Getting sick on the ship

[FrankNJ]

On the last days of our Zuiderdam cruise ( mar 9 - mar 19 ) we noticed a large amount of people coughing and sneezing . Sure enough , on the way home we both got sick , we're on antibiotics now , and I still had a little cough this morning . And I am never sick .

My wife stood in line at bingo next to an older woman with an awful cough . My wife asked her , "did you get sick on the ship " ? " Oh no , she said , I got on with this " !

 

So between the stress of fighting to get Air conditioning for 3 1/2 days and the air ducts that are never cleaned , and that lady in the bingo line , I think we are going to take some different kinds of vacations . I love being at sea but these ships are germ factories .

A doctor once advised me only to sail new ships because they didn't have all the bacteria in their air ducts . I think that was good advice . We get sick about every third cruise and that is too often for people who are never sick .

 

Now if only we can find some land hotels with a comedy show or two !

[kazu]

On the last days of our Zuiderdam cruise ( mar 9 - mar 19 ) we noticed a large amount of people coughing and sneezing . Sure enough , on the way home we both got sick , we're on antibiotics now , and I still had a little cough this morning . And I am never sick .

My wife stood in line at bingo next to an older woman with an awful cough . My wife asked her , "did you get sick on the ship " ? " Oh no , she said , I got on with this " !

 

So between the stress of fighting to get Air conditioning for 3 1/2 days and the air ducts that are never cleaned , and that lady in the bingo line , I think we are going to take some different kinds of vacations . I love being at sea but these ships are germ factories .

A doctor once advised me only to sail new ships because they didn't have all the bacteria in their air ducts . I think that was good advice . We get sick about every third cruise and that is too often for people who are never sick .

 

Now if only we can find some land hotels with a comedy show or two !

 

Very interesting and sorry to hear you've deleted cruising out of your vacation options. Unlike your docotor's advice given to you, we've had the opposite experience.

 

the only time we got sick (colds and bad) was on the Nieuw Amsterdam on the INAUGURAL transatlantic. Ship was less than 6 months old. A lot of people were sick with the cold.

 

We have sailed lots of ships and lately, HAL, usually the older ships and NEVER gotten sick including on the Prinsendam, the oldest ship in the fleet

[catl331]

The only time I came home sick from a ship was the second time I had done a short cruise on RCCL's Sovereign of the Seas. I got "walking pneumonia" and my doctor said he sees a lot of cases of it from that ship. (We live just 20 miles from Port Canaveral, so 3 or 4 night cruises on that ship are popular with people in our area.)

So if it's germs in old ducts, why didn't I get anything on the first cruise, and why wasn't my DH in the same cabin affected on the second cruise?

Edited April 2, 2012 by catl331

[Randyk47]

Admittedly we've been very lucky on our cruises and have never caught the dreaded Noro or any other disease. On our just finished Silversea cruise there was an "outbreak" of some kind of upper respiratory disease, a head cold kind of thing. We, and the couple traveling with us, managed to dodge that bullet but it hit the staff and passengers and I heard the ship's doctor was busy getting it under control and treating both passengers and crew. Silversea, like HAL, has the hand sanitizer stations everywhere and we made sure we used them. We also were asked to complete the same kind of pre-boarding "medical" certification that we'd not had any illness recently. Obviously being in any contained area from an airplane to a cruise ship raises the risk of exposure and you just have to do the best you can. If you have a sensitive health situation then maybe vacationing in confined areas is not the best option.

[sail7seas]

We,too, have come home from cruises with upper respiratory infections on a few occassions but relatively few considering how often we cruise.

 

If I find myself seated beside someone coughing a lot, I move.

If I am in line behind someone clearly ill, I get out of that line and move away.

I take proactive steps to avoid obviously ill people wherever possible.

 

I keep masks in our carryon bags and if we are seated on an airplane beside an ill person coughing and sneezing, I would put on a mask. I'd rather stay healthy than worry what anyone thought of my wearing a mask. :shrug:

 

[kenevenpar]

So between the stress of fighting to get Air conditioning for 3 1/2 days and the air ducts that are never cleaned , and that lady in the bingo line , I think we are going to take some different kinds of vacations . I love being at sea but these ships are germ factories .

A doctor once advised me only to sail new ships because they didn't have all the bacteria in their air ducts . I think that was good advice . We get sick about every third cruise and that is too often for people who are never sick .

 

Now if only we can find some land hotels with a comedy show or two !

 

I've seen numerous news reports about the "health related" condition of hotel rooms. First thing DW does is take the bedspread off, put it in the closet, and wash her hands. The reports show all kinds of interesting "stuff" on the spreads. I don't think you can completely avoid germs and bacteria; just do as Captain Albert says and wash, wash and wash some more.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

I have ben going to conventions since 1997. (all hotels) Sometimes 3 or 4 a year. Many many times people came home with colds. We knew it would happen that a bunch of us would come down with colds. We had a name for it "con crud". Not sure if it was airplane but since many of us came for all directions it could not be that. So it had to be the hotel. I always blame the pillows. Think about it. If you have a cold or something else that pillow you slept on is full of your germs. They do not wash those pillows after each use. I will not give up traveling even due to my health issues could cause problems for me. So I will travel and cruise. I could catch a cold from churxch, shopping,friends, kids

 

Mary

[catl331]

I think long distance plane rides are the worst carriers of germs! this is where ones needs to use the sanitizers also.

[indigosails]

Maybe we should all wear masks on airplanes...seriously.

[Roz]

I agree about the planes and airports. Before I even started cruising, I would be sick after every visit home or vacation that involved flying.

 

Roz

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our Feb 6 Maasdam cruise there were tons of people coughing and sneezing. I was really worried that we were going to get sick. They were everywhere on the ship -- you couldn't avoid them.

We were so glad when those 11 days were over and those sick people left. We only heard a couple of people coughing on our second cruise.

[durangoscots]

I did 50 days on the Amsterdam this year.... Ft. Lauderdale to Sydney for part of world cruise. I did not get sick until after my flight home from Sydney and then I came down with the worst cold I have ever had..Took me nearly two weeks to get over it. I am sure it was the flight home. Let's face it... the only way you avoid sickness is to stay home and don't eat out, go to movies or mingle with other people.

 

Susan

[PathfinderEss]

More times then not when we leave the ship we come down with colds.

[ariawoman]

Very interesting and sorry to hear you've deleted cruising out of your vacation options. Unlike your docotor's advice given to you, we've had the opposite experience.

 

the only time we got sick (colds and bad) was on the Nieuw Amsterdam on the INAUGURAL transatlantic. Ship was less than 6 months old. A lot of people were sick with the cold.

 

We have sailed lots of ships and lately, HAL, usually the older ships and NEVER gotten sick including on the Prinsendam, the oldest ship in the fleet

 

I was on the NA on the sailing right before Kazu and a ton of us got sick with that cold! So, I can back up the "new ship doesn't mean squat" thing. :-)

 

You're as likely to get sick at a hotel as you are a ship. You're flying in a tin can across the country, or further sometimes to get to these ships. There's just no telling where you got the germs. To rule out cruising because of it, is pretty sad, but you gotta do what your heart tells you.

 

Me, I'll continue to risk it. Sickness happens, unfortunately.

[kakalina]

The first time I ever got sick on a cruise was my own dang fault. It was our first balcony and I thought it would "cool" to sleep in the lounge chair and listen to the waves. I woke up about 3am covered in salt spray and shivering with cold. Needless to say I came down with the "crud" day before we went home. Yes, I know it was stupid but we were new to cruising and it seemed like such fun.

 

I also got very sick in the last week of our last 30 day cruise. I'm fairly certain it wasn't from airplanes because we'd all been on for 3 weeks. I always feel bad for my spouse when I get sick because the coughing and such keeps him awake all night too.

Edited April 2, 2012 by kakalina

[mancunian]

I am not convinced it is anything to do with age of ship and certainly we will not change from R and S class ships.

 

We do however, have two unbreakable rules on cruiseships.

 

1. However far away we always use the cabin bathroom. We also have a dettol handwash in there which is used for all handwashing. Obviously this is in addition to the sanitisers around.

 

2. This applies to aircraft and hotels too. We carry a nasal spray which in Britain is called "First Defence". If we are near anybody coughing or sneezing we use it.

 

Neither is foolproof but we hope it protects us a little. However, we will still be cruising and travelling.

[HealthyTouch101]

That tray table on the airplane is loaded with more germs than you can imagine.

 

We travel with alcohol wipes and use them repeatedly in the airport and on the plane and after leaving the plane, etc. It has been the coughers on the plane that caused problems for us.

 

Depends on your immune system and the opportunities for germ issues.

[cruz chic]

I keep masks in our carryon bags and if we are seated on an airplane beside an ill person coughing and sneezing, I would put on a mask. I'd rather stay healthy than worry what anyone thought of my wearing a mask. :shrug:

 

 

Maybe we should all wear masks on airplanes...seriously.

 

I don't think those masks do much. Seems to me I've heard that they only last a couple of minutes as a germ barrier. I'm not a 100% sure but it seems to me I heard this when the H1N1 scare was on.

[iceleven]

I strongly believe in beefing up your immune system two-three weeks before travel, whether it is by plane or ship. Get more sleep, and increase your vitamins and nutrition. I won't mention anything specific but there also are a few herbals I swear by that increase the immune system, as well.

[cruz chic]

I won't mention anything specific but there also are a few herbals I swear by that increase the immune system, as well.

Why?

[cb at sea]

Go to Vegas! Lots of comedy clubs and other entertainment, and your hotel room will be SO much nicer than a ship's cabin! Just know that there are folks with coughs and colds anywhere...not just on a ship!

[ariawoman]

I strongly believe in beefing up your immune system two-three weeks before travel, whether it is by plane or ship. Get more sleep, and increase your vitamins and nutrition. I won't mention anything specific but there also are a few herbals I swear by that increase the immune system, as well.

 

I'd love to hear any herbals you swear by. I like to try different things, esp natural. Been trying to get more into vitamins and such over the past year since starting chiropractics.

[innlady1]

That tray table on the airplane is loaded with more germs than you can imagine.

 

We travel with alcohol wipes and use them repeatedly in the airport and on the plane and after leaving the plane, etc. It has been the coughers on the plane that caused problems for us.

 

Depends on your immune system and the opportunities for germ issues.

 

We did the same thing this time to and from FFL. The tray, the armrests, etc. Can't be too careful!

[itzmered]

Same goes for Hotels and land vacations. Any time you have a large amount of people congregated inevitably someone is sick and passes it around. Hotels have air ducts and so do airplanes :) Your best bet is boost up your immune system that way the stress you said you said you felt wont get your body down so you succumb to the germs going around because they are everywhere :)

[mtnmommy]

Does anyone else besides me have a problem with contracting Germaphobia while traveling? We've traveled extensively with our two kids, sailed twice in Code Red, and the idea of my family becoming ill while in a foreign country freaks me out.

 

I take all the usual precautions and am a believer of wiping down the surfaces in the the plane. However--it's tough to find that balance between sensible caution and Mom's Purell Paranoia. On our Med trip this summer, I will continue to require frequent hand washing, but I hope I can relax a bit so my kids don't forever associate Europe with the smell of sanitizer.

 

Ironically, our son had a serious issue while on the Queen Mary in the middle of the Atlantic. We, and the medical staff, thought it was a minor problem that in fact was a potential emergency caused by a rare disorder that was diagnosed once we returned home. Very, very blessed and a good reminder to me that we don't live in a bubble.