Cruise crud....getting worried

[COLLEYBERRY]

 

Our last two cruises both my husband and I returned from vacation with glorious upper respiratory infections.Began feeling unwell just as we were leaving the ship.

 

I work in health care (thought I would be immune to most germs by now:)) As for hand washing , because of my work it's simply a way of life for me. DH has been well schooled in the art form.;)

 

Our next cruise we plan to avoid the LIdo (my theory less people around my food the better.) A little paranoid I know but when I recall how sick we were I begin to worry about post cruise for this trip(Alaska Sept)

 

How many have found "cruise crud" as it is rightly called, to be the norm after cruising?

Honestly if we are ill after this cruise I am not sure we''ll sail again.:(

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been fortunte not to get sick right at the end or after a cruise.

 

But a couple of times I did get a bad cold in the middle of a cruise -- just took the medication that our doctor gives us -- cleared it up in a couple of days.

[janmcn]

Sorry, but I think you're paranoid about the Cruise Crud. You can just as easily get sick on the airplanes going there, the shops you visit in ports, the bus or taxis you take, museums you visit, etc. It's part of "the joy of traveling"...just take your cold meds along or whatever you use at home that works and keep on cruising!

[Ivanova]

Ironically I get sick coming home from WDW more than cruises. :(

[CowPrincess]

Personally I think airplanes are much more crud-filled. Yet another reason to hate flying.

 

I've not (touch wood) experienced "the crud" after cruising, but I also carry and use Purell, eat packaged food in the airports, and avoid touching everything I can in the airports and in the planes. And use Purell all the time. All the time. By the time I'm done with flights (going to cruise and coming back) I have dermatitis all over my hands. Better that than the crud, though.

[IRL_Joanie]

 

How many have found "cruise crud" as it is rightly called, to be the norm after cruising?

 

Not once have I or hubby been sick, or even felt sick after leaving a ship, cruise or otherwise. Keeping fingers crossed:D

 

Joanie

[VioletHorse]

Personally, I think the upper respiratory infection thing is more related to airline travel. Just think of all that wonderfully recirculated air in the aircraft - One sneeze from anyone and you're done for it. Yech!

 

I have suffered some really bad colds after vacation, and each one involved air travel, although I've come through unscathed in my last 5 trips.

 

I've seen plenty of travelers using masks in-flight so you might want to try that, especially since it seems that you're a bit more susceptible.

[treasure4two]

I was a flight attendant for 27 years and flew over 15,000,000 miles while working or traveling on my own and I have had more colds/upper respiratory problems since I retired and went to working in an office. I

think that being overly tired could also be a reason for getting sick. Just a few thoughts.

[ctsally]

Yes...I'm sick when I must disembark.......sick from a broken heart that the cruise of over!

[COLLEYBERRY]

I was a flight attendant for 27 years and flew over 15,000,000 miles while working or traveling on my own and I have had more colds/upper respiratory problems since I retired and went to working in an office. I

think that being overly tired could also be a reason for getting sick. Just a few thoughts.

 

 

Our last cruise we were at the end of a ten day cruise when the crud arrived so I don't think air travel can be blamed.

As to exposure to germs I am bombarded at work. My physcian refers to a cruise ship as a"bucket to of germs " So much more than that..clearly the man has not seen awake at sunset.:D

Being tired certainly could have something to do with it....resistance reduced.etc.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that reduction of stress (cruising sure does that:)) also can make you more susceptible.. how that works physiologically I don' t know

[jtl513]

DW got "walking pneumonia" on our RCCL cruise, and the doc said it was quite common to happen in our area. We've never had a problem after a HAL cruise, though.

Edited June 27, 2010 by jtl513

[iancal]

Have never had a problem on cruiseships BUT..I travel frequently on business. Not unfrequently I have boarded a plane feeling fine and within hours of landing felt a cold or the flu coming on.

[Winters in NZ]

One cannot automatically assume that the source of the virus or bacteria is cruise sourced. I would agree that it would be possible to pick up a bug aboard a ship, but there are so many other intangibles involved in that type of speculation.

[TracieABD]

I wonder if a lot of the vacation related crud has to do with change of climate, change of altitude, change of region, change in sleeping and eating patterns.

I am not sure if our bodies always know the difference in good stress (vacation, wedding, winning the lotto) or bad stress (divorce, loss of job, worry about family). There is medical data that support stress can lead to increased risk and incedence of illness.

Just a thought.:)

[sparky-elpaso]

There's also the possibility that there may be allergies involved. Different areas - different pollens, etc. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between cold and allergy symptoms.

[SwissMyst]

 

Our last two cruises both my husband and I returned from vacation with glorious upper respiratory infections.Began feeling unwell just as we were leaving the ship.

 

I work in health care (thought I would be immune to most germs by now:)) As for hand washing , because of my work it's simply a way of life for me. DH has been well schooled in the art form.;)

 

Our next cruise we plan to avoid the LIdo (my theory less people around my food the better.) A little paranoid I know but when I recall how sick we were I begin to worry about post cruise for this trip(Alaska Sept)

 

How many have found "cruise crud" as it is rightly called, to be the norm after cruising?

Honestly if we are ill after this cruise I am not sure we''ll sail again.:(

 

If you have to fly to your cruise ports, airplanes full of coughing passengers is also a potential source of that upper respiratory distress.

 

Hard to know where the vector comes from and what can be done to prevent or take exact precautions, other than guarding your own immune system with enough care and even nice talking to it to boost its efficiency in our germy, germy world. It is not just a matter or exposure; it can equally be a matter of good defenses in place too.

 

Our bodies do have remarkable infection fighting mechanisms already built into them. Unfortunately, there is a lot of hocus pocus junk science out there about "boosting" immune systems, but there is some reality to mental imagery helping things along both in getting sick and staying well when the body faces outside stressors. Gulp, this does mean thinking happy thoughts and congratulating your immune system for doing its job for you. Best thing is to take your immune system out for very nice celebratory lunch and plan a good team approach for staying well. That, and eating at least two powder sugar donuts from the Lido each day. At least, that is what worked for me on our last trip on a ship that had previously had several months in Code Red Land.

Edited June 27, 2010 by SwissMyst

[sapper1]

Gee Colleen---Paranoid?--that was a rather unkind name to call you as it implies a person has a mental illness---which we all know you don't.:D She could have said she thought you were unnecessarily concerned which is much gentler.

 

I think one has to be very careful when travelling as they are exposed to a germ pool that is different from the one they are living in from day to day. That makes it more likely they will be more vulnerable while travelling.

 

I always buy a purse pack of disinfectant travel wipes to carry in my purse. When we board the plane I wipe down our tables and arm rests. Think of all the runny nosed kids who have been colouring or whatever on that table.:eek: If you line the inside of your nose with a product like Secaris, that will help form a barrier against airborne germs. I read that in a travel guide once and have used it ever since.

And of course---Purell, Purell, Purell!!!!

 

I will wish real hard for you that you don't wind up with the crud. After all, I wished real hard for high winds on the way to Bermuda so we wouldn't have to tender and look what the results were:D:D:D Wow.

[Travalerie]

With two small kids who have been very healthy-we have been blessed not to have to use daycare-I am also very concerned about getting sick. I am a doctor but this is totally anecdotal based on our experiece...we double up on our vitamins before the cruise. We take Airborne (generic version works too) every day for a few days before the cruise. We have also discovered Umka-its expensive, but you take a tsp every 4 hours once you start having symptoms (cough, runny nose, etc.) Ibuprofen works great with those aches and pains early on. We pray for safety and go on. I am not a big natural medicine person, but this has worked great to ward of sickness for our family. We go on Disney at the end of January...we may need to start the vitamins at Christmas!!!

[Travalerie]

Unfortunately, there is a lot of hocus pocus junk science out there about "boosting" immune systems, but there is some reality to mental imagery helping things along both in getting sick and staying well when the body faces outside stressors.

 

HA! We posted at the same time. It may be hocus pocus but it has worked for us. I also think that low stress and good rest also go a long way with keeping yourself healthy. :)

[casamariposa]

I used to travel on business a lot when flights cross country and transatlantic lasted 14 hours or more. (Yes, I'm old! That was before jets.) I invariably came back with an upper respiratory. IMHO, it's the airplanes, not the ship, where you can get some good, fresh air, that causes more upper respiratories. When the flu is going around, I wear a mask on my airline flights, and I don't care how silly I look.

[Taxguy77]

I knew a man who worked in Mexico about 4 months a year. After a couple of years he learned to:

Going south, stay in Nogales,Arizona the last night, pack a lunch, go to the apartment his employer had leased for him, eat the rest of the food he brought and take it easy for a day.

Going north, stay in Nogales, Sonora the last night, get some food to go to eat on the way home, and drive home where his wife fixed light foods for a couple of days before fixing his favorites.

I was in Mexico 2 weeks, home 2 weeks several times during the season, and usually was sick the first few days at home.

Not sure why, but my best guess was climate change.

[SwissMyst]

........

Being tired certainly could have something to do with it....resistance reduced.etc.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that reduction of stress (cruising sure does that:)) also can make you more susceptible.. how that works physiologically I don' t know

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Emotions trigger neurotransmitters that mediate the immune system. The mind body connection to our immune system is a fascinating area of current medical research, a lot of it being done at UCLA. Psyhco-neuro-immunology (PNI) is its official name.

 

Allegedly the body's best immune system defenses are temperature elevation and sleep. So sometimes that hot bowl of chicken soup and some bed rest is as good a cure as anything giving the body some time to do what it wants to do: keep you well.

 

Maybe that is why I am so drawn to being lazy in the sun on a deck chair when I cruise -- I am being programed to want this by my immune system.

[Randyk47]

I can't remember ever getting sick during or after a cruise, at least not soon enough that we connected the illness with the cruise. Personally I think that flying exposes you to more than the ship environment but certainly you're living for that week or more in a much more confined environment than you'd typically experience at home. Granted some people get sick easier than others, that's just a fact of life and immune systems, so it makes sense that more exposure will impact some more than others.

[2ptu/000]

I think it is the dry air in the cabins. Also, cruises that go from warm climates to cold climates seem to give us the "crud"

[solocanadian]

 

Our last two cruises both my husband and I returned from vacation with glorious upper respiratory infections.Began feeling unwell just as we were leaving the ship.

 

I work in health care (thought I would be immune to most germs by now:)) As for hand washing , because of my work it's simply a way of life for me. DH has been well schooled in the art form.;)

 

Our next cruise we plan to avoid the LIdo (my theory less people around my food the better.) A little paranoid I know but when I recall how sick we were I begin to worry about post cruise for this trip(Alaska Sept)

 

How many have found "cruise crud" as it is rightly called, to be the norm after cruising?

Honestly if we are ill after this cruise I am not sure we''ll sail again.:(

I had no problems on my last cruise on the "O" this past April. However I ended up with severe bronchitis in 2009 on the Ryndam San Diego/Mexico/San Diego to Vancouver. The ship was code red when we boarded and everything felt cruddy in my cabin from sanitization when I boarded. Believe I caught it from a fellow Pax at the Crows Nest Bar who was constantly sneezing across the bar and not even trying to cover his mouth with his arm. Also my cabin had no heat the entire cruise (only 68F) and very drafty in my bed. Had to sleep in a hoody. Spent the last week of the cruise in my cabin eating only room service French Onion Soup. Had real difficulty disembarking. By the time I got off the gangway I was breathless and shaking. Had to be wheel-chaired to taxi. Visited my doctor the next day and was put on a regime of strong antibiotics and one week bed rest. By the way, my doctor, doctors for HAL a couple of times a year and had no comment about me getting sick on the ship. This past cruise I ate several times in the Lido and Terrace Grill and will continue to do so in the future.