This is a repeat from my original post to Corky on the main page.
Corky,
We were on this cruise as well. There were a LOT more people sick than reported by the media, simply because they didn't go down to the infirmary. Or after they went down and read the instructions on how they could be isolated and/or the other consequences of reporting their illness, they left without treatment.
This was our 2nd cruise. We were on the Sovereign in September. We had a wonderful time and expected the same from this cruise. We were as disappointed as you and we will not be cruising again anytime in the near future.
I could not believe how DIRTY this ship was. That was the first thing we noticed. There was someone always cleaning the common areas (especially the handrails, doorknobs, etc.) on the Sovereign. Not so on the Grandeur. The buffet area was filthy. TWICE I slipped and almost fell on the floor simply because they didn't bother to mop up after people spilled. The food was only half-cooked. I saw a college kid (girl surprisingly) that dropped the tongs on the floor. She looked left and right to see who was watching and was going to put them BACK IN THE FOOD when I looked at her and said, "Don't you DARE put them back. Give them to one of the workers."
Finally, after the 2nd day when everyone got sick, they started to actually clean the ship. If you ask me a little prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I was one of the lucky ones who didn't get sick but DH did. He, like you, had only a mild case of it. We talked to others who had the same. Personally, I think a lot of folks had food poisoning from the improper handling of food and not the norovirus. On the last night of the cruise, I lucked out and got diarrhea. Then the toilet in our cabin broke on departure morning so I had to use the bathroom in the Schooner lounge. We called maintenance but they never showed.
I hopped on the internet on Deck 8 to access this site and post a warning on Wednesday but this site as well as others related to cruising were completely blocked.
You couldn't pay me to cruise on this ship again. They need to take it out of circulation for a week or more and do a thorough cleaning of the entire ship. Otherwise, this is going to keep happening. If I had known the shape this ship was in I would have cancelled and done something else for my vacation.
I hope you feel better.
RMW - I do NOT mean to panic you with this post. This is my opinion and mine alone. They may just clean this ship top to bottom in the weeks before your cruise. Duttysean's hand washing advice is the best. I am very big on handwashing and limited my touching of the ship rails and common areas etc. I believe that is why I didn't catch the virus. It was more widespread than they indicated in the media because there were lots of people who became ill for a short period of time and did not report it. And yes, once everyone got sick, the staff did do a good job of containing the outbreak. I only wish they had done the cleaning BEFORE I got on the ship. If I were you I would make sure I monitored what the next set of passengers from Grandeur says before I make a decision on whether or not to cancel. Good luck.
