Hand Sanitizers And Hand Washing

[crisndeefromde]

And also for those of you with the wipes, also do the handles to the balcony doors and also the drawers. Can never be sure. Yep germo nut here too. Tired of getting sick because others choose to be ignorant in everyday health habits. I also read on one of the other sites that many countries aren't taught the same health subjects in school as Americans are, but on last cruise in Dec, one of the guests was telling off one of the ladies in the bathroom for attempting to leave without washing her hands and that person looked clueless in seattle. Go figure.

[Suzanne74]

Just jumping in to offer my 2 cents as an RN and a clean freak...

 

In the bathroom, wash your hands for at least 10 seconds and make sure you tell your kids to count SLOW (the younger ones LOVE to do it loud and it is a wake-up call to others in the bathroom on how they should wash!)

 

If the sink isn't automatic, dry your hands off BEFORE turning off the water. Then use your paper towel to turn off the faucet (remember dirty hands turn on the faucet!)

 

Always use your body or your arm to push open any doors. to pull doors open if you have long sleeves on (which isn't likely on a cruise) then use your sleeve to pull the door open. If you have a towel with you, use that instead. Use your knuckle or even an object (cell phone, pen) to push elevator buttons.

 

Do not use the handrails on stairs unless you really need to. Hold your child's hand instead of having them hold the rail too.

 

Make sure your child (and you for that matter) know to sneeze or cough in your arm or elbow pit and NOT cupped hands!!! Besides not washing hands, this is the number one reason germs are spread.

 

Handwashing should always take top priority over Purell though but obviously it isn't always practical.

 

Purrell makes a holder that you can hang off a purse, bag anything with a hole to place one of their travel size bottles. It goes off and on like a luggage tag. VERY useful. When it is front of your face, you use it more as opposed to hidden deep in a bag and forgotten.

 

Clorox wipes ARE great and it can't hurt to bring them. They make them in thin travel size ones. Bring at least 2 of them. Also bring 2 travel size antibacterial wipes - these are good when you have sticky food or sand on your hands and purrell won't do.

 

Last but not least, bring a HEAVY cream/lotion with you and use it often. Take it from a nurse, cracked overwashed hands are NO fun to have or to look at.

 

HTH some!!

[rsscaptain]

Just jumping in to offer my 2 cents as an RN and a clean freak...

 

In the bathroom, wash your hands for at least 10 seconds and make sure you tell your kids to count SLOW (the younger ones LOVE to do it loud and it is a wake-up call to others in the bathroom on how they should wash!)

 

If the sink isn't automatic, dry your hands off BEFORE turning off the water. Then use your paper towel to turn off the faucet (remember dirty hands turn on the faucet!)

 

Always use your body or your arm to push open any doors. to pull doors open if you have long sleeves on (which isn't likely on a cruise) then use your sleeve to pull the door open. If you have a towel with you, use that instead. Use your knuckle or even an object (cell phone, pen) to push elevator buttons.

 

Do not use the handrails on stairs unless you really need to. Hold your child's hand instead of having them hold the rail too.

 

Make sure your child (and you for that matter) know to sneeze or cough in your arm or elbow pit and NOT cupped hands!!! Besides not washing hands, this is the number one reason germs are spread.

 

Handwashing should always take top priority over Purell though but obviously it isn't always practical.

 

Purrell makes a holder that you can hang off a purse, bag anything with a hole to place one of their travel size bottles. It goes off and on like a luggage tag. VERY useful. When it is front of your face, you use it more as opposed to hidden deep in a bag and forgotten.

 

Clorox wipes ARE great and it can't hurt to bring them. They make them in thin travel size ones. Bring at least 2 of them. Also bring 2 travel size antibacterial wipes - these are good when you have sticky food or sand on your hands and purrell won't do.

 

Last but not least, bring a HEAVY cream/lotion with you and use it often. Take it from a nurse, cracked overwashed hands are NO fun to have or to look at.

 

HTH some!!

 

Thank you for that detailed post! Very practical!

[Sue L]

From all the doctors on the news and different morning programs they say to hum (to yourself) or if you are an extrovert (outloud) happy birthday twice while washing your hands and then you have the right amount of time to properly kill any germs. It works out to about 20-25 secs depending how fast you hum.

[paintedduck]

if you watch people, they touch their noses and eyes all the time. that's how the little buggers invade, many times. as a painting contractor of 32 years, you wouldn't believe the number of filthy rental units i have worked in. i trained myself never to touch my face. you can be aware of your hands and keep them were they belong when in a worrisome place with a little pratice. it would really help.

[MrsCF]

I just wanted to thank everyone in this thread for all the great tips and advice.

DH and I will be leaving on our first cruise next Sunday (Feb 4) and I just added "wipes" and "Purell" to my list of "must pack".

 

I've never been a germaphobe...always thought that you need to be exposed to some things in order to build up your immune system, but some of the things you mentioned I had never thought about and just grossed me out.

[grandsix]

It is sad, but many people by habit do not wash their hands when leaving the bathroom.

[Loyal Royals NY]

Besides the hand sanitizer and Clorox Wipes, I will also be bringing a small can of Lysol or Clorox aerosol spray. Also, I have a 2 yr old granddaughter and I am trying to teach her to wash hands after the potty. We sing Old McDonald's Farm slowly and maybe do an animal or two to make sure it's long enough. Now I can just hear everyone humming that at the wash basins on the ship....lolol

 

Judy

[tocanada]

Suzanne74 - thanks for great information. If we all followed this, we would all be a lot healthier.

 

On the Grandeur, I was very pleased to see that they insisted you use the sanitizers before using the Windjammer. At the beginning of the cruise, you could see some people showing their frustration but after a few days, everyone seemed to get into the routine.

andrew

[golfer1966]

Just jumping in to offer my 2 cents as an RN and a clean freak...

 

In the bathroom, wash your hands for at least 10 seconds and make sure you tell your kids to count SLOW (the younger ones LOVE to do it loud and it is a wake-up call to others in the bathroom on how they should wash!)

 

If the sink isn't automatic, dry your hands off BEFORE turning off the water. Then use your paper towel to turn off the faucet (remember dirty hands turn on the faucet!)

 

Always use your body or your arm to push open any doors. to pull doors open if you have long sleeves on (which isn't likely on a cruise) then use your sleeve to pull the door open. If you have a towel with you, use that instead. Use your knuckle or even an object (cell phone, pen) to push elevator buttons.

 

Do not use the handrails on stairs unless you really need to. Hold your child's hand instead of having them hold the rail too.

 

Make sure your child (and you for that matter) know to sneeze or cough in your arm or elbow pit and NOT cupped hands!!! Besides not washing hands, this is the number one reason germs are spread.

 

Handwashing should always take top priority over Purell though but obviously it isn't always practical.

 

Purrell makes a holder that you can hang off a purse, bag anything with a hole to place one of their travel size bottles. It goes off and on like a luggage tag. VERY useful. When it is front of your face, you use it more as opposed to hidden deep in a bag and forgotten.

 

Clorox wipes ARE great and it can't hurt to bring them. They make them in thin travel size ones. Bring at least 2 of them. Also bring 2 travel size antibacterial wipes - these are good when you have sticky food or sand on your hands and purrell won't do.

 

Last but not least, bring a HEAVY cream/lotion with you and use it often. Take it from a nurse, cracked overwashed hands are NO fun to have or to look at.

 

HTH some!!

 

 

I especially liked..." Dirty hands turn on the faucets." I never thought of that.!! Great ideas here..... I feel cleaner already... :D

[BonNYTX]

Just came back from the Rhapsody last Sunday and I saw very few use the hand santizers reboarding after our ports of call and in the Windjammer except my husband and myself, but then we took our platter, flatware and off we went to get our food. I didn't bring anything to wipe down my room, I didn't scald my hands washing them singing happy birthday twice. I just washed normally using hot water and soap. I DID try and not touch the staircase rail. Besides, what I understand as MerionMom stated is that Purell cannot stop the Norovirus. And if I were in the bathroom and saw someone exit w/o washing you KNOW I am going to call her on it. BIG TIME.

[threeofus]

I especially liked..." Dirty hands turn on the faucets." I never thought of that.!! Great ideas here..... I feel cleaner already... :D

 

LOL - that really is one of the first things you learn in a nursing program - and once you hear it - it sticks with you for life.

 

Also - never put your purse on the kitchen counter....dining table or anything you might eat from.....the bottom of your purse ...well it's pretty darn germy.

 

How many visitors to a hospital pt. put their purse down on the over-the-bed table???? That's the patient's kitchen table. Just thought I'd throw that in.

[trishalee]

Also, be aware that if you don't "de-germ" your cabin after every clean-up visit from "Stewart", you are now living among the germs of every cabin he cleans. This is the way many of these viruses are spread from cabin to cabin so quickly.:(

[sunsetbeachgal]

Just off the Mariner and the employees stationed at the Windjammer and at the entrance to the dining room squirted hand sanitizer in everyone's hands upon entering...also when you got back on the ship at the ports the employees checking your cruise cards also asked you to squirt hand sanitizer on before going past...we liked it...and no one got ill that we knew of!

[RM]

I agree the Mariner insisted you use the hand sanitizers. They laughed at me as I brought my own from Bath and Body. The sanitizer they use was killing my skin, very drying.

[sgttami]

I wonder how we all grew up in the 50's/60's when there was no such thing as hand sanitizers.

 

We rode bikes all day, played in the dirt, made lunch with our dirty hands and went out and played some more...how come we never got sick???

 

Pam

[crisndeefromde]

Ahhhhhhhh..never thought about cleaning again each time our stewart is finished in our room. Great advice. Sanitizers were used in order to get in the dining room. No way were you coming in elsewise this past cruise. No sickness from Noro that we knew of. Very deligent about it getting back onto the ship. I was carrying my bath and body stuff too...great smells.

[MrsPete]

I wonder how we all grew up in the 50's/60's when there was no such thing as hand sanitizers.

 

We rode bikes all day, played in the dirt, made lunch with our dirty hands and went out and played some more...how come we never got sick???

 

Pam

While I understand your point, there are a couple things to realize:

 

"Back in the day", we never went anywhere -- not my family anyway. The only germs with which I came in contact were those at school and church. Those places were smaller too: My school had 50-55 people per grade; my church had only about 200 people. Today "we" are on the go all the time: the mall, restaurants, etc. We come in contact with more people, and we're spreading the germs around more than in the past.

 

On a cruise ship, this is much more evident than it is in other places. If a bunch of people at the same hotel pick up noro-virus, they each figure it came from a different place -- one guesses it's food poisoning from a restaurant, another blames it on a co-worker who was sick last week, yet another is sure that her kids brought it home from school. Because they aren't confined to the hotel, they don't realize that all the other people have it . . . and no one realizes that it's an "outbreak". On a cruise ship, however, the world seems much smaller, and a number of sick people are noticed more easily.

 

Then, we have super-germs today that didn't exist in the past. These super-buggies have built up immunities because of over-use of antibiotics, etc. They're stronger and more dangerous than those that were common when I was a kid.

 

The world isn't the same place it was in the 50s and 60s, and we have to work harder in many ways -- keeping ourselves healthy is just one of those ways.

[sgttami]

I know. Believe me. I get your point also. But it's like the days when we got vaccinated. You were innoculated with the '"disease" so that you would become immune (smallpox, measles, diptheria).

 

My DIL is a teacher and swares that all "her kids" are always sick because of the over zealous prompting of being sanitary all the time. Not saying that the kids today should go out and eat dirt and worms but sometimes we're too cautious.

 

I got viral pneumonia on my last cruise and all the hand sanitizers on earth wouldn't have prevented that. Yes, there are strains and bugs of different illnesses that didn't exist years ago. I wonder. Where did they come from?

 

Being squirted with a hand sanitizer as I go to dinner might be the reality of cruises to come but in reality, the cause of all these outbreaks goes a lot deeper...and not appropriate for discussion on a public forum!

[sdear]

Just curious...do you all wear masks when you fly on the plane to your cruise port???? ( i drive, and not because I am afraid of germs..been a nurse 30 years lol )

 

 

:D

[Tahoestarr]

Just off the Monarch of the Seas...and my sister and I noticed a definate lack of hand sanitizer...we sailed the year before, and it was everwhere! We fnally saw one station shoved in a corner of the Windjammer...turned backwards so you couldn't even get to it....:eek: We thought since it was a 4 day cruise, the incubation period was longer, and they just didn't care if we got sick or not...since they would never know....lol...but then realized, the crew would also get it :rolleyes: who knows.

[Loyal Royals NY]

When we cruise the Jewel of the Seas in February, instead of wearing a mask, which I have done in the past, I will be taking Airborne. I have done it several times in the past and it does work. I am an asthmatic and if someone is sick near me with a cold, I am sure to get bronchitis or pneumonia. I have lost count, I've had it so many times. Since I started taking Airborne, I have not gotten the crud once. I wll start taking it the day before we leave and fly, then take it everyday for the next few days of the cruise. Just for an added insurance, my doctor gave me a script for a Z-Pak, just in case something catches me.

 

Judy

[QM2 Cruiser]

My family and I follow these procedures on every cruise, and we have not been ill at sea or on land in at least ten years. If you think they are too extreme for you please disreguard them and go ahead with your day. I have posted these on a tread back in September and people really made fun of me and got mad. I'm just trying to help people stay healthy and happy on cruises. :)

 

NOROVIRUS PRECAUTIONS:

 

1. Take "Airborne" and "Vitamin C" lozenges beginning 10 days before sailing. Avoid contact with people that you suspect may have any type of illness, and wash hands on the hour with a strong antibacterial soap, and before eating, drinking, touching face, and after leaving the restroom.

 

2. Use hand sanitizer liberally in supplement to hand washing. Norovirus can be killed with constant alcohol exposure of three minutes.

 

3. When boarding an airplane, wipe down your tray table and seatbelt with Clorox bleach wipes. Avoid touching that seatbelt as much as you can.

 

4. While on the airplane, try to avoid people around you that are coughing, sneezing, etc. (if at all possible). Never directly face such a person to avoid them breathing on you. Do not shake hands.

 

5. While on the flight, don't touch anything and avoid the lavatory. Do not take any food and beverage service.

 

4. After landing, wash hands for at least one minute with antibacterial soap, and include arms and elbows, and face. Use paper towels only and use a paper towel to turn off the water and open the door.

 

5. Change clothes as soon as you reach your hotel, and place in a plastic bag. Do not wear these airplane clothes again until washed. Immediately take a shower.

 

6. After onboard the ship, sanitize everything in the cabin upon arrival: Repeat daily.

 

A. Lysol spray all bedspreads, couches, carpets, and chairs.

 

B. Use a bleach solution for all bathroom surfaces including floor, shower walls, toilet, sink, faucets, and walls.

 

C. Use Lysol wipes for all wooden surfaces, table tops, night stands, lamps, telephones, light switches, thermostat, door handles (inside and out), and closet hangers. Place TV remote in a ziplock bag and punch the buttons without touching it at all.

 

D. Use a water and antibacterial soap solution to scrub balcony floor. Lysol wipe the balcony railing, and Lysol spray all balcony furniture.

 

E. Use Lysol wipes for plastic "Do Not Disturb" signs, ice buckets, mini-fridges, and other objects.

 

F. Send your bedspread comforter to be laundered as soon as you arrive. Bring your own pillow.

 

G. VACATE STATEROOM UNTIL CLEANING ODOR SUBSIDES. LEAVE BALCONY DOOR OPEN. MOVE TO FRESH AIR IF YOU BECOME SENSITIVE TO THE ODOR.

 

7. Be sensible while on the cruise. Bring bottles of antibacterial soap for personal use, and use antibacterial bar soap for showering. Pour Listerine on your toothbrush before each use to clean. Wash hands before entering the buffet and again after putting your plate on your table before eating. Used gloves to handle tongs. Stay away from anyone that may be ill. Never touch handrails. Wash hands when entering and when leaving your stateroom, before eating, drinking, smoking, touching face, and before and after using the restroom. Use hospital grade hand sanitizers liberally and often. Use bleach wipes in the dining room or buffet before eating. NEVER USE HOT TUBS AND DO NOT SUBMERGE HEAD IN SWIMMING POOLS. Shower after swimming onboard or ashore. Shower at lease twice daily, especially after shore excursions.

 

8. Never use the public restrooms, and do not open doors to exterior decks or public rooms without a napkin, paper towel, or other barrier. Your elbow can be used as a last resort to open doors, but be sure to wash it. DO NOT PUSH ELEVATOR BUTTONS WITH HANDS OR USE HOUSE PHONES. Avoid touching objects in the public areas. Only your clothes should ever touch a chair or a lounge. Never wear the same clothes twice to avoid contamination.

 

9. If there is an outbreak onboard, severely limit your time in public areas. Eat only in the dining room. Before leaving the stateroom know your destination, and take the shortest route. Do not use elevators, since the small space allows sneezes and airborn particles to remain longer. Stay in your cabin and on open decks, instead of inside the ship. If necessary, or in case of severe outbreak of more than three to five percent of all passengers affected, use room service for all meals, and do not leave cabin unless the general emergency signal sounds.

 

10. Have a great, significantly germ reduced cruise vacation!

 

In case you contract the norovirus illness: Use Pepto Bismol, Immodium, and Advil as directed. Contact the ship's doctor for an appointment, and remain in your cabin to protect others.

[sdear]

:eek: :eek: :eek:

 

going on with my day :)

[BonNYTX]

To QM2 cruiser: GOOD GRIEF.

Not making fun or mad, honest. Just my initial reaction to your post.