Century has Norovirus!!!

[lysolqn]

This was just published and I thought it might be of interest to this board:

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSSHA25252620071128

 

Once again, the wisdom of common sense and Dr. Mom is proven best!

[lisalovlee33]

I am not surprised with that. On our cruise (the week before yours), there was a few cases or norwolk as well. I don't know what your experiences are, but we saw so many dirty oily plates used as serving dishes, the forks and knives are stained and dirty. The cups are dirty and oily. I think Century seriously need to take a look at their dishwashers because it was just filthy. I don't want to be nitpicking but from what I saw, it was truly disgusting. I would rinse my coffee cups in hot water before I use them. Sad, but true.

 

An after thought, I would think after a small outbreak on our cruise, Celebrity would take steps to really clean up the ship thoroughly before the next sailing to prevent any more cases. Perhaps they tried and didn't do a good job.

[lysolqn]

I am not surprised with that. On our cruise (the week before yours), there was a few cases or norwolk as well. I don't know what your experiences are, but we saw so many dirty oily plates used as serving dishes, the forks and knives are stained and dirty. The cups are dirty and oily. I think Century seriously need to take a look at their dishwashers because it was just filthy. I don't want to be nitpicking but from what I saw, it was truly disgusting. I would rinse my coffee cups in hot water before I use them. Sad, but true.

 

I'm surprised by your experience. After 29 cruises on Celebrity (#30 is next week) - including five on Century - we've never encountered anything food-related that could be even remotely classified as dirty, oily, filthy or truly disgusting. Admittedly, on occasion we've had to ask for a different knife, fork or perhaps glass because the one we were given didn't come clean but those occasions have been few and far between, and that's not unique to Celebrity or cruising and can happen in landside restaurants as well.

 

Long before noro-virus became an issue and even more so now that it has, my biggest gripe on X and all other cruise lines we've been on is that unused flatware is often removed from the table and put back in the "drawer" for future use without having been washed. If you order steak, your knife will be removed from your place, returned to the "drawer" unwashed and replaced with a steak knife. Also, during open seating in particular, if you're seated at a table that was previously occupied, you will often see waitstaff making full place settings for you by using flatware or dishes left unused by the prior occupants of that table. That has bothered me for many years; just because someone hasn't used a utensil doesn't mean he/she hasn't handled it. Management should ensure that never happens, especially in light of the whole noro-virus issue on cruise ships and elsewhere.

[lisalovlee33]

A lot of ppl. would just pick up a plate and start using it taking it for granted that it's clean. I don't. Call me picky, but after the piece of glass in my wine glass the first night, I was cautious. Just make a mental note. Next time you're on the Century, take a look at the dishes before you use them. I have no reason to bash Celebrity as I don't work for a cruise line. :D If you don't see oily stains, left over food sticking to the soup bowls, I'd be very surprised. One day, I practically went through 5 bowls before I found a clean one because they were obviously still very dirty with food stains.

Oh, there was this time on the ship when my friend lifted a plate and a clump of washed up spaghetti fell off the bottom of his plate onto the next plate!! :D

I just think their dishwasher is due for a repair.

Personally, I think it happen less on Princess. Every morning, the staff would wipe down the plates and saucers with a cloth before putting them up for use. If they did that on the Century, I'm sure we wouldn't have this problem.

[Gonzo70]

Personally, I think it happen less on Princess. Every morning, the staff would wipe down the plates and saucers with a cloth before putting them up for use. If they did that on the Century, I'm sure we wouldn't have this problem.

 

But who knows what's on that cloth and how clean the cloth is! :D

[C 2 C]

First time on the Celebrity. My god. I've never seen so many dirty dishes used for serviing. They're oily, and very dirty up on the buffet. Found a piece of glass in my wine glass (good thing I saw it before using!).

 

I'm hoping this is Century specific as I'm also booked on another one in January!.. Just my 2 cents and nothing was exxagerated.

 

I can go on and on.. but in MY OPINION on the CENTURY, it was poor dining experience, although, the sushi has pretty good selection!

 

Personally, I think it happen less on Princess. Every morning, the staff would wipe down the plates and saucers with a cloth before putting them up for use. If they did that on the Century, I'm sure we wouldn't have this problem.

 

 

I know that no ship provides a perfect cruising experience but at the same time I have to defend Celebrity and especially my favorite ship: Century.

 

If I had experienced all those problems on any cruise I certainly would not book that cruiseline again.

 

I have sailed Century a dozen times for over a 100 days on board and am booked for a B2B2B in January. I have found the occasional food particle on utensils and plates and the worst, lipstick on cups. But those occasions would be rare and certainly not typical of any cruise. We have also cruised eleven times on various Princess ships and have found nothing superior in food or cleanliness. I won't say that Princess is better or worse than Celebrity because both lines have a faithful following.

 

I hope you brought your problems to the attention of the staff on board because they pride themselves in resolving issues and would fix the errant machine if it were faulty.

 

Perhaps when you visit Celebrity or Century again in January you will not find a recurrence of this problem.

[lisalovlee33]

I know that no ship provides a perfect cruising experience but at the same time I have to defend Celebrity and especially my favorite ship: Century.

 

If I had experienced all those problems on any cruise I certainly would not book that cruiseline again.

 

I have sailed Century a dozen times for over a 100 days on board and am booked for a B2B2B in January. I have found the occasional food particle on utensils and plates and the worst, lipstick on cups. But those occasions would be rare and certainly not typical of any cruise. We have also cruised eleven times on various Princess ships and have found nothing superior in food or cleanliness. I won't say that Princess is better or worse than Celebrity because both lines have a faithful following.

 

I hope you brought your problems to the attention of the staff on board because they pride themselves in resolving issues and would fix the errant machine if it were faulty.

 

Perhaps when you visit Celebrity or Century again in January you will not find a recurrence of this problem.

 

I have booked both the cruises back months ago. So, no, I would not have booked the 2nd Celebrity cruise if I've known this would happen on the first!! I realized I've touched a nerve here among Celebrity lovers, but hey, I was merely stating my experience on this particular cruise. Yes, you have 100 days of Celebrity under your belt and you love Century.. Good on you. But that does not mean the same standard that you think is satisfactory to you, is acceptable to others. On that note, I'm unsubscribing to this thread before someone set my house on fire. Good Day Everyone!

[arabrab]

 

So if there is an outbreak it is one of two things. Either a discourteous or unknowing passenger that doesn't take health issues seriously...OR...a number of passengers that feel they don't have to wash their hands frequently. Its not going to help if you take a bath in purel....it won't kill the virus plain and simple. EVERY cabin has a bathroom with a sink and soap to go with it....please use them and take this health issue seriously.

 

And for gods sake, don't blame the ship or the cruise line. 9/10 times its a passenger and not the crew.

 

Dave:eek: ( survivior of one of the worse NORO sailings)

 

The CDC data sheet indicates otherwise:

 

Among the 232 outbreaks of norovirus illness reported to CDC from July 1997 to June 2000,

57% were foodborne

, 16% were due to person-to-person spread, and 3% were waterborne; in 23% of outbreaks, the cause of transmission was not determined. In this study, common settings for outbreaks include restaurants and catered meals (36%), nursing homes (23%), schools (13%), and vacation settings or cruise ships (10%).

Most foodborne outbreaks of norovirus illness are likely to arise though direct contamination of food by a food handler immediately before its consumption.

Outbreaks have frequently been associated with consumption of cold foods, including various salads, sandwiches, and bakery products.

Liquid items (e.g., salad dressing or cake icing) that allow virus to mix evenly are often implicated as a cause of outbreaks.

Food can also be contaminated at its source, and oysters from contaminated waters have been associated with widespread outbreaks of gastroenteritis.

Other foods, including raspberries and salads, have been contaminated before widespread distribution and subsequently caused extensive outbreaks.

Waterborne outbreaks of norovirus disease in community settings have often been caused by sewage contamination of wells and recreational water.

 

 

Earlier in the fact sheet, CDC mentions that 30% of those infected with norovirus may be asymptomatic, but they aren't sure how the asymptomatic infectives contribute to the spread of the disease.

 

 

If 57% of the outbreaks are food-borne, then the crew and ship clearly does bear responsibility for many of the outbreaks. This would also explain why a certain ship will have repeated (but decreasing) infections over a several week period, even though the passenger complement has changed over completely. The notion that it is all the fault of the passengers has always struck me as strange, particularly since two ships could depart from the same port on the same day, with many passengers having taken the same flights to get to the cruise, and one has a significant incidence of norovirus and the other has none.

[Host Anne]

arabrab ~ correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I read your post was that 57% of the spread was food-borne - in general - not specifically on cruise ships. It concerns me when a generality is made and then applied to a specific situation (like stating 57% of the spread of noro on a ship is food-borne). So I just want to make sure the facts are straight....can you confirm? I find it hard to believe tha 57% of noro on ships is spread by food-borne issues....I think a lot more people would be ill if that were the case.

[maiden]

We returned from our Med. cruise onboard Century Nov. 4th. It was our first cruise and we were so impressed because staff were constantly cleaning. Also, they were continually handing out hand sanitizer. I wonder if that isn't the norm. We are planning another cruise for the fall 2008 so I hope this is because we were so pleased with everything.

[bububr]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as I read it........of the 232 outbreaks between 1997 and 2000 ( 77 per year ) are divided among nursing homes(23%), schools(13%), restaurants(36%), cruise ships and other resorts (10%).The percentages simply don't add up first of all....and If this info is correct then there were only 7 reported outbreaks on ships AND resorts per year.( actually the reports do show 21 out breaks in 3 years). However IMHO you are safer on a ship at least according to the percentiles.

 

As for food handlers I have to agree with you. With 1000 people per sitting It would only take one food handler to infect a lot more people just in one sitting.

 

Arabrab: after the 'infamous bleach cruise on the Mercury March 17th 06' one of the worse out breaks, a possible noro outbreak was reported in a hotel chain where quite a few of the passengers had stayed. It was interesting to recieve a questionaire by the CDC on which airlines we had flown in on , which hotels we had stayed at prior to the cruise, and what restaurants we had eaten at. In my review I posted that many of the ill were NOT staying in their rooms as they were required to. One couple was not allowed to reboard in Acapulco because they were under quarantine and were not supposed to leave. Not to mention that there were many using the mens rooms IN A CODE RED that STILL were not washing their hands.

 

While I believe it is possible for a crew member to get sick and infect others, the ratio is so small. You have to remember they eat sleep and what ever else together in cramped quarters. If they have the slightest fever of any sign of illness they are quaratined immediately.

 

After seeing a man on his hands and knees vomiting in the mens room then run out with out washing his hands, a woman putting her toddler in the hot tubs then later changing his diaper, and quaratined people out by the pool and in line at the buffet boasting how its their cruise and no-one is going to keep them in their cabins..........I have a pretty good idea of how this spreads and who is most commonly responsible, at least IMHO.

 

No one in my group or at our dining table or surrounding ones were affected at all.

 

IMHO.http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/outbreak/2006/update_march27mercury.htm

 

The amount of passengers affected by NORO on ships is so small and insignificant to the overall picture. Ships are only tageted because they are required to report out breaks. You'd be surprised how many schools are closed for periods every year, or nursing homes and I can remember even an office building.

 

So while I will agree to slightly dissagree with you, Its my personal belief that the majority, maybe not all, come from passengers.

 

It also would be nice if you posted some more up to date info instead of reports from 7 years ago.

 

Dave:eek:

[arabrab]

arabrab ~ correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I read your post was that 57% of the spread was food-borne - in general - not specifically on cruise ships. It concerns me when a generality is made and then applied to a specific situation (like stating 57% of the spread of noro on a ship is food-borne). So I just want to make sure the facts are straight....can you confirm? I find it hard to believe tha 57% of noro on ships is spread by food-borne issues....I think a lot more people would be ill if that were the case.

 

You read it correctly. While the CDC report didn't break down percentages by venue, I don't think that there is any evidence to indicate that the food-borne transmission would be dramatically less in a cruise ship environment than it would be in nursing homes, restaurants or schools. From an epidemiological standpoint, since the CDC study showed that the majority of cases came through food-borne means, then without evidence to the contrary you'd expect to direct a lot of your efforts in disease prevention to this area since it is likely to be fruitful.

 

Cruise Critic has had a lot of postings where Noro problems are ascribed to passengers who failed to heed basic sanitation and health precautions. I was merely pointing out that the data that is available suggest that the problem may be just as much (or more) on the part of the cruise ship's food handling. Just as sick passengers have sometimes been reluctant to adhere to quarantines or even to report gastrointestinal illnesses, how many crew members have been reluctant to follow the CDC guidelines which require that they not participate in any food handling for a full 48 hours after all symptoms have ceased? How many crew members do not wash with soap for a full 15 seconds? How many people still think that Purell is effective against Norovirus? Who is likely to infect more people -- a sick passenger, or a sick crew member making up the day's supply of Caesar salad dressing?

It is easy for cruise lines to blame sick passengers, and it may make the rest of us feel more comfortable, but the data does not seem to support that as the primary means of transmission.

 

YMMV.

[tom_uk]

It is easy for cruise lines to blame sick passengers, and it may make the rest of us feel more comfortable, but the data does not seem to support that as the primary means of transmission.

 

I don't think I've ever heard any mention of blame for Noro outbreaks, certainly not from the cruise lines, nor from bodies such as CDC. And as someone else has suggested, it's possible to be infected and be spreading the virus in an asymptomatic state.

 

My view is that noro simply happens, and when it does it's up to everyone to respond appropriately. On a cruise ship that would include both passengers and crew.

[Alan2504]

Yes, there is a suspected outbreak of a norovirus on the Century, it was affecting more than 10% of the passengers.

 

The Captain and crew were continuously appealing for all to maintain the highest standards of hygiene, they were very visibly spraying, sanitising all surfaces 24hr a day to try and contain the spread of the disease.

 

Yet to my amazement, despite all the obvious signs and announcements about the outbreak, time after time I would see passengers refusing to use the sanitising wipes being handed out prior to eating at the buffet or the restaurant....the usual excuse.."Oh..I just washed them in my stateroom"...but how many surfaces had they been in contact since leaivng their stateroom?

 

It was a similar situation in the restrooms too! (lack of hand washing!)

 

I had an opportunity to speak to the Captain during the cruise and their concern is that during the subsequent cruise ( a transatlantic) the virus was still around and that passengers otherwise medically compromised catch the virus during the actual crossing with limited medical facilities.

 

I agree with previous posters that norovirus is very common and as Don pointed out perhaps that "over sanitisation" may not be the only/best solution (but it is the guidance the Health Authorities give).

 

However I think that passengers who blatantly don't adhere to basic hygiene principles are not doing anyone any favours in the current situation.

 

All I can say we didn't have any problems with the virus and had a great cruise.

 

I feel sorry for those who "lost" 3 days of the cruise down to in part to the selfishness of a minority.

[C 2 C]

I had an opportunity to speak to the Captain during the cruise

 

Would you be able to post the names of the Captain, Cruise Director and Captain's Club Host(ess) for the Who's Your Captain thread?

 

Arno

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=12561415#post12561415

[E201]

C2C – The captain is Nicholas Pagonis and the cruise director was Luke Bonney but he left the ship on the 3rd December, not sure who is on their next.

 

After our post informing you all of the outbreak I would like to up date you all on the goings on aboard Century – we are back now and since posting this thread the staff on Century did up their efforts in keeping the ship clean, there were staff outside the restaurant and buffet with wipes making all passengers sanitize before they went in(we did go into the buffet a couple of days after the first announcement was made and no one was outside with wipes and we told a member of staff who just said they are there, we wanted to make the point that even though they are there it doesn’t mean they are being used) and there were also lots of people wiping over the hand rails on the stair cases and in all the lounges, we also saw members of staff in the cabin corridors with a devise similar to a pressure washer spraying all the walls and doors down, :eek: this is the most I have ever seen and they certainly did their best to resolve the problem, but we have always said why weren’t proper precautions taken to begin with? If passengers were made to sanitize from the beginning of the cruise then this proberly wouldn’t have happened. (We find that if you see a tub of wipes or gel dispenser and there is not a member of staff insisting that you use it and you just go ahead most people seem to follow suit and start to use them).

Also when we have cruised with other lines we have received a letter prior to our cruise informing us of what Noro is and what we can do to help prevent it, we never received anything about this from Celebrity until it had broken out, we then received a letter in our cabin explaining– I think this is important as we dined on a table for 8 & apart from us two none of them knew what Noro was – one of the ladies on our table actually got it and was in her cabin for a couple of days!

 

We are not moaning about celebrity just putting our experience over and comparing it with the other lines we have cruised on, we had a fabulous cruise and very much enjoyed Century and will be looking at cruising on her again in the Future.

 

I do hope that they continue with the strict cleaning and hope that no one else gets ill, my partner Steve has just seemed to contracted Noro :( since getting home, it is really scary as we washed our hands constantly (resulting in very red hands!) and he has still got it, we can only think that he has got it from the suitcases? I hope I don’t get it but its most likely I will!

 

Hope you all have a good holiday!

 

E201 :)

[Ships R Great]

"I have booked both the cruises back months ago. So, no, I would not have booked the 2nd Celebrity cruise if I've known this would happen on the first!! I realized I've touched a nerve here among Celebrity lovers, but hey, I was merely stating my experience on this particular cruise. Yes, you have 100 days of Celebrity under your belt and you love Century.. Good on you. But that does not mean the same standard that you think is satisfactory to you, is acceptable to others. On that note, I'm unsubscribing to this thread before someone set my house on fire. Good Day Everyone!"

 

Good day to you. I hope your next experience on X will be more to your liking and your standards. But, please don't be supercillious in your remarks on this board. Let's try to be nice to each other, even though we may disagree at imes.

[Pandora1958]

Pearl Harbor Day. Not that anyone on this ship has remembered.

 

No salt and pepper on the table nor butter or bread. They must serve you everything including water and coffee. Lines are longer.

Many clothes are getting ruined from all the bleach being used.

No books in library.

Everything so smeary and wet.

Sit on chairs and pants get bleached. Then they ask you for receipts and to go through YOUR insurance company!

 

No pens, papers, menus of any kind in room.

 

Not my idea of the best of Celebrity.

 

Merry Christmas? Bah humbug! Maybe when they get to Miami they'll have some decorators aboard. Quote and unquote.

[grandsix]

We see too many people in both the Womens and Mens public toilets not washing their hands. Most of this is habit so they apparently do not wash when they are at home or in their cabin. Washing will considerably reduce Noro type breakouts.

[tcocktail]

Bikinibottom said:

 

 

Here's a link to a good fact sheet from CDC about norovirus:

http://www.cdc.gov/Ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-factsheet.htm

 

Unfortunately immunity is limited and short-term. The fact sheet has some reasons why.

 

Tom_uk

 

Completely off base, Tom did you hire a driver to drive the Amalfi coast? If so who did you use?

 

thanks

[florisdekort]

The topic "Century has Norovirus" is misleading. The CDC did not report an outbreak, so the percentage of sick people is within what is to be expected statistically on a ship its size. The same goes for Constellation, which is stated to have Noro on a different thread.

 

Floris

[tom_uk]

Tom_uk

 

Completely off base, Tom did you hire a driver to drive the Amalfi coast? If so who did you use?

 

Er - no. We probably should have. Here's a link to my blog entry for what was a disppointing day at Naples.

 

http://tomtotley.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/day-10-naples/

[dkjretired]

The topic "Century has Norovirus" is misleading. The CDC did not report an outbreak, so the percentage of sick people is within what is to be expected statistically on a ship its size. The same goes for Constellation, which is stated to have Noro on a different thread.

 

Floris

 

I agree Floris, probably just about every cruise has Noro to some extent since about 45 million Americans get it every year not to mention the numbers from other countries. It really has to be taken in perspective. I also have to say that although I appreciate the OP's original post, she was a little over the top as to her opinions on the sanitizers. Many people think the sanitizers have a negative affect on these diseases. Just wash your hands frequently...

[BikerAl]

The topic "Century has Norovirus" is misleading. The CDC did not report an outbreak, so the percentage of sick people is within what is to be expected statistically on a ship its size. The same goes for Constellation, which is stated to have Noro on a different thread.

 

Floris

 

Not necessarily correct. The Century has not visited a US port on any sailing since the OP, and only the current cruise which will terminate in Miami is reportable to the CDC. When that report is required is the question, not whether the OP, or current cruisers posts are misleading. No cruise line would subject the current cruisers to what is being reported, if there was no reason to do so, IMO.

[florisdekort]

Not necessarily correct. The Century has not visited a US port on any sailing since the OP, and only the current cruise which will terminate in Miami is reportable to the CDC. When that report is required is the question, not whether the OP, or current cruisers posts are misleading. No cruise line would subject the current cruisers to what is being reported, if there was no reason to do so, IMO.

 

Events At Sea clearly lists all outbreaks as reported by CDC, and for Celebrity the list includes cruises without a US port. And Constellation has been calling at US ports since September.

 

Floris