I know why I get the flu on Princess.

I move anyway. For me personally' date=' it is not worth the risk. I always move.[/quote']

 

Just got back from a (14-day total) B2B on the Royal. On our flight over a seat mate coughed continuously and sure enough, one day later, my husband, who sat closest to the cougher, got a cold. We had to spend quite a bit of time in our cabin but fortunately did have a nice balcony for fresh air. We both were fastidious with washing our hands both before meals and after and throughout every event where a hand sanitized was available. Even with our close proximity and spending our time together 24/7, I was able to avoid getting his cold.

 

The OP does have some legitimate points and one having a weakened immune system as a opportunity for a virus to successfully attack. Sleep (rest) is so very important! Princess really does have the absolute worst mattresses I have ever slept on and I am not only speaking of my cruising experiences. Thinking that the Royal would have better mattresses because of it being a relatively new ship was our first mistake.

 

We asked for a topper and our steward graciously obliged but still provided us with a poor night's sleep. A 2nd request for still yet another topper and, Voila! We were able to sleep soundly for the remainder of our cruise. And sleep we did. We had breakfast--took a nap. Got up for lunch--took a nap. Were in bed by 10 p.m. and slept well. Our room was turned to the lowest setting from day one and remained that way until the day we left. We always kept our drapes drawn during the day to keep the solar heat from the sun from warming up the room. We brought a small fan but never needed it.

 

A variety of cold medications helped my husband with his symptoms and possibly helped prevent me from anything during the time he might have been contagious.

 

If either of us were to be sitting in a public area, such as an auditorium, and had someone coughing or sneezing, we would simply get up and leave. No Princess show is worth getting sick over.The same would be if either of us were coughing or sneezing. Unfortunately that was not the option for us when we were on the plane. Next flight we promised ourselves to pre-purchase surgical masks.

Sleep (rest) is so very important! Princess really does have the absolute worst mattresses I have ever slept on and I am not only speaking of my cruising experiences. Thinking that the Royal would have better mattresses because of it being a relatively new ship was our first mistake.

 

From those comments, I gather Royal hasn't been upgraded to the new beds yet. That's a shame. :( The new ones are very comfortable. Soft on top, but with a firm, supportive layer underneath. I hope they are upgraded before our Royal cruise next September.

Did we ever find out what ship OP was on?

 

 

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It has happened 7 out of our last 8 cruises. .................

Which time? :D

I would like to address the salt issue.

I had a conversation with Princess cruises due to my need to be on a low sodium (not salt free) diet. They informed me they use little or no additional salt in the dining room food.

Later at Chefs dinner I spoke with a Princess Chef who confirmed that they use low salt. However, he said cheese sauces, breads cookies, butter, ice cream

and fish do have lots of salt. That I was already aware of and I order appropately

He told me speciality dining,however, does have a lot of additional salt or sodium seasoning and I should avoid.

Ummm....too much salt will make you retain water, OP, not have to get up more often to pee. And no doctor worth his salt (ha!) would get on the ship's TV and tell people they might have to adjust their blood pressure medications. Good grief.

Agreed. Stay out of the elevators if possible and don't touch the railing as you walk the stairs. The less you touch the better off you will be.

 

When you return to your cabin head straight to the bathroom to wash your hands. Treat your cabin as your safe place away from germs and everywhere else on board like a hot zone. We even bring the wipes and do the cabin / tv remote / door handles etc when we first board and then periodically throughout the cruise.

 

Knock on wood - No illness on any of the cruises that I can recall. Certainly never had the flu while on board.

We do the same!! Clorox disinfectant wipes are a must for us when traveling!

From those comments, I gather Royal hasn't been upgraded to the new beds yet. That's a shame. :( The new ones are very comfortable. Soft on top, but with a firm, supportive layer underneath. I hope they are upgraded before our Royal cruise next September.

Some mattresses on the Royal are already beginning to show their age. I doubt if they address the problem until all of the older ships have been refreshed.

I would like to address the salt issue.

 

I had a conversation with Princess cruises due to my need to be on a low sodium (not salt free) diet. They informed me they use little or no additional salt in the dining room food.

 

Later at Chefs dinner I spoke with a Princess Chef who confirmed that they use low salt. However, he said cheese sauces, breads cookies, butter, ice cream and fish do have lots of salt. That I was already aware of and I order appropately

 

He told me speciality dining,however, does have a lot of additional salt or sodium seasoning and I should avoid.

The Princess Chef is right in saying that those items have lots of salt. And these are also used or served in other cruise lines, and on land. So it will all depend on our own judgment on food choices.

Better living through chemistry.

Amen

Bump :D

Hmmm. Considering salt makes you retain water, isn't it the opposite of a diuretic?

 

 

 

I find it difficult to believe the doctor would say there is a high level of salt in the food; and, I think the chef would be upset with him or her if they did.

My DH had stomach problems on a cruise and the ship's DR told him the food onboard was highly seasoned (didn't actually mention salt) and to try to eat as bland as possible for remainder of the cruise.

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My DH had stomach problems on a cruise and the ship's DR told him the food onboard was highly seasoned (didn't actually mention salt) and to try to eat as bland as possible for remainder of the cruise.

 

That's reasonable. A doctor told a patient in a face-to-face consultation to avoid certain foods. That's not the same thing as a ship's doctor going on the ship TV and telling everyone to adjust their medication because there is too much salt in the food. (I still think that never happened.)

That's reasonable. A doctor told a patient in a face-to-face consultation to avoid certain foods. That's not the same thing as a ship's doctor going on the ship TV and telling everyone to adjust their medication because there is too much salt in the food. (I still think that never happened.)

You are right that never did happen. The ship's doctor warned the passengers of the salty food and encouraged those taking blood pressure medication not to hesitate to visit him if they need their medications adjusted or if they had forgotten their medications on this month-long cruise.

Again, the point of my post is that those of you who are getting sick on Princess, and there are many, should consider how well you are sleeping.

It certainly is not inconceivable that a company that would willfully pollute to save money (without regard for the environment), might also decrease the air conditioning to save money (without regard for its impact on passenger sleep and thus health). After all, those who get sick might blame the airlines, or themselves for not being careful enough, or others for "licking their hands."

Loreni, about 1/10th of 10% get sick on cruises, norovirus notwithstanding. It appears that you have many medical conditions which would preclude you from cruising, and possibly severely limiting your travel. I'm really curious as to what happens on your land vacation! I bet you'll be encountering most of the same issues, if not all, on your land vacation.

You are right that never did happen. The ship's doctor warned the passengers of the salty food and encouraged those taking blood pressure medication not to hesitate to visit him if they need their medications adjusted or if they had forgotten their medications on this month-long cruise.

 

Again, the point of my post is that those of you who are getting sick on Princess, and there are many, should consider how well you are sleeping.

 

It certainly is not inconceivable that a company that would willfully pollute to save money (without regard for the environment), might also decrease the air conditioning to save money (without regard for its impact on passenger sleep and thus health). After all, those who get sick might blame the airlines, or themselves for not being careful enough, or others for "licking their hands."

Ah, wondering how long it would take for the plea agreement to be used to justify some other "fact". As I've said, there is no cost benefit to allowing a space to warm up and then cool it down, over maintaining a constant temperature. Further, ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers) sets a standard for hotel rooms of 68-72*F. Virtually all hotels in the US use this standard as the "guarantee" temperature range. Their system may achieve lower temperatures, but it is not a given. Same with Princess and all cruise lines.

Yes, Princess wants their customers to come on board, eat lots of salt, not be able to sleep at night, and get sick. Then come home and complain about it. Because that's good for the bottom line.

We also battle with the aircon being too hot. This was with HA and Princess and we asked them in to test the termperature a couple of times...they even took the aircon apart and cleaned the vents to try and get better air flow. Worse at night. We brought a thermometer and showed them the result so they had to agree. We did not get sick from that, but it did make sleeping uncomfortable, especially when cruising in Tropical ports.

Ah, wondering how long it would take for the plea agreement to be used to justify some other "fact". As I've said, there is no cost benefit to allowing a space to warm up and then cool it down, over maintaining a constant temperature. Further, ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers) sets a standard for hotel rooms of 68-72*F. Virtually all hotels in the US use this standard as the "guarantee" temperature range. Their system may achieve lower temperatures, but it is not a given. Same with Princess and all cruise lines.

What utter nonsense. At many hotels, including high end ones, the temperature will not get close to 72 degrees without putting the thermostat in VIP mode.

Additionally there must be savings with the hvac letting the room warm up and then cool down even though the ac has to run harder to cool it back down again. Why else would they do it? Just for fun?

Honestly does anyone really need a ships doctor to tell you that cruise line food is over salted?

We also battle with the aircon being too hot. This was with HA and Princess and we asked them in to test the termperature a couple of times...they even took the aircon apart and cleaned the vents to try and get better air flow. Worse at night. We brought a thermometer and showed them the result so they had to agree. We did not get sick from that, but it did make sleeping uncomfortable, especially when cruising in Tropical ports.

What ship was that on?

There is another very good reason for respiratory illnesses on cruise ships.

The ship's ventilation system has many filters in the ducts that carry air to your cabin and public areas.

Changing these filters regularly is time consuming and expensive.

Some cruise lines (HAL and Princess for example) base yearly bonuses for Captains and Chief Engineers on how much money they can save the company.

Failing to change these filters regularly not only saves money, but makes less work for the Engineers (and results in larger annual bonuses).

Unfortunately these filters hold mold and viruses, spreading them to each new group of passengers.

There is another very good reason for respiratory illnesses on cruise ships.

The ship's ventilation system has many filters in the ducts that carry air to your cabin and public areas.

Changing these filters regularly is time consuming and expensive.

Some cruise lines (HAL and Princess for example) base yearly bonuses for Captains and Chief Engineers on how much money they can save the company.

 

Failing to change these filters regularly not only saves money, but makes less work for the Engineers (and results in larger annual bonuses).

Unfortunately these filters hold mold and viruses, spreading them to each new group of passengers.

If that's true that's horrible!

There is another very good reason for respiratory illnesses on cruise ships.

The ship's ventilation system has many filters in the ducts that carry air to your cabin and public areas.

Changing these filters regularly is time consuming and expensive.

Some cruise lines (HAL and Princess for example) base yearly bonuses for Captains and Chief Engineers on how much money they can save the company.

 

Failing to change these filters regularly not only saves money, but makes less work for the Engineers (and results in larger annual bonuses).

Unfortunately these filters hold mold and viruses, spreading them to each new group of passengers.

The individual room filters on the Regal & Royal are changed regularly and the evaporator coils are washed out with a cleaning solution at the same time as part of regular maintenance.

There is another very good reason for respiratory illnesses on cruise ships.

The ship's ventilation system has many filters in the ducts that carry air to your cabin and public areas.

Changing these filters regularly is time consuming and expensive.

Some cruise lines (HAL and Princess for example) base yearly bonuses for Captains and Chief Engineers on how much money they can save the company.

 

Failing to change these filters regularly not only saves money, but makes less work for the Engineers (and results in larger annual bonuses).

Unfortunately these filters hold mold and viruses, spreading them to each new group of passengers.

According to this poster, Captains and Chief Engineers do not get bonuses.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51697999&highlight=bonus#post51697999

There is another very good reason for respiratory illnesses on cruise ships.

The ship's ventilation system has many filters in the ducts that carry air to your cabin and public areas.

Changing these filters regularly is time consuming and expensive.

Some cruise lines (HAL and Princess for example) base yearly bonuses for Captains and Chief Engineers on how much money they can save the company.

 

Failing to change these filters regularly not only saves money, but makes less work for the Engineers (and results in larger annual bonuses).

Unfortunately these filters hold mold and viruses, spreading them to each new group of passengers.

Actually, not changing the filters would cause a restriction of air flow, causing the system to have to work harder. This will lead to break downs, costly repairs, and shorten the life span of the equipment so they will have to replace it sooner. Is is cheaper in the long run to change the filters on a regular schedule. The same logic applies to your home system as well.