Has Anyone Returned from a Fantastic Caribbean Cruise . . . with a cold?

[ladycaveat]

I just got off Carnival's Triumph on Saturday and had a fantastic time! Unfortunately . . . on Monday, I woke up with a very bad cold, I could barely breath. Here it is two days later and I'm honestly thinking about not going into the office tomorrow. I've got a horrible cough, stuffed up, slight fever, sore throat and just feel yucky. I've never had this happen before after a cruise. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I had a cold. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

[Bunkie103]

It happens to me all the time. I tend to blame it on the plane trip versus the cruise. I came home from the Valor Vampire trip with a sinus infection and bilateral ear infections. My boss "loves" to hear I am going on vacation because I always call in sick the week after:(.

[sea-cruise]

Bring Zinc lozenges on your next trip or when you plan on being enclosed with a group of people. One of the TV shows did a segment last year on colds. They showed a cold germ as a "sponge" with holes and ragged edges. They animated how the zinc fills up the holes and ragged edges of the germ, making it round and smooth. The germ couldn't adhere or stick to any other germs because of this, therefore it couldn't multiply.

You must take the Zinc lozenge at the very first sign of a cold or it will not work. Don't give a germ the time to multiply. They took this information and had a tv commercial along the same lines. The show was very interesting, so I hope it helps you next time.

[nshreves]

Last Year The Day We Left The Boat, I Knew I Was Very Ill.....it Wasn't Just A Cold, It Was Pnemonia! I Have Never Had That Before. I Think It Was Due To Going From Warm To Cold Weather...nothing To Do With The Cruise Line Itself. But I Was One Sick Puppy For About Three Weeks.

[thymcruisers]

We not only got colds . . . 3 out of 6 of us got PINK EYE!!

[CorbinCatFan]

Came back after a Christmas cruise and was in the bed for three days with the flu.:(

[Sprocket]

I didn't come home with a cold, but I did come home with West Nile.:eek:

Missed 2 + months of work and about a year of my life. That happened 3 years ago,( E. Caribbean) and next month I'm doing the W. Caribbean. The good news is I can't get it again.;)

 

Hope you're feeling better soon.........

 

Bev

[mek]

Yep - Caught a cold last month on the Destiny. On 30+ cruises, I have come down with a 24 hour virus and been really sick 3X. Unfortunately, I have sinus problems and I'm a virus magnet.

[sea-cruise]

OH NOOOOO......WEST NILE, PINK EYE, AND PNEUMONIA??? Might as well leave that darn zinc at home:eek:

[tb109]

Take care of your body while cruising.There may be some special flu you have never met.Of cause you have no resistance from them.

[divetrash]

Oh sure, I came home from my Valor cruise in July with a bad cold. I could feel it starting to come on the last night, but it really kicked in as I got off the ship. I heard that there was a cold going around the crew but I don't remember making out with any crew members! ;) Ron Pass, the piano bar entertainer, also ended up with a cold right after I left. Took about a week to kick it for both of us.

 

Laura

[neighbour_lady]

I too ended up with a cold and this bad deep cough flying out of LA after our cruise. After getting my seat on the plane, I started to cough. Honestly I sounded like a Harbour seal in distress.

 

I laugh now as the man in front of me said, Can you be a little more quiet? Oh duh?

 

Anyways next thing I knew he was requesting to be moved due to my germs he claimed, I was spreading with my hands covered over my mouth each cough...

 

I too missed about 3-4 days of work after returning home too due to cold!

[kitty2110]

Sprocket! You go! I came down with a cold last November while on the Sovereign. Luckily, I had brought along a first aid kit with cold meds! Unluckily, I fell on the pool deck with wet indoor/outdoor carpet and tore my knee cap all to pieces. My knee cap was the immediate concern. I know I had the cold but did not deal with it as I was dealing with the knee problem.

[kitty2110]

Sprocket! You go! I came down with a cold last November while on the Sovereign. Luckily, I had brought along a first aid kit with cold meds! Unluckily, I fell on the pool deck with wet indoor/outdoor carpet and tore my knee cap all to pieces. My knee cap was the immediate concern. I know I had the cold but did not deal with it as I was dealing with the knee problem.

[jw4jg1mg2eg1]

I came off the Conquest last April with no voice. I had a cough & slight sore throat. I thought it was from being out in the night air for the deck party....:confused: :rolleyes:

[dsnygrl]

I was on a cruise 10 years ago and the last night of the cruise my back started to hurt so bad I had to go to the cabin and lay down for the rest of the night. I felt terrible when I got up the next day and by the time we got off the ship and to my parents house in Ft. Lauderdale I had a fever of 102. We drove to the airport and got on out flight home to Atlanta. I felt horrible but I had to be at work the next day so there was no changing the flight. When I got home I was covered in spots. I actually had chicken pox. Being older I was sick as a dog and laid up for over 2 weeks. To make it worse I also had a sunburn from the cruise. My boss was sooooo mad but there was nothing I could do.

[adamken]

OMG yes, I just got off the freedom on Sunday and monday woke up with a sore throat and now an all out chest cold....I feel like crap

[dforeigner]

Keep this in mind. You just spent 5-12 days in a high humidity environment. You membranes are nice and moist. Suddenly you board a plane where the environment is very dry (one actually looses water when flying), enclosed and in proximity of people whom may be contagious. Your membranes (mucous) become irritated and it depletes your immune system. You are now a prime candidate for an infection. Not a pretty picture but just a fact of life.

 

Some people will either irrigate with a saline solution or use some type of Vaseline ointment to prevent their nostrils from drying up. Also, drink plenty of water before and during your flight.

[sportsterjohn]

I end up with a bad cold on every cruise, however I drive to the ports on all mine so I can't blame it on flying.

[jandkfarms]

When my dh and I went on our cruise to the Carribean he was sick before we left but he dealt with it and then the morning we got on the ship I woke up sick and I had 104 temp almost my whole cruise. It was no fun at all. Yuck!!!!!!

[kitty9]

Colds and bronchitis too many times to count. But I blame most of this on flying many hours from the port. Airplanes are nothing more than flying petri dishes.

[Trevoli]

When you think about it, the ship is one big petrie dish for germs. And you don't have to 'make out' with anybody. You shake someone's hand, grasp a doorknob, then touch your nose, mouth, or eyes, and bam! You've just caught a virus. I don't believe that being out in cold air would cause it, but dry air (as in air-conditioned air) definitely causes problems. If you're already sick and your resistance is low, then that's another story.

 

It's a wonder that more people don't experience cold or flu symptoms a few days after returning from a cruise vacation (given a 7- to 10-day incubation period).

 

All you can do is wash your hands often, and if taking zinc helps, do that too. I don't believe there is any medical evidence that proves it, but if it works for you, go for it.

 

I had pneumonia several years ago. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Imagine having the worst flu ever and being as tired as you've ever been in your life, then multiply that by 10. I couldn't even stand up to take a shower. I would get up, have a few bites of yogurt, then sleep for 6 hours. A trip to the doctor or the pharmacy required outside help. Luckily, it turned out to be bacterial, and the 3rd antibiotic did the trick.

 

T

[martinimadam]

So, there I am on my first Med cruise. Day two I start to come down with a cold. Didn't bring anything with me (last time I did that!). Went to see the Doc. Unfortunately, all the cold meds they had contained Sudafed, which I can't take. Get to Monte Carlo. Everyone else takes off for the Casino/Palace, etc. I try to find a pharmacy, and between their broken English and my broken French, we figure it out. By the time we get to Livorno, the cough starts. Again, because of other meds, can't take what's available on the ship. Sooo, everyone else takes off for Florence, I wander around Livorno, find a pharmacia, and struggle again to get a med I can take! Learned a very important lesson! BTW, Livorno is a pretty little town, at least.

[ladycaveat]

Misery loves company . . . and boy do I ever feel misrable. Glad to know that I'm not the only one who came home from a cruise with a cold (though I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy). I don't know whether it was from the cruise (felt fantastic during the entire trip), the two days I spend with my son in Ft. Lauderdale after the cruise, the flight home or the dreary, rainy weather here at home. I just know that as soon as I got home I started to feel a little stuffy with a little sore throat. It's gotten so bad the past two days, I actually came home from work three hours early today (I'm an attorney and had to get one of the other attorneys in my office to handle my 3:00 p.m. bench trial . . . something I've never done before). My poor chest and back hurt so bad when I sneeze or cough, it brings tears to my eyes. Someone said they sounded like a Harbor Seal when they coughed . . . wow . . . that's exactly how I sound. Aside from hot tea, Claritin and cough syrup . . . any suggests?

[Happy ks]

Get yourself to the doctor and find out if it's really a cold. If it is, there's nothing you can do but treat the symptoms. If it is another type of bacterial infection, it can be treated with antibiotics.

 

Weather really doesn't cause colds, virus germs do. That's why we get more colds in the winter than in the summer, because we're cooped up more inside. It doesn't surprise me that people catch colds on cruise ships and airplanes, it's a close environment and we are touching surfaces that others are touching. Even if we cover our nose and mouth when we cough, we will touch surfaces that others will touch after us, as well as it happening to us. I think the viral germ can live about 3 hours on surfaces, so the little critters are just waiting for us.

 

While weather really doesn't contribute, stress can and I read a lot of people wear themselves down with excitement before a cruise. Many people don't rest as well as they should before or during a cruise. When returning home, you finally let yourself down and the symptoms set in.

 

It takes anywhere from 3 - 7 days for a cold to manifest itself after exposure. So, if your cold starts the day of, or the day after a flight, it's probably not from the plane. If you start feeling ill the first couple of days after you board the ship, well, it looks like you've brought it with you and will be sharing it with the other pax.

 

Colds are just here to stay with us. After all the years of investigation, they still haven't found a cure or a suitable prevention.