Magic 11/16/02 Illness - THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN POST ABOUT THIS INCIDENT

[KenP]

Cindyluwho,
yes, Disney first learned about the problem on Monday and didn't report it to the guests until Thursday afternoon. I would have taken extra precautions Tue -Thu had I had known about it sooner.
KenP

 

[TChrist05]

Hey guys....hindsight is always 20/20....and let's be realistic....Disney has not had to deal with this before to the best of my knowledge...we are sailing on the Magic next week...the 11/30 sailing....and I am totally sympathetic to the people who were ill...since we plan on our vacations and let's face it....we only get to do this once a year generally...so it is a real bummer....but I do feel Disney does the "right thing" most of the time....and if they dropped the ball here I think they should be given the benefit of the doubt....and I guess the good thing for us 11/30 cruisers is that the ship will be the cleanest that it possibly can be......hopefully they will compensate the people who were ill with something reasonable.....let us know......
Tom
5 days to the "MAGIC"!!!

 

[Zoop]

We also learned more from CNN than Disney.
I was pretty mad when we finally went to the medical center on the ship Thursday morning to let them know that I now had three sick children in my room and was told that "maybe we brought the virus on the ship ourselves."
It truely was the trip from hell!

 

[KenP]

TChrist05,
On Friday, I personally accidently overheard the captain announce to the crew over the crew PA that they first became aware of the situation on Monday. ( I was standing next to a crew door and the PA was loud). They didn't announce it to the guests until Thursday.

Disney needs to learn from this internally and not sweep it under the rug! People's lives are at stake.

Sure hindsight is 20/20, but why delay the announcement until the guests until they were forced to do so?

DCL President's Matt Ouimet November 23rd Press release on DCL's website says:
"When we first became aware of this unusual pattern, we immediately notified the CDC and communicated with our onboard guests so they could help us contain the spread of this illness."

DOesn't it bother you that this is not true?

Again, I am not trying to "blame it all on Disney", but Disney is currently not telling the truth. I don't expect them to tell all they know (due to risk management concerns), but I do expect them NOT to flat out lie.

 

[cutlertyfly]

I was on the cruise as well, first time for my family. We got slightly ill, didn't think much of it because quite honestly ,we didn't know what was going on. Had I fully known the extent of the problem, I would have been much more cautious, especially regarding my kids. I'm not angry at Disney, I just wish that they would have been more explicit. The worst thing is, I didn't know anything was going on, and everybody back here at home was worried to death that something was wrong with us and we didn't even know to let them know differently.

 

[garyss7]

If your wondering if this has happened before here is a link for you to read:
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/outbreak/2000/DisneyMagicTReport.htm
I wonder if the shrimp had anything to do with this outbreak? Gary

 

[Debbie H]

First of all, CNN can't report the correct news if they were handed it first hand! Even ABC couldn't report it correctly and Disney owns them!
Come on, get real..
why would Disney want to hide this? Does anyone think Disney may have been caught off guard by the rapidly changing events? Does anyone think they may not have known what to make of it initially? It is possible there have been outbreaks of communicable diseases before that have simply not risen to the level of this one and passed essentially unnoticed by the media or anybody but the ship's medical personnel.
We were on the cruise the week before and people got sick. I'm sure on every trip people get sick. Does someone always have to be at fault for things? If people are told too early about something, then their trip was ruined because they couldn't have fun because they told us this and that. If they are told too late, well, we should have been told sooner so we could have taken precautions. Disney is pretty good at risk management, they've been at it for a long time. Why would they risk it? Do we know for sure if everyone on the ship has been disease free before they get on and get in the pools and hot tubs? What about people with AIDS, Hepatitis A,B, & C, herpes, immune disorders? Do we now need to have medical clearance to cruise, go to the beach, go to school, how about work? Maybe we should be like Michael Jackson and wear a mask all the time.
I would not want to be on the phone lines at DCL. I'm sure everyone with a sniffle will be calling them. I feel terrible for the people who did get sick, but unless it is cultured and a known source is found, it could be just a bad misfortune. Remeber, we had a flu vaccine shortage last year. How could it happen? Easily, things happen!
A Disney Cruise is like riding on an elevator with a lot of people except I believe the cruise is more fun!

 

[LisaFB]

Well put Debbie!!!

 

[ppiew]

Now that the cruise is over, it is mostly about 'what can I get from DCL.' If DCL is not at fault thru improper procedures, then personally I would say 'nothing.' If the disease is brought on board by a guest, should the guest(s) then be held $$$ responsible? I doubt anyone would go that route. Getting ill while in crowd situations - will that prevent children from attending school, going to church, watching movies?? A friend was on a cruise where two of the family became ill. She was asked repeatedly - 'what did you get?' She said she asked for and expected nothing, because she had no information that could hold the cruiseline (not Disney) responsible. She said 'how do I know that my kids didn't have this before we came on board and they had caught it at school?' Let us ALL just be grateful that this wasn't a life threatening thing and was only of a temporary nature. As much as this was a horrible experience for the cruisers, I sure wouldn't have wanted to be a CM during this episode!!!

 

[madcoco]

The local news here just reported about 25 people now sick on the cruise. Hope it doesn't escalate any further.

 

[peagreenid]

Where do you place the blame? Like we had discussed previously.......I think We have all been on a vacation with Sick Kids, (I've got some NOT SO FOND MEMORIES) And I don't ever remember getting my money back. I didn't get my money back from the day care when they gave my kids the chicken pox either..... Now if the case was FOOD POISONING and the fault of Disney for not preparing food properly, then, I would probably be upset. But, how can you blame disney for sick people getting on the ship. Lets not forget folks, that we all go on these vacations with that DISNEY OR BUST attitude. Can we all honestly ask ourselves........would I cancel my vacation because my child had an upset stomach before we left home?

After the first reports came out........I thought maybe a large portion of the ship had stopped at Carlos and Charlies...... .

smiles Patty

 

[AnnMorin]

Ok I have been quiet about this for a bit as I did not want to take away from the folks that were truely "victimized"


that said HOWEVER I am appalled by the people coming out of the woodworks saying all of a sudden that " oh my my cruise weeks ago I had poop problems" If Disney had not been such a stand up company offering compensation no one would care but now it appears to me a GREAT DEAL of folks that were never talking about being sick somehow "recall" being ill in hopes of a free trip or whatever. If that is the case, shame on you!

I took my son to the doctor today for a strep test and mentioned what was going on. She said that in our small town of 6000 people when there is a "stomach flu" outbreak she easily sees 100 in a two week period, and that is only the people that see a doctor.

I personally have always felt that Disney has treated us royally. In our past two cruises on BOTH occcasions our dining partners missed two meals (different cruises) due to gastro problems, we wrote them off as sea sickness.

Flame me if you wish but I think some people need to do some soul searching instead of "siezing the moment" People board ships sick all the time and spread things, should Disney have a health inspection before you get on? What if YOU did not make the swab test? Should they be able to deny you passage? And for all the people complaining how sick they were WHILE speaking to others my question would be WHY were you out contaminating others? Why did they not see the ships doctor instead of walking around spreading it only to complain later when they hear compensation is involved. Sorry if I sound like a jerk but REALLY folks re read your post you do sound quite greedy!

 

[PolyGirl]

I have been reading this thread for some time and feel for the people that were sick during the last cruise. I have just read that potentially 25 more people are currently sick on the Magic as we speak. I really don't find this uncommon. All of my kids as well as myself just finished up with the flu as well as a large percent of kids at the school my children attend. Everyone you talk to now has the flu or has had the flu over the last week or has a bad cold.

I'm confused on WHY Disney is being blamed for this. I think that it's GREAT that Disney is offering compensation for those of you that were sick as well as offering future sailers the right to cancel for a refund.

Even if Disney decided to cancel for next week you can't actually believe that on future sailings nobody will be ill. It's FLU season.

Trust me nobody likes to be sick on vacation but it happens! I have never once vacationed without someone in the family being sick. You just have to tough it out and make the best of it.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Well put AnnMorin!!!!

 

[KenP]

Just for the record, I have not blamed Disney for the illness. I was disappointed in their response to it (see previous posts for details). I have not asked Disney for any compensation. My purpose in speaking out is to help improve the situation for future cruisers. It irritates me that anytime someone has anything but praise for Disney on this board they get trounced. Disney didn't get to be the great company they are without some constructive criticism.

 

[SweetSpot]

AnnMorin:

As one of the people who posted about my DD being sick on the Nov. 2nd cruise I take offense to your post. If you do a search you will see that I posted immediately after my cruise responding to a fellow cruiser about my DD's day sick in bed. She remembered me telling her about her being sick while we were on the ship and asked how she was feeling when returned. So although you feel I am making this up for some sort of compensation, you are mistaken.

Never once did I blame DCL for my DD getting sick. Actually, I stated otherwise. I assume whenever a group of children get together, especially this time of year, that there is a very good chance my child will get sick. It's part of growing up. You catch everything until your immune system matures. I can't and never did blame DCL for anything.

Do I blame the food... no. As I stated she ate nothing other than chicken strips, fries, ice cream and water. She enjoyed herself too much to even eat much of that. If the food was what got her sick every child and most of the adults would have been in bed that day too.

I don't expect, nor would I accept any form of compensation from DCL because I had the most magical week of my life. Yes one day out of 7 we spent a day in our cabin with a sick child but because DCL has such wonderful clubs my DS's were able to fully enjoy their day. I even rebooked while on the ship for next year so apparently I'm not holding anything against DCL.

Don't always assume that everyone is out to get something. I was just relaying my experience while on my cruise as many people have about many different subjects on this board.

 

[WRH3MD]

Patty! How soon does Disney or bust become Bust Disney??!!

Cheers, Wes

 

[AnnMorin]

I did not identify anyone so if you thought I was speaking towards you and took offense...sorry
I did not intend to offend anyone, just making an observation that all of a sudden SO many people when free trips are involved were sick. and SO many people were walking around talking to SO many other sick people infecting everyone BUT only a SMALL SMALL few actually sought medical help.
And for the record .. I called disney myself today about the 25 sick folks and they said that is still half the number of reported sicknesses (seasick etc) on any cruise. I am frankly suspicious how many of those people are just getting a record down for future action and may not actually be sick. In my opinion if you want a free cruise out of this you should not be allowed to leave your cabin and get others sick!

And why am I so suspicious? Before my husband became a magistrate he was a defense/malpractice attorney..

 

[LisaFB]

Ann, I see the point you were making. It's true that peopel always get seasick on ships or, especially now with the cold weather, so many peopel get the flu, etc. DH & myself both had colds but we knew it was just a regular seasonal thing and there's nothing that could have been done about it.

 

[ppiew]

I'm with you Ann Morin - all the way!!! It is pretty sad when people believe that some bucks or something 'free' can take away hurt and illness and somehow make it OK. My sympathies also go to CM's when dealing with irate demanding guests. I stood behind one last March at Guest Services, and frankly I was embarrassed by the man's behavior and by the verbal abuse the CM took. I read somewhere that on HAL, they had a sick passenger who REFUSED to stay in his cabin, so they upgraded him to a suite - but posted a guard outside his door to prevent him from leaving!! I am sure that people get sick on EVERY cruise, so no need to panic at this point. Anyhow, I am GOING on the cruise this spring - WHOOPEE!! And I WILL have a great time!!