Vaccines for South America Cruise

[Shinydiamond]

My husband and I are doing the Panama and Scenic South America cruise stopping in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Has anyone taking this or a similar cruise gotten vaccinations or brought special medications for traveling to this region?

[TayanaLorna]

19 minutes ago, Shinydiamond said:

My husband and I are doing the Panama and Scenic South America cruise stopping in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Has anyone taking this or a similar cruise gotten vaccinations or brought special medications for traveling to this region?

No.  Just did not drink local water.  Brought lightweight long sleeved shirts and pants and sprayed with insect repellent to avoid mosquito bites.  Had gotten hepatitis shots ages ago when we first moved to the Caribbean and traveled on our own sailboat.  Did not get yellow fever vax for Amazon this year.   Look at CDC recommendations and make your own decision.

Edited August 31, 2023 by TayanaLorna

[gma1]

Shinydiamond, We are on the 18 day Panama & Scenic SA cruise Oct. 11, 2023. No we did not get any special shots...as didn't see any required. I will bring insect spray, an antibiotic and a few misc. basic items, as I get bronchitis easily, and a couple covid tests. We did just get a booster for that. Maybe we'll meet up onboard. Looking forward to experiencing this new Polaris ship, as well as the many sea days. I see you are from a neighboring state. We are from Northern Virginia.

 

[Peregrina651]

Ask your MD what is appropriate for your medical status.  

 

Make sure that you meet the vaccination requirements of each of the countries you are visiting. Remember that the words "They told me on Cruise Critic..." mean nothing to border officials.  

 

[Shinydiamond]

I checked and nothing is required but I agree that checking with my md is probably the best call. 

[Heidi13]

7 hours ago, Shinydiamond said:

My husband and I are doing the Panama and Scenic South America cruise stopping in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Has anyone taking this or a similar cruise gotten vaccinations or brought special medications for traveling to this region?

 

Determining vaccination requirements is more than just the ports you plan to visit, our travel medical docs also recommend including where we will be visiting on tours.

 

Another consideration is that requirements are constantly changing, so what we experienced last year may be invalid. It is for this reason, our travel medicine docs suggest not booking an appointment more than 3 months. When we knew longer term vaccinations were required, we started earlier and then returned again about 4 - 6 weeks before the cruise.

[SJD117]

I’ve been on land-based trips to all the South America countries on your list. I don’t recall getting vaccinations for any of them. But I started going to SA in 1990, when I was younger and more reckless, so I wouldn’t necessarily trust my memory (or do now what I did back then). Best to check current recommendations for each country you’re visiting.

[PSboys]

My physician recommended typhoid fever vaccine if plan to eat while in various ports.  We're on Panama Canal transit cruise ... Mexico, Columbia, Panama, and Costa Rica.  Also prescribed ZithroMax to take with us in case we come down with something.  And they recommend packing Imodium.

[minka34]

Sorry - off topic here...
@gma1 @Shinydiamond Did either of you review your cruise?  We are going in March 2024 and I was hoping for a little advance info... weather, ports, included tours vs. optional, etc.  There are many reviews of the southern trips but I didn't see any for the trip between Santiago and Ft Lauderdale (either direction).  I suppose the weather will be different due to Oct vs. March but still would read a review if either/both of you decide to post one! 😉

 

[CILCIANRQTS]

On 8/31/2023 at 1:21 PM, Shinydiamond said:

I checked and nothing is required but I agree that checking with my md is probably the best call. 

Most hospitals have an infectious disease clinic, and some of those even have a travel clinic subsidiary. We’ve found them VERY helpful in discussing both travel requirements and travel suggestions, in addition to prescribing meds to take along “ just in case”. They also gave us risk info sheets on each country we visited. 

There is a modest fee, but we felt it was well worth it.