Bug Repellent Needed?

[kathy884]

I have some of the bug repellant clothing that I purchased so I can do things like walking the dog at home and minimize mosquito bites without putting on deet spray.  I wear this same light clothing when practical in cruise ports for something like an island tour and carry deet wipes.  Typically for the beach during the day with the wind, mosquitos aren't a problem, but I still use this clothing as a beach coverup.  If doing any wildlife, mangrove or jungle tours, I use deet on top of protective clothing for all exposed skin and apply this before the tour starts.  

 

I am a mosquito magnet.  I have found strangely enough that removing bananas from my diet (read an old wives tale about that and one tour company "Caravan" mentions this too for their Costa Rica tours) really helps me.  There is no scientific evidence that I am aware of about this, but I've tried so many different things and this more than anything else has been huge in reducing mosquito bites for me.   Even at home, I now only eat bananas during non mosquito season. 

 

My favorite tropical destination are the theme parks in Orlando.   I don't know what they do there, but that is the only tropical climate place where I have never done anything for mosquitos and have never gotten a bite.  Go rah Disney, SeaWorld -- haven't done Universal enough to comment.  

[island lady]

21 hours ago, CruiseKeeper said:

 

In that case, I hate Fire Ants!!! A pox on them! 

 

totally agree!!  Nasty creatures.  They also come in various sizes.  😮 

 

🐜🐜👹

[grapau27]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

 

totally agree!!  Nasty creatures.  They also come in various sizes.  😮 

 

🐜🐜👹

The first time we went to Orlando in 1992 I was standing in the hotel garden and Pauline took my photo.

It took seconds but those fire ants bit my feet several times.

[island lady]

16 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

The first time we went to Orlando in 1992 I was standing in the hotel garden and Pauline took my photo.

It took seconds but those fire ants bit my feet several times.

 

Bucky gets the bites almost every time he cuts back invading weeds in the back yard that are coming out of the swamp!  No bug repellent will keep those off.  He wears boots to keep them off as much as possible, but they do run up your legs.  Uggg.... 😞 

[ReneeFLL]

On 10/24/2019 at 2:45 PM, PatMunits said:

A month ago (September 2019) we were bitten multiple times by microbugs in Cozumel. This happened at sunset while we strolled from the pier to downtown along the main road. We definitely wished that we had a bug spray at that time. Those were not mosquitoes but some micro flies, and their bites were annoyingly itchy.

Otherwise we didn't experience any issues with bugs during day time. We stopped in Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya, and CocoCay.

Those sound like no-see-ums.

 

On 10/24/2019 at 6:51 PM, Heymarco said:

How is this Royal Caribbean related?

🙄

 

On 10/24/2019 at 9:30 PM, Heymarco said:

 

Oh in that case, anyone know when the first frost will be in Boston? EEE is probably biggest threat to cruisers this year.

Because frost doesn't carry diseases.

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Those sound like no-see-ums.

 

🙄

 

Because frost doesn't carry diseases.

 

Hard frost kills the mosquitoes and their larvae.  Some communities that have tested positive for EEE have even rescheduled Halloween activities so kids will not be out when the mosquitoes are out.

[ReneeFLL]

2 hours ago, Heymarco said:

Google EEE. It’s a  mosquito borne illness that causes death 🙄

I know what EEE is. 🙄

[ReneeFLL]

2 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Hard frost kills the mosquitoes and their larvae.  Some communities that have tested positive for EEE have even rescheduled Halloween activities so kids will not be out when the mosquitoes are out.

Thanks, I didn't think about the cold temps killing them. Wished we would get more cold weather down here.

[mk-ultra]

.

Edited October 28, 2019 by mk-ultra

[Bailey & Sophie]

I also like to spray my clothes.  If I get bit the bites last for about a month. Wipes sound great. But, how do you get the wipes on clothing? Maybe do both? We're from Minnesota...know mosquitoes all too well.

[vivianmarie244]

I heard somewhere on these boards that bug spray was not allowed when snorkeling.  Is that true at Roatan?  I've heard they are bad there.

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, vivianmarie244 said:

I heard somewhere on these boards that bug spray was not allowed when snorkeling.  Is that true at Roatan?  I've heard they are bad there.

 

Has to be a natural kind of bug spray that does not harm coral.

[cruiselvr04]

I got chewed alive by sand fleas on water island off St Thomas a few years ago.  Pretty much ruined the cruise for me.  100 bites, couldn’t sleep, intense itching for days.  Only time I’ve been to medical on a ship.  Needed steroids.  So I take a small can of deet to every beach. And if we notice tiny, tiny black bugs we leave immediately.  The DH didn’t have a single bite that time.