Bedbugs

Really don't want to alarm anyone, just wanted to share my experience. After our last cruise, we were shocked to find we brought home some of the nasty critters. Its a long, boring story, but my exterminator said he was 99% sure thats where they came from, since none of my family had traveled either before or after our cruise. These vile bugs are on the increase, there's an epidemic in NY city, and they are difficult to exterminate.

The good news is that there are a few precautions that would just about guarantee you won't be bringing home anything but souvenirs from your next trip:

Never stow your luggage under your bed.(We did) Either use the luggage rack found in hotels, etc., or put it on top of the closet or somewhere off the ground.

If you see any red or brownish dots on your bedding, call for another room.

When you get home, unpack your luggage in the garage or mud room, or porch, vacuum your luggage and store it somewhere the temps get extreme, either the garage, attic, shed.

I emailed Carnival, explaining that I was not looking for a free cruise, drink coupons, etc. I just asked that they investigate our cabins, and treat them if necessary. I received an email back from them, saying that I would be getting something in the mail regarding my problem. Today I received a letter from them stating that they appreciated my bringing this to their attention, and that their ships are treated with insecticides weekly while in port. They also forwarded my comments to the dept. heads for their research and review.

Some asked why I didn't call Carnival and demand a free cruise. Oh, please!

How can you blame a ship that carries thousands of passengers weekly. How do I know that the people in our balcony before us didn't come into NY a day before their cruise, stay at a hotel, catch the bugs from the hotel and bring them onto the ship? While doing my research, I was astounded to find that they are everywhere, from small inns and hotels, to penthouse apts. to theaters, etc. Trouble is, the insecticides they use today are not strong enough to completely eradicate them.

This all happened the weekend before Christmas, and I have had the exterminator come and treat our upstairs every two weeks. He thinks we are completely bug free, we haven't seen any since the first treatment. We also bought hypoallergenic bed encasements for all our mattresses and boxsprings, to deter any that may be left.

Again, don't want to sound like an alarmist, just want you all to travel safe and bug free.

If you have questions, just ask. This has been an experience!

Eileen

Thanks for the warning!

i would not have asked for a free cruise but would have insisted that carnival foot the exterminator's bill, mind you proving it is easier said than done

i

i would not have asked for a free cruise but would fight like hell to get carnival to foot the exterminator's bill

 

 

i

Yea, like you'd be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Carnival caused the problem. :rolleyes:

OP handled the situation in the best possible manner in my opinion.

What ship were you on?

I guess you didn't notice the little critters while on board:confused:

sorry klfrodo, i edited my post at the same time you replied

i

Thanks for the tips. We unload our luggage immediately upon arriving at home and store the luggage in our second garage.

Glad you got a good response from Carnival.

may I ask what ship you were on?

Thanks for taking the time to post and remind us to be careful.

may I ask what ship you were on?

Looking at the op's previous post it was the Miracle.........

So was this from your September cruise on the Miracle, or some other cruise in December on another ship?

So was this from your September cruise on the Miracle, or some other cruise in December on another ship?

Good eye;)

sorry klfrodo, i edited my post at the same time you replied

 

 

i

my bad also

Did you stay in a hotel on either side of your cruise?

:cool: :cool: Live in Northern Ontario and have lots of critters at camp. Take a few fabric sheets with you. Put in each drawer and in luggage, yes you can store them under the bed. There is something in the fabric sheets that they do not like and cannot tolerate. Has work for us for eons, I am sure some one else out there can confirm this. Cindy:cool: :cool:

Yes, we were on the Miracle, Sept. 16th - 24th.

We never saw anything, although my husband had some small red marks on his legs, which we just attributed to being in the Caribbean, on the beaches, etc.

We were in a balcony on the upper deck. My two boys were in the balcony next to ours, and my daughter and her friends were in the next one. They never showed any signs of bedbugs when we got home, but because they were in a balcony with bunks, they couldn't put their luggage under the beds like we could.

We didn't stay in any hotel. We left directly from my house in a rented minibus, as there were 28 people going on the cruise, all family and friends. I did inform everyone who went with us, and thankfully, no one else had problems. I read where they are in apartment buildings, and one apartment could be infested, and the next one be completely bug free.

At first my husband said he didn't want to travel anymore. Now, I hate bugs more than anyone I know,but I wouldn't let this stop me from doing something I love. I talked him into going down Atlantic City a few weeks ago, stayed at the Taj. We bought a preventive spray online to bring with us but it never came in time. We still went, but my husband brought his flashlight and we stripped the bed when we checked in so he could do the bedbug check! When we came home he realized he left his shoes in the room. Where were they? They were on a chair that was pushed under the table, so he never saw them when he packed to go home. He wouldn't let anything touch the floor! He is getting better though, even talking about doing another Carnival cruise, maybe this summer.

Eileen

Yes, we were on the Miracle, Sept. 16th - 24th.

We never saw anything, although my husband had some small red marks on his legs, which we just attributed to being in the Caribbean, on the beaches, etc.

We were in a balcony on the upper deck. My two boys were in the balcony next to ours, and my daughter and her friends were in the next one. They never showed any signs of bedbugs when we got home, but because they were in a balcony with bunks, they couldn't put their luggage under the beds like we could.

We didn't stay in any hotel. We left directly from my house in a rented minibus, as there were 28 people going on the cruise, all family and friends. I did inform everyone who went with us, and thankfully, no one else had problems. I read where they are in apartment buildings, and one apartment could be infested, and the next one be completely bug free.

At first my husband said he didn't want to travel anymore. Now, I hate bugs more than anyone I know,but I wouldn't let this stop me from doing something I love. I talked him into going down Atlantic City a few weeks ago, stayed at the Taj. We bought a preventive spray online to bring with us but it never came in time. We still went, but my husband brought his flashlight and we stripped the bed when we checked in so he could do the bedbug check! When we came home he realized he left his shoes in the room. Where were they? They were on a chair that was pushed under the table, so he never saw them when he packed to go home. He wouldn't let anything touch the floor! He is getting better though, even talking about doing another Carnival cruise, maybe this summer.

 

Eileen

I'm confused. If this happened in September, why did your OP say:

...{snip}...This all happened the weekend before Christmas, and I have had the exterminator come and treat our upstairs every two weeks...(snip)...

Just my recent experience... on the 3nd evening of our trip I noticed several red bites on the back of my arms....next morning the back of my knees. (I had not been to any beach yet) I asked the room steward about it and she panicked.

Her response was ohhhh my....we do a bed check everyday and check specifically for bugs and didn't find any in your bed.....if you have bedbugs I'll get in big trouble.....we'll strip your bed and check it again.

So later my brother goes to his room and sees the room steward and several "helpers" not only stripping my bed but taking the mattress off and inspecting underneath it, etc. Later on the room steward assured me they found nothing but changed all the bedding again.

I really really think it wasn't bedbugs per say but some kind of pest in the nylon deck chairs. After I quit using those chairs I didn't get anymore bites.

By the way several other people I saw w/bites said the same thing.... that they had their beds checked and found nothing.

I agree that there are people from around the globe on those ships, some clean, some not so much, and Carnival can only do so much.

It didn't ruin my trip to say the least! However we always come home and leave all our luggage outside for overnight to freeze anything we might have accidently brought home just to be safe.

Joyful

Snorkel2much, sorry, I don't know how to quote. From my research on the internet, and my exterminator, I learned that we probably only brought home a few of these bugs. They need a host to feed off of(my husband and I), they then reproduce, so it takes a few months before you have an infestation. So it took about 3 months for us to realize we had them. My husband started seeing the red marks on his legs shortly after we returned. Then one day he saw a small bug on our bed. He killed it, thought maybe the dog brought it in, and never thought about it again. When he saw another one, he told me about it, we stripped the bed, took off the mattress and cleaned and vacuumed it, but didn't take off the boxspring. Next day I finally saw my first one and freaked. We again took everything apart, and lifted up the boxspring(which we just bought in April) and there they were. Lots of them. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I feel like I've become somewhat of a bedbug specialist.

Eileen

sorry but I missed what ship you were on if you don't mind me asking.

Reading all the posts which rooms where you in..and I will bring the fabric sheets just in case, and will strip the bed to see what's what..thanks for all the advise now I'm nervous thought this was suppose to be a floating hotel well no hotel I've ever stayed in has had bed bugs and they handle people from all over the world too, so must be specific to cruise ships..but thanks for the warning..

fabric sheets?? Aren't all sheets made of fabric? I'm confused

I think they mean something like "bounce" dryer sheets;)

Duplicate post-Dang slow boards!