Cruise crud....getting worried

[CaliforniaAC]

We do take some extra precautions. Besides the ones mentioned, we take Lysol wipes (yes, you can wipe down the entire cabin in just a few minutes:o), bringing our own Purell, and our own antibacterial soap for the bathroom. We bring antibacterial wet wipes in individual packages to wash our hands when a bathroom is not available (eg; at the beach, on a bus etc.). We also buy travel insurance. I think it helps.

 

When we boarded the Noordam for our 20 day cruise in November '09 the ship had gone code red on the previous voyage. When we got to our room it had not been cleaned. For really gross reasons I will not go into, we knew the previous passengers in our cabin had been very sick. We took all the usual over cautious precautions, and we were fine.

 

Flip side- I caught a cold on our last Noordam cruise (Apr '10). It went bacterial on me. I am hoping this cough will be gone soon. Didn't have it, or get it on the plane. I'd been on the cruise ship long enough to know I picked it up in a port, or on the ship. I self quarantined in my cabin and missed a tour in the Dominican Republic. I feel it was the right thing to do.

 

The bad part of what I know to be true is that those folks who traveled on the plane back home with me were exposed. It was 5 days after I got sick, was I contageous? Possibly. I tried to keep to myself as much as I could, including not using the bathroom, and keeping my face covered.

 

The interesting thing is that DH went to give blood last Friday. Guess what- he couldn't because he had gotten off the ship in the Dominican Republic. He can't give blood for human use until next April.

 

What have I learned from all this? It's that no matter what, you just never know if you're going to get sick, or not. Enjoy the trip, that's what you're really in control of:D.

[SwissMyst]

How many get routine flu shots, and do you think this helps you from getting these types of group illnesses on board or from planes?

 

W have not made it a habit yet, but we are at that age where these are recommended and did have a terrible bout with upper respiratory on our long cruise where everyone was hacking - a winter cruise when it was most likely people were bringing in UR infections when they boarded.

 

Listening to the live audience lectures, on the closed circuit TV where you could only see the speaker, he was almost drowned out by all the hacking and coughing coming from the unseen audience.

 

Would a flu shot have helped, even though we know they are not fully protective or not at all for the latest bug du jour? We wonder now and wonder whether we add this to our cruise prevention package along with the bonine and ginger.

 

No one was sick enough to slow them down or even feel sick or fevered, but miserable enough with the hacking coughs that were really gripping. Was this even the flu or a cold? Did it matter - one of those two weeks or 14 day affairs no matter what you did.

[fann1sh]

Colleen, I'm late to this discussion, but....at least I did read through the thread :o.

 

My friends and I call this disease "con crud", because we usually get it during or after a conference or convention where a large group meet. I don't think it's the ocean of germs, but the break in routine that makes people vulnerable. But, I'm no expert, and it doesn't really matter.

 

My approaches to heading off con crud/cruise crud may be nothing more than placebo effect. As pointed out, it's good to feel proactive. (Thanks SwissMyst for giving this a name, PNI.)

 

However, I try to take it easy for the day of/day after travel (as suggested by Taxguy77)

 

I endorse Wormy53's suggestion of keeping the nasal passages moist. Some of us use neti pots, but for those who find this too gross, a cheap inhaler of saline (Ocean or no name equivalent) works. Salt is a mild anitbacterial, and gargling with it is good, too, as already mentioned.

 

Anything you can do to improve air quality - a small fan to recirculate air or (yes, I'm going to mention it again) a portable ionizer,or even one of those misting devices can help.

 

I load up on anti-stress B vitamins the day of/after travel, as well as vitamin E as an anti-oxidant, and vitamin C because....well, Linus Pauling won a couple Nobel prizes, but I guess this one has been debunked, so maybe he just had his rituals, too, and I figure it can't hurt. Unlike vitamin E, your body doesn't store it, so what you don't use gets flushed away.

 

I had the first warning signs of con crud after returning from a convention at the end of May. After rest, good air, chicken soup and vitamins the warning signs went away. Maybe they would have done so anyway, or maybe my faith in my rituals did the trick. Either way, maybe if you invent your own rituals, Colleyberry, that will turn the trick next time.

 

Better than giving up cruising!

[SwissMyst]

How much of this sort of upper respiratory illness is associated with being in A/C - cruise, airplanes or conferences environments.

 

Is this the guilty link that somehow could be improved or sanitized when the air is recirculated in these closed spaces? Was it not the A/C systems that led to the Legionnaires (conference) outbreaks which I thought had been remedied.

 

But like too many hospitals, once bugs get a foot hold they can be almost impossible to eradicate short of tearing the building down and rebuilding with newer, more infection proof systems. Until the next anti-biotic bug comes along.

[COLLEYBERRY]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions and insight in dealing with or fending off cruise crud .

 

I guess what confused me the most about getting sick was how could I (who is hardly ever sick and quite literally in contact with hundreds of coughing and sputtering patients week in and week out) be so ill after each cruise.

 

Perhaps the "change of routine" is indeed the answer.Those"pesky cruise crud critters" hitching rides around the world on cruise ships, get me when my guard is down ;)

 

 

[1char]

I picked up a weird cough on about day 8 of our 14 day Caribbean cruise. I noticed a lot of people on the ship had the same cough. I never felt sick - just this annoying cough. Took a few weeks to go away. My husband never got it. It would take a lot more than an annoying cough to keep me from cruising.

 

I knew someone who had bronchitis before she went on a cruise. Her doctor cleared her to go but then she relapsed while on the ship. They had to fly her back to the US. She went into respiratory arrest, spent 2 months in ICU, nearly died. What a nightmare! I think the stress of all the travel was too much for her weakened system.

 

Noticed your time clock, what cruise are you on? Charliebeth

Edited June 30, 2010 by 1char

[mikejr]

Just returned from a Carnival Spirit Mexico Cruise with 9 of my family members about 3 weeks ago. About half of us got sick during the cruise. My wife finally got over hers. My Dad is still a little sick. My Aunt is hospitalized with Pneumonia. They have her quarantined because they have found some kind of Bacteria that doesn't look right. They are testing it for Legionnaires amongst other things. I was just told this morning that I also have Pneumonia. I've never had anything like this. I fly and cruise all the time (24th cruise). I guess 1 in 24 isn't too bad. With all those people so close together in such a small area, I guess you are bound to catch something eventually.

[celle]

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.

 

 

• 2007 - 7-day cruise, Seward (Alaska) to Vancouver - came down with sore throat on the last day of the cruise, which developed into a doozy of a cough.
  
• 2009 - 24-day cruise Singapore to Civitaveccia (Italy) - remained well until the post-disembarkation tour, where a woman on the tour bus had a terrible cough. Many people on that cruise had coughs and colds. Sure enough, I caught the cough!
  
• 2010 - 28-day cruise around South America - I came down with the cruise cough on day 20.
  

 

While I have sometimes caught the dreaded "airplane cold", I agree with the OP that, for me at least, cruising was the source of my infections.

 

Unfortunately, whenever you get a group of people living in close proximity, such as on a cruise ship, you are going to be exposed to their viruses and bacteria.

 

It's a shame, but it won't stop me from cruising.

Edited April 26, 2011 by celle

[COLLEYBERRY]

Just returned from a Carnival Spirit Mexico Cruise with 9 of my family members about 3 weeks ago. About half of us got sick during the cruise. My wife finally got over hers. My Dad is still a little sick. My Aunt is hospitalized with Pneumonia. They have her quarantined because they have found some kind of Bacteria that doesn't look right. They are testing it for Legionnaires amongst other things. I was just told this morning that I also have Pneumonia. I've never had anything like this. I fly and cruise all the time (24th cruise). I guess 1 in 24 isn't too bad. With all those people so close together in such a small area, I guess you are bound to catch something eventually.

 

I hope your family members will soon be feeling better. :)

[kazu]

If it's not illegal on the board, I would suggest that everyone take ColdFX

before their trip and during it. I do think most things come from airplanes, but it takes time to manifest. Boost up your immune systems and you will be fine.

 

We had raging NORO on our last cruise (and yes, we are cruising again), but we weren't sick - but we had a bit of a cough, but that was it.

 

You really have to prepare for the flight and the cruise and protecting yourself is rule #1:D

[COLLEYBERRY]

I am the OP of this thread (from June 2010) and I am pleased to report my husband and I returned unscathed from our cruise in Sept.

No cruise crud this time.:):) We followed this strategy.... no Lido, used room service, MDR and Pinnacle for dining. Lots of hand washing and we took Cold FX a few days before cruise and one a day while cruising.

We believe a moderate use of wine may also have played a part in chasing away 'cruise crud ';)

[sail7seas]

I just checked three of our major pharmacy chains (RiteAid, Walgreen's and CVS) and none carry ColdFX either in the store or on line. I don't recall ever seeing it in U.S. but it seems to be available from Amazon.com.

Edited April 27, 2011 by sail7seas

[DeepWaterMariner]

We are retired so our normal routine keeps us pretty healthy in that we don't have much contact with groups of potential carriers. Our two biggest exposures are travel, both air and by cruise ship, and visiting with our grandchildren. I'd give the grand kids the edge in the amount of risk in becoming infected.

[COLLEYBERRY]

But they are such lovable little 'crudettes' :D

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

If you catch con crud the last few days of cruise there should be a law that the cruise line should find and balcony cabib for you and you should stay on board for the other cruise. (Free)

[iceleven]

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.:)

 

The difference in these types of stress is the duration. That is how/why the body handles it differently.

[off2ctheworld]

Mikejr, hope you and your family are soon healed. These colds/coughs are the worse part of vacation time. Haven't heard of coldfx before.

 

Wishing everyone a healthy cruise :)

[SeattleCruizer]

My DH came home with a cold from our last cruise after a woman sneezed all over him before a show. She was sitting behind us and laughed after the fact. He thought about getting up and washing up, but the show then started.

[kazu]

I just checked three of our major pharmacy chains (RiteAid, Walgreen's and CVS) and none carry ColdFX either in the store or on line. I don't recall ever seeing it in U.S. but it seems to be available from Amazon.com.

 

It's a big seller in Canada, Sail. In fact tests are being done now to prove it's reliability for younger children (currently it's recommended for adults).

 

All natural, nothing bad in it that I am aware of. We use it anytime there is a flu or bug going around and on our trips.

[brucory]

My DH came home with a cold from our last cruise after a woman sneezed all over him before a show. She was sitting behind us and laughed after the fact. He thought about getting up and washing up, but the show then started.

 

I feel for your husband..

 

There is nothing worse than getting sneezed on, particularly when you feel the spray!!!

 

:(:(:(

[Randyk47]

Admittedly we've been very lucky and haven't had post-cruise "crud" from any recent cruise that I remember. Mrs. K picked up a minor head cold four or five weeks before the cruise, that she graciously shared with me :(, but that was after seven trips back and forth to Washington, DC in a nine week period so that's kind of understandable. Our cruise on the Maasdam seemed to be remarkably healthy and I didn't notice many people who seemed to be under the weather. I think there was one medical situation as we saw a woman dealing with Barbados officials and it appeared she was arranging to get off the ship there with enough luggage for two people. One of the ship's personnel with her was one of the nurses.

[celle]

If it's not illegal on the board, I would suggest that everyone take ColdFX

before their trip and during it. I do think most things come from airplanes, but it takes time to manifest. Boost up your immune systems and you will be fine.

 

We had raging NORO on our last cruise (and yes, we are cruising again), but we weren't sick - but we had a bit of a cough, but that was it.

 

You really have to prepare for the flight and the cruise and protecting yourself is rule #1:D

 

I agree that many infections come from the flights, but my experience (Post #83 above) indicates that the major factor for me was the cruises - cough after 8 days, after 24 days and after 20 days. The incubation period for most coughs and colds is about 3 days.

 

I haven't heard of ColdFX, but I have taken Buccaline before the last 2 cruises (12-day and 11-day back-to-backs) and I am happy to report that I didn't catch anything on those cruises! :) Buccaline is claimed to give you protection for about 3 months.

Edited April 27, 2011 by celle

[northernphoenix]

We purchase the grandaddy bottle of ColdFX at Costco, live in Northern Ontario where the common cold reigns supreme. We also have an annual flushot; so with these two precautions, we are hoing to avoid any episodes of crud on our Baltic cruise. My DBIL had chronic bronchitis, so we are extra careful with all of the previousle prescribed precautions

Marilyn

[FrankNJ]

My doctor recommends new ships because they don't have as much "crud" in the air systems . I did get sick once on the way home from a cruise , but only once out of many trips.

[boccismom]

Oh, yes. I'm in the throes if a snootful right now and, like you, started feeling it as soon as I left the ship. It will hang on longer than Noro, but I think I'd rather have a cold than the other ship crud.