beware bed bugs!!

[Coralc]

Pam, without getting too far into it. I am an ag biologist who inspects and regulates companies like Ecolab operations and yes, they do have the cruise ship contracts. Bedbugs are visible, they are about the size of a small tick, and look exactly as shown in the link that the OP posted earlier in this thread.

 

Please don't make recommendations about pesticides, you're not licensed to do it and it will just cause more worry about a minor problem. And I'm done now. And no one is going to do all of those things on a cruise ship.

[Sea Island Lady]

Now, he did share a trick for preventing them from getting to you, but I don't remember all of the steps so I'll have to call him and find out. I do know that he recommended carrying one of those plastic allergan full bag matress covers, placing it over the mattress, then making sure the mattress is exposed to bright sunlight as a temporary fix. Also, a stiff brush can be used to scrub the mattress seams to dislodge bed bugs and eggs followed by vacumming. (Of course, I'm not 100% certain how you'll obtain the vacuum unless your steward agrees to use the vacuum that I'm sure is located on your floor.)

If I see any sign of the bed bug while on a ship, I will not bother with the above steps...I am out of there! :eek:

[OB10913]

Hi guys-

First, I did not mean to connect bed bugs to Nova Scotia...I just was not sure of the ship so I thought naming a port of call would narrow it down for some of you. Sorry for the confusion.

I will see my brother in law today, and get the name of the ship and the cabin #. I'll post that info later this eve or tomorrow.

[OB10913]

OK, so he was on the Voyager in room 8320 something..sorry I didn't write it down!! I guess a matress cover is really the best thing to do to avoid this situation. I have not sailed RCI in a few years, but regardless of the line, I will now pack a matress cover.

 

Happy sailing to all!!

[Rick R]

Matress cover? Won't the room steward think you are a bedwetter? :D

[kimanjo]

sorry, i deleted this post

[Sonshiner]

"Night. Night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite."

 

 

Eeeeeeeewwwwww!:eek:

[From_Arizona]

I just had to look at the site....better informed, but maybe ingnorance would have been bliss on this subject!! :eek:

 

 

All you need to know about bed bugs!!!!!!!:eek: Maybe too much!!!!!

 

http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm

[woodz]

You can not take any bug spray in your luggage if you fly. They will take it away from you so don't even waste your money.

[eroller]

I wouldn't worry too much about it.... at least not yet. I'm a flight attendant for a major airline and I'm in a different hotel room every week, from Japan, to Europe, to here in the US and Canada. In 10 years of flying I have yet to bitten by a bed bug. I have not heard anything from any of my flying partners either, and believe me word travels fast in the flight attendant community.

 

Since we spend a major part of our lives in hotel rooms and have input as to what hotels we layover at, news like this would be absolutely HUGE. Usually if anything happens to a flight attendant at a layover hotel (such as a bed bug epidemic), an alert gets issued by the company with a warning and preventative measures. So far nothing.

 

Now that I've said this I will probably get bed bugs on my next trip! :( Knock on wood that doesn't happen!

 

Ernie

 

Ps - good advise earlier about not putting your luggage on hotel floors. I never do.

[mle0213]

Is this post for real? You mean to say that RCL KNOWS there are bedbugs on the Voyager and they aren't doing anything about it??? I find this really hard to believe.

[OB10913]

it is for real. I guess as someone else posted, they can be a problem almost anywhere, hotels etc. Initially they were only going to change the mattress, but my brother in law insisted on another room. As I said, RCI laundered all their clothes, and put them in another cabin. But the heebie jeebie factor lives on!

[GlenandVal]

Now I will rememeber to check the floors n beds in any hotel n ship befor hubby puts stuf fin room lol he ll think im obsessive or sometinhg but who cares

puts whole new meaning to dont let the bed bugs bite

[obosix]

EROLLER,

 

Actually bedbugs are making a big come back. My hubby is an exterminator and we receive many calls a day regarding that issue. Years ago we were lucky if the was one bedbug call a year, but the problem is here and its a nasty one. Many exterminators refuse to deal with the issue because its time consuming(multiple visits back to the area of infestation) and alot of man power is needed ( to lift matresses, furniture , carpeting, move pictures etc A five star hotel in manhattan was plagued with the problem awhile back so it has nothing to do with cleanliness, or area , The little buggers travel on one persons property and take up residence in someone elses area. Bed bugs can also survive over 5 months without a blood meal. They are visable to the naked eye, being about the size of an apple seed, they are flat and move slowly. they do not jump, but can crawl far. Years ago people put the legs of their beds in bottles of gasoline to prevent them from crawling up to the bed. Not too much you can do if you were to have a problem on the ship( hopefully not the one I'm sailing on Friday) Raid will not kill them, there are special chemicals like gentrol( growth inhibitor) and suspend( insecticide) that are used and should only be applied by a licensed technitian. You can probably use something like sterifab, for a quick fix. It is similar to the cleaner used in hospitals, but it is not a solution to the problem. Well anyway I hope noone has a problem with bedbugs and I sure hope it isnt on my ship,

[NiniB]

I had an unfortunate cruise experience with BED BUGS!!!!! It was my 2nd cruise and on NCL, me and my daughter could not figure out why we woke up the second nite with our legs covered in tiny bites..:( I assumed we got bitten by something while on shore, anyway come to find out at the Purser desk last day other people were complaining they had been bitten BY BED BUGS!!!!!!! :mad: I had never heard of them until then and one of the other passengers explained what they were and I was furious!!!! By that my daughter had several more bites,, I did not... Needless to say NCL did nothing for anyone,,, AND I have NEVER cruised with that line again!!!!!!:mad:

I also now, never leave home WITHOUT OUR sheets & blankets......... :eek:

[Diva Onboard]

OB10913 -

 

 

I'm curious as to what ship this was on. What ship and cruise line was it?

[wingnutphl]

Well, that explains all the bite's I got on board the Fascination last year. I thought I was allergic to something since my cabin mate didn't get any bite marks. Spent a miserable 4 days on board that ship. Now I know. Do you think Lysol will help??

 

ebielik-original poster said it was on board the Voyager.

 

Dawn

[SamIAm21]

I know there was a hotel in Chicago, not sure which and don't want to disparage the wrong one, that was closed for a few weeks straight due to a horrible bedbug problem. Every room in the place was infested.

 

And someone else here mentioned headlice from theaters. It's the #1 most common place to pick up a case of headlice. The best way to prevent that is to bring a plastic garbage bag and slip it over your seat. Not real romantic, but if you are taking the kids, its worth it.

[Cruisehappymn]

First there is all this stuff on the news here in Minneapolis about people finding mold in their Select Comfort air chamber beds. Great, I have one.

 

Then I read a post asking if anyone asks for a clean comforter and read all about bare butts from the previous cruise sitting on our bed spreads.

 

Now I read about bed bugs. Maybe I will just sleep standing up or on a sheet of plywood.

[sally r]

My sister is such a clean freak that she covers the floor in hotel rooms with sheets she brings from home. She also brings cleaning supplies to do the "heavy" cleaning that they miss. She has almost completely stopped traveling because she gets so stressed. If I told her about bed bugs..:eek:

 

I will risk the dangers of anything just to "get out there"! Don't want to end up like her.

[JanetMarie]

Magellans catalog sells bed sack sheets. I made our own. Took two flat sheets, sewed the sides and bottom and this is what I take when we travel. In the a.m., we slip"our" sheets out, fold them, put them away until evening comes around.

[cakeone]

Are the bed bugs only in the beds? Aren't they on the floor of the cabins? So do I bring a tarp to cover the floor of the cabin?

 

What about migration to the outside hall carpet? Should I wear booties on my feet whenever I venture outside my own cabin space?

 

Also, do I need to bring plastic bags to cover the seats in the showroom, the lounges around the pool, the dining room chairs, any of the bars & lounges I may visit, the casino, the tender ships??

 

I also may have to consider not associating with any other people onboard, passengers OR crew, because they certainly won't be taking all these 'preventative measures'.

 

Is there anyone who will cruise with us that would be willing to don full length wetsuits to the formal night dining?

 

Maybe I'll contact NASA and see if I can rent a self-contained tuxedo spacesuit....

[NeepierRoad]

This post makes me laugh (and itch!). I'm going to Disney this weekend and you can be sure that I'm checking the mattresses. I freaked out last time we were there because there was a spider on the wall behind my bed!

 

Ignorance IS bliss!

[NorthwestCruiser]

Wish I had read these posts prior to sailing on Mercury Aug 27th. Didn't know anything about bed bugs so didn't know to check for the bugs and black spots on the mattress.

 

I woke up day 2 with a few big (1/4 to 1/2 inch diameter) red welts on torso (never had anything like this before), by day 4 I had 36 welts and have returned home today with a total of 43. Primarily along both sides from waist up, many in a line. They itch alittle, couldn't sleep after 4:30 this morning. My husband has two.

 

We sailed on Mercury Aug 27th-Sep 3 to Alaska in Sky Suite 1212. I had requested a long body pillow and my husband thinks the bugs were in that. When I stopped using it I seemed to not get any more bites those last few days. I mentioned the bites to the butler and then showed them to the stateroom attendant... she said she would change the sheets again and sanitize. I either got only 7 bites after that or none and just undercounted the day before.

 

Some of our luggage was stored under the bed, open so it would fit. It is all quareentined in the garage for now after reading on the internet that they could get into the luggage and infest our home. I didn't realize what a problem this could become and haunt us now at home. I'm reading that infested mattresses need to be thrown away (we have a 1 year old $2000 mattress!)

 

I'm NOT a happy cruiser at the moment but too tired to get furious today, think we will go back to camping !

[Shanafan]

There is a huge bed bug problem happening now, and believe it or not, some of the worst problems are in the finest US hotels... the infestation came from Europe supposedly... and they are very hard to get rid of since they live at the edges of the carpet...

I think I am going to be sick.......That is NASTY!!!