Possible Bed bugs on Ecstasy! Dec 10-15, 07

[zonemasconi]

Why would you be entitled to a discount? I am certain that a Hyatt has had bedbugs before. Should future guests of the Hyatt be entitled to discounts?

 

well stranger things have happened and (not saying it did or did not happen) and it wasnt addressed properly and since I was on the sailing and not the future guest they potentially put me in danger of these suppossed flesh crawling pests knowing that I (due to the age of computers and the homeland security act which requires you to state your stays and flights after the cruise I could have passed these alleged pests to hundreds if not more)

 

 

Kinda surprised to see you were on the Ecstasy since I know your cruise history. Small potatoes for you, but glad to see you have made it back to Texas. It is warmer. Sorry about the fog, that's not typical.

 

Hey snoozeman, well I wasnt slummin thats for sure I still love the Fantasy class ships and have never been on the Ecstasy so when I won the past guest raffle in January this year I grabbed a couple of hot F's and off to Galveston we went.....plus come on Cozumel on a sunny day woo hoo! PARADISE BEACH IS LIKE MY SECOND HOME

[LHP]

well stranger things have happened and (not saying it did or did not happen) and it wasnt addressed properly and since I was on the sailing and not the future guest they potentially put me in danger of these suppossed flesh crawling pests knowing that I (due to the age of computers and the homeland security act which requires you to state your stays and flights after the cruise I could have passed these alleged pests to hundreds if not more)

 

 

 

 

Hey snoozeman, well I wasnt slummin thats for sure I still love the Fantasy class ships and have never been on the Ecstasy so when I won the past guest raffle in January this year I grabbed a couple of hot F's and off to Galveston we went.....plus come on Cozumel on a sunny day woo hoo! PARADISE BEACH IS LIKE MY SECOND HOME

 

Amen...I just took Tom his winter supply of mini-ravoili!!!!

[zonemasconi]

Snoozeman,

not to worry about the FOG it did me good as I found a great little Irish pub in the strand and had a freakin ball getting lit before the cruise ship arrived, plus met some nice people to boot from Dallas area.

the only they need to do is fix the VIP boarding thing as they make you wait thru the outside line then divide you inside. not that I dont know how to wait it's just that I dont like to...LOL

[big_duck]

I don't know why people are so concerned about bedbugs. They don't harm you or cause disease. The mosquito and sand flea bites are a lot more common.

 

I understand the critters can get into luggage and clothes, but you can get them from hotels too. Once known about, they can be exterminated.

 

But even if they are killed, the next crop of passengers can bring them on board again, from the hotels they stay at.

 

So, I think bedbugs are just another part of traveling, not particularly limited to cruising. Nothing to get all worked up about.

 

Finally a voice of reason on a thread full of hysteria. It makes one wonder how people would react to pictures of dust mites.

 

Mind you I'm getting itchy just reading this thread. :(

 

Snoozeman,

not to worry about the FOG it did me good as I found a great little Irish pub in the strand and had a freakin ball getting lit before the cruise ship arrived, plus met some nice people to boot from Dallas area.

 

the only they need to do is fix the VIP boarding thing as they make you wait thru the outside line then divide you inside. not that I dont know how to wait it's just that I dont like to...LOL

 

Hey Zone, what's up? Your upcoming cruise list looks awful short to me. ;)

[Wennfred]

One of the problems is that people insist on placing their bug infested luggage on top of the bed in order to pack and unpack. Some port motel has bugs and they end up clinging to the suitcase. Then when unpacking on the ship, the passenger places their luggage on top of the bed in their stateroom. Give it a few days/weeks and you end up with an infestation.

 

 

Thats possible with just one or two bugs but from what Im reading, there were tons :confused:

 

 

Fred

[Wennfred]

I don't know about you guys but I'M ITCHING ALL OVER ALREADY :D

 

 

Im packing my flame thrower !!!

 

Fred

[LHP]

I don't know about you guys but I'M ITCHING ALL OVER ALREADY :D

 

 

Im packing my flame thrower !!!

 

Fred

 

Oh Fred...you will use any excuse to bring out the ole flame thrower!!!

[Snoozeman]

Snoozeman,

not to worry about the FOG it did me good as I found a great little Irish pub in the strand and had a freakin ball getting lit before the cruise ship arrived, plus met some nice people to boot from Dallas area.

 

the only they need to do is fix the VIP boarding thing as they make you wait thru the outside line then divide you inside. not that I dont know how to wait it's just that I dont like to...LOL

 

Glad you found the pub! That sounds like fun. Texans are alway fun (well 98% of 'em), especially on a trip.

 

The security line outside is very new, it may not last, a lot of complaints. They only just started the VIP line at security as well. Hopefully they will work it out.

[LHP]

Glad you found the pub! That sounds like fun. Texans are alway fun (well 98% of 'em), especially on a trip.

 

The security line outside is very new, it may not last, a lot of complaints. They only just started the VIP line at security as well. Hopefully they will work it out.

 

I am going to have to remember that Pub when we book our May 12th cruise on the Ecstasy. Sounds like a place I would like!!!

 

Hopefully by May they will have the whole VIP thing worked out!!!

[Glama]

First of all, I'm so sorry this happened to you!! It's horrible to have bed bugs on your vacation, and even worst knowing that they attach to you, can climb in your luggage, stay on your clothes, etc... Best of luck in getting rid of them, it's a huge task.

 

I hope that they compensate you WELL for this. The fact that the cabins are not being properly fumigated/cleaned means that it's bound to happen to anyone staying in that cabin. They are nasty creatures that are hard to get rid of.

 

The first thing I did on our recent RCI cruise was check the mattress/box springs for any sign of bed bugs. We sailed the same ship last spring, and a friend of ours was covered head to toe in itchy bites by the end of the cruise. Not 100% sure it was bedbugs, but the ship we were on (Enchantment) has had a few reports of BB in the past.

 

Again, sorry this happened, and THANK YOU for the warning!!!!

[rn2go2]

For those of you who have been supportive on this thread I thank you. As soon as we got off the ship we reported the bedbugs to customs, I left a message with the Galveston Health Dept and the US Dept of Infection and Disease. My concern was that others would also be bitten.

This was my 5th Cruise and I have never had this problem before....and never have had a bite before.

I remember as a child hearing the saying, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite, and I knew that bedbugs were a common thing in days of old from mattresses and Modle T seats stuffed with moss..............but never thought that it was something that could happen in these days.

I had found bites on me, but had not said anything to anyone until my daughter in law, who has been a certified exterminator for 16 years told me that she had found bedbugs on my son, then I reported the bites on me............how many other passengers had bites that we may never hear about???

We reported this to the nurse in the infirmary and she looked at the bugs Terri had picked off my son, and all of our bites. We were given benadryl and loton.

As soon as we got to our hotel room in Galveston we checked ourselves over again, and I found a live bedbug attacked to me:eek:

I just tried to attach a copy of the nurses notes from the infirmary, but it didn't work, how do you attach things to this message?

[cruiserbryce]

no matter what the feelings of others, or whether or not bedbugs actually cause any damage...its still a bother that I wouldnt want to deal with on vacation...hopefully the less than warm apologies you got at the pursers desk are isolated and not the norm aboard Carnival ships

[mjbearit]

I'm going to refrain from jumping into the discussion on whether the OP is full of bull or full of truth and just ask the first thing that came to my mind. With the fuel prices what they are, I'm sure they are trying harder than ever to fill every cabin before leaving port. On a full ship, they have no place to move you. So what are you supposed to do? Is that sleeptight stuff effective? Is it readily available? Is it likely to poison the user or future users of the bed? Are there alternative products one can use? Heck I break out if I use the wrong detergent or soap! I can't imagine bedbugs getting hold of me! LOL! I'd be a mess!

But I have read and seen reports that these little critters are making a comeboack what with world travel being so popular. It's kind of like having termites in your home. It doesn't mean you are a bad housekeeper, it just means the little buggers are there! And, whether it's bedbugs or some other critters, we should all be aware that we share rooms at hotels, cruiseships, seats on airplanes, tour buses, taxi cabs, etc. with travelers from all around the globe. People can transport a host of creatures without knowing it or meaning to. Everytime we get home from vacation the luggage NEVER comes in the house! It goes straight into the garage and the washer gets loaded there. It's just reasonable to take certain small precautions to avoid having an infestation in our homes.

And before someone takes exception with my views, no, I have never been on a cruise, but I do hotels for a couple weeks twice a year. You get the same exposure there as anywhere else. We are looking forward to our first cruise in March and this is just one more thing to be educated about and learn to deal with ahead of time. Even if the OP was wrong, they are out there, and the more you travel, the greater your odds of finding them.

Mike

[ruskatab]

Me and hubby just got back from a long weekend. We came back to the hotel room last night and when I turned the bed down there was a small black bug in the bed. Wow did I freak and made him tear the bed apart and we looked for bed bugs. He looked at the bug and said its a beetle. I had the heebie jeebies all night and even felt itchy...lol! We had no bites the next morning thank goodness. Bed bugs are not life threatening but who wants to spend a cruise itchy and then scared to go to sleep at night. I would have had the creeps the whole cruise and it definately wouldve ruined it for me but I really hate bugs.

[Tara&Jas]

Ohhh Geez - I am itchy all over just reading this thread!

 

How horrible... Sorry that you had to go through that. I know I will be checking my hotel room / cruise ship beds before sleeping in them from now on. What exactly should I be looking for and where? (besides little things with legs in the bed - lol).

[cathyoo]

Wow, what a TERRIBLE experience. One of my pleasures on a cruise is that peaceful sleep you get after a few DODs with the gentle rocking of the ship. If I even thought something was biting me or crawling on me that would be the end of my sleep. I'd be sleeping on a deck chair on the Lido deck and probably taking the Carnival guarantee. In a hotel you could just check out and go somewhere else. What a nightmare.

[Glama]

Wow, what a TERRIBLE experience. One of my pleasures on a cruise is that peaceful sleep you get after a few DODs with the gentle rocking of the ship. If I even thought something was biting me or crawling on me that would be the end of my sleep. I'd be sleeping on a deck chair on the Lido deck and probably taking the Carnival guarantee. In a hotel you could just check out and go somewhere else. What a nightmare.

 

Cathy, I agree! If I even THOUGHT there might be bedbugs, I wouldn't get in that bed ever again. Someone above posted that they are fairly harmless, but to me, it's downright DISGUSTING to have bugs biting you while you are sleeping! Ewww!!! It's not like a mosquito that might just land on you and bite you, these things live in your bed, crawl all over you, and suck your blood while you're least expecting it. It's especially worse when you've paid alot of money to sleep in that bed!

 

I've heard that they don't like dryer sheets, and you should pack some to keep in your suitcases so they don't crawl in.

[Texaslandshark]

Cathy, I agree! If I even THOUGHT there might be bedbugs, I wouldn't get in that bed ever again. Someone above posted that they are fairly harmless, but to me, it's downright DISGUSTING to have bugs biting you while you are sleeping! Ewww!!! It's not like a mosquito that might just land on you and bite you, these things live in your bed, crawl all over you, and suck your blood while you're least expecting it. It's especially worse when you've paid alot of money to sleep in that bed!

 

I've heard that they don't like dryer sheets, and you should pack some to keep in your suitcases so they don't crawl in.

 

Well if they're sucking my blood they're gonna be drunk little buggers.:D

[pe4all]

This may be a stupid question - but now that I am all creeped out about bedbugs - if we store our luggage (and we always do) UNDER the bed, can the buggies still get in? (if we zip it shut, as we always do) In my mind, they can, but someone re-assure me otherwise!! Or I may just bring giant garbage bags to seal the luggage in while under the bed. I will be sailing Saturday, and can easily throw the giant trash bags in my luggage.

[Sharkin97]

OMG... i was at the San Diego Zoo the other day... and they had "postal panda" on display... damn thing took out a flamethrower and took out the crowd.... Don't believe me?? I heard someone took a photo....

 

bedbugs are nothin compared to a panda with napalm.

[halos]

You have to sit through a 10 second commercial before the bed bug video begins

 

http://www.webmd.com/video/bed-bugs?ecd=wnl_wmh_121507

[ALVINF]

After rereading your posting, I am really sceptical about your story now.

 

I would also like to see the "documentation" provided to you by the nurses on board.

 

The OP doesn't have to prove anything to you or anybody else here. He or she was and is just trying inform the rest of us. You can believe him/her or not. I for one appreciate the information and will make my own decision as to whether to bring a pesticide on my next cruise or not. Thank you for the info.

[sakapfet]

Bedbug Bites FYI:

 

• In the US: This infestation is relatively common.

• Internationally: This infestation is common and worldwide, a problem particularly in poor regions of the world. The rate of bedbugs (Cimex hemipterus) was 37.5% in children's beds from a rural region of The Gambia.

Mortality/Morbidity: Bedbug bites can create considerable anxiety and localized and occasionally systemic reactions. Sometimes, if the bite reactions are intensely pruritic, scratching with excoriations may be complicated by impetigo.

• Bedbugs may be a vector for hepatitis B and, in endemic areas, for American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease).

• Anaphylactoid reactions are well described. One case of an anaphylactoid reaction occurred in a 41-year-old businessman in a first-class urban hotel in America.

Since bed bugs repeatedly suck blood from humans and live a relatively long time, conceivably they might ingest a pathogen and later transmit it. Bed bugs have been suspected in the transmission of 41 human diseases; however, finding a blood-sucking insect infected with a pathogen does not mean that it is a competent vector of that agent, or even a vector at all.

 

There have been studies of possible HIV transmission by bed bugs. Webb and colleagues[10] found that HIV could be detected in bed bugs up to 8 days after exposure to highly concentrated virus in blood meals, but no viral replication was observed, nor was any virus detected in bed bug feces. In addition, by using an artificial system of feeding bed bugs through membranes, the authors could not demonstrate mechanical transmission of HIV.

Perhaps the best candidate for transmission by bed bugs is hepatitis B virus (HBV).

 

Another study suggested that bed bug feces might be considered a source of mechanical transmission of HBV infection under some circumstances.[13] However, finding surface antigen in feces is no indication of viable virus.

[standby 06.30]

Bed bugs have been a problem for not only the cruise industry, but anyplace that has multiple users of the room that the bed is in.

 

They do not live in the mattress, they live in crack's and crevises in the room or bed frame, they prefer to suck blood at night from any exposed part of the body ie a leg or foot etc:eek: that protrudes outside the covers,two people can be in the same bed and only one is bitten they take the easy route to the nearest snack and when replete they return to there home rather like eating in the buffet then returning to your cabin but you are the meal, they are very hard to get rid of, the best way is and all people involved in this sort control agree is starve them to death, fumigation may not work, but this means closing a valuable room for a period of time.what do you think a Hotel or Cruise line will do? regards

[rn2go2]

WOW thanks for the information. I am having a localized reaction to the bites, but thank God I am a nurse and had the Hep B vaccine years ago.

The chief purser told us that she was reporting this to the corp office and took our phone numbers..........I thought that I would be getting a phone call this morning from someone, either Carnival, the Health Dept. or Dept for Infectous Deases, but not yet............I am beginning to wonder if anyone cares about public health issues.:confused: