'Base' tan prior to Caribbean cruise

[Plantcrone]

I'm not trying to solicit information about how bad the sun is..at 70 I know all about it and frankly, quit tanning for the sake of getting tan 25 years ago.

 

As a very fair woman, I'm really afraid of burning my 2nd day out and having a miserable vacation. I used to surf and water ski and remember every Memorial Day weekend I'd get burned being on skis in a new bathing suit for the whole day and having to slather myself with Aloe for the next 4 vacation days...I don't want to do this on my first cruise in December, to the Caribbean.

 

Do any of you seniors who cruise a lot consider tanning prior to leaving? I live in Oregon now and we don't get a great deal of sun so I'm pretty much pasty white all year.

 

What is your experience with tanning beds-assumingyou have pre-tanned. I've never used one.

 

On my trips to Costa Rica, I was usually there long enough to get a natural tan, but I have burned badly a couple of times, especially on my scalp when I wore a shade hat with no top to it-just to shade my eyes. That was a miserable experience, as was the time I went surfing on the Pacific Coast and spent 3 days in the sun..by Wednesday I was looking for aloe vera. In fact I'm wondering if I can get an aloe vera plant aboard ship or if that would be counter to the taking foreign vegetation into another country.

 

Any helpful opinions or personal experiences welcome. Lectures on the sins of tanning NOT welcome. ok?

 

Thanks

Plantcrone (Elle)

[bjbear]

I'm not trying to solicit information about how bad the sun is..at 70 I know all about it and frankly, quit tanning for the sake of getting tan 25 years ago.

 

As a very fair woman, I'm really afraid of burning my 2nd day out and having a miserable vacation. I used to surf and water ski and remember every Memorial Day weekend I'd get burned being on skis in a new bathing suit for the whole day and having to slather myself with Aloe for the next 4 vacation days...I don't want to do this on my first cruise in December, to the Caribbean.

 

Do any of you seniors who cruise a lot consider tanning prior to leaving? I live in Oregon now and we don't get a great deal of sun so I'm pretty much pasty white all year.

 

What is your experience with tanning beds-assumingyou have pre-tanned. I've never used one.

 

On my trips to Costa Rica, I was usually there long enough to get a natural tan, but I have burned badly a couple of times, especially on my scalp when I wore a shade hat with no top to it-just to shade my eyes. That was a miserable experience, as was the time I went surfing on the Pacific Coast and spent 3 days in the sun..by Wednesday I was looking for aloe vera. In fact I'm wondering if I can get an aloe vera plant aboard ship or if that would be counter to the taking foreign vegetation into another country.

 

Any helpful opinions or personal experiences welcome. Lectures on the sins of tanning NOT welcome. ok?

 

Thanks

Plantcrone (Elle)

 

I'm also 70 and always tan in a tanning salon before I take a "sunny destination" cruise or vacation. That being said, I still use sunscreen because the tanning bed tan is different from the sun but I think it helps to have a little base tan built up before you go. Just keep in mind that the real sun in tropical climates can burn easily, use sunscreen and you should be OK.

 

I got a big laugh from your "any helpful opinions....lectures on the sins of tanning NOT welcome". I hate when people do that. I tan every summer because I don't like my white legs and will probably go to that big tanning bed in the sky with a little tan!! :D

 

Sue

[Plantcrone]

Thanks Sue-I'm glad I'm not the only 'mature' woman who wants to forgo the burning on vacation experience. I'm fully prepared for the same lecture from my dermatologist in February (if I have tan left that) I get when I see her after going to Central America. I've done research and learned about UVA/UVB rays and tanning beds..so I know what to look for and what NOT to look for in a tanning bed.

 

Most of the other threads about this subject say "Get a spray on tan" BUT that does nothing to help you not burn-it's makeup for your entire body not the development of Melanin which is what UVB rays do-I think I have it right..UVA brings the melanin to the surface and UVB darkens the melanin..or vise-versa.

 

Since I've done my bit with the dermatologist yearly for the past 25 years, when I did have skin cancer on my hand and totally quit tanning, I hope the tanning gods will let me slip pass for one more tan in my long life...growing up in Southern California as a water baby, the dermatologist said I'd had enough sun by age 25 for my entire life..then I worked outdoors every day for another 20 years, getting a farmers tan thus the skin cancer on my hand. It was removed and never come back...

 

Thanks for your non condemning reply Sue. Enjoy your next cruise!

 

Elle (aka Plantcrone)

[Plantcrone]

I've read all the tanning bed forums here on Cruise Critic and elsewhere-including the government website and talking to my own dermatologist about tanning beds...Since I haven't been a tanning bed person ever and am very pale now, my dermatologist said i'd be better off getting a base tan-or pre tanning, rather than burning, which is typical for me on tropical vaations. I also found the following post a moment of reality in a sea of misinformation on blogs & listserves all over. Just a different point of view for those who want to start talking skin cancer and bad for you...Remember, I want to know people who DO go to tan beds experiences. I think by the time we are seniors, we're old enough to make our own decisions

 

Elle (aka Plantcrone)

 

Cliped:

There is a lot of good science that shows that not only are tanning beds not as bad as the sunscreen companies want you to think they are, but that direct UV exposure to your skin in moderate amounts (more for darker skin) is essential to your health and well being, primarily due to the facultative production of Vitamin D3 that protects you from many types of cancer and a myriad other debilitating conditions that will shorten your life if you religiously use sunscreens and otherwise hide from the sun.

 

The sunscreen manufacturering industry is worth 700million dollars a year in the United States. That is more than the tanning industry is worth and the primary reason we only hear what their marketing has to say. The truth is, that the human being was not meant to live in a cave, and that the sun is essential for our well being. There is no science that backs up the claim that sunscreen prevents CMM (cutaneous malignent melanoma), while there is good science that shows that not only does moderate UV exposure NOT increase your risk of getting CMM, but that regular UV exposure and the developement of melanin (your tan) may actually save your life if you happen to have a genetic predispostion to developing CMM.

 

"Tan skin is damaged skin!" This longtime warcry of the sunscare industry is FALSE!!!!!! TAN SKIN IS PROTECTED SKIN. Tan skin is skin that has developed its ability to protect itself from the burning effects of the sun. Tan skin is also an indicator that you are getting enough UV to have produced the Vitamin D3 that is nature's wonder hormone, readily produced in the proper amount, by your skin, that is essential to your long term well being.

 

TANNING BEDS ARE A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT THAT ALLOW YOU TO TAN AT A PACE THAT WILL PREVENT BURNING WHILE ALLOWING YOUR SKIN TO PROTECT ITSELF.

 

I have worked with the FDA for many years to ensure that tanning salons are using the correct UV lamps in their tanning beds and to educate the salons in responsible tanning bed usage. The dirty little secret of the FDA is that they have allowed the sunscreen manufacturers to make any claim they want conserning skin cancer, because nobody has proven that the chemicals used in sunsreen are carcinogenic. While excessive UV exposure can cause carcinomas that are 99.9% treatable, the science is showing that sunscreens are most likely the cause of the triple in CMM cases in the last 10 years, even though fewer people are spending time in the sun. The sad fact is that people that avoid the sun and still get CMM are much more likely to die than the people that spend a lot of time in the sun prior to developing CMM.

 

One passing thought; look at the behavior of the American Cancer Society, (for instance, putting their name on an add paid for by nutrogena in July of this year, that inferred that using sunscreen WILL prevent CMM)one can see that these people are not concerned with preventing cancer from happening, but rather with ensuring that everyone that gets cancer knows where to go to pay for elite doctors who in turn are paid by pharmacutical companies to administer western medicine, aka 'lots of drugs and chemicals'.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Plantcrone

[cb at sea]

I'm 58 and will get a "base" tan if I plan to be in the sun. If I don't plan on beach activities, there are so many ways to be sunless...so I don't pre-tan.

 

Self tanners are an option, but they do NOT protect you from burning. Sunscreen, if applied properly, will keep even the palest skin from tanning/burning. The trick is the PROPER APPLICATION! Most folks don't know how to use sunscreen, and they burn anyway.

 

You must use 1 oz (a shotglass FULL) every 2 hours. Yes....every 2 hours! It should be applied 30 mins BEFORE you get in the sun....you can burn in the 30 mins. it takes to form a protective bond with your skin...so don't apply it at the beach! If you dry yourself off...guess what? You've wiped all your protection off, too....reapply after wiping water off of you!

 

So...a base tan will help you not burn immediately, but you still need to be very careful...night 3 of a cruise is where the "lobster people" come out to play!

[Plantcrone]

had to laugh at that phrase CB..I can so easily turn into a lobster person..don't want to do that. I didn't realize that a jigger of lotion is what is needed...thats a huge bottle of lotion to carry. I usually have sunscreen on a lanyard when I'm hiking..and I don't think the whole container is 2 oz Though I used it regularly, it obviously wasn't sufficient.

thanks for the info

elle

[mmbl]

I live in Texas so no need to get a 'base' tan when living here. We almost always have some sort of base tan.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[middlehaitch]

I too am a peely weely (pale skinned) and started going to a tanning salon before Caribbean cruises to get a base tan after I realised just how hot the sun was on my first trip where I 'pinked' the first day.

I start 6 weeks before the cruise going 2 x week. My first day is 6 min and I work up to 16 -18 min. This gives me a gentle mild tan and I think protects me, along with the use of a sun block, from the terrible 'pinking' I usually get when I go out in the sun wearing sun block but not sun conditioned.

Do the tanning salon, as has already been said, a controlled base is better than an uncontrolled burn.

Thank you the poster who talked about how good the sun is for you and how the effects of sun block has not been well researched - I have often wondered about all those chemicals.

Cheers, h.

Edited November 18, 2013 by middlehaitch

[orchestrapal]

Buy a bottle of aloe vera at whole Foods and stay await from tanning beds.

Skin Cancer is not fun and can kill.

[Plantcrone]

Buy a bottle of aloe vera at whole Foods and stay await from tanning beds.

Skin Cancer is not fun and can kill.

 

I know from past experience with equatorial sun that I will burn...Am I reading your considered opinion is that I should wait, not base tan, burn and just treat it with aloe vera?

 

 

 

Plantcrone aka/elle

[Plantcrone]

snip

I start 6 weeks before the cruise going 2 x week. My first day is 6 min and I work up to 16 -18 min. This gives me a gentle mild tan and I think protects me, along with the use of a sun block, from the terrible 'pinking' I usually get when

Cheers, h.

end snip

 

I think you have a good routine..and I'd better get on the ball and decide where I'm going. I've narrowed it down to 2 salons with new tanning beds - one will offer me a 2 month special (more than I need ) for a flat rate and the other wil offer me a pay per tan deal with no commitment.

 

Since I'm down to a bit more than a month I'd better get going! I like your twice a week for limited time and build up idea.

 

Thanks for the thoughtful advise everyone who answered

 

 

 

Plantcrone aka/elle

[middlehaitch]

Plantcrone (like your name),

Make sure the salon you chose have certified technicians. These folk will build a graduated plan for the time you have before you go. Also, they will make sure you leave 48 hr between each session. They should also recommend a pre tanning cream to be put on right before you get in the bed. I use Botanica 'Steal the Limelight' or 'Shea You Love Me'. I find them to soak in nicely and be non greasy. The pre tan creams are quite expensive $40 but last for ages and do stop your skin feeling like old leather. Don't forget to do the centre of your back between the shoulder blades (the reaching helps keep you supple, honest) I follow up with the CVS Aloe Vera - the fewer ingredients the better. If you tan your face at all (I don't) make sure you have a bed where you can turn the face lamps off after a couple of minutes and graduate the build up. Dont forget you need eye shields.

Hope that helps with deciding who to go with.

My salon does morning specials and over 55 specials.

Cheers, h.

Edited November 20, 2013 by middlehaitch

[Plantcrone]

I went for the expensive machine that I could stand up in...the front desk person was new to the company and didn't know squat however she gave me a great deal for being patient while she called her boss leventeen-hundred times to ask questions..she didn't even know how to start the stand up machine..apparently there are 2 buttons to push start.

 

And she forgot to sell me eye covers...after I'd gotten all my clothes off I realized I didn't have them!

 

Then she said she'd give me 10 minutes to get ready and apply the super dooper lotion that I got at 50% off..I asked her for 6 minutes t0 start and she gave me 6 minutes t get ready and 10 tan minutes...not I am the original pale bodied woman and though it was difficult to read the countdown clock I could tell by how my boobs and legs were starting to get that 'too much sun' feeling so I turned the machine off..at 5 minutes.

 

I'm not burned but my face is ruddy and my back feels tight- I forgot to put lotion on my face!

 

I'l go again-for 5 minutes on Sunday, weds and friday and maybe up the time next weekend. Maybe.

 

I only signed up for a month even though I got the hard sell..it's way too expensive for me, even with the 'special' I got. I could have paid less for the old style machines but the new one has a deeper tanning - more like equatorial sun - according to new girl.

 

If the other salon wasn't even more expensive I would have gone there, but this one is very close-right next to my gym so I can go work out after tanning if I get going early enough in the morning.

 

Thanks everyone for all the advise.

[Northernmags]

Hi,

I am 66 years of age and always pretan at the tanning studio (from 1-2 months) prior to a southern vacation. Have never had bad burn. DF does this too.

[middlehaitch]

Plantcrone,

Such a shame you got the new girl for your first tanning session! I am glad you listened to your body and cut the session short as the plan was to tan slowly not get burnt and I think you would have if you had stayed in the whole time. I have never tried the stand up tan as I know that is the strong one and really really dont want to burn. Maybe I will get brave and do that as mt last 2 sessions befor the cruise in March. I personally like the lie down bed. I just lie thinking nothing; doing nothing listening to the music very relaxing. FYI I am doing once a week throughout the winter hoping I will not have to get so intense in the weeks before my next cruise.

I too usually go to the gym after and do 30 min weights and in the winter a 30 min treadmill. In the summer I walk to both so dont bother with the treadmill.

Please post updates on how the tanning is going and how you like the stand up booth.

Cheers, h.

[Plantcrone]

I've tried the laying down booth twice and the stand up tanning booth once and frankly I think I prefer the stand up one. When I purchased tanning lotion I didn't realize it was also a skin dye..again I was dealing with a new clerk who didn't know squat. I think shes been let go as she hasn't been back at the salon the 2 times I've been there.

Anyhow I'm not sure if I am getting a tan or just dying my skin with the lotion I purchased. The 2 times I've use the lay down bed, I didn't feel like I was getting any tan.not like I could tell using the stand up booth. I'll use the stand up one for 8 minutes on Sunday and se how it goes.

I discovered the lotion was a skin dye as I had a band-aid on and the lotion left a pale spot where the band aid was I could tell it was from the lotion because it was an uneven edge, like the lotion had oozed under the edges of the band-aid and the tan machine wouldn't do that.

Anyhow I'm being much more careful applying the lotion, wiping it off my fingers so I don't have weird colored lines at the fingers....I still don't look tan at all, but I've got 3 more weeks to go.

 

thanks for all the help-especially from middlehaitch (what is your name anyhow?)

elle

[middlehaitch]

Hi Elle,

Thank you for your update on how the Tan is doing. I think I may see about doing a stand up or 2 this next week just as a trial. We have a company Christmas 'do' to go to and I am loath to wear hose so will do an extra day in a stand up just to take to shine off my white legs.

What a shame about the lotion. I hope it doesn't rub off on the sheets. I tried one of the 'tan in the bottle' products once and the sheets had more of a tan than I.

I usually tan naked so it is hard to tell when I have started to get a bit of colour because it is, as it should be, a very gradual build up. It is usually my DH that comments on me looking as though I have some colour that clues me in to the fact that the tan is building, so hang in by the time you cruise you will have your skin prepped for that hot sun.

Glad to see the first assistant is no longer around, she wasn't much use to you and it sounded like she was a detriment to the salon.

18 days until you cruise, have you started packing yet?

Cheers, h.

My name is Heather :)

[Plantcrone]

Fortunately it didn't rub off on my sheets, but it's sure left me streaky, especially on my legs and back, which is so hard for me to do anyhow..plus I put some sunscreen over my tattoos..I have 3-a large one on my lower back, an ankle piece and the inevitable impulse tat after meeting a tattoo artist in a cantina in Costa Rica...I started talking about what memento of Costa Rica I should get..we'd been drinking the local distilled grain alcohol (and it isn't prime Single Malt Scotch) and both of us were tipsy. I ended up getting a phoenix, which is on the label of the local beer, Imperial Cervesa. I can always tell when someone has been to Costa Rica after the see that tattoo--they come up and ask me! Most people just think it's a phoenix though, and it isn't a very good tat. Still I like to keep my tats nice and dark and sunlamps + sun fade them out! So I'm using 'fake a bake' lotion and sunscreen and it seems to be working just fine.

 

Yeah I hope that Kim-the newby at the salon, is history..I can understand just learning a job but she made so many mistakes with me-and I was there for so long..oh well.

 

Hope you like the stand up tan booth. Have lots of fun at your party!

And I've packed and unpacked about10 times...changing what I want to bring, taking things out to get the weight down. I bought large bottles of sunscreen, aloe vera gel and higher level sunscreen for my face-I freckle badly and I think freckles are cute on a kid but not a 70 year old!

 

Best wishes Elle

Edited December 2, 2013 by Plantcrone

[dorisis]

I was a swimming instrctor when i was in my teens, 20s and 30s and have the skin and the skin cancers to prove it. I wish I had known then what i know now. STAY OUT OF THE SUN as much as you can.

[Plantcrone]

I was a swimming instrctor when i was in my teens, 20s and 30s and have the skin and the skin cancers to prove it. I wish I had known then what i know now. STAY OUT OF THE SUN as much as you can.

 

And I was a surfer and water skier in So California until I moved to oregon at age 35..I also got the skin cancer and have had surgery.

I know that I will be in the sun because I am a water baby. I spoke with my dermatologist, who has lectured me about burning..which is worse than an occasional light tan.

 

Saying "Stay out of the sun" isn't practical on a Caribbean cruise. It's no different than saying don't over eat on your cruise. I appreciate your comment but obviously you didn't read my initial posting on the subject.

 

If you talk to any dermatologist, they will tell you that a burn is worse than a light tan any day. I haven't been in the sun to tan for 25 years and have no sign of cancer since my initial experience. I'm not going to spend my cruise inside my cabin hiding from the sun, just like I go to the beach when I travel to Central America. Burning in the tropics is much worse than a bit of base tan, which is what I have now. I feel better too. There may be something to that Vitamin D theory about tanning beds.

[Plantcrone]

I bought an tanning intensifier to go with my tanning bed experience. I'm only going every 3rd day but I've worked up to 10 minutes in the stand up bed.

I have a nice collection of freckles on my nose.

Actually I'm using a SPF 18 on my face when I'm in the booth so I have some color with the freckles.

 

I was putting makeup on last weekend and realized my face wasn't my makeup color any more..had to buy a medium beige foundation instead of light.

 

I think I'll get a new one just before I leave thats a shade darker..gotta cover those freckles up!

 

All in all I'm very glad I decided to use the tanning bed prior to my cruise. I've been reading the weather and it's quite hot..after all it's the middle of tropical summer now! I feel a bit strange standing naked in the stand up tanner but like it much better than the lay down one.

 

I got offered a 50% off discount to extend my 1 month membership and declined. I don't use it enough and won't use it until I go to the caribbean again . Since I lost a crown a few days ago (rats), I know I'll be back in Costa Rica for dental work next year but it won't be summer when I go so no worries about the sun. I'll have an implant instead of a crown I'm sure..it's so inexpensive there.

 

Thanks for almost all the replies..at least for the positive ones…We are leaving to fly to Florida on the 19th but not sailing until the 22nd. we don't want to have to rush rush rush and daughter got a good room price in Ft Lauderdale.

 

I have a list of things to pick up prior to going on the ship..like a case of bottled water for the family and a pair of flip flops for beach wear and just leave. Not worth packing and I'm sure they are more available there in Fla. not so much in the Great Northwest right now. We got a dog sitter lined up and are anxiously waiting to go.

[middlehaitch]

Hi Elle,

Your base tan must be just about right by now and your case packed a couple more times. Report back to the thread after your cruise so I can find out how you enjoyed it. I would love to know.

I never found time to do the stand up tan so will leave it until after christmas. The assisasnt at the salon said I would probably need only 4 min as it is so much stronger than the bed I use!

I too have wondered if the vit D absorbed by the body is helping me through the winter doldrums.

I think some people miss the point of using a tanning bed so any time in the hot sun of the Caribbean doesn't burn one to a crisp as soon as one steps out in it. Neither of us are bikini babes going for a deep orange tan :D

As in all things moderation is the key, and I think we have both aproached our use of tanning salons in a well though out way.

Staying out of the sun almost negates the reason for going to the Caibbean or other warm/hot destinations and the use of high spf lotions is being questioned by the FDA as the saefty of the high amounts of the products in them has not been thoroughly tested, so I think a judicious use of an SPF, cover-ups and hats (though unless specifically designed, cover-ups have to be uncomfortably thick to stop the suns rays penetrating) and pre-base tanning in a salon controlled atmosphere are a sensible approach.

Cheers, and have a wonderful time Elle, h.

[Plantcrone]

Thanks, Heather, for all your support. You're right-I've packed and unpacked about as often as I tan! I've never found my mother of the bride dresses..I don't know where they went to. I probably put them in a bag to take to the dry cleaner the week I was sick and stashed the bag someplace. In any case, daughter found me several of her dresses that are a bit young for me but fit like a dream..they are the ones she bought in Hawaii on her Honeymoon, 10 years ago! But Hawaiian style dresses never go out of style..they aren't mu-mus they are more asian/hawaiian style with tropical flower prints. She also found me a great Christmas Red jersey dress to take-very easy to pack these things, much easier than the mother of the bride dresses. No doubt I'll find them when I get home.

 

Yep my base color is fine..I wouldn't want it to be any more tan than it is..I'll never be a copper tone girl..If only these freckles would get together I'd be a lovely color!

 

I will report on my trip when we get home..which will be New Years Eve day. I tried to talk her into staying and going to Disney world for New Years Eve..but daughter says she want's to come home. I'm used to taking long vacations-being retired, I've gone for months in Costa Rica. She's got a business to run and hubby has to go back to work, and of course grand daughter will have to go back to school. The only thing I could do is visit my ex husband..NOT!

 

Be well and have a great holiday up there in the cold part of the northwest.

[Gunner22aa]

Is all you need. I'm as fair as a piece of white paper and would never consider sun tanning booths. Skin cancer killed my father. There are lots of great sun screen products out there that will do the job very well. I personally use one ment for children that is SPF 50 and waterproof. I'm big into water sports so I have to have one that will withstand the salt water. Wear a light cover up when you are not in the water and use the sun screen liberally. Not only is it cheaper than a tanning booth its a heck of a lot safer!

[middlehaitch]

Gunner22aa,

Both myself and the OP, Plantcrone, have had a dialogue throughout this thread about the use of tanning beds. She wanted advice and I gave it.

The slow incremental use of a tanning bed to stimulate melanin production pre cruise is not detremental to the skin nor will it cause skin cancer. Over exposure without proper protection to UVA/UVB rays is damaging no matter how one achieves it.

The way I use a tanning bed, and advised Plantcrone to use one, is to gradually stimulate melanin production before exposure to the harsh Carribean sun; this provides the best natural protection against sun damaging rays.

A light coverup, unless specifically designated to provide UVA/B protection (I have a longsleeve specifically designed light t-shirt for snorkling) will not protect your skin.

I use a sunscreen also, during the most damaging hours, but am aware that 1) even the US made spf 50 that you use does not give adequate protection from UVA (the most damaging) rays, unlike those obtainable in Europe. 2) it is very difficult for anyone to apply and re apply good consistent overall coverage.

Over use of sunscreens as the prime protection can lead to vitamin D deficiency. Also, the long term effects of the chemicals in a sunscreen product once absorbed into the body are unknown and only just being researched.

Because my skin is so fair I did a great deal of research before deciding on the best practice to use to protect my skin while in the sun, I am happy with the methods I use.

I respect the methods you are using for your skin care, but as the OP asked about tanning salons, and their use, this thread has been focused on that.

Cheers, h.