Advice please on a cold

[JasonBefore]

So it seems we chose a bad time for our cruise with what’s going on in the world (not that it was foreseeable when we booked)...Coronavirus in China and it seems a nor virus in Caribbean.

 

I feel confident princess will do all they can and don’t really think in the Caribbean it is very risky - although a quarantine would be rough...

 

What does worry me is generally my wife gets a cold when we travel...stress and anxiety of work and the travel.  Not a huge deal sore throat and congestion.  What happens if this happens beginning or on our cruise...we have been nowhere close to an affected area or near a person that is affected - in fact we haven’t left our hometown in a couple of months.  
 

Will we be denied the cruise?  If so - Will our princess insurance platinum reimburse?  We don’t have the “any reason cancel” version didn’t even know about it till reading on this forum.

 

i have considered calling but I feel this could just lead to a worse headache...”what if my wife gets a cold before cruising?”

 

Anyway the stress of this is just making it even more likely she will get sick..every sneeze (she has allergies) makes her panic.

[Irule7]

We just got back from sailing in the Caribbean out of Ft. Lauderdale.  The only thing they did extra was a questionnaire if we had travelled to China or been exposed to the virus.  They aren't doing physical exams or anything.  So as long as your wife is okay traveling while sick, she should be fine.  Just bring cold medication just in case.  I always travel with any medication we could possibly need, my toiletry bag looks like a pharmacy.  

 

[DrivesLikeMario]

There isn't norovirus "in the Caribbean".  It doesn't just linger out there on all the islands or in the air.  It's usually in a resort or a ship.  That said, it can happen just about anywhere at anytime.  In 50 cruises, we've never experienced it.

Definitely bring cold medication with you.  The prices in the medical center are outrageous for cold meds.  I'm amazed that everyone doesn't travel with it but I saw many people buying it in the med. center last month.  

I seriously doubt they'd stop her from cruising unless she's coughing, sneezing and/or blowing her nose or has an obvious temperature (looks flushed, etc.).  As far as I know, Princess isn't taking people's temperatures yet with that non-touch scanner.

[katisdale]

If you have "Princess" insurance you do have cancel for any reason insurance.

[JasonBefore]

I didn’t know that - it has a whole list of reasons so I thought it had to be one of those specifically...we both have platinum so I guess we are ok...now just have to decide.  Based on what has been said they will probably let her on.  
 

If we decide to cancel will they refund the cost of air travel booked through ez air as well?  It seems unclear in booklet.

 

thank you all for your replies...it is taking some of the stress off

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, katisdale said:

If you have "Princess" insurance you do have cancel for any reason insurance.

That depends. If it's the "Platinum" insurance, yes CFAR. If it's the standard insurance...no CFAR.

[JF - retired RRT]

23 minutes ago, JasonBefore said:

If we decide to cancel will they refund the cost of air travel booked through ez air as well?  It seems unclear in booklet.

 

If you have Princess insurance, any costs for things booked through Princess are covered including EZAir.

 

BTW: ask your doctor about cold prevention meds. I use a nasal spray that dries up the post nasal drip that presages me getting a cold. Post nasal drip -> sore throat -> coughing sneezing = a cold.

[LeeW]

On any given cruise you will see 5-10% of the people with some kind of cold, especially during the winter (although not all coughing is cold-related and there is a lot of that as well).  

[Shmoo here]

3 hours ago, Irule7 said:

So as long as your wife is okay traveling while sick, she should be fine.

And what about the people she will be in contact with?  Will they be fine?

[pink845]

Not sure how that Cancel For Any Reason Insurance Works.  We are Princess Elite but have never bought such a product.  But for the people out there who might know the answer to this:  If the OP has bought the air with EZAir and husband and wife arrive at the ship and they are denied boarding because the the wife has major cold symptoms, deep cough, runny nose, sneezing, weeping eyes, flushed face, hot ears, fever, lethargy, etc. etc.), should then the Cancel for Any Reason Insurance kick in and reimburse them their cruise fare and their airfare (I mean it is called Cancel for Any Reason). 

[weedpindle]

7 minutes ago, pink845 said:

Not sure how that Cancel For Any Reason Insurance Works.  We are Princess Elite but have never bought such a product.  But for the people out there who might know the answer to this:  If the OP has bought the air with EZAir and husband and wife arrive at the ship and they are denied boarding because the the wife has major cold symptoms, deep cough, runny nose, sneezing, weeping eyes, flushed face, hot ears, fever, lethargy, etc. etc.), should then the Cancel for Any Reason Insurance kick in and reimburse them their cruise fare and their airfare (I mean it is called Cancel for Any Reason). 

That will be denied boarding. Ya just lost money. And you already used air, so why would you think you get reimbursed for that.

[pcur]

5 hours ago, JasonBefore said:

So it seems we chose a bad time for our cruise with what’s going on in the world (not that it was foreseeable when we booked)...Coronavirus in China and it seems a nor virus in Caribbean.

 

I feel confident princess will do all they can and don’t really think in the Caribbean it is very risky - although a quarantine would be rough...

 

What does worry me is generally my wife gets a cold when we travel...stress and anxiety of work and the travel.  Not a huge deal sore throat and congestion.  What happens if this happens beginning or on our cruise...we have been nowhere close to an affected area or near a person that is affected - in fact we haven’t left our hometown in a couple of months.  
 

Will we be denied the cruise?  If so - Will our princess insurance platinum reimburse?  We don’t have the “any reason cancel” version didn’t even know about it till reading on this forum.

 

i have considered calling but I feel this could just lead to a worse headache...”what if my wife gets a cold before cruising?”

 

Anyway the stress of this is just making it even more likely she will get sick..every sneeze (she has allergies) makes her panic.

Same thing happens to me.  I figure it's people from different geographic areas gathering together with their "home" viruses in tow.  A pediatrician told me once that it's very common for this to happen:  we build our immunities based on the viruses we come in contact with, and they tend to cluster geograpically.

 

Anyway, got on a ship on 2/1/20; got my cold / sinus thing on 2/8/20.  Got bronchitis several days later, and went to the doctor on 2/16/20 after I got home.  Considering where I had been, she called me Wheezy Boaty McBoat!!  Couldn't tell if it was pneumonia, so antibiotic and inhaler.  She didn't test me for coronavirus, but she did ask me if I had been around anyone who had been to China recently.

 

Most Americans aren't getting coronavirus because we tend to get flu shots every year, we don't (for the most part) frequent buildings where a lot of smoking goes on, and therefore our lung function and immunities are pretty good, overall.  Elderly people with compromised immune systems are at risk, and young people that haven't be vaccinated or had flu shots are, too.

 

They will only want to know if she has been around someone who had it.  

 

A suggestion:  I cough inside my clothes.  I pull my jacket open and cover my face, or I pull my top up a little, and cough into my clothing.  

[pcur]

12 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

And what about the people she will be in contact with?  Will they be fine?

If she takes precautions, other people are at no major risk.  Washing hands, decongestants to keep the mucus minimized, not coughing into the open air, disposing of tissues properly, staying in less crowded areas of the ship

 

There is no way to go on a cruise and not be around someone with a cold/cough.  Never saw it in the 47 years I've been cruising.  

[Iamcruzin]

14 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

And what about the people she will be in contact with?  Will they be fine?

My son has had a cold that turned into bronchitis. He is now on antibiotics and prednisone.  Should I throw him out of the house? Actually I should because I'm scheduled for hip replacement surgery next week and if I get sick I have to cancel. 

[2theship]

I know that even without working full time, I tend to overdo getting ready and wear myself out. That combined with the lack of sleep from excitement an anxiety over the travel, it's easy to set myself up for attack by any germs I'm exposed to. Has she ever tried any antioxidants like Emergen-C or used a nasal rinse? They can both help fend off bugs. And, of course, be sure to get your flu shots. It's hard to predict when you might come in contact with a bug. A good friend who has never cruised and doesn't work in an environment where she's likely to be exposed came down with norovirus. She may have picked it up at the grocery store or in a movie theatre.

[pink845]

To the Poster:  My son has had a cold that turned into bronchitis. He is now on antibiotics and prednisone.  Should I throw him out of the house? Actually I should because I'm scheduled for hip replacement surgery next week and if I get sick I have to cancel. 

 

Careful with the prednisone, one of the side effects, is that prednisone does put one at risk to further catch other bacterial infections as well.  So, I would actually keep him IN THE HOUSE.  

[Irule7]

23 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

And what about the people she will be in contact with?  Will they be fine?

He said she normally gets a small cold from stress.  I just meant that if she felt her symptoms were manageable then she wasn’t going to get any type of physical evaluation by anyone at the port.  It’s up to each person as to whether they feel like they should or shouldn’t get on the ship if they are feeling sick.

[pink845]

And is seems that when someone is coughing  up a storm or sneezing uncontrollably in an elevator or simply walking into the buffet, on a ship, they DO NOT COUGH INTO THEIR SLEEVE OR cover their mouth with a tissue, instead they continue on their merry way basically advertising to the rest of the ship, that they are shucks sick, but that they paid for this cruise and that they are going to enjoy it so who cares about the rest of you.  Such a selfish attitude.  Every time I witness this type of behavior, I have the mind to take that person aside and give them a talking to.    But my husband always stops me.!

[crystalspin]

A woman we had met at dinner came up to my while I was waiting for my omelet, LEANED ON MY SHOULDER, and said "I've got the Cruise Crud."

 

I jumped away, about 3 feet, and said "Please keep it to yourself!"

 

Don't be that person. 

[JasonBefore]

6 hours ago, katisdale said:

If you have "Princess" insurance you do have cancel for any reason insurance.

Again thanks for the feedback - again at this point it is hypothetical... but she does tend to get a minor cold before travel. 
 

this seems crazy to me we could call in the day of the cruise and say decided not to come - no reason cruise credits please, but if we go and are denied we not only lose flights...which I understand cause we used them but there is zero cruse credits when they say she is to sick?  Shouldn’t it the fall into regular part of the insurance....a medical professional has said no go - and it would be cash back for the cruise?

 

4 hours ago, weedpindle said:

That will be denied boarding. Ya just lost money. And you already used air, so why would you think you get reimbursed for that.

[pengu1n]

Vitamin C (or Airborne) works well for me!  I always seemed to get that travel or holiday illness like your wife does.

[BIG TIME CRUISER]

16 hours ago, pink845 said:

And is seems that when someone is coughing  up a storm or sneezing uncontrollably in an elevator or simply walking into the buffet, on a ship, they DO NOT COUGH INTO THEIR SLEEVE OR cover their mouth with a tissue, instead they continue on their merry way basically advertising to the rest of the ship, that they are shucks sick, but that they paid for this cruise and that they are going to enjoy it so who cares about the rest of you.  Such a selfish attitude.  Every time I witness this type of behavior, I have the mind to take that person aside and give them a talking to.    But my husband always stops me.!

What other choice do they have on a ship other than voluntarily confine themselves to their cabin? 

[pink845]

Not a matter of choice.  The right and decent thing to do is to cough or sneeze into ones  sleeve or into the crook of one's elbow if they do not have sleeves and to promptly wash their hands for twenty seconds including the space between their fingers with hot soap and water.  If not able to do wash their hands after said cough or sneeze; then clean hands with sanitizer which is readily available in tiny bottles that can easily fit into almost any pocket.     Yes, it might mean leaving the buffet line and washing ones hands, but the food is not going anywhere!

[WallyNDiane]

We were on the Feb 2 Caribbean Princess Norovirus shortened cruise. From my observation, the cruise started out in a normal fashion. Winter is the heart of the cold and flu season so there are always people on the cruise with colds. Unfortunate consequence of winter cruising. However my wife and I commented as soon as the first night on the age of the passengers. Empirically, this cruise probably was the oldest average age cruise we were ever on. We ate one night with a couple who were 94 and 92. We saw more walkers, canes and scooters on this cruise that ever before.

 

Then the Norovirus started to spread. We did not get it. We took vitamin C and washed our hands constantly. Princess staff served food on the buffet and got your drinks and even sugar, sweeteners and salt and pepper. Likewise at dinner, your waiter poured sugar or sweateners and seasoned your food.

 

I always take vitamin C before cruises and keep our hands washed and hope we don't get sick. Having close to 3,000 passengers plus another 1,000 or so of cruise staff in the cold and flu season always increases the risk of getting sick.

[BIG TIME CRUISER]

1 hour ago, pink845 said:

Not a matter of choice.  The right and decent thing to do is to cough or sneeze into ones  sleeve or into the crook of one's elbow if they do not have sleeves and to promptly wash their hands for twenty seconds including the space between their fingers with hot soap and water.  If not able to do wash their hands after said cough or sneeze; then clean hands with sanitizer which is readily available in tiny bottles that can easily fit into almost any pocket.     Yes, it might mean leaving the buffet line and washing ones hands, but the food is not going anywhere!

Sorry but that's not an option for me. I'm not putting my plate down for 5 minutes while the food gets cold just to wash my hands.