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Health Questionnaire


LDVinNC
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Pretty basic. Have you had a cold, or the flu, or gastrointestinal illness in the past week. Have witnessed them asking if a pax was pregnant, but that's not on the form.

 

Oooh - I hope she was. I mean I know that there are some guidelines as to how late in your pregnancy you can cruise but being asked if you're pregnant and you aren't, that would be a bummer.

 

As to the original question, the form really just wants to know if you've been throwing up in the last 24 hours.

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Based on our experience on Feb. 16, if you answer yes to a Q, it's no sail for you.

 

While checking in, there was a young couple beside us. From what we could gather while we were being processed, they were being refused boarding because she had some sort of gastro issue the day before and ticked off yes on the form. They were pleading that it was probably something she ate but the Celebrity Reps, three were present in addition to the check in person, were adamant.

 

Kind of felt sorry for them as they walked away confused as to what they were going to do.

 

No nurse exam, just no sail.

Edited by north49th
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Nearly everybody lies.

I can't imagine being completely honest. I have had sinus problems and sometimes allergies for my entire adult life - completely not contagious. I would be crazy to answer yes to the question about a runny nose. A few years ago I had a cough that lingered for three months after a cold due to sinusitus - again, not contagious but took forever to go away even with medication. Many people who travel, overeat, over-embibe etc., may end up with some temporary, and also non-contagious gastro issues not to be named here. Certainly there is a good argument that if you believe you have noro, or if you have a case of a serious upper respiratory virus you should fess up so as not to spread it to the whole ship. I was under the impression, however, (seemingly contradicted by what I have read on this thread so far) that even if you were sick with something like noro you could still board, but would be quarantined until you were better. Wonder if times have changed or if I was mistaken.

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A woman with a cold & bad cough was allowed to board but was quarantined for 3 days. She did not stay in her cabin. By the end of the cruise, I and many other people had her cold and cough. She was very selfish to expose her fellow passengers to her illness.

 

However, I agree that there are non contagious conditions that if you answere truthfully, would put you in the position of being denied boarding or quarantined. As long as you know your symptoms are not contagious and due to a non contagious condition then it's best to answer 'no'.

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They also normally ask if you have been exposed to any in the past several days with flu, fever, intestinal issues, etc.

 

:rolleyes: We were on a recent cruise with a doctor as a passenger. Natually, he had been seeing sick people. Feel sure this applies to lots of nurses too.

Others may not agree ... but feel those Health Forms are a silly waste of time. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

~~~~

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If you answer yes to any of the questions, you may have a brief exam from the ship nurse or doctor to determine if you may have a very contagious GI illness. If you do, you may be escorted to your room for isolation along with medicine. The medical team will check in on you and clear you out of your cabin once you are not contagious. This is the best for all of the passengers... By not being honest, many people could be ill during their long planned vacation.

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A woman with a cold & bad cough was allowed to board but was quarantined for 3 days. She did not stay in her cabin. By the end of the cruise, I and many other people had her cold and cough. She was very selfish to expose her fellow passengers to her illness.

 

However, I agree that there are non contagious conditions that if you answere truthfully, would put you in the position of being denied boarding or quarantined. As long as you know your symptoms are not contagious and due to a non contagious condition then it's best to answer 'no'.

 

This gave me a good chuckle. You know for sure you had her cold and cough, not one passed along by another of the 3000 or 4000 people on your cruise.

 

If she was allowed to board and the cruiseline knew she was so contagious shame on them I guess. But seriously, no cruise line is going to tell someone with a cold, especially in the winter, that can't cruise.

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A woman with a cold & bad cough was allowed to board but was quarantined for 3 days. She did not stay in her cabin. By the end of the cruise, I and many other people had her cold and cough. She was very selfish to expose her fellow passengers to her illness.

 

However, I agree that there are non contagious conditions that if you answere truthfully, would put you in the position of being denied boarding or quarantined. As long as you know your symptoms are not contagious and due to a non contagious condition then it's best to answer 'no'.

 

This gave me a good chuckle. You know for sure you had her cold and cough, not one passed along by another of the 3000 or 4000 people on your cruise.

 

If she was allowed to board and the cruiseline knew she was so contagious shame on them I guess. But seriously, no cruise line is going to tell someone with a cold, especially in the winter, that theycan't cruise.

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As a former check in agent, we were not authorized to deny boarding to anyone who answered yes to the questions. We had to speak with a supervisor who then called one of the ship's medical personnel for further examination.

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Based on our experience on Feb. 16, if you answer yes to a Q, it's no sail for you.

 

While checking in, there was a young couple beside us. From what we could gather while we were being processed, they were being refused boarding because she had some sort of gastro issue the day before and ticked off yes on the form. They were pleading that it was probably something she ate but the Celebrity Reps, three were present in addition to the check in person, were adamant.

 

Kind of felt sorry for them as they walked away confused as to what they were going to do.

 

No nurse exam, just no sail.

 

We were refused boarding last Easter on a RCI cruise from Southampton as my daughter had been travel sick on the way down and was still poorly as we waited to board. The ship's doctor came off to speak to us and said that they could not take the risk of her going on board! The ship had been hit twice before with bad norovirus outbreaks so I could appreciate his concern. We were given a cruise credit for the money paid to be used on another sailing, so at least were not out of pocket. We are consequently sailing on the Eclipse in two weeks time (without our daughter!!:)).

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This gave me a good chuckle. You know for sure you had her cold and cough, not one passed along by another of the 3000 or 4000 people on your cruise.

 

If she was allowed to board and the cruiseline knew she was so contagious shame on them I guess. But seriously, no cruise line is going to tell someone with a cold, especially in the winter, that theycan't cruise.

I agree completely, except for the part about shame on the cruiseline for letting her board. Let's be realistic, folks. The average adult catches 2 colds per year, the average child many more (don't recall the exact number). For the vast majority of people they are an inconvenience but not a serious health hazard, and have nowhere near the 'ick' factor of noro. They are also the types of viruses that go around in public virtually always (there are over 200 varieties of them), so one is always running the risk of catching a cold no matter where they are! The average cold lasts 7-10 days before symptoms subside, and you can be contagious that entire time (granted, more contagious when the symptoms are very active). I cannot imagine the logic in denying boarding to someone with a cold, nor to expect them to stay in their room for that period of time.

 

Certainly I would expect someone with very active symptoms to either stay in their cabin voluntarily, or take very careful precautions to avoid sneezing or coughing on someone. They should also wash their own hands often and avoid touching highly public areas. But to deny them boarding or quarantine them for a simple cold? Very unrealistic in my opinion.

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I agree completely, except for the part about shame on the cruiseline for letting her board. Let's be realistic, folks. The average adult catches 2 colds per year, the average child many more (don't recall the exact number). For the vast majority of people they are an inconvenience but not a serious health hazard, and have nowhere near the 'ick' factor of noro. They are also the types of viruses that go around in public virtually always (there are over 200 varieties of them), so one is always running the risk of catching a cold no matter where they are! The average cold lasts 7-10 days before symptoms subside, and you can be contagious that entire time (granted, more contagious when the symptoms are very active). I cannot imagine the logic in denying boarding to someone with a cold, nor to expect them to stay in their room for that period of time.

 

Certainly I would expect someone with very active symptoms to either stay in their cabin voluntarily, or take very careful precautions to avoid sneezing or coughing on someone. They should also wash their own hands often and avoid touching highly public areas. But to deny them boarding or quarantine them for a simple cold? Very unrealistic in my opinion.

 

I did add I guess to "shame on the cruiseline.";):D

 

As I have asthma and can get pretty sick when I catch a cold, I'm very careful when I cruise to wash, wash wash my hands and avoid (read runaway, and I mean runaway) from anyone sneezing or coughing. But it isn't fool proof, in fact, my husband continues to have a cold he picked up on a cruise last week.

 

Noro is another issue. As hard as it is for me to fathom anyone would want to leave their cabin while suffering from noro, apparently some do. Also, not washing hands after using the bathroom well UCK.

 

My guess is your odds of catching a cold on a plane are better than on a cruise ship.

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The bad part with noro is that you can literally still be shedding the virus up to two weeks after you come down with the sickness, even though you may feel fine a few days later. And unlike many other viruses including cold viruses, noro is extremely contagious - it only takes a tiny, tiny exposure to transmit. Not everyone exposed develops the virus of course, but it takes just a very small amount - one of the most virulent viruses around according to the CDC. I sympathize with people for whom even the common cold can cause an issue like asthma, but it is just virtually impossible to avoid those viruses which is why I could not see preventing someone from embarking, or quarantining them. I myself almost always end up with a raging sinus infection when I catch a cold so I can sympathize (not life-threatening but painful and annoying). But to those who suggest shame on the ship for letting them come onboard with a cold??? No way. Wishing good health to all on their upcoming cruises:D

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The bad part with noro is that you can literally still be shedding the virus up to two weeks after you come down with the sickness, even though you may feel fine a few days later. And unlike many other viruses including cold viruses, noro is extremely contagious - it only takes a tiny, tiny exposure to transmit. Not everyone exposed develops the virus of course, but it takes just a very small amount - one of the most virulent viruses around according to the CDC. I sympathize with people for whom even the common cold can cause an issue like asthma, but it is just virtually impossible to avoid those viruses which is why I could not see preventing someone from embarking, or quarantining them. I myself almost always end up with a raging sinus infection when I catch a cold so I can sympathize (not life-threatening but painful and annoying). But to those who suggest shame on the ship for letting them come onboard with a cold??? No way. Wishing good health to all on their upcoming cruises:D

 

(I have bolded the part above to which I am responding)

Mr Chew & I have been on two "plague ships" both of them longer cruises on Holland America. We were in Code Red for the majority of the cruise on each ship. In each case, Mr Chew caught noro and I did not. I was chatting with the assistant cruise director the first time, and he said that the spouse/significant other/roommate of the noro-sick person almost never came down with it themselves. I certainly did not, and on both cruises I started asking around, no spouse or SO or roomie of someone with noro had caught it. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I think that's pretty interesting. I know that when I was growing up, and then later with my own family, if one of us had a flu virus, it went through all of us!

I will add that I spent most of Mr Chew's quarantine in the cabin with him (well, not too close!) even though I was not quarantined, because I just did not understand how I could not be carrying the virus around with me, even though I wasn't sick.

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That was wise, as I understand that you can actually be shedding the virus if you caught it, but never developed symptoms. It is so very, very contagious, especially the one going around the world right now. Interesting that in many cases the cabin mate does not catch. As you say, when it goes around our house we all usually end up with it, albeit some hit harder than others. Oh well - enough talk about maladies! Let's think good thoughts and hope we have good luck avoiding it on our cruises:D

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