Influenza on Princess getting worse?

[easyboy]

We never, nor any of our friends, had flu while on a cruise.

[northcalgal]

Since 2013 I have caught the flu on 4 out 5 Princess cruises. I wonder if the incidence of flu is increasing on Princess. Before 2013, I only took one cruise that lasted longer than a week or 10 days. It was a Hawaii cruise and my flu started the day we left Hawaii...just a few days after someone coughed directly in my face near the photo gallery. She did not cover her mouth and I could feel the spray on my face.

 

Since 2013, we began taking longer cruises and I have caught the flu at about 2.5 to three weeks into each cruise (except one). In once case, a woman with a hacking cough sat directly next to me on the promenad even though lots of empty chairs were available. I do visit the ships doctor and one said it tends to happen on longer cruises. So, this could be why I am getting sick more often than before.

 

But, it could also be the incidence of flu is increasing on Princess. When we first started cruising the letter from the doctor that is in the cabin only mentioned Noro. Now it mentions both Noro and the flu. This changed several years ago, but I don't recall exactly when.

 

By the way, the coughing person on the bus mentioned in the other thread should have cancelled her cruise if she had an infectious disease; she could enjoy her cruise and she put others at risk. Another good reason to have cruise insurance.

 

What time of year do you cruise?. I work at Hospital in the Infection Control office generally Flu season starts in Nov continues to usually May worst time for flu usually in the middle. Some seasons are early some later. We have tracked Flu into May. We start giving Flu shots in Oct if they are available. Flu involves fever and body aches along with respiratory symptoms. Colds no fever. I rarely get sick but there are people in my office who always get sick.. Washing hands with soap water often try not to touch alot of railings buttons ect. If you do use your hand sanitizer. Keep hands away from face & nose. Good luck

[MJSailors]

I hope I do not jinx .myself by saying this,but my DH and I have taken fifteen cruises so far, and we have never gotten sick on any of them or after any of them .

There are some things we do that may have helped us avoid catching any airborne illnesses on a ship.

We make sure that we get enough rest,eat healthfully and get daily exercise.

We always book a balcony so that we can get fresh,sea air and enjoy the relaxation of sailing on the open sea.

We do not make use of the pools or hot tubs.

We use our cabin bathroom as much as possible and wash our hands frequently.

On Princess ships,we usually book the Sanctuary as a retreat from the more crowded decks .

I always pack hand sanitizer ,vitamin c tablets and extra hand soaps.

We drink a lot of water and limit cocktail consumption.

We try to have an upbeat attitude that helps us enjoy the cruise and we try not to stress over slight irritations that may occur while traveling. Stress can affect the immune system.

That is our plan,and we are sticking to it! It works for us!

[delidan]

13 cruises since 2013 and never got the flu.

[MommaBear55]

AFAIK they don't have to report flu. Only required to report Noro. Two different things.

 

Flu is an upper respiratory infection.

Noro is a GI infection.

 

Actually, influenza is a reportable disease for ships that sail out of the US. However, the report is based on lab testing and I do not know whether the carry rapid flu testing on ships. Clinical diagnosis is not a basis for reporting to the CDC. The 2016-2017 flu season stated August 27 in the US and there is no data on any flu cases yet, so we don't yet know how good a match the vaccine is for whatever flu strains will occur this year.

[Reader0108598]

Twenty something cruises ,never got the flu.

 

I have auto immune issues, also serious respiratory issues.

 

Get my flu shot yearly,have had all my pneumonia shots.

 

I do take extra vitamins before and during my cruise and washy, washy:D

 

We travel every November and January.

 

Reader

Edited September 7, 2016 by Reader0108598

[Reader0108598]

What time of year do you cruise?. I work at Hospital in the Infection Control office generally Flu season starts in Nov continues to usually May worst time for flu usually in the middle. Some seasons are early some later. We have tracked Flu into May. We start giving Flu shots in Oct if they are available. Flu involves fever and body aches along with respiratory symptoms. Colds no fever. I rarely get sick but there are people in my office who always get sick.. Washing hands with soap water often try not to touch alot of railings buttons ect. If you do use your hand sanitizer. Keep hands away from face & nose. Good luck

 

 

 

Infection control, gotta love them:)

We now have "Bleach" Wednesday's at my facility.

Had to fight housekeeping off with a stick.

No, you are not bleaching my desk, phone ,doors .....

 

My pulmonologist tells me to avoid any harsh chemicals.

 

It took some doing, but they now know better than to bleach my area.

 

Of course after one of our housekeepers, tried to bleach the DON's desk, when she was eating lunch, :eek: it was easier for me..lol

 

Reader

Edited September 7, 2016 by Reader0108598

[Reader0108598]

Northcalgal

 

Just reread my last post, hope you took no offense.

 

I fully understand and (appreciate) Infection control.

 

I not only work at a facility,but my sister is a dementia patient here.

 

I think our housekeeping staff, just took it a bit too far, in the offices :)

 

Keep up the good work.....:)

 

Reader

Edited September 7, 2016 by Reader0108598

[crochetcruise]

What time of year do you cruise?. I work at Hospital in the Infection Control office generally Flu season starts in Nov continues to usually May worst time for flu usually in the middle. Some seasons are early some later. We have tracked Flu into May. We start giving Flu shots in Oct if they are available. Flu involves fever and body aches along with respiratory symptoms. Colds no fever. I rarely get sick but there are people in my office who always get sick.. Washing hands with soap water often try not to touch alot of railings buttons ect. If you do use your hand sanitizer. Keep hands away from face & nose. Good luck

 

THANK YOU for that warning re hand sanitizer. I honestly hadn't known that information. I will have tissues with me to grab should I feel a sneeze or cough coming on-summer season so may be in short sleeves. Am aware the cruiseline uses certain brands, will ask the steward about carrying the supplied tissues with me-already know what needs to be put in a separate garbage bag for disposal.

 

Have learnt things on Cruise Critic I would never have thought of re doing things to protect yourself against sickness on board.

[golfb4cruzing]

Catching the flu has nothing to do with Princess. It has everything to do with a lot of people in a small space and many not caring that they are ill and could be spreading an illness. It's the 'all about me' generation - so don't expect anything to change any time soon.

 

I will say I used to get a cold/flu most every cruise we took in the beginning until I stopped going into the hot tubs. Haven't gotten sick since. I also don't touch handrails unless necessary. I use a knuckle to press elevator buttons and use the stateroom bathroom vs public bathrooms.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Well said. We bump up all preventatives 2 weeks before we leave and constantly washing hands on board. I don't want to say people are getting nastier but hygiene is suspect.

[Sacto Rick]

My last cruise, the wife and I were very carefull to avoid handrails, we washed with soap and water constantly, wiped down everything in the cabin and we were generally more aware.

Somewhere along the line we caught something. It wasn't noro but some kind of respertory virus. It took over 3 weeks to get over it. I don't think I could have been much more careful so to be honest, I worry about it also.

[Loreni]

I've been trying to think more about what is different about cruising vs just traveling for business or other personal travel I've done in the past decade to find more clues and possible solutions.

 

I do know that the only place where anyone has coughed directly in my face has been on a ship. Most of the people I come in contact with in everyday life know to cover when they cough, but this only explains one or maybe two incidents of the flu.

 

It occurred to me after reading your comments that sleep could be an issue. I nearly always take an afternoon or evening flight for business or other personal travel. However, even though we arrive the day before sailing, we usually take early morning flights for cruising as these are when our non-stop flights tend to be scheduled. I rarely get a full night's sleep before these flights...occasionally, no sleep.

 

Also, we used to find ourselves waking up repeatedly to use the bathroom until our last cruise. We don't drink alcohol. I thought we were perhaps initially waking up because of hallway noise then maybe deciding to use the bathroom. Then I remembered that the video from the ship's Doctor mentioned something about how some people may need to adjust blood pressure medication because of how salty the food was onboard. We never salt food at home. After asking for a low salt diet onboard, we slept through the night. Our quality of sleep changed mid-cruise, right after our diets changed. I do know that even one night of poor sleep begins to affect the immune system.

Edited September 7, 2016 by Loreni

[runnerodb83]

I read an article a while back on handwashing and while part of the issue is because its the same group of people in a semi-enclosed environment for several days of time (unlike a hotel), the other part spoke to demographic differences.

 

The study found that about 60% of people age college age and younger washed their hands, where as only 38% of folks older than college age washed their hands. If you think about the average demographic age of a cruise, you can draw some parallels there. Additionally, when a ship rolls into port with 8% of passengers sick, usually only a fraction of the crew is sick which is interesting given that the crew is in much closer quarters, usually working on less sleep, and drinking quite a bit, all of which are attributes that should increase their likelihood of being sick. I have heard they can be reprimanded severely for not washing their hands after using the restroom or before touching food which may motivate them to practice better hygeine and keep their infection levels around 1 or 2% when there is a full blown outbreak among passengers.

 

So while I'm sure everyone on here washes their hands regularly on board, if you see someone who doesn't, please remind them to - it might keep you from getting sick later in the trip!

 

And I think its always good to have a few travel packs of these wipes to clean your room when you first get in and keep it virus free.

 

You can also find a link here:

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/home/packing-list

[Kingofcool1947]

I read an article a while back on handwashing and while part of the issue is because its the same group of people in a semi-enclosed environment for several days of time (unlike a hotel), the other part spoke to demographic differences.

 

The study found that about 60% of people age college age and younger washed their hands, where as only 38% of folks older than college age washed their hands. If you think about the average demographic age of a cruise, you can draw some parallels there. Additionally, when a ship rolls into port with 8% of passengers sick, usually only a fraction of the crew is sick which is interesting given that the crew is in much closer quarters, usually working on less sleep, and drinking quite a bit, all of which are attributes that should increase their likelihood of being sick. I have heard they can be reprimanded severely for not washing their hands after using the restroom or before touching food which may motivate them to practice better hygeine and keep their infection levels around 1 or 2% when there is a full blown outbreak among passengers.

 

So while I'm sure everyone on here washes their hands regularly on board, if you see someone who doesn't, please remind them to - it might keep you from getting sick later in the trip!

 

 

 

 

 

So, just wondering, how many of you people verbally confront those PAX who cough and don't cover, or those PAX you see that used the restroom facilities who didn't wash their hands after "doing their thing #1 or #2"? :eek::eek: Do you ever get blowback if you do speak up, if you even do speak up, to remind these PAX? How do you politely explain it to them? Especially when calling out the older PAX?

Edited September 7, 2016 by Kingofcool1947

[JF - retired RRT]

Somewhere along the line we caught something. It wasn't noro but some kind of respirtory virus. It took over 3 weeks to get over it.

 

If you had respiratory symptoms, I can guarantee that it wasn't Noro. Noro gives the gift of diarrhea & vomiting. I'd much rather have any upper respiratory infection over Noro.

[runnerodb83]

I read an article a while back on handwashing and while part of the issue is because its the same group of people in a semi-enclosed environment for several days of time (unlike a hotel), the other part spoke to demographic differences.

 

The study found that about 60% of people age college age and younger washed their hands, where as only 38% of folks older than college age washed their hands. If you think about the average demographic age of a cruise, you can draw some parallels there. Additionally, when a ship rolls into port with 8% of passengers sick, usually only a fraction of the crew is sick which is interesting given that the crew is in much closer quarters, usually working on less sleep, and drinking quite a bit, all of which are attributes that should increase their likelihood of being sick. I have heard they can be reprimanded severely for not washing their hands after using the restroom or before touching food which may motivate them to practice better hygeine and keep their infection levels around 1 or 2% when there is a full blown outbreak among passengers.

 

So while I'm sure everyone on here washes their hands regularly on board, if you see someone who doesn't, please remind them to - it might keep you from getting sick later in the trip!

 

 

 

 

 

So, just wondering, how many of you people verbally confront those PAX who cough and don't cover, or those PAX you see that used the restroom facilities who didn't wash their hands after "doing their thing #1 or #2"? :eek::eek: Do you ever get blowback if you do speak up, if you even do speak up, to remind these PAX? How do you politely explain it to them? Especially when calling out the older PAX?

 

I would just remind them that they can get really sick by not washing their hands. I have no issue with reminding people to do their part for their own well being as well as others. If people take offence, I guess that's their issue; not much that can be done.

 

Its been said before, YOU are your best health advocate.

[cboyle]

I've been trying to think more about what is different about cruising vs just traveling for business or other personal travel I've done in the past decade to find more clues and possible solutions.

 

I do know that the only place where anyone has coughed directly in my face has been on a ship. Most of the people I come in contact with in everyday life know to cover when they cough, but this only explains one or maybe two incidents of the flu.

 

It occurred to me after reading your comments that sleep could be an issue. I nearly always take an afternoon or evening flight for business or other personal travel. However, even though we arrive the day before sailing, we usually take early morning flights for cruising as these are when our non-stop flights tend to be scheduled. I rarely get a full night's sleep before these flights...occasionally, no sleep.

 

Also, we used to find ourselves waking up repeatedly to use the bathroom until our last cruise. We don't drink alcohol. I thought we were perhaps initially waking up because of hallway noise then maybe deciding to use the bathroom. Then I remembered that the video from the ship's Doctor mentioned something about how some people may need to adjust blood pressure medication because of how salty the food was onboard. We never salt food at home. After asking for a low salt diet onboard, we slept through the night. Our quality of sleep changed mid-cruise, right after our diets changed. I do know that even one night of poor sleep begins to affect the immune system.

Perhaps you could consider wearing a face mask:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/swine-flu/expert-answers/flu-mask/faq-20057878

[Colo Cruiser]

AFAIK they don't have to report flu. Only required to report Noro. Two different things.

 

Flu is an upper respiratory infection.

Noro is a GI infection.

 

Nothing was mentioned or asked about self reporting.

Regardless of what it is its documented when they report to the medical center.

Its not on an aircraft/land resort/hotel etc etc etc. and never documented in any shape or form.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[Kingofcool1947]

Besides your face masks, don't forget to wear your surgical gloves as well when out and about the ship. Bring several pairs with you.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Kingofcool1947

[mrs and mrs]

Besides your face masks, don't forget to wear your surgical gloves as well when out and about the ship. Bring several pairs with you.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

You forgot the scrubs.

[jnc411]

We are cruising in a few weeks, went and got our flu shots today, we know it is not fool proof, but we get shots every year any way so Just got it now. Always wipe down what ever we can in the cabin and WASH our hands all the time on board, use sensible precautions. We even take airborne tabs every day. Knock on wood, so far so good. Daughter works in a large hospital and the are getting their flu shots at the hospital now.

Cori

[ar1950]

...........................And I think its always good to have a few travel packs of these wipes to clean your room when you first get in and keep it virus free.

..........................................

 

 

FWIW, we also now carry and use this: https://www.amazon.com/Clorox-Commercial-Solutions-Sanitizer-Bottle/dp/B0013CPT14/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1473305593&sr=8-3&keywords=clorox+hand+sanitizer

 

Here is why: http://www.groupxtreme.com/web-storage/Clorox%202/NI-15679_AFH_BC_Norovirus_SellSheet.pdf

 

There was a thread about noro and sanitizers a while back. The Clorox product was one of the few things that controlled viruses. They also have wipes available.

 

We still seem to have about a 20 to 30% chance of coming back with a cold when on a cruise. More often than not it seems to be a function of sick people on the plane flight to and from.

 

YMMV

Edited September 8, 2016 by ar1950

[easyboy]

FWIW, we also now carry and use this: https://www.amazon.com/Clorox-Commercial-Solutions-Sanitizer-Bottle/dp/B0013CPT14/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1473305593&sr=8-3&keywords=clorox+hand+sanitizer

 

Here is why: http://www.groupxtreme.com/web-storage/Clorox%202/NI-15679_AFH_BC_Norovirus_SellSheet.pdf

Thanks.

[Hlitner]

Influenza is primarily spread person to person. If you are truly getting "flu" (as opposed to lots of other bugs) it is simply because you have been around other folks who are already sick and spread the virus through coughing and sneezing. You can certainly help yourself by routinely washing your hands (with soap and water) and trying to keep your distance from folks who are hacking away :). One thing we started doing on cruises (about 5 years ago) is avoiding elevators as much as possible...and using the stairs. This accomplished several good things. 1. It helps keep us in shape. 2. It avoids all the time we used to wait for elevators, and most important...3. It keeps us out of a very confined space where one sick passenger can quickly infect everyone else in that elevator. We also avoid nearly all group excursions (we prefer to do our own thing) as anytime you are in a confined area with a group...you chance of picking up a bug increases. We certainly do not condone the germophobic paranoia of some folks...but a little common sense goes a long way towards helping stay healthy.

 

Also, when we walk into public lounges...we try to avoid sitting near folks that are coughing and sneezing. In a few cases we have actually moved when somebody around us was obviously sick. Does all this keep us healthy? Nope. But it sure seems to have helped..and both DW and I have had much fewer health-related issues on our many cruises.

 

Hank

Edited September 8, 2016 by Hlitner

[DebJ14]

This thread reminded me of the cruise in May 2011 where my entire family came down with the flu from a tablemate (shots were totally the wrong match that year). It has made us sit down and think long and hard about canceling our 28 day Hawaii/Tahiti/Samoa cruise on Princess. I sure as heck don't want to be sick and since the demographic will be that of the non-hand washers, I am thinking we will pass. Not so sure I want to pay over $16,000 for the trip anyway. To get sick onboard would be the pits.

Edited September 8, 2016 by DebJ14