beware bed bugs!!

[OB10913]

Just a friendly warning to those cruising to Nova Scotia. My brother and law and his wife had bed bugs in their cabin. They were covered with bites and complained. The staff told them they were bed bugs. RCI changed their room, and laundered all their clothing. They are still have the heeby geebies

He plans to wrie a letter. Yuck!!

The only detai I have is that they were in a balcony cabin...aside from that I have no other particulars. I do know that RCI supposedly fumagated the original cabin.

[Shaken_Bake]

Bed bugs would have nothing to do with cruising to Nova Scotia - they can be anywhere. I've read that bed bugs have made quite a resurgence recently and they're very difficult to eliminate, not to mention how awful the bites can be. My best wishes for a speedy recovery to your family members.

[MattInFLL]

There is a huge bed bug problem happening now, and believe it or not, some of the worst problems are in the finest US hotels... the infestation came from Europe supposedly... and they are very hard to get rid of since they live at the edges of the carpet...

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

:eek: Now I've got the heegie geebies

 

:eek: I just changed the bed today!

 

:eek: I think I may again tomorrow!

 

***

[Cruising89143]

All you need to know about bed bugs!!!!!!!:eek: Maybe too much!!!!!

 

http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm

[sherry7]

Ick, bugs! :eek:

 

This reminds me of a little ditty my mom used to tell me as she was tucking me in at night...

 

The bed bugs and the skeeters

Were having a game of ball

The score was six to nothin'

The skeeters were ahead.

Then then bed bugs hit a homerun,

And knocked me out of bed! :D

[Sophie]

Just one more thing to do when we get on the ship. Make sure we have a good table for dinner, make spa apointments, order first foo-foo drink, check for bed bugs....

[SUSANITA]

So, changing the sheets doesn't get rid of them?? Ewwwww.

I too have read that they are making a huge comeback, almost at epidemic proportions in some countries. Again, ewwwwww.

[Sea Island Lady]

Don't place your luggage on the floor in any stateroom or hotel room. if there are bedbugs, they jump in and come home with you. :eek:

[gerif]

Just one more thing to do when we get on the ship. Make sure we have a good table for dinner, make spa apointments, order first foo-foo drink, check for bed bugs....

 

OK - at the risk of sounding totally stupid - how do you check? Can you see them on the sheets? What do they look like?

[OCruisers]

YUCK!

 

:rolleyes: Guess we need to know BUT almost wish we didn't! :rolleyes:

[joto]

Is there any spray or thing like that available, that you can take with you to spray bed, carpets etc? We once had to buy flea spray because of a flea problem in a vacation house in France. Still gives me the hebe jebees now just thinking about it.

[Annieeee]

OH YIKES :eek: !! Wonder what cabin they had, was it on the Voyager? We were on it in June. And if you can't place your luggage under the bed, or on the floor in the closet where do you put it so the bed big won't jump on /in it.

 

Darn now I am itching all over and had to go anc change the linens on my bed lol .

 

Annieeee

[cruzin2paradise]

Ok - I read the article posted above and I'm sooooo creeped out . . .

[Sophie]

OK - at the risk of sounding totally stupid - how do you check? Can you see them on the sheets? What do they look like?

The article above says they leave small brown spots on your sheets and mattresses. Of course, if you have dark colored sheets, it may be very hard to tell!

[sally r]

Why, oh why did I read this! I am all itchy and creepy feeling now. Do you think Raid would kill them? What about a flea bomb? Oooo, I have the heebie jeebies!

 

Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite....

[njreindeer]

:(GROSS!:( I'm such a clean freak, this is completely freaking me out & turning my stomach.

 

If you can't store your luggage on the floor under the bed, where CAN you put it?

[Tristan]

I am SO freaked out by this! And I'm crusing next week.

 

How do you tell if they are there???????

[Tristan]

Do you happen to know which cabin and which ship??

 

Please let me know.

[njreindeer]

Tristan --

 

As much as I hate to make you do this, read the article that's linked-to in a post above. The poster is right, more info than you ever want to know. Just read it myself and while I can't shake this creepy-crawly feeling, at least I now feel like I could spot the things if I had to. And believe me, as soon as we get in our cabin - or any Bed and Breakfast or hotel from now on! - the first thing I'll do is look for them! Eeeewwwwwww!:eek: I am so creeped out!

[mojo4trav]

Highly Disturbing! :eek:

[Coralc]

Well you probably don't want to hear about head lice from movie theater seats then either. Yes, bed bugs are a lot more common than they used to be. They probably came from Europe, but it was back in the 1700's. You will see spotting on the mattress from an active infestation. Zip up your luggage before you store it, but don't worry about things you have no control over. If you wake up with itchy bites, after the first night in a hotel or your cabin, you might want to do a little exploring, but otherwise don't worry about it. Bed bugs don't stay on a person, they crawl off to hide. And let a professional handle any treatment, or you're going to make yourself sick from the insecticides. Sleeping on a mattress soaked in RAID is worse for you than the bugs themselves.

[emilygrace]

Yuck, yuck, yuck! I guess that's what we get for outlawing DDT! :eek: I don't deal with bugs very well (one reason I've avoided Hawaii) and this certainly didn't help, especially since we're doing the Canada/New England cruise next month!

 

Excuse me while I go scratch all over!

[Linda/Ohio]

Would it help if you have your own sheets? Travelsmith offers "travel' sheets--sort of a cocoon of your own clean sheets to sleep on.... They are lightweight and pack small.

 

Linda

[Got2bsunny]

Hi Everyone...

 

I work for a company called Ecolab Inc. One of the areas we specialize in is Pest Elimination. Recently while on a tour of the Research, Development & Engineering building this subject came up!!!

 

The company "Bug Guy" (yes, Ecolab has a couple guys that specialize in the study of bugs and what products work to kill them...) discussed what to look for and how to solve the problem.

 

If bed bugs are present, you'll see brown, :eek: and possibly, black spots along the seams of the matress. The brown spots are blood stains and the black spots are dead bed bugs. According to him, your not likely to find these stains on the sheets. Bed bugs are nocturnal, much to small for the eye to see. Further, a bed bug infestation can be detected by looking for their fecal spots, egg cases, and exuviae (shed skins) under wallpaper, behind picture frames, and inside cracks and crevices near beds. Carefully inspect the bed frame, undersides of windows, door casings, and loose moldings.

 

Now, he did share a trick for preventing them from getting to you, but I don't remember all of the steps so I'll have to call him and find out. I do know that he recommended carrying one of those plastic allergan full bag matress covers, placing it over the mattress, then making sure the mattress is exposed to bright sunlight as a temporary fix. Also, a stiff brush can be used to scrub the mattress seams to dislodge bed bugs and eggs followed by vacumming. (Of course, I'm not 100% certain how you'll obtain the vacuum unless your steward agrees to use the vacuum that I'm sure is located on your floor.)

 

There are also pesticides, but they should only be used by a professional pest exterminator and pesticides are, of course, toxic! Some of these pesticides can be applied to the matress after which you can then use the mattress after it has sat without sheets for a minimum of 4 or 5 hours.

 

Pesticides available to the general public include (but NOT recommended for use by the general public):

 

Allethrin

Malathion 57% EL - 4 tbsp. per gal. of deodorized kerosene

Pyrethrins

Resmethrin - 0.3% spray

 

Also, here is a "natural" product that I found doing an internet search:

 

http://www.naturalginesis.com/id70.htm

 

Pam