Ships Still Skipping Grand Turk

Grand Turk Cruise Center

Not Busy These Days

Q: What's missing in this live webcam image?

A: People

This once busy cruise center has been quiet since early March due to an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, commonly known as Norovirus.

Carnival Corporation, in an abundance of caution, discontinued stops in Grand Turk for all their brands through the end of March shortly after the outbreak March 11th.

Additional Port Cancellations 

While investigations are still underway by Carnival Corporation, Grand Turk Cruise Center, and local authorities,  Carnival Corporation changed the itineraries of several more voyages for this week:

• Carnival Breeze April 1 -  replaced with Nassau
• Carnival Victory April 4 - replaced with Freeport
• Carnival Liberty April 4 - extended port time in San Juan to 10 p.m., added sea day 
• Ruby Princess April 5 - replaced with Nassau
• Holland America's Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam visits - sailing to San Juan instead

UPDATE:
Carnival Corp. confirmed that Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruises ships will begin calling on Grand Turk on Monday, April 8.

Read More: 

Health Ministry Reports Decrease in Vomiting and Diarrhoea Cases in Grand Turk
Grand Turk Cruise Center

Crown Princess Cruise Ends Early

Southern Caribbean Cruise Cut Short

A second outbreak of excessive gastrointestinal illness on Crown Princess has caused Princess Cruises to end the cruise two days early.

Three ships, from two different cruise lines, had delayed their boarding last weekend for additional sanitation in the wake of an increase in illness on the ship during the previous week.

For details about last week's outbreak as well as information about Norovirus and other gastrointestinal illness (GI), see: Delayed Boarding Today Voyager of the Seas

Returning to Fort Lauderdale for Sanitation

Crown Princess will return to its Fort Lauderdale homeport on Thursday instead of Saturday, where it will undergo two days of sanitation in consultation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).


Princess indicated that 114 passengers (3.7 percent out of 3,078) and 59 crew (5 percent of 1,178) on the weeklong Southern Caribbean cruise have reported a gastrointestinal illness believed to be Norovirus. Cruise lines participating in the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program, which Princess and all major lines does, are required to report the total number of GI cases evaluated by the medical staff before the ship arrives at a U.S. port when sailing from a foreign port. A separate notification is required when the count exceeds 2 percent of the total number of passengers or crew onboard.

This cruise had already been delayed six hours for the vigorous sanitation program done under CDC oversight February 4th.

According to Princess, the upcoming two-day disinfection will include "bringing aboard additional cleaning crew to assist with a thorough sanitization of all public spaces and surfaces including soft furnishing and carpets, railings, door handles and the like. Additionally, once all of the passengers have disembarked on Thursday morning, all bed linens and towels will be removed from every stateroom. The staterooms will be sanitized multiple times before making up the rooms with fresh linens and towels on Saturday morning, just prior to passenger embarkation."

Compensation for Impacted Passengers

Impacted passengers will receive full refunds for the cruise, flights home, coverage of change fees if air was not booked through Princess, hotel accommodation if necessary and a 25 percent future cruise credit.

February 11th cruise is scheduled for normal departure time presently.  We will monitor the situation and announce any reported changes.

Norovirus Can be Prevented

Norovirus is the second most common illness next to the common cold, and is highly contagious, spreading easily in confined spaces like hospitals, hotels, dormitories and cruise ships. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea, and millions are infected each year.

It can be prevented if everyone washes their hands and uses sanitation liquids found throughout the ship.  Also, if you have been sick prior to boarding the ship, please do your fellow passengers a favor and reschedule your cruise.   It doesn't take much to turn a sanitized ship into a sick camp once the disease takes hold.

As of press time, the other two ships that had GI outbreaks last week, Ruby Princess and Voyager of the Seas have not reported a repeat of last week's outbreak.

Delayed Boarding Today Voyager of the Seas

Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas

Delays Boarding

Boarding for February 4th sailing of Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas is being delayed to allow time for sanitation of the ship (public areas and cabins) due to an unusual reports of gastrointestinal illness.

We received the following announcement from Royal Caribbean:

"During Voyager of the Seas' last sailing, a number of guests onboard experienced gastrointestinal illness.In an abundance of caution, we are conducting enhanced sanitizing onboard the ship and within the cruise terminal to help prevent any illness from affecting your client's cruise."

Check-in Process Begins at 1 PM


"Because of this additional sanitizing, the check in process is now anticipated to begin at approximately 1:00 p.m. We apologize for this delay to your client's boarding.

We are also sanitizing guest staterooms, and they will be available to guests at approximately 3:00 p.m. Once guests board the ship, they can explore public areas, open decks and lounges and enjoy lunch, until their stateroom is ready."

Two Princess Cruise Ships Also Delayed

UPDATE: Feb 8

Crown Princess had a second outbreak this week and has cut its 7 Night Southern Caribbean short by two days to allow for sanitation.   see:   Crown Princess Cruise Ends Early

###

Princess Cruises has also announced delayed embarkation times for the next sailings of Crown Princess and Ruby Princess, following an increased number of Norovirus cases on each of the ships' current voyages. 

According to statements from the line, 81 of Ruby Princess' 3,133 passengers and nine of its 1,186 crew members have come down with the virus. Meanwhile, 364 of 3,103 passengers and 30 of 1,168 crew on Crown Princess were affected.

Although the numbers are relatively small, cruise lines are required to report all cases of Noro to the CDC, and a "special report" is created when numbers reach 2 percent of a ship's total onboard population. (Ruby Princess' have reached nearly 3 percent of passengers and Crown Princess' more than 11 percent.)

Because the gastrointestinal virus is highly contagious, both ships will be given special cleanings upon their return to their Fort Lauderdale homeport. As a result, embarkation for Crown Princess' next cruise will be delayed on Saturday, and Ruby Princess' will be pushed back until 2 p.m. on Sunday.

About Norovirus
According to health experts, as many as 300 million people worldwide are affected by norovirus each year. Only the common cold is more prevalent. However, we would prefer if none of our guests became ill.

Prevention:

Royal Caribbean asked us to convey the following preventive measures.

• wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water after usingthe bathroom and before eating anything
• use the complimentary sanitizing gel that is available at various locations onboard
• if you experienced any gastrointestinal symptoms within the last three days, we ask that you please consider rescheduling your cruise

Here are some additional resources that we have compiled (these can also be found on our International Travel static tab above).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (advice about any health advisories here and abroad)

Traveler's Health (CDC Travel specific topics)

  

Facts About Noroviruses on Cruise Ships  -  gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses can be prevented

It's that time of year, so PLEASE:

Wash hands often. Wash hands after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before eating or preparing food.  Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer along with hand washing.

Norovirus outbreaks, when they occur on a cruise ship, always make the news.  The truth is these outbreaks can occur anywhere there are groups of people in a small area such as nursing homes, restaurants, catered events, hotels, and cruise ships.

Vessel Sanitation Program - prevention and control of spread of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses on cruise ships

We had a similar experience when we boarded our Princess Cruise to the Mediterranean and Greek Isles last spring.  They also sanitized the ship and put some additional measures in place for the first few days of our sailing.  During that time, we were not allowed to serve ourselves in either the buffet or dining room.  The wait staff served all items to us, including sugar packets and other condiments.  Things returned to normal once the ship was satisfied that there were no additional reports of illness.

Sail Away From Civitavecchia

Star Princess Prepares to 

Sail from Civitavechia, Italy

Having completed our two-night pre-cruise stay in Rome, Italy, and our train ride to the pier, we were anxious to get on board the Star Princess for the actual cruise portion of our vacation.   These next posts will describe our Mediterranean adventure in detail.  We hope you enjoy your virtual cruise of the Mediterranean and Greek Isles.

Monday, May 30th was a beautiful day in Civitavecchi, Italy, as the Star Princess prepared to depart on its 12-Night journey to the Mediterranean ports with a special emphasis on the Greek Isles.

Passengers were up on the outside decks, soaking in the sun's rays and watching as last minute activities took place getting ready for our departure.   


As it turned out, we were not on deck when the actual sail-away took place, because we had early seating dinner (6 PM).  The ship departed shortly after that.

There were still some people in the pool as Star Princess was concluding final preparations for our departure.  The sun would be out for several more hours yet, so if you didn't have to be at dinner, there was certainly no rush to leave.

We had already completed the mandatory safety drill, where we learned about a situation that occurred on the previous sailing, which would have an impact on us for the first few days.   There had been an increased report of gastrointestinal illness on the last cruise, attributed to people eating meals on shore.   Consequently, the ship had undergone an extensive sanitation process when it docked in Civitavecchia.   

In addition to the sanitation, special food handling procedures had been put in place.   We hadn't paid much attention to it when we first got onboard, but after we heard the announcement during the safety drill, things made sense.

In the buffet, as well as other food venues, the wait staff was serving food.   Passengers were not allowed to handle food on the serving line - this included even such things as rolls and condiments.   After two full days, the ban was lifted and life onboard returned to normal with no outbreaks during our cruise.   While it was inconvenient for the first days, taking longer to get through the food line for example, we commend Princess Cruises for proactively handling the situation to prevent any further problems on our cruise.

Welcome aboard ... the Mediterranean adventure begins in earnest now.  Be sure to visit both our blog and Facebook Fan page often for more stories and photos of our journey.

Additional Reading:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (advice about any health advisories here and abroad)
Traveler's Health (CDC Travel specific topics)
Facts About Noroviruses on Cruise Ships  -  gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses can be prevented

Wash hands often. Wash hands after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before eating or preparing food.  Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer along with hand washing.

Norovirus outbreaks, when they occur on a cruise ship, always make the news.  The truth is these outbreaks can occur anywhere there are groups of people in a small area such as nursing homes, restaurants, catered events, hotels, and cruise ships.

 Vessel Sanitation Program - prevention and control of spread of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses on cruise ships

 

Additional photos can be found on our Facebook Albums.




Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Connect With Us On

        

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers


Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

 

Radiance OTS Departure Delayed

Delay - Radiance of the Seas 
January 7, 2011
1100 a.m. E.S.T

During Radiance of the Seas' last sailing, a number of guests onboard experienced some gastrointestinal illness. At Royal Caribbean International, we have high health standards for all our guests and crew. Therefore, in an abundance of caution, tomorrow we will conduct some enhanced sanitizing onboard the ship and within the cruise terminal to help prevent any illness from affecting the next sailing.

Because of this enhanced sanitation, the boarding process for Radiance of the Seas is now anticipated to begin at 6:00 p.m. We apologize in advance for this delay to the boarding process and we thank you our guests for their understanding.

Parking and seating at in the cruise terminal is very limited. Therefore, guest should not arrive at the pier on Saturday before 5:00 p.m. Regrettably, due to the limited facilities and seating area, we must turn away any car that arrives at the terminal before 5:00 p.m. We kindly ask that guests arrive at the terminal between 5:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. for check-in and boarding.

If you have experienced any gastrointestinal symptoms within the last three days, we ask that you please consider rescheduling your cruise.

Norovirus is an extremely common gastrointestinal illness, and only the common cold is more prevalent. According to health specialists, about 300 million people in the world are affected by norovirus every year.

The health and well-being of our guests is very important to us and we believe that these additional measures will further assist in ensuring that our guests' vacation experience is a fun, relaxing and healthy experience.

USEFUL LINKS ABOUT NOROVIRUS

Facts About Noroviruses on Cruise Ships  -  gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses can be prevented

Wash hands often. Wash hands after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before eating or preparing food.  Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer along with hand washing.

Norovirus outbreaks, when they occur on a cruise ship, always make the news.  The truth is these outbreaks can occur anywhere there are groups of people in a small area such as nursing homes, restaurants, catered events, hotels, and cruise ships.

Vessel Sanitation Program - prevention and control of spread of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses on cruise ships