Bed Bugs on NCL

[VryBig]

This Sept we completed the NCL New England cruise on the Dawn and had a serious infestation of bedbugs.... Blood drops on sheet and pillowcases in the morning; blood spots on us; and even caught and killed a few of the bugs themselves.

 

We told our room steward and he changed all bedding and linens, curtains and I think even the mattress.... the problem was finally eliminated, but it was nearly the last day.

 

We are or have been very positive about NCL cruises...and are booked on the MR cruise on the Star coming up in early February. We won't cancel the trip....

 

However, I have been surprised that NCL has NOT responded in any way to our emailed and faxed complaints...not one word. Not even that they are sorry it happened...nothing.

 

That is, I think, bad business. Indeed this next MR cruise may be our last on NCL.... We'll see...

[lambs2]

I posted a question (nicely answered, thanks) early in this thread and we have been checking every bed and room we stay in since then for pesky bedbugs and tell-tale signs of their presence. We just returned from a 10 night west coast trip combined with a nephew's wedding celebration and I was diligent to check for bed bug signs each and every place we stayed. Never saw any signs, but here is the "kicker":

We were in the San Francisco airport early last Sunday morning getting ready for our flight back home and still pulling our suitcases prior to the security check. We had just checked in and printed our boarding passes in a very busy part of the terminal when DH looks down and sees a bug crawling on the hem of his jeans. He pointed it out to me and asks, "Is this a bed bug?" It was all plump and a reddish brown oval bug, exactly like the pictures I had seen online. DH squashes it with his shoe and lots of red blood is in it. YUCHH!:eek: So now we are faced with over ten hours of flights and layovers before returning home to Florida, wondering all the time if we have picked up "hitch-hikers" on our clothes and luggage. What a gross feeling! Fortuneately we had had no bites or other prior sightings, but this was a gross feeling!!! We had no choice but to catch our flights, get our car out of the airport parking garage after a very long day and drive home. BUT before we ever went into our house (and I pardon the visual this might create..:o) DH and I both stripped butt naked and placed all our clothing in the trunk of the car parked in our driveway - not the garage. The we ran into the house with not even a purse or wallet - nothing - and immeditaely both took hot showers with loads of soap and shampoo and then went to sleep in our bed not bringing anything from the car back inside. After a good night's sleep we took plastic garbage bags out to the car along with a folding table. It took all day to go through every item in our suitcases, visually inspecting every fold and crevice. We thoroughly inspected and vaccuumed out the car as well. Shoes, purses etc. were placed in a large cloth bag and after inspection placed in the hot dryer for at least 20 minutes - just to be on the safe side.All clothing was brought into the laundry room in a garbage bag one load at a time and washed in the hottest water possible as directed and then dryed in the dryer at least 20 minutes (a known deterent for bed bugs). In all our inspections we never found a single bug or egg (reports say they look like a small grain of rice) on anything. So we came to the conclusion that DH must have picked up his "hitchhiking bedbug" from someone passing him in the airport. We are NOT sorry we took all the precautions however!!

Edited November 5, 2010 by lambs2

[VryBig]

We did the same strip down when we got home...but did it inside the garage...hmmmm

[lambs2]

We did the same strip down when we got home...but did it inside the garage...hmmmm

We didn't park in the garage, but left our car in the driveway all night. No signs in our car or on anything of bugs. In our case, it seems, it was a one bug fluke. We had been through a terrible flea problem a couple years ago when our cat left this world, but the fleas stayed behind!!!:eek:

[Medtech2]

I posted a question (nicely answered, thanks) early in this thread and we have been checking every bed and room we stay in since then for pesky bedbugs and tell-tale signs of their presence. We just returned from a 10 night west coast trip combined with a nephew's wedding celebration and I was diligent to check for bed bug signs each and every place we stayed. Never saw any signs, but here is the "kicker":

We were in the San Francisco airport early last Sunday morning getting ready for our flight back home and still pulling our suitcases prior to the security check. We had just checked in and printed our boarding passes in a very busy part of the terminal when DH looks down and sees a bug crawling on the hem of his jeans. He pointed it out to me and asks, "Is this a bed bug?" It was all plump and a reddish brown oval bug, exactly like the pictures I had seen online. DH squashes it with his shoe and lots of red blood is in it. YUCHH!:eek: So now we are faced with over ten hours of flights and layovers before returning home to Florida, wondering all the time if we have picked up "hitch-hikers" on our clothes and luggage. What a gross feeling! Fortuneately we had had no bites or other prior sightings, but this was a gross feeling!!! We had no choice but to catch our flights, get our car out of the airport parking garage after a very long day and drive home. BUT before we ever went into our house (and I pardon the visual this might create..:o) DH and I both stripped butt naked and placed all our clothing in the trunk of the car parked in our driveway - not the garage. The we ran into the house with not even a purse or wallet - nothing - and immeditaely both took hot showers with loads of soap and shampoo and then went to sleep in our bed not bringing anything from the car back inside. After a good night's sleep we took plastic garbage bags out to the car along with a folding table. It took all day to go through every item in our suitcases, visually inspecting every fold and crevice. We thoroughly inspected and vaccuumed out the car as well. Shoes, purses etc. were placed in a large cloth bag and after inspection placed in the hot dryer for at least 20 minutes - just to be on the safe side.All clothing was brought into the laundry room in a garbage bag one load at a time and washed in the hottest water possible as directed and then dryed in the dryer at least 20 minutes (a known deterent for bed bugs). In all our inspections we never found a single bug or egg (reports say they look like a small grain of rice) on anything. So we came to the conclusion that DH must have picked up his "hitchhiking bedbug" from someone passing him in the airport. We are NOT sorry we took all the precautions however!!

LOL, sorry! Butt (pardon the pun) was it day or night?

[ksg]

This Sept we completed the NCL New England cruise on the Dawn and had a serious infestation of bedbugs.... Blood drops on sheet and pillowcases in the morning; blood spots on us; and even caught and killed a few of the bugs themselves.

 

We told our room steward and he changed all bedding and linens, curtains and I think even the mattress.... the problem was finally eliminated, but it was nearly the last day.

 

We are or have been very positive about NCL cruises...and are booked on the MR cruise on the Star coming up in early February. We won't cancel the trip....

 

However, I have been surprised that NCL has NOT responded in any way to our emailed and faxed complaints...not one word. Not even that they are sorry it happened...nothing.

 

That is, I think, bad business. Indeed this next MR cruise may be our last on NCL.... We'll see...

 

What cabin were you in? We're on the Dawn next month, and being from NY I'm always checking. A few months ago I was walking down E. 50th Street and saw three large bedbug exterminating vans (complete with bedbug drawings on the doors) parked next to the side entrance of the Intercontinental and just across from the Waldorf. Who knows - they could have been sharing the exterminator!

[lambs2]

LOL, sorry! Butt (pardon the pun) was it day or night?

 

1:30 AM and we have a hidden driveway with a right turn almost 1/4 mile from the closest other house. Thankfully!;)

 

 

IMPORTANT COMMENT: In six NCL cruises I have never found one single sign of any bed bugs - and I ALWAYS check thoroughly!!!!!!!!

Edited November 6, 2010 by lambs2

[VryBig]

11080

[flowerchild]

I had mentioned that we spotted bedbugs here on this forum awhile ago...we've kept them at bay, mostly, by using the special spray for BB and by thorough washing/drying of all our clothing, but they keep coming back..eventually, we'll see a drop of blood or a baby and start the process of stripping down the bed, spraying the crap out of everything, washing/drying all our clothes, etc. It seems that the sprays are a temporary fix but not permanent, unfortunately. You can buy the sprays anywhere her in Brooklyn, now, they are in every store. And they are selling out. If you are seen buying them, chances are you will be approached by either someone in line or even the cashier admitting that they, too, have found them, with shame in thier faces.

 

I initially thought I had caught them in a hotel in Miami, but have since realized that my neighbord had them and when they fumigated, they came to my home. I live in an attached home...I have had to have a professional exterminator come in and together with the neighbor, we are going to try to completely get rid of these pests. The popular method in NY now is steaming then pesticide. It runs about $175 a room.

 

There is a big stigma attached to them that is not present with fleas, mosquitos and even ticks which also feed on blood from our bodies. People don't want to talk about them and are deathly afraid to speak out loud about having them for fear of being called dirty or filthy. On this forum one poster siad that bed bugs come from dirty passengers, what a horrible thing to say, first of all, and an untrue statement. You can get them on the train, bus, clothing store, bedding/bath store, mattress store, furniture store, drs waiting rooms, planes, theaters, just about anywhere. And the BB don't care if you are rich or poor, as someone has mentioned, here in NY, the Waldorf, Intercontinental, UN, several high end designer clothing stores, broadway theaters, even the Sirius radio station building has had them...Howard Stern's office was infested and he even brought them into his limo which was also infested! That will bring some Stern haters some satisfaction, lol.

 

I admitted my problem because I wanted to educate people with the correct information since there is a lot of bad information being passed on. I also want to bring attention to the fact that shame and judgement should not be issues present regarding this subject.

[VryBig]

We documented our bed bug experience in letters and email to NCL... they have now responded by offering a generous credit against future cruises...All in all I think their response though a bit slow at first, has been, in the end, very honorable.

[De_La_Cruise]

Cruise bug I too have had the trauma of bedbugs. They are no joke and I swear I had PTSD! I also recommend vacummng luggage upon return.

[MermaidMomma]

What cabin were you in? We're on the Dawn next month, and being from NY I'm always checking. A few months ago I was walking down E. 50th Street and saw three large bedbug exterminating vans (complete with bedbug drawings on the doors) parked next to the side entrance of the Intercontinental and just across from the Waldorf. Who knows - they could have been sharing the exterminator!

 

Bed Bugs like The Waldorf, The Intercontinental, The Plaza, The Marriott, NCL Cruise Ships, Movie Theaters, Rental Cars and Yoga Studios equally. They are annoying, non life threatening, equal opportunity parasites.

 

Has nothing to do with their hosts or their hosts' accommodations. Let go of the stigma. Bed bugs happen.

[goose30]

As this thread is from July 2010 you can be sure that all of those bed bugs are dead.

Edited November 23, 2011 by goose30

[negn]

Last year got bitten badly at a hotel night before our cruise. Eventually needed to see ships MD. I was asked to sign form stating bites did not occur on the ship. they take it very seriously

[tbmrt]

I posted a question (nicely answered, thanks) early in this thread and we have been checking every bed and room we stay in since then for pesky bedbugs and tell-tale signs of their presence. We just returned from a 10 night west coast trip combined with a nephew's wedding celebration and I was diligent to check for bed bug signs each and every place we stayed. Never saw any signs, but here is the "kicker":

We were in the San Francisco airport early last Sunday morning getting ready for our flight back home and still pulling our suitcases prior to the security check. We had just checked in and printed our boarding passes in a very busy part of the terminal when DH looks down and sees a bug crawling on the hem of his jeans. He pointed it out to me and asks, "Is this a bed bug?" It was all plump and a reddish brown oval bug, exactly like the pictures I had seen online. DH squashes it with his shoe and lots of red blood is in it. YUCHH!:eek: So now we are faced with over ten hours of flights and layovers before returning home to Florida, wondering all the time if we have picked up "hitch-hikers" on our clothes and luggage. What a gross feeling! Fortuneately we had had no bites or other prior sightings, but this was a gross feeling!!! We had no choice but to catch our flights, get our car out of the airport parking garage after a very long day and drive home. BUT before we ever went into our house (and I pardon the visual this might create..:o) DH and I both stripped butt naked and placed all our clothing in the trunk of the car parked in our driveway - not the garage. The we ran into the house with not even a purse or wallet - nothing - and immeditaely both took hot showers with loads of soap and shampoo and then went to sleep in our bed not bringing anything from the car back inside. After a good night's sleep we took plastic garbage bags out to the car along with a folding table. It took all day to go through every item in our suitcases, visually inspecting every fold and crevice. We thoroughly inspected and vaccuumed out the car as well. Shoes, purses etc. were placed in a large cloth bag and after inspection placed in the hot dryer for at least 20 minutes - just to be on the safe side.All clothing was brought into the laundry room in a garbage bag one load at a time and washed in the hottest water possible as directed and then dryed in the dryer at least 20 minutes (a known deterent for bed bugs). In all our inspections we never found a single bug or egg (reports say they look like a small grain of rice) on anything. So we came to the conclusion that DH must have picked up his "hitchhiking bedbug" from someone passing him in the airport. We are NOT sorry we took all the precautions however!!

 

I have checked out bedbug info online thoroughly and always examine the bedding when we arrive at our accommodation. I was satisfied that our bed on NCL last year was fine. As we were waiting to depart the ship I noticed a what I was pretty sure was a bedbug on the outside of our friends' lightish blue luggage. They also had read all the "what to do if you see a bedbug procedures" and did the same things as you did when they got home and didn't have a problem.

 

That being said, I wouldn't stop going on NCL because of this...As other posters wrote, bedbugs can travel easily and can be encountered in the best hotels, etc.

 

Yucky!

Barbara

Edited November 26, 2011 by tbmrt
forgot something

[newmexicoNita]

Bed Bugs like The Waldorf, The Intercontinental, The Plaza, The Marriott, NCL Cruise Ships, Movie Theaters, Rental Cars and Yoga Studios equally. They are annoying, non life threatening, equal opportunity parasites.

 

Has nothing to do with their hosts or their hosts' accommodations. Let go of the stigma. Bed bugs happen.

 

I totally agree and I think too many people freak out when they read these reports or see something on TV about critters. We cruised Canada and the eastern seaboard last month. One morning hubby (who get eaten by anything that resembles a bug) woke up with bites all over, mainly on his torso. Was it bed bugs or maybe sand fleas cause we had been to the seaport in NYC the day before. Who knows, but he didn't make an issue out of it. He used some rubbing alcohol for a couple of days and whatever it was disappeared.

 

NIta

[dm33]

Just got off the NCL Pearl and stateroom 9024 was infested with bed bugs.

 

The staff was quickly able to move us to another cabin that didn't appear to have bed bugs.

 

Overall, still a horrible experience.

 

Bed bugs have no relation to dust mites. Bed bugs are not to be messed with. You do NOT want to be bitten by these. They feed on people sucking your blood. The reproduce like roaches, in great numbers and frequently. If you don't do anything about them, they will bite incessantly while you're sleeping.

 

Bed bugs are relatively large, about 1/4". But they typically hide during the day, waiting for you to sleep. They're hard to find during day unless you look in the sheets looking for droppings or dead bugs.

 

In my case, I had been sleeping, being quite ill with a cold & fever. My wife spotted one crawling around on the pillow next to me. Tearing up the bed sheets discovered more dead ones. Eeeek. It is really bad.

 

My wife has been very careful to check beds at every hotel we stay at. We had never seen one before. Never imagined a cruise would have them because they're constantly cleaning. Live and learn.

 

On the Pearl, the staff moved us quickly but didn't act surprised. The rooms are so incredibly crowded that its hard to move anything around. Once bed bugs take hold, there's little space to move around to clean them up.

 

We will be more careful from now on. And overall this has left a bad impression on my regarding the Pearl specifically.

[mafig]

:eek: Hopefully you did not bring any home with you. Did you take precautions with your suitcases when you returned.?

 

I understand it is very difficult and very expensive to get rid of them if you bring them home.

[che5904]

On the Pearl, the staff moved us quickly but didn't act surprised. The rooms are so incredibly crowded that its hard to move anything around. Once bed bugs take hold, there's little space to move around to clean them up.

 

We will be more careful from now on. And overall this has left a bad impression on my regarding the Pearl specifically.

 

Well the staff probably weren't surprised. I'm sure with people coming from all over and staying in all different lodging prior to a cruise, this is not the first they have ran across this. I'm sure they have an efficient way of dealing with this so to not have an outbreak on the ship. Obviously this does not happen a lot on NCL, since I have seen very little posts on this subject and you have resurrected a thread from 2010.

 

Sorry this left a bad impression on you since it can happen anywhere. These things don't swim onto the ship, they are carried in by other passengers. This thread has a lot of good info in it, I hope you were able to take precautions when you got home to not bring them home with you.

[dm33]

:eek: Hopefully you did not bring any home with you. Did you take precautions with your suitcases when you returned.?

 

I understand it is very difficult and very expensive to get rid of them if you bring them home.

 

This was the first day on the cruise. We were worried about carrying them to the next cabin. Luckily, we didn't see any signs in the new cabin, no signs in our luggage, and most amazingly I didn't get bit even though I was sleeping in the bed bug ridden bed.

 

Once we got home, we washed -everything-. We've quarantined the luggage far from our bedroom. We're planning to bag them and have them sit in hot sun. Although its not hot here now, darn winter!

 

We've been on 7 NCL cruises and 23 cruises total. We have NEVER run into bed bugs before. Still grossed out.

[mitsugirly]

Flowerchild-I'm so sorry that you have not been able to rid them from your place yet. It's scary thinking that you are always on the look out for them and have to live like that. You are not alone!

 

I will admit too. We had them a few years back. I'm not 100% sure how we aquired them. We sold our home and moved in to a rental home. I had a friend that I graduated from High School with that lived 3 houses down that told me about this house that was for rent and it seemed like no one ever stayed there longer than about 3 months. (That should have been a red flag right there). I assumed in the end that this is the reason that everyone kept moving out of the house after a few months. It was either that or with my previous job (helping the elderly fix their home repairs needed on their homes with a government funding project) that I brought one home. :confused: (I personally think it was the house).

 

It took us MONTHS to find out we had them. By the time we did, pretty much everything was ruined...including our life at the time. All of our furniture had to be thrown out, a lot of our clothing was ruined among other things. It was a nightmare. We couldn't sleep at night, we would stay up until around 5-6am when the sun was coming up before we could ever fall asleep. I had to see my doctor and get sleeping pills. I didn't know what was going on...until we discovered it (then we really didn't sleep at all). We bought everything on the market, it didn't work. The sprays, the powder, even capturing them and sealing off the air proved it did not kill them. When we told the landlord about it, they were not willing to do anything. Needless to say, we moved...and left everything behind. We had to start over. It was rough. I still have nightmares, I still weekly check the beds and furniture. I'm anal about every place I go. I know what to look for.

 

My daughter is HIGHLY alergic to them. My husband, myself and son are not. When bitten, they usually bite in a line, which is a little easier to tell as well that it's not another type of bite. They do itch.

 

Everything that Flowerchild and Cruisebug has posted are true and very informational. I would also consider myself an "expert" since 1) I've dealt with them and 2) My supervisor at work for 12 years was the actual "Head of the Bedbug council" here in my city. She can tell you everything (and has told me) about these pesky (using that term VERY lightly) critters. We had seminars on it. Yes, they do live for a year without ever having to feed on someone again before dying.

 

When I was battling this problem, I spent nights and nights researching everything about this and found a few "support forums" online. If you read some of the people posting on there, you would be shocked. Having these bedbugs are actually driving people insane (and by insane, I do mean mental...to the point people were talking about taking their lives at times because they can not deal with it). It is a VERY serious issue. Until you have had to deal with it, you can not even imagine what it puts you through. Take every precaution to never get them.

 

Also, as it was stated above, they do crawl into the electrical outlets, baseboards, picture frames and throughout the house. I will NEVER understand how any hotel, cruiseship, apartment building or anyplace could just replace the mattress/box springs and bedding/curtains and say they are gone. It just doesn't happen that way. :( Or move you to another room. If you just found 1 crawling, then maybe you picked it up somewhere and brought it in. If there are "signs", they are everywhere and changing a room isn't going to solve anything because I can gaurantee they are all over.

 

I am very happy to say that I have been BB free for over 2 years now...at the expense of picking up and leaving everything behind and starting over. :(

 

I'll leave on one last note...look online for information on "who" has had BB's before. (The White House has had them, Howard Stern...the list goes on). So NEVER say it has anything to do with cleanliness or the person. Even money can't keep them away.

[MyLittleGhanima]

Just got off the NCL Pearl and stateroom 9024 was infested with bed bugs.

 

 

Well this is fairly terrifying since I'll be getting on the Pearl in 3 days. Thankfully far away from that room in steerage :)

[hartsnvt]

Ghanima,

 

I am on the same cruise that you are. I will be checking everything as soon as we get to our cabin which is also far away from the forward cabin that had them.

[toledo]

It doesn't matter if you're on the Pearl or any ship, for that matter. If you're staying anywhere, you need to do a bed bug check. We believe we picked them up from a nice resort in Mexico. Someone on the Carnival board mentioned that the ship had a Packtite. This is large black bag with a heater. You place your suitcase inside and heat the contents to a temperature that kills any bugs. I don't know if the NCL ships have them, but it would be a good thing to have, should guests find out their cabin has bed bugs. Getting bit for a few nights on a cruise ship is no where near as serious as taking taking the bugs home with you. We battled them for over a year and have been bed bug free for two years.

[SuiteCruiser]

I wonder if the reason they were visible was because of some chemical that NCL had used to kill them? One trying to bite you while your wife can see it sounds out of normal behavior for them (not saying I know anything, just having read about them). They are normally pretty stealthy, and the dead ones in the bed also seem strange as it was the first day and the bedding would all be new.

 

Maybe they regularly treat cabins for them and the treatment killed most of them off and made the others wonky?

 

At any rate, I'm really sorry it happened. I'm glad they found you somewhere to move to and quickly.