Cruise crud....getting worried

[mikejr]

Thanks for the well wishes. My Aunt is out of the hospital and back home with the assistance of a breathing machine. They were unsuccessful in making the bacteria grow in a dish, so they were unable to identify what she had.

My father has gotten sicker, but I can't convince him to go to the doctor. I am on day 4 of antibiotics and feeling a little better, but still coughing a lot. I leave for a 7 day Cabo San Lucas trip on Tuesday, so hopefully i'll feel better by then. If not, I guess Cabo is a nice place to recover.

[sail7seas]

Will you be flying?

 

Hopefully you won't be contagious and risk exposing others to this illness which could not be identified. :eek: Coughing a lot in a closed airplane. All that recycled air. :(

 

Hope your family and you feel better soon.

 

 

(Just something to think about. :o)

Edited April 29, 2011 by sail7seas

[realnurse2]

I think Cold-fx is only available in Canada. I may be wrong; I have been at least once before in my life. :rolleyes:

[Naturzlvr]

I have become ill with a respiratory infection after a cruise only once since I began cruising. I am sure I was infected by a very rude person who was obviously sick and was coughing and hacking with their mouth wide open and uncovered. We use a lot of purell and hand sanitizer wipes as well as drink plenty of juice. We also take black elderberry capsules which we purchase at Earth Fare. I don't believe paranoid is a correct term to use - I would say concerned.

[Bramcruiser]

I think its a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time and nothing more.

 

Two years ago I sailed on my dream Canada/New England cruise on the Maasdam and came down with Bronchitis halfway through the voyage. It was a disapointment to say the least and the only cruise I really just was happy to get off the ship and go home. I didn't know I had Bronchitis until I went back to work and the cold I thought I had wasn't getting better.

 

Last summer, we vacationed in Iceland on a land trip and LOVED it. Then after being back home I got hit with pneumonia and thought "What the heck!?" Another respiratory problem from a vacation?

 

I was fearful of my mini-QE sailing in northern Europe last November as we would be in cooler climates again but I came home with nothing. So it may happen or it may not.

 

I plan to join my TA this summer and worry less about catching something from someone.

[tvw96]

I am sick right now with cruise crud, five days after my Princess cruise. This is not fun! I have taken two week long cruises the last two years with a singles group and had a blast. However, getting sick after the second one will definitely make me reconsider cruising again. Only two cruises, and I've already gotten sick. I don't like those odds!

[oaktreerb]

Unrelated to forum and very old resurrection.

[solocanadian]

Colleen, I felt it coming on the last night of my third cruise last year. It was a cruise to Alaska. Come the morning I could hardly walk to the Ocean Bar for wheelchair disembarkation from my Neptune Suite. They would not come and get me there. Went to Doctor when I got home and asked for antibiotics and he said NO - you have cruise crud. He doctors for HAL a couple of times a year so he of what he speaks. You are not paranoid. That is twice it has happened. The first time it morphed into bronchitis and I had to take a week off work when I got home. Good idea to stay clear of lido.:)

[SeagoingMom]

 

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.:(

Being that you are in the health care field, I wonder that you ask this question of a population who might be much less familiar with the ins and outs of epidemiology than yourself... But since your post appears to be a survey of pax to find out whether URI's, like noro, are becoming endemic on cruise ships, I will offer that we have never been sick after cruising, but I had a cold while cruising in March. Incubating before we sailed, I guess...

 

How many URI's have you had in your life that were unrelated to cruising? And do you cruise during "cold season?" (If so, you might have gotten sick at home if you hadn't cruised.)

 

I am going with sapper1's "unfamiliar germ pool" theory. I often come home with a virus after road trips to visit out of state relatives.

[Typhoon1]

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.

 

I'd have to agree. Sitting for hours in that aluminum tube with everyone's germs being circulated throughout is the cause of many illnesses.

[COLLEYBERRY]

Hi OP here ...as old as my orginial question may be ;)...I hope those new to cruising found some information in this dusty archive...We did return from that cruise fit and fine....as to asking cruisers if they frequently suffered from 'cruise crud" it seemed a reasonable source from which to gain insight.:)

Wishing all those about to cruise...a crud free time.:D

[Watson's aunt]

hi

 

In 1995 or So I started going to conventions of a sci progam that was on tv.

Mant of the actors and crews would attend. Sometimes there were 3 a year or just one. Every year most of us would come down in what we called the con crud. All these cons were at 3 or 4 star hotels.. All you need is one person to be sick. It spreads like wild fires. I am not talking about Noro. So it not just on cruise ships I have had my share of of the con crud.

 

 

Mary

[cruz chic]

I came back and got a nasty cold after my February cruise. Never did get rid of the cough. Ended up sick about half way thru my April cruise. Ended up on an inhaler and antibiotics. This better be it for me or my employer isn't going to let me go on holidays again.

[sammygoose]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth of miracle cures to the mess!:D Since you are talking about respiratory illnesses - I was told to use a neti-pot and keep the sinuses cleaned out with salt water. (I think there was this gross commercial where several people demonstrated it):eek:

 

Also daily gargling with salt water is supposed to reduce the viral load that is present - and can keep you from getting too sick.

 

This IMO is great advice. I use a nasaline which I liken to a shower for my respiratory system. It's cheap,reusable and non addictive. I travel with it and use it all the time. If I get the crud or grippe as I like to call it I wash the crud away. It helps to prevent the onset of symptoms and lessen the time I have it. When I see the amount of crud it flushes out that I can't blow out I am shocked. Every traveler should have one.

 

http://www.amazon.ca/Nasaline-US601-NASALINE-ADULT-NASAL-RINSER/dp/B000U3OJ0Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399596645&sr=8-1&keywords=nasaline

 

Swiss developed and very efficient.

 

#whatthepharmacueticalcompaniesdontwantyoutoknow

 

good side effects- gets rid of post nasal drip, good for allergies and clears ear wax giving you better hearing!

Edited May 9, 2014 by sammygoose
additional information

[Stratheden]

This IMO is great advice. I use a nasaline which I liken to a shower for my respiratory system. It's cheap,reusable and non addictive. I travel with it and use it all the time. If I get the crud or grippe as I like to call it I wash the crud away. It helps to prevent the onset of symptoms and lessen the time I have it. When I see the amount of crud it flushes out that I can't blow out I am shocked. Every traveler should have one.

 

http://www.amazon.ca/Nasaline-US601-NASALINE-ADULT-NASAL-RINSER/dp/B000U3OJ0Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399596645&sr=8-1&keywords=nasaline

 

Swiss developed and very efficient.

 

#whatthepharmacueticalcompaniesdontwantyoutoknow

 

good side effects- gets rid of post nasal drip, good for allergies and clears ear wax giving you better hearing!

 

We use normalised saline solution from the pharmacy which is sold for contact lens users. $3 for 500mls. So very cheap. It really works.

[sammygoose]

We use normalised saline solution from the pharmacy which is sold for contact lens users. $3 for 500mls. So very cheap. It really works.

 

Yes! I use I cup warm water, 2 tsp salt non idiodised, and 1 tsp baking soda. a couple of drop tee tree oil in extreme cases. Put it in the 'rig' and inject nasally. Much less fuss than a neti pot snorting it.

 

You can't change dirty places or sick people or planes or crowed venues but you can protect yourself. Also it does not interact with any medications. Totally safe.

 

Thank you Stratheden.

 

One caveat- yes you will feel stuffed up the first week you use it but that passes. Start the process before you travel.