Athankfulheart

DH and I are booked in a cove balcony on the Dream (and are excited about that), so we plan to get week spa passes as soon as we board. I am not really interested in treatments or massages (overpriced and I want to avoid the hard sale), but plan to spend time in the T-pool, on the loungers, and in the steam/sauna.

 

I have never spent much time in the spa on a ship, do people generally practice discreet nudity/toplessness like you see in land-based spa? I usually "do as Romans do", but didn't want to be the only one. ;) You know- wear the robe until just until you slip into the pool, or towel only in the steam room. Is that the norm?

Was on the Dream 3/12 and had a spa pass. I spent ALOT of time in the spa and never saw anyone in the buff. I did see gentlemen in the sauna with a towel around their waist so perhaps they were nude underneath. Its a totally non-private setting which allows teens ( with adults) and I don't think it would be appropriate in this totally coed setting.

This is my favorite picture of all time.

Taken aboard Carnival Dream 2012

Frankie was our guide last week and we highly recommend him.

On a cruise where I'm going to have my kids with me anyway, I would choose convenience over privacy I think.

I have been searching hi and low for some pants in this fabric. If anyone knows where I can find some I'd be grateful!

Have you looked at Chico's Travelers ?

I found this old thread and also found the recommended dresses last week. I bought this dress and LOVE it . I normally wear a size 12-14 and I chose a medium per the instructions on the auction.I am 5 feet tall and this dress hits right at my knees. It's a perfect fit. Thanks for sharing - even though it was a long time ago :D

We are late to the cruising party but making up for lost time :D

Our first cruise was on NCL America's Pride of Aloha in 2006. Since then, she has gone back to being NCL Sky. Thats the trip that hooked us :cool:

Compeed is quite good too. UK folk can get it in Boots (the bigger stores have moleskin as well)

You can prevent the blister with a product called Blistop. I found it at Walgreens near the shoe inserts and such. This works wonders if you are sensitive to the thong part of a flip-flop. Its a tiny spray can that applies a clear coating to your skin, preventing blisters.

We've gotten to do lots of great excursions in just 3 cruises, but the best memory was from the smallest boat and potentially no funnest trip. It was a charter on RC Majesty for a work thing. The whole ship was chartered but the passengers numbered 3-500. Lots of old, boring, traveling single, work minded passengers and maybe 20% of them were there to have fun. We got off the ship at cococay and there MAY have been 100 people there total all day long. You know what ? This little, unamazing island is a very different place when there are no people to be found :D Its my best memory of a cruise stop because we walked to the end of this seemingly deserted island and enjoyed eachothers company ;)

My second most favorite stop was on Maui. We left our (then) 7 children on the ship with family members and spent the day in a rented convertible just having fun together and seeing the island. Amazing.

We are alot like you :D

We don't get offended very easily but rather take the opportunity to laugh at life & people sometimes. That said, we really appreciate like company ! We just booked this cruise about a week ago and are very excited. I'd also love to go on the Lehman cruise as well. We basically got a B1G1 deal on fare for this cruise because of our timing. There are definately cabins left !

I am only up to pg 19 so far but wanted to recommend a product for avoiding blisters. I bought it at Walgreens and its called Blistop. Its a tiny aeresol can and it forms a clear barrier over your skin. I discovered it when I needed to wear thong sandals in a major production number and I have always found the thong part to be incredible painful. This stuff solved my problem and no more pain.

Ive been enjoying this thread all day. Imagine my surprise when I saw this icon used which Ive been using for the better part of 2 years on a couponing forum I moderate :D Small world !

ha ha...

I was reading this thread a few days ago and decided to do some research into the swimming pool. I'm not sure I'd use the ships pool at all if I didnt get a good understanding ( & satisfaction) of how it can NOT be chlorinated and still be safe. I won't put my toddler in the pool out of concern for his health. I also will not go against the law on that. What I've been finding about germs and pools makes me even more leary. Here is one article that I found and its not good .Please take note of the info about contamination with NO fecal accident. Thats what got my attention. Yikes !

This serves as a reminder that many diseases area capable of being transmitted in the swimming pool environment Outbreaks of disease have been associated with pool water contaminated with feces. Cryptosporidium is a bacteria that shows up in human feces and can contaminate pool and spa water.

Keep in mind that you share the water with everyone else in the pool.

DIARRHEA-

If swimmers are ill with diarrhea, the germs that they carry can contaminate the water if they have an "accident" in the pool. On average people have about 0.14 grams of feces on their bottoms which, when "rinsed off" in the pool, can contaminate recreational water. When people are ill with diarrhea, their stool can contain millions of germs.

A child or adult with infectious diarrhea can contaminate pool water even without having an "accident" in the water. Even 2 weeks after a person's diarrhea has stopped, he may still contaminate the water.

Therefore, swimming when ill with diarrhea can easily contaminate large pools or waterparks so imagine what it does to a small 20,000 gallon pool!

In additionpools can be contaminated bywater runoff following rainfall.

If someone swallows water that has been contaminated with feces, he/she may become sick. Many of these diarrhea-causing germs do not even have to be swallowed in large amounts to cause illness!

Would it really make you feel better to know the feces you just swallowed had been chlorinated or "shocked"?

Heard attorneys love the resulting lawsuits to pool owners! sigh....I guess everyone is looking for a way to make a fast buck.

Pools are particularity vulnerable to illness-causing bacteria or germs introduced into water by swimmers.

The incubation period for the most common types of infection is from 1-10 days, so many people don't make the connection between pool use and illness. As a result, the number of actual outbreaks is probably much greater than those currently reported.

Cryptosporidium

One of the most common illnesses associated with public pools is diarrhea caused by a parasite called Cryptosporidium (crip-toe-spo-RID-ee-um). Cryptosporidium is found in the intestinal tract of infected humans and animals and is transmitted through the ingestion of fecal matter. This becomes a problem when the fecal matter is in the form of watery diarrhea, which rapidly dissipates in a large pool of water and becomes virtually invisible, says Ashley Lamonte, MPH (Master of Public Health) with the CDC. A pool may be contaminated, even without a "fecal accident:" trace amounts of bacteria on a person's bottom can be washed into a pool.

E. coli is a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tract of healthy humans and animals; one strain of the bacteria, however, is particularly virulent and can cause extreme illness and even death. In 1998, a contaminated home pool caused an outbreak of E. coli that hospitalized eight people and one child died.

E. coli can also be transmitted through the ingestion of fecal matter. E. coli is particularly dangerous and symptoms of the disease include diarrhea, listlessness, abdominal cramps, blood in stool and sometimes fever. Someone with these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is another common illness that can be the unfortunate result of a day spent at the local pool. Symptoms of HFMD include fever, sores in the mouth and a rash with blisters. The illness begins with fever, loss of appetite and lethargy, and often a sore throat. After a day or two, sores develop in the mouth -- on the tongue, gums, and inside the cheeks -- and they often become ulcers. After a day or two, a skin rash appears that is often located on the palms, soles of feet or buttocks. The rash consists of flat or raised red spots, some with blisters. The rash does not itch, and a person with HFMD may have only the rash or the mouth ulcers. No specific treatment is available for HFMD, though medication may be given to alleviate symptoms, and HFMD usually resolves in 7-10 days.

• Body discharges such as mucous from the nose, saliva, sweat, fecal matter, urine, dead skin.
  
• Street and workplace soil, body lotions, suntan creams, dust, pollen, air pollutants, animals droppings, insects.
  
• Persons with sore or inflamed eyes, colds, nasal or ear discharge, boils, eczema, seborrhea, dandruff, or other acute or obvious skin or body infections, or cuts

MOST DIARRHEAL OUTBREAKS IN POOLS APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL FECAL CONTAMINATION OF THE WATER BY SOMEONE WHO IS ILL WITH DIARRHEA.

• Cryptosporidium parvum
  
• E. coli 0157:H7
  
• Giardia lamblia
  
• Shigella

• Major germ that causes outbreaks.
  
• Extreme chlorine resistance.
  
• Small size.
  
• Will challenge even the best equipped and maintained pool.
   
  Crypto in human intestine
  
• E. coli 0157:H7

• Hepatitis A 16 minutes
  
• Giardia 20-45 minutes
  
• Cryptosporidum 9600 minutes (that is 160 hours!! or 6.7 DAYS that awful stuff can live after dousing) Do you really want to be paying for a pool and not be able to use it for days at a time?

1. CLOSE THE POOL!!
   
2. Remove as much feces as possible.
   
3. Disinfect: CT value of 9600 (where C= chlorine and T=time)
   
4. Monitor hourly.
   
5. Recirculate continuously
   
6. Low volume: drain & disinfect
   
7. Proper pH and chlorine to reopen.