My reason for posting this is to provide information to others about what happened to my family from our perspective. It is not my desire to start a debate about what should or should not have happened, right or wrong in this case. This was a last minute trip, and we were blindsided by what happened. My goal is to prevent this from happening to others and sharing advice about what we did.
My husband, myself, and our 22-month-old son planned a last minute trip to WDW/DCL. My husband is starting a new job on January 15th and will not have an opportunity to take a vacation for at least a year. We have been fortunate and have been to WDW five times in the past 4 years. We took a 4-day cruise on the Disney Wonder in 2000 during our honeymoon trip.
On Friday January 2, 2004 I called to book a land and sea package with air. I was told that it was too late to book air or the land portion through DCL I would need to do that separately. I agreed and booked the 3 day cruise, departing January 8, 2004. I booked separate lodging at the Wilderness Lodge for arrival January 5, 2004. I booked airfare on frontier. I was told by DCL that I would receive my documents at the Port since there was no time to send them.
We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge and had a very nice time. On January 7, 2003 at 6:30 PM we went to Akershus for dinner. I ate three items that my husband and son did not have, 1) peppered herring, 2) tuna salad, 3 )sausage plate. Not long after eating my stomach felt upset and I decided that Norwegian food was not for me. We skipped the fireworks and went back to the hotel because we had to be ready at 1045 AM for the cruise line bus. We made arrangements to complete our documents then. By 10PM we went to bed and I felt the sudden urge to vomit. I did, fortunately in the bathroom. My stomach was still upset but I felt better. I went to sleep again. 11:30PM I wake up run to the bathroom again. Vomit again. Plus now extreme diarrhea. I wont get any more graphic then this, but I would wake up again at 2:30 AM with more of the same. For me this was not a case of food that did not agree with me, overeating, or anything else I have experienced before. In the span of 5 hours that night, I completely emptied my digestive system. For anyone who has had emergency medical training, what happened to me is what I imagine happens to someone who takes activated charcoal. A complete flush of the system. At some point in the bathroom that night I decided that I was not paying for this meal. Ive had bad meals at Disney before that made me sick, but never anything like this.
The next morning I woke up dehydrated but feeling better. I called around for a while to find out how to remove the Akershus food portion from our bill. I did not want the servers tip refunded, as it wasnt her fault. Finally I reached guest claims. I wasnt sure what guest claims was but after speaking to them briefly it sounded like it was for guests who were making legal claims against the resort like food poisoning, slip and falls etc. I told the woman that I didnt want to make a claim I just wanted the charge removed from my bill. This was my first mistake. I knew that I had food poisoning, but I didnt want to make a big deal out of it. I had been a criminal investigator for 5 years, I assumed this was difficult to prove and all I really wanted was to be refunded and get on with my vacation. The claims person put me in touch with the manager of claims and she asked me several questions about where and what I ate all day. Everything I had that day was on property and she seemed to indicate the possibility of a grilled chicken salad I had at whispering canyon as another possibility. After talking to her for about 15 minutes, she agreed that it sounded like the cause was something I ate and she told me that my request for a refund on the food portion of my bill was reasonable and she would have it credited to my room.
We packed up our things and I ate a small amount of oatmeal and drank some water. We went to the lobby to wait for the cruise line bus. I sat in the lobby near the kids TV area with our 22 month old son. I laid down on the couch and the cruise line person arrived. My husband told her about the food poisoning and that I was not feeling well. She gave us our documents and my husband filled them out. By the way, I did not feel any other symptoms like flu, fever, chills, aches. I had a flu shot this year. Colorado got hit hard with the flu and even with the shot, I had the flu in November. Having a young child in daycare, we pass illness back and forth in our family regularly, but we were all in very good health prior to Akershus.
After filling out our forms the cruise line person gave my husband a notice about illness and informed me that I would need to meet with the ship doctor to be cleared for travel. This did not seem to be a very big deal and she told us not to worry about it. After getting on the bus another cruise line person supervisor type told us I would need to be cleared by the doctor but that it would move us to the front of the line.
The ride to the port was very bumpy. My stomach was uneasy. We arrived at the port checked in and I was told I would be meeting with the nurse. They took me to a private room and the nurse entered. She asked me about my symptoms and I told her about Akershus and the events that night, vomiting diarrhea. The nurse without laying a single hand on me informed me that I would be quarantined for 48 hours and that would ruin my trip so they were denying passage.
Okay, I definitely lost my cool here. This was the beginning of a 2.5 hour ordeal. I asked why and was told that any passenger who has vomiting and any other symptom would be quarantined. Heres why I was so mad at this point.
1) No physical information was taken from me. Temperature, pulse, allergy history, blood pressure.
2) My impression from cruise line personal was that the doctor needed to see me to make a determination if my illness could be attributed to something other then Norwalk syndrome.
3) If this is the policy why drive me and my family all the way there for an exam.
4) I knew that Akershus got me sick and now I was being told that I couldnt cruise.
I went on a complete rant, I was very mad. Then the nurse tells me that she needs to take my temperature. All the parents and child caregivers out there pay attention. I told the nurse that I did not appreciate her asking to take my temperature after I had been yelling like a mad woman and told her that this would elevate my temperature. She took it and it was 99.4. My pulse was 108. My normal resting pulse is about 68 and thats at an altitude of 9500 ft.. I told her that I wanted to be seen by the doctor and that she better bring my husband into the room.
My husband came in along with the nurse and the cruise line manager. I was in tears and very unhappy about what was happening to us. The doctor arrived He began speaking to my husband and asked my husband what was wrong with me. My husband and I were both offended that he didnt speak directly to me and my husband questioned him for not speaking to me directrly. I asked him what the nurse had told him and he told me that the nurse told him that I vomited the night before and that I had a fever. I asked him if she told him about the food poisoning and he said that she didnt and that it didnt matter because I had a fever. I told him that a 99.4 degree temperature for females is not an abnormal temperature and also told him that I believed the entire situation may have elevated my temperature. The doctor informed me that a person can not elevate their temperature when they are enraged. A temperature is a constant. He wanted to take my temperature again, I asked him if he would allow me 15 minutes to relax and he told me that he would take my temperature once now and again 15 minutes later. He took my temperature 99.3. and did a small exam listening to my lungs, feeling my abdomen. He then told me that the decision stands. He flatly told my husband that he believed that I had a virus, not food poisoning. Here is my problem with the doctor.
1) Temperature can be elevated when a person becomes angry, any doctor who does not know this is a quack.
2) 99.4 or 99.3 is not necessarily considered an abnormal temperature, particularly in women.
3) What doctor ever makes an absolute diagnosis of a virus. I know that this doctor does not have the ability to do blood work. But he did not ask any questions about my food intake or any of the many questions asked by the claims person. Very arrogant in my opinion.
By the way, the doctor said that this was out of his hands and was due to international maritime regulations. We have since the found that this doesnt even exist.
So next we had to deal with the cruise line. This took a very long time and a lot of negotiation. Listen if I couldnt cruise because I was still sick, we had trip insurance. But my complaint here is primarily this. 1) A Disney restaurant gave me food poisoning and now we have been denied passage as a result of it. We are about to incur unexpected costs.
DCLs first offer was this we could have a cruise credit of what we paid for the cruise $1300.00.
Or
They would put us in a Disney hotel for 3 nights.
Needless to say, this family will not be going on DCL ever again. The Cruise line offer of 3 nights would be at wilderness lodge. The rate that we had for the wilderness lodge was for $109.00 a night. Hardly equivalent to $1300.00 we paid.
So we had to negotiate, we told them that we wanted tickets and the meal plan included. Their counter offer was that they would give us a deluxe hotel and passes. Again the math did not work.
Their last offer was this, a deluxe hotel for three nights, ultimate hopper passes, and a $300.00 room credit for food (they denied knowing about any meal plan). We agreed and thought this was close enough to the equivalent of what we could have planned for the same amount. I wish they had offered it in the beginning instead of making us bargain for it. All of this took two hours. There is no food at the port our son was such a good boy but was hardly sustained on the snacks we packed. We planned to eat once on the ship.
20 minutes later the DCL person gave us a letter for our room, tickets, and the credit we agreed to, except it said that we were staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Hold the phone, not a deluxe. I asked her and she informed me that because of the marathon nothing was available at the deluxe resorts. I got out my cell phone and called 407 w disney at a roaming charge of $3.00 a minute. Guess what I found rooms at Grand Floridian, Beach Club, and Animal Kingdom lodge. I told them that I dont appreciate being lied to and was told that when they called 10 minutes prior nothing was available.
The next 24 hours I continued to have diarrhea but never any other symptoms, my family never got sick and with the exception of the cold weather we managed to have a nice time anyway. Plus I lost 7 lbs.
So here is my advice.
1) If you know that you have symptoms that you can attribute to something other then norwalk virus dont volunteer that information.
2) The doctor was either a liar with an agenda or was not well trained.
3) Dont eat at Akershus
4) If you think you have food poisoning from Disney follow-up with it more then I did. I dont know if you should go to a private hospital or go through Disney claims or what but I did not realize the impact that it was going to have on us.
5) If you get into this type of a situation with the cruise line, and they make you an offer, make sure its fair and something you can live with. Dont trust what they say.
My husband, myself, and our 22-month-old son planned a last minute trip to WDW/DCL. My husband is starting a new job on January 15th and will not have an opportunity to take a vacation for at least a year. We have been fortunate and have been to WDW five times in the past 4 years. We took a 4-day cruise on the Disney Wonder in 2000 during our honeymoon trip.
On Friday January 2, 2004 I called to book a land and sea package with air. I was told that it was too late to book air or the land portion through DCL I would need to do that separately. I agreed and booked the 3 day cruise, departing January 8, 2004. I booked separate lodging at the Wilderness Lodge for arrival January 5, 2004. I booked airfare on frontier. I was told by DCL that I would receive my documents at the Port since there was no time to send them.
We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge and had a very nice time. On January 7, 2003 at 6:30 PM we went to Akershus for dinner. I ate three items that my husband and son did not have, 1) peppered herring, 2) tuna salad, 3 )sausage plate. Not long after eating my stomach felt upset and I decided that Norwegian food was not for me. We skipped the fireworks and went back to the hotel because we had to be ready at 1045 AM for the cruise line bus. We made arrangements to complete our documents then. By 10PM we went to bed and I felt the sudden urge to vomit. I did, fortunately in the bathroom. My stomach was still upset but I felt better. I went to sleep again. 11:30PM I wake up run to the bathroom again. Vomit again. Plus now extreme diarrhea. I wont get any more graphic then this, but I would wake up again at 2:30 AM with more of the same. For me this was not a case of food that did not agree with me, overeating, or anything else I have experienced before. In the span of 5 hours that night, I completely emptied my digestive system. For anyone who has had emergency medical training, what happened to me is what I imagine happens to someone who takes activated charcoal. A complete flush of the system. At some point in the bathroom that night I decided that I was not paying for this meal. Ive had bad meals at Disney before that made me sick, but never anything like this.
The next morning I woke up dehydrated but feeling better. I called around for a while to find out how to remove the Akershus food portion from our bill. I did not want the servers tip refunded, as it wasnt her fault. Finally I reached guest claims. I wasnt sure what guest claims was but after speaking to them briefly it sounded like it was for guests who were making legal claims against the resort like food poisoning, slip and falls etc. I told the woman that I didnt want to make a claim I just wanted the charge removed from my bill. This was my first mistake. I knew that I had food poisoning, but I didnt want to make a big deal out of it. I had been a criminal investigator for 5 years, I assumed this was difficult to prove and all I really wanted was to be refunded and get on with my vacation. The claims person put me in touch with the manager of claims and she asked me several questions about where and what I ate all day. Everything I had that day was on property and she seemed to indicate the possibility of a grilled chicken salad I had at whispering canyon as another possibility. After talking to her for about 15 minutes, she agreed that it sounded like the cause was something I ate and she told me that my request for a refund on the food portion of my bill was reasonable and she would have it credited to my room.
We packed up our things and I ate a small amount of oatmeal and drank some water. We went to the lobby to wait for the cruise line bus. I sat in the lobby near the kids TV area with our 22 month old son. I laid down on the couch and the cruise line person arrived. My husband told her about the food poisoning and that I was not feeling well. She gave us our documents and my husband filled them out. By the way, I did not feel any other symptoms like flu, fever, chills, aches. I had a flu shot this year. Colorado got hit hard with the flu and even with the shot, I had the flu in November. Having a young child in daycare, we pass illness back and forth in our family regularly, but we were all in very good health prior to Akershus.
After filling out our forms the cruise line person gave my husband a notice about illness and informed me that I would need to meet with the ship doctor to be cleared for travel. This did not seem to be a very big deal and she told us not to worry about it. After getting on the bus another cruise line person supervisor type told us I would need to be cleared by the doctor but that it would move us to the front of the line.
The ride to the port was very bumpy. My stomach was uneasy. We arrived at the port checked in and I was told I would be meeting with the nurse. They took me to a private room and the nurse entered. She asked me about my symptoms and I told her about Akershus and the events that night, vomiting diarrhea. The nurse without laying a single hand on me informed me that I would be quarantined for 48 hours and that would ruin my trip so they were denying passage.
Okay, I definitely lost my cool here. This was the beginning of a 2.5 hour ordeal. I asked why and was told that any passenger who has vomiting and any other symptom would be quarantined. Heres why I was so mad at this point.
1) No physical information was taken from me. Temperature, pulse, allergy history, blood pressure.
2) My impression from cruise line personal was that the doctor needed to see me to make a determination if my illness could be attributed to something other then Norwalk syndrome.
3) If this is the policy why drive me and my family all the way there for an exam.
4) I knew that Akershus got me sick and now I was being told that I couldnt cruise.
I went on a complete rant, I was very mad. Then the nurse tells me that she needs to take my temperature. All the parents and child caregivers out there pay attention. I told the nurse that I did not appreciate her asking to take my temperature after I had been yelling like a mad woman and told her that this would elevate my temperature. She took it and it was 99.4. My pulse was 108. My normal resting pulse is about 68 and thats at an altitude of 9500 ft.. I told her that I wanted to be seen by the doctor and that she better bring my husband into the room.
My husband came in along with the nurse and the cruise line manager. I was in tears and very unhappy about what was happening to us. The doctor arrived He began speaking to my husband and asked my husband what was wrong with me. My husband and I were both offended that he didnt speak directly to me and my husband questioned him for not speaking to me directrly. I asked him what the nurse had told him and he told me that the nurse told him that I vomited the night before and that I had a fever. I asked him if she told him about the food poisoning and he said that she didnt and that it didnt matter because I had a fever. I told him that a 99.4 degree temperature for females is not an abnormal temperature and also told him that I believed the entire situation may have elevated my temperature. The doctor informed me that a person can not elevate their temperature when they are enraged. A temperature is a constant. He wanted to take my temperature again, I asked him if he would allow me 15 minutes to relax and he told me that he would take my temperature once now and again 15 minutes later. He took my temperature 99.3. and did a small exam listening to my lungs, feeling my abdomen. He then told me that the decision stands. He flatly told my husband that he believed that I had a virus, not food poisoning. Here is my problem with the doctor.
1) Temperature can be elevated when a person becomes angry, any doctor who does not know this is a quack.
2) 99.4 or 99.3 is not necessarily considered an abnormal temperature, particularly in women.
3) What doctor ever makes an absolute diagnosis of a virus. I know that this doctor does not have the ability to do blood work. But he did not ask any questions about my food intake or any of the many questions asked by the claims person. Very arrogant in my opinion.
By the way, the doctor said that this was out of his hands and was due to international maritime regulations. We have since the found that this doesnt even exist.
So next we had to deal with the cruise line. This took a very long time and a lot of negotiation. Listen if I couldnt cruise because I was still sick, we had trip insurance. But my complaint here is primarily this. 1) A Disney restaurant gave me food poisoning and now we have been denied passage as a result of it. We are about to incur unexpected costs.
DCLs first offer was this we could have a cruise credit of what we paid for the cruise $1300.00.
Or
They would put us in a Disney hotel for 3 nights.
Needless to say, this family will not be going on DCL ever again. The Cruise line offer of 3 nights would be at wilderness lodge. The rate that we had for the wilderness lodge was for $109.00 a night. Hardly equivalent to $1300.00 we paid.
So we had to negotiate, we told them that we wanted tickets and the meal plan included. Their counter offer was that they would give us a deluxe hotel and passes. Again the math did not work.
Their last offer was this, a deluxe hotel for three nights, ultimate hopper passes, and a $300.00 room credit for food (they denied knowing about any meal plan). We agreed and thought this was close enough to the equivalent of what we could have planned for the same amount. I wish they had offered it in the beginning instead of making us bargain for it. All of this took two hours. There is no food at the port our son was such a good boy but was hardly sustained on the snacks we packed. We planned to eat once on the ship.
20 minutes later the DCL person gave us a letter for our room, tickets, and the credit we agreed to, except it said that we were staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Hold the phone, not a deluxe. I asked her and she informed me that because of the marathon nothing was available at the deluxe resorts. I got out my cell phone and called 407 w disney at a roaming charge of $3.00 a minute. Guess what I found rooms at Grand Floridian, Beach Club, and Animal Kingdom lodge. I told them that I dont appreciate being lied to and was told that when they called 10 minutes prior nothing was available.
The next 24 hours I continued to have diarrhea but never any other symptoms, my family never got sick and with the exception of the cold weather we managed to have a nice time anyway. Plus I lost 7 lbs.
So here is my advice.
1) If you know that you have symptoms that you can attribute to something other then norwalk virus dont volunteer that information.
2) The doctor was either a liar with an agenda or was not well trained.
3) Dont eat at Akershus
4) If you think you have food poisoning from Disney follow-up with it more then I did. I dont know if you should go to a private hospital or go through Disney claims or what but I did not realize the impact that it was going to have on us.
5) If you get into this type of a situation with the cruise line, and they make you an offer, make sure its fair and something you can live with. Dont trust what they say.
