Which vaccins did you get before a Panama Canal cruise?

[sandravb79]

We booked a Panama Canal cruise, without doing much research before it.

Now that I am reading a bit about the countries we'll visit (Cartagena/ Columbia, Colon/ Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico), I am getting a bit worried regarding tropic diseases.

 

I know we have to get the hepatitis A vaccin, but which others are needed? Do we really need the yellow fever one?

 

What is your experience with this?

 

Thanks!

[Gonzo70]

My wife and I did not do any vaccines; most people do the same. If you have any pre-existing medical conditions, consult with your physician if any are recommended. Otherwise, unless you are doing excursions that take you deep into a jungle or what not, you are not likely to require any vaccinations for port calls at locations such as Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.

[Joedog]

Do you really have to get any vaccines? We were on a cruise that went to Panama, Costa Rica & Mexico last year and we didnt have to get any vaccines.

 

I have been cruising since 2003 and I have not had to get any vaccines to go anywhere.

[sandravb79]

Well, on the website of our Foreign Affairs whatever, it says the hepatitis A is mandatory for those regions, and our family doctor also told us it's better to get it.

 

A friend of me (who is a MD) is going to Costa Rica in May, and when I told her I would also be there for 1 day, she told me I should get the yellow fever one.

However, I'm not a fan of vaccines (I'm a chicken, lol) and I have the feeling it's going to be an expensive one.

 

I was also told that without the yellow card that has all your vaccines on it, you can't enter Costa Rica. I find it strange that nothing was mentioned about that on the Celebrity website, so I sent them an email (not really expecting an answer, still waiting for the answer to a question related to our cruise 2 years ago). That's why I thought about asking here, what other people did and what their experience was.

 

I don't want to be denied access to Costa Rica, I don't want to end up sick with something exotic, but I also don't want to have to get expensive unnecessary vaccines.

[Lew's cruise]

We did Panama Canal twice and never received any shots. The tours that we took were regular ship tours and no one with us got them either.

[cruzeluver]

Went to Cartagena, Costa Rica and Panama on Celebrity two years ago and we were not required to get any shots, nor did we.

[dzcruisers]

We've done the west to east Panama Canal cruise twice, the last time in Sept., 2009. We did not get any vaccines for our trip. There was no yellow card required to enter Costa Rica at that time and I haven't heard of one now.. Your doctor knows your health situation better than anyone else. He may have other reasons for advising you have vaccines.

We enjoyed tours in all of the ports. We did not stay overnight in any of the ports.

Not being from the US could make a difference in what is required. I notice you are from Belgium. That could be the difference.

[sandravb79]

Thanks for all your experiences with it. I feel a little better now.

My mom (who will travel with me) is whining the whole time we should have gotten an other cruise, blablabla, because of what the possibility of the vaccines.

 

We will still get the HepA one (it might be required to get back home after the trip there, lol) and buy mosquito-stuff with DEET in it.

[Longtonian]

We were in Costa Rica in November and we didn't need any proof of vaccinations. We didn't have any vaccinations at all on this last cruise on the Equinox, mostly down to laziness and apathy really, not cost or fear of the needle.

 

When we were in Central America previously in 2005, we did however take the cautious option and definitely had yellow fever and hepatitis plus malaria tablets too, based on recommendations from our medical practice nurse.

 

Our only concession to health precautions this time was bug spray. Despite this though, both me and Mrs Longtonian got bitten quite badly, Mrs L in Panama and me on the ship, believe it or not on the first day at sea. I suspect it was while sitting on the Lawn on the Equinox at sunrise. I must say that my first thought was oh no, malaria! Where did these insects board? Are they nice USA based bugs or did they fly in and take up residence from a malaria infested country on the previous cruise? I also had a nasty black three inch long papery flying insect land on my neck whilst on deck at sea. I managed to supress my unmanly squeal as there were quite a lot of people around. In fact we saw quite a lot of wildlife on board - a moth as big as my hand (though I do have quite small hands for a man) and quite a few massive dragonflies which made us duck for cover.

 

Seriously though, if you investigate further I think you will almost certainly find that the official line is to have some precautionary jabs. I supect however that most people don't.

 

 

.

[ClaudiaB]

No worries! We did that same Panama, Costa Rica, Cartagena, etc. cruise on Equinox in 11/2009 and no vaccines were even mentioned. We took wonderful excursions, half on our own with CC people here and half through the ship. We had a great time in every port. Definitely a different feel in the ports from the Caribbean and a wonderful experience. We especially had a great time in Cartagena on a private excursion with Mr. Emerald (not his real name) and the 4 of us in our little car ended up taking our driver to a wonderful high-end type restaurant that Mr. Emerald had recommended. It was in the old city and looked like a real dump on the outside but once inside it was like a country club and absolutely fabulous dining! It was nice seeing all the sights of the city with only 4 or 6 people.

 

We always bring our over-the-counter cold, sinus, etc. meds but that's about all we "worry" about.

[sailorboy05]

Prior to a Panama Canal cruise last year, my wife and I asked our doctors about vaccines. They both looked it up and said nothing was required, and recommended no vaccines. But recommend you check with your Dr; he/she knows your health conditions and can advise the best course.

 

PS: Recommend you don't drink the water, or anything with ice, in Cartagena. Our son-in-law (from Colombia) had warned us prior to the cruise, but I got the stupid gene in my family and didn't follow his advice. I wound up with some kind of parasitic infection a week afterward and needed some strong antibiotics to fight it off.

[iurebekah3rt]

I have been to a few of those places. I have never got a vaccine for a vacation or cruise.

[Texed]

For my Panama cruise, no vaccines. However, I did have a few "shots". ;)

[Christine Frances]

I went to our Foreign Affairs website to register as we will be in China for 15 days and then on a cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore. It was recommended that we visit a Travel Medical Clinic and the main thing we came away with was that for any travel in the tropics you need Hep A & B, updated Tetnus booster and really strong bug spray. 30% Deet is recommended. Dengue (breakbone fever - a virus) is spread by a mosquito which bites in the daytime. It is prevalent in the tropics world wide. So spray yourself against those nasty sand fleas in Roatan:eek: and elsewhere and protect yourself against Dengue. We also received the flu shot.

[BrusselsGirl07]

I know we live in different countries, but still thought I would comment. We visited a Dr specialising in travel vaccinations before going on our Panama Canal cruise and they said as we spend such a short time in Costa Rica and the Panama, that the yellow fever vaccination was not required. We did have to have typhoid though, our hep A and hep B shots were already up to date, and we were told to use a lot of mozzie repellant. If we had returned to Australia within 10 days of leaving a country that has yellow fever, we could be denied entry (not sure what they would do with you?) but as we spent 2 weeks in the US after the Panama cruise it was not an issue. We are about to spend a month in Ecuador, and so we had to have the yellow fever vaccination this time. Apparently Australian's need to show their yellow fever vaccination certificate to get into Costa Rica if you enter through an airport and we will be visiting there after we leave Ecuador.

[Christine Frances]

I think we were told we would need Yellow Fever if we were going up the Amazon.

[Despegue]

Sandra,

 

We have in Antwerp the World's most authoritive institute for tropical diseases.:)

Check out the website on http://www.itg.be

 

Antimalaria is not required or even recommended as we only visit Panama and Costa Rica in daytime.

Also the risk for Yellow Fever is only there in Panama, but not in the canal zone. Vaccinations are thus not necessary if you don't want to:)

 

Just make sure your Tetanus and Hepatitis A/B is still valid...

[biker1972]

The real question that has not been asked is about your future travel plans. If this is a one time only trip that does not go into the interior of these tropic countries, you most likely will have no need for shots of any kind, including Hep A. Hep B is often a good shot for anyone and is being given to many youngsters routinely. If you are planning trips in the future to areas like Peru, the Amazon, Iguazu, Africa, Vietnam etc. then this might be an opportune time to do Yellow fever, typhoid and some others. Yellow fever shot good for 10 years. Some countries can and do deny entry if you do not have the Yellow fever shot and have traveled in a country where it exists even if you only were in an area where it is not prevalent. And sometimes countries deny entry based on political problems between nations and the yellow fever shot is the ruse.

[Cindy G]

For our two SO AM cruises, and our Galapaogs trip, our physician recommended the Hep A and B combo. Better to be safe than sorry. In OH the travel clinics charge a high dollar amount for such vaccines, investigate your local health depts, city, county, or state for lower priced vaccines.

[Chief Vette]

For Costa Rica. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website, yellow fever vaccine is required for travelers coming from countries with a risk of yellow fever transmission. The following countries are considered at risk for transmission of yellow fever: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Peru and Venezuela.

 

For my itinerary: Aruba, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico. I will get the yellow fever vaccination.

 

Link:http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-2/yellow-fever-vaccine-requirements-and-recommendations.aspx

[Despegue]

Contact your tropical Institute. if you are visiting only Cartagena, there is NO risk for Yellow Fever.

[sandravb79]

Thanks all for the replies.

 

I have no intention to ever visit the "real" South-America, I have no interest in that continent (this is of course very personal). Also, no interest to visit Vietnam or go to the middle-of-nowhere in Africa or so.

 

I will call the travel clinic at the hospital here and see what they say.

 

Of course, when you do a Panama Canal cruise West to East, you first go to Costa Rica and only afterwards to Columbia. Here, the authorities will know we have been to Columbia beforehand.

 

I hope Celebrity will reply to my question, but I doubt it.