Travelers diarrhea on the Yangtze River?

[Animated-one]

Hi there,

 

I know this is NOT the best subject to be posting about, but yes, it is very real when traveling to foreign country!:(

In 2008 we took a 16 day Nile River & land cruise with a competitor of Viking's to Egypt. Fortunity, My husband and I read on Cruise Critic's about the intestial bacteria called the "Mummy Tummy", or "Pharaoh's Revenge" before we left on our tour, so we knew what to do!!! In Egypt "Antinal" is an antibiotic specifically made for the intestial bacteria, nothing else that your U.S. doctor (like Cipo), or ANY over-the-counter drug will help you! Unfortunately, many passagers were very sick with the Mummy Tummy, especially a 78 year old man, who was taken off the river cruise, but later died from low blood pressure caused by dehydration!

So my question is, are there an antibiotic in China SPECIFIALLY made for the intestial bacteria that we need to know about???

BTW, with all the precautions about drinking bottle, brushing your teeth with bottle water, keeping your eyes shut while taking a shower, eating cooked vegtables, etc., my husband and I still got the "Mummy Tummy", but was able to get over it quickly with Antinal!!!:)

Has anyone else ever had a problem with this on Yangtze's River cruise???

[Turtles06]

Cipro worked fine for me this past May along the Yangtze when, a week into the trip and despite being hyper-vigilant about what I ate and drank (bottled water only, including for brushing my teeth), I got hit with diarrhea. When a full day of imodium did not quite do the trick, I took cipro (which I'd brought along just in case) and that worked very quickly.

 

I've been in Egypt, I know about antinal, and I understand your question. I'm not aware of an antibiotic targeted at Chinese bacteria (not saying there isn't one), and I can only say that cipro worked for me in May. (I did have a Z-pack with me as an added backup.)

 

Hopefully, you won't need anything! :)

 

PS: Enjoy Imperial Jewels. That's what we were on, and it was fantastic!

[H2Otstr]

From what I was able to tell, there was only one lady on our trip who had very bad diarrhea. She had to call the doctor to come to her room. She said that she probably picked it up from one of the restaurants where we ate while touring.

 

My doctor recommended Z-pak instead of Cipro. I did take some along just in case. There were numerous people on our trip who got either colds and/or sinus infections.

[Animated-one]

Thanks for the info:)...When my husband and I took a cruise from Australia to New Zealand, I caught a very BAD chest cold! My doctor said, when you visit a foreign country, you are like a newborn baby! You do not have immune system that protects the body from disease! BTW, my doctor did prescripted the Z pak to rid of my chest cold which turn into bronchitis!!So I guess I need to get the Cipro & Z pak along with (advanced) immodium;)

 

p.s. One more question, was there a doctor on board the Viking Emerald???

[Turtles06]

p.s. One more question, was there a doctor on board the Viking Emerald???

 

It's our understanding that there was (and Viking's web site says so as well). Probably not English-speaking (that's where your Viking tour escort would come in). Thankfully, we never had to find out personally! :)

 

And yes, I would definitely take along cipro and a z-pak (and anything else of a pharmaceutical nature you think you might need; you won't easily find anything in China, particularly along the river). And travel sized toilet paper!

[Animated-one]

And travel sized toilet paper!....Thanks!;)

[H2Otstr]

p.s. One more question, was there a doctor on board the Viking Emerald???

 

Yes, there is a doctor on board. He doesn't speak English, so your tour guide will go with you to interpret. There were LOTS of people on our trip who went to the doc, mostly for cold symptoms. The charge will be put on your bill. Travel insurance should cover the costs if your personal insurance does not.

 

As Turtles said, take EVERYTHING you think you might need with you. Even if you find a pharmacy, the items that you need are not written in English and the items are not necessarily the same. And, the items there are expensive; a small box of cough drops was about $6.00. :eek:

[Animated-one]

Yes, there is a doctor on board. He doesn't speak English, so your tour guide will go with you to interpret. There were LOTS of people on our trip who went to the doc, mostly for cold symptoms. The charge will be put on your bill. Travel insurance should cover the costs if your personal insurance does not.

 

 

Do you feel that most of your tour group got sick on the Yangtze River cruise, or before that, maybe on the airplane going to China???

Not that this matters that much, but I read somewhere that the Viking Emerald was not new, but reburished:confused:

[H2Otstr]

 

Do you feel that most of your tour group got sick on the Yangtze River cruise, or before that, maybe on the airplane going to China???

Not that this matters that much, but I read somewhere that the Viking Emerald was not new, but reburished:confused:

 

Hard to say how people got their colds. I bet better than 50% of our group (not sure about the rest of the groups) had either a cold or a sinus event. It was nothing related to the boat, itself.

[Turtles06]

 

 

Not that this matters that much, but I read somewhere that the Viking Emerald was not new, but reburished:confused:

 

The Emerald is owned by Century. (No foreign company is allowed to own riverboats in China.) It's my understanding that the boat was new in 2010, and used by Century, and first used by Viking in 2011 for the current river cruising season.

[Animated-one]

The Emerald is owned by Century. (No foreign company is allowed to own riverboats in China.) It's my understanding that the boat was new in 2010, and used by Century, and first used by Viking in 2011 for the current river cruising season.

 

 

Thank you!...One other thing that bothers me, it's the lack of particpation from the river cruises rolls calls:( I just went on the C.C. archives for our sailing and it hasn't been posted on since June.....Not that we had a big roll call to begin with. :( Sooo, if you on the August 23, 2011 Imperial Jewels tour PLEASE check out the Cruise Critic's boards under "Other River Cruise Roll Calls!!!" we our there!:D

 

 

All the best,

Trish

[Peregrina651]

 

Thank you!...One other thing that bothers me, it's the lack of particpation from the river cruises rolls calls:( I just went on the C.C. archives for our sailing and it hasn't been posted on since June.....Not that we had a big roll call to begin with. :( Sooo, if you on the August 23, 2011 Imperial Jewels tour PLEASE check out the Cruise Critic's boards under "Other River Cruise Roll Calls!!!" we our there!:D

 

 

All the best,

Trish

 

 

It is all in the numbers. If on average, a cruise ship with 2000 passengers has less than a hundred people participating in a roll call, then a ship with only 300 passengers should expect, on average, just a handful of participants. Sad but true.

 

The best way I've found to help people find a roll call is by including a link in my signature.

[JayS]

I just returned from a Beijing Xian Yangtze Shanghai tour with a Hong Kong addon.

 

The tour was though Trafalgar which sub contracted to Uniworld. The river boat was Victoria Prince.

 

Upon arriving at the Beijing Hilton I asked about the water and was told to drink only the bottled water or hot water out of the tea kettle provided in the room. If i can't drink the water in the Hilton, where can I drink the water.

 

In China I used only bottled water provided by the hotels, boat or the tour company on the buses. I only eat at restaurants provided by the tour company. Three meals a day were part of the tour.

 

I did NOT have any problems in China.

[tvmovielover]

When we went a couple of years ago, only three people got sick. Two had other health issues and ignored one of their personal precautions and one ate on the street. Those of us who ate only at the tour restaurants and drank bottled water had no problems. Do take all your favorite OTC remedies and personal toilet paper and hand cleaner (for after toilet calls).

Some facilities were better than others.

[Yangtze-Cruise]

Not that this matters that much, but I read somewhere that the Viking Emerald was not new, but reburished:confused:

 

:) Hello, you needn't to worry about it.

The Viking Emerald is actually called Century Emerald, owned by the New Century cruise line, and whole year chartered and operated by the Viking River cruises.

 

It is the newest cruise of the New Century cruises, built and launched in 2010.