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INFECTION ON MS SAVOR
This was the review I read in the Blue Danube forum:
"The MS Savor had a MAJOR outbreak of gastro-intestinal problems a few days into the cruise. Approx. 70% onboard were affected. The cruise director did everything he could to minimize the problem with the guests, instead of being "up front". It was a huge damper on the mood on ship. I would expect this of Carnival, not Tauck.
Most Memorable Moment: Sitting in a nearly empty dining room, because so many guests and staff were stricken with the shipboard gastro-intestinal problem."
Thank you for your reply Sealord. I am slightly reassured by your reply. I know this kind of thing happens and it is good to know Tauck, (or the company which operates the river cruises on their behalf), took action to minimise the outbreak. Were those who were unaffected offered hotel accommodation or flights home, thereby getting them away from the infected people?
"The MS Savor had a MAJOR outbreak of gastro-intestinal problems a few days into the cruise. Approx. 70% onboard were affected. The cruise director did everything he could to minimize the problem with the guests, instead of being "up front". It was a huge damper on the mood on ship. I would expect this of Carnival, not Tauck.
Most Memorable Moment: Sitting in a nearly empty dining room, because so many guests and staff were stricken with the shipboard gastro-intestinal problem."
Thank you for your reply Sealord. I am slightly reassured by your reply. I know this kind of thing happens and it is good to know Tauck, (or the company which operates the river cruises on their behalf), took action to minimise the outbreak. Were those who were unaffected offered hotel accommodation or flights home, thereby getting them away from the infected people?
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I am just not sure how it would work if people were put in a hotel or sent back to the USA, they could become ill in the hotel or at the airport and probably with no Tauck director to help them with finding doctors. In the high season, could hotel accommodations by found for such a large group of people? And my goodness, would it hold up to the Tauck hotel standard that so many people expect? Thorough cleaning of the boat and re-training of staff in food handling and cleaning might help, maybe a replacement boat, it all seems a nightmare situation. There is certainly no substitute for thorough hand washing for the recommended time, cleaning between the fingers and the back of the hands. Hand sanitizer is not effective for some of the more virulent organisms.
Ah, the joys of travel!
Having been a Naval Aviator, I can testify that exageration is the key to good story telling. A fairy tale starts with "once upon a time, a sea story starts with "this is no sh**." The problem was not as large as described. My wife was sick, and the wife of our travelling companions was sick. So we were not outside observers. As said, there is no way of knowing the source of the problem ... another passenger, the palace where we had dinner, the place in Buda where we all had lunch, the Kempinski hotel where we all had breakfast? We were all meeting new people and shaking hands ... I am leaning toward the possibility that someone in our group brought the problem aboard. There may have been a third of the passengers affected, but 70% would be good story telling.
They did not offer hotels nor transport home ... most of us would have had to have been forced off the ship at gun point. (;-) We were having a great time, and my wife only looked forward to recovering in order to have more fun. She was out of action for less than forty-eight hours, and then back having fun again. We rarely tell any of our friends that there had been a problem. It was a little bit like missing the balloon ride in Africa ... a little disappointing, but a small wrinkle in an otherwise spectacular trip. Even while aboard we rarely talked of the problem except to offer polite sympathy to those affected. I think Tauck handled the situation just fine.
We were very sorry to hear that there were so many people who were impacted by illness on the recent river cruise. Anything that negatively impacts enjoyment of one of our trips is something we want to eliminate or minimize as much as possible. Naturally, for some things — like illness — there is only so much that can be done. That said, Tauck does have a number of specific practices and procedures that are implemented whenever a number of guests on one of our trips start exhibiting the same symptoms simultaneously.
Like you mentioned in the other thread, Sealord, this can entail anything from closing the public toilets, distributing hand sanitizer and disinfecting the restaurants, kitchens, and public areas several times a day to contain any spread, or having housekeeping use latex gloves, and so forth, all of which will be implemented as necessary to help ensure the safety and security of everyone on the trip.
I hope this helps allay any concerns you all might have about this. If you have any other questions, please feel free to send me an email at esupport@tauck.com; I'll be happy to respond personally if I can, or forward it on to someone else at Tauck if they might be better suited to answer your question than I.
Sincerely,
Tim
Our cruise had a few with colds, other non-infectious issues, etc that meant they missed a few daily tours, but nothing significant. The ship does what it can with hot towels upon return, hand sanitizer, etc. but pretty impossible to stick a group together on a ship or a bus and totally prevent the spread of all bugs. Life happens.
Ahem. Please see the Tauck response in post #4 in this thread. I don't think any of us who were not ill had any such concerns. This was not food poisoning, nor was it likely anything that came out of the galley. Strange bug whatever it was. In most cases it was only one of the two people in a stateroom that was affected. No telling what the source may have been, but I had no concerns about the ship or the galley.
Very reassured by their reply and that of Sealord.