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

[peagreenid]

the CDC says that NO UN-POTTY TRAINED infants are allowed in the pools. (I hate to bring up this subject again.....BUT) There were a lot of cruisers on this board that didn't care about that rule and said they would put their kids in the pools anyways. I saw infants in the pools on our cruise 1 week ago, yet it is posted at the Pool and in the daily Navigator.

No I don't think that this alone would cause this problem but, it could certainly contribute to it. I think we are a fairly cautious family and although I don't slather myself with anti-bacterial gel, (I don't even think I own any) I certainly make sure that our family washes our hands and has general hygiene) Unfortunately younger children may catch the brunt of this, due to close proximity in the labs, the pools etc. Adults may have caught it from being around their own children. But, if disney had put everyone on the ship in their own stateroom for the duration of the cruise on Tuesday, You probably still would have had the same amount of incidences. How many times are you in a public restroom and hear other visitors leave without washing their hands. It is more common then you think. Unfortunately our kids are caught ..... That is why these illnesses are so prevalent in schools and daycares.

And by the way HAL's Amsterdam, ports in Fort Lauderdale.

To keep the illnesses at bay......you dine with the Surgeon and his wife....... I know where his hands have been.......

smiles Patty

 

[Debbie H]

KenP:
Thanks for putting this in. Certainly words of wisdom.

"Because these fountains are attractive to diaper- and toddler-aged children, recreational water may be at high risk for contamination by enteric pathogens through overt fecal accidents or rinsing of contaminated bodies in the water. "

"To reduce risk for contamination and disease transmission, persons visiting recreational water venues should
1) avoid entering a traditional pool or playing in an interactive fountain if they have diarrhea;
2) avoid swallowing pool or fountain water;
3) practicegood hygiene by taking a soap and water shower at home or at the pool, especially after a bowel movement and before entering
the water;
4) escort young children to the toilet frequently and clean their bottoms thoroughly before allowing them to resume play;
5) avoid sitting on or over fountain jets because this can increase the risk for water contamination; and
6) take precautions not to contaminate foods or beverages consumed in or near the bathing area with pool or fountain water. Parents should be aware that no diaper (including swim diapers or swim pants) completely prevents stool leakage. If diapered children are to play in waterparks, diapers should be changed immediately after a bowel movement in restrooms where hands and bottoms can be washed thoroughly with soap and water.

 

[Debbie H]

Patty,

Anytime Patty, anytime.

We felt comforted knowing if our banana flambe' ever got out of control, our table would have had it under control.........

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

I have observed Mickey and company fulfilling many wishes to their guests of all ages without any grandiose public awareness campaign other than a heartfelt thank-you posted here and there yet not everywhere. Based upon that fact alone, I feel as though Disney has earned the benefit of our doubts. Their continued success is founded in a history rich with accomplishments targeted to benefit not only those who believe in this living fantasy, but, perhaps even more importantly, those who don't.

Cruises are expensive and at times we may question the financial justification of spending premium dollar on a Disney cruise as opposed to substantial savings provided by "discount" cruise lines. Then we come to our senses! - Those heartfelt smiles on our children's faces when they see a Disney character, the warmth of humanity we feel watching Disney Dreams, the "young-at-heart" vibrancy felt by senior citizens once in The Mouse's embrace. All this and so much more to the ultimate credit of Disney.

All the faith and pixie dust in the world is not going to prevent illness from entering the sacred grounds created by Walt. However, all the faith and pixie dust in Dis world can prevent illness from becoming more destructive in spirit than it may have already become in flesh.

I am sure those deserving will not suffer unnecessarily. I am also sure that a few of those undeserving will attempt compensation unnecessarily. Yes, some of them may even achieve an undeserved reward. Therein lies the supreme beauty inherent in fantasy: it cannot exist without reality. And it is these same vagabonds of human nature who provide us with the best reason to continue to believe in everything the Disney legend stands for: belief in the ultimate goodness of Mankind.

Time for me to exit stage left -------------------------> ttfn...

 

[trishy]

This isn't DCL's first incident of a large amount of people getting sick on the Magic: click here

They don't have the excuse of "This is the 1st time this has ever happened to us - we weren't sure how to respond in order to not cause panic." I feel just terrible that so many people were sick on their vacation - that's really awful. The pres. of DCL, albeit very generous in his speech, made reference to "compensation" for those who have "checked in" with the DCL medical staff. How about those who didn't bother to "check in". I'm wondering what kind of "compensation" was given to those people from the 6/2/00 cruise. I'm not agreeing with compensation in the form of free cruises or full reimbursement to those who were sick. I've been sick on DCL (7/02) and my dd was sick on the 7/01 - we didn't get anything and hey, life goes on. I do believe an open communication early on would have helped in (1) preventing more illness - since it was (allegedly) passed from contact - I personally would have kept my children with me and washed our hands more frequently, and (2) given the passengers the feeling that they were not alone in their misery and that DCL would do everything they could to assist them - small comfort, but still a comfort. I hope they get a % (I'd do 10% if I was pres. of DCL) off a future cruise - save money and get repeat cruisers.

 

[disneyholic family]

to say that 25 people who were sick by monday morning (if not before) got sick in the one day they've been on board the magic seems a bit of a stretch to me...
they only boarded on saturday afternoon....
how long is the incubation period?...to already be sick by sundaynight/monday morning would seem to say that they were exposed before boarding...
people do get sick after all...
where i live it seems half my office if not more are all sick right now...(knock on wood, i haven't yet been struck down)...

 

[Cara]

I know there is a very bad stomach flu going around in my hometown (Kentucky). Isn't there a chance that these folks have brought this bug from home??

 

[taswira]

I think it is possible that the new cases either brought it from home OR are experiencing what some travellers experience with a sudden change in food, water, and the added anxiety/stress levels of a vacation (even a "relaxing" vacation has a certain amount of stress).

On two of my cruises (including the Halloween Wonder) I had an unpleasant episode of the sweats, stomach cramps, then bad diarrhea - which I attributed to possibly something I ate at the embarkation buffet. I took Imodium AD just once, and was back to normal after that. I did not report it, because I was "cured" after one dose of Imodium.

I think the "fear factor" may cause guests to panic at the first sign of a stomach upset now. True - it could be the virus, but it could just as easily not be. Let's hope!

 

[LisaFB]

What I'm curious about is those who are sick now.. are they just vomiting? If so, could it be seasickness? If they have mroe than that and they got it so quickly, it oculd be something they brought with them.... Peopel all over where I live are getting sick too becasue of the weather and it sometimes takes a few days to really get it. I know I felt a little uncomfortable in my stomach during last week's cruise but I figured it was becasue I ate a LOT more food than I'm used to and did a LOT more running aorund, especially in the sun. So after I almost vomited one day I took it easy the next day and was fine.

 

[susan514]

We were on this cruise along with about 30 other Dis posters. We traveled in a group of four, had a great time and 2 of us felt alittle ill one day with sore throat and fatigue. When we got home, almost all the posters from Dis on that cruise were very sick on the cruise or the day going home, with terrible cough, sinuis trouble and fevers. This lasted for almost 2 weeks. Nobody could believe how many had gotten sick and this was from a very small sampling of passengers.

Did we expect compensation, NO. Not one person asked. But, not one person in our group of four went into a pool the whole week, where everyone else sick did. Is this a coincidence???

 

[LisaFB]

Susan, I'm curious, the people you knew of who got sick and went to the pool, was it the adult pool or the kids pools? I'm jsut asking becasue, like I"ve said before in one of these threads, everyone who DH & I knew on last week's cruise did not get sick but either had no kids or had kids who didn't really stay with the other kids.

 

[lruggiero]

Disneyholic Family-

I believe someone already posted the incubation period from a website for this particular virus---it is as little as 12 hours to 36 hours


Lori

 

[Target]

The way that I look at it is this: 25 out of 3200 is miniscule....there are going to be more on this cruise and the number may reach 100-150 because people are being asked to report if they get sick. Typically, I would imagine, alot of people get sick on cruises and don't report it. The number will increase because, those people who wouldn't normally report it are going to this time. See what I mean? So this is my outlook. Before any of this happened, I was already paying thousands of dollars with a risk of picking up a flu bug on board. Let's face it, the risk has always been there. Has the chance of getting sick increased? Yes. If their normal illness is around 54 (I read that somewhere)-and those are the ones who have reported it, then that equals about 2% of the passengers/crew. The increase in illness has raised that percent to 7%. We still have the opportunity to be in the 93% that won't get sick! I think those are pretty good odds. The bonus we have working for us as opposed to past cruises, is that the ship is doing extra cleaning (maybe now they will police the pools with the diaper issue), and we are taking extra precautions to stay healthy. Now, let's say we do get the bug. No fun for 12- 24 hours. That is only 14% of our cruising time that will be effected! (I know, if more than one family member gets it, the days would drag out, however, each person should only miss 14% of their cruise). How about these statistics? I am not worried about the situation. I am going on board and having a good time. The only thing I might alter is the pool activity.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I would just like to remind everyone here again that this was not just a sinus cold or a bout of seasickness, or the occasional upset stomache, 24 hour bug, etc.... You do not see the CDC involved and cruise ships pulled out of service for these things.

This is a serious virus, resulting in terrible illness. Having serious medical concerns for many, like young children and the elderly!!! Just look at what this illness is, and how it is spread. Hate to repeat this again..... yuck... but it is spread through the fecal-oral route.

I do not feel that the thoughts of those who are comparing this to everyday, non serious occurances, really hold up to well.

 

[Michelle]

Actually it IS a 24-48 hour bug, if it is the Norwalk virus. A few people get sick for 12 hours or 60 hours.

Unless you are elderly, very young or immune-compromised it is not even close to a life-threatening illness. Is it nasty? Absolutely! Is it any worse than the flu or a bad case of bronchitis, that can last much longer? In my opinion, no.

 

[debbiebones]

Well...I've just spent the past 15 minutes reading the several threads related to illness and flu-like symptoms and guess what? I'm starting to feel sick!!! LOL! Actually, that's not far from the truth...whenever I start reading about flu, it makes me feel a bit queasy. I remember when I was little, whenever my mom was sick, it made me feel sick too, kind of a sympathy flu I guess.

We don't sail until January so I'm not too worried right now. But for all of you about to sail in a few days...don't think about it too much...you might talk yourselves into getting sick.

Hope the next cruise and those following are flu-free...

have a great trip!

Deb

 

[Gillian]

25 people seems like a lot, considering that the ship was throughly cleaned on saturday. The simplest explanation is that crew members are continuing to spread it. And if that's the case, the only way to stop it is to wait until it's run its course among the crew. And as that could take a while, I doubt it will happen.

I feel for all of you who were sick, and for those who are sailing soon! Bring your Lysol wipes!

 

[Target]

Originally posted by Gillian
The simplest explanation is that crew members are continuing to spread it. And if that's the case, the only way to stop it is to wait until it's run its course among the crew. And as that could take a while, I doubt it will happen.

Gillian, more than likely, people came on board with it. That is an awfully quick time to get sick.

 

[Gillian]

That's another simple explanation & I'm sure it accounts for some of the cases However, this virus (if it's Norwalk) has a short incubation period. It says on this thread or the other one that it can be as short as 12 hours. And I remember reading before that people got sick as early as Sunday night on earlier trips!

Of course, I'm sitting here with a bad stomach bug, and I haven't been on a cruise or to WDW since September! I do have a toddler, but he's perfectly healthy

 

[prymsu]

I jsut heard on the foxs news channel a little while ago, that there are 25 passengers and crew that are having the illness symptoms. I would say that is very low considering how many total passengers and crew are on the ship...