Is it just me?

[Iamcruzin]

9 hours ago, Mike981 said:

 

And to go off of this, and this is just my theory, people don't allow their systems to build up immunity. It's easy when you are in a static environment at home and sanitize everything. But just like getting getting exercise, your immune system needs to keep getting stronger.

Then add that some are hyper aware of their health when they go on vacation and no one knows exactly when and where they got sick...

I couldn't agree more. I live in a populated area on Long Island, A few times a year I take trips to Manhattan and ride on the crowed buses and subways. My wife is an administrator in a NY hospital and has been working in Manhattan for almost 20 years.  We touch elevator buttons and handrails with our bare hands...Oh the horrors, rub our eyes, scratch our noses and wipe our mouths with the back of our hand if need be. I also work amongst the public rabble and handle money which has been who know's where.  We rarely get even a sniffle all year round. I suffer from seasonal allergies more but  this year wasn't a problem. I notice that it seems to be older retired passengers who bring up this topic. This group is no longer in the work force and they are not experiencing the same exposure to viruses and bacteria that they were exposed to when they were working and traveling with the general public. I think their immune system has been compromised by living in a sterile environment and once they subject themselves to the contained quarters of a cruise ship with a forced air circulation system they are subject to become ill.

[Anchor Light]

We too have returned from the last two cruises on Silhouette only to come down with bad coughs and colds after being home for two to five days. After the first time we blamed it on the airplane but not after the second time.

 

Ironically we have returned from multiple Azamara cruises and have never had such an issue.  Luck or air conditioning/air quality issues on Silhouette?

 

It is surely a puzzle I would like to solve as I am now uncomfortable booking another cruise on Silhouette which I otherwise really enjoy. 

[G.M.T.]

19 hours ago, TeaBag said:

I have had some terrible colds which resulted in Bronchitis and a trip to the ship's Dr.  I think it is what you breathe and no amount of hand sanitizing can protect you from the droplets in the air.  Yes, I think you can get infected on planes but my colds have started well into the cruise proving I caught it on the cruise.  You never know when you step into an elevator who has sneezed etc while on there before you.  I have taken garlic pills in the past and found they helped some.  I'm sorry you get so many colds as it really does affect your enjoyment of the cruise.

 

Maybe ask your Dr for something to strengthen your immune system.

I have found the garlic pills most helpful at keeping the cruise director and entertainment staff at a distance.

 

Haven't tried them on vampires on a cruise, maybe the could help with dear MiL.

[herbanrenewal]

Both before the cruise and during the cruise our normal sleep patterns are awry. There have been several studies that related irregular sleep to decreased immune system response and therefore catching colds. WebMD had an article about it that I recently read. 

I'm traveling to Asia for a cruise in less than 6 weeks. My friend/travel buddy has just this week come down with a bad cold. I'm prone to bronchitis when I get a cold, so I'm doing everything I read about to try to prevent it - a homeopathic med, zinc, vitamin c, staying hydrated. As a retired nurse I'm a fanatic about handwashing, but nothing can protect you from airborne droplets.

 

[Jim_Iain]

I rarely come down with colds while at home but have on a number of occasions come down with "Cruise Cough" during or just after a cruise.    Most of the times I have been affected I had noticed that while both on the Ship as well as on Shore Excursions numerous passengers were hacking and coughing.    For me I believe it has to be the tight quarters.   

 

We now always have a full array of Cold and Cough remedies packed - just in case.    We also always make sure we have our Flu shots.   As a precaution our doctors have given us the full series of Pneumonia vaccinations.  

[Covepointcruiser]

Next time you cruise note the behavior of your fellow passengers.   I noticed a lot of coughing and sneezing and few even covered their mouths.  Most say they have allergies or are past the contagious period.   We find that avoiding the buffet and moving away from sick people in bars and the theater have helped.   We rarely get sick after a cruise anymore after we started being careful.  We are retired but are still out and about with volunteering and church activities.

[sr4mjc]

I never think I have much allergies day to day, until I leave home for a while and then return to Florida.  Then I get stuffy nose, sinus, etc.  Maybe it's not a cold at all? 

[cb at sea]

AT 73, you are unlikely to come into contact with those you don't usually see....so your immune system isn't as healthy as a 50 year old might be.   Here you are, with tons of people you don't usually interact with.....not really surprising.    Wash hands a LOT...never, ever touch your face...and bring something with you to stop a "cold" in it's tracks next time!

[Ginnyfyr]

I have picked up colds on two cruises - once on Carnival years ago and most recently on X Eclipse this past May. Learned my lesson and now I travel with a small "cold kit" that I put together with capsules of oil of oregano, Emergen-C vitamin C drink mix, and a box of decongestants. At home I find if I start taking oil of oregano at the first sign of a cold, I can generally nip it in the bud and it never develops into a full blown cold. Between that and a few drinks of Emergen-C, hopefully I'll have the same results on board if I ever need to bust into the cold kit, but I figure if I don't catch the germs in time, the decongestant will be appreciated on the return flight home - nothing worse than being on a flight when you're congested! 

[Anchor Light]

On 9/13/2019 at 8:38 AM, Anchor Light said:

We too have returned from the last two cruises on Silhouette only to come down with bad coughs and colds after being home for two to five days. After the first time we blamed it on the airplane but not after the second time.

 

Ironically we have returned from multiple Azamara cruises and have never had such an issue.  Luck or air conditioning/air quality issues on Silhouette?

 

It is surely a puzzle I would like to solve as I am now uncomfortable booking another cruise on Silhouette which I otherwise really enjoy. 

 

[Anchor Light]

I am quoting my own post since no one has commented on my air conditioning/air quality sentence. Most are focused on immune system issues, (age references aside) which while certainly valid, may not always be the reason.

[Iamcruzin]

55 minutes ago, Anchor Light said:

I am quoting my own post since no one has commented on my air conditioning/air quality sentence. Most are focused on immune system issues, (age references aside) which while certainly valid, may not always be the reason.

I think the air ventilation system is the main issue of spreading the germs. The secondary issue is people living in a sterile environment  filled with hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes that they even kill the good bacteria.  I  do appreciate the hand washing stations and hand sanitizers on the ship but that's not enough to prevent a virus that is spreading through the ventilation system. 

[Iamcruzin]

So... I just log on to Facebook and this feed pops up. The link takes me to the CC booking engine. I guess this is also the reason I keep seeing adds for patio furniture and foot stools.

 

[Anchor Light]

6 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I think the air ventilation system is the main issue of spreading the germs. The secondary issue is people living in a sterile environment  filled with hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes that they even kill the good bacteria.  I  do appreciate the hand washing stations and hand sanitizers on the ship but that's not enough to prevent a virus that is spreading through the ventilation system. 

Thanks. This of course makes good sense; however, it doesn't solve the puzzle as to why it doesn't happen to me on other ships as I've experienced on Silhouette.  I'm 2 for 2 with post-cruise illness from Silhouette but not other ships.  "If" I try again and it happens a third time on it, I'll be done with Silhouette, sadly.

[K12Guy]

Well, Mister, the answer is obvious. Find the ship of your choice and don't disembark. No cold will follow you. Tell the crew you have an illness waiver and have to stay aboard for the life of the ship. 😎

[hcat]

Many seniors watch  their grandchildren and transport them to and home from day care and preschool, swimming lessons, drs etc   They also shop, go to DMV, public buildings, restaurants, concerts & drs.   

 

Lots of germs all around...I think its the closed air systems on the ships..but  really have no idea !

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, Anchor Light said:

Thanks. This of course makes good sense; however, it doesn't solve the puzzle as to why it doesn't happen to me on other ships as I've experienced on Silhouette.  I'm 2 for 2 with post-cruise illness from Silhouette but not other ships.  "If" I try again and it happens a third time on it, I'll be done with Silhouette, sadly.

Perhaps they aren't changing he air filters on the Silhouette as frequently as they should.

[travellovers2]

We take 2,000 mg of Vitamin C every day when we travel and have been able to avoid getting sick. I use to get sick from the cold a/c in the theater, so now I always take a sweater to wear at night. 

 

 

[Anchor Light]

1 hour ago, travellovers2 said:

We take 2,000 mg of Vitamin C every day when we travel and have been able to avoid getting sick. I use to get sick from the cold a/c in the theater, so now I always take a sweater to wear at night. 

 

 

More good ideas for being on any ship but any chance you were on Silhouette when taking these precautions?

[K.T.B.]

On 9/12/2019 at 1:02 PM, Kwaj girl said:

Also, no matter how much hand sanitizer you use, keep your hands away from your face....eyes, nose, mouth

 

For some reason, if I use hand sanitizer, I always end up getting a cold. I do not know what it is about hand sanitizer, but it does the opposite for me it seems.  But I definitely wash my hands often.

 

But in all my cruises (knock wood), I've never gotten a head cold.

[Sascol]

Not just you.  We get sick at home during the year sometimes, but not often.  We cruise every fall.  4 of our last 5 cruises me, my wife or both of us have become ill at some point on the cruise.  The ailments have ranged from colds, to respiratory infections to bronchitis.  Last year I had bronchitis so bad that I had to sleep in the guest room for 10 days after we got home.  Some of these cruises have involved long flights, some have not.  We try as best we can to wash our hands and sanitize  - we even wipe down the airplane surfaces around our seats with wipes as soon as we board and we wipe the surfaces in our cabin after we arrive. 

 

We are going to try something this year - I have read so many stories here about unsanitary behavior at the buffet.  To the extent that we can, this fall we are going to avoid the buffet.  Of course we have no idea if this is the cause of our past ailments, but based on our behavior/habits this seems to us to be the most likely culprit so we're going to give it a shot and see how it works.

 

4000 to 5000 people in a confined space for 2 weeks tends to fester germs.  We're not germaphobes, we're just tired of getting sick doing one thing we really enjoy....cruising.   

 

Edited September 17, 2019 by Sascol

[Sascol]

3 hours ago, travellovers2 said:

We take 2,000 mg of Vitamin C every day when we travel and have been able to avoid getting sick. I use to get sick from the cold a/c in the theater, so now I always take a sweater to wear at night. 

 

 

 

Cold a/c, cold weather, etc. cannot cause a cold or illness.  That is a old wives tale.  Germs cause a cold.  The vitamin C may help, but other than keeping you comfortable, the sweater will not fend off a cold. 

[roxievegas]

We had a B2B2B.  We left on a trans Atlantic, arrived in Southampton and felt fine. Next leg of the cruise was a 9 night to Norway.  We both got sick with coughing, blowing our nose constantly and I had a bad sore throat.  Trying to buy medicine in Norway was not easy.  My brother was joining us for the 3rd leg of the cruise (Baltic) and I emailed him and asked him to get me some Niquil and sore throat lozenges.  That was my life saver.  Now i pack throat lozenges, cold medicine and cough drops for every cruise.

[Hlitner]

Most frequent cruisers (we are in that crowd) have had too much experience with "cabin cough,"  stubborn upper respiratory infections, flu (the real thing), and even Noro-virus.  Lets face it, when you travel you are putting yourself into close contact with thousands of strangers (some of whom have various bugs), various environments that are known to harbor germs/viruses (i.e. aircraft, airports, cruise ship buffets), etc.   We have learned to take some simple precautions that do seem to help, but there is no panacea.  

 

As to precautions, we are well aware (thanks to some CDC studies) that aircraft and airports are a big problem.  We now use a hand sanitizer sold by a company called "Nozoo" that has no alcohol and works quite well (this product is active on your hands for about 24 hours).  We also routinely wash our hands and try to avoid touching our face.  On cruises we try to avoid using the elevators as much as possible in favor of using steps.  Consider that elevators are a closed chamber with minimal airflow and you are often crammed in with lots of folks.  One cough or sneeze and its not a good thing.

 

But here is what we do not do!  DW and I are not germophobes and do not spend any time worrying about germs.  We do not clean our cabin (why not clean the entire ship if you are going to clean your cabin?), we do not wear surgical masks (we have seen this), etc.   Probably the most noticeable change has been for us to often fly business class which gets us further away from others, gets our seat/table covered with a clean cloth, and we try to maximize our time in spacious private airline lounges.  I know doing the business class thing is expensive, but anecdotally it has seemed to make a big difference since we started this behavior.  On aircraft we avoid drinking "cabin water" which means avoiding coffee/tea.  Most flight attendants can tell you horror stories about aircraft water and they tend to avoid it.  If you want water on a plane, ask for a bottle of water.  And finally, we do bring a "drug store" with us when we travel (which is about 5 months a year) including typical symptom relievers like Aleve and Tylenol and we also carry several antibiotics.  I have some medical background which does give me some idea of when an antibiotic might be helpful, but it is something we only use when absolutely necessary.  In fact, we recently had to throw out some old Cipro and Zithromax because they were well passed their expiration date.   Bottom line is nothing is real effective against viruses other then frequent hand washing.  And yet when we are on ships we see most folks bypassing the handwashing sinks, not washing after going to the bathroom, etc.  When working in a hospital you quickly learn that keeping hands clean is the best single thing one can do to avoid "catching everything."

 

Hank

[Sascol]

23 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

 Now i pack throat lozenges, cold medicine and cough drops for every cruise.

 

Us too!  We call it the pharmacy bag.  Nyquil tablets, lozenges, Rolaids, aspirin, etc.