Do Cruise Ships have Rats & Mice?

[cruise47]

The only rats I have seen are the ones that placed their cheesy towels on the pool chairs before 7:00 AM.:D

[wwcruisers]

Well rather than letting people bring their Shih Tzu on board, time to set up a cats only policy? They could be just as effective as service animals for those with panic attacks. ;)

 

LOL -- I think you're onto something, here. Folks who suffer from "acute rodent anxiety" could bring their "therapy cats" onboard with them! :p

[CptSticky]

LOL -- I think you're onto something, here. Folks who suffer from "acute rodent anxiety" could bring their "therapy cats" onboard with them! :p

I tried to bring my therapy python on board but was told it might eat one of the therapy foo foo dogs. For some reason they didn't seen to think that was a good thing.

[chengkp75]

Along with the rats and mice there are cockroaches, lice, bed bugs, flies, birds, up dust mites, centipedes, spiders, fleas, and probably a whole lot of things that we may never see. Same as many houses, apartments, restaurants and etc.

 

A friend of mine bought same bird seed to feed the birds in the winter time, he stored the seed in his basement and discovered mice inside. He couldn't find any holes in the outside of the bag. I am sure that many critters get on board the same way.

 

happy crusing

 

Going to vehemently disagree with you on this. One entire aspect of the USPH Vessel Sanitation Plan (that everyone refers to as the CDC score), deals exclusively with pest control. There is a Pest Control Officer onboard full time, and measures are taken continuously to eliminate any insect or rodent that is onboard, and to prevent their introduction onboard. The rat guards are funny, but they are not required by law anymore, but some ships still use them, depends on the port.

 

One measure that folks don't know about is that there is absolutely no cardboard allowed in galley areas. Roaches lay eggs in corrugated cardboard, so everything has to come out of boxes when it goes to the galley, unless it is for immediate use. The cans that come in boxes and produce, etc., can only be in boxes in the walk in refrigerators and freezers in the provisions area, which are inspected by the PCO daily.

 

So, to answer the OP from someone who has worked behind the scenes on cruise ships, no there are no rats or mice.

[sail7seas]

Going to vehemently disagree with you on this. One entire aspect of the USPH Vessel Sanitation Plan (that everyone refers to as the CDC score), deals exclusively with pest control. There is a Pest Control Officer onboard full time, and measures are taken continuously to eliminate any insect or rodent that is onboard, and to prevent their introduction onboard. The rat guards are funny, but they are not required by law anymore, but some ships still use them, depends on the port.

 

One measure that folks don't know about is that there is absolutely no cardboard allowed in galley areas. Roaches lay eggs in corrugated cardboard, so everything has to come out of boxes when it goes to the galley, unless it is for immediate use. The cans that come in boxes and produce, etc., can only be in boxes in the walk in refrigerators and freezers in the provisions area, which are inspected by the PCO daily.

 

So, to answer the OP from someone who has worked behind the scenes on cruise ships, no there are no rats or mice.

 

 

So interesting. I learn more from you here on CC than I've learned in years of cruising and many (private) tours of galley, refrigerated rooms and freezers. :) I've always gotten to see where the liquor stores are. :)

 

[chengkp75]

So interesting. I learn more from you here on CC than I've learned in years of cruising and many (private) tours of galley, refrigerated rooms and freezers. :) I've always gotten to see where the liquor stores are. :)

 

 

That's a pretty secure area, for obvious reasons. ;) I'd usually get in there once a week or so, not for that reason, though. Access was limited to senior bar staff and those few senior officers (about 5) who had Grand Master keys.

[Hlitner]

I thought the rats lived on deck 13 where they have their own buffet and deck chairs.

[Lerin]

Humorous, though not helpful replies.

In typical CC fashion we have 1 person who claims to have found a dropping in their cabin, and another who claims to have insider knowledge and there are NO rats of any sort... There was a reality show on a bit ago that did in fact mention rats... take that as you wish.

 

Virtually all sailing vessels worldwide have rodents of some sort, not sure why cruise ships would be excluded.

[chengkp75]

Humorous, though not helpful replies.

In typical CC fashion we have 1 person who claims to have found a dropping in their cabin, and another who claims to have insider knowledge and there are NO rats of any sort... There was a reality show on a bit ago that did in fact mention rats... take that as you wish.

 

Virtually all sailing vessels worldwide have rodents of some sort, not sure why cruise ships would be excluded.

 

Do you actually mean "sailing" vessels, or vessels sailing? I think you are dating yourself, or you've read too many Horatio Hornblower novels. I've been on nearly every type of commercial ship there is today, over a 40 year career, and have never, ever seen a rodent. Even on ships carrying thousands of tons of corn in bulk, where the holds are fumigated when loading, and going to some of the most underdeveloped ports in the world, there have never been any rodents found at the end of the voyage.

 

I didn't see the dropping that the poster found, but I can say that since my 180 year old house has a mouse problem, that it most likely wasn't a mouse dropping. Mice poop while eating, so to find one out in the open in a cabin is not likely.

 

You sort of lost credibility when you mentioned a "reality" show.

[chengkp75]

By the way, what factual basis do you have for your last statement, or is this "common knowledge"? Like an urban myth or a reality show?

[iheartbda]

Humorous, though not helpful replies.

In typical CC fashion we have 1 person who claims to have found a dropping in their cabin, and another who claims to have insider knowledge and there are NO rats of any sort...

I'll put my money on Chengkp75

 

There was a reality show on a bit ago that did in fact mention rats... take that as you wish.

Surely you jest.......a reality show?:rolleyes:

 

Virtually all sailing vessels worldwide have rodents of some sort, not sure why cruise ships would be excluded.

How would you know?

Please supply some published official information that backs up that broad statement.

 

Cheng, I see you are asking for the same thing that I did.;):)

Edited March 9, 2015 by iheartbda

[Crew News]

That's a pretty secure area, for obvious reasons. ;) I'd usually get in there once a week or so, not for that reason, though. Access was limited to senior bar staff and those few senior officers (about 5) who had Grand Master keys.

 

Sign on the liquor storage room on the Ms Oosterdam:

 

[chengkp75]

Sign on the liquor storage room on the Ms Oosterdam:

 

 

Never said I took anything (honest!), though the Surveillance Manager and I had an "understanding". :D But for USPH inspections and maintenance inspections I could go in (and wave at the camera).

[sail7seas]

Sign on the liquor storage room on the Ms Oosterdam:

 

 

 

 

Crew News..........

Did you notice something funny about this sign? :D :D

 

Notice the proper spelling:

 

Surveillance

 

[BruceMuzz]

All international ocean-going cruise ships are required by the IMO to have a current Health Certificate that is known in the industry as a "de-ratting certificate".

Once every year, Health Officials come onboard to look through all the pest control records from the previous year, then to inspect the entire ship for signs of any pests.

 

If any evidence is found of any rodents onboard, the de-ratting certificate will not be issued until the ship can prove that the rodents have been eliminated. Not an easy thing to do.

If a ship has no de-ratting certificate, it will not be allowed to enter certain countries and will not be allowed to offlaod any waste in most countries.

 

Once evidence has been found that a ship has rodents onboard - even if they are eliminated - the de-ratting certificate that is issued will note that the ship had - at least once - rodents onboard. After that point, for the life of the ship, any waste offloaded in any country in the world carries a hefty surcharge as the waste will be considered hazardous waste. These surcharges can exceed US$100,000 per year.

 

Cruise ships go to incredible lengths to avoid rats and mice getting onboard.

[sail7seas]

I find all this really fascinating information.

Beats me how a cruise staff/crew can do anything other than fulfill all the obligations imposed upon various governmental agencies. No wonder there is a dedicated pest control Officer. :eek:

 

[ghstudio]

I've never seen one. If you will notice, they put up rat guards on all the lines when they dock alongside the pier.

 

Actually, they are very haphazard about those rat guards. I've noticed that Celebrity does put some rat guards up, but then there are some lines with none. Next time you're on a cruise, take a look.

 

Maybe rats are less of a problem today than historically....

Edited March 10, 2015 by ghstudio

[CptSticky]

Humorous, though not helpful replies.

In typical CC fashion we have 1 person who claims to have found a dropping in their cabin, and another who claims to have insider knowledge and there are NO rats of any sort... There was a reality show on a bit ago that did in fact mention rats... take that as you wish.

 

Virtually all sailing vessels worldwide have rodents of some sort, not sure why cruise ships would be excluded.

I don't claim, I actually found one. I'm also a farmer so I know what I found. Now I never "claimed" that it was deposited in the cabin by a rat. As I explained to the front desk, the possibility exists that it was carried in by someone's shoe from shore (possibly even mine). What I don't appreciate here is the innuendo that I was making up this story. If you look back at my many posts you will see that other than humorous posts, I have always tried to remain factual here on CC. Therefore I think an apology would be appropriate.

[chengkp75]

I don't claim, I actually found one. I'm also a farmer so I know what I found. Now I never "claimed" that it was deposited in the cabin by a rat. As I explained to the front desk, the possibility exists that it was carried in by someone's shoe from shore (possibly even mine). What I don't appreciate here is the innuendo that I was making up this story. If you look back at my many posts you will see that other than humorous posts, I have always tried to remain factual here on CC. Therefore I think an apology would be appropriate.

 

I never intended to insinuate that you had made it up. As I said, I didn't see it, so could not confirm or deny. To the inexperienced, various things are confused with droppings. If you had stated, or I missed, that it was a rat dropping, not a mouse one, that changes everything, as rats will deposit anywhere, unlike mice (I get the occasional rat in the house as well, the joys of country living). And yes, the shoe theory is most probable. Sorry if my typing did not properly convey my thoughts.

Edited March 10, 2015 by chengkp75

[boating girl]

Light a cigarette on your balcony and see how many rats come out. :)

 

Me.