No medications in shop onboard NCL

[Markanddonna]

We disembarked on Nov 15th from the NCL Epic. Not only were there absolutely zero meds of any sort available in their gift shop, ALL of the stores were empty of any products for the first eight days. Their vendor changed and the shops were ALL empty.

 

So, just a warning.  Pack essential meds for fever, cough, colds, diarrhea, etc. Your only option is to use a pharmacy at a port or pay for an expensive doctor visit onboard the ship.  I recall someone else mentioning this and don't know if all cruise lines are moving in the direction. 

[Essiesmom]

All cruise lines removed cold, etc. meds from the shops because Covid symptoms could mimic a cold and they didn’t want guests self treating instead of getting tested.  All meds moved to the medical center.  It has long been recommended you take with you anything you think you might need.  EM

[Markanddonna]

4 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

All cruise lines removed cold, etc. meds from the shops because Covid symptoms could mimic a cold and they didn’t want guests self treating instead of getting tested.  All meds moved to the medical center.  It has long been recommended you take with you anything you think you might need.  EM

We did just that and also managed to help a few others who were suffering with some issues that were non Covid related. Moral of the story: bring your own medicine based on your history and the possibilities of illness on a cruise ship.

[Mary229]

You might as well bring your own.  The last time I bought a bottle of NyQuil on a ship in 2016 it cost over $14.00.   I can’t  imagine what it would cost today 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Mary229

[GeezerCouple]

Meds are among the things that we ALWAYS carry with us.  And that means "hand carried".   And *that* means:  One of us always has a hand ON that carry-on, unless it's on the plane and under the seat in front of us or in an overhead compartment.  And if it's overhead, we put it across the aisle and slightly forward, so we can keep any eye on it.  (Yes, we'll sleep, but we do the best we can while we are vaguely conscious!)

 

For critical meds (mostly Rx, but a few OTC), we'll keep a small supply in another carry on, such as my purse.

 

There are a few meds that, IF they walked away, we'd probably need to visit an ER (preferably to get a new Rx, but possibly for ...  treatment) or even return home.
We can always find *some* sort/brand of socks or toothpaste if needed, but some meds, "not so much..." 😱

 

And a lot of these are little pills that don't take up a lot of space.

(We have our pharmacist print out extra stick-on labels, and we place those on small - or tiny - ziploc type bags, so they become "official pharmacy issued", and we avoid the wasted air-space in the rigid plastic bottles.  Or the pharmacist can do that for us.  We had one med initially dispensed this way, and we never forgot about that! 😉  ) 

GC

[dolittle]

We do not use a lot of over the counter drugs but i always save unit packed samples from mailing's and doctors office etc. 

[ldubs]

15 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

We disembarked on Nov 15th from the NCL Epic. Not only were there absolutely zero meds of any sort available in their gift shop, ALL of the stores were empty of any products for the first eight days. Their vendor changed and the shops were ALL empty.

 

So, just a warning.  Pack essential meds for fever, cough, colds, diarrhea, etc. Your only option is to use a pharmacy at a port or pay for an expensive doctor visit onboard the ship.  I recall someone else mentioning this and don't know if all cruise lines are moving in the direction. 

 

15 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

All cruise lines removed cold, etc. meds from the shops because Covid symptoms could mimic a cold and they didn’t want guests self treating instead of getting tested.  All meds moved to the medical center.  It has long been recommended you take with you anything you think you might need.  EM

 

I read this before on an earlier thread.  Before that, I would not have given any thought to popular OTC stuff no longer being available.  It really is good info to share.    Now we know to make sure and pack up common OTC stuff.   

[Keksie]

If you use any of the meds you bring you might want to pack the wrappers back in your luggage to dispose of at home.

[ldubs]

On 11/23/2022 at 5:06 AM, Keksie said:

If you use any of the meds you bring you might want to pack the wrappers back in your luggage to dispose of at home.

 

What is the purpose of doing that?  An empty pill bottle would currently go in the cabin trash basket.  

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

What is the purpose of doing that?  An empty pill bottle would currently go in the cabin trash basket.  

There have been some discussions about cabin stewards finding possible "evidence" that someone in the cabin is sick, possibly with Covid, and not reported and been tested. 

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

There have been some discussions about cabin stewards finding possible "evidence" that someone in the cabin is sick, possibly with Covid, and not reported and been tested. 

 

Thanks.  That would be a reason.  Especially for those who wish to hide that they have covid.    I think that a cabin search for covid evidence is something of little or no concern.  That is solely my opinion of course.    

[Markanddonna]

On a May transatlantic, we witnessed security at the door of one of our neighbors.  It appeared that someone was sick and had not left the room.  I asked our cabin attendant if they were required to report evidence of significant illness, and he admitted it was true.

[Joebucks]

I always travel with a vial of generic pills just in case. Never pay literally 15x more than what it costs at home. I have yet to be found by the vial police.

[ldubs]

On 11/25/2022 at 5:36 AM, Markanddonna said:

On a May transatlantic, we witnessed security at the door of one of our neighbors.  It appeared that someone was sick and had not left the room.  I asked our cabin attendant if they were required to report evidence of significant illness, and he admitted it was true.

 

Were they removed from the cabin, do you know?  

[Markanddonna]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Were they removed from the cabin, do you know?  

I don't know. I recall that the ship seemed pretty healthy until day six. The first six were all sea days so any illness did not come from a port day. It was imported from the usa or Canada. We are glad we didn't hang with the cruise critic group since several got Covid. We haven't been as social fror our two post covid sailings. Several cc folks reported they got covid on the ship.