I know why I get the flu on Princess.

[Loreni]

It has happened 7 out of our last 8 cruises. Once, the ship's doctor prescribed antibiotics...she thought it was bacterial. Yet the letter from the fleet doctor warns of influenza which is viral. Either way, it is nasty and lasts for over a month. DH gets it about half as often as I do.

 

We both travel by air for work and non-cruise leisure and very rarely get sick. So the airport or airplane is probably not the problem. What is different about cruising?

 

We don't sleep as well on the ship. Even one bad night compromises the immune system. We had known we were not sleeping as well on the ship as at home, or even in hotels, for some time and had tried to fix the problem.

 

First, we bring our own mattress topper. I have never stayed in any hotel where the mattresses were as substandard as on a Princess ship.

 

Second, after watching the ship's doctor on TV on embarkation day, we realized the very high level of salt in the food was causing us to awaken repeatedly to use the bathroom. Easy fix...we requested low sodium meals. But why so much salt, especially with so may older people with high blood pressure? To make us drink more?

 

The final thing that is wrecking our sleep is not an easy fix and we may need to give up cruising. The room is too hot. At home, we keep the room in the 60s for sleeping. This is what doctors recommend and it works for us. Same in hotels. But Princess will claim the air conditioning is working even when it is in the 70s at night. It is worse than that, we discovered that the air conditioning turns off when the lights turn off. So we tried leaving the lights on and using sleep masks. The air conditioning still turned off around 3:30 am. We know because we awakened covered in sweat. My hair was wet. DH doesn't have hair, he still woke up sweltering. Princess would not fix the air conditioning, they claim it is fine.

 

Finally, we can quantify the problem because we wear watches that estimate how much deep sleep we get. At home it is around 70 percent. On our last cruise, it was in the 30s, about half as much deep sleep as at home or in hotels. Deep sleep is when the immune system repairs itself.

 

How much money does Princess save by reducing the air conditioning? Have they no regard for the comfort or health of their passengers? If we bring a fan and extension cord will either be confiscated? Should I need to work this hard for a good night's sleep?

 

For those of you who are getting respiratory infections, try checking how much deep sleep you get on the ship vs home. Many people have watches that can estimate this now. The watches may not be that accurate, but they do measure something. It could be very eye opening for you...it was for us.

[easyboy]

Duly noted. We never had a flu on Princess.

Edited November 28, 2016 by easyboy

[shredie]

Second, after watching the ship's doctor on TV on embarkation day, we realized the very high level of salt in the food was causing us to awaken repeatedly to use the bathroom.

 

Okay, this I don't follow at all. Did the doctor on TV tell you you were eating too much salt and therefore waking you up? I guess I missed that on the last Princess TV I saw.

 

Also, if cruising makes you sick 7 out of 8 times, maybe you shouldn't cruise.

Edited November 28, 2016 by shredie

[DesrtDrmr]

We've never had any of the problems youve had on 20 cruises, 15 on Princess. I do, however, bring or buy bottled water and we don't drink alcohol. Perhaps cruising is not for you or you might prefer a different line. Good luck!

 

 

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[Loreni]

Okay, this I don't follow at all. Did the doctor on TV tell you you were eating too much salt and therefore waking you up? I guess I missed that on the last Princess TV I saw.

 

Also, if cruising makes you sick 7 out of 8 times, maybe you shouldn't cruise.

 

The doctor on TV was not talking directly to me. The doctor mentioned that people might need their blood pressure medication adjusted because of the high sodium in the food. We never salt our food at home. So it occurred to me that rather than have our medication adjusted, we should just ask for low sodium food. Easy. And frankly it taste better to me. And we no longer were getting up 3 or 4 times a night to urinate.

 

And yes I think we may need to stop cruising. We tried to debug the problem first. Mattress pads and low sodium food are easy fixes. Sadly, I don't see an easy fix for hot rooms. Maybe we will have to only cruise Alaska.

[Aussieflyer]

I agree that if the temperature is too hot it is difficult to get a good night's sleep. That's when I toss and turn and have weird dreams. I often request a sheet rather than the doona as I find it just too hot and also turn the aircon down as low as it goes when I am dressing for dinner to give it a bit of a chance to cool down. Have never had the issue of it turning off when the lights are off (unless you remove the card from the master switch).

I would want to do a bit of research to see the effect of these things on the immune system though as I have had a couple of URTIs but not often when cruising. IMO more likely to be caught from other passengers.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Aussieflyer

[GUT2407]

We've never had any of the problems youve had on 20 cruises, 15 on Princess. I do, however, bring or buy bottled water and we don't drink alcohol. Perhaps cruising is not for you or you might prefer a different line. Good luck!

 

 

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That's what I was thinking, maybe need another type of holiday.

[johndborg]

The average person normally only gets 'flu once or twice in their life.

Air conditioning can often cause some 'flu like symptoms in some people and there are also a lot of hypochondriacs around.

 

 

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[shredie]

The doctor on TV was not talking directly to me. The doctor mentioned that people might need their blood pressure medication adjusted because of the high sodium in the food. We never salt our food at home. So it occurred to me that rather than have our medication adjusted, we should just ask for low sodium food. Easy. And frankly it taste better to me. And we no longer were getting up 3 or 4 times a night to urinate.

 

So the ship's doctor was on TV (on the ship, I assume) telling people he doesn't know that they may need to adjust their blood pressure medication because Princess (the company he works for) is putting too much salt in their food? That sounds bizarre to me.

[Loreni]

So the ship's doctor was on TV (on the ship, I assume) telling people he doesn't know that they may need to adjust their blood pressure medication because Princess (the company he works for) is putting too much salt in their food? That sounds bizarre to me.

 

Yes. What is more bizarre is that Princess would use so much salt that the doctor would feel the need to give this message. If this behavior seems at odds with his employer, perhaps he feels his first obligation is the health of those onboard, especially on a month long cruise which this was.

 

Again, people are getting the flu onboard and it is a significant enough issue that Princess now provides a letter warning about it. On our last cruise, Princess actually posted a large sign at the entrance of the Captain's cocktail party asking people not to shake hands.

 

For those who do get sick onboard, and there are many, I encourage you to consider why it is happening. And if you have a way to monitor your sleep quality, consider doing so.

[shredie]

Which ship was this?

[mrs and mrs]

This is just terrible. Can you please identify the month long cruise.

 

Now I thought it could be the air-con.

But we can rule that out because it doesn't work

 

The shaking of hands.

No, not allowed

 

The watches, the watches.

Could they be faulty.

 

Cant be the mattress topper.

Its your own.P/s just a side note how do you travel with that, on planes etc,

 

Its got to be the salt, and the doctor, is it the salt air you are breathing and absorbing.

 

I'm at a lose, please identify the cruise and the ship.

[chengkp75]

The AC does not shut off when the lights are off. Some newer ships require a key card in a slot near the door to keep the power on in the cabin, and this will normally dial back the AC a few degrees while no one is in the cabin, but if the lights work, even if off, the AC is working.

 

The AC does not shut off at 0330. There would be no savings at all for doing this. It uses less energy to maintain a constant temperature rather than allowing a huge volume like the ship to warm up and then have to cool it back down.

[sanger727]

Are you sure it's the flu and not a cold (as in you have a fever, vomiting, body aches). Just asking because I get colds on cruises often too, and I see much more of that getting spread than the flu (and if you are getting the flu that often, I certainly hope you are getting your annual flu shot).

 

Either way, while I'm not arguing with any of your points about why you don't sleep well, I really doubt that that is a more significant factor in your catching a virus than just being in such close quarters with thousands of other people for several days. Have you tried another cruise line and had better luck?

 

 

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[pablo222]

 

Finally, we can quantify the problem because we wear watches that estimate how much deep sleep we get. At home it is around 70 percent. On our last cruise, it was in the 30s, about half as much deep sleep as at home or in hotels. Deep sleep is when the immune system repairs itself.

 

How much money does Princess save by reducing the air conditioning? Have they no regard for the comfort or health of their passengers? If we bring a fan and extension cord will either be confiscated? Should I need to work this hard for a good night's sleep?

 

It sounds like you have identified Princess as not the cruise line for you.

 

Although, really no conclusions can be reached based on a study with

a single data point.

[Griller]

OP really isn't happy and needs to try another cruise line with really small ships, that would be better for everyone. It will be expensive of course, very very expensive compared to Princess.................................

I must admit I have caught a cold which turned into a cough the last couple of cruises, they were fairly long ones and a lot of passengers were coughing.

It wasn't flu though, I have had flu once and know the difference, 12 worst days of my life, flu is life threatening, indeed my grandfathers first wife died of it in 1919.

I just put catching a cold on board down to so many people in such a small space.

In 65 cruises with Princess and quite a few on other lines some of which were fairly crappy I have never known the AC to be turned off at night.

And I do not use salt in my food at home, never have, and there are a few dishes on Princess which I can taste too much salt but not many. I just avoid those ones, the onion soup is one example.

I have other gripes about Princess these days but those things mentioned by the OP are not them.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I often leave cruises with the start of a cold, and this is not limited to cruises with Princess. My friend in Florida who lives near Ft. Lauderdale asks me to please visit before my cruises, not after! LOL

 

My theory is that the elevators are the culprit, you can always hear hacking and coughing and people are in close proximity. Therefore I do my best to stay off and use the stairs, but sometimes it is just too far to walk up.

Edited November 28, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal

[Zooguy]

I'm curious what ship this was. We were on the Emerald recently and found the cabin to be uncomfortably hot. Ship personnel confirmed that the Emerald has an AC issue. I'm going to start bringing a fan with me.

Never got the flu though thank God.

 

 

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[Grego]

This is really strange. Why would just one couple continually come down to the same symptoms on every cruise with Princess? It made me sick just ready this.

[rbslos18]

Seriously, I'm not sure of the science in your post. A bacterial infection is very different from influenza which has various types. The AC should have been addressed. While I do not question your symptoms and discomfort, there may be something else at play.

 

I'd suggest you not assume anything and discuss with your physician.

Edited November 28, 2016 by rbslos18

[RMM34667]

My mom (82) seems to get sick by the end of every cruise. We have been home just a week and she has a nasty cold. I am glad you reminded me. I have been looking to book a 10 day cruise forgetting about few years ago we decided 7 days should be the maximum.

[h3rjp]

I've never had an issue with the a/c on any ship. As soon as I arrive I turn it down as low as it can go and leave it there for the whole time.

 

I also make sure that whenever I'm not in the cabin I draw the curtains to block out any sun light beating through the doors.

 

I like my room * cold * and I've never found it to be anything other than that.

 

That said I've never been on a ship with faulty a/c and if it was I'd be at passenger services every 10 minutes until it was fixed!

 

I also sleep more soundly on a ship that anywhere else on earth. The low hum of the engines and all the mechanical wizardry going off beneath me sends me straight off into a deep sleep. Plus I love the mattresses (although still never found a better pillow than the one you get on Cunard).

 

If you can't sleep deeply on a ship, the perhaps cruising isn't for you?

 

 

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[CineGraphic]

I suggest that the OP give up cruising immediately, even if her theories make no sense.

No answer/solution from Princess will make her happy.

[Potstech]

I usually end up with a sinus infection at the end of every cruise which I live with. It also happens after taking other trips so I should blame the airlines or my car as they are just as culpable as the ship. Either quit cruising or realize a venue for over 3000 people is going to cause a few medical problems. Life goes on.

[Sacto Rick]

I don't know if the sodium or lack of deep sleep is the problem but the OP is right that a lot of people get respiratory infections on cruises . I never got the flu or noro but I have been getting brutal respiratory problems that last for 3-4 weeks. It's not just Princess, it's a problem on all ships.

 

Just because you haven't had this problem, it is a real issue. We're concerned too.