Anyone else as neurotic as us?

[RuthC]

The glasses are glass.........

And they fit in a special holder so they won't go flying in rough seas.

[GramaFran]

I am bringing Clorox wipes to wipe down the main items in our cabin, dish soap to clean glasses and spray to clean the air. Plus Purell to wipe hands before eating.

 

I got pneumonia on a Carribean cruise in 05 so I am very careful now.

No hand shaking, use knukles to press elevator buttons, etc.

 

I never thought about flying and I worked for airline for 30 yrs. Who knew??

 

Maybe I am over cautious but I do not want to get sick again. Luckily I have never got Noro and have been on 2 ships that had it onboard.

Francine

[kdowneymd]

As a mother of four, a pediatrician who washes her hands religously between patients,and who told my children to NEVER drink from the water fountain at school during the winter (too many strep throats) I must confess, it has NEVER occurred to me to take any sanitizing precautions on trips other than never walking barefoot around pools and showers (plantar warts and athletes feet) and none of us has ever gotten ill on five cruises and multiple vacations, planes hotel rooms etc, unless we left home not well. However, as one ages and the immune system is on the wane others may want to take more precautions and I suspect that has something to do with getting sick on cruises. At the same time, I personally believe that the widespread use of Purell and handwipes is going to be the downfall for many with the development of very resistant bacteria and generations with poor immunity due to lack of exposure to childhood normal bacteriual exposures. Eating dirt can be very helpful

[sail7seas]

I found this online-it kind of makes you think of what is out there now.

 

Those Born 1930 to 1970!

 

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

 

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

 

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

 

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

 

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

 

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

 

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

 

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

 

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING or WORKING !

 

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

 

No one was able to reach us all day.

And we were O.K.

 

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

 

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

 

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

 

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

 

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

 

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

 

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

 

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

 

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

 

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them . . . CONGRATULATIONS!

 

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

 

 

 

I never thought much of germs until my mom entered health care and brought home the Norovirus (which I managed to avoid, thank goodness) and until I met someone who had flesh eating disease from a cut in his leg and had to have his limb amputated.

 

I thought a lot more about it when I entered University and would encounter people who did not wash their hands after using the washroom. You always know it happens, but you are quite reluctant to get in the elevator with them after they have touched the buttons:eek:

 

Last year I got a scratch on my scalp and developed a staph infection that took 5 sets of antibiotics to get rid of. My entire face swelled up and my eyes swelled shut for several days.

 

I think a lot more about germs these days. While I don't sanitize everything I touch, I make sure and frequently wash my hands and I use wipes/sanitizers if I have touched things that have been used or touched by others. I don't think that we can protect ourselves from everything, but some precautions can't hurt.

 

 

 

Thank you, ShipCutie. I've often thought along the same line as you. How in the world did all us baby boomers manage to grow up/grow old-er? Imagine how all the generations survived in order to produce those that followed us.

[Destin Mom]

To anyone who is against antibacterial wipes, wiping down commonly touched items (not in your own house), etc...you may want to borrow one of my children for one month. If you happen to come down with the stomach flu, I suspect you might vacuum the bottom of your shoes. Seriously though, the blankets and bedspreads may not be washed weekly...and most people are probably not as clean as you are. We own rental property, and I will tell you, wipe it down sister (or brother). So you're neurotic to some, atleast you aren't puking at 2 a.m.

[kenish]

I'm assuming you carry wipes and wipe down your coins, bills, etc., too? While you're at it, make sure to wipe the bannister, the number you push on the elevator, the counter you put your hands on in the store, the arms of the chair you sit in in the theater, etc.

As a bacteriologist, I know there are places where more germs lurk than the inside of my drawers on a ship.

There are more places you'll catch things than where you're wiping. Lighten up and don't worry about it so much!

Enjoy your trips!

Jan

 

The winner of a national youth science award a few years back took water samples in fast food restaurants. She found bacteria levels were typically 10x higher in the ice than the toilet bowl in the restrooms.

 

Sanitation is good of course, but overdoing it as a society has led to "superbugs" like MRSA as well as our high incidence of asthma. I do admit I use a paper towel to open the restroom door. In the past few years most places have started putting a wastebasket next to the door, so I'm not the only one who does this.

[sauvichick]

On our last weekend cruise to nowhere I brought Lysol. Of course my husband thought I was ridiculous, but he was not laughing when we were handed a memo stating the Norovirus was on board the previous sailing. I did spray everything in the room. As I've gotten older I am more "OCD" with germs in public bathrooms, hotels/motels, the classroom & now cruises. I use a spray bottle full of rubbing alcohol at the gym. Which is better-the Lysol or the rubbing alcohol. Any ideas? I will bring one for the 8/29 sailing.

[LindaJ+]

I don't understand the compulsion with the hand-sanitizer. Isn't this anti-bacterial? Isn't Norovirus a virus? Isn't it true that anti-bacterial stuff doesn't fight viruses? Am I totally in left field here?

[pekachryn]

I do think there is such a thing as overdoing it, especially if you are totally healthy. But, I am a double-organ transplant recipient and am quite immunosuppressed. So, I carry antibacterial wiping fluid and use it before I eat. Where they have those bottles at the beginning of the buffet, I go back and use again after touching all the community spoons, etc. I wipe hotel and cabin room phones, door handles, remote controls (they are the filthiest), toilet handles, etc., with Chlorox wipes. And, when I fly overseas I wear a mask, not the drugstore kind that lasts 15 minutes, but the ones that work for hours (and cost about $15). I hate wearing a mask, but the last time I didn't I got terribly ill, and the ship's doc almost booted me off the ship to be admitted to a Russian hospital.

 

Again, I may be extreme, but I can't afford to have a casual attitude about these things. Oh, and I wash my hands all the time, which I wish everyone would do so they wouldn't pass around their germs. I do rarely get sick.

[pekachryn]

I don't understand the compulsion with the hand-sanitizer. Isn't this anti-bacterial? Isn't Norovirus a virus? Isn't it true that anti-bacterial stuff doesn't fight viruses? Am I totally in left field here?

 

It has alcohol in it, which kills many viruses, too.

[Sundagger]

At the same time, I personally believe that the widespread use of Purell and handwipes is going to be the downfall for many with the development of very resistant bacteria and generations with poor immunity due to lack of exposure to childhood normal bacteriual exposures. Eating dirt can be very helpful

 

Below is a quote from the Purell website.

 

Do alcohol-based hand sanitizers like PURELL® lead to resistant bacteria?

 

Unlike the active ingredients in some other instant hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial soaps, laboratory testing has never shown alcohol-based hand sanitizers like PURELL® to lead to bacterial resistance. There is no evidence that organisms adapt and become immune to the active ingredient in PURELL® products. Many sources indicate that for organisms to become resistant, low levels of the chemical must remain on the hands for the organisms to adapt. The alcohol in PURELL® does not remain on the hands for long. Once your hands are rubbed dry after application of PURELL®, the alcohol has evaporated completely. PURELL® leaves no harmful residue. A small bit of emollient (skin conditioning agent) is left on the hands after use to leave your hands feeling soft and refreshed.

 

I have a concern for items such as Dial and other anti-bacterial bath soaps that have a limited effectiveness in killing bacteria. The bacteria remaining do become resistant to the active ingredients, since it is unlikely that a person could remove all of the bacteria over an entire body. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are less of a concern in that respect since there is no residual active ingredient and the skin on the hands begins to be re-populated with norma flora very soon after the alcohol evaporates.

 

The main problem, which has been well documented, is the prescribing of antibiotics inappropriately and patient resistance to completing a course of antibiotics. Many people expect that they will be prescribed an antibiotic for a cold or flu or sore throat (which may or may not be appropriate) or sores or even "stomach flu". Resistant strains of M. tuberculosis were probably caused by patients not taking a complete course of antibiotics when they began to feel "cured". MR strains of Staph aureus were *probably* due to over prescription of antibiotics for inappropriate reasons and, again, when patients stopped the course of the antibiotic due to feeling cured.

 

In any case, I wouldn't hesitate to use alcohol-based hand sanitizers, since they do kill a wide variety of bacteria and viruses (E. coli, H. flu, RSV, rotavirus, rhinovirus, etc.), even if not completely effective against nonenveloped viruses such as Norovirus.

[bird2sea]

On our last weekend cruise to nowhere I brought Lysol. Of course my husband thought I was ridiculous, but he was not laughing when we were handed a memo stating the Norovirus was on board the previous sailing. I did spray everything in the room. As I've gotten older I am more "OCD" with germs in public bathrooms, hotels/motels, the classroom & now cruises. I use a spray bottle full of rubbing alcohol at the gym. Which is better-the Lysol or the rubbing alcohol. Any ideas? I will bring one for the 8/29 sailing.

How do you bring lysol in spray or wipes? All my trips I have to fly so have to worry about the airline rules.

[babyher]

I found this online-it kind of makes you think of what is out there now.

 

Those Born 1930 to 1970!

 

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

 

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

 

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

 

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

 

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

 

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

 

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

 

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

 

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING or WORKING !

 

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

 

No one was able to reach us all day.

And we were O.K.

 

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

 

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

 

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

 

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

 

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

 

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

 

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

 

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

 

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

 

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them . . . CONGRATULATIONS!

 

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

 

 

 

I never thought much of germs until my mom entered health care and brought home the Norovirus (which I managed to avoid, thank goodness) and until I met someone who had flesh eating disease from a cut in his leg and had to have his limb amputated.

 

I thought a lot more about it when I entered University and would encounter people who did not wash their hands after using the washroom. You always know it happens, but you are quite reluctant to get in the elevator with them after they have touched the buttons:eek:

 

Last year I got a scratch on my scalp and developed a staph infection that took 5 sets of antibiotics to get rid of. My entire face swelled up and my eyes swelled shut for several days.

 

I think a lot more about germs these days. While I don't sanitize everything I touch, I make sure and frequently wash my hands and I use wipes/sanitizers if I have touched things that have been used or touched by others. I don't think that we can protect ourselves from everything, but some precautions can't hurt.

 

 

Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

I was one of those kids from the 60s and 70s . We rode our bikes (without helmuts and all the other battle armor the kids have to wear now) , played in the woods near our house, played with frogs, and bugs and snakes. Broke bones and got scraped up and stitched up.

 

Just had a good time going out and getting filthy dirty. At the end of the day my mother would say it would have just been easier to put me in the washing machine with my clothes on and kill two birds with one stone *LOL*

 

What the heck are these "Play dates" they have for kids now ? When I was a kid, you went outside , there were other kids , YOU PLAYED !!!

 

When we were bad our parents didn't give us a "Time Out" , we got "Knocked out" *LOL*

 

Yes I believe in taking precautions. Especially frequently washing your hands , but you can't go around boiling and sterilizing everything in sight.

[Down-Unders]

My wife and I always wipe everything in our cabin with antibacterial wipes. We wipe the inside of drawers, counters, tub, toilet, counters, just about everything we might touch or set something on. We skip the floor, but we usually don't walk on it barefoot either. This usually takes us about 10 minutes. It is easier for us to relax after we do this.

 

After reading recent posts regarding the soiled under garment in the closet and the dirty glass, I don't think we will do less cleaning on our upcoming cruise. Anyone else do something similar? Have any tips?

 

 

" You can't be serious "

[RevNeal]

What ever happened to Happy HALer?

His last post was September 26, 2007.

 

Does anybody know??

[Frosty 77]

You are certainly free to believe whatever you'd like, but that doesn't make it a fact. There are many "germs" that exposure to/infection by does not grant long-term immunity. Sometimes due to strain variability, a person can have the same illness over and over, such as Norovirus, colds, herpes.

 

 

The germs you mention are viruses, not bacteria, which is precisely the problem. People (in general) don't undestand that antibiotics and antibacterials will not help you with these ailments (specifically colds) and the overuse of antibiotics has in fact lead to more resistant strains of bacteria such as MRSA.

 

Moderation in all things.

[wizard-of-roz]

When we crusied the Carnival Pride, I was so surprised to see that Carnival does NOT have the hand sanitizers ANYWHERE on their ships.

They believe that it does not help with the irradication of the Norovirus or in any way minimizes the exposure we each have to each others germs.

They recommend hand washing and that's it!!!!!

They show a video, on your cabin TV about this!

There's no questionaire to fill out, pre-boarding and it's pretty much played down!

I'm a bit "moronic" about dirty blankets/sheets and carpeting....If I see stains, etc. I insist that the carpet be cleaned and that the bedding be changed so that I can witness "new" stuff being put down!

I wipe down the remote control/door handles/inside of drawers/tables and shelves. I do it because; no way does a ship steward have the time that a hotel maid has in cleaning and preparing the cabins for the next enterauge!

You should see what the wipes look like when I'm through......YUCK!!!:eek:

[Sundagger]

The germs you mention are viruses, not bacteria, which is precisely the problem. People (in general) don't undestand that antibiotics and antibacterials will not help you with these ailments (specifically colds) and the overuse of antibiotics has in fact lead to more resistant strains of bacteria such as MRSA.

 

Moderation in all things.

 

The quote you cite was from last August and was in the context of discussing Airborne. [Anyone wishing to get in on the false advertising settlement by Airborne can find the details at: http://www.cspinet.org/new/200803032.html ]

 

My more general discussion of antimicrobial use is in post #86 above.

[sauvichick]

How do you bring lysol in spray or wipes? All my trips I have to fly so have to worry about the airline rules.

 

Spray-We drove to the NYC cruise terminal. If leaving out of Florida we fly in the night before & buy what we need there.

[midgecruiser]

I really don't think there is anything wrong with wiping down your cabin if it allows you to relax. I personally already fight being "OC" and don't allow myself to be that compulsive. Like many others...I have been exposed to everything as a child. Cats, dogs, mud pies, sneaking raw bacon, tasting raw hamburger, chewing other kids gum, rarely washing hands.....etc. OK, as an adult I wash my hands too much. Worry about touching door nobs, hand rails, shaking hands, avoid the dreaded bedspread.....etc. However, I am a Dental Hygienist and I'm in peoples mouths all day long. My day consists of getting spattered in the face with bacteria, food debris, blood, saliva (yummy) and amazing amounts of aerosols that I produce while cleaning teeth, which I breath in....Yikes, talk about gross. It's amazing how uptight people can be about washing hands but don't think twice about the bacteria load going on in their own mouths and how that is taxing the immune system day in and day out. Oh, what about that rotting meat between your teeth from three days ago that you didn't floss out. Or the bacteria plaque (which is not getting cleaned out with good brushing and flossing) that is not only INFECTING your gums but is contributing to Coronary Artery disease.......Ranting here.....OK, I'm done!!! I'm such a Hygienist :o Wendy

[boscobeans]

Although my wife and I are not totally obsessive when it comes to germs in our lives we do spray our stateroom at the start of each cruise.

 

We use a product that kills NORO (along with 99.999% of other bad stuff) on contact and does not need to be rinsed once it is dry even on glasses and other food contact surfaces.

 

I wish the cruiselines would use this product rather than the chlorine solutions that we have had to endure on a few cruises as it would be less messy, caustic and probably more efficient.

 

This along with regular hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers just seems to make sense to us.

 

If anyone is interested the product is called Alpet D2 (although it has the "pet" in it's name it is not a veterinary product. The following is a blurb about the product off the internet.

 

I do not work for or have any connection with the company or the product except for being a user.

 

Best Sanitizers, Inc. announced today that Alpet D2 Surface Disinfectant is the first ready-to-use disinfectant to receive an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) efficacy claim against Norovirus. The claim against Norovirus is based on testing done with the surrogate feline calisivirus. Hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, cruise lines, schools, food service facilities and other industries now have access to a ready-to-use EPA registered product that is strong enough to kill norovirus but safe enough to use on babies’ toys.

 

When a Norovirus outbreak occurs, it is critical that proper disinfection is implemented in a rapid manner, in order to contain the spread of the illness. Alpet D2 is a ready-to-use, broad-spectrum disinfectant formulated with isopropyl alcohol and a four-chain quaternary compound. It has a surface-contact time of five minutes to disinfect. Alpet D2 is approved for use on food contact surfaces without a rinse, so it is one product that can be used in every area of a facility, including food service areas. The product is non-corrosive.

[Sundagger]

I wish the cruiselines would use this product rather than the chlorine solutions that we have had to endure on a few cruises as it would be less messy, caustic and probably more efficient.

 

 

Chlorine solutions are highly effective, but corrosive to stainless steel. I imagine the reason that ships continue to use it in so many places is the very, very low cost. On the Oosterdam in January, we were under Code Red, so they were using some commercial products other than bleach in many areas. There were very effective wipes (I don't recall the brand) in the internet room and a few other places.

[wizard-of-roz]

Bosco: Thanks so much for the recommendation....I will look for the product.....

I'm not quite "anal" about it but I am a believer about small spaces and the sharing thereof!!!!!!!

[forensic]

I'm assuming you carry wipes and wipe down your coins, bills, etc., too? While you're at it, make sure to wipe the bannister, the number you push on the elevator, the counter you put your hands on in the store, the arms of the chair you sit in in the theater, etc.

As a bacteriologist, I know there are places where more germs lurk than the inside of my drawers on a ship.

There are more places you'll catch things than where you're wiping. Lighten up and don't worry about it so much!

Enjoy your trips!

Jan

 

My DH and I have always commented to each other that "every time we fly somewhere we end up with a terrible cold!" Well, in late March we needed to go to Alabama (we live in Maryland) for my nephew's wedding. Also our daughter and her DH, needed to go as their daughter and son were in the wedding. They were going to drive and my DH and I had not decided between driving or flying. As it turned our S-I-L, who works at the Pentagon, could not get leave from work. So DH and I, daughter, and 2 grandchildren all decided to drive, which we did. Had a great time and the wedding was wonderful

 

No airplane ride, no cold - right? Wrong, DD started with her cold on the final day of the car ride, I stated 2 days later, DH started 1 1/2 days later, GD started 2 days later, GS decided not to participate - lucky him. Well, most of us had a terrible cold that after about 10 days was gone. But whatever DH had did not act the same he was REALLY sick, high fevers that would not go away, or came right back. Being a dedicated RN, Manager after 5 days home went back to work. A security guard saw him stumbling down the hospital hallway around lunch time and due to the fact that he acted confused he took him to the Emergency Room. They later admitted him, which is where he stayed for a week. They decided, finally, that he had some unusual strain of the Flu.

 

SO maybe flying has nothing to do with it - maybe it is just being around different people that have different germs than us?!

[forensic]

So, I believe with your post, you are saying you are not as neurotic as me. That is fine. It would be much easier if I was the same. I am just more comfortable knowing some things are clean. If I can spend 10 minutes at the start of cruise to obtain a more relaxed vacation, I am fine with it.

 

Nothing anyone can say will change our behavior and I was not asking to be chastised. I was just wondering if there were others of a similar mind.

 

I guess the hand sanitizer on the ships are a waste of time?

 

 

NO, the hand sanitizer is because a LOT of people go potty and do not wash their hands when they are done!!! :eek: According to my husband a LOT of men are guilty of this. And as I have waited outside the men's room for my DH, judging by how quickly some men enter and exit the men't room - unless all they did was go in to comb their hair - they did not have time to wash their hands properly:eek: