Possible Bed bugs on Ecstasy! Dec 10-15, 07

[L2J]

Or Agent Orange :D

 

And a shave.:p

[Wennfred]

Here's the info for purchasing Sleep Tight. It's probably worth the $20 investment to have it along just in case.

 

http://www.natureplex.com/sleeptight/

 

 

Can you find this at a local store?

 

 

Fred

[DarthGrady]

If you have a balcony room, you could always chuck the mattress over the rail. Then call the room steward and tell him the last guest in your room must have stolen it (winking and palming him a twenty will help). Then just ask for a new, less infested mattress.

[Timmys_mom]

Okay.... I just spent the last hour of my life reading this thread from start to finish.

 

1. I have not stopped scratching since I saw the first pictures.

2. I do not doubt the OP and her MIL have been bitten by something. What they were bitten by, I am not qualified to render an opinion.

3. Because MIL said she was never in DS's cabin, but people in both cabins were bitten, I would tend to believe that they carried the bugs with them onto the ship.

4. Carnival should be more responsive and caring when dealing with people with problems. I don't know how the matter was presented at the purser's desk, but the first rule of customer service is empathy. Empathizing with your customer does not admit fault or imply that the customer's demands will be met, but it does show you listened.

5. Zone cruises too much (without me, that is)

6. The copy of the nurse's notes did not "prove" anything, or even imply that the bites were definitely bed bugs.

7. I highly doubt the OP or her MIL will ever be contacted by Carnival, the Health Department, the CDC, the ASPCA or "Save the Bedbug".

8. I will not be ordering Sleeptight or any other product. I will continue to vacation blindly, counting on the law of averages to protect me.

 

With that said, party on Wayne. :D

[halos]

8. I will not be ordering Sleeptight or any other product. I will continue to vacation blindly, counting on the law of averages to protect me.

 

 

:D I like it.

 

 

Great post, btw. :)

[LHP]

We won't be taking Sleeptight with us either, because we have no pre-existing medical conditions that would be aggreviated by such an event.

 

However, having had several family members who have gone through chemo and the fact that (coincidentally) they have the exact same cabin...I do recommend that those particular cruisers go prepared with something.

[big_schots]

I fully believe the OP and can't understand others "wacky" reasoning behind their belief that the OP "somehow" brought these pests with them. If you read the original message, they said that they had 100+ (between the group) bites, with some of the suckers still attached. That would indicate a bed bug colony, not a few bugs that hitched a ride on their luggage. Bed bugs only feed every 4-5 days, thus one bed bug would not be biting them more than twice during their trip. A good size colony, that could produce enough bugs, takes approximately 5 weeks (or more) to be generated. Thus, these little suckers have probably been doing their thing for a while. They have a perfect situation. When most people see the handful of welts on them, they assume they are mosquitos bites/sand fleas/jelly fish/fill-in-the blank received in Cozumel or Progresso. Bed bugs would be the last thing on their mind. My last visit to Cozumel, I was truly eaten alive (by mosquitos) on my excursion. I for one, will be doing a more thorough examination of my room, when I leave in 5 weeks. Now that I've been made more aware, I will be inspecting hotel rooms, also. Thank you, OP, for making me more mindful of the potential of my surroundings, while on vacation.

 

Eric

[In2why]

Having read through the thread I guess my question and statement are two parts.

 

The first is that we are all responsible to protect ourselves more than anyone else and forewarned is forearmed.

 

The second is what is the reasonable responsibility of the cruise lines?

 

I guess I hold them to a different but not higher standard than the hotels because we can not switch cabins as easily as we can switch hotel rooms or even hotels if needed.

With that said I think they need to be proactive because travelers will stay at numerous hotels and come from many backgrounds before getting to their cabins. Because of that, Bedbugs in some form are a probability not a possibility on most ships at some time. If they are not dealt with then they will breed, colonize, and spread. I guess the response I would like to see due to this becoming a travel industry problem is the cruise lines finding out about sleeptight or some form of preventable and making sure to treat every cabin in between guests. It might delay boarding and it will make more work for the crew but to me it is common sense that something will need to be done by the entire travel industry if the little buggers are going to be controlled.

[DarthGrady]

Its nice being from Florida, yep, 25 god awful muggy-hot summers. Never seen a bed bug. Here's what we do have:

 

This place has more (and bigger!) bugs than any state in the union. We've got hordes of mosquitos with west nile virus, ticks, chiggers, palmetto bugs, banana spiders, brown recluses, black widows, every kind of fire ant, lice, fleas, mexican jumping louses, and the feared Sabre Toothed Cockroach of LaFayette County.

 

It....can....get....worse.

 

Ever had a palmetto bug the size of your thumb crawling on you at night?

[nrdsb4]

Okay.... I just spent the last hour of my life reading this thread from start to finish.

 

1. I have not stopped scratching since I saw the first pictures.

2. I do not doubt the OP and her MIL have been bitten by something. What they were bitten by, I am not qualified to render an opinion.

3. Because MIL said she was never in DS's cabin, but people in both cabins were bitten, I would tend to believe that they carried the bugs with them onto the ship.

4. Carnival should be more responsive and caring when dealing with people with problems. I don't know how the matter was presented at the purser's desk, but the first rule of customer service is empathy. Empathizing with your customer does not admit fault or imply that the customer's demands will be met, but it does show you listened.

5. Zone cruises too much (without me, that is)

6. The copy of the nurse's notes did not "prove" anything, or even imply that the bites were definitely bed bugs.

7. I highly doubt the OP or her MIL will ever be contacted by Carnival, the Health Department, the CDC, the ASPCA or "Save the Bedbug".

8. I will not be ordering Sleeptight or any other product. I will continue to vacation blindly, counting on the law of averages to protect me.

 

With that said, party on Wayne. :D

 

That's funny. I'm not real clear on why she thinks she is owed a call from the Health Dept. or CDC (or CI&D, whatever that is). This is not a meningitis outbreak, it's bedbugs on a cruise ship. I just don't think that this is something that governmental agencies are involved with. For that matter, no clear link has been established between bed bugs and infectious diseases, so I can't see how this specific incident would be of interest to any Infectious Disease agency.

 

That said, I do feel for the OP. That would be really unsettling and I don't see why people are having trouble believing bed bugs could be the culprit.

[nrdsb4]

Its nice being from Florida, yep, 25 god awful muggy-hot summers. Never seen a bed bug. Here's what we do have:

 

This place has more (and bigger!) bugs than any state in the union. We've got hordes of mosquitos with west nile virus, ticks, chiggers, palmetto bugs, banana spiders, brown recluses, black widows, every kind of fire ant, lice, fleas, mexican jumping louses, and the feared Sabre Toothed Cockroach of LaFayette County.

 

It....can....get....worse.

 

Ever had a palmetto bug the size of your thumb crawling on you at night?

 

 

No, but in college I lived in an area of apartment complexes near campus called Roach City. I woke up once to find a huge cockroach crawling across my ear. :eek: Hysterical screaming ensued.

[skylock]

I fully believe the OP and can't understand others "wacky" reasoning behind their belief that the OP "somehow" brought these pests with them. If you read the original message, they said that they had 100+ (between the group) bites, with some of the suckers still attached. That would indicate a bed bug colony, not a few bugs that hitched a ride on their luggage. Eric

 

Bed bugs DO NOT attach themselves to you. They feed more in line with a mosquitto than a tick. Therefore, I still want to know just what did the OP and family find attached to their bodies.

[Wennfred]

Haven't been able to sleep since this thread came out, sleeping in my car sucks :confused: Lets talk about Jeans now.:D

 

 

 

 

Fred

[qprrules]

Bed bugs DO NOT attach themselves to you. They feed more in line with a mosquitto than a tick. Therefore, I still want to know just what did the OP and family find attached to their bodies.

Me too......................but I think it'll be a long wait, so I'm not holding my breath!

[ruskatab]

If you have a balcony room, you could always chuck the mattress over the rail. Then call the room steward and tell him the last guest in your room must have stolen it (winking and palming him a twenty will help). Then just ask for a new, less infested mattress.

 

 

LMAO!!! On a serious note, I used to work in a pharmacy a few years back and you wouldnt believe the adults who came in with head lice and guess where they got them from???.....the seats at the movie theatre. it is more common than you think. Also if the bed bugs sucks your blood why do you people have such a hard with the OP finding them on their body still. If the room was that infested I could sertainly see this happening. Obviously of the bugs came from somehwere before they got on the cruise the bugs would not have still been on them.

[nrdsb4]

Which health department would have jurisdiction over bed bugs on a cruise ship? I don't believe bed bugs is something the Center for Disease Control is involved with in the sense that it must be reported or that they take action against entities which have bed bugs. They do have information about them on their web site. Don't know what the CI&D is.

 

Your experience sounds pretty horrific.

 

In looking up Coast Guard regulations on another thread, I saw this referenced regarding unsanitary conditions. Perhaps the OP contacted this entity. I will be pleasantly surprised for the OP if they do respond.

 

 

Sanitary Conditions: Reports of unsanitary conditions on a cruise ship can be made to: U.S. Public Health Service, Chief, Vessel Sanitation Program, National Center for Environmental Health, 1850 Eller Dr., Suite 101, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 33316. Telephone: 954-356-6650.

[kelz66]

That's funny. I'm not real clear on why she thinks she is owed a call from the Health Dept. or CDC (or CI&D, whatever that is). This is not a meningitis outbreak, it's bedbugs on a cruise ship. I just don't think that this is something that governmental agencies are involved with. For that matter, no clear link has been established between bed bugs and infectious diseases, so I can't see how this specific incident would be of interest to any Infectious Disease agency.

 

 

It's called sarcasm....:rolleyes:

[WeBeCruisin']

Okay.... I just spent the last hour of my life reading this thread from start to finish.

 

1. I have not stopped scratching since I saw the first pictures.

2. I do not doubt the OP and her MIL have been bitten by something. What they were bitten by, I am not qualified to render an opinion.

3. Because MIL said she was never in DS's cabin, but people in both cabins were bitten, I would tend to believe that they carried the bugs with them onto the ship.

4. Carnival should be more responsive and caring when dealing with people with problems. I don't know how the matter was presented at the purser's desk, but the first rule of customer service is empathy. Empathizing with your customer does not admit fault or imply that the customer's demands will be met, but it does show you listened.

5. Zone cruises too much (without me, that is)

6. The copy of the nurse's notes did not "prove" anything, or even imply that the bites were definitely bed bugs.

7. I highly doubt the OP or her MIL will ever be contacted by Carnival, the Health Department, the CDC, the ASPCA or "Save the Bedbug".

8. I will not be ordering Sleeptight or any other product. I will continue to vacation blindly, counting on the law of averages to protect me.

 

With that said, party on Wayne. :D

 

What Shelly said!

 

Personally, I don't think they were bedbugs. My vote is for cooties.

[WeBeCruisin']

It's a little-known fact that both bedbugs and cooties can be easily disposed of by drowning them in gin. That's what I always do.

[LHP]

It's a little-known fact that both bedbugs and cooties can be easily disposed of by drowning them in gin. That's what I always do.

 

 

Change that to rum and we have a deal!!!! :D

[nrdsb4]

It's called sarcasm....:rolleyes:

 

 

Yes, I know. That's why I said it was funny.:rolleyes:

 

My other remarks were about the OP being so upset at not being contacted by the Health Department, Infectious Disease Commission, etc.

[WeBeCruisin']

Change that to rum and we have a deal!!!! :D

 

Rum, tequila and single-malt scotch work equally well. The little suckers have built up a resistance to vodka, though.:rolleyes:

[big_schots]

skylock,

 

You are correct (sort of) that they do not attach to your body. They only suck your blood for approximately three to five minutes, before they are full. Unlike the mosquito they don't have any rapid means of escape. So, if you woke up and started moving around while you were their late night snack, they will attach to your body and hold on. It would be the same if you were sitting on a stopped roller coaster having a beer. Once it started moving you would have one hand on the beer and the other holding you on the coaster. Jumping off could have dire consequences for both you and the bed bug. Not to mention the beer.

 

Eric

[skylock]

skylock,

 

You are correct (sort of) that they do not attach to your body. They only suck your blood for approximately three to five minutes, before they are full. Unlike the mosquito they don't have any rapid means of escape. So, if you woke up and started moving around while you were their late night snack, they will attach to your body and hold on. It would be the same if you were sitting on a stopped roller coaster having a beer. Once it started moving you would have one hand on the beer and the other holding you on the coaster. Jumping off could have dire consequences for both you and the bed bug. Not to mention the beer.

 

Eric

 

Eric, I would have assumed sometime along those lines might be possible too, but I spent Monday on the phone with every agency I could think to call, which is basically what my job is anyway, and every single one of them without exception said if the "bug" was found "attached" to the body, and esp after getting up, it was not bed bugs. I actually learned a lot so it was not a waste of my time. A bed bug has nothing to even be able to attach itself to you like say a tick or even a flea does.

 

If you read what the OP and her MIL wrote you will find that they found not one or two "attached" which maybe could have been stuck on I thought, but some were found attached even hours after leaving the ship. Added to the fact of all the scratching going on, a bed bug would not still be "attached".

 

Therefore the only conclusion I can reach is that whatever it was it was not bedbugs. So I still want to know what it was because even though I received several thoughts on what they could have been, everyone said without actually seeing the bug, they could not be sure.

 

I had been hoping the OP or MIL would post an actual picture of the bug, but I realize that would probably be hard to do as anyone that has tried to take a close up picture would know.

 

When you see someone claiming to have been bitten by a rattle snake and you look and see rows of teeth, you know they have been bitten by "something" but you also know it was not a rattle snake. Same think with the OP and family. They were biten by "something" just not bedbugs.

[Snoozeman]

Okay.... I just spent the last hour of my life reading this thread from start to finish.

 

1. I have not stopped scratching since I saw the first pictures.

2. I do not doubt the OP and her MIL have been bitten by something. What they were bitten by, I am not qualified to render an opinion.

3. Because MIL said she was never in DS's cabin, but people in both cabins were bitten, I would tend to believe that they carried the bugs with them onto the ship.

4. Carnival should be more responsive and caring when dealing with people with problems. I don't know how the matter was presented at the purser's desk, but the first rule of customer service is empathy. Empathizing with your customer does not admit fault or imply that the customer's demands will be met, but it does show you listened.

5. Zone cruises too much (without me, that is)

6. The copy of the nurse's notes did not "prove" anything, or even imply that the bites were definitely bed bugs.

7. I highly doubt the OP or her MIL will ever be contacted by Carnival, the Health Department, the CDC, the ASPCA or "Save the Bedbug".

8. I will not be ordering Sleeptight or any other product. I will continue to vacation blindly, counting on the law of averages to protect me.

 

With that said, party on Wayne. :D

 

Shelly, yeah, pretty much right on.:)

 

Not sure why I've been following since the beginning, but I am very skeptical. Judy has had some educational posts. And either way at least people will be more careful. It's really a very clean ship, one of the best I have been on for sure.