Mercury is still sick

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Debra123

Guest
Just got this email from a friend on Celebrity Mercury:

Hello! Unfortunately, this has not been the greatest of cruises although we have met some very nice people. My husband got sick on Monday night and we have been quarrantined to our cabin. My son and I have been let out this afternoon but my husband has another 24 hours of confinement. He got that Norwalk virus-my son and I are fine though....strange. We have all taken the necessary precautions. But, we missed alot...not very nice. They have been decent about it-there will be no charge for the medical treatment he received and the medications. Oh well...first time in 12 cruises this has happened. The ship looks like a war zone though. They claim that the CDC told them to spray bleach all over the ship-all mirrors, woodwork, doorways, etc are ruined-they claim they are not permitted to wash it off-so we cant lean on anything and when you touch anything-you have wet bleach on your hands-seems ridiculous. The count of sick people that have gone to the Doctor was 32 as of yesterday-which is not much at all-but there are many more that have not reported it. The ship came back with hundreds sick...this is not a USUAL occurrance so dont worry. The Doctor said they will be giving us some kind of compensation.....we will see. Well, I have just been let out of my room so I am going to walk around. Hit 720.00 the first night on a slot machine...that was a treat! Hope all is well...
 
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wayneair

Guest
WOW. I am heading out on the 4/7 departure and I am worried. I will be travelling with two kids. After I heard about the first 200 people, I went out and purchased several pocket size hand sanitizers, and anti-bacterial wipes. The kids have been instructed not to leave the room unless they carry their own sanitizer and to use it everytime they come in contact with handrailes, elevator buttons, door knobs, and water fountains. I have also told them upon returning to the room, hand sanitize again after opening the door.

Also included in my luggage will be Frebreeze antibacterial spray for the entire stateroom. I just don't want to be on vacation and be restricted to my room. I wonder what does the terms of carriage say about Celebrity in cases of these virus outbreaks. In my mind, they have a responsibility to compensate more that the medical treatment.
 
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MortgageChick

Guest
I think if you read the smalll print they don't even have to do that . I read the terms one time and I believe one of the items was that they are not even responsible for the potability of the water. Read it all sometime it would be pretty scary for a first time cruiser.
 
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viet630

Guest
We have found Celebrity to be over priced and over rated. We have sailed with them 4 times and the ships are not kept up the way they should be.We really like the size and layout of the Century , but the last cruise on her was April of 05. She was getting very rough at that time so I can't imagine what codition it is in now.We sailed the Horizon 4 years ago and it was down right filthy.The only way I will consider Celebrity again is after they have completely refurbihed they particular ship I want to go on.I think maybe that Royal Caribean bought them to put them out. Eliminate the competion, just a thought. The RCL'S are kept up much better.Viet
 
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MLT53

Guest
[quote MortgageChick]I think if you read the smalll print they don't even have to do that . I read the terms one time and I believe one of the items was that they are not even responsible for the potability of the water. Read it all sometime it would be pretty scary for a first time cruiser.[/quote]

You're right. It is scary for a first time cruiser. We are going on our first cruise in April. We'll be on the Mercury. We were very excited until we started reading about all the sickness on that ship. I don't want to go on a cruise and end up sick in our cabin. I'm a full time caretaker of my very sick mother and can rarely get out at all, so it's important to me to have a relaxing vacation this time.

I think I read that there have been sick passengers on the last three Mercury cruises. I called Celebrity and asked them how long the virus could linger on surfaces. They told me (naturally) that it's not on the ship, that the virus is being brought on by passengers each time. I thought that it seemed strange that it happened three times in a row. The woman said that maybe the passengers are getting it at the airport or something and bringing it on the ship.

I feel like I don't want to drink any of the water on the ship. I guess I'm paranoid. Maybe I shouldn't be worrying this much.
 
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Frank Black

Guest
MLT53:

I am going on the Mercury in late April. My 30th+ cruise and second on the Mercury. I usually take some bottled water to use in the cabins. I believe the water in cabins is safe to drink, sometimes it's a bit warm and tastless.

As for Norovirus, it hits many crusie ships every winter. See the link below for about 6 ships hit the last 60 days. Just take lots of Purell and use it a lot. Especially just before meals.


<http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/GIlist.htm#2006>
 
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grizzair

Guest
ABORT! JUMP OFF! DO ANYTHING BUT GET ABOARD THE MERCURY!! My fiance and I just returned from a 10 day hell at sea to the Mexican Riviera on the Mercury from March17th-March 27th, 2006. Minus the fact that the Norovirus is rampant on this boat and we were quarantined near the end of our trip there are so many other issues at hand: The boat is aged and weathered, there is no glamour at sea. Because the sickness has affected the staff as well many of the services are limited. On our cruise the Sushi Cafe was non-existant, their flagship Midnight Buffet was cancelled, different tastings were cancelled because the staff told us, "There is too much bleach in the air to serve food." The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has explained the cleaning standards but the Celebrity staff has not been trained. The boat resembles the inside of a washing machine, all mirrors, windows, surfaces, and elevator doors are doused with bleach to the point that the numbers in the elevator are sticky and unreadable. The doors and door handles to our stateroom were sprayed continuously throughout every day and night to the point that they looked like a gallon of spoiled milk had exploded on them. No matter what the signs say, never use the handrails, they are constantly dripping with a bleach-like substance that ruins your clothing and cracks your skin. Careful where you sit whether at the pool or at dinner, even the chairs and tables are dripping with bleach. You would think that this would contain the problem but on our cruise several quarantined passengers who refused to stay in their room were kicked off the boat. Others refused medical attention in hopes of not being quarantined so they could enjoy the remainder of their 'vacation'. Some were concerned that if they went to the doctor they would end up with huge medical fees onboard so there was no real containment of the virus. In their futile efforts to contain the norovirus, restaurants (like the main Manhattan Dining Room), the casual dining boulevard, ice and beverage dispensers near the buffet lines, including some buffet lines and gift shops were randomly closed to be sanitized. The guest relations staff was overwhelmed and responded with script-like answers and provided no real resolutionsw or assistance. Avoid the Mercury like the plague. Upon landing back home, finally, in San Diego we broke this news story to KUSI Channel 9 news correspondent Vivian Tamayo. Please see the video on their website at KUSI.com dated March 27th or 28th. It made the 6pm news on channel 9 that evening and can still be seen on their website. We also gave them pictures we took onboard of the open buckets of bleach in the restaurants and their staff wearing masks and gloves spraying bleach all over the ship. These pictures were also used in said news report. I BEG YOU TO FLOOD THEIR PHONE LINES WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT MONEY BACK GUARANTEES, INSURANCE, and SICKNESS ON BOARD AND IF YOU CAN'T GET ANY ANSWERS FROM THE FIRST OPERATOR KEEP CALLING BACK ASKING TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE ELSE. The only thing Celebrity is adept at is avoiding the situation and those seeking information and/or compensation. In reading past reviews alot of people have been questioning whether or not it is OK to drink the water on board. It seemed filtered to us but most of the glassware was soiled with lipstick and fingerprints. Seems like the necessary detergents to cut grease were not being used. And if you have any doubts that you may be allergic to heavy chemical spraying or abrasive cleaning products rest assured you will onboard this ship. If you are not affected with the norovirus (gastro-intestinal virus) leading to extreme diahrea, vomitting, and stomach cramps, you will experience severe migraines, congestion, and chronic tearing of the eyes from the chemical solutions courtesy of the untrained Celebrity Mercury staff. WE BEG YOU NOT TO BOARD THIS SHIP! GO TO THE WEBSITE NOW KUSI.COM
 
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grizzair

Guest
Whatever you do, never pay the astronomical fees onboard to use their computers. In every port there are internet cafes that cost $1.50/an hour. That's $1.50/ and hour. instead of spending $0.75 or $0.50/a minute on board you can spend an entire hour in an internet cafe for the cost of 2 minutes on board. It doesn't make sense. Plus you will be sitting in an air conditioned room drinking $0.40 cent diet cokes or $1.00 beers. Don't be stupid
 
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bOB

Guest
From the CDC (Center for disease Control)

Celebrity Cruises reported an increased number of cases of gastrointestinal (GI) illness on the cruise ship, Mercury, for the 12 day voyage completed on March 17, 2006, (sailing dates: 3/6/2006-3/17/2006) in San Diego, CA.

On March 14, 2006, Celebrity Cruises contacted CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) staff to report that an elevated number of Mercury passengers and crew were experiencing symptoms that were consistent with gastrointestinal illness. The predominant symptoms were diarrhea and vomiting.

On March 17, the ship’s medical staff reported that 14 of 840 (1.67%) crew were and 191 of 1902 (10.04%) passengers were ill. Stool specimens were collected and tested positive for norovirus.

The ship provided daily updates to CDC throughout the following voyage (sailing dates 3/17/2006-3/27/2006). The medical staff reported a higher number of ill passenger and crew than expected. On March 24, VSP staff boarded the ship in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and sailed for the remainder of the voyage to conduct an environmental and an epidemiological investigation. VSP staff consulted with onboard medical staff, observed cleaning and disinfection procedures, distributed a survey to determine the cause of illness, and made recommendations.

Seems that CDC officials were on the ship during your cruise and the ship staff was responding
to their recommendations, hard not to be knowledgeable when you have a VSP officer looking over your shoulder.

Also seems as though KUSI didn't consider this newsworthy, there is no mention of it anywere on their website.
 
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grizzair

Guest
I completely disagree with your statements. I was just on KUSI.com again to verify that the story is still available. Not only was this story breaking news on their 6 o'clock Televesion station Channel 9 San Diego Tuesday March 28th, but if you enter keywords Celebrity Cruise in their search engine on their website at KUSI.com you will see the title of their story 'Nightmare Cruise...." with video, interviews, and still pictures of the staff and ship that I personally sent to the news station. Please try again. I am simply giving you a first hand account of what we experienced. When we asked everyone who was spraying, what they were spraying they could or would not answer us. The bottles in their hands were not labelled, which is also an Ecolab violation. We are not denying your factual claims, we paid full price, wouldn't you want some sort of compensation for the grievances that occured on our 10 day vacation at the hands of Celebrity Cruise Lines who failed to even warn us of the problems and viruses on board the two previous cruises before we even set sail. You are simply pulling your facts from paperwork. You were not there, we were.
 
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viet630

Guest
We took 4 Celebrity cruises over the last 3 years. And I will have to say they were the dirtiest ship's I have ever been on.Th e horizon was the worst out of the bunch. but the Century was following close behind. last year was it for us, and the Century still has not been refurbished.They just do not maintain there ship's the way they should. viet
 
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BSeabob

Guest
I wonder why you sail with Celebrity viet630.?????? Could you explain that please....
 
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stinsowm

Guest
Grizzair has posted the exact same thread over and over again on another popular website. I was very sympathetic at first and still am to a point. I would hate to be on a cruise with a virus and I do think that Celebrity should have been more upfront about what happened. I would also be mad that the last sailing received a 25 percent refund and a 25 percent future refund on another Celebrity cruise and the one that Grizzair was on so far has not gotten anything. We are all aware now that Grizzair was on the news and I do hope that everyone on that sailing gets at least what the following sailing received as a refund. Definitely need to take it up with Celebrity though. I am a huge Celebrity fan and know that this is not normal. It does sound like reading other posts that not everyone was as angry. The sailing that just completed today reports that the virus is under control. I just hope that Celebrity will stop spraying bleach now for the future sailings on the Mercury.
 
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Sunbeam

Guest
I was on the cruise from March 6th to 17th to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.
WOW what an anniversary celebration.

The cabin (1201) desperately needs to be refurbished and the rest of the ship as well. But being attack by a virus was no fun. My husband was spared but I got hit with a BANG on disembarkation day and I probably contaminated a lot of people on my flights back home.

It was horrendous to see the staff with masks and gloves all over the ship. It looked like a war zone with soldiers falling every day. Everything was all dripping with desinfectant.

This was our 5th cruise and the first time that we affected this way.

I wrote to Celebrity Cruise Line, but after everything that I read I can just wait to get a letter that will mean absolutely nothing.

I got on the site KUSI.com but could not open the videos.
 
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grizzair

Guest
I've heard from a lot of people that couldn't see the video because they have dial-up service and not cable or DSL. If you have dial-up it just takes a lot longer to watch the video or you are not able to watch it at all. My only suggetion is to use a friends computer who has a faster download speed than your computer, or go to an internet cafe, or a place like Kinkos to watch it. We still have not received anything via email or snail mail regarding our several inquiries into Celebrity Corportate regarding our horrific trip. Seems like they will do nothing until they are slapped with a lawsuit. Best of luck.
 
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Sunbeam

Guest
Thanks for the info. I have cable and it still does not want to kick in. I will wait when I get to the office to try it out.
 
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viet630

Guest
Sunbeam
It sounds to me like all the Celebrity ship's need to go into dry dock and be refurbished.I have been on the Horizon once,and theCentury three times.The Horizon was a mess, the toilet's overflowed in our cabin and several cabins on either side of us.The smell hung in there for the rest of the cruise, and this was the 2nd day out. The cabin steward told us that this was a fairly regular thing. The public areas were filthy. We complained to our T/A and got a $200.00 discount to try another Celebrity ship. So we went on the Century the first year was pretty nice, a big improvement.The second year it was getting kind of rough and the third year was last year and it was really rough.They do not take good care of thier ship's.Therefore we are no longer sailing with them.viet
 
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