Influenza Type A on Enchanted Princess

[suzyed]

We are sailing at the end of September and now after reading this, we plan on getting the Flu shot in the beginning of September.  Hopefully it will help protect us throughout the cruise. 🤞

Edited June 3, 2023 by suzyed

[Coral]

9 minutes ago, suzyed said:

There are various strains of Flu, it's possible that you got a different strain than what the shot was directed to.  
The new "Senior Flu Shot" covers 4 different Flu strains....hope it works out better for all of us!
It also takes about 2 weeks for it to kick in.

 

 

Yea - I know. I got the strain that was included in the flu shot that year. Go figure. I think schools have so much germs going around.

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, SargassoPirate said:

Having worked in public health and safety before I retired, I can offer what's worked for me for years and during the restart.

 

Take all of your vaccinations.

 

Wash your hands frequently and then use sanitizer before after you are seated, you've pulled your chair in, and handed the menu back and before you touch any food.  Resanitize if during the meal you touch any common use items such as a salt shaker.

 

If you find yourself sitting anywhere near somebody coughing, get up and move - no matter how much you wanted to see that show or how good those seats are. 

 

Essentially, treat the world and those around as contaminated and break the chain of transmission between the world - them and yourself.

 

I think the most important advice here is to move away if you hear someone coughing a lot. In my opinion if someone knows they have a sniffle they should be the one masking up and sitting away from people, but that never happens does it.

 

Im considering masking up for my next cruise, it doesn’t guarantee anything but it may help.

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, Ken the cruiser said:

To go along with this, take the stairs whenever practical rather than the elevator. However, if you want to take the elevator, have a mask handy so you can put it on if others decide to join you. Don't worry, after 3 years everyone is used to masks and you won't be judged. Also, if more than 6 people are in the elevator, get out and either walk the rest of the way or take the next elevator.

 

When you are deciding where to sit in the theater before the show, make it a game and look for seats where folks won't be sitting directly behind you, which are usually on the side or in the balcony rather than in the center. We were just on a 33-day transpacific cruise on the Eclipse on a packed ship and were always able to find them. However, at the same time we would notice very few people, if any, would move if there were people coughing behind them let alone put a mask on. 🤔

I’m considering masking up in all public areas on the ship to be on the safe side. No guarantee but it might help.

 

Its good advice about the theatre but I am worried that might not be an option with the ship so full!

[PrincessLuver]

On 6/2/2023 at 3:40 AM, LPG27 said:

I was on Enchanted May 6 to 13.   Beautiful ship, great food and staff.  Unfortunately my husband and I caught the flu onboard midway thru our cruise.    There were many people in the sick bay and many others coughing around the ship.    Apparently from some recent facebook posts the bug continues to circulate.   My only reason for this post is to warn guests who will be boarding soon to be extra careful.  I would hate for for any of you to end up sick as we did.   Also when packing bring cold and flu medicine because it was very hard to get the right medicine in the foreign country and it was  very expensive to visit the medical center on board..   Have a wonderful trip!    It is truly a great experience if you are not sick! 

We just got off the Enchanted after being on board 3 weeks and things have not calmed down.  Lots of people with really bad coughs and seemed sick.  My wife and I both caught some kind of bronchial bug even though we masked up as much as possible as we could.

Edited June 3, 2023 by PrincessLuver

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

I’m considering masking up in all public areas on the ship to be on the safe side. No guarantee but it might help.

 

Its good advice about the theatre but I am worried that might not be an option with the ship so full!

My DW masks up all the time when in public areas. For me I keep my mask in my pocket (I'm a guy what can I say 😂) until I hear someone cough nearby 2-3 times or I'm in the elevator with other people. Then I'll put it on. As far as the theater goes, we try to get to the early show about 15-20 minutes early to pick an out of the way place on either side, preferably where there are no seats directly behind us.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

I’m considering masking up in all public areas on the ship to be on the safe side. No guarantee but it might help.

 

Its good advice about the theatre but I am worried that might not be an option with the ship so full!

I recently returned from Alaska. I did mask in elevators, the theatre, when in Explorer's Lounge, etc.... Anytime when I was near a bunch of people. I didn't mask when I was outside.

 

I also masked on airplane and buses.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

My DW masks up all the time when in public areas. For me I keep my mask in my pocket (I'm a guy what can I say 😂) until I hear someone cough nearby 2-3 times or I'm in the elevator with other people. Then I'll put it on. As far as the theater goes, we try to get to the early show about 15-20 minutes early to pick an out of the way place on either side, preferably where there are no seats directly behind us.

I found our Theatre did fill up quite a bit so your plan didn't work for me. Though as the week went on, more and more people did start coughing, etc... Even if someone wasn't directly behind me - I did mask. People were close enough who were sick.

[MissP22]

On Princess ships it's next to impossible for get a decent seat in the theater where no one will be sitting near you. Most ships are now sailing filled and unless it's a lousy show, there's no hope of not being close to someone. 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

I found our Theatre did fill up quite a bit so your plan didn't work for me. Though as the week went on, more and more people did start coughing, etc... Even if someone wasn't directly behind me - I did mask. People were close enough who were sick.

Sorry to hear that. We OTOH were on a 33-day B3B from Sydney to Vancouver by way of Honolulu starting April 19 on the Eclipse which was fully loaded with 2800+ passengers, many from Australia (where it's the beginning of fall) on the first two (3-day and 18-day) legs with plenty of folks developing a "coarse cough" as the cruise progressed, and we both made it home healthy.

 

Then there are the potentially highly contagious dining areas where no one is wearing a mask. We also sat at 2-tops the entire cruise, even though there were quite a few that liked to sit at sharing tables (with up to 10 guests). We also went on large excursions at every port where we wore a mask and sat in the back of the tour bus.

 

I realize sometimes it just happens, as in your case. But at the same time there were a lot of folks on our cruise that were treating it like the pandemic never happened. Unfortunately, many of those folks also forgot about all of the other types of sicknesses that exist on a cruise ship, like the flu, norovirus, etc. Oh yeah, that's other thing. We stay out of the public bathrooms when at all possible. 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Hlitner]

Did a double-take when I saw the topic.  Type A flu in Europe in the summer?  If the diagnosis is accurate than that may not bode well for next fall/winter's flu season :(.

 

Hank

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Sorry to hear that. We OTOH were on a 33-day B3B from Sydney to Vancouver by way of Honolulu starting April 19 on the Eclipse which was fully loaded with 2800+ passengers, many from Australia (where it's the beginning of fall) on the first two (3-day and 18-day) legs with plenty of folks developing a "coarse cough" as the cruise progressed, and we both made it home healthy

 

Yea - I am re-thinking trips with lots of sea days. At least for the time being. I am also thinking land vacations. I had so much fun on my time in Canada (Whistler) before my Alaska cruise.

 

I only went to the Theatre for the Naturalists' talks.

 

Right now - I am no longer into the shows, I don't like crowds (maybe still thinking COVID thoughts as I had several coworkers sick for the first time with it before I left). 

 

It maybe time to switch to land vacations for awhile.

[Coral]

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Did a double-take when I saw the topic.  Type A flu in Europe in the summer?  If the diagnosis is accurate than that may not bode well for next fall/winter's flu season :(.

 

Hank

My thought is that you get people from all over the world flying in for the cruise. So right now flu is probably peak season in Australia. 

 

I know of someone who just got back from Alaska and got the flu.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Coral

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

On Princess ships it's next to impossible for get a decent seat in the theater where no one will be sitting near you. Most ships are now sailing filled and unless it's a lousy show, there's no hope of not being close to someone. 

We were on the Regal this past July for 21-days in the Med, where the ship was pretty much packed on all 3 legs. We usually got to the theater 15-20 minutes before the early show and were usually able to find some seats along the far wall on the right side where there were actually a few seats, but not many, with no seats directly behind us or to the right of us, as they were on the aisle next to the wall where no one really wants to sit.

 

We would also initially use the center seat between us as a "card table" for playing gin until it was showtime. That way if someone did sit down next to me, there would be a chair's width between me and that person, once I made the shift right before showtime to the middle seat to sit next to my DW. In most cases, though, if someone did sit down next to us, they would usually leave one seat between them and me leaving a larger distance when I made the shift. Like I said early, we treat all of this antisocial behavior as a game as we cruise a lot and really don't want to get sick! 😀

 

The only reason I'm mentioning this is because there is a way to improve your chances of not getting sick while on a cruise. But advanced planning is key.

[Hlitner]

35 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

😀

 

The only reason I'm mentioning this is because there is a way to improve your chances of not getting sick while on a cruise. But advanced planning is key.

We love to socialize with folks on cruises, so do little to separate ourselves from the masses :).  That being said, we practice a simple common sense approach which has served us well.  1.  If we are near folks who are doing a lot of coughing/sneezing, we generally move to a different location  and 2.  We try to minimize our use of elevators which has several advantages including getting us more exercise as well as avoiding the sealed chamber (elevator) which is akin to being inside a germ incubator.  We also wash our hands more than our norm when not on a ship.

 

I might add that DW used to get URIs/cabin cough, and many cruises.  These simple and very basic steps have had very positive results on numerous voyages.

 

Hank

[suzyed]

9 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

I think the most important advice here is to move away if you hear someone coughing a lot. In my opinion if someone knows they have a sniffle they should be the one masking up and sitting away from people, but that never happens does it.

 

Im considering masking up for my next cruise, it doesn’t guarantee anything but it may help.

We will bring our masks and assess the situation once onboard.

 

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, Coral said:

I recently returned from Alaska. I did mask in elevators, the theatre, when in Explorer's Lounge, etc.... Anytime when I was near a bunch of people. I didn't mask when I was outside.

 

I also masked on airplane and buses.

On the plane is a must!

[buckeye7]

I’m just off the Enchanted and heard a bit of coughing but nothing extreme. We took the stairs 99% of the time and wore masks on shuttles, buses, etc… I washed my hands and carried Prime Defense hand sanitizer which we used a lot. I’m now in Italy for a few days and have a cold, despite all that : ) I tested myself to make sure it isn’t covid and got a negative. (We never saw any of the tell tale tables outside cabins, so I don’t know if there was much covid on the ship.) 

[SargassoPirate]

On 6/3/2023 at 2:09 AM, Nicole&Pete said:

I’m considering masking up in all public areas on the ship to be on the safe side. No guarantee but it might help.

 

Its good advice about the theatre but I am worried that might not be an option with the ship so full!

I've had success with the tips I posted and I made it through the pandemic without wearing a mask unless someone in authority required it and then it was often just a cowboy bandana.  Five cruises since the restart, numerous flights, some buses, taxis, etc.  

 

Not so much as a sniffle.

 

Same approach for flu season and the rest of the year. I take steps to protect myself with vaccinations and hygiene and do not depend on others to do "the right thing" because few people do 

 

By all means, wear a mask  to protect yourself if you feel the need.

 

Safe cruising.

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I've had success with the tips I posted and I made it through the pandemic without wearing a mask unless someone in authority required it and then it was often just a cowboy bandana.  Five cruises since the restart, numerous flights, some buses, taxis, etc.  

 

Not so much as a sniffle.

 

Same approach for flu season and the rest of the year. I take steps to protect myself with vaccinations and hygiene and do not depend on others to do "the right thing" because few people do 

 

By all means, wear a mask  to protect yourself if you feel the need.

 

Safe cruising.

My kind of guy.✔️ 😄

[Dar & Bob]

On 6/1/2023 at 9:40 PM, LPG27 said:

I was on Enchanted May 6 to 13.   Beautiful ship, great food and staff.  Unfortunately my husband and I caught the flu onboard midway thru our cruise.    There were many people in the sick bay and many others coughing around the ship.    Apparently from some recent facebook posts the bug continues to circulate.   My only reason for this post is to warn guests who will be boarding soon to be extra careful.  I would hate for for any of you to end up sick as we did.   Also when packing bring cold and flu medicine because it was very hard to get the right medicine in the foreign country and it was  very expensive to visit the medical center on board..   Have a wonderful trip!    It is truly a great experience if you are not sick! 

Curious question - do they quarantine you with the flu?  and since your hubby had it so long did they test for C-19?  

[LPG27]

7 hours ago, Dar & Bob said:

Curious question - do they quarantine you with the flu?  and since your hubby had it so long did they test for C-19?  

Dar and Bob.

We took covid tests 2 times in our cabin so we knew we did not have covid.    We told that to the clinic nurse  and they did not test for covid.    The nurse immediately tested my husband for flu.   And yes, once it was positive for influenza A  the doctor put us in quarantine.    However we were disembarking the next day so we were only quarantined for one day.   The ship doctor told us if we had covid he would have  to report it to Italy and we would have to be quarantined  in Italy.   However Italy is not concerned about the flu since there are many people walking around Italy with the flu!   We thought that was strange but we spent the next 8 days in Italy and there were people coughing and sneezing wherever we went.

[travellingnana]

7 hours ago, Dar & Bob said:

Curious question - do they quarantine you with the flu?  and since your hubby had it so long did they test for C-19?  

My husband got sick on the Crown. Tested negative for Covid, but positive for the flu. They then tested me; I was negative. He was quarantined in our cabin, but I was not. He was quarantined until he no longer had a fever…which he just self-reported. 

[LPG27]

On 6/3/2023 at 7:42 AM, Hlitner said:

Did a double-take when I saw the topic.  Type A flu in Europe in the summer?  If the diagnosis is accurate than that may not bode well for next fall/winter's flu season :(.

 

Hank

Hank I saw the test result myself and it was clearly positive for Influenza type A.    That was on May 12.

[Dar & Bob]

6 hours ago, LPG27 said:

Dar and Bob.

We took covid tests 2 times in our cabin so we knew we did not have covid.    We told that to the clinic nurse  and they did not test for covid.    The nurse immediately tested my husband for flu.   And yes, once it was positive for influenza A  the doctor put us in quarantine.    However we were disembarking the next day so we were only quarantined for one day.   The ship doctor told us if we had covid he would have  to report it to Italy and we would have to be quarantined  in Italy.   However Italy is not concerned about the flu since there are many people walking around Italy with the flu!   We thought that was strange but we spent the next 8 days in Italy and there were people coughing and sneezing wherever we went.

Thanks for the response, as I said it was just a curiousity.  We always pack the covid tests too as well as the meds to take care of almost any ailment.  Got caught without it once at a resort and paid dearly 🙂  Glad to know the procedure.