Couple in 80s told to get off the ship!

[BobBranst]

This is a good idea, but it is so much faster, when loading an entire month's worth of pills, to just toss them into the pill boxes, rather than loading them into the individual Ziplocs. Transferring them one day at a time from the pill boxes to the baggies on the ship is fast and painless. Moreover, it allows me to keep track of the days, which can become confusing on a long cruise with lots of sea days.

 

Another concern, is that during travel they aren't as well protected in the Ziplocs as they are in the pillboxes. I have had Vitamin "E" capsules in Ziplocs get squashed in my purse and they are really messy.

 

I had originally bought a bunch of 2" x 3" bags but they turned out to be too small and were constantly breaking open at the bottom, releasing the pills. I just recently bought 200 3" x 4" bags which I am certain will work better, and break open less often.

 

You are making this process much too complicated. If you are filling the pill boxes at home, after you have filled weekly the pill boxes, open the doors one at a time and dump the contents into the ziplock bags. If necessary, you can mark the day of the week on the ziplock with a felt pen.

 

We've never had a problem with any of the gel type vitamins like "E" in ziplocks. Of course, we don't put them at the bottom of a purse either.

 

You must really take a lot of pills to require 3" x 4" ziplock bags. I use 2"x2" ziplocks and usually put 9 fairly large pills and vitamins in it. I use 1" x 1" when I have smaller pills. I'm a believer in packing "small" whenever possible.

 

Bob

Edited April 8, 2015 by BobBranst

[balf]

I have often wondered what the rattling noise was on Cunard ships.

 

David.

[BobBranst]

That is a great idea, but please be aware that some drugs need storing in a certain way.Too long out of their original packaging may not give them the protection they need.Alot of drugs should be stored out of bathrooms.containers and packaging protect the drugs from light and moisture.I would defiinately read every storage leaflet in the original packaging,especially when on a long cruise.

;)

What you say is definately true. However, I (perhaps mistakenly) assume that the people posting here are intelligent and would be aware of any such dangers with the drugs that they must take on a regular basis.

 

Bob

[brigittetom]

What you say is definately true. However, I (perhaps mistakenly) assume that the people posting here are intelligent and would be aware of any such dangers with the drugs that they must take on a regular basis.

 

Bob

 

 

I don't know how it's faster dividing pills into compartments versus baggies.....but not my issue.

 

Bob...for me it was a great idea. My supplements aren't fragile.....they will fit easily into a 2x3 Baggie ...and they won't be exposed to daylight, or any other light for that matter. Thanks again. :D

[brigittetom]

i have often wondered what the rattling noise was on cunard ships.

 

David.

 

 

:d:d:d

[Host Hattie]

Well we may not have got to the bottom of what happened to the poor couple from Lancashire but we've all learned a lot about carrying medication !

 

I'd never considered that we should carry the original packaging for instance. It doesn't really affect me but my OH is one of the rattlers.

[brigittetom]

[quote=Host Hattie;46201038}

 

I'd never considered that we should carry the original packaging for instance. It doesn't really affect me but my OH is one of the rattlers.

 

In 40+ cruises, plus air travel, I've never had my pills questioned...no matter how they were packed. The only questionable item would be my Xanax, needed for flights, which I do keep in the prescription bottle separately, (mainly for easy access). Those have never been looked at either.

 

I have to wonder if maybe they do some kind of profiling for meds. That would be a very long process to examine everyone's individual pills. :p

[ducklite]

They absolutely will and do examine medications in certain ports. Not having them in the prescription container can result in jail time. For that matter certain medications would result in jail time. Some of you might want to learn the laws before booking your next cruise.

[Host Hattie]

They absolutely will and do examine medications in certain ports. Not having them in the prescription container can result in jail time. For that matter certain medications would result in jail time. Some of you might want to learn the laws before booking your next cruise.

 

Indeed, thank you for the advice.

[BobBranst]

They absolutely will and do examine medications in certain ports. Not having them in the prescription container can result in jail time. For that matter certain medications would result in jail time. Some of you might want to learn the laws before booking your next cruise.

Could you please post the names of ports where you know they actually check for prescription containers?

 

We have never been asked to even show our medications any any of the ports or air terminals that we have visited.

 

Bob

[janecambridge]

What you say is definately true. However, I (perhaps mistakenly) assume that the people posting here are intelligent and would be aware of any such dangers with the drugs that they must take on a regular basis.

 

Bob

 

Beg your pardon.:confused::confused::confused:

[PunkiC]

Under what circumstances would port security see you medication, except for initial embarkation?

 

We have embarked in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Fort Lauderdale, Civitavecchia, and Southampton, and never had an issue, and gone though airport security in almost all major Canadian and US airports, as well as Sydney, Auckland, Tasmania, Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Barrow, London, Paris, Rome, Valencia, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Puerto Rico, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Dublin, Mazatlan, Malaga, Barcelona, Palma, Zurich, Paris, Split, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, and probably a bunch more that I don't remember right now and never had an issue.

 

At what ports or airports have you experienced problems?

[Host Hattie]

Our NHS website suggests that some medications are not permitted in India, Pakistan & Turkey.

I know there are restrictions on things like codeine in Dubai.

[BobBranst]

Beg your pardon.:confused::confused::confused:

Sorry, that post did not come out quite the way I intended.

 

Bob

[ducklite]

Could you please post the names of ports where you know they actually check for prescription containers?

 

We have never been asked to even show our medications any any of the ports or air terminals that we have visited.

 

Bob

 

Dubai is a good place to start.

[ducklite]

Our NHS website suggests that some medications are not permitted in India, Pakistan & Turkey.

I know there are restrictions on things like codeine in Dubai.

 

UAE has a long list of medications that are not allowed. They include HRT, male "help" medications, BCP's, most mental health medications, most painkillers, and the list goes on.

 

You are correct about those other countries. Many drugs which are commonplace and allowed in most of North America and Western Europe are banned or highly restricted there.

Edited April 8, 2015 by ducklite

[BobBranst]

Under what circumstances would port security see you medication, except for initial embarkation?

I was thinking the same thing. If we are on a cruise ship, we usually don't take any drugs with us when we take an excursion at a port of call.

 

I suppose this could be a problem if you were on an extended land tour where you don't leave your baggage (and pills) on board. I don't think I would even consider going to any country where I could not take the drugs I need to live normally and relatively painfree. Life is too short and there are so many other places I've yet to visit.

 

Bob

[PunkiC]

Dubai is a good place to start.

 

We have flown out of Dubai on several occasions and never had an issue.

 

We embark on the Queen Victoria in Istanbul in October, but I think I will just take my chances.

[Salacia]

We have flown out of Dubai on several occasions and never had an issue.

 

We embark on the Queen Victoria in Istanbul in October, but I think I will just take my chances.

 

Istanbul in October. Yup, you will take your chances. But guess is that the ship will ship that port stop.

[PunkiC]

Istanbul in October. Yup, you will take your chances. But guess is that the ship will ship that port stop.

 

We actually board in Istanbul, after a week of exploring and visiting friends. If they cancel Istanbul, we will cancel the trip as visiting Istanbul, the primary purpose for,taking this cruise. We have previously visited almost all of the rest of the ports on this one. Of course ther are always other sites to see no,matter how often one visits.

[balf]

We have flown out of Dubai on several occasions and never had an issue.

 

.

 

That could be because you have never had to open your cases.

 

David.

[babs135]

The longest we have been away is a 7 weeks land based holiday which included a stay in Hong Kong, 4 weeks in Australia and then home via North America. Between us we take 15 tablets a day so one of our carry-on bags was filled virtually only with boxes of tablets!! We always carry copies of our prescriptions and we were never challenged once.

 

The only problem we had was when a customs officer (can't remember which country) took exception to my comb which had a rounded end; he snapped it off and then handed it back to me in a far more dangerous state than it was before - think jagged edges. Did briefly consider pointing this out but thought better of it!!!!

[balf]

Istanbul in October. Yup, you will take your chances. But guess is that the ship will ship that port stop.

 

Could you say why you think that?

 

Thank you.

 

David.

[Host Hattie]

Could you say why you think that?

 

Thank you.

 

David.

 

This thread has already drifted rather a long way, if you want a discussion about the safety of Istanbul as a turnaround port, maybe you could start a new thread (preferably in the Ports of Call section).

 

Thank you

[balf]

This thread has already drifted rather a long way, if you want a discussion about the safety of Istanbul as a turnaround port, maybe you could start a new thread (preferably in the Ports of Call section).

 

Thank you

 

Glass houses Hattie. Your 115 post wasn't exactly on subject. Threads always drift, like fascinating conversations.

 

David.