Keeping kids from getting sick before we leave on our trip?

[March Cruiser]

Like many young children, my kids get sick a lot through the fall and winter, probably an average of once a month or two, from October through March or so. Usually just an average cold, nothing worse, but still a bummer. We leave for a 5 day cruise and an extra day in San Diego on November 30th and I am trying to figure out how to keep them healthy.

 

Any other ideas besides the obvious - handwashing, lots of sleep, etc. Does anyone do anything special? Have you had to deal with an illness on a trip?

 

TIA!!

[cruisead]

Be aware that if your kids are sick at the time of embarkation, they can be refused boarding. Cruise lines are getting pretty strict with allowing anyone they see as being sick, and some lines even make you sign a statement that your and everyone in your group is healthy. So be very careful if the kids are sick when you embark. You could be told you're not allowed to cruise.

[Hermiole]

Lots of Vitamin C every day for a week before the trip.

 

Try Airborne or Emergen-C

[Keith1010]

The OP hit all of the right items. Getting plenty of sleep, washing hands (but really washing in warm water for at least 20 seconds), and eating properly are all helpful tips. The other thing you can try to do is for a few days before you do minimize their interaction with other children as at that age they are very prone to getting sick from others.

 

I would not give them items such as Airborne. To begin with it is controversial as to benefits and at that age I just would not consider that.

 

Keith

[Snorkel Dawg]

Drink lots of OJ!

[whale-watcher]

When our kids were very young, DW and I would "quarantine" the kids for a week or so before departure. This is impossible if they are of school age, but I still find that rest, good diet, and excellent hand washing are effective for the most part (although we still had the misfortune to have 80% of the family come down with a food borne illness in the houston airport on our way down to Costa Rica a few years ago).

[crusinmama06]

We had a BAD BAD case of an illness on Disney Magic. It was Feb 05. My oldest got sick and my youngest got sick and had a seizure onboard. :eek:

 

So ever since then I have been HYPERviligent about keeping them from illnesses before the cruise.

 

My youngest actually attended a daycare/preschool 2 days a week...so I pulled her out of there 2 WEEKS in advance....lol. She now attends regular preschool...so I probably won't pull her out in advance.

 

I also kept them out of places like Chuckee Cheese for 2 weeks before the trip. And any trip to the grocery store, I carried antibacterial wipes for their hands after they were touching the grocery cart.

 

Nothing like a seizure on a cruise ship to make you a germaphobe. ;)

[Paleochick]

My kids have been sick for the last 5 weeks with 3 different viruses. We've been to the doctor over and over. It has been horrible. My current policy is lots of hand washing, lots of Purell (I keep it in the car too). We are avoiding playgrounds and shopping carts. Before they eat and after the bathroom, they have to wash hands. So far, so good. We've all been healthy for almost a week. We're going to keep this up on the vacation too...you don't want to pick up anything on the ship or airplane.

[abitaturbodog]

These are great ideas!

 

But don't forget to take precautions with you and your spouse too! Keep yourself as healthy as possible so you don't spread it to your kids!

[miami]

I was going to say... why limit it to kids? I don't want to get sick before a cruise.

[mjmalino]

Don't forget a good multi-vitamin to help keep resistance up!

[sas80]

Be aware that if your kids are sick at the time of embarkation, they can be refused boarding. Cruise lines are getting pretty strict with allowing anyone they see as being sick, and some lines even make you sign a statement that your and everyone in your group is healthy. So be very careful if the kids are sick when you embark. You could be told you're not allowed to cruise.

 

Man! Besides being completely OFF TOPIC, what a freaking downer you are! :cool:

[sas80]

Like many young children, my kids get sick a lot through the fall and winter, probably an average of once a month or two, from October through March or so. Usually just an average cold, nothing worse, but still a bummer. We leave for a 5 day cruise and an extra day in San Diego on November 30th and I am trying to figure out how to keep them healthy.

 

Any other ideas besides the obvious - handwashing, lots of sleep, etc. Does anyone do anything special? Have you had to deal with an illness on a trip?

 

TIA!!

 

LOL, at this point I love taking my baby on a cruise because, halfway through it, he gets over whatever he has and can enjoy a few days of actually being healthy for a change! :D

[Mumof2]

We have the same problem. We've had at least one person (usually starts with one, then spreads to all of us) sick on the last 4 of 5 family trips. I always preach about handwashing, and Purell, Purell, Purell! We (parents) don't want to get sick so I take 2 Cold-FX daily as a precaution, even when the kids aren't sick. Also, I've noticed that for events like Christmas parties and concerts at school, parents often don't want their kids to miss out because they're sick, so they send them anyways. One year at preschool a kid was totally sick, coughing on the food, no covering his mouth - it was gross. Of course we all got horribly sick for Christmas. So if you have a trip near an event, you may want to consider skipping the event. I pulled my DD out of preschool a week early last year before our trip to Disney. (That was our only 'healthy' trip) Oh yeah, you should get a flu shot too.

 

Not much else we can do.

 

Mel

[March Cruiser]

Man! Besides being completely OFF TOPIC, what a freaking downer you are! :cool:

 

I was thinking the same thing - I may as well cancel my trip now, because the chance of any of us not having anything is pretty remote!! I am worried about being turned away, I can't imagine!! I can understand why they would want that, but how realistic is it with 2000+ pxs??

[cruisead]

Man! Besides being completely OFF TOPIC, what a freaking downer you are! :cool:

 

Yeah, like I'm the first person to be off topic on these boards, but thanks for pointing that out---didn't know they have appointed topic police on the boards. LOL And it's not totally off topic to let people know that if they or their kids are sick beforehand, they could face a problem. It relates to the OP's question of how to keep kids from being sick before a cruise.

[sas80]

Yeah, like I'm the first person to be off topic on these boards, but thanks for pointing that out---didn't know they have appointed topic police on the boards. LOL And it's not totally off topic to let people know that if they or their kids are sick beforehand, they could face a problem. It relates to the OP's question of how to keep kids from being sick before a cruise.

 

As a rule of cruise critic you are ONLY supposed to answer the question that was asked in the original post. Not offer any abridgments :rolleyes:. Check the guidelines.

 

But it really wasn't about being off topic - it was about totally raining on her parade! Yeek!:eek:

[larronry]

Be aware that if your kids are sick at the time of embarkation, they can be refused boarding. Cruise lines are getting pretty strict with allowing anyone they see as being sick, and some lines even make you sign a statement that your and everyone in your group is healthy. So be very careful if the kids are sick when you embark. You could be told you're not allowed to cruise.

Have things changed? The statement I had to sign last December was specifically looking for signs of Norovirus. I didn't get the impression that they would stop you from boarding if you had a cold.

 

Now that doesn't mean that I want to start out my trip with any of us being sick but unfortunetly I'm going back to work no and can't pull my son from day care for 2 weeks before the cruise. :( On the good side he has had the flu shot.

[sandy toes]

I am NOT trying to rain on anyones parade either but I do think the info about not being allowed to board is going along with the topic of keeping children healthy. With that said, in May a family of 5 were trying to get on ship in Miami. The 3-4 yr old little boy had a cough, very runny nose, green, nasty stuff. They were pulled aside because "...your son looks very ill...". We went around them. Don't know if they were allowed on ship. Never saw them on ship or in the kids camp area or by the pool all week. So maybe sas80 does have a good point and we should hear her out. We need to keep the dhildren healthy and not try to pass them off as OK at embarkation. A major point in favor of insurance.

[abba_dabba_doo]

:(

I pulled my DD out of preschool a week early last year before our trip to Disney. (That was our only 'healthy' trip) Oh yeah, you should get a flu shot too.

 

Not much else we can do.

 

Mel

 

 

Great suggestion, but for those of us that work full-time, we can't pull our kids out a daycare/preschool a week early :confused: .

 

This time of year is just awful for germs and colds. I think everyone has pretty much said it all....plently of sleep, healthy eating, hand washing and avoid sick children (people) as much as possible....although that is so difficult to do w/kids in school and/or daycare......hmmmmmm......as it is I think I'm coming down w/something right now :mad: , my throat hurts :(

[crusinmama06]

I just wanted to clear up the "not allowing you to board" by saying that ALL cruiselines are different.

 

Ironically enough, the cruiseline that stopped everyone and asked if they had ANY illness at all before we boarded was DISNEY MAGIC. And THAT's the one where my youngest caught the virus and seized. :eek:

 

We were never asked on RCCL or Carnival if we were sick before we boarded. Because we had VIP boarding for the past few cruises, both cruiselines whisked on onto the ships in minutes and never asked anything about any illnesses.

 

And those that work full time and can't pull the children out of pre-school...I TOTALLY understand. When I made that suggestion I knew it wasn't for everyone. I have my business out of a home office...so I can do things like that. :)

[cruisead]

I am NOT trying to rain on anyones parade either but I do think the info about not being allowed to board is going along with the topic of keeping children healthy. With that said, in May a family of 5 were trying to get on ship in Miami. The 3-4 yr old little boy had a cough, very runny nose, green, nasty stuff. They were pulled aside because "...your son looks very ill...". We went around them. Don't know if they were allowed on ship. Never saw them on ship or in the kids camp area or by the pool all week. So maybe sas80 does have a good point and we should hear her out. We need to keep the dhildren healthy and not try to pass them off as OK at embarkation. A major point in favor of insurance.

 

 

SandyToes, thanks for backing me up. sas80 said I was off topic and raining on parades. Sorry, but for new cruisers who might not know of some lines' policies regarding illness, it just might help a family to know this before they cruise, and the OP DID ask how to keep kids healthy before a cruise. While my post did not contain happy information on how exactly to do something that nearly impossible, it did address the fact that illness issues can impact a vacation. It's not meant to scare people off, but a reality in today's antiseptic world. We had to sign a waiver before embarking on the QM2 in FLL stating that we didn't have outward signs of intestinal problems or respiratory infections. Same for a cruise on Celebrity. I hate to inform certain people on these boards, but not everything with a cruise is guaranteed to be sweetness and light and painting a sunshine and roses picture can be inherently unfair for those who might be unprepared. There are pitfalls that people might not be aware. But to admonish a poster who has valid points to make towards a question asked, even if it's tangential to the original question, or even if it's not happy faced positive, it's still advice/information that could impact a family's cruise.

 

 

And regarding the whole off topic issue, if these TOS were actively enforced on every board, I daresay that there would be literally thousands of posts removed from every board for violating this supposed rule. There are many posts on this board alone that go off topic, so this is nothing new.

[Tripinbrums]

My 18 month old was a little fussy so I decided to take her the day before our Glory trip. Thank goodness I did she had a double ear infection. She showed no signs, so we would have ended up with a sick baby. I was able to take antibiotics with us. From now on I will always schedule a short well visit the day before. Oh, Has anyone used the ships doctor?:p

[Dotelem]

I swear by Zicam. As soon as my granddaughter or anyone else in the family starts getting a cold, we swab out nose with Zicam, and it goes away. You have to use it as soon as the cold begins, it doesn't seem to work if you have had a cold for a couple of days already.

[crusinmama06]

Oh, Has anyone used the ships doctor?:p

 

Yes, unfortunatly. Bring your check book. ;)

 

One sick visit with some cough medicine cost $175. :eek: