Illness on Wonder

[discomouse]

We were part of MLHolsters party of 18 that came down with the stomach bug. My DD started throwing up the 2nd full day (After Nassau) around 4:00AM with my DS following around 7:00AM. This was followed by backside issues that lasted an additional 6-7 days. They were vomiting the rest of the cruise and after. I got it the last night while we had 18-20' seas...Not fun! My DW got it at AKL the day after the cruise. My DW and DD had to go the Celebration for dehydration. We werent foolish, we washed our hands on a regular basis, used purell, and the hand wipes offered on the ship. Its a shame we spent most of our cruise and our stay at AKL in the room. Thank God we brought some DVDs for the kids! BTW Our party was on the 6th floor not sure where the other folks who got sick were staying just curious. Don't get me wrong we did make the best of it, our stateroom host was top notch helping in every way he could, we were putting dirty towels and sheets in the hall every few hours.

After speaking with friends who go on many cruises they offered the following suggestions to me for the next one or just a hotel stay. Bring clorox wipes along to clean the bathroom, wipe down the sink, faucet, toilet handle, seat and cover, the door knobs to the bathrooms, plus all the hard surfaces where you would lay your tooth brush etc. Dont forget the TV remote & Phone as these are usually the dirtiest thing in any room. Also anything else a toddler may try to eat LOL. They tend to use the same cloth to clean everything in the bathroom so depending on what they clean first can make all the difference. I would like to think they use a new cloth in the next room they clean but who knows.
One more bit of advice for folks with little ones, we brought more than enough diapers for a normal stay, but we were going though 1 diaper every 40 mins per kid, with 2 sick kids we were lucky to have 4 left when we got off the boat. They only stock size 3 on the ship so if you have room prepare for the worst. oh and don't forget the wipes as well.

 

[WiscBill]

We were also on the Wonder from Jan 10-14 but didn't have or experience any illness in our group. We were also on the Magic Dec 12-19 and there was one very noticable change between the two sailings. On the Wonder cruise this week, you weren't allowed to serve yourself from any of the buffets, or from the drink station during the day. They even had crew serving the food from the Palo buffet (which made for a very crowded buffet with the servers and the guests all trying to get around the food tables.)

.

The crew serving at the buffets and the drink station are the extra precautions that are taken when there is a virus outbreak on-board. I assume the soft serve ice cream station was also being manned by a crew member.

We will need to take extra precautions as we sail Sunday. Definitely bringing Clorox wipes with.

 

[SweetSpot]

My daughter got it years ago on the cruise before the cruise they cancelled because of Norwalk. My son got it 2 years later on the last night on the ship. Unfortunately we drove from NJ and had to drive home with him still so sick and a with car battery that was dead in the parking lot so we were afraid to turn the car off at anytime druing the 15 hour car ride home. Fun experience.

I got it the following day. It is horrible, I'll never forget it but it hasn't stopped us from cruising year after year. I pick up something most every year, most of the time a sore throat or cough but you can get sick anywhere. My other sons got the stomach bug when Norwalk hit his high school. They had to close the school a couple days. You just have to be careful but you can't let it make you afraid to cruise.

 

[discomouse]

...Unfortunately we drove from NJ and had to drive home with him still so sick ...

We too had to drive back to IL with 2 sick kids in the car and DW and I weren't much better, I feel your pain. I coulnt wait to clean our car when we got home, even though there was 15" of snow on the ground I still had the shop vac out the next day sucking up cheiros and what not, wiping down the hard surfaces with bathroom cleaner.

 

[discomouse]

If you are driving in on 528 from Orlando there is a Target store just outside of the port the address is below. Exit on N Courtenay Pkwy head south about a mile down on the right. After the cruise we had to stop for diapers and wipes, not to mention I still was not feeling well. I wished we stopped before for Clorox wipes. Hey you win some you lose some we still had fun it was still Disney!

Target Stores
Merritt Island
250 Crockett Blvd
Merritt Island, FL 32953
(321) 452-1014

 

[Hanover]

We are sailing on the Wonder on 1/28 and I am bringing Clorox wipes, purrell and mini Lysol spray cans. I always Lysol the door knobs, sinks, toilets, remote controls, any sort of button, switch and phone. We've been on 10 DCL cruises and luckily have never been sick nor had any servers have to serve us at drink stations or buffets.

Right now there is a horrible stomach virus going around the local schools and my son's wrestling team with lots of kids out sick. So far no one in my family has had it thankfully.

Recent cruisers, please keep updating us. I'd hate to spend the trip in the bathroom!

 

[outahere]

Oh no! We are going on the wonder on the 24th. My daughter is immuno suppressed due to liver transplant and the poor thing had a wish trip on the Magic last January and had the noro virus for 4 days. So I am making it up to her with this trip. Oh no no no. I am soooo worried now.

How does insurance work if we have to stay over in orlando before coming home. (DCL insurance)?
Does the insuraNCE PAY FOR THE SHIP DR.?

Policies differ, usually based on price, how far in advance you purchase, etc. I'm not sure what DCL's insurance would do about having to stay over, but we usually insure through Travelex and they would probably cover it, if the policy includes trip interruption coverage. Our DS came down with the noro virus on the Magic last April, and our Travelex trip interruption coverage reimbursed us for two days of his cruise fare and two days of one adult (he was confined to the cabin and one of us had to stay with him).

Because they diagnosed it as noro virus (which strikes within 48 hours of exposure) they did not charge us for the Dr. visit. We have had to go to the Dr. on another cruise and they charge your onboard account and leave it up to you to determine if you can get reimbursed, either by your medical coverage at home or through trip insurance.

On our Wonder cruise at Thanksgiving, we wiped down everything we would touch in the cabin with Clorox wipes - door knobs, light switches, TV remote, phone, etc. We also carried small bottles of Purell and washed our hands many, many times each day. We were all fine on that trip.

I really hope you all stay healthy this trip! Have a WONDERFUL cruise!

 

[KSandbergFL]

Interesting...we got off the Wonder on Sunday Jan. 10th. My hubby was violently ill from 6 am on Saturday thru Sat. evening. On Sunday he wasn't physically ill anymore, but he was totally wiped out from the whole ordeal. We were thinking it was possibly food poisoning. We felt that if it was Norwalk, at least ONE other person in our party would most likely have gotten it (even with all the handwashing we did). We'll never know for sure, of course, but oh it's not fun to be sick on a boat with a tiny bathroom that's for sure! lol

The biggest indicator of what you've caught is by how long it lasts. There are different types of food poisoning, but the most common types are caused by a bacteria (salmonella, staphylococcus, or E. coli) and are gone within 24 hrs. The infamous "Traveler's diarhhea" is caused by E. coli, and can last up to 2 days. Norovirus (aka Norwalk virus) and rotavirus have the same symptoms (vomiting, diarhhea, moderate fever) but the difference is the length/severity -- Norovirus is more severe and lasts 3-5 days. Rotavirus isn't as severe but lasts 7-10 days.

There are dozens (if not hundreds) of different strains of each... so just because one of you got sick and the other didn't, doesn't necessarily mean it was food poisoning -- you both could've been exposed to a norovirus, but one of you was already immune (had the virus years earlier). Likewise, just because you got sick on a cruise doesn't mean it's norovirus, either -- one bad batch of sour cream in Tritons could spread salmonella to hundreds of different cruisers.

Norovirus and rotavirus are prevalent on cruise ships due to the close, dark, damp quarters and the inability of "some people" to adequately/regularly wash their hands after using the bathroom. That is why Disney sends a steward to bleach down your bathroom twice per day, and hands out all those anti-bacterial wipes!

We've never had a problem on a Disney cruise ship.... but we wash down our hands every chance we get.

 

[SnowWhite2]

When the ship moves from self-serve buffets and drinks to crew-served, you know that there is a concern about the number of people sick on the cruise. That is the only time they have crew-served buffets and drink stations.

 

[momofkhm]

Was it just yesterday???

W saw one little boy throw-up in the dining room at lunch one day. We heard about one little girl who was quarantined for 48 hours but that's all we knew about.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

We were on the Wonder last May (9 of us total) and the night we got off, many of us stated getting sick. It was a very short bug but so violent! My then 1-year-old got it first, then me, then my 4-year-old, then my son, then my husband. The rest of our party went their way and half of them got it, too. It was our first cruise and my husband is scared to take another! We were also on the 6th floor...interesting.

 

[Mama Deville]

Not the news I want to hear! We leave on the Wonder on 1/31 for 4 day sail. Will definitely pack the cleaning items. Maybe I will throw in some stomach upset type meds. Better start loading up on vitamin C as well.

Please keep us posted!

I am overwhelmed by what plan/company/policy of trip insurance to buy. Any suggestions? What do I look for to get reimbursed should we get sick on board?

 

[kelston]

I posted earlier in this thread but wanted to add...
I was on the Jan 7-10 cruise and I'm thinking this is when the sickness started because on Thursday and Friday it was ALL a self serve kind of thing with the beverage station, buffets, ice cream, etc.
My dh got sick starting at 6 am on Saturday and, lo and behold, ALL things on Saturday were being served by cast members. It sounds like the cruise starting on the 10th was all service by cast members too.
Some kind of bug must have hit starting on our cruise. We used all the hand wipes and were diligent hand washers, but as someone posted before, it only takes a couple of people who aren't so diligent to get stuff spreading
I'm sure Disney is doing all they can to keep things safe, but all the guests need to do their part too.
Happy handwashing to everyone! lol

 

[Henlady]

Just a heads up on the stomach ailment.....
I live in Central Pennsylvania, and I was not on a cruise any time recently, but on Tuesday I had the exact same symptoms and was sicker than I have been in a very long time. It lasted almost exactly 24 hours and 2 others in my office have suffered from the same thing. There is a stomach "bug" going around, so it very well could have been something like that. In the close proximity of a ship and/or an office that type of thing can spread quickly.
Sometimes it takes a couple of days to develope in your system, so if it was a 3 or 4 day cruise, you very likely could have been "festering" before you even got on the ship. Sorry to hear you felt so horrible, I sympathize completely because I was there too.

 

[srandsr76]

We got off the Wonder on Jan 10 and 4 of our 9 were sick as well!!! 3 adults and 1 child!!! AND TO TOP IT OFF - we had flooding it 2 of our 4 rooms due to a CLOGGED PIPE!! I am glad that I had been on the Wonder previously and got to enjoy a magical trip, however this one was NOT magical. We had to have large shopvac to suck water out of the carpet and large blowers to attempt to dry the carpet in our rooms!! All we were offered was 2 bottles of wine!!!!!!

Does anyone have a contact person at Disney Cruise for us to share our experience with?

 

[tinkmom2]

Our first cruise in March 2009 my Dh became ill on the ship around 3am on the morning we docking back at port. I called down to the health center and was really ticked off. I told them flatly "I am not paying to have the doctor see him!" I was allowed to go down there and get him some Imodium and went to deck 9 for some white soda. I also gave him some sea sickenss pills. All of our extra clothes were packed and the suitcases long gone.

We made it home and one by one my whole family came down with it. Vomiting and Montezuma's. I emailed Disney and was very disappointed in the blanket response I got. It's like no one cared what I was saying.

On our recent voyage in November I packed Lysol wipes and wiped down every surface in our room. I know that doesn't protect against everything but it gave me peace of mind. We all came home illness free thankfully!

 

[disneyfan19712006]

We were also on the Wonder from Jan 10-14 but didn't have or experience any illness in our group. We were also on the Magic Dec 12-19 and there was one very noticable change between the two sailings. On the Wonder cruise this week, you weren't allowed to serve yourself from any of the buffets, or from the drink station during the day. They even had crew serving the food from the Palo buffet (which made for a very crowded buffet with the servers and the guests all trying to get around the food tables.) On the Magic in December it was very much help yourself.

I asked several times if this was always the case on the Wonder or something they'd started recently (since our previous cruise was less than a month before.) Each time I got the same answer -- that it was fairly recent within the past few weeks, and was because of the cold and flu season the crew was taking extra precautions to help keep people healthy. Our stateroom host also mentioned that he was late preparing our room the first day because they had just had to sanitize the ship from the previous sailing (1/7 - 1/10 cruise).

I know DCL likes to keep any illness issues quiet, but between the extra sanitizing mentioned by the stateroom host, the extra precautions around the buffets and drink stations, and the illnesses being reported by others in this thread, it makes me think it was just more than precautions and more like damage control.

I agree it was business as usual on our 12/12-19 cruise on the Magic. I am also sailing 1/30 on the Wonder. I am thankful for the changes if it keeps us all healthy but hopefully anyone showing symptoms reports it.

 

[TravelinGal]

my 2 cents here is that if you are sick within 24 hours of boarding you brought it with you. Can't blame the ship/environment there/other passengers for that. (or if you got food poisoning - but that could still be from something you ate before boarding the ship too...)

Most of these virus have a 3-4 day incubation period so you are more likely to actually/physically get sick the last day or right after the sailing ends (on a 3 or 4 night cruise)

 

[outahere]

my 2 cents here is that if you are sick within 24 hours of boarding you brought it with you. Can't blame the ship/environment there/other passengers for that. (or if you got food poisoning - but that could still be from something you ate before boarding the ship too...)

Most of these virus have a 3-4 day incubation period so you are more likely to actually/physically get sick the last day or right after the sailing ends (on a 3 or 4 night cruise)

When our DS got sick last April on the Magic, it started almost exactly 48 hours after we boarded and he went to Ocean Quest. The Dr. told us that the noro virus has a 48 hour incubation period, and after we told them everywhere he had been, and the timeframe, they didn't hesitate to diagnose it as noro virus.

 

[TravelinGal]

When our DS got sick last April on the Magic, it started almost exactly 48 hours after we boarded and he went to Ocean Quest. The Dr. told us that the noro virus has a 48 hour incubation period, and after we told them everywhere he had been, and the timeframe, they didn't hesitate to diagnose it as noro virus.

Sorry to hear your little guy had to deal with that! yuck! -- but that reinforces my point - 24 hours isn't Norvo or other virus from the ship. I didn't know Norvo was 48 hours - good to know that tidbit.

Here's hoping NOBODY is sick on vacation - because that just sucks. And hugs to all who have been sick!

We did that when DS was 18 months old at WDW. He got sick first (8 days into our trip) then it hit me and then DH. At least we had a nice big rental home that trip so we had room for others to do stuff when one of us was down and out.