Sick After Dream Cruise

mom2brooke76

Proud Redhead who doesn't think that Universal is
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
We were on the three night, 1/13 Dream cruise. The morning after we got back I developed severe vomiting and diarrhea, and it sounds like several others in our DIS group did as well. My DH joined the group for the cruise after us because he was curious if others were going to get sick, and apparently several off that sailing are as well. For anyone sailing, please be extra careful with your hygiene! A few of us emailed DCL to make them aware that we were sick, but wanted to make others aware so that you can take precautions. In ten Disney cruises this is the first time any of us has gotten sick.
 
DS and I got noro at home last year. Sure changed our hand-washing habits! How embarrassing it was for us, to get an illness that showed our friends that we don't always wash our hands before we eat!

Because it doesn't matter even a little bit what other people do, but the thing that will prevent US from getting sick is if WE wash our hands before putting our hands to our faces. Keeps me from eating fingerfoods and rolls if I've had to serve myself with tongs etc, but that's no problem.

That bout of noro shamed us into better hand-washing habits. Thanks noro!
 


I will never understand why some refuse to wipe their hands on the cruiseship. This is the best way to prevent noro.

Sorry to hear you were sick. :(

True...

My guess since it was a three-night cruise is that someone lied on their health form and knowingly came aboard sick. And then it just went from there.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not saying the OP or those who got sick after are guilty of not informing. I'm saying that someone boarded the ship knowing they had had symptoms but lied about it on the health form you fill out. Thus infecting other people like the OP.
 
It's also possible they didn't lie on their form and didn't fall ill until they were on board. A few years ago when my daughter was little there was a stomach bug going around our playgroup that the kids seemed to be shedding virus even before they were symptomatic. It only lasted about a day and it wasn't horrible, but all the moms in our small group were careful to keep sick kids out and all our kids caught it and nobody who caught it had ever been in contact with a kid who was actively sick - it was always before they actually fell ill.
 


You know what really grosses me out? People not washing their hands after using the bathroom. Know what grosses me out even more? When they openly do not wash their hands in front of the other people in the bathroom.

That means, like, you probably never wash your hands after using the bathroom, if you no longer even have the self-awareness to hide your lack of hygiene from others. And it makes one wonder what other filthy grossness you engage in throughout your day.
 
I will never understand why some refuse to wipe their hands on the cruiseship. This is the best way to prevent noro.

Sorry to hear you were sick. :(
Just as a side note we were on the 1/16- 1/20 cruise and my son caught a bug. We are the family who disinfects our rooms remotes and use the wipes passed out. We did go the the infirmary and stayed in the cabin in hopes not to spread. I hope nobody else is hit!
 
DS and I got noro at home last year. Sure changed our hand-washing habits! How embarrassing it was for us, to get an illness that showed our friends that we don't always wash our hands before we eat!

Because it doesn't matter even a little bit what other people do, but the thing that will prevent US from getting sick is if WE wash our hands before putting our hands to our faces. Keeps me from eating fingerfoods and rolls if I've had to serve myself with tongs etc, but that's no problem.

That bout of noro shamed us into better hand-washing habits. Thanks noro!

I am an OBSESSIVE hand washer. I'm talking I wash my hands thoroughly like 20 times a day and ALWAYS wash my hands before eating. And I time it well at restaurants...I wash my hands after touching the menu. I use paper towels to open door knobs in bathrooms...I'm seriously like OCD about it. And guess who got Noro not once but TWICE this year?! Me! Horrible! You can get it from someone serving or preparing your food that's been sick...its a sneaky bug. Just wanted you to know you shouldn't feel bad or embarrassed. Plenty of people that wash their hands still get Noro unfortunately.
 
I am an OBSESSIVE hand washer. I'm talking I wash my hands thoroughly like 20 times a day and ALWAYS wash my hands before eating. And I time it well at restaurants...I wash my hands after touching the menu. I use paper towels to open door knobs in bathrooms...I'm seriously like OCD about it. And guess who got Noro not once but TWICE this year?! Me! Horrible! You can get it from someone serving or preparing your food that's been sick...its a sneaky bug. Just wanted you to know you shouldn't feel bad or embarrassed. Plenty of people that wash their hands still get Noro unfortunately.

You poor thing... twice?!

I completely agree that you can, unfortunately, get it from someone else who has prepared the food, etc. Washing your hands obviously helps, but won't completely ensure you'll never get norovirus!
 
You poor thing... twice?!

I completely agree that you can, unfortunately, get it from someone else who has prepared the food, etc. Washing your hands obviously helps, but won't completely ensure you'll never get norovirus!

Yes!! I couldn't believe it! I got it for the first time in September and then my son got it at the beginning of December and gave it to me! Horrible getting it two times back to back!!
 
Many viruses don't show their symptoms until several days post infection , meaning , you could have contracted a virus and spread it to others before you even know you're sick. That's what makes certain illnesses so pernicious and why proper hygiene habits are important to stop the spread of communicable diseases. Just a smart public health practice. Second, noro and other stomach bugs and some "food poisoning " are spread by the poor hygiene habits of those preparing your food. So, unfortunately, no amount of your hand washing will prevent that. Yucky to think about, but unfortunately true.:worried:
 
Just as a side note we were on the 1/16- 1/20 cruise and my son caught a bug. We are the family who disinfects our rooms remotes and use the wipes passed out. We did go the the infirmary and stayed in the cabin in hopes not to spread. I hope nobody else is hit!

Sorry to hear that he was sick :( It definitely was no fun after the cruise, and I can't imagine getting sick during your trip.
 
True...

My guess since it was a three-night cruise is that someone lied on their health form and knowingly came aboard sick. And then it just went from there.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not saying the OP or those who got sick after are guilty of not informing. I'm saying that someone boarded the ship knowing they had had symptoms but lied about it on the health form you fill out. Thus infecting other people like the OP.
Don't think the length of the cruise has anything to do with it. Like is there a big difference between someone being sick on the last day of the previous cruise vs. the first day of the next? Thus far a significant number of people have been ill on at least two consecutive cruises.
 
DS and I got noro at home last year. Sure changed our hand-washing habits! How embarrassing it was for us, to get an illness that showed our friends that we don't always wash our hands before we eat!

Because it doesn't matter even a little bit what other people do, but the thing that will prevent US from getting sick is if WE wash our hands before putting our hands to our faces. Keeps me from eating fingerfoods and rolls if I've had to serve myself with tongs etc, but that's no problem.

That bout of noro shamed us into better hand-washing habits. Thanks noro!

You can wash your hand till the cows come home but if the recently ill (or exposed but not yet ill) person who prepares the food didn't wash their hands the whole group will have noro. I'm a big hand washer but I also am very picky on who prepares the food I eat, I don't like restaurants or food at big parties during 'noro' season for this very reason!
 
I am an OBSESSIVE hand washer. I'm talking I wash my hands thoroughly like 20 times a day and ALWAYS wash my hands before eating. And I time it well at restaurants...I wash my hands after touching the menu. I use paper towels to open door knobs in bathrooms...I'm seriously like OCD about it. And guess who got Noro not once but TWICE this year?! Me! Horrible! You can get it from someone serving or preparing your food that's been sick...its a sneaky bug. Just wanted you to know you shouldn't feel bad or embarrassed. Plenty of people that wash their hands still get Noro unfortunately.

Yep. I could have written this. I know people feel better believing they can control it, and I'm certainly not arguing against hand washing, but doing everything right didn't save me. Seriously, when I was out of my stateroom I treated my hands like they were covered with nuclear waste. :) Still got the sickest I've ever been in my life, this past fall on the NCL Escape.

It's an unfortunate aspect of cruising.
 
Not to get OT, but I wonder how the world would be different if we went back in time and introduced cavemen to the practice of washing hands before handling food or treating open wounds, and after using the bathroom (of course, no bathrooms back then, but you know what I mean).

Would the decreased mortality rate allow humans to extend their lifespan sooner, where we in 2017 would have life expectancies in excess of 175 years? Would we, as a species, be more hygiene-focused overall, with more doctors, more advanced health care, more resources allocated toward, say, epidemiology?
 
I wonder how the world would be different if we went back in time and introduced cavemen to the practice of washing hands before handling food or treating open wounds, and after using the bathroom (of course, no bathrooms back then, but you know what I mean).

Would the decreased mortality rate allow humans to extend their lifespan sooner, where we in 2017 would have life expectancies in excess of 175 years?
I don't think so. Most people die from things unrelated to germ-spread illness. The human body starts to break down after its most fertile reproductive years are over, and that's a whole different evolutionary issue.
 
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Not to get OT, but I wonder how the world would be different if we went back in time and introduced cavemen to the practice of washing hands before handling food or treating open wounds, and after using the bathroom (of course, no bathrooms back then, but you know what I mean).

OMG I know what you mean with this!! I have seen teachers at the school where I work who wash their hands BEFORE using the bathroom and it confuses me so much. What good does that do?? (To be fair, I am typically not hanging around to see if they wash after as well - but I'm pretty sure some of these are the same who leave a mess on the seat and won't clean up their own sprinkles...)

On another subject - some are so quick to blame the food preparation with the implication being it was on the ship...but how do you know a passenger didn't either have bad habits beforehand and be carrying it from their own food prep at home OR from food prep in somewhere s/he ate before the cruise. And once they have it, it spreads through things like the serving utensils and whatnot that THEY handle. Sorry, but until proven it was a crew member you cannot pin it on the crew. (not "you squirk" - "You" the person/people who keep harping on food prep.)
 

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