Norovirus nightmare

Crown Princess Cruise Review to Mexico

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 56

Overall rating:

1 out of 5
Verified Review
Crown Princess

4 Night West Coast Getaway With Santa Barbara (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 18, 2016

Ship: Crown Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: E624

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

My Sister and brother-in-law came to visit from Scotland.  We wanted to take our 82 year old aunt on a cruise. She had never been on a cruise.  We were notified by email that we would be boarding late as they were disinfecting the ship from norovirus.  We were not given any rescheduling options.  We enjoyed our first night at sea and took notice of the cautious service especially in the dining areas.  The next day was when our elderly relative fell violently ill.  This was when the cruise became a nightmare.  Not just because she was ill but because of how we were then treated.  My aunt was quarantined to her room for the remainder of the cruise.  She was not offered any medical attention and was not allowed to disembark in Mexico to see a physician there.  As her roommate, I was allowed to leave and I had to bring her food and water and clean up after her.  We spent the remainder of the cruise attending to her.  He well being was never addressed.  Upon returning to Long Beach, we, along with around 20 other groups were led to a separate disembarking area.  This was all too obviously the fault of the cruise line and no apologies were offered to any of the groups and it felt as if we were lepers that they were all too happy to have gone.  I have never been made to feel more unwelcome and awkward.  I felt as if the separate disembarking was more to shield the remainder of the attendees from the fact that around 20 people became violently ill while on the boat and in hopes to avoid negative publicity.  We should have been offered refunds for our cruises.  The crew should give more attention to the ill and especially the young and elderly guests as they are most at risk of death from a virus such as this.  The ship crew's blatant avoidance made it seem more like they were protecting their image rather than avoiding an epidemic.  Unfortunately this was her first and last cruise ever just from this experience.  I would have expected more professional service as I do expect illnesses do happen regularly on these cruises, however, it seemed they had procedure in place but no compassion.  This is not what I expect from this particular cruise line. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5
buffet line was slow and the eldest of our party contracted the virus after eating there

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
not allowed to participate

Entertainment

1 out of 5
not allowed to participate

Children's Programs

n/a

Service and Staff

1 out of 5
we were avoided and left to fend for ourselves

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
since the eldest and most vulnerable of our party contracted the virus I would have to say the ship was not thoroughly cleaned and the staff failed to maintain safe food handling

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
The room seemed clean and was maintained as well as can be expected under the circumstances.
Was this review helpful? 56

12 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Bear1    8 years ago

All Princess ships have an on board physician. Did you ever report to deck 4 to see the doctor? If you did not make the effort to see the doctor on deck 4 then shame on you. You are the one than needs to seek out medical attention if you are sick. Princess will do whatever is necessary if you are sick even if it means changing their itinerary for port calls. Take responsibility!

Anthony40    8 years ago

I am a truck driver. ok so what..well being a truck driver I REFUSE to eat at buffets because many truck stops I have used the bathroom/restroom/loo and people also using the facilities will leave out of the stall and out the door without even looking at the sinks much less washing their hands. then I will see them in the BUFFET LINE.

Gary5428    8 years ago

We got off the Crown Princess on Tuesday, Feb. 9 and was very happy with how Princess treated us. I did not hear of anyone getting sick on our cruise, but did discuss with crew members the procedures they put in place if an outbreak does happen. It is flu season and a certain number of passengers will come aboard who were exposed to flu before the trip and if not careful will spread it to others

klborge    8 years ago

We have been on many cruises and I am still shocked at how many passengers refuse to use sanitizer at restaurants and all of the people that go out of the restrooms without washing their hands!! I'm sure some of the crew might contribute to Norovirus, but there are a lot of nasty, dirty passengers that are responsible for the outbreaks😷

cacruis63950790    8 years ago

According to the CDC website the incubation period for norovirus can be as little as 12 hours.

mistomum    8 years ago

which week did you cruise?

lphill    8 years ago

I read this was an issue in January, is this still the case? I'm sorry about your ruined vacation... And I hope she is feeling better

deanbartlett    8 years ago

I am so sorry for your miserable experience - But Norovirus usually takes about 36 - 48 hours after infection for symptoms to appear so it is entirely possible that she contracted the illness prior to boarding the ship - Also Norovirus usually only lasts 24 - 48 hours - so maybe it was something else ? Either way keeping her quarantined would be the best choice to protect everyone else - I know it sucks but what are the other options ? People should consider this when planning a cruise - if they are struck with an illness they may be a long way from medical attention I hope she feels better !!!

wawa18    8 years ago

I heard they had an outbreak early part of January. Didn't realize it was still an issue. When was your cruise? Sorry for your bad experience. What a bummer for sure.

cacruis63950790    8 years ago

I'm sorry to hear you had such a dreadful time. The fact that this is still going on means that the either the crew did a poor job of disinfecting the ship or they are the one spreading it, probably some of both. I'm sailing on the Crown the last week of March with my 82 year old mother and really hope they have this eliminated by then.

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