Has anyone heard how bad the NoroVirus outbreak on the Liberty of the Seas really was?

Question

I have seen several confliction reports of several different sites. I would not expect this on a brand new ship, especially the maiden voyage.

Answer 1

The age of the ship has nothing to do with it.

The ship is not, nor has it ever been sick.  Norovirus isn't something that a ship develops.  A passenger who is already ill when they come onboard is what causes the infection.  

Per the CDC 99% of all Noro outbreaks on cruise ships have been traced back to a passenger who was ill at the time of embarkation and inadvertently spread the virus onboard the ship.

The simplest way avoid being stricken with Norovirus?  Wash your hands after using the restroom and before you eat.

Answer 2

Virus broke out on my 6/2/07 cruise and about 50 people that i last heard got sick.  Don't let it scare you off.  Things were not perfect but I would give service overall a c+.  Cruise was delayed until 10pm and rooms not ready until after 12am.  Just was your hands and be mindful of what you touch.  I never touch buttons on elevator.  I used my shirt to touch.  Take hand sanitizer for the week.  We washed hands before eating, used sanitizer that they will give you and used sanitizer after sitting down and touching chair oh and washed after dinner.  So just wash your hands and dont touch eyes or put hands in mouth.  Week before 180 got sick and atleast 50 on next week.  So go but wash your hands it is an awesome ship.  Things were far from perfect but they offered us a full refund if we did not want to go when contacted the day before about the outbreak.   The odds are in your favor, 180 out of 4000.  It was worth it for me and we did not get sick.  I can not stress it enough.  WASH YOUR HANDS.

Answer 3

According to the CDC, there were 200 passengers and 12 crew who reported sick.

Answer 4

I was on the ship for the 5-26 sailing.  I had 2 people in my party of 7 that were sick.  My 10 yr old was sick first and they confined her to her room as well as 3 others that were in close contact with her.  Another member of our party that was not confined became sick as well.  I know for a fact that many people did not report their illness because they did not want their entire party to be confined.

I brought my own can or Lysol and sprayed down all three of our cabins, just goes to show there is no way to avoid the virus.  We washed our hands all the time, if its there you are vulnerable.

Answer 5

Yes. the last I heard was around 170 reported cases. However, we believe that there were more that did not report the illness due to the fact that they would be confimed to their state room.

Answer 6

I was on this ship. Last repaort I hear from the Center for Diease Control was that it was over 200 cases (including 3 of my family memebers).

It ruined my vacation.

Answer 7

The reports I have read indicate 200 passengers and a handful of crew members (12-14) were affected.  RCCL kept the ship in Miami when it returned for an extra few hours to scrub it down.  Hopefully this extra attention was successful!  We are scheduled to sail on this ship on the June 16th sailing.  

Unfortunately this can happen to any ship at any time.  If just one passenger is infected when they board it can easily spread.  

Everything I have read indicated RCCL is doing a great job of containing the virus, but it is impossible to completely control once it starts spreading.

Answer 8

Liberty of the Seas is a brand new ship but that has nothing to do with it. Any ship can get norovirus no matter the age or the cleaness of the ship. It's the passengers who bring the virus onboard. Someone gets sick a day before their cruise and doesn't want to stay home to waste their thousands of dollars spent. Also, some people may get sick on the airplane ride and not show symptoms until they get onboard. The reason why cruise ships are reported with norovirus is because they have to report the norovirus once it reaches 5%. On an airplane, you won't be there long enough to know that you caught it on the airplane. The ship will be the cleanest cruise on the high seas. They are cleaning down all the surfaces with bleach. Also, they have burned all of the bed sheets and replaced the casino chips. Liberty of the Seas crew has been very busy disinfecting the ship. It's no fun when any cruise ship gets noro but at least the cruise line has a way to deal with it. It's not Royal Caribbean's or Liberty of the Seas' fault. It's the people who come aboard the ship. Where there is people, there are bound to be germs and viruses floating around. Make sure to wash your hands before and after all meals. Don't touch your face, nose, mouth, or eyes without having a very good hand washing. If you are at the buffet serving out food using the utencils, then beware that others have touch the spoons to serve theirselves too. I would wash my hands after you serve the food at the buffet too. Don't be turned off from cruising on this ship or any other ships.

Norovirus can happen anywhere. Even in grocery stores, hospitals, schools, or even your work. Norovirus isn't the "cruise ship virus". Do you wash down your cart before you shop? Germs are lerking everywhere and it's just not on a cruise ship.

I've had norovirus or something very similar to it. It wasn't from a cruise ship. It was around December and I haven't been on a cruise ship for 7 months! I had nausea and a overalll sense of tiredness. I felt horrible. I couldn't even just sit there, it felt like I was moving. I wasn't able to watch the cars going past or even the tv. Anything with motion made me feel really sick. I had diarrhea for an hour or two. Thought it would reside. About 4 hours later, I needed the pail. I threw up violently. Gosh and after a while I was throwing up in the pail and going diarrhea at the same time. It was a horrible feeling. I stayed in bed for about 30 hours. I know that it was some kind of virus because all three of us got it. My dad got it first, then I got it, then my mom got it last. It spreaded like wild fire. I got it from my dad when he thought he felt better and we went weight lifting. My mom got it from caring for both of us. I couldn't imagine getting it on the cruise ship. I thought I would never recover.

Even after the virus, my stomach felt very week. I didn't feel back to normal until a week after. My stomach kept growling and won't stop hurting for 3 days after I was done getting sick. I was happy when it was done but I would never wish that upon my worst enemy.

Point of the story is that it's not just cruise ships that get infected. The number one way to prevent it is wash your hands, wash your hands, and maybe a little hand sanitizer. But, washing your hands is by far the best.

The cruise ship is getting back to normal. Usually after an outbreak, the cruise ship gets the virus under control. The future sailings will be fine. I'll be on Liberty of the Seas on July 7, 2007. I can't wait. I'm not going to let noro make me scared of having fun.