The commentary claimed that the “DRACONIAN” refund policies of RCI and others forced sick passengers to board and hope for the best or not go and lose thousands of $$.

Expensive trip insurance is one thing. Is it time for the lawmakers step in and allow tickets to be transferred to others just as you can with theatre or sporting event tickets?

Hence I believe it is a load of garbage that passengers are deliberately bringing it on. It would be far to embarassing to have a toiled accident in public!

However the virus is rampant apprantly in the Caribbean and one could pick it up on a tour and bring it back on the ship and slowly infect other passengers and also leave it on the ship for others to pick up.

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Originally posted by Joe99:
Expensive trip insurance is one thing.

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As I've said before Travel Insurance is compulsory when you book a cruise in the UK, although you can shop around for the best policy deal. It is not particularly expensive.

Why on earth dont more people take it out?

If someone came down with norovirus due to go on a long cruise (World Voyage) the insurance would pay for resumption of journey when you are sick.

If its a 7 night cruise you get your money back!

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Originally posted by Joe99:
Expensive trip insurance is one thing. Is it time for the lawmakers step in and allow tickets to be transferred to others just as you can with theatre or sporting event tickets?

What are your thoughts?

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In the US, insurance ought theoretically to be available even more cheaply. Many people already have private medical insurance that would cover some or most of the costs of any medical emergency that might occur when the person is away, so there's the scope for opt-in/opt-out sections to reduce the premiums.

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Originally posted by joe at travelpage:
Facts about Noroviruses and cruise ships from the CDC.

Joe at TravelPage.com

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Thanks for the info Joe. I sent it to 6 of my friends who are traveling with me on the Sun Princess on Oct. 31st. They read the stories in the papers about people getting sick on a cruise and get paranoid.

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Originally posted by Joe99:
Since I paid for the tickets, shouldn't I be able to give them away or otherwise dispose of them? Except for cruise and airline tickets, I can do give away any other tickets or property as I please.

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There are some sporting and artistic events for which tickets are not transferable. For some of the most highly-sought after artistic events, you have to provide photo ID on admission to demonstrate that you are the person named in the ticket.

And there are many other forms of transport for which tickets are not transferable.

In any case, the tickets are not property, nor are they your property (except, maybe, in the sense of being worthless pieces of paper.) The real value of the tickets is simply that they are the documentary recording of a personal contract made between you and the cruise line. It's the contract that's the valuable part, but it's a contract that is only for you to travel.

One of the worst effects of making airline tickets transferable is the creation of a grey after-market. You see this in the case of those airlines which do permit name changes. As the airline industry depends criticially on market segmentation through yield management techniques, revenue can be seriously damaged by an after-market, particularly one that allows travellers who need expensive flexible tickets to buy cheap inflexible tickets. (Before anyone starts the "airline = big company = can afford it" argument, remember that these techniques are the reason why you can also get dirt cheap tickets.)

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Originally posted by joe at travelpage:
Facts about Noroviruses and cruise ships from the CDC.

Joe at TravelPage.com

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I made real effort to use the stairs. I also touched the stair railings in spite of myself, so while the sanitizer containers are not pretty and do not blend in, I was always willing to use it anytime I passed one.

[ 08-02-2006: Message edited by: bmajor ]

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Originally posted by KansasK:
On the Norwegian Spirit last week, there were "Sanitize your hands" signs by containers of hand purifier found throughout the shiip.

This is a first for me on a cruise. I have never seen so many of these containers. Did anyone have this experience on other ships?

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I sailed on the NORWEGIAN SPIRIT 2 years ago and these sanitizers were in place everywhere at that time. One thing I like about NCL is that they really enforce the use of these things; for example you cannot pick up a tray in the buffet line without sanitizing your hands. Same thing for entering the shell doors coming back from port.

Almost all ships have these sanitizers now, but usually their use is strictly voluntary, which amounts to the same effect as having people wash their hands in the restrooms based on the "honor system."

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Having had the virus, I can say first hand that when it hits you, you are in no condition to travel. I would not leave my house when I had the virus. You are weak and run down and can be easily spotted as being sick.

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Not everyone is like you and I - if I thought I had the Norovirus before I left on a cruise, I would definitely cancel, even if I lost all my money, which I wouldn't as I take Insurance.

On my last cruise to Alaska, a lady arrived at the Pier and she was visibly ill. They called the nurse and doctor who checked her over, allowed her to board, but told her that she would have to stay in her cabin for at least 24 hours and they would check on her before the ship sailed. Well, when the nurse came to check on her, she found the lady in the bathroom being sick and immediately had her and her husband taken off the ship before it sailed. Their cabin was then thoroughly disinfected - this included removing the mattress, drapes, bedding, etc. I was next door to them so I saw all this going on.

On my last cruise I came down with what the doctor thought might be the Norovirus (turned out to be bronchitis) and I was quarantined for 36 hours as a precaution. All I wanted to do was lie in bed and sleep.

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I struck it last cruise, and they also had one at the gangway when you returned to the ship from your day ashore.
Most buffets are now covered with a glass front and you cant serve yourself.The staff serve you what you want.

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I don't remember seeing any on Sinfonia (May 2005); they were being used on Norwegian Jewel in August 2005 and I was quite puzzled about them, and they were widespread on Galaxy (June 2006).

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:
widespread on Galaxy (June 2006).

I believe, however, that they don't prevent you from getting the disease: they're really to stop you from spreading it. Ie it temporarily disinfects your hands so that if you're infected you're less likely to pass the virus along, for a while at least. Is that correct?

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You're right, it's to help prevent the spread of the disease--washing your hands frequently is the number one thing you can do to help. But you can still pick up the virus in any number of places and manners.

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Originally posted by sympatico:
SUTHO

Not everyone is like you and I - if I thought I had the Norovirus before I left on a cruise, I would definitely cancel, even if I lost all my money, which I wouldn't as I take Insurance.

On my last cruise to Alaska, a lady arrived at the Pier and she was visibly ill. They called the nurse and doctor who checked her over, allowed her to board, but told her that she would have to stay in her cabin for at least 24 hours and they would check on her before the ship sailed. Well, when the nurse came to check on her, she found the lady in the bathroom being sick and immediately had her and her husband taken off the ship before it sailed. Their cabin was then thoroughly disinfected - this included removing the mattress, drapes, bedding, etc. I was next door to them so I saw all this going on.

On my last cruise I came down with what the doctor thought might be the Norovirus (turned out to be bronchitis) and I was quarantined for 36 hours as a precaution. All I wanted to do was lie in bed and sleep.

HAL has a Captain, who never shakes hands with passengers - going through the receiving line at the Captain's party, he "bumps" elbows with you. I don't blame him.

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Thanks - that proves my point exactly when I said you are easily noticed if you are sick!!! good thing they kicked the losers off the ship.

Pathetic excuses for so called civilised people like her that you described above have no place in society when they indiscrimately go out in public spreading their known illness to other people.

I still feel that the majority of passengers like yourself as you described when sick are not "deliberatly" doing it.