Shots

[sbp65]

Are any types of shots required for the 10 day Panama Canal cruise?

[buffpuff2]

Hepatitis A and B is recommended, and typhoid fever ,when travelling to Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Africa , the Middle East, and SouthEast Asia. there is a vaccination called Vivaxim that will cover you for all 3.
Also,you might consider the oral vaccine called Dukoral, which protects against travellers' diarrhea, specifically caused by e coli.

[Gsel]

Check with your physician. We have done the 10 day and unless you plan to do some traveling to very remote places our doctors did not have us get anything but a tetanus booster. Wonderful trip, by the way!

[lorekauf]

I had to get a yellow fever shot for my Panama Canal cruise but it was 20 days long so more ports. Hal advised me I needed to get the shot.

[weelv2cruise]

Are any types of shots required for the 10 day Panama Canal cruise?

When we did the Panama Canal cruise we checked the CDC site for what they recommended. Here's the link to the site:

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentVaccinations.aspx

[sail7seas]

Medical advice should not be sought on an Internet BB IMO>
Check with your personal physician. How do any of us here know your particular needs/allergies/susceptibilities etc ?

[buffpuff2]

Hepatitis A and B can be transmitted in various ways.Contaminated ice, local cuisine,salads, unwashed food, swimming pools and bodies of water harbouring contaminats, improperly sterilized spa tools, sexual contact, stepping on used syringes on a sandy beach....the risks are just too great.

[sail7seas]

I had to get a yellow fever shot for my Panama Canal cruise but it was 20 days long so more ports. Hal advised me I needed to get the shot.




We have done Panama Canal cruises (probably 4 or 5) and never got a Yellow Fever shot for it...... and never will. ;) That is not to say it isn't right for someone else. I have no clue if it is or not. Consult your personal physician or travel clinic in your area.

[buffpuff2]

Yes, Sail7seas is absolutely correct, you should check with your health care professional

[lorekauf]

We have done Panama Canal cruises (probably 4 or 5) and never got a Yellow Fever shot for it...... and never will. ;) That is not to say it isn't right for someone else. I have no clue if it is or not. Consult your personal physician or travel clinic in your area.
I had to show proof that I had the shot and the only ones that were excused had to have a doctors note. I agree that people should consult their physican. Please don't discount what I have to say just because it hasn't been your experience.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done several full transit Panama Canal cruises and have never had to show proof that we had the yellow fever shots -- which expired in January 2008.

Since we no longer can get the shots, we now have letters from our family doctor indicating this.

[PetNanny]

Are any types of shots required for the 10 day Panama Canal cruise?
Thanks for asking this question, and thanks to all those who responded.

[cruisinsmoothly]

Those would be the only type of shot recommendations I would get from the internet. But that is just me. I don't like the ones that involve needles, but I don't mind the ones that come in glasses in the least! (until the next day):rolleyes:

[ronvoell]

is the yellow book published by the Center for Disease Control. It contains the latest disease risks world wide. I would not be reluctant researching it but I would agree that it would be wise to visit a doctor specializing in travel medicine. When I visited a travel doctor the had the same yellow book and used it as reference to determine what care I needed.

On one of the World Cruises we were on the ship was not permitted in port (I don't remember which) if it had previously stopped at a country that had a yellow fever problem and if everyone didn't have a yf shot. (There was a special stamped card in passports if you have a yf shot) So the issue was not do you need a yellow fever shot to enter a country. It was where have you been and does that have a risk to the country you visit. Countries that do not have a yf problem do not want someone reintroducing it.

Getting back to the subject of a travel doctor, I found that only they can give yf shots. And they only have the stamp for the passport card.

[edgew]

Shots
First, in answer to an earlier post, I’d hardly call the CDC site an ‘Internet Bulletin Board’. The Center for Disease Control is the ‘gold standard’ for shots you NEED to get and shots you may WANT to get.
In many cases the need for shots is determined by exactly where in a country you’re going. For example, in Brazil there is no requirement to get a Yellow Fever shot if you’re just visiting Rio. HOWEVER – if your next stop is Argentina, I certainly don’t want to be explaining to some port inspector who may not speak English that you really, truly didn’t go to THAT part of Brazil!
Since I’m retired military, I got all my shots for an upcoming cruise from Rio to Seattle from my local base, and they gave me a shot record of my immunizations, not some sort of stamp on my passport. There’s a standard form for the shots, and hopefully you’ll get one of these from your shot provider.

[lorekauf]

Shots
First, in answer to an earlier post, I’d hardly call the CDC site an ‘Internet Bulletin Board’. The Center for Disease Control is the ‘gold standard’ for shots you NEED to get and shots you may WANT to get.
In many cases the need for shots is determined by exactly where in a country you’re going. For example, in Brazil there is no requirement to get a Yellow Fever shot if you’re just visiting Rio. HOWEVER – if your next stop is Argentina, I certainly don’t want to be explaining to some port inspector who may not speak English that you really, truly didn’t go to THAT part of Brazil!
Since I’m retired military, I got all my shots for an upcoming cruise from Rio to Seattle from my local base, and they gave me a shot record of my immunizations, not some sort of stamp on my passport. There’s a standard form for the shots, and hopefully you’ll get one of these from your shot provider.
My yellow fever shot record is on a Public Health certificate of vaccination. It does go inside my passport and does have a Health Canada stamp on it. I wonder if that was what the poster was referring to.

[HALFans]

Has anyone else heard this when trying to give blood?

"If you left the ship in Mexico you can't donate blood for one year."

That's what Mom was told when she tried to donate blood here in Arizona last year.

[Juanita462]

Last time we cruised the Panama Canal we were told by HAL that we had to have the yellow fever shot or would not be allowed on board. In our area they will not give the shot to people over 65 so I got a letter of exemption from the doctor.
When we got to the pier they wouldn't even look at our YF certificates - a lot of people were pretty annoyed as they had paid a lot for their shots which turned out to be unnecessary.

[iancal]

We both have HepA/HepB shots, Twinrix I think. We did not need them,they have not been required in countries we have visited. We got them because they make sense. We travel fairly frequently. The thought of contracting either far outweighed, in our minds, the small cost/inconvenience of getting the shots. Why take a chance of contracting something that could cause you grief -notwithstanding whether it is mandated by the tour company or cruise line. Unless of course you physician recommends against.

[jimgev]

Are any types of shots required for the 10 day Panama Canal cruise?
perhaps a shot of tequila?:D

[wander]

Most shots for travel are optional and up to each traveler whether or not they want them. For travel in some countries things like Hep A or Hep B may be recommended or highly recommended, they are still optional.

HOWEVER, SOME countries REQUIRE proof of yellow fever shots (on the International Yellow Card some refer to above). Usually the requirement is based on what countries you visit on the cruise (or by land) BEFORE getting to the requiring country. I have found such requirements in some South American countries, unsure if there were any on other continents.) IF you cannot receive the shot for some reason, as is the case with a friend of mine, you need an APPROPRIATE letter from an APPROPRIATE source. (Unfortunately this does NOT include your family doctor. In her case, she had to drive 2 hours to a big city with an appropriate medical site to be questioned and to get the letter.)

Based on the experience of another acquaintance, IF one of the ports on the cruise requires proof of the shot or a medical excuse, you will not even be allowed on the ship at the beginning of the trip. When we got to the requiring port, no one was allowed to get off the ship until proof (shot or excuse letter) for ALL passengers were reviewed. No saying - I won't get off. This was true for a cruise in 1997 and still true for a cruise in 2007, don't know if anything has changed since then.

[Travelbug 2]

We are a couple in our early 70s cruising to Mexico in April for the first time. Do we need to get shots of any kind?

[Sundagger]

Has anyone else heard this when trying to give blood?

"If you left the ship in Mexico you can't donate blood for one year."

That's what Mom was told when she tried to donate blood here in Arizona last year.

Yes, the Red Cross and most other blood centers disqualify anyone who has been in a CDC-designated malaria risk area for one year. It's controversial since the malaria prone areas in Mexico do not include the major tourist areas, particularly along the coasts.

The CDC malaria map mentions the specific areas in Mexico that are a problem, then says:

"No malaria risk exists along the United States-Mexico border. No malaria risk exists in the major resorts along the Pacific and Gulf coasts. Risk is very limited; therefore, prophylaxis is not recommended for most travelers to Mexico. Travelers should use personal protection measures such as insect repellents for malaria prevention. Chemoprophylaxis is recommended for the rare traveler going to the risk areas."

[silleecruiser]

I agree with S7S regarding taking advice for shots from this BB (i.e. Cruise Critic). While the various travelers here may be able to share their experience, each individual's medical history, etc. may affect this requirement as well as any documentation requirements. Additionally, a "Panama Canal" cruise is a fairly generic description and different travelers may/will have different experiences depending upon the ports of call involved. A 10-day Canal cruise will most likely have different ports-of-call than a 20-day and these differences could well drive the differences in requirements. HAL will list their requirements based on the requirements different ports have regarding ships arriving there and from where they are arriving.

The recommendations here to visit the CDC site, your personal physician and a travel physician along with the requirements from HAL should drive your decisions on shots IMO.