Cruising and returning with illness . Is it worth it .

Because . When we became ill on our last cruise (both Norovirus and respiratory which lasted for months ) it changed our perception of the risks involved in cruising . We therefore decided to post in an attempt to counsel others to alleviate our feelings .

Do you not believe that experiences which happen to you in your life ,can effect your feelings ? I will make an analogy .Perhaps you should advise the victims of a mugging that their fear of going out is unfounded.

Ah, so in regards to your analogy, just another reason to NEVER leave the safety of your home. :rolleyes:

Sorry to inform you that magic and superstition will not protect you . Washing your hands will reduce the risk . But you could wash your hands raw and still develop a very nasty respiratory infection with complications .

I guess if you are in peak condition with no underlying medical conditions you will pull through . But it will not be a pleasant experience .

 

In England we touch wood ,never stroked it .But whatever rocks your boat.

Maybe this is why you are unhappy??? :p

I guess you got lucky and didn't catch anything on your previous cruises .

No, its just that the odds are so overwhelming in favor of not catching anything. Even if going on a cruise quadruples your chances of catching noro, a cold, influenza etc. that brings your odds up to what, maybe 4%?

Seems as though millions and millions of cruise passengers are getting "lucky" (in your eyes).

 

Maybe it's just that you are unlucky??? ;)

I guess it is a lottery and the prize is not getting sick . We are all equally lucky or

Unlucky ,chance does not evaluate . But guess what it is attracted to existing conditions.

I guess it is a lottery and the prize is not getting sick . We are all equally lucky or Unlucky ,chance does not evaluate . But guess what it is attracted to existing conditions.

You are absolutely correct in that statement so how about stop calling people lucky that don't get sick. You were just as unlucky to have gotten sick.

The point is still being missed . There is no more concentrated place than a cruise ship ...

Not true. Many land-based hotels have a lower proportion of floor space to occupants.

Not true. Many land-based hotels have a lower proportion of floor space to occupants.

And what about concerts, sporting events? What about the mall or even the grocery store? Just because all the people who have passed through aren't "confined" in the space doesn't mean their contagion doesn't linger.

It only takes the exposure to germs from one person to get sick.

I'll bet cruise ships have way better sanitation in place than any of the above.

Does anyone stand at the entrance to the supermarket and squirt your hands with sanitizer?

Guess we should have added our history to the mix. DW and I have spent far more then 3 years on cruise ships, been on 14 cruise lines, more then 60 different ships, and cruised to and around 6 continents (have not yet been to Antarctica). In all those cruises neither one of us has ever had Noro....which we attribute to simply a lot of hand washing and disciplining ourselves to avoid touching our face. As to respiratory illness, DW has had a couple of problems, but no more or less then she got when she worked as a teacher.

 

I should mention that of all the trips we have taken (to over 100 countries) the worst illness either of us suffered was in London, England where DW got what we think was a bad case of influenza. So based on the OP's theory, I guess this means everyone will get sick in London and should avoid that place.

 

Hank

I have worked for 33 years on cruise ships of all types and sizes, all over the planet. In a few months I will be on my 1,500th cruise. Not days, but cruises. I have never once contracted Norwalk Virus.

No fear of anything . The particular cruise that I refer to ,we also contracted Norovirus . Which lasted a few days .

However the chest infection was very persistent and remained with me for a considerable amount of time on return. Very unpleasant with the potential for more serious conditions.

 

It is a fact that a ship is a place that multiples the odds considerably . Shown by the persistence of Norovirus on cruises .

 

In fact I cannot think of any other place that gives you weeks of enclosed conditions with so many people.

 

Touch wood . We are have no major medical conditions . But if you are vulnerable . The odds are increased "a fact"

How do you know you contracted it on the ship and not in a port or while traveling to embarkation or in the grocery store before you left?

The only time I have gotten ill and can say for certainty where I was exposed was when I fell ill with influenza 12 hours after returning home from a trip to Disney World. I can say with certainty that I caught the flu at Disney, as I had been there for 10 days, and never left their property. Of course I can't say where I was exposed in those 47 square miles.

My husband got some sort of sinus infection on our B2B and likely picked it up in a port as opposed to on the ship.

Actually, there is no more crowded a space as a subway train at rush hour. Twice daily I am up close and personal with strangers who have who knows what kinds of germs or personal hygiene issues. I wash my hands upon arrival at the office or at home and feel that this helps a great deal as I am rarely sick.

Last week on our cruise we sat in the lounge area for hours. We each had a sofa to ourselves and we chatted away without anyone around us. Lots of space. If it was crowded like the subway at rush hour then I wouldn't go cruising.

But hearing about subways and concerts and grocery store carts isn't going to change your mind.

We came back from our cruise last week. My husband now has some sort of respiratory bug. He has antibiotics and some nose spray. He feels like crap. He doesn't blame it on the cruise. He thinks it's from the plane. In any event, we have 4 more cruises planned and we aren't going to cancel them. So in our opinion, yes, it's worth it.

you can be an epidemiologist and study the spread of disease, or you can be a germaphobe and avoid contact with people, or you can just ignore everything and take your chances, or you can know risk factors and control the factors that are within your control.

personally 45 years as a nurse have taught me the wisdom of hand washing, the importance of never touching your face with hands that have touched public surfaces, cough into your elbow not your hand, avoid contact with infectious agents, eat healthy, get exercise.

Go on cruises - a positive attitude boosts your immune system!

We have not cruised for a couple of years . Why? You might ask .

 

On returning from our last cruise I came back infected with a severe chest infection . Which persisted for about four month's .

 

We paid thousands of pounds to fall ill . Large numbers of people herded together increases the odds that you will catch something.

 

It is not worth it. There is no way to protect yourself .

 

No -one is suggesting that you avoid all contact with fellow human beings . But it is about odds and exposure .

Do you ever use public transportation? Think of all the people you come in contact with over a year and how many you come in contact with on ship.

Stay away from theaters, sports, stores, etc.

Seems like a cruse is a small risk compared to everything else.

Do you ever use public transportation? Think of all the people you come in contact with over a year and how many you come in contact with on ship.

 

Stay away from theaters, sports, stores, etc.

 

Seems like a cruse is a small risk compared to everything else.

Exposure on public transport is passing and not confined for days . Viruses and Bacteria circulate amongst the ship's population and become concentration.

Let us also not forget the crew . Who can transmit between cruises . All factors that go towards the increased risk.

Cruising is great ,but have awareness . Also expressing an option about it ,is not wrong . Not one single point that I have made can be disputed.

Exposure on public transport is passing and not confined for days . Viruses and Bacteria circulate amongst the ship's population and become concentration.

 

Let us also not forget the crew . Who can transmit between cruises . All factors that go towards the increased risk.

 

Cruising is great ,but have awareness . Also expressing an option about it ,is not wrong . Not one single point that I have made can be disputed.

REALLY? Any number have been disputed.

Your assertion about crew is questionable. Cruise lines take any crew being sick very seriously. First, they do not want it spead to passengers and maybe even more so, they don't want it spread to other crew. They cannot have sick crew who would not be able to do their job. A sick one can suffer consequences if they do not report being sick. The crew member who is sick is quarentined until they are well so it is highly doubtfull that they would transmit between cruises.

Viruses and Bacteria circulate amongst the ship's population and become concentration.

 

Did you mean "concentrated"? If so, you are incorrect. Viruses and bacteria do not exist nor transform into a concentrated form.

Let us also not forget the crew . Who can transmit between cruises . All factors that go towards the increased risk.

The "increased risk" you keep going on and on an on about is so low as to not be worth mentioning. Have you not read the posts from those who have been on 50+ cruises and have not once become ill? BruceMuzz alone has worked and been on 1,500 cruises and has never contracted noro. So the risk is, in fact, extremely low.

Cruising is great ,but have awareness . Also expressing an option about it ,is not wrong . Not one single point that I have made can be disputed.

You are certainly entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

Dear OP,

If your choice is to not cruise for fear of contracting something contagious, that is your prerogative. By all means, exercise your right to not cruise.

I think it's obvious, from the 140+ other posts, that the rest of us choose to take that risk and consider it quite worth it.

We are not going to convince you and it's pretty apparent you are not going to convince us. Clearly, you are on the wrong forum if you thought it would be otherwise.

Enjoy in good health whatever non-cruise vacations you may choose to take.

DH is 76 with some chronic health issues and has come down with a respiratory infection that morphed into pneumonia or bronchitis on 4 out of our last 5 trips. (We do major trips annually, so it's not like it's happening every few months.) Two of the 5 involved a small-boat cruise (73 passengers in Alaska) but one of those two cruises he returned with no problems at all.

As others have said, there's so much going on besides the cruise. Planes are germ factories and while we're pretty sure we're going to go to Scotland next year (no cruise), DH is going to start using hand sanitizers religiously. Same for airports. We're almost certain one cold came from a sales clerk at Duty-Free in Madrid. The guy was congested and coughing, but if you wanted to buy liquor you had to go to him. (We tried paying at another stand and they sent us back.) We washed our hands immediately afterwards in the restrooms, but DH got sick anyway. I'm also wondering about having his doctors prescribe preventative antibiotics even though in general I'm opposed to overusing them. It just takes him weeks to recover.

As for norovirus: my nephew, an Olympic gold medal swimmer, was in his last year of NCAA eligibility and when they flew to the finals, quite a few athletes who had been on some of the same planes and in the same airports came down with norovirus- so many, in fact, that they postponed the match by a day. (Nephew and a few of his teammates caught it but managed to recover enough to win- Woo-hoo!) No cruise ships involved. They were in a landlocked state in the Midwest.

DH, bless him, is still up for travel despite the fact that he tends to get sick afterwards because we have so many great experiences. I'm glad he feels that way. We're both retired, which helps- no concern about taking too many sick days off from work.

Not one single point that I have made can be disputed.

Really? Not one single thing you have stated has been backed up by documented research to prove it as fact (even when another poster asked for such documentation a while back). You even stated that it is YOUR perception of the risk

When we became ill on our last cruise (both Norovirus and respiratory which lasted for months ) it changed our perception of the risks involved in cruising .

We therefore decided to post in an attempt to counsel others to alleviate our feelings .

Wow, you feel it is necessary to counsel others in order to alleviate YOUR feelings. Well, thank you very much for the counseling but, in my opinion, it doesn't appear that your fellow posters want it, need it or asked for it. Are you a schooled and licensed counselor?

Yeah, I think I'll keep cruising and take my chances, it's definately worth it.

Did you mean "concentrated"? If so, you are incorrect. Viruses and bacteria do not exist nor transform into a concentrated form.

 

 

 

The "increased risk" you keep going on and on an on about is so low as to not be worth mentioning. Have you not read the posts from those who have been on 50+ cruises and have not once become ill? BruceMuzz alone has worked and been on 1,500 cruises and has never contracted noro. So the risk is, in fact, extremely low.

 

 

 

You are certainly entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

Concentrated relates to the number of passengers affected relative to the total population.

It makes no difference how many cruises you have completed. Without being infected. A virus mutates and you would not be immune . My original post related to respiratory .

Anyone else noticed how when the OP is asked for documentation, rather than just his perception, or he's backed in to a corner, he manages to either sidestep, or just plain ignore those posts?

Put it this way, kenshaz. Your perception of cruises has changed because you were once taken ill after a cruise. Fair enough.

But now you're busting a gut to change my perception of cruising as well. I've been on many cruises and never been taken ill. (Well, I wasn't so good on the last trip to Cape Verde - but I have a suspicion the big waves banging on the front of the ship had something to do with that.) So my perception is based more or less entirely on my experiences and how it affected me - your experience, interesting though it is, makes not a jot of difference. Sorry.

(I once attended a much larger gathering at the Baseball Ground. The stand was rocking - literally - for twenty minutes after full time. I wasn't taken ill. ;) Were you there?)

ARGH

Hubby and I just came back from vacay! Rented a beautiful cottage on the beach in Longboat Key. Had amazing Lobster dinner and relaxed in the sun!

And I got sick

I am blaming it on the people on this thread! Talking about getting sick while on vacation!

Its your fault

and yours

and ya you too!

**blows her nose and goes back to lay down mumbling about germs and wiping wood versus touching wood and living life in a bubble**

Well it appears that I have made my point . Why ?

People are getting personal to win the point.:)

People are getting personal to win the point.:)

Well, we could attack your data or your research, but you haven't supplied any other than your own, where the sample size equals 1. ;-)

Well it appears that I have made my point . Why ?

People are getting personal to win the point.:)

You have made your point to yourself and maybe to 1/2 of 1% of any who has posted.