Germophobes confess! Do you......

[OceanCruise]

Do you bring a can of Lysol or Clorox wipes when you take a cruise? I can't be the only one, right?

[familycruzer]

I take Lysol, Clorox Wipes and Germ X .. Of course they dont prevent the norwalk virus that you get on ships but it still makes me feel better just to have them with me.

[ChoosinCruisin]

Does it make us germaphobes or smart? Thinking about ALL the folks who have stayed in the cabin, and knowing that the attendants can't disinfect everything, I'm not risking my cruise being shortened by the cruise flu.

[legalwife]

Oh brother. You got me on this one. My husband has called me "Howard Hughes" before...

 

I have purchased my medium sized can of Lysol which was very difficult to find. Used to be able to get the little travel size but I cannot find them now.

 

If you have a tough as nails immune system, you don't understand. It seems like I was picking up every "cootie" my boys brought home. Problem was mine would last several days - their's one or two! Things are definitely better now that they are older. I just don't want to be sick if I don't have to and you can get some strange "cooties" when you are amongst a group of people from all over the world. I have boys. I can say cootie if I want to.

 

Yes. I am also a major hand washer. I know it has kept me healthier than before. I will also add though that I do not floss daily. Does that balance things out???

 

There is my confession.

[yogimax]

Go to the casino and grab a bunch of the handi-wipes at the cage

[phtktz3]

Yes! Not only do I take the wipes on a cruise I also take them to the grocery store(cart handles are the filthiest things!) and to the gym, where I wipe off the handles of the equipment before I use it. Glad to see I'm not the only one who does this.

[goouchjac]

Have always taken my trusty can of Lysol whenever we travel, my friend who is a nurse got me into doing that along time ago,,,,when we get into our cabin I spray the bed, bathroom, floor, shower and whatever else I think may not be disinfected, not really a germophobic :D :D ha,ha,,,just cautious.....

[Erie Dave]

And don't forget the hand sanitizer.....pump for in the room, small bottle to carry with you.

[peggyy]

WASH hands constantly, if everybody did it, no one would get sick. Hand sanitizer and clean that nasty remote, which they say is the dirtiest thing in a hotel room, even over the toilet and phone.

[cruzincurt]

When entering the cabin for the first time, the Clorox wipes go over everything that can be touched, door knobs, drawer pulls, telephone, light switch, toilet button, and especially the TV remote. Our local university tested and found that salt and pepper shakers in restaurants are the worst, they found all sorts of viruses including pneumonia. Just like to be starting out with a clean cabin.

 

Our supermarkets now have wet wipe tissue containers where the shopping cards are parked for cleaning handles. I carry a pump bottle in the car for use after filling the tank.

[OceanCruise]

Hey with all this spraying and wiping, maybe the rooms are cleaner than we think!!

[Rosieo]

For all of you Germophobes. Check out this product. I am a teacher and I won't start a day without it. http://www.dermaldefense.com

[cruiselvr04]

Yes, yes, yes. My husband and I wipe down the room completely before we unpack. The wipes are in my carry-on. Then the hand sanitizer goes with us everywhere. We wipe down hotel rooms too. It only takes 10 minutes. Washing your hands is always your best defense before touching your face,eyes, nose or mouth. If I clean the room I can feel comfortable that the germs are mine and not the person who was there before me.

[cme]

Yes, I too disenfect everything and even have the bed completely stripped, even the bedspread. I do give the room steward a tip upfront for doing this.

 

Remeber to spray everything down in the bathroom after it has been cleaned everyday. I am sure that they use the same rags to clean your bathroom and they did your neighbors.:eek:

 

I am also a teacher and have learned what to do to keep from getting sick all of the time.

 

Carrie

[abridalmaven]

Wow I should be dead by now and yet I rarely get sick, and I do NOT disinfect anything and everything !:eek: I wash my hands and get by with that.

[Ohestu]

One reason a lot of people get sik nowdays is taht they have not built up the antibodies needed to fight off infections. Living in a seterile envoronment does not let the body build up the natural defenses against disease. That being said, I do not intend you to take this post as an inviation to live in filth, just understand that is is just as bad to have things too clean.:cool:

[beachchick]

I think there is a great deal of truth to needing to build up natural defenses. However, those of us who have compromised immune systems really benefit from the "extra" that alcohol gel and wipes give. (Not antibacterial products because they are just as dangerous as overuse of oral antibiotics; the bugs build up their defenses against them and then become resistant. With alcohol, the viruses and bacteria are either killed or not; there's no resistance or mutation that results. Otherwise, we'd all be dead considering that alcohol has been used for disinfection for over 100 years.)

 

Anyway, I grew up before the age of anti-germ everything. My natural defenses built up just fine. My parents taught me to wash my hands frequently (and when to do it no matter what--like after the bathroom, before eating, etc.) I had no more illnesses than any other kid, and as a younger adult was quite healthy. Then I developed an illness that compromised those healthy defenses, so I have to be extra-cautious. (DH has asthma, so he's extra careful too. A simple cold for him can easily turn into 3 months of bronchitis.) I still wash my hands, even more than before, but keep alcohol gel and wipes handy for the times when I want to wipe either my hands (when it's not convenient to go run and wash them) or an item (like a room phone or remote control). There are those who think/say that those of us who do this are stupid or that doing it is unnecessary. I really don't care. That extra measure allows us to do more than we would be able to do otherwise. I know we still take a risk when we travel (or go anywhere for that matter), but it helps minimize the risk for us.

 

And there is nothing wrong with healthy people taking those extra measures too. It gives them peace of mind and often helps prevent the spread of illnesses.

 

beachchick

[cruzincurt]

Even with all of this "sanitizing" we all still get plenty of germs. This just reduces the total exposure. And as someone stated, they will be mostly our germs.

 

What makes me cringe is hearing someone blowing on their emergency whistle at muster. Yuch.

[stbmom]

I take Lysol with me. I alway spray the bedspread/comforter - YUCK!!!!

 

I also try to get to lunch as soon as the food comes out at the buffet - just can't eat after seeing some things. But, the food is sooooo goooood

[JRudy33]

I always took a can of Lysol with me, but after the last cruise, I will take Clorox Wipes. After our cruise, I packed my Lysol can in our bag with all of our shoes. After picking up our luggage at the dock, we smelled a strong scent of Lysol. We opened our bag and the scent of Lysol was so strong our eyes watered. Apparently, something had been pushing on the button of the can thereby emptying out the whole can of Lysol in my bag and on my shoes. There was a puddle of Lysol in the bottom of the bag. So much that when we turned it over, we made a puddle on the cement. Luckely it didn't ruin my shoes, but I won't have stinky feet for a long time. Our friends with us drove to the port in a truck so they were able to put our bag in the back of the truck for the drive home.

[ewheelock]

Well, me and my family must have awesome immune systems because all we do is wash our hands and of course clean anything that looks dirty. Even whem my kids were in school and daycard they hardly ever got sick. I guess that we are just very lucky.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

I'll bet many of you never realized one of the dirtiest thing in a room it the TV remote. Bring a ziploc bag and put it in before using. Who knows where the previous guest had their hands before using the remote. You never know what they were picking or scatching in the privacy of their cabin without washing their hands!:eek:

[ckrobyn]

We were so freaked out about the possibility of Norwalk that we sanitized our cabin completely and would not touch railings in public areas etc...

 

We all stayed well on our cruise - maybe because of what we did, or maybe Norwalk just wasn't present on our cruise?

[T_Bird]

Guilty. Yes, I too use the Clorox wipes but like the Lysol wipes better (yes, Lysol now makes wipes). I also bring the mini bottles of hand sanitizers (I leave one in the bathroom, on the dresser, in my purse, back pack, beach bag, etc.) I also bring the small packages of disinfecting wipes (like baby wipes) that I can stick in my purse, back pack, beach bag, pocket, etc. I use the wipes w/ the hand sanitizer if there is no sink around.

[catmommy]

DH and I do wipe everything down when we get in the cablin.

 

I know that they don't have enought time to sanitize stuff. So far no illness. I also don't use the railings and don't eat from the buffet.

 

In addition to the tv remote, the salt and pepper shakers can be really really dirty too.

 

I also read the percentage of people, higher for men than for women, who do not wash hands after using the bathroom. Yuck!

 

I wash my hands for the suggested amount of time.

 

The really interesting thing is that I am in no way this clean at home. My DH laughs about it but I tell him those germs are "ours" and the germs in the cablin are "theirs."

 

Calm seas!

Caroline