Incontinence

[travelbound4]

Hey everyone, 

 

I was wondering if any one here has experience cruising with incontinence? Even more specifically bedwetting?

 

i was wondering if the mattress usually has waterproof protection? Or is there someone that I should speak with at the cruise line about that?

 

also, how are the trash cans in the room size wise? Does it get emptied every day?

 

thanks!

[kokopelli-az]

What cruise line are you going to be on??    You should contact their Access Department and inquire about protection for the mattress.   

 

I've only seen relatively small garbage cans in staterooms but they have always been emptied 1-2x a day.  If you are using adult diapers or bringing disposible mattress protectors, ask your stateroom attendant for something larger to dispose of them in (like a plastic bag).  

 

If you do a search on this board for "incontinence" and you will find other comments.

Edited May 1, 2022 by kokopelli-az

[travelbound4]

I’ll be on Royal Caribbean. Does each cruise line have their own access department? (Sorry if that’s a dumb question, I’m new to cruising). 
 

Thank you for your answers though!!

[Essiesmom]

Yes they do and a link will be on their website.  EM

[Bloodgem]

Email Royal using special_needs@rccl.com. 

 

 

 

 

[Broons77]

We recently sailed on Royal, my wife is almost totally incontinent.  We use adult diapers and brought along a handful of disposable bed liners that she would lie on directly thereby protecting the sheets and mattress.  The bed liners are available at most major drug store chains.  In addition, I bring our own trash bags.  The small trash can liners with flap ties are perfect for disposing of used diapers, we prefer the scented ones.

[FOPMan]

Special needs at sea I’ll deliver in incontinence supplies (and assistive devices and more) to your ship’s cabin prior to sailing in many ports. 

[travelbound4]

21 hours ago, Broons77 said:

We recently sailed on Royal, my wife is almost totally incontinent.  We use adult diapers and brought along a handful of disposable bed liners that she would lie on directly thereby protecting the sheets and mattress.  The bed liners are available at most major drug store chains.  In addition, I bring our own trash bags.  The small trash can liners with flap ties are perfect for disposing of used diapers, we prefer the scented ones.

Thanks! Did you reach out to them before sailing? Or did you just take care of it all yourselves without notifying them?

 

did the room attendant say anything at all or make mention of it?

[FOPMan]

12 hours ago, FOPMan said:

Special needs at sea I’ll deliver in incontinence supplies (and assistive devices and more) to your ship’s cabin prior to sailing in many ports. 

Should have been “Special Needs at Seas will.” It was early and I fat-fingered my response.

[Broons77]

1 hour ago, travelbound4 said:

Thanks! Did you reach out to them before sailing? Or did you just take care of it all yourselves without notifying them?

 

did the room attendant say anything at all or make mention of it?

 

We did fill out the special needs form but didn't really request anything specific to her incontinence or even mention it actually.  We stayed in an accessible cabin as she is mobility impaired so we were more concerned with that and as we've been dealing with the incontinence for so long, we really don't give it much thought.  The diaper/liner combo really hasn't failed us.  We didn't mention anything to the attendant, and he didn't mention anything to us, but i'm pretty tidy, especially where it comes to keeping up with the diaper situation.  I'd make sure the bags were tied up securely and if there were several of them, I'd just put them into another bag.  Think of the old Phil Hartman sketch from Saturday Night Live - "there's a piece of trash that we can all live with" lol...

[travelbound4]

1 hour ago, FOPMan said:

Should have been “Special Needs at Seas will.” It was early and I fat-fingered my response.

Haha all good! I figured you didn’t mean you would deliver it! Appreciate the clarification though!

[kokopelli-az]

This link might be of interest:

 

https://www.incontinentsupport.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2110&hilit=diapers+cruise&start=10

[Bloodgem]

22 hours ago, Broons77 said:

The diaper/liner combo really hasn't failed us.  We didn't mention anything to the attendant, and he didn't mention anything to us, but i'm pretty tidy, especially where it comes to keeping up with the diaper situation.  I'd make sure the bags were tied up securely and if there were several of them, I'd just put them into another bag.  

I also do as @Broons77 has written.

I do strip the bed on the rare occasions that the diaper/liner combo fails and place the wet sheet in the shower.  As my son is doubly incontinent if there is a partially horrible smelling pad I take the pad to the nearest public restroom and dispose of the pad in the baby diaper bin. 

[travelbound4]

23 hours ago, kokopelli-az said:

This link might be of interest:

 

https://www.incontinentsupport.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2110&hilit=diapers+cruise&start=10

Thank you!

[travelbound4]

On 5/3/2022 at 4:06 PM, Broons77 said:

 

We did fill out the special needs form but didn't really request anything specific to her incontinence or even mention it actually.  We stayed in an accessible cabin as she is mobility impaired so we were more concerned with that and as we've been dealing with the incontinence for so long, we really don't give it much thought.  The diaper/liner combo really hasn't failed us.  We didn't mention anything to the attendant, and he didn't mention anything to us, but i'm pretty tidy, especially where it comes to keeping up with the diaper situation.  I'd make sure the bags were tied up securely and if there were several of them, I'd just put them into another bag.  Think of the old Phil Hartman sketch from Saturday Night Live - "there's a piece of trash that we can all live with" lol...

Haha thanks for the laugh! Glad to hear it went smoothly for you though! I have some disposable pads I am trying out now before my trip but j definitely plan on bringing them as back up each night to the diapers. May be a silly question, but do you put the pad over the bed sheet or under it (between the mattress and sheet)?  I’ve seen people mention it both ways.  

[Broons77]

We would use the pad over the sheet.  While we've only had leaks occur very infrequently, we'd rather avoid having to make the attendant strip the bed if there was one.  And my wife is a pretty quiet sleeper, she doesn't move or thrash about at night, so everything stays pretty secure.  Finally, I usually have to get up at night to use the bathroom myself, so I'll usually change her diaper really quick when I do.  It's gotten to the point where she barely wakes up, she just moves around enough to let me pull it off and throw a new one on her.  Human adaptability knows no bounds...

 

I hope all this has helped settle your mind so you can enjoy your cruise!  

[Kiran]

On 5/5/2022 at 12:01 PM, travelbound4 said:

Haha thanks for the laugh! Glad to hear it went smoothly for you though! I have some disposable pads I am trying out now before my trip but j definitely plan on bringing them as back up each night to the diapers. May be a silly question, but do you put the pad over the bed sheet or under it (between the mattress and sheet)?  I’ve seen people mention it both ways.  

I am traveling with my elderly mom. 
 

i bought and packed a washable bed pad and that goes under the sheet to protect the mattress

(mattress also in a protective case on this ship on princess)

 

then i deploy disposable pads on bed and chair

 

then mom wears adult pullups of day and night variety which she can change herself

 

Room steward provided us with red Biohazard bag to line our bathroom waste can for poopy pullups and excess toilet paper

(easy for toilet paper to stop up toilet so place excess in red biohazard bag )

 

 

wet sheets or blankets pulled off  bed and put in rollin shower until he can service room

we ask  for room cleaning at dinnertime as that the only time we are sure to be out of cabin

 

also have seen room steward provide large standup paper bags lined in plastic for dealing with soiled items

 

if washcloths or hand towels gets pee or poo on them when cleaning , i bag separately so ship laundry can treat, clean or throw out at their discretion 

 

also plan on in doing laundry often

 

[atexsix]

On 5/9/2022 at 2:31 AM, Kiran said:

I am traveling with my elderly mom. 
 

i bought and packed a washable bed pad and that goes under the sheet to protect the mattress

(mattress also in a protective case on this ship on princess)

 

then i deploy disposable pads on bed and chair

 

then mom wears adult pullups of day and night variety which she can change herself

 

Room steward provided us with red Biohazard bag to line our bathroom waste can for poopy pullups and excess toilet paper

(easy for toilet paper to stop up toilet so place excess in red biohazard bag )

 

 

wet sheets or blankets pulled off  bed and put in rollin shower until he can service room

we ask  for room cleaning at dinnertime as that the only time we are sure to be out of cabin

 

also have seen room steward provide large standup paper bags lined in plastic for dealing with soiled items

 

if washcloths or hand towels gets pee or poo on them when cleaning , i bag separately so ship laundry can treat, clean or throw out at their discretion 

 

also plan on in doing laundry often

 

I'm glad you mentioned it, I think I better add a couple of the pads to my diaper bag.  We're already bringing a pack of the pull ups.  And I'll talk to the room steward about something for the waste because I use the wet wipes on my Dad and you can't flush them, even though it says you can, but I wouldn't chance it on a ship.  

[Broons77]

10 hours ago, atexsix said:

I'm glad you mentioned it, I think I better add a couple of the pads to my diaper bag.  We're already bringing a pack of the pull ups.  And I'll talk to the room steward about something for the waste because I use the wet wipes on my Dad and you can't flush them, even though it says you can, but I wouldn't chance it on a ship.  

 

DEFINITELY don't flush the wipes, they will cause problems with the ship's waste system.

 

And @Kiran, why do you bring the washable bed pads?  Wouldn't the disposable ones be easier to deal with?  I believe Princess has laundry on board, but who wants to do wash on vacations 🙂 

[atexsix]

3 hours ago, Broons77 said:

 

DEFINITELY don't flush the wipes, they will cause problems with the ship's waste system.

 

And @Kiran, why do you bring the washable bed pads?  Wouldn't the disposable ones be easier to deal with?  I believe Princess has laundry on board, but who wants to do wash on vacations 🙂 

FYI: if your LO is a veteran, the V.A. will give you the disposable pads, briefs, or diapers for free.  But if you don't have any, the disposable kind you buy for pets will work just as well. 

[travelbound4]

On 5/9/2022 at 5:31 AM, Kiran said:

I am traveling with my elderly mom. 
 

i bought and packed a washable bed pad and that goes under the sheet to protect the mattress

(mattress also in a protective case on this ship on princess)

 

then i deploy disposable pads on bed and chair

 

then mom wears adult pullups of day and night variety which she can change herself

 

Room steward provided us with red Biohazard bag to line our bathroom waste can for poopy pullups and excess toilet paper

(easy for toilet paper to stop up toilet so place excess in red biohazard bag )

 

 

wet sheets or blankets pulled off  bed and put in rollin shower until he can service room

we ask  for room cleaning at dinnertime as that the only time we are sure to be out of cabin

 

also have seen room steward provide large standup paper bags lined in plastic for dealing with soiled items

 

if washcloths or hand towels gets pee or poo on them when cleaning , i bag separately so ship laundry can treat, clean or throw out at their discretion 

 

also plan on in doing laundry often

 

Thanks! I’m gonna be bringing some disposable bed mats as well. Figure I will use those as the second line of defense in case my diaper leaks. 

[travelbound4]

On 5/14/2022 at 10:51 PM, atexsix said:

I'm glad you mentioned it, I think I better add a couple of the pads to my diaper bag.  We're already bringing a pack of the pull ups.  And I'll talk to the room steward about something for the waste because I use the wet wipes on my Dad and you can't flush them, even though it says you can, but I wouldn't chance it on a ship.  

Do you know if the wipes ever cause any issues going through security? I read somewhere that someone said their bag was flagged because when the wipes went through the scanner they couldn’t tell what it was so they then went through the bag. I’d refer to avoid that! Haha

[kokopelli-az]

2 hours ago, travelbound4 said:

Do you know if the wipes ever cause any issues going through security? I read somewhere that someone said their bag was flagged because when the wipes went through the scanner they couldn’t tell what it was so they then went through the bag. I’d refer to avoid that! Haha

We've never had a problem with wet wipes going through security and we fly several times a year.   

And don't worry about the security people going through your bag because, believe me, they've seen everything.   

[travelbound4]

17 minutes ago, kokopelli-az said:

We've never had a problem with wet wipes going through security and we fly several times a year.   

And don't worry about the security people going through your bag because, believe me, they've seen everything.   

Thanks - I wasn’t sure if checking bags on cruises was different process or scanners than flying is. 
 

my worry is more if I’m traveling with others so I’d prefer to not have security go through the bag in front of them 

[Kiran]

I bring a washable bed pad as a protection for the mattress whether hotel or cruise

 

so their mattress / some with protective casing

 

My washable bed pad 

 

sheet

 

disposable bed pads