking motion of a ship as it sails but on that particular cruise I did not consider it a bonus! My sympathies go to anyone who has had Noro on any cruise ship.

I appreciate your concern, but have you ever had Noro on a cruise?

[SoBaycruiser]

It's easy to place blame on the cruise lines, but the Norovirus circulates among people with minimal contact. I learned the hard way. Last December my nephew's daughter had diarrhea and vomiting and her mother and my sister (grandma) took her to the doctor. Two days later, my nephew, his wife, and now seemingly recovered child came out on our boat for a day picnic. Except for their arrival and departure hugs, we had little contact with them physically. We were out in the open air most of the day. That night, my nephew, his wife and my sister all got the Norovirus symptoms. Twenty-four hours later my husband and I became victims. I've never been so violently ill. Apparently people can transmit the virus before and after the symptoms appear which makes it difficult to contain. In our case, the progression of the virus was very apparent.

After this experience, I would never blame the cruise line.

[Hlitner]

Passengers (and crew) bring Norovirus onto ships (and just about every other bug) and there is no way to totally prevent the virus. It has long been a theory that planes are among the easiest places to contract this virus, and with most cruise passengers flying to the embarkation ports there is always a high risk of some cases. As to hand sanitizers, they are pretty much worthless against Norovirus (many studies about this) as are the the typical santizers many carry in their purses and pockets. Those sanitizers are only effective against bacteria. The best prevention for Noro is to simply wash your hands with soap and water. By the way, there have been some recent studies that hand sanitizers are causing some bacteria to mutate into resistant strains. This is similar to the problems caused by overuse of antibiotics which have resulted in resistant strains of bacteria. One short and very readable study can be found at : http://www.asm.org/Media/index.asp?bid=42835

 

Hank

[npb]

You can also pick up "things" when you eat off the ship. I became sick after eating at the cliff divers in Mexico. The ship took responsibility, but I never assigned it to them. I knew I was being stupid when I did it.

[Napi's Mom]

It seems everyone is thinking that every Gastro., flu like problem we have is this Noro virus. I hope you realize that FLU is still out there, plus just plain food poisoning (cripto). Lately because it's been in the news we assume every thing we come down with is the same thing. When I had the "Problem" I suffered in the Med, I was not at all "sick", no vomiting, just a very persistent diarrhea,( I would have suspected flu if I had been sick.) all illness are not the same thing, some are airbourne, some need contact...yet have very similar symptoms, never assume what you had was Noro .:eek:

[Air]

Hi Ed

 

I would agree with you that major corps like Celebrity will not cut corners on such a media filled issue like NORO. We have 15 cruise experiences and the good fortune (or good hygenine habits) to have bnever suffered the "plague".

 

We just returned on Journey (10/6). The one thing that I found very interesting was that Saturday through Wednesday, there were sterile wipes in the means room and womens rooms (according to DH). Never saw any sterile wipes after that except going into the dining areas and returning on board. After reading the incubation period of 24 to 36 hours. I wonder if Azamara was cutting corners or just ran low on supplies.

 

The one thing I saw in thread that we do and everyone should, use sterile wipe or paper towel when exiting the public restrooms. We have and contribute this to avoidance of plague.

 

Knock on wood.

 

Air

[gillianrose]

It's better getting sick on a cruise than at work.

 

No, it isn't. If you get sick at work, you can go HOME, or if you get really, really sick, then you have doctors and nurses you trust to take care of you.

[gillianrose]

It seems everyone is thinking that every Gastro.' date=' flu like problem we have is this Noro virus. I hope you realize that FLU is still out there, plus just plain food poisoning (cripto). Lately because it's been in the news we assume every thing we come down with is the same thing. When I had the "Problem" I suffered in the Med, I was not at all "sick", no vomiting, just a very persistent diarrhea,( I would have suspected flu if I had been sick.) all illness are not the same thing, some are airbourne, some need contact...yet have very similar symptoms, never assume what you had was Noro .:eek:[/quote']

 

Persistent diarrhea is one of the main symptoms of Norovirus/Viral Gastroenteritis.

 

" In children, vomiting is more prevalent than diarrhea, whereas in adults, diarrhea is more prevalent."

 

I am not saying that you had Norovirus, but I would not rule it out, either.

 

Source of the quote: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/534895

[greeneg]

Persistent diarrhea can be caused by a number of entities; Noro and like viruses, bacteria ( usually with other symptoms, but not always), intestinal parasites, altered instestinal flora, food allergies ( which can be aquired and transient), that sort of thing.

 

Really accurate diagnosis depends on presentation as well as accurate laboratory analysis.

 

That's not to say that you can't make a pretty good educated guess, but to be sure it takes definitive testing.

[MMastell]

Wow: I can't believe this. I think there have only been a few other ships that have had a Norovirus outbreak. :) These ships were:

 

Millennium

Carnival Spirit

Carnival Freedom

Liberty of the Seas

Norwegian Star

Norwegian Pearl

Volendam

Seven Seas Navigator

Statendam

Regal Princess

Ryndam

Westerdam

QEII

 

These are the confirmed CDC cases, aboard major cruise ships, between January and August 2007. So, Journey is at least in good company. :)

 

The problem is industry wide and not ship specific. Others have explained how Norovirus is brought on a ship and how it spreads once it's onboard. I know I wouldn't be happy if I was confined to my quarters if I had it or showed signs of it but I would understand.

 

Wash your hands.

 

Take care,

Mike

[Holly2]

No signs of Noro. Wipes around but no other measures being taken. Seems sea sickness was more of a problem - at least during our return trip through a storm. Definitely not a "sick ship."

[cruiserbryce]

labeling the ship "sick" when in the case of something like Noro (and others) its the passengers that bring it on is a bit unreasonable...the crew can go to every length to do their best to prevent an outbreak but in the end there are no guarantee's...thankfully, we have been lucky enough to not have any issues thus far and with luck it will continue

[WCAB]

The incident as reported by the OP must have been an isolated incident. I have been checking cruise bruise who reports such things and nothing on the Azamara Journey has shown up.

[mringenoldus]

The Azamara Journey is a lovely ship - it almost upsets me to see the name of this thread now that we've returned from our cruise.

 

I'm sorry the OP was ill - but there is no way that can reflect on the ship as a whole. I also feel there is no way the crew was nonattentive to his needs. We sail frequently and this crew sets a gracious service standard!

[Andy]

The incident as reported by the OP must have been an isolated incident. I have been checking cruise bruise who reports such things and nothing on the Azamara Journey has shown up.

 

Hi Wcab !

 

As mentioned earlier, not only was it an isolated incident, but it affected a very small percentage of the passengers on that sailing. While I certainly sympathize with the OP, the initial report was written as if it was far worse than it actually was onboard.

[mncruise]

Sorry you were sick I also got the virus after loads of families boarded in Acapulco and kids ran wild in buffet. (These were all different countries before anyone yells.) I was in my cabin for 24 hours. In the buffet, food was dished out by the crew. Sanitizers are all over ships now. I wash my hands throughly, used paper towels to open doors and still got it. It can happen. I have met people who will not tell the medical team and they spread it. I just got off a 15 day cruise on Sunday and did not hear of anyone sick Mainly adults on this cruise. Sometimes kids are too much in a hurry to properly wash their hands. I go on the Journey this weekend and hope all is fine. Give the ship line another chance. I understand this is frustrating.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

Being that this happened several weeks ago, and everything that can be said has probably been said, I am closing this thread. We thank you for your input !