Ill on the morning of embarkation

[Irishman45]

On multiple occasions I've seen people taking Dayquil an other cold/flu medications during breakfast at hotels the morning of a cruise. You know they are going on a cruise cause their luggage has the tags on them. Who really takes that stuff as a precaution as some have told people who asked if they were sick- Nobody I know that's for sure. Sea sickness an allergy pills ok but downing Dayquil or other cold/flu meds - You are sick an you know it.

 

Personally want to take one of those laser temperature guns found at hardware stores to a port an zap people to see if they have a fever. Zap from the comfort of 10ft away. Wonder if it would be considered a banned item.

[Karysa]

On multiple occasions I've seen people taking Dayquil an other cold/flu medications during breakfast at hotels the morning of a cruise. You know they are going on a cruise cause their luggage has the tags on them. Who really takes that stuff as a precaution as some have told people who asked if they were sick- Nobody I know that's for sure. Sea sickness an allergy pills ok but downing Dayquil or other cold/flu meds - You are sick an you know it.

 

Personally want to take one of those laser temperature guns found at hardware stores to a port an zap people to see if they have a fever. Zap from the comfort of 10ft away. Wonder if it would be considered a banned item.

 

Your plan has a major flaw. Tylenol or Ibuprofen or the like would mask the fever so anyone who thought that they may have a fever would just take one of these medications a couple of hours prior to boarding. ;)

[Irishman45]

Your plan has a major flaw. Tylenol or Ibuprofen or the like would mask the fever so anyone who thought that they may have a fever would just take one of these medications a couple of hours prior to boarding. ;)

 

That's probably why the people at the hotel were taking such medications - to hide their symptoms so they could board the ship sick.

 

I'm sure there would be at least one or two cases the meds hadn't fully kicked in yet an they would get caught. Remember it only takes one sick person walking around coughing an sneezing to infect the ship.

[Karysa]

That's probably why the people at the hotel were taking such medications - to hide their symptoms so they could board the ship sick.

 

I'm sure there would be at least one or two cases the meds hadn't fully kicked in yet an they would get caught. Remember it only takes one sick person walking around coughing an sneezing to infect the ship.

 

The form that someone posted on this thread said " do you have a fever?" If they don't have a fever the answer is no and if they take cough medicine as well they can answer no to the cough question as well.

[babs135]

Some really interesting comments to my original post which was brought about because DH and I are poorly and it got me thinking 'what if'

 

My original thought was maybe to self-quarantine (assuming we were allowed to board in the first place) and that it wouldn't be worth it for a 7 days cruise but probably okay for 14 days. Since starting the thread, however, we have not improved (coughing, sneezing but no fever) and I had a word with the Pharmacist who confirmed that there was a 'bug' doing the rounds and the general consensus was that it was lasting up to 3 weeks :eek:

 

So with that scenario, even self-quarantine for a few days probably wouldn't make much difference but could I/You walk round a ship coughing for a further week. How would you feel if you were stood next to me in the buffet or sat next to me in the theatre?

 

I would hate to be denied boarding; for some people it would probably be their one and only holiday for the year, but what is the answer and is there an answer?

 

In the meantime I've only got 2 more weeks of feeling crap to go and DH has 10 days!! He has never sneezed, just coughed but I have had a runny nose which has never really developed further. Antibiotics are not the answer for these ailments, but if the symptoms had developed a few days before we were due to sail I would have had a word with the Doctor and asked for help and advice.

 

Just as well we weren't planning on going anywhere.

 

Safe and healthy cruising to those of you who are about to sail away.

[Nagorak]

If we're talking about something like a cold, you can get a cold going to the grocery store. You can catch a cold while out on a shore excursion. The incubation period for a virus can be as long as 7-10 days, so you can easily get on the ship with no symptoms, not even knowing you have a cold. As a matter of fact, I have developed a cold well into a cruise. Where I got it, I don't know? But there is no way to be certain it originated onboard. A crew member could also easily have a cold and I don't really believe they will be denied boarding, although we can hope they will be isolated or something if the symptoms are really bad.

 

So, from that standpoint someone who has a cold and boards the ship anyway, I don't think is doing anything particularly wrong (and as pointed out, the questionnaire doesn't even really target colds). It's safe to say that on a ship with a couple thousand people on board, at least a few innocuous viruses will be circulating, especially once shore excursions are brought into the mix. I really don't think you can get multiple hundreds of people together without a few viruses also joining the party.

 

Now, for something more serious, like a flu, that's a different story. But if you're really sick and it's a short cruise, one has to ask why you are subjecting yourself to the misery in the first place? If you're really too sick to enjoy it, then what is the point? While a cold doesn't mostly prevent you from enjoying yourself, a flu certainly does.

 

As for a world cruise... Barring a life threatening problem, I think almost everyone is going to do whatever is necessary to get on board, *regardless of what they may claim*. And I am not sure I exactly blame them either. Hopefully someone who is sick will at least isolate themselves. But yet again, you can pick up a virus at your very first port of call, so it is what it is. That is why we have an immune system, after all.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Nagorak

[whataboutport]

In 2001 my dad took my sister and me and a cruise. We flew in from LAX and my dad told me to bring some sandwiches from the market so we could have something to eat in case we got hungry at the airport or on the plane. I got hungry while waiting for the plane so I ate the sandwich and about an hour later I got a splitting headache. Once we got on the plane, as soon as the plane took off I started to puke but had to hold it in my mouth. Gross. Luckily for me one of the attendants was walking by and I pointed at my mouth and gave her the scardest look and she knew right away. She took me to the back of the plane and I vomited into a bag, like projectile vomited. I ended up sleeping for the whole 5 hr flight. We flew in the morning of, but my sister flew in the night before and had a hotel, so I slept in some more before we went to the ship.

 

I do not remember the questionnaire and I'm sure my dad filled out the form. He put no to everything bc I don't remember anyone checking me out. I didn't have diarrhea but I'm sure it was the sandwich. Sitting in my backpack for hours with no refridgeration probably did it. I was fine after that. I had energy to do all the excursions. If we had answered truthfully I would have been denied boarding. I knew it wasn't anything contagious and if I was in that situation again I would do the same.

 

Come to think of, many times when I don't feel "right" I make myself throw up and immediately I feel better. I'm surprised if it was in fact food poisoning that I didn't get diarrhea or get more sick. Maybe bc I threw up quickly after I got the headache. A few years later I got food poisoning again at work and had the same splitting headache. I tried not to throw up and ended up sick for almost a week with vomitting and diarrhea several times a day. If it was like that, I would not board a ship.