Medications on the ship

[DrJJ]

Any idea how Viking deals with medications that require refrigeration. Is the cabin refrigerator cool enough

[CDNPolar]

18 minutes ago, DrJJ said:

Any idea how Viking deals with medications that require refrigeration. Is the cabin refrigerator cool enough

 

I would say yes, but the bigger question is what temperature do you need.  Who knows the reliability of these mini bars to maintain a temperature, and these will be opened by ship crew for restocking.

 

I remember somewhere that Viking will put a mini fridge in your room for medications.  Does anyone know if this true?

Edited September 14, 2023 by CDNPolar

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, DrJJ said:

Any idea how Viking deals with medications that require refrigeration. Is the cabin refrigerator cool enough

Somewhere on this forum I remember reading that a guest had measure the temperature and it was 53° or so which wasn't cold enough for their drugs so they had taken 2 sets freezer packs which the ship froze for them each day.  If it was me, I would email TellUs and ask. 

[Mich3554]

Yes.  A friend of mine needed her drugs refrigerated on the world cruise.  She left her meds in the medical center and went down at a scheduled time to get them.  It wasn’t a big deal.

[Meander Ingwa]

I would only trust a refrigerator in Sickbay over the small units in rooms.  There are small units that are specific for maintaining a constant cold temp desired for medication.  Contact and find out about special accommodations, include your needs on your customers forms

[JDincalif]

We've noticed lately that some cruise ships and hotels are referring to those inroom devices as "chillers", not refrigerators. Probably a good reason to make arrangements with the medical center for cold storage.

[LindaS272]

55 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

We've noticed lately that some cruise ships and hotels are referring to those inroom devices as "chillers", not refrigerators. Probably a good reason to make arrangements with the medical center for cold storage.

We stayed in a Foss hotel in Iceland two years ago and there was a minibar in the room. I noticed that it was actually somewhat warm so called the front desk. I kept calling it the “refrigerator” and the front desk clerk was adamant that it was not a refrigerator, just a “cooler.” He couldn’t seem to understand that it wasn’t cooling anything!

 

Luckily the Viking “chillers”, as you say, are much cooler than those in the Foss hotel. I hadn’t exactly noticed that they aren’t refrigerator caliber because we have kept food in them, as well as milk for our tea with no problem.

[Squawkman]

As an insulin dependent diabetic, I researched this very topic. I use Humalog, so different insulins and other medications may be different. Humalog can stay at room temperature for 28 days and storage refrigeration temperature should be between 36F and 46F. I would think the cabin refrigerators are in the lower 40’s, so if I could exceed 28 days, I would bring a small thermometer and ask the medical office to store it if the temperature is above 46F. For other medications, check the manufacturer’s website.

[CDNPolar]

I also use insulin - Tresiba - and it is safe out of refrigeration for 56 days as long as it is kept below 86F.  I never refrigerate the insulin pen that I am using currently and when I travel, I take what I need plus one extra and these are never refrigerated either.

[Jazmyn49]

Some have found it works to add a bowl or bag of ice in the chiller/cooler.  Then again, when returning from a long excursion, the cooler was wide open and everything at room temperature.  I have never heard of that happening before or since.  Then again, again, our steward had a multitude of problems which even the head housekeeper did not fix.  That was on World Cruise #4 for us and the first time we have ever had anything but high praise for our stewards.  We spent much time from Bali to London being frustrated and annoyed.  Why would someone think we wanted only one drinking glass or no body wash or our stuff moved around???  Rant over.  We leave in a month for another Viking cruise.

[millybess]

On 9/14/2023 at 1:05 PM, DrJJ said:

Any idea how Viking deals with medications that require refrigeration. Is the cabin refrigerator cool enough

I agree with Mich3554, keep them at the Med Centre, then you know they will be kept at the right temperature.  If you have meds that need refrigerated, I wouldn't take a chance on the in-cabin mini-fridge.

[beach bunnie]

I'm currently on Orion.  I brought a small digital thermometer with me for the ship and for the hotels ( we were traveling 3 days before).  Our fridge on Orion wasn't working at all.  The temp was 65 degrees when we arrived.  But they fixed it it early the first night (we couldn't board until 6pm so that was really fast).  The temp has been a constant 41 degrees for almost 2 weeks now.  My meds need to be between 36 and 46.  I was prepared to take them to the medical center but the fridge has worked great for me.  This is a 93 days cruise so keeping them close makes me feel more secure.

[rmalbers]

On 9/14/2023 at 9:35 PM, JDincalif said:

We've noticed lately that some cruise ships and hotels are referring to those inroom devices as "chillers", not refrigerators. Probably a good reason to make arrangements with the medical center for cold storage.

Yes, that just happened to us in NYC a month ago.  I sort of wonder if hotels have gotten sued or something over meds going bad in the 'cooler'.  We asked if there was a fridge in the room and they said no but one would be delivered to  the room.  It was there when we got there and I opened up the bar cabinet and there was a 'fridge' there.  I told the front desk we don't need two and they said, 'oh, that's not a fridge it's a cooler', anyway I said ok.  My beer stayed cold the whole time!