Just read review of Jewel that freaked me out, anyone ever come across bed bugs??

[JENANDGENE]

I sailed on Jewel in September and had a WONDERFUL time. Thought the ship was georgeous and clean and the staff was wonderful..... just read a review that caught my eye because it was so low, and they said they had a "swarm of bed bugs" in their room. They were moved to another cabin and their clothes were laundered......they still were not happy however. A member of RCI management apparently told them that in the hospitality business bed bugs were common and always would be. BUT ANYWAYS.......has ANYONE else ever come across bed bugs in a cabin???????????????????? I thinnk in May I will be searching my room abnormally because I am a bit freaked now....

 

And does anyone know where bed bugs come from? How they are spread? EWWWW

 

Jen

Adventure of the Seas ...68 days

Jewel 2005

Explorer 2004

Voyager 2002

Monarch 1994

[Grumm]

Actually there is probably no bed in the world (with the possible exception of quarantine hospital beds) which is not teeming with bugs. They are microscopic and feed on our constantly-shedding skin. Don't get freaked. They are perfectly natural and you have been living with them all your life.

 

Alan

[lindalu62]

NO, think you are speaking of mites, not bed bugs. Bed bugs are hitchhikers that get into your luggage, and travel. There has been a recent resurgence in this problem due to world travel. They are in many hotels, cruiseships, etc. They are the size of an apple seed. They hide in/near the mattress during the day (check the seams of the mattress for them) and come out at night to eat. They bite, and eat your blood. Look for blood spots on the sheets. They are harmless other than the itchy bite, and the fact that they can travel home with you and infest your house!! Very expensive and very difficult to get rid of. Check out your mattress as soon as you get into your room. Don't leave your luggage on the floor. Do an online search for photos to id them!

[Retired not Expired]

Go to the top of the page, click on "Search", type in Bed Bugs, click on Royal Caribbean and hit search. Several threads about this will come up.

 

Bed Bugs are making a comeback since DDT was outlawed, but your chances of seeing them are slim. Any time you stay in a hotel or on a ship, you have that slim chance of coming across them. They get there from people carrying them in clothing after being exposed to them. They are very hard to kill, takes a pro. Washing clothes must be done in very hot water, normal won't do.

[Nliedel]

Don't think about what's crawling around your house, you will run screaming.

 

Bedbugs are actually common in hotels these days and getting more common in the US.

 

While there was an active report of them on the Jewel there have been no recent reports. Much of what people think might be bedbug bites are in fact sea lice that they picked up at the beach.

[BaltiGator]

Actually there is probably no bed in the world (with the possible exception of quarantine hospital beds) which is not teeming with bugs. They are microscopic and feed on our constantly-shedding skin. Don't get freaked. They are perfectly natural and you have been living with them all your life.

 

Alan

 

This is true, but those little microscopic buggers have nothing to do with bed bugs, which are small but still visible. They are nasty little things, hard to see until they gorge on your blood.

 

It is technically true, as someone said in this thread, that they aren't especially dangerous to your health - they don't transmit other diseases, for example, and it's very rare to be allergic to them. But they are disgusting all the same. They will make you itch, and they will come home with you and infest your house.

 

(I don't know this from first-hand experience. I'm an MD.)

 

The United States was practically rid of bed bug cases until recent years, when increased international travel brought them back to our hotels. First the big coastal cities like NYC and LA, but more recently they are popping up anywhere.

 

Cruise ships have had an increasing problem with this for some time, too.

 

Having not ever yet cruised, I'm not the expert on which ships might be more problematic or how best to avoid the critters. I don't think it would help much to avoid putting your luggage on the floor of the room - a suggestion I've seen several times already - because if the buggers are in the room they are surely in the mattress and will soon be feeding on you. And then they will be in your clothing anyway and so on. The best way to avoid them, I think, is to not stay in a room where they might be.

 

I would recommend thoroughly inspecting your room the moment you arrive. Check the seams of the mattress, as someone else suggested. The bugs are maybe 1/16 or 1/8 inch and fairly transparent until they fill with blood. Remove all the pillows and give each a squeeze. Look for movement. Someone suggested turning the lights out at night and shining a flashlight at the parts of the bed looking for motion. That probably makes sense, since the buggers don't move much during daylight. But that also means you've waited until nightfall, and it may be too late to change rooms.

 

I must say I have noticed a slightly higher number of complaints about Jewel, but I wouldn't be too concerned about that. It's probably just the random thing, as all these ships are at risk. And in fact, if there has been a case or two aboard Jewel recently, it's more likely that RCCL has aggressively tried to eradicate them from her. I'm sailing on Jewel myself in less than two months and not concerned. But I will do a thorough inspection of the bedding the moment we get into the room.

[Grumm]

NO, think you are speaking of mites, not bed bugs. Bed bugs are hitchhikers that get into your luggage, and travel. There has been a recent resurgence in this problem due to world travel. They are in many hotels, cruiseships, etc. They are the size of an apple seed. They hide in/near the mattress during the day (check the seams of the mattress for them) and come out at night to eat. They bite, and eat your blood. Look for blood spots on the sheets. They are harmless other than the itchy bite, and the fact that they can travel home with you and infest your house!! Very expensive and very difficult to get rid of. Check out your mattress as soon as you get into your room. Don't leave your luggage on the floor. Do an online search for photos to id them!

 

You're right. I WAS thinking of mites. Now I'm freaked. I might take some apple seeds to leave behind on my next cruise 'though!:eek:

 

Thanks

 

Alan

[ckrobyn]

The mere "thought" of bed bugs gives me the heebie jeebies :eek:

When I check into a hotel - or go on a cruise, I can't help but wonder....and worry.....

What I do is take down the bottom sheet of the bed and do an up close visual inspection of the mattress. I realize that these bugs are microscopic, but I also know that people have "seen" the bugs without a microscope. Doing this makes me feel better ( and sleep better).

In the back of my mind I keep thinking that the bed I am sleeping in has been in continuous use for 365 nights a year......:cool: Not sure what can be done to protect the public from the plight of bed bugs? There has to be some sort of disenfectant spray that can be used in between guests. I personally would feel better if I knew that the mattress had been thoroughly disinfected.

Don't forget the pillow issue......but that's a whole other subject.

[Retired not Expired]

The mere "thought" of bed bugs gives me the heebie jeebies :eek:

When I check into a hotel - or go on a cruise, I can't help but wonder....and worry.....

What I do is take down the bottom sheet of the bed and do an up close visual inspection of the mattress. I realize that these bugs are microscopic, but I also know that people have "seen" the bugs without a microscope. Doing this makes me feel better ( and sleep better).

In the back of my mind I keep thinking that the bed I am sleeping in has been in continuous use for 365 nights a year......:cool: Not sure what can be done to protect the public from the plight of bed bugs? There has to be some sort of disenfectant spray that can be used in between guests. I personally would feel better if I knew that the mattress had been thoroughly disinfected.

Don't forget the pillow issue......but that's a whole other subject.

 

First, these things hate light and are very fast. By the time you get the sheet down and can look, they are gone to darker places.

 

Second, there is no over the counter spray that will kill them, and if there were, it would probably harm you more than the bugs. Best not to spray unless you know they are there and then let the pros handle it.

[Lewdog]

You're right. I WAS thinking of mites. Now I'm freaked. I might take some apple seeds to leave behind on my next cruise 'though!

 

lindalu62 was the wrong one to quote. Nleidel mentioned sea lice, that was the very thread she was refering to.

 

lindalu62 went on and on for several days about bed bugs in her cabin, turned out they were stun by sea lice (jellyfish larvae) not bed bugs at all.

[ckrobyn]

First, these things hate light and are very fast. By the time you get the sheet down and can look, they are gone to darker places.

 

Second, there is no over the counter spray that will kill them, and if there were, it would probably harm you more than the bugs. Best not to spray unless you know they are there and then let the pros handle it.

 

It makes me feel better if I eyeball the mattress prior to sleeping on it ;)

I would never spray anything - I agree that it should be left to the pros.

[BaltiGator]

Second, there is no over the counter spray that will kill them, and if there were, it would probably harm you more than the bugs. Best not to spray unless you know they are there and then let the pros handle it.

 

Excellent point. DDT was the most effective pesticide for bed bugs, but it's been illegal a long time now. Nothing you can buy over the counter will kill these things. I read on another forum that someone always sprays their room and bed with Lysol when first arriving. A waste of time and money, and possibly toxic too.

 

I don't know what RCCL's procedure is when they confirm bed bugs in a room, but for stubborn residential cases the recommendation is removal and destruction of the mattress and all bedding, then a thorough fumigation/pesticide treatment by a professional.

 

Yuck.

[grvdggr71]

I wish they would just bring back DDT. It would make life a lot easier.

[Nliedel]

I wish they would just bring back DDT. It would make life a lot easier.

 

I don't. I love birds.

[Schplinky]

My advice would be to avoid all bed bug threads. It will creep you out and there is no way to know if folks are trolling or reporting what they actually experienced. Before our first cruise, I read a series of these threads and was grossed out. Last time, I avoided all of them and didn't give it a second thought while onboard. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

 

p.s. given all the negative scrutiny the cruise lines are living under right now, I would think that if there were credible complaints, they would be all over the press.

[JENANDGENE]

I have to say I agree that I was skeptical about the review, that's why I wanted to ask if anyone else had heard or seen anything.

 

I CAN however see how it would happen.....they spread easily and are hard to kill.... and LOTS of people sleep in those beds....

 

My mother works at a nursing home and they had an outbreak of them about a year ago.... I mentioned the revire to her this morning and she said she was notreally surprised if it WERE true, she said the nurses aids spread tyhem from room to room just by them getting on their shoes when they went in to check patients at night with most the lights off....

 

I will inspect my mattress.....it will make me feel better :)

 

I do agree however that if it were a major problem the press would have picked up on it somehow.....

 

Jen

Adventure ... 67 days!

Jewel 2005

Explorer 2004

Voyager 2002

Monarch 1994

[cruiserone]

There has been so much talk lately about bed bugs. There is a show on TV right now and they have bed bugs!:eek: I have read an article in the NY Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and my local paper all about how bed bugs have come back to haunt us due to us eleminating DDT. I agree we need the birds more and of course our drinking water and our own health, but EWWWWWWWWWW! I have my DH so "bugged" about checking his bed (he travels all over) he calls me to tell me "all clear". Now he's paranoid :eek:

 

I think it's more hype than we realize. I am sure that all the cruise lines are aware of this and are taking precautions to prevent an outbreak.

 

Have fun (but check under the mattress!). :D

[lindalu62]

Lewdog- your post makes no sense. I was the one who he quoted, rightly so, because I said he was describing mites.

 

And, I did not go on and on about bedbugs "in my room", I never said I saw any and only had a suspicion that I could have been bitten by them as I came home from my cruise with 20 to 30 itchy welts on my body, and that new ones appeared each morning that I awoke while on the cruise. It did turn out to be sealice, which are identical to the lesions caused by bedbugs. Lighten up! I'm not trying to dish RCI, just sharing my experience!

[sweetpea916]

My sister took bedbugs home with her from Spain.

 

She never saw them but her boyfriend at the time, who spent a lot of nights sleeping on her couch, would wake up with big welts all over his neck and arms. She identified the bed bugs by the characteristics of the bites.

 

She had her entire place professionally fumigated (she couldn't stay there for a week). After that, boyfriend stays over on the couch and wakes up with bites.

 

Next day the couch took a ride on a truck to the dump. She never had another problem... thank goodness they didn't spread to her other furniture or bed.

[lindalu62]

JenandGene-

could you provide a link to that review?? Curious!

thanks

[Monthend]

Was watching King of Queens last night and they had bed bugs. Cost them $2500. to fumigate their house.

[spewey]

(I also posted this on a similar thread on the QM2): You know, there's a great word for that phantom itchy feeling when you think about bugs - "formication". So people that feel that way are, indeed, formicators.

 

And here's some bed bug trivia for you - the biggest reason for the recent explosion of these nasty critters was the development of the very effective gel to fight cockroaches. Before that, pest control companies would have to spray for roaches on a regular basis, and that kept the bed bugs at bay. With the gel, cockroaches are now largely under control, but we're back to square one with bed bugs.

 

It is true DDT kept these critters under control, but not necessarily because it was more powerful than the sprays we have today. Its secret - and a big reason it was banned - was its residual strength. In other words, if you sprayed a baseboard with DDT, it would still be killing bugs years later. Unfortunately, it would also get on the skin of any pets or children who happened to come in contact with it.

 

Today's sprays have a residual affect of a couple days or so - it will kill an infestation, but if there are other bugs in the area - say, the room next door - it will only be a matter of time before they're back (they can even crawl along the electrical wires between rooms, and come through the outlets).

 

They are afraid of the light, and are night-feeders, but they are not really difficult to see in the day, except for the babies. As noted above, check under sheets and in mattress seams - they don't move that fast.

 

I must admit I wish I didn't know all this stuff - bed bugs have played way too much of a role in my life ...

[cruisin granny]

My daughter picked them up from bats that came into the farmhouse she was renting 3 years ago with 3 other people. Then even 2 doctors could not identify the bites-the exteminator did. He told them to look for brown spots on a mattress-mainly at the seams. This was also posted on a thread over a month ago. Most of their stuff had to be repalced (mattress, sofa,sheets, etc) or washed in very hot water. It takes a few minutes to check hotel mattresses, etc but will save dollars and time later. It is like head lice, they will always be around but the chances of getting them are extremely low.

[LonW]

Here is a good link on the subject from Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet-Entomology dept:

 

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2105.html

[carolina_cruiser1]

I just returned from JOS Cruise and I had them in my room. At first I thought I just has bites from sand fleas or something, but I also had them on days we did not go to the beach. I did some research on the internet when I returned and I'm convinced that it was bedbugs that bit me.YUCK!!!!!!!!! I have traveled all over the world and this is the first time I have had this problem. :mad: I am contacting JOS and see what they are going to do about it. If you get room 9000...request a different room.