are there mosquitoes on board?

[sail7seas]

I just listed to a CNN report and there are now reports of cases in 9 U.S. states. They likely most had traveled.

[ithaca gal]

The World Health Organization says this epidemic has already been mishandled and we could be facing a pandemic.

 

Who would even think of exposing their child (fetus) to the horrific consequences of your cruise???

 

The odds of winning the billion dollar lottery were in the multi-millions but THREE people beat those odds. What if a mosquito were to beat those odds with a pregnant passenger?

[EmperorCorey]

The World Health Organization says this epidemic has already been mishandled and we could be facing a pandemic.

 

Who would even think of exposing their child (fetus) to the horrific consequences of your cruise???

 

The odds of winning the billion dollar lottery were in the multi-millions but THREE people beat those odds. What if a mosquito were to beat those odds with a pregnant passenger?

 

So 1 in 292 million (the odds of winning the powerball) are unacceptable odds to you? Do you ever leave your house?

[WupperAV]

Thanks Shorex, my idea too. You ask anyone here and you can get any disease on a cruise. I probably have because i get everything they advertise on TV including sticky pots, My car just isn't good enough I mean in 6 lanes of 100 MPH traffic no one looks at me, My children all have brain disease from being disciplined and not drinking filtered water, we have a well, and I ask the Govt for everything because I'm not smart enough to do anything by myself. I use the wrong oil in my car, the wrong gas, the wrong polish, the wrong soap, the wrong deodorant etc etc etc.:eek::eek::eek:

 

Can you buy an entire chess set in a pawn shop?

 

If ghosts can walk through walls and glide down stairs, why don't they fall through the floor?

Edited January 28, 2016 by WupperAV

[EmperorCorey]

I bet if emperorcorey were pregnant they would have a different opinion.

 

My wife is in fact pregnant and we are booked on a Caribbean cruise sailing in March. No, we have not canceled because three out of four ports have reported no incidents of the disease and we will stay on the ship or take precautions in the fourth. We may cancel if the other ports begin to see cases. Thankfully, my wife is a rational person who can objectively assess risk and does not engage in histrionics.

 

As an aside, we are from an area of the country that sees hundreds of cases of West Nile Virus every year, which has caused dozens of deaths. Believe it or not we still leave our house.

Edited January 28, 2016 by EmperorCorey

[ithaca gal]

So 1 in 292 million (the odds of winning the powerball) are unacceptable odds to you? Do you ever leave your house?

 

I can't believe I have to explain this, BUT ............

 

No odds of getting the virus have been published by the CDC -- I was just using the 1 in 292 million lottery odds as an EXAMPLE.

 

Yes, I do leave my house. HOWEVER, if I were pregnant, I would not take unnecessary chances with my child's life. I can always cruise another time or to another area. I would not be so self-centered as to gamble with something that could destroy another person's life. Yes, I would fly in a plane, drive a car, even walk down the street. All of the consequences of those everyday actions would affect only me. They wouldn't set my baby up for a horrific life.

 

Then again, that's just me. I have a wonderful son and the "caffeine scare" was the big news when I was pregnant. The ODDS were that having a little too much caffeine wouldn't be too harmful to your baby, but they weren't sure. I laid off the Coca-Cola (which I loved) because I wanted to know that I had done my absolute best to ensure healthy conditions for my baby (caffeine free drinks hadn't been "invented" yet).

 

None of this is meant to be judgmental of another person's choice. I'm only saying what is most important to me and my family.

[ATC cruiser]

I don't believe West Nile causes any birth defects. There have been 4000 cases of birth defects reported since last October in Brazil alone. That's 4000 cases of birth defects from the the virus, not the virus itself. Now I agree, if you stay on the ship there's a very small chance of anything happening. I'm not sure if it's a chance my wife and I would take if we were still having children. Thank god we're past that stage.

[sail7seas]

It is one thing to get West Nile by being bitten by a mosquito while sitting in your own backyard. It is quite another to go out of one's way to travel to a cruise ship voluntarily and without necessity. How does one live a lifetime of regret about taking that cruise if the worst should happen?

 

JMO.......

[navybankerteacher]

Straw man. Who said anything about Russian roulette? If she asked about Russian roulette, I would have strongly advised against it.

 

Why would she risk going on a cruise? Because, as addressed in my previous post, there is essentially no risk if she stays on the ship, and expectant mothers should not be expected to be agoraphobes throughout the entirety of their pregnancy.

 

Oh, well - if someone who calls himself "Emperor ..." gives medical advice, that is much more reliable than hearing it from just anyone on Cruise Critic. Still, I would suggest the question be put to her ob/gyn --- and then you think very hard about the consequences of infection - even if the chance was only one in a hundred million.

 

Comforting odds are only comfortable if losing the bet is acceptable - is ANY chance of that infection worth a cruise?

[NoWhiners]

My wife is in fact pregnant and we are booked on a Caribbean cruise sailing in March. No, we have not canceled because three out of four ports have reported no incidents of the disease and we will stay on the ship or take precautions in the fourth. We may cancel if the other ports begin to see cases. Thankfully, my wife is a rational person who can objectively assess risk and does not engage in histrionics.

 

As an aside, we are from an area of the country that sees hundreds of cases of West Nile Virus every year, which has caused dozens of deaths. Believe it or not we still leave our house.

 

I can't believe I have to explain this, BUT ............

 

No odds of getting the virus have been published by the CDC -- I was just using the 1 in 292 million lottery odds as an EXAMPLE.

 

Yes, I do leave my house. HOWEVER, if I were pregnant, I would not take unnecessary chances with my child's life. I can always cruise another time or to another area. I would not be so self-centered as to gamble with something that could destroy another person's life. Yes, I would fly in a plane, drive a car, even walk down the street. All of the consequences of those everyday actions would affect only me. They wouldn't set my baby up for a horrific life.

 

Then again, that's just me. I have a wonderful son and the "caffeine scare" was the big news when I was pregnant. The ODDS were that having a little too much caffeine wouldn't be too harmful to your baby, but they weren't sure. I laid off the Coca-Cola (which I loved) because I wanted to know that I had done my absolute best to ensure healthy conditions for my baby (caffeine free drinks hadn't been "invented" yet).

 

None of this is meant to be judgmental of another person's choice. I'm only saying what is most important to me and my family.

 

I think you both make reasonable points, mostly having to do with risk. Emperor made a rational decision, that he is willing to reconsider if the facts change, that he and his wife will make well-informed decisions. Ithaca gal made a different decision based on her assessment of risk. Who are we kidding--risk is everywhere and never zero. Under the same scenario and 2 different decisions--go on cruise/don't go, buy insurance/don't buy, etc--after the event or a period of time, if the potential event never happened, who made the right call? (This is a rhetorical question--no answers needed).

 

I only posted because I just had lunch today with a friend whose daughter miscarried recently, no cruises/mosquitoes involved. While we were talking about this tragic event, we all agreed pregnancy is a crap shoot--you could stay home and miscarry, carry a baby to term who has any number of physical challenges, get hit by a truck crossing a street or in a car accident, etc etc. Bad things happen to good people, no matter where they are. Maybe a mosquito bites a pregnant woman on a cruise ship, maybe not. No matter what, you love the kids who are born and do your best for them.

 

We all have to make our own decisions, and my belief is that decision rests with each individual. Insulting others or not respecting their choice, or worse, forcing your opinion (not science and facts) on others is none of your business.

 

JMO, probably influenced by my lunch today.

 

ML

[Flatbush Flyer]

My wife is in fact pregnant and we are booked on a Caribbean cruise sailing in March. No, we have not canceled because three out of four ports have reported no incidents of the disease and we will stay on the ship or take precautions in the fourth. We may cancel if the other ports begin to see cases. Thankfully, my wife is a rational person who can objectively assess risk and does not engage in histrionics.

 

As an aside, we are from an area of the country that sees hundreds of cases of West Nile Virus every year, which has caused dozens of deaths. Believe it or not we still leave our house.

 

 

Histrionics and selfish irresponsibility are vastly different things.

[ithaca gal]

Comforting odds are only comfortable if losing the bet is acceptable - is ANY chance of that infection worth a cruise?

 

 

 

THAT'S the perfect way to say it! With odds of 292 million to one, I still bought lottery tickets because, if I lost my bet, no big deal! If I am pregnant and go on a cruise anywhere near the affected areas where the virus has been found, I am betting that I won't get sick from a mosquito bite. THAT is a bet that I cannot afford to make for my unborn child to lose!

[BeagleOne]

Your SIL's best sources of information on this are her own doctor and the CDC, not a bunch of strangers on the internet, most of whom have no medical background (although some of us do).

 

If I were your SIL, I would cancel the cruise, especially since she is in her first trimester. And that's certainly NOT "engaging in histrionics".

 

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html

[elliotterae]

Let's think about possible outcomes.

 

A. She stays home, misses the trip, wishes she had went, has to wait and go in a year or two.

 

B. She goes, and while docked a mosquito flys aboard, she gets a bite , has a child with life long handicaps and spends the rest of her life thinking "if I'd have only cared less about that 1 week of vacation".

 

C. She goes and everything is fine.

 

If it were me or my family, I'd be a whole lot less concerned about how high the chances are and a lot more focused on what's more important, and what end result would be worse to live with.

 

I couldn't live with myself knowing a vacation I was warned about was so important to me that I'd caused my child a life sentence.

[sfaaa]

D. She rolls the dice and goes, avoids the mosquitoes by confining herself on the ship while everyone else is having a great time partying and getting a tan on the beach. Seriously, what kind of a cruise vacation is this?