Your odds of getting sick on a ship....Get This !

[runningtide]

I'm leaving on April 9th from Miami on a 17 day Transatlantic. This morning while drinking coffee before going to the gym, I was looking over my Roll Call while I was listening to my news radio station WTOP in DC. They were doing a special on travel "myths" , talking about airline prices, best hotels rates, etc. Then they mentioned the "myth" about getting sick on a cruise. They stated that your chances of getting sick are 750 times greater on land than on a cruise! Not sure where the stats come from but I found this interesting. Celebrity and Royal Carribean, the two lines I have sailed, do a fantastic job of keeping the ship and their passangers healthy. I think this fact sends a truly well deserved acknowledgement to the cruise industry!

 

Of course.., I'm not sure hangovers qualify as "sickness". I've tried the little disinfection dispensers in the morning outside the restrauants and they don't seem to have any effect on my headache..... :-)

[ClaudiaB]

Just wish people practiced more "due diligence" in the restrooms and while in elevators and other public places with their sneezing, etc. No wonder the crew has to wipe down everything constantly.

Unfortunately for me, I *did* contract the worst bronchitis ever while on a TA. I try not to touch things or ride elevators a lot but it just happens in the closed environment. :(

 

Hope your TA is wonderful. We might have to try a west---->east TA sometime. We always fly over first and get that part over with and enjoy the 25 hour sea days back.

 

As for that particular headache of yours, I got nothing ;)

[az_tchr]

Ships are not sick.. People are. Put a couple thousand people together from all over the World and someone is probably sick and they spread what ever they have to others.

 

Hope all your future cruises are illness free.

[Keith1010]

I don't know where they come up with the stats but I would not believe that this is totally precise.

 

The reality is when you travel you do have a higher chance of getting sick because you are more exposed to others then say at home and you are in close confines whether on a cruise ship, in a plane or for that matter at a hotel.

 

With that said I would rather be on a cruise ship then at home. LOL, but true.

 

Keith

[markluke]

I could believe this, IF

 

1) People took sanitary precautions like washing their hands, using hand sanitizer, covering their mouths when sneezing (and not with their hands!)

 

2) People self-quarantined if they started coughing or were otherwise sick, instead of not wanting to miss the buffet or a show where they will infect more people.

 

3) If people really felt poorly they went to the ship's doctor instead of brushing it off, and again, not wanting to miss out on a free meal or entertainment.

 

On my recent cruise my guests got sick with influenza, and one proceeded to get bronchitis and a suspected case of pneumonia. He was fine boarding the ship but went to shows where people clearly broke rule #2.

[kencr]

I read an article on nuro virus , When cruises asked most likely place catch it, most answered Ocean View Café (buffet). But café is number 2 , the most likely place is your cabin. If attendant has virus you will probably catch it. Considering how many ship are cruising year round , 30 to 40 cruises each times hundreds of ships. Virus is rare under 1%.

At home more likely to catch whatever by going to work and have children who attend school. A lot of us don't work and are retired. And don't have children at home.

[Jim_Iain]

I have to agree that noro virus can be caught anywhere and not just on a cruise ship. They often say the risk is highest in places of high density - hospitals, nursing homes, air planes etc.

 

To put things in perspective, my daughter underwent a bone marrow transplant. While in double door isolation for two months she contracted Noro Virus. The only way I could imagine she contracted it was from the food that was delivered.

 

To prevent any further spread within the transplant ward, CDC ordered an even higher level of sanitation with family, doctors and nurses required to gown up, face masks and an additional anti-bacterial treatment after a surgical scrub.

[jagoffee]

Based on my own experience the greatest risk for getting sick is on the plane.

[ashley@cruisecritic]

Hi Guys,

 

The CDC has some great info on Noro here: http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/overview.html. The menu that runs down the left side of the page covers a bunch of topics, including U.S. Trends and Outbreaks: http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/trends-outbreaks.html.

 

If you scroll down that second page, there's a whole section on common settings for outbreaks. More than half of the Noro cases each year happen in long-term care facilities. In the grand scheme, the number of cruise-related outbreaks is small in comparison.

 

Here's the specific page for Noro on Cruises: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/norovirus/norovirus.htm. To quote from that page, "health officials track illness on cruise ships. So outbreaks are found and reported more quickly on a cruise ship than on land."

 

Hope this helps!

[aloha43]

I'm leaving on April 9th from Miami on a 17 day Transatlantic. This morning while drinking coffee before going to the gym, I was looking over my Roll Call while I was listening to my news radio station WTOP in DC. They were doing a special on travel "myths" , talking about airline prices, best hotels rates, etc. Then they mentioned the "myth" about getting sick on a cruise. They stated that your chances of getting sick are 750 times greater on land than on a cruise! Not sure where the stats come from but I found this interesting. Celebrity and Royal Carribean, the two lines I have sailed, do a fantastic job of keeping the ship and their passangers healthy. I think this fact sends a truly well deserved acknowledgement to the cruise industry!

 

Of course.., I'm not sure hangovers qualify as "sickness". I've tried the little disinfection dispensers in the morning outside the restrauants and they don't seem to have any effect on my headache..... :-)

 

I would say that a good share of the people getting sick caught it from the flight getting there.

 

As long as we don't use the elevators, don't touch the rails and don't use the interactive boards that everyone touches, I think we stand a chance of not catching something.

 

Think positive. :D:D

[phoenix_dream]

I could believe this, IF

 

1) People took sanitary precautions like washing their hands, using hand sanitizer, covering their mouths when sneezing (and not with their hands!)

 

2) People self-quarantined if they started coughing or were otherwise sick, instead of not wanting to miss the buffet or a show where they will infect more people.

 

3) If people really felt poorly they went to the ship's doctor instead of brushing it off, and again, not wanting to miss out on a free meal or entertainment.

 

On my recent cruise my guests got sick with influenza, and one proceeded to get bronchitis and a suspected case of pneumonia. He was fine boarding the ship but went to shows where people clearly broke rule #2.

I have to disagree in part with point #2. To expect people to 'self-quarantine' just because they have a cough is ridiculous. A couple years ago I caught a URI and the cough lasted for four months. It was due to post nasal drip from irritation that originated with the infection (as I ultimately learned from seeing a lung specialist). But there is no way I was contagious for that entire four months! People also have coughs for other non-contagious reasons like allergies or COPD. Fever? Vomiting? Yes, quarantine is the responsible thing to do. But if you have a cough or a simple cold it is nuts IMHO to expect people to sit in their cabins. Some common sense and consideration is prudent, but if the world quarantined themselves every time they had a cold with a cough our nation's productivity would ground to a halt. There is a certain amount of risk inherent with being around people and no amount of quarantine is going to change that.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Just please don't get mad at people who don't use the non-effective hand sanitizer at the front of the buffet! It doesn't kill Noro Virus. Use these wipes prior to going to the buffet instead - they DO kill Noro:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Healthcare-Hydrogen-Disinfectant-Norovirus-Rotavirus/dp/B00BFFGJ6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459630489&sr=8-1&keywords=noro+virus+wipes

[dkjretired]

I don't know where they come up with the stats but I would not believe that this is totally precise.

 

The reality is when you travel you do have a higher chance of getting sick because you are more exposed to others then say at home and you are in close confines whether on a cruise ship, in a plane or for that matter at a hotel.

 

With that said I would rather be on a cruise ship then at home. LOL, but true.

 

Keith

 

Actually the odds of getting sick on a cruise ship are actually lower than that in the OP. According to the CDC some 21 million cases of of norovirus occur in the US each year, 4 to 5 thousand of them are on cruise ships. Cruise ships get all the hype from the press.

[dkjretired]

Just please don't get mad at people who don't use the non-effective hand sanitizer at the front of the buffet! It doesn't kill Noro Virus. Use these wipes prior to going to the buffet instead - they DO kill Noro:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Healthcare-Hydrogen-Disinfectant-Norovirus-Rotavirus/dp/B00BFFGJ6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459630489&sr=8-1&keywords=noro+virus+wipes

 

Agreed and some people like myself break out depending on the type of hand sanitizer.

[Algebralovr]

The best answer is to use the provided soap and water and wash your hands on the way into the dining room or buffet. Get your food, set it down, then we take turns going and washing our hands again before eating.

 

I can't stand the sanitizer and I've seen the studies and know how little it does.

 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

[hcat]

I'm leaving on April 9th from Miami on a 17 day Transatlantic. This morning while drinking coffee before going to the gym, I was looking over my Roll Call while I was listening to my news radio station WTOP in DC. They were doing a special on travel "myths" , talking about airline prices, best hotels rates, etc. Then they mentioned the "myth" about getting sick on a cruise. They stated that your chances of getting sick are 750 times greater on land than on a cruise! Not sure where the stats come from but I found this interesting. Celebrity and Royal Carribean, the two lines I have sailed, do a fantastic job of keeping the ship and their passangers healthy. I think this fact sends a truly well deserved acknowledgement to the cruise industry!

 

Of course.., I'm not sure hangovers qualify as "sickness". I've tried the little disinfection dispensers in the morning outside the restrauants and they don't seem to have any effect on my headache..... :-)

 

You can also get sick at the local gym..or like we did headed to fla one yr, when the waitress at the airpiort restaurant sneezed all over us and gave us whatever she had...wonder what the stats are for airplanes..impossible to avoid the sneezers and coughers!

[GUT2407]

Ships are not sick.. People are. Put a couple thousand people together from all over the World and someone is probably sick and they spread what ever they have to others.

 

Hope all your future cruises are illness free.

 

Yep don't even need to be from all over th world, just look at schools.

[CI66774]

Bottom line is when you're in confined quarters with lots of people, you're bound to be exposed to something. Doesn't matter if it's an airplane, cruise line, college dorm, etc.

[GUT2407]

Bottom line is when you're in confined quarters with lots of people, you're bound to be exposed to something. Doesn't matter if it's an airplane, cruise line, college dorm, etc.

 

I find planes particularly bad.

 

Re circulated air, crammed in like sardines in a tin.

 

I wonder how many airborne conditions arrive on the ship via people who left home fine and picked up an airborne condition on the plane from someone not even going on the cruise.

 

I guess even those conditions tha require contact spread pretty will on a Plane, pretty much impossible to avoid some contact.

[Jenlegs]

Hi Guys,

 

The CDC has some great info on Noro here: http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/overview.html. The menu that runs down the left side of the page covers a bunch of topics, including U.S. Trends and Outbreaks: http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/trends-outbreaks.html.

 

If you scroll down that second page, there's a whole section on common settings for outbreaks. More than half of the Noro cases each year happen in long-term care facilities. In the grand scheme, the number of cruise-related outbreaks is small in comparison.

 

Here's the specific page for Noro on Cruises: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/norovirus/norovirus.htm. To quote from that page, "health officials track illness on cruise ships. So outbreaks are found and reported more quickly on a cruise ship than on land."

 

Hope this helps!

 

I also found it interesting that the ship crew members contract Norovirus and such at dramatically lower rates than passengers -- either proof that you can build up immunity, or that diligence CAN be taught! We remarked often on our February cruise that the people that refused the Purell in the Oceanview were probably the ticking time bombs!

[dkjretired]

I also found it interesting that the ship crew members contract Norovirus and such at dramatically lower rates than passengers -- either proof that you can build up immunity, or that diligence CAN be taught! We remarked often on our February cruise that the people that refused the Purell in the Oceanview were probably the ticking time bombs!

 

Purell does nothing against Noro, no better than washing hands.

[markluke]

I have to disagree in part with point #2. To expect people to 'self-quarantine' just because they have a cough is ridiculous. A couple years ago I caught a URI and the cough lasted for four months. It was due to post nasal drip from irritation that originated with the infection (as I ultimately learned from seeing a lung specialist). But there is no way I was contagious for that entire four months! People also have coughs for other non-contagious reasons like allergies or COPD. Fever? Vomiting? Yes, quarantine is the responsible thing to do. But if you have a cough or a simple cold it is nuts IMHO to expect people to sit in their cabins. Some common sense and consideration is prudent, but if the world quarantined themselves every time they had a cold with a cough our nation's productivity would ground to a halt. There is a certain amount of risk inherent with being around people and no amount of quarantine is going to change that.

Fair enough. Obviously if you're not infectious then there is no need to self-quarantine. However, if that 'cough' is extensive and accompanied by other symptoms....?

[amsp]

Just please don't get mad at people who don't use the non-effective hand sanitizer at the front of the buffet! It doesn't kill Noro Virus. Use these wipes prior to going to the buffet instead - they DO kill Noro:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Healthcare-Hydrogen-Disinfectant-Norovirus-Rotavirus/dp/B00BFFGJ6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459630489&sr=8-1&keywords=noro+virus+wipes

 

The small print says these are NOT for use on skin. (Their emphasis, not mine.)

[KKMurphy2]

Why does everyone want to blame something or someone? We are human and we come down with viruses. I hear that the person in front of you wasn't diligent enough to wash their hands. Has anyone considered they may have got sick from the airplane ride? Here is an interesting video about the spread of influenza on a plane. http://www.popsci.com/article/science/how-sneeze-particles-travel-inside-airplane Or maybe it was the McDonalds you stopped for breakfast prior to boarding the ship? Why is it always the ship and someone else's actions that caused your illness?

 

Why did the Europeans wipe out so much of the Native American population with illnesses? Because they brought nasty germs that these people had never been exposed to.

 

When people from all over the world are enclosed in a tight space, germs will spread and these germs are "new" to your immune system - ones that you may never have been around. It is a fact. What can we do? Wash our hands frequently and try not to touch your mouth/nose unless your hands are clean. Get enough sleep. Studies show sleep boosts our immune system. So maybe you stayed up too late on your vacation. Alcohol decreases our immune system. So maybe you had a few too many drinks. A healthy diet increases your immune system. So maybe you are eating too many deserts and not taking in enough vitamins or nutrients.

 

It is unfortunate that sometimes people get sick on vacation. I developed a bad cold on day 6 of my Jewel trip in February, despite doing what I could to prevent it. But I am not scared away, and will continue to cruise.

 

Happy, healthy cruising to all!

[Nora23]

I have been on 8 cruises and taking # 9 next winter. I never had the Noro virus from the ship.

Where I did get it was from the nursing home I work as a nursing supervisor. At the same time my son came home from work with it too. He works in a facility that does industrial laundry for hospitals and restaurants.

It is not a pleasant thing for sure :(

Edited April 3, 2016 by Nora23