flu season and cold season

[HCTiger9704]

In the United States, the flu season is considered October through May. It usually peaks in February.  The cold season begins around late August and lasts until March or April.

 

How safe are cruise ships during the peak of flu season and cold season?  Should that be a major concern for people who are thinking cruising in February?  

 

I usually sail in April because that is towards the end of the flu/cold season, it is after St. Patrick's Day (I belong to two Irish-American clubs), and it is not too hot but not to cold.  Sadly, Easter is April 12, 2020 so that prevents me from cruising in April (raising the cost of a cruise, work, and I want to spend that time with my nieces and nephew).  I am just wondering should I take flu/cold season into consideration while doing research for planning my next cruise.  

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, HCTiger9704 said:

In the United States, the flu season is considered October through May. It usually peaks in February.  The cold season begins around late August and lasts until March or April.

 

How safe are cruise ships during the peak of flu season and cold season?  Should that be a major concern for people who are thinking cruising in February?  

 

I usually sail in April because that is towards the end of the flu/cold season, it is after St. Patrick's Day (I belong to two Irish-American clubs), and it is not too hot but not to cold.  Sadly, Easter is April 12, 2020 so that prevents me from cruising in April (raising the cost of a cruise, work, and I want to spend that time with my nieces and nephew).  I am just wondering should I take flu/cold season into consideration while doing research for planning my next cruise.  

Do you take flu shots ? I do and have never had a respiratory illness on a cruise ship.

[LHT28]

You can get sick anytime  of the year

 Wash your hands  & stay away from those  that are coughing & sneezing

 

DH got sick on  a TA in April this year  even though we were very careful

I with the low immune system was just fine 😉

[Kartgv]

You can easily pick up the flu or a cold from anyplace crowds gather (actually, all it takes is one sick person), or a restaurant, shopping cart, handrail, someone sneezing in an elevator in a hotel or office building.    Cruise ships obviously have crowds so there is always some risk, but not much more so than most other places.    If you have a seriously compromised immune system and must avoid illness at any cost, you might think about wearing a mask anyplace you go.    Otherwise, I'd just use normal good-sense precautions - wash you hands very frequently, keep you hands away from your face, possibly avoid the buffets unless they are staff-served (such as on HAL and Oceania) instead of self-serve.    

[denmarks]

Just be sure to get a flu shot. I just got mine today. Norovirus is what many people get. Be sure to use hand sanitizer and be careful what you touch.

[CruiserBruce]

Are you going to fly to your cruise?  That is probably as good a chance of catching a cold or flu. But you can ease the chance of flu by getting the flu shot. Have done 21 cruises, almost all times of the year. Never have gotten sick.

 

All that said, if we want to go on a vacation,  cold or flu season or not, we are going to go. We are not going to lock ourselves in our house for colds, flu, or terrorists.

[chipmaster]

When I was young and didn’t travel much I never took the vaccine and lived the wild adventure, now that I travel every week and get exposure to people from all over the world I always take the flu vaccine.  But the viruses are everywhere, just different times leads to different risk conditions.

 

Every year what mutations make it out of Asia leave us with the roll of the dice!

 

Early in the season the CDC and others look to make the vaccine cocktail for what they think is coming.  

 

Vaccinations, eating healthy, staying healthy are your best deterrents, but nothing is fool proof, but you can live in free, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger 

Edited September 4, 2019 by chipmaster

[bobcat440]

3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Do you take flu shots ? I do and have never had a respiratory illness on a cruise ship.

Our pharmacist said if we need a reminder to get your flu shot when you're getting out your Halloween decorations 🙂  We weren't religious about getting them until we had grandchildren.  Now we do it for them and us.

 

Regarding colds there's little to do about them except treat the symptoms.

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, HCTiger9704 said:

In the United States, the flu season is considered October through May. It usually peaks in February.  The cold season begins around late August and lasts until March or April.

 

How safe are cruise ships during the peak of flu season and cold season?  Should that be a major concern for people who are thinking cruising in February?  

 

...

When you are in any closed-in environment:  office building, store, cruise ship - you are in contact with others, and contact with others is how you get exposed to colds and flu.

 

Cold season is year-round, it is just more likely to get one in winter when more time is spent indoors with closer inter-person contact.

 

Flu season starts slowly - in late October and runs through April.  The point is: only a damn fool fails to get a flu shot every year - as early in the season as possible.  While the shots are not 100% effective, they do a pretty good job - probably better than 75% , which is better odds than most people ever see when betting on anything.  Aside from self-interest, it is a responsible thing to do because not only do you greatly reduce the risk to yourself, you minimize the chances that you will infect others.

 

If you do not get the flu shot, you are not only stupid, you are selfish.

[bobcat440]

1 minute ago, navybankerteacher said:

Aside from self-interest, it is a responsible thing to do because not only do you greatly reduce the risk to yourself, you minimize the chances that you will infect others.

 

That's a really big deal.  And hard to defend not getting it, IMO.

[Ashland]

Easy and quick to get our flu shots every year at Costco and with our health ins. their free.

[spookwife]

cold and flu season has less than zero bearing on  any single facet of my life.  I am on immunosuppressive therapy.   I get my flu shot, wash my hands religiously and take the usual precautions.   have never been hampered yet.  

[leaveitallbehind]

13 hours ago, HCTiger9704 said:

How safe are cruise ships during the peak of flu season and cold season?  Should that be a major concern for people who are thinking cruising in February?  

No more of a concern than sending your kids to school, or shopping in a mall, eating in a restaurant, flying in an airplane, riding in a bus, or traveling on a train, staying in any hotel, vacationing in any other resort, going to a sporting event, or participating in any activity that would include a number of other people around you at the same time during that (or really any) time of year would pose.

 

Cruise ships are perfectly safe and the crew implement measures all the time with cleanliness to help reduce the risk of any illness spread.  It is the people on board that pose the risk.  As many have mentioned, it is a matter of taking the necessary precautions yourself to help mitigate the risk of contracting any illness that may be communicable.  That - or any other - time of the year would not have an impact on my decision to cruise.  The risk would be no greater IMO as with any other activity as mentioned.

Edited September 5, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[leaveitallbehind]

To add, I would actually think that cruise ships would perhaps be the safer choice as I'm not sure how many schools, malls, airplanes, etc., take the safety precautions cruise lines do to help mitigate the spread of illness on board....

[evandbob]

I believe it takes a few weeks for a flu shot to become fully activated, so for the majority of us who do get the immunization, allow some "shoulder" time before the cruise.

 

I have returned home from cruises, land vacations and air travel perfectly fine, or sometimes sniffling or coughing, and ocassionally with symptoms more serious.  My worst illness happened after a May TA, go figure.

[Underwatr]

Norovirus also peaks in winter months. We get flu shots in the fall but we have to depend on others cleanliness for much our Noro protection.

 

I caught cold on a cruise this June, so I guess that's a hazard most any time.

[h_blond2]

Get your flu shot and wash your hands. You are worrying way too much about it.

[geoherb]

I got my flu shot earlier this week. We leave in two weeks for London then a transatlantic cruise. Two years ago I came back from our British Isles cruise with the flu. It was late August. My doctor had not seen such an early case of the flu. Thankfully, Tamiflu worked well to knock back my symptoms. The cruise after ours had a full outbreak of the flu onboard. This summer, one of my tablemates was diagnosed with the flu (late June in Alaska), so it can happen any time of the year, especially because you have people from all over the world coming together into a relatively small space.

[Keith1010]

The reality in February there is a high chance of getting sick in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

As CruiserBruce said I would be concerned with the flight.  Very easy to get sick on a flight and that includes a cold.

 

Equally it is easy to get sick on the ship.

 

Best you can do is get a flu vaccination as I would do anyway if not going away and to take precautions such as avoiding touching eyes and nose, washing hands often and thoroughly, cleaning the seat/tray/seat belt when you board. I am not sure if this works but the last two years my wife and I have started to use a nose salt solution before and when traveling.  Also avoid getting too close to people and avoid hugging and handshakes.

 

And just hope you don't pick up something.

 

Keith

[ReneeFLL]

Cold and flu season has never crossed my mind when booking. We have booked several times in February and October. If you have a suppressed immune system then it might be a bigger concern, but you can get sick anywhere. Take some cold meds with you if you are concerned so you can treat the symptoms. They will help with how crappy you will feel. As others have said was your hands a lot.

[dkjretired]

I’m not going to let Flu and Cold season dictate my life. I can just as easily get sick at home. As far as Noro, according to the CDC somewhere around 30 to 35 million Americans will get Noro, about 5000 of them on ships. Go and enjoy yourself.

[Markanddonna]

Just like everything else, wise and generally healthy people take the necessary precautions and prepare. 

- Get your flu shots

- Try to eat with your utensils rather than using your fingers (cut up the pizza, etc.)

- Wash your hands frequently and use the paper towel to open the door.

- Wipe down door knobs and handles in your room, Include the remote with a Lysol type of wipe..

- Bring a small medicine kit with you, especially if you have many sea days. The small assortment of medicines in the ship's gift shops will be the most expensive meds you'll ever buy. 

- "Cruise cough" is a frequent occurrence, esp. on longer trips. You can assess the severity of the problem by counting the number of coughs in the theatre. Passengers usually don't stay in their cabins if they are sick.

- Many with noro virus won't let the ship know because they are quarantined for a few days. 

 

This may seem a bit obsessive, but we have suffered through  the common cold and bronchitis on cruises. We stay in our rooms if we have a fever and the other brings food from the buffet.

 

Cruises DON"T do a very good job of screening people for illness before they board. We ate with a man who had almost died a few weeks before he boarded (hospitalized, etc.), and he looked awful and very sickly. He "disappeared" after the first two days on a 23 night transpacific. I have no idea of how he passed through the screening. 

 

 

 

[Wayfairers]

On 9/4/2019 at 5:35 PM, HCTiger9704 said:

How safe are cruise ships during the peak of flu season and cold season?  Should that be a major concern for people who are thinking cruising in February?  

Cruise ships are as safe as any other enclosed space with lots of people....schools, malls, stores, church, etc.  It wouldn’t be a concern for me, I take the same precautions all year to try not to get sick....hand sanitizer, wash hands before eating and after using bathroom, don’t touch face, don’t eat or drink after others. 

[HCTiger9704]

Thank you for the responses.  It makes me more comfortable booking a cruise in February.  

 

A few years ago, I went on a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico and I did not do the enough research.  I ended up getting sick from too much sun and I got food poisoning (both at the same time).  I feel like if I done the correct research (including asking questions on forums), I would have been more prepared in I could have prevented getting sick in Cancun.  So after that experience, I always do research which includes asking people questions.  

[clo]

On 9/5/2019 at 12:47 PM, fyree39 said:

Unfortunately, I probably left the germs behind for everyone on board.

I've never researched this but I've always thought that one is contagious before one is symptomatic.  Just me.