Norovirus after the Dream. Would you sail again?

[Woodmnky]

We were at WDW in Sept and came down with Noro on our last day. It was so bad that my husband had to be taken to the ER by ambulance in the middle of the night because he passed out. We had another trip scheduled for Jan. Just thinking about taking that trip was pretty miserable and we were just not in the mood at all. We pretty much cancelled that in favor of a Dream Cruise (after my husband runs during Marathon Weekend). I can completely understand wanting a break after going through something like that, even if it was something that could have happened anywhere at anytime. I'm sure that we will enjoy another WDW vacation, but we definitely needed a bit of a break. There is nothing wrong with cancelling your Feb cruise and waiting until you feel that you can enjoy it again.

 

[emilymad]

We were at WDW in Sept and came down with Noro on our last day. It was so bad that my husband had to be taken to the ER by ambulance in the middle of the night because he passed out. We had another trip scheduled for Jan. Just thinking about taking that trip was pretty miserable and we were just not in the mood at all. We pretty much cancelled that in favor of a Dream Cruise (after my husband runs during Marathon Weekend). I can completely understand wanting a break after going through something like that, even if it was something that could have happened anywhere at anytime. I'm sure that we will enjoy another WDW vacation, but we definitely needed a bit of a break. There is nothing wrong with cancelling your Feb cruise and waiting until you feel that you can enjoy it again.

This exactly!

Thanks for all of the understanding. I am trying to give it another day but I am running out of time. Losing $450 might be worth it rather then spending the full amount on the cruise and being miserable.

 

[ludari]

Absolutely I would sail again. After sailing on Disney eight times in a row this past March I sailed on my first RCCL, unfortunately the cruise previous to mine several passengers had contracted Noro. Before we boarded the ship staff switched into high cleaning mode and they constantly where cleaning, wiping down every piece of furniture, railing, wall, etc and forcing passengers to wash or sanitize their hands when entering any restaurant, store, bar, theatre, etc for the next seven days. After no-one contracted Noro the cruise staff drastically reduced the amount of time they spent cleaning the ship and the forced washing and Purel use. They still had the dispensers outside of all the restaurants, stores, bars, etc but they did not force passengers to wash/clean their hands. The cruise staff will do whatever they have to do to ensure that you have a pleasant cruise and not got sick but it's a chance you take no matter where you go.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Can you send the family so at least its only your fare that's lost? You may change your mind, but I totally understand. The mere smell of chicken mcnuggets grossed me out while I was pregnant and to this day, I can't eat one. That wasn't even a debilitating sickness like the noro.

But you have to ask yourself whether you hope to ever cruise again. If you still enjoy everything else about cruising, it might be worth taking this opportunity to 'get back on the horse' before the association between the sickness and cruising is cemented in your mind.

Good luck, whatever you choose and I hope you feel better soon.

 

[hanscarlet]

if it was anything but Noro I would consider possibly not going back (something like HFM or chicken pox or whatever) but we just got done with noro here in the house yesterday and we are learning how contagious it is and realize that anyone can get it and I wouldn't associate it with the cruise and I would go again on a cruise for this reason

 

[MunFam]

If it was noro you didn't get it from what you ate. You got it because you touched something with noro on it then put your hands to your mouth without washing them.

DS and I got noro at home. And it really put a spotlight on our atrocious hand-washing practices (we wash after the bathroom but not before eating) as well as our gross habits of fingernail gnawing. That combo is bound to cause a problem.

This is EXACTLY it. You do not contract it through food. I have sailed twice when there was an actual declared noro-outbreak (on other lines) and with tons of hand washing/sanitizing, we never got it. The key is to be hyper-aware of what you touch and then eating/drinking/hands to mouth and eyes. I would absolutely sail again and maintain high personal sensitization standards. Also, we saw a kid going through the buffet line licking the spoons and putting them back in the food. We reported it and DCL removed the foods, but still, had we not seen that...ewww. So we tend to avoid the buffets for hygiene purposes.

 

[wombat_5606]

we saw a kid going through the buffet line licking the spoons and putting them back in the food. We reported it and DCL removed the foods, but still, had we not seen that...ewww. So we tend to avoid the buffets for hygiene purposes.

Ok, you might have convinced her, until she read that! LOL Seriously, where was that child's parents?

I do agree with you @MunFam, you should just be hyper-aware of what you touch. On one of our cruises on another line, we had such a severe outbreak that the news was there to meet our ship when we got back in port. Also, we had cabins in quarantine on either side of us and our entire table was sick, except us.

Maintain a very high standard of personal hygiene and do not touch anything that you absolutely do not have to touch. If you have to touch it, then sanitize afterwards. I've been on 7 different cruise lines and cruised twenty times, I've never gotten noro or anything else.

 

[Confederate Scott]

I got off the Dream a week ago and came down with a stomach bug on the way home. All the symptoms point to Norovirus. A week later and I am still not 100% recovered.

We have another cruise booked on the Dream in February. We are past our final payment date but part of me wants to cancel anyway. We have a few days left until we would lose more than just our deposit.

Would you sail again so soon after getting sick? The thought of eating on the ship is extremely unappealing to me right now.

If I were fortunate enough to be going on a cruise a couple of months after just finishing one this in no way would stop me.

 

[Yarbogash]

Disney is an awesome line and I trust their cleaning habits more than other lines but it can still happen obviously. My problem would be how bad I'd feel if I did do the cruise again and I or worse somebody in my family got sick. I understand this is an emotional response but abstaining till you are more comfortable is something I would totally understand.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

It is out of control in this area right now and even shut down several schools near the port. It probably was not from the ship but people you came in contact with. Yes I would cruise again because you can not control life or blame it on the ship with what is going on in central FL right now and the norovirus

 

[undertheradar]

Your money, your choice. I would not look to DCL for any compensation.

 

[princessebird]

Just a reminder here: alcohol-based hand sanitizers (i.e., the kind most often used aboard the ships either in liquid or wipe form) have been shown in a 2011 CDC study to be largely ineffective against the norovirus. There are other kinds (i.e., more expensive) of sanitizer that ARE effective against noro. I tend to take the wipe from the CM at the restaurant and then immediately put on my noro-resistant stuff.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

A school in our area had to close early last week. 40 kids got Noro. You can get it at your favorite local restaurant. If you feel that you would not be able to relax and enjoy yourself...cancel.

 

[Mitura]

I and my son got it on the Fantasy Dec 2015, 2 separate days. The response from Disney was so overwhelmingly positive and caring that we re-booked on the spot.

On our Dec 2016 trip we were extra vigilant and did see Disney shut down self service stations, cleanse the pool several times. So the disease is prevalent on the ship, nothing we can do. But we became extra cautious. Especially around the pools, drink stations, etc. Not only on the ship but on the islands as well.

Plus we didn't want our last cruise be the one we got sick on. We've had way too many positive cruises to let this stop us.

 

[phinz]

Our cruise the week after Thanksgiving this year turned into a norocruise. They shut all self service down halfway through the week, and there were a *lot* of sick people apparently. I washed my hands more that week than I have in the past year. We didn't come down with it, and having to wait to be served was annoying to say the least, but Disney responded appropriately. If their clientele would respond appropriately too it would be fantastic. I can't tell you the number of people I saw leaving the bathrooms without washing their hands, even after the lockdown.

 

[Buzzsawelp]

The OP really sounds like they are looking for an excuse to cancel. The facts have been laid out pretty straight forward through this post. Norovirus can be contracted just about anywhere and was not necessarily from the cruise. Cruise lines take great care in preventing Norovirus. It is bad for business and their reputation to not take every possible precaution to prevent the transmission of an virus. The original poster is speculating they have contracted Norovirus without getting a professional opinion. It is your money, if you have serious doubts then by all means don't continue with the reservation.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I wouldn't worry about it but if all you're going to do is worry about it during the cruise, then cancel. If it's going to be a constant fear during the cruise, it's probably worth the $450 for piece of mind. But then again, what if nothing happens?

We encountered rough seas and lived through some seasickness on our last cruise but that didn't stop us from booking again.

 

[tinkerone]

I have to say, if I bought all the times people say 'I'm home now and I contracted Noro while on the ship' I would never sail again. It is a fairly common comment. Not that I doubt the opp is ill after their cruise but I would say flu is every where right now and it does not equate to Noro virus from a ship. Plus there would have been other stops along the way home from the sailing, places you could pick up a virus. Its just so easy to blame the ship as it does happen, just maybe not as often as I seem to read.

I would for sure go on the next cruise and not worry a bit about the possibility of getting ill. Enjoy your vacation and relax. Vacations do not come often enough.

 

[littledebbie335]

Every time I drink too much and feel awful the next day, drinking seems incredibly unappealing. Invariably, I feel better and at some point in time, I will drink so much that I have a hangover the next day, and the cycle continues.

I'm only pointing this out because right now you're still in the "hangover" phase. It's up to you to figure out how long it'll take for you to feel better about going on a cruise, and that's different for each person. I suspect that once you're physically feeling better, you'll be more excited about the cruise and less worried about getting sick. If I were you, I would go ahead with the cruise because I wouldn't want to lose the deposit, but only you can make that determination.

I hope you're back to feeling 100% soon!

 

[jeepnjudy]

If the thought of taking another cruise so soon is upsetting, maybe try and change the cruise to a much later date when you are feeling better and more confident about cruising again. We have experienced noro annually over the past couple of years and it stinks so I can understand!