Is cruising hazardous to your health?

[luddite]

Originally Posted by lovesublime

More American bashing I see. According to your statements, the only dirty, unwashed elderly people spreading diseases on ships are from North America or middle America as you like to put it. OK

You have misconstrued the point of his post.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Originally Posted by calliopecruiser

I don't think anyone thinks that anyone else is intentionally trying to spread disease, only that those people don't think about it and don't care if they do spread disease. And I tend to agree - most people are selfish about their health and don't care if what they might be caring is spread to anyone else or not.....They don't get flu shots, they don't cover their mouths when they cough, they don't wash their hands after using the washroom.

Nevertheless.........I think traveling is dangerous to your health, whether by ship, airplane, or train. The longer you're in an enclosed place with strangers, the more likely you are to pick up a communicable disease.

Or any place with lots of other people. Try being an elementary school teacher and see how often you come down with things! I usually had 3-4 bad colds/sinus infections per year when I was teaching. And I mean the kind that wiped you out and hung on for weeks or months.

[SusanSmithJr]

Originally Posted by BruceMuzz

I absolutely adore clean, considerate people who cruise.

Every week, when I have to meet with sick passengers who have broken their isolation so they do not miss a shopping or tour opportunity, they freely admit that they are willing to risk your health and my health in order to get their money's worth on their cruise.
It's true, I am not comfortable around these slobs.

You said, "...and they try very hard to give it to you." The key word is "try", this is the word that shows intent, not laziness or ignorance, but a conscious effort to cause illness.

Words mean something, and your words are mean.

[Momis2]

Originally Posted by Nebr.cruiser

Or any place with lots of other people. Try being an elementary school teacher and see how often you come down with things! I usually had 3-4 bad colds/sinus infections per year when I was teaching. And I mean the kind that wiped you out and hung on for weeks or months.

I agree with you! I was a kindergarten teacher for years and was treated as a human Kleenex by many of my students. I was often sick. Now that I am retired ,I rarely am ill. I also have never gotten ill on or after any cruise .

[bbwex]

Alternatively, DW and I take an extremely powerful antioxidant. I have not had a cold since I started taking it in 1998, and DW, who was a teacher until last June, did not catch a cold after she started taking it in 2000. That and we use the sanitizers around the ship often, etc., but we have often been around people who were clearly ill, and did not catch whatever it was.

It is inappropriate to mention anything specific on this system, but you can email me directly at bbwex at verizon dot net.

[mizlorinj]

Cruising anywhere is vital to my health.

[beachchick]

Originally Posted by BruceMuzz

Cruising itself is not that dangerous - but in many cases the people attracted to cruising can be a danger to you.

These days, nearly every voyage over 20 days in length has a Norovirus outbreak.
Most of the passengers on cruises like that are elderly North Americans.

Some (not all) of these people tend to be not very clean.
They have difficulty getting into and out of a bath tub.
They wash their clothes less often than the rest of us.
They rarely wash their hands after using a toilet.
They rarely cover their mouths when coughing.
Many of these people have compromised immune systems.

Norwalk Virus did not develop in Norwalk, Africa or Norwalk, China.
It came from Norwalk, Ohio, USA - middle America.

And Ebola "developed" in Africa, and the 1917 outbreak of "Spanish flu" (actually first reported in Germany or Austria) became a horrible pandemic, and rhinoviruses have been around the world for centuries. Your point? Norwalk, so named for the specific outbreak of one strain of a family of viruses, is a misnomer when described as the cause of all gastro-intestinal viruses. It's like calling all flus "swine flu" or "H3N2" (one going around this season, I believe). Noroviruses were around and known decades before the Norwalk outbreak. There have been several names for it through the years.

I don't suppose it's the least bit possible that the particular a viral strain was brought to Norwalk by a visitor or even one of the animals that can carry it (pigs, cows, and perhaps others)? Nah. It's those dirty "middle America" folks. By the way, I know a fair number of people you would describe as elderly North Americans. None of them behave the way you describe.

Originally Posted by lovesublime

More American bashing I see. According to your statements, the only dirty, unwashed elderly people spreading diseases on ships are from North America or middle America as you like to put it. OK

Got to agree with you there.

Originally Posted by luddite

You have misconstrued the point of his post.

I don't think so at all. I've read quite a bit of his diatribes about how horrible Americans are. If he slams any other country or culture the same way, I've yet to read it. A shame that he loathes so many of his industry's customers.

beachchick

[marco]

It would be interesting to see if there are any CDC (or other organizations) studies relative to illnesses contracted while on a cruise ship in comparison to how many of those passengers flew to the port of embarkation, compared to a sailing where the majority of pax did not fly to it. I frequently suffer from "airplane air" whether the destination is a cruise ship or not. And WAY too many people I know are affected similarly. And another way cruising can be hazardous to your health..........it can become addictive!

[Karysa]

Originally Posted by BruceMuzz

Cruising itself is not that dangerous - but in many cases the people attracted to cruising can be a danger to you.

These days, nearly every voyage over 20 days in length has a Norovirus outbreak.
Most of the passengers on cruises like that are elderly North Americans.

Some (not all) of these people tend to be not very clean.
They have difficulty getting into and out of a bath tub.
They wash their clothes less often than the rest of us.
They rarely wash their hands after using a toilet.
They rarely cover their mouths when coughing.
Many of these people have compromised immune systems.

Norwalk Virus did not develop in Norwalk, Africa or Norwalk, China.
It came from Norwalk, Ohio, USA - middle America.

And you guys try to avoid the cruises when the kids are out of school.

[geospyder]

Originally Posted by mizlorinj

cruising anywhere is vital to my health.

For some reason the smilies are not working for me. Sooooo - picture a few very big smiles.

[Lady Chew]

Originally Posted by BruceMuzz

sick passengers who have broken their isolation so they do not miss a shopping or tour opportunity, they freely admit that they are willing to risk your health and my health in order to get their money's worth on their cruise.
.

Originally Posted by calliopecruiser

those people don't think about it and don't care if they do spread disease. And I tend to agree - most people are selfish about their health and don't care if what they might be caring is spread to anyone else or not.....They don't get flu shots, they don't cover their mouths when they cough, they don't wash their hands after using the washroom.

Nevertheless.........I think traveling is dangerous to your health, whether by ship, airplane, or train. The longer you're in an enclosed place with strangers, the more likely you are to pick up a communicable disease.

This has certainly been our experience on our longer cruises on HAL. There are people who are sick who don't want to miss a port or excursion, a special meal in the MDR, a slot tournament, a lecture, a crew show, whatever ... so they show up. I've heard people say "Oh (hack, hack) I"m not really that sick" "I really wanted to see/do this, and I haven't thrown up in a few hours, so I guess I'm okay now" "I'm feeling very sick to my stomach, after this is over, I'm going back to my cabin and taking some Tums & Dramamine" (heard that one just last week on the Amsterdam, which as you may have heard, had a major Noro outbreak)

I've heard people muttering about having to use the sanitizers, I've seen countless women in the restroom not washing their hands. They watch me wash mine, and will say something to the effect of "that's ridiculous" or "my hands aren't that dirty" Not to mention those who think if you put your hands under running water for 15 seconds, that it counts as hand washing!

And then they get irritated at the cruise line because people keep getting sick!

But I agree that this happens in any enclosed space ...