Denied boarding due to common cold?

[cruisemamma99]

Most people that bring NV aboard start out as a little cold or so they think. Its impossible, and not right to regulate people even on a cruiseship, you have just as much chance catching NV when going to a hotel, or anywhere else. When you put yourself in large groups its a chance we all take imo.

[PrincessE]

If a person has a cold, are they prevented from boarding the ship? I never really thought this would be an issue, but I read somewhere that they ask if you are sick before they let you board. Our cruise is the first week in January and it never fails that my husband and I come down with colds right after Christmas.

 

My sister and brother-in-law almost didn't get to sail on their cruise because his eye was watering. No joke. He has a condition (I forget the name) that causes his eye to tear (like rip) every now and again. He has drops for it, wears sunglasses for about a day and it heals over. The morning they were to sail his eye tore. Ugh.

 

When they got to the ship they weren't going to let him board. My sister came unglued (she is the calmest, quietest person I know) and said he wasn't SICK he had a torn eyeball. They showed the medication and after some "hmmming and hawwwing" on the part of the Princess staff they were allowed to board.

 

He made the mistake of taking off his sunglasses as they were going through check in. That's when they saw the watering eye. They thought he had pink eye or something.

 

Yes. They will prevent you from boarding if they think you have something contagious.

[Arwenmark]

Most people that bring NV aboard start out as a little cold or so they think. Its impossible, and not right to regulate people even on a cruiseship, you have just as much chance catching NV when going to a hotel, or anywhere else. When you put yourself in large groups its a chance we all take imo.

 

? Noro virus starts out as it goes on with gut crushing pain and constant vomiting and diarrheah it bears no resemblance to a cold.

I HAVE had it in the past and was hospitalized for it. My son, [on the opposite coast from me folks!] had it last week and again had to be hospitalized. in both cases they ran the lab tests to verify what it was.

 

By the way, neither of these times had anything to do with Cruising or any travel.

[Dorset Cruiser]

Most people that bring NV aboard start out as a little cold or so they think. Its impossible, and not right to regulate people even on a cruiseship, you have just as much chance catching NV when going to a hotel, or anywhere else. When you put yourself in large groups its a chance we all take imo.

 

 

A cold is NOTHING to do with norovirus. NV is the common winter vomiting disease which rampages through schools and offices in the winter months. All cruiselines ask if you have had any NV symptoms before you join a cruise. If you have had symptoms you should be honest and tell the cruiseline even if you are denied boarding. It is a nasty illness and can cause fatalities among children and elderly people.

[kornkob]

? Noro virus starts out as it goes on with gut crushing pain and constant vomiting and diarrheah it bears no resemblance to a cold.

I HAVE had it in the past and was hospitalized for it. My son, [on the opposite coast from me folks!] had it last week and again had to be hospitalized. in both cases they ran the lab tests to verify what it was.

 

By the way, neither of these times had anything to do with Cruising or any travel.

 

 

Not everyone experiences pain. Or constant streaming at both ends. One should avoid making blanket statements about how other people react to specific afflictions.

 

I, for instance, have had a noro and don't experience pain other than sore throat and bum from all the evacuation. Other people I've talked to (and even been infected from) find that their experience is weighted to one end or the other with varying amounts of accompanying fever, pain or chills.

 

However, nothing about noro ever made me feel like or look like I had a 'cold'.

[wrp96]

Definitely nothing cold like about norovirus. Have had it the past 2 Thanksgivings - and was nowhere near a ship.

 

One year the way it started I actually thought I had a migraine because it started with a blinding headache. I would've rather had a migraine.:rolleyes:

 

This year no warning at all before the fun started at both ends.:rolleyes:

[Arwenmark]

Info from Mayo Clinic website:

 

Definition

Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause an intestinal flu-like illness. They're a major cause of outbreaks of infection in closed and crowded environments, such as hospitals, nursing homes and cruise ships.

 

Typically, people with norovirus infection develop diarrhea and abdominal pain and begin to vomit within 24 to 48 hours of exposure. Signs and symptoms last one to five days, and most people recover completely without treatment. However, in some people — especially infants, older adults and people with underlying disease — vomiting and diarrhea can be severely dehydrating and require medical attention.

 

Noroviruses spread primarily through consumption of food or water contaminated by fecal matter or through close contact with infected people. The infection is highly contagious, and food handlers who contaminate food prior to consumption are a common means of transmission.

 

Noroviruses are named after the "Norwalk virus," which caused an outbreak of illness in Norwalk, Ohio, in 1968. Norovirus infection is the most common nonbacterial cause of gastroenteritis, a condition involving inflammation of the stomach and intestines.

 

An estimated 23 million cases of norovirus infection occur in the United States each year. Noroviruses are hardy and difficult to eradicate, although certain precautions can help prevent the virus from spreading.

 

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of norovirus infection vary, but generally involve abdominal cramps and nausea, followed by vomiting and watery diarrhea. Either vomiting or diarrhea can be present alone.

 

The incubation period for norovirus infection is usually 24 to 48 hours after first exposure to the virus, and signs and symptoms usually last one to five days. The most common norovirus-induced illness is gastroenteritis, involving inflammation or infection of the stomach and intestinal tract.

 

Signs and symptoms of norovirus infection include:

 

Nausea

Abdominal pain

Abdominal cramps

Watery or loose diarrhea

Weight loss

Malaise

Low-grade fever

Some people with norovirus infection may show no signs or symptoms. However, they may continue to shed the virus in their feces for several days up to several weeks following infection, potentially infecting other people.

 

 

At least this makes it clear what Noro is.

Edited December 15, 2008 by Arwenmark

[cruisemamma99]

Not everyone experiences pain. Or constant streaming at both ends. One should avoid making blanket statements about how other people react to specific afflictions.

 

I, for instance, have had a noro and don't experience pain other than sore throat and bum from all the evacuation. Other people I've talked to (and even been infected from) find that their experience is weighted to one end or the other with varying amounts of accompanying fever, pain or chills.

 

However, nothing about noro ever made me feel like or look like I had a 'cold'.

 

 

Exactly, most people that bring it aboard don't know they have it.

 

Personally I believe it is up to an individual whether they want to disclose any medical problems.

[jefa]

Common cold can get the whole ship sick quick.

 

Without being a medical person, I doubt somehow that that statement is correct:confused: There are an awful lot of people on board, probably the same amount as a small village/town, and a common cold would not necessarily sweep through the whole population.... it is what is says....common....and a cold. A lot of people have a natural resistance to it. Of course some men will sometimes call a cold "the flu" which it most definitely is not:D And no, I would not even attempt to travel if I thought I had some infection that would cause major problems to a great deal of people on board.

[seashells08]

Keep yourselves healthy prior to the holidays, start bulking up on vitiam C, drink lots of oj - starting now! good luck, enjoy your cruise!

[PrettyCruiser]

Keep yourselves healthy prior to the holidays, start bulking up on vitiam C, drink lots of oj - starting now! good luck, enjoy your cruise!

 

I like it! Stay healthy and you don't have to worry about it.

[regabdra]

The first day of our cruise it was very obvious the person in the balcony cabin beside us was ill. Terrible cough.

 

Eventually, our friends in the cabin on the other side of the woman coughing also caught it...my husband caught it ten days into the cruise and has been ill for 4 weeks and had to take four lots of antiobiotics. I eventually caught it and have been ill for 14 days. It is not a cold it is a bad virus infection this person had.

 

So our cruise stated on the 6th March finished on 27th March and here it is the 29th April and I am still sick and my husband is barely over it.

 

We all had to fill in forms re our health as we boarded and this person lied.

 

I would now have no problem in immediately reporting this person to the Pursor's office.

 

"IT IS JUST NOT FAIR TO OTHER PASSENGERS". This woman and her husband should not have taken the cruise.

 

Very, very selfish.

[Hlitner]

If you are sick, you should stay home. I get really mad when I get a cold because someone decides they'll come into my workplace when ill. It takes me forever to get over them and it's not fair to ruin my cruise. Sorry, but that's how I feel.

 

Interesting. Lets talk about this. Lets say I am going on a 62 day cruise (we are) and I get a cold the day before the cold. Should I stay home and throw away more then $20,000 because of a cold? Or how about folks going on a 110 day world cruise who have paid over $100,000. Do you think they should stay home and just write off that money as a bad investment? Do you think trip cancellation insurance will pay if you have a cold? (they will not). The reality is that during that 62 day cruise an awful lot of folks will have various types of colds and that is just life. Now Noro is a totally different thing although the nasty truth is that most folks with a GI issue will lie on forms rather then lose thousands of dollars.

 

And we will share something explained to us by a CDC physician we met on a cruise ship (he was on board training the crew). The CDC believes that many cruise ship passengers pick-up various bugs (Noro, flu, etc) during their journey to the cruise port. Apparently commercial aircraft are one of the worst environments for catching things (have you ever seen anyone disinfect the inside of a plane?) The bugs that folks catch on their flights (which is probably a major place to catch Noro) will not even show-up until after they are on their cruise. Holland America has been trying some new ideas such as having what they call "Cold Orange" during the first 72 hours of some cruises. With Code Orange (or Red) they take extra precautions at the buffets such as not letting the passengers touch anything on the buffet line (they have staff to dish out anything you want). The theory is that this will minimize the spreading of stuff passengers bring aboard (knowingly or unknowingly).

 

Hank

[sherilyn70]

Carnival had us fill out that form in February. I had been sick less than one week prior, so I chose to fudge the truth a little bit for fear of being denied boarding (it specified fever within the last 7 days). I was on cough medicine and my ears would not pop from the plane trip for 5 hours... but no one actually stopped and asked me if I was sick. I told people I had "allergies" and took lots of medicine most of the trip. In hindsight I had bronchitis but the contagious part of it had been a about 5 days before boarding (that's when I had my fever). I believe the form stated that if you had then a doctor would see you before they decided if you could board or not. It wasn't an outright denial. But I didn't want to risk it.

 

I admit it wasn't my proudest moment but at the same time I was 99% sure I wasn't contagious since the fever had long passed.

Edited April 30, 2011 by sherilyn70

[ferfoodle]

Then there was the long form questionnare we had to fill out in May 2009 on our Swine Flu altered cruise. I thought there were a few extra questions over the questionnare we filled out the previous year. The screening we went through actually had employees looking at people to see if they looked "feverish" and would pull them aside for a temperature taking. I was thinking to myself "Ft. Lauderdale in May - don't several people from cooler, dryer climates feel/look a bit feverish waiting in this heat?"

[agabbymama]

Interesting. Lets talk about this. Lets say I am going on a 62 day cruise (we are) and I get a cold the day before the cold. Should I stay home and throw away more then $20,000 because of a cold? Or how about folks going on a 110 day world cruise who have paid over $100,000. Do you think they should stay home and just write off that money as a bad investment? Do you think trip cancellation insurance will pay if you have a cold? (they will not). The reality is that during that 62 day cruise an awful lot of folks will have various types of colds and that is just life. Now Noro is a totally different thing although the nasty truth is that most folks with a GI issue will lie on forms rather then lose thousands of dollars.

 

And we will share something explained to us by a CDC physician we met on a cruise ship (he was on board training the crew). The CDC believes that many cruise ship passengers pick-up various bugs (Noro, flu, etc) during their journey to the cruise port. Apparently commercial aircraft are one of the worst environments for catching things (have you ever seen anyone disinfect the inside of a plane?) The bugs that folks catch on their flights (which is probably a major place to catch Noro) will not even show-up until after they are on their cruise. Holland America has been trying some new ideas such as having what they call "Cold Orange" during the first 72 hours of some cruises. With Code Orange (or Red) they take extra precautions at the buffets such as not letting the passengers touch anything on the buffet line (they have staff to dish out anything you want). The theory is that this will minimize the spreading of stuff passengers bring aboard (knowingly or unknowingly).

 

Hank

 

Hank,

 

You've hit the nail on the head. I don't think insurance is going to pay, for something like a cold, maybe not even for NV. And I'm bad, I don't think I'd be truthful.

 

For our Med cruise, we left home (both healthy), flew to Paris overnight, spent the day in Paris sightseeing. Flew on to Rome that night. I awoke the next morning with a scracthy throat and fever. Three days in Rome on Airborne and cough drops. Most symptoms were gone by boarding time, and my friend and I discussed what I should put on the form. Thankfully they only asked if there had been vomiting or diarrhea in the prior 7 days of if you had seen a doctor, and I hadn't so could answer truthfully.

 

But after putting out $4000 pp it was sure a dilemma as to whether to be truthful or not.

 

My friend, on the other hand, waited until we came home, then spent the next week in bed with cold/flu type symptoms. If you are going to travel, and be around people, you can/do catch things. It isn't always possible to not be sick.

[lilianani]

Some respondents here have doubted whether a passenger will be asked about colds/sore throats prior to the cruise on the health declaration.

 

I can confirm that the Celebrity health declaration form at check-in asked us to confirm that we had not suffered from gastrointestinal complaints or cold/flu/sore throat in the period immediately preceding the cruise. This was at the beginning of April 2011.

[janice2348]

My grandma and grandpa were going on a cruise to Alaska with another couple, and they were asked if they had had diiarrhea in the last 48 hours. Well the woman of the other couple said yes. The woman obviously couldn't go on, and my grandma and grandpa being the nice peoople they are decided to forgo the trip as well. Even now though, when I told her about my upcoming cruise, she told me not to do what her friend did.:) If I thought I was sick, I would deny myself boarding. I also know that at times, something besides a bug has caused my issues. However, I think for the cruiseline it is a matter of better really safe than incredibly sorry.

 

What are you supposed to do when you have a condition like IBS that causes you to have diarrhea all the time? You would definitely know the difference between that and being "really sick". I don't think it's fair to lump everything together.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I have never had to fill out a questionnaire or ever been asked if I had been sick before embarkation:confused:

 

Really? Every cruise I've been on for the last several years has a small form to fill out just as you get ready to check in.

 

I thought it had become the norm. I'm not sure what good it does as I have a feeling many (most?) people wouldn't admit to being sick anyhow.

[notentirelynormal]

The first day of our cruise it was very obvious the person in the balcony cabin beside us was ill. Terrible cough.

 

Once I get even a teeny cold I get a cough. My cough can last for a month or more, long after any resemblance of a cough. Sometimes I talk too much and my throat gets a little raw but I am not sick at all. I ruined my larynx many moons ago and believe me, my terrible cough will NOT get you sick in any way, shape or form. I carry prescription cough medicine for just that reason. Well that and because once I start coughing I go until I throw up and I just hate that. To assume someone is contagious because they have a cough is incorrect.

[Jimnbigd]

Another option for the ship is to let you board but quarantine you in your cabin until cleared by the ship's doctor. This happened to a friend of mine on our March, 2010, Voyager of the Seas. He was quarantined until the next morning. Room service did bring him a full dinner from the dining room though -- that was nice.

Edited September 20, 2011 by Jimnbigd

[Nebr.cruiser]

Once I get even a teeny cold I get a cough. My cough can last for a month or more, long after any resemblance of a cough. Sometimes I talk too much and my throat gets a little raw but I am not sick at all. I ruined my larynx many moons ago and believe me, my terrible cough will NOT get you sick in any way, shape or form. I carry prescription cough medicine for just that reason. Well that and because once I start coughing I go until I throw up and I just hate that. To assume someone is contagious because they have a cough is incorrect.

 

This is very true. I, too, used to get the cough that lingered for weeks, even months, long after all other symptoms were gone. My doctor confirmed that it was not contagious; for me, it turned out to be a post nasal drip caused by allergies.

 

Once I got on allergy medication, the cough has almost flown away; very minor throat issues at times, but nothing like it used to be.

 

And, I was like you, once I started coughing I often couldn't stop--I felt very bad whenever it happened in public, as I'm sure people were horrified to be around someone who sounded like that.

[deedeetoo]

What are you supposed to do when you have a condition like IBS that causes you to have diarrhea all the time? You would definitely know the difference between that and being "really sick". I don't think it's fair to lump everything together.

 

I also wonder about this. My husband has a weak stomach and tends to react badly to unfamiliar food. We will be in Italy for 5 days before we board. I can guarantee he is going to get diarrhea at some point on this trip, either before we get on the cruise, or after we board. He doesn't get a fever and doesn't throw up, but he can spend the better part of a night in the bathroom after eating certain foods. I am concerned about how this may be handled by ship's staff.

[Deckhandoug]

I understand, I'm the same as your husband sometimes.

 

We ALWAYS pack Imodium, even for short overnight trips.

[Langley Cruisers]

What are you supposed to do when you have a condition like IBS that causes you to have diarrhea all the time?

 

In this case, diarrhea is this person's "normal". It often comes with the condition of IBS/IBD.