Finished Transatlantic with upper respiratory ailment

[toothmaker]

Wife and I along with my two sisters and their spouse enjoyed a wonderful, if not a somewhat divergent, transatlantic cruise from Copenhagen to NYC (9/9-9/23). No noro was contracted but a severe case of upper respiratory infection from numerous "open" coughing, sneezing and wheezing by an abundance of infected other cruisers. Of the six in our party five of us were inoculated with aerosoled virus of varying species. Now, this has not turned deadly, but very inconvenient and disabling for two weeks now. SO, if you're going to cruise, my request is if anyone is exhibiting any signs of a cold: PLEASE COVER UP!!! Thank you!!

[Keith1010]

Sorry that you got ill.

 

Keith

[easyboy]

My DW also had cough and cold in our recent British Isles cruise. We bought a face mask in a pharmacy in port.

 

 

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[Thrak]

My retirement cruisetour last year had the same issue. The land portion was fine but someone boarded the ship with a terrible cold or whatever. By the second day I had it. The third day my wife got it. It was pretty bad. By the end of the 7 day southbound cruise there was coughing all over the ship.

[Potstech]

This is one of the reasons I carry antibiotics with me. Just in case. Saves time and money along with a visit to the ships medical center.

[Micahs Grandad]

This is one of the reasons I carry antibiotics with me. Just in case. Saves time and money along with a visit to the ships medical center.

 

Hmm how will antibiotics help with a cold?

[USCcruisecrazy]

Hmm how will antibiotics help with a cold?

 

They won't...antibiotics are used to fight bacteria and colds are caused by a virus.

[msmoger]

Wife and I along with my two sisters and their spouse enjoyed a wonderful, if not a somewhat divergent, transatlantic cruise from Copenhagen to NYC (9/9-9/23). No noro was contracted but a severe case of upper respiratory infection from numerous "open" coughing, sneezing and wheezing by an abundance of infected other cruisers. Of the six in our party five of us were inoculated with aerosoled virus of varying species. Now, this has not turned deadly, but very inconvenient and disabling for two weeks now. SO, if you're going to cruise, my request is if anyone is exhibiting any signs of a cold: PLEASE COVER UP!!! Thank you!!

 

We were also on this cruise, which was great. However, having said that it sometimes sounded like the proverbial TB Ward. You can't "blame" people for getting sick but it would be nice if some would use better judgement. Try coughing into the crook of your arm and perhaps avoid very crowded tightly packed venues. I pretty much managed to avoid the elevators the entire cruise. Fortunately we dodged the bullet and have not been sick.

[need2cruisesoon]

A couple of Brandy snifters every evening helps keep my immune system healthy and helps me sleep.:whiskey-glass:

[USCcruisecrazy]

A couple of Brandy snifters every evening helps keep my immune system healthy and helps me sleep.:whiskey-glass:

 

That's what I'm talking about!!

[Griller]

This is one of the reasons I carry antibiotics with me. Just in case. Saves time and money along with a visit to the ships medical center.

 

Antibiotics only work on bacteria, not viruses.

 

However a cold not treated properly and which was caused by a virus may turn into a secondary bacterial infection after a while, then antibiotics are useful.

 

I would use Azithromycin as my antibiotic of choice in that case. Overuse of antibiotics can be counter productive however. When you need them to work for you later in life maybe they won't...............

 

Maybe you might find a therapeutic (strong, not homeopathic) dose of zinc every day on a cruise might ward off colds.

 

Zinc can provide a hostile environment for viruses.

 

The trouble with colds is that when we get over one we do build up some immunity to it, but only that strain and there are at least 600 common strains around.

[c-boy]

great advice o p and many should (?) pay heed to it.

[hpeabody]

On my last 2 cruises I ended up with a cold early in the cruise, got over it and got it again worse at the very end of the cruise or right after I returned home. Not the awful respiratory stuff, but bad head cold and lost voice ... Blah!!!

 

It seems from my recent past cruises this "respiratory" stuff has become terribly widespread. I hear people coughing all over the ship, especially in the theater, throughout the whole cruise. It appears this "respiratory" stuff has become even more prevalent than the dreaded Noro

[casofilia]

It is interesting how people can tell the difference between a virus spreading cough and one that is brought on by having breathing problems. My wife has a breathing problem, she is liable to forget to breathe, and then coughs long and hard; no danger to anyone else but people look at her as if she is Typhoid Mary reincarnated!!

[Spideysmum]

Weve only been on two cruises (Alaska and British isles) but travel to Europe at least twice a year. Just returned from Eastern Europe on a guided tour. We learned some years ago to carry a specific hand sanitizer that kills viruses. Discovered that the purel sanitizers don't touch viruses. We've been upper respiratory virus free for over three years now- and we travel by plane a lot. Never would board a cruise ship or plane or train these days without it.

 

 

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[Shmoo here]

It is interesting how people can tell the difference between a virus spreading cough and one that is brought on by having breathing problems. My wife has a breathing problem, she is liable to forget to breathe, and then coughs long and hard; no danger to anyone else but people look at her as if she is Typhoid Mary reincarnated!!

I can sympathize. I have what my doctor thinks is cough variant asthma. Sudden cough, could be just once or twice, or a full-fledged attack. I am not contagious. But I sure get the stink-eye from people.

 

That said, I have fallen victim to the dreaded end-of-cruise cold. It's not fun either.

[DRS/NC]

Weve only been on two cruises (Alaska and British isles) but travel to Europe at least twice a year. Just returned from Eastern Europe on a guided tour. We learned some years ago to carry a specific hand sanitizer that kills viruses. Discovered that the purel sanitizers don't touch viruses. We've been upper respiratory virus free for over three years now- and we travel by plane a lot. Never would board a cruise ship or plane or train these days without it.

 

And that hand sanitizer is.......? Please share!

[srpilo]

In my experience most of the time these ship wide outbreaks of cruise cough or flu like symptoms linger from cruise to cruise and are perpetuated from one week to the next by crew & staff which come into contact with 3000 new passengers every cruise and pass the bugs forward.

 

Easy to blame other passengers, but more than likely the very passengers you wish to blame are also victims who acquired the virus onboard from no fault of their own from the lingering left over previous cruises bugs

 

Just saying...

Srpilo

[Hlitner]

Weve only been on two cruises (Alaska and British isles) but travel to Europe at least twice a year. Just returned from Eastern Europe on a guided tour. We learned some years ago to carry a specific hand sanitizer that kills viruses. Discovered that the purel sanitizers don't touch viruses. We've been upper respiratory virus free for over three years now- and we travel by plane a lot. Never would board a cruise ship or plane or train these days without it.

 

And that hand sanitizer is.......? Please share!

 

Sanitizers are helpful, but are worthless if you happen to get trapped in an elevator with somebody who is hacking away. Since we have made an effort to avoid elevators on cruise ships (we simply use the steps) our incidences of "cabin cough" have been reduced in a very big way. As to sanitizers, we simply wash our hands with warm soap and water (as often as reasonable) and do our best to avoid touching our face. Soap and water have been proven to be about the most effective prevention against Norovirus.

 

Hank

[Spideysmum]

Weve only been on two cruises (Alaska and British isles) but travel to Europe at least twice a year. Just returned from Eastern Europe on a guided tour. We learned some years ago to carry a specific hand sanitizer that kills viruses. Discovered that the purel sanitizers don't touch viruses. We've been upper respiratory virus free for over three years now- and we travel by plane a lot. Never would board a cruise ship or plane or train these days without it.

 

 

 

 

And that hand sanitizer is.......? Please share!

 

 

 

Actually the first one was obtained in the U.K. and worked great. Since we couldn’t get that one anymore, about a year and a half ago we found “Clorox - bleach free hand sanitizer “ which so far is batting 1000. We also pass it back and forth in restaurants.

 

 

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[Thrak]

It is interesting how people can tell the difference between a virus spreading cough and one that is brought on by having breathing problems. My wife has a breathing problem, she is liable to forget to breathe, and then coughs long and hard; no danger to anyone else but people look at her as if she is Typhoid Mary reincarnated!!

 

My wife sneezes. She's not ill she just sneezes. Loudly. People look at her like she just infected the world with a horrible disease.

[pris993]

sorry you got sick. We are leaving on Oct 18 to fly to barcelona for a 14 day Ta. We do a number of things to stay healthy, we wipe down anything we touch on an airplane... to try to stay heatlhy while flying, may get masks too; then on board, we stay away from crowds: have breakfast in our cabin in am; get a plate a lunch from buffet take back to cabin, we do tours on own, do not participate in group activities, enjoy our balcony, use our own bathroom vs public as much as possible, wash hands constantly; have a table for 2 in the crown gill; turn off air conditioning at night in the cabin. by setting to the lowest heat setting no matter where we are... these all help, book private transfers vs group transfers also. lessd contact with others who are sick

 

take rx over counter meds just in case.

 

We stay health most of the time, not always... hope you do too next trip.

[RDC1]

My wife and I both caught an upper respiratory ailment on our recent cruise. The problem with cruising is the relatively closed environment, with a large number of people from different parts of the world which translates into exposure to strains of viruses and bacteria that you may not have previously encountered and have no immunity to.

 

Over the last 3 years we have taken 6 cruises of 12 days or longer (longest 31 days) on all of those 6 either my wife or I or both have contracted upper respiratory infections (6 out of 6).

 

Now before someone says that we are illness prone, during that same time we have taken 8 land tours in excess of 12 days in different parts of the world (longest 32 days), as well as 2 river cruises. All of which involved a substantial numbers of flights.

 

A no time, other than on the cruises, have my wife or I gotten ill. Neither at home, nor on our non-cruise travel.

 

It is enough that we have started to wonder in cruising is worth it.

[need2cruisesoon]

Yes, lack of cleanliness and hygiene for sure.

[Potstech]

Hmm how will antibiotics help with a cold?

 

I can tell the difference between a cold and an respitory infection by now.