Bed bugs on ships?

Bed bugs can be carried anywhere. Reports of cruise ship bed bugs are rare on Cruise Critic and probably overstated due to incorrect identification. I will find other things to worry about.

There are definitely bedbugs! Just came back from a cruise on Oasis of the Sea (Royal Caribbean). My son and daughter who were sharing a room were definitely bitten multiple times by bedbugs. The bites were small "pimple-like" at first, so we dismissed it, but eventually more and more bites appeared and they got large and itchy. My son ended up with at least 30 bites, where my daughter around 15. We gave feedback to Royal Caribbean, but have yet to hear back from them.

If your cruise was to the Caribbean, the bites could be more due to sand mites than bed bugs. If you did not tell the Hotel Manager that first morning, and it was bedbugs, you delayed the investigation and possible cleaning if it was indeed bedbugs and probably left them for the next guests in the cabin.

I will say that, in my years of experience in hotels, none of the times that a guest reported "bedbugs", have those reports been true. There may have been a bug, but not bedbugs. We still took immediate possible bedbug cleaning protocols. We always took photos of the offending bugs - not a single bedbug up on the photo wall...

Hotels and ships are not hermitically sealed, so things can migrate in. Worked a hotel in Hilton Head - people would complain about the palmetto bugs that got in. Well, if you open your patio/balcony door and leave it open, things will crawl in. Worked and stayed at hotels in Hawaii - people would complain about the geckos that showed up on the room walls. Same thing - leave the doors and they will come in.

Bathtub not bathroom

 

 

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Not saying bathtub wouldn't work, but I am saying that the article I read suggested bathroom. I agree with that. There's not much in a bathroom that's attractive to bedbugs.

Not saying bathtub wouldn't work, but I am saying that the article I read suggested bathroom. I agree with that. There's not much in a bathroom that's attractive to bedbugs.

Bed bugs hitchhike. That's why you'd plop down your luggage in the bathtub as a first step. In the (usually unlikely) event that your bag picked up a hitchhiker from other bags/hotel room etc., the plop down would generally dislodge them in an isolated location. Next step, inspect the bedding - particularly seams on the undersides of mattresses as well as behind headboards. All clear? Ok to move luggage from tub.

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Bed bugs hitchhike. That's why you'd plop down your luggage in the bathtub as a first step. In the (usually unlikely) event that your bag picked up a hitchhiker from other bags/hotel room etc., the plop down would generally dislodge them in an isolated location. Next step, inspect the bedding - particularly seams on the undersides of mattresses as well as behind headboards. All clear? Ok to move luggage from tub.

 

 

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Also check the piping/seams of the mattress and, if applicable, the box spring. They do like to burrow down in those seams...

And, if you think you were bit by a bedbug, be prepared to say goodbye you what you brought with you on the cruise - the bugs will travel the length and breadth of a cabin and take residence in any thing. You have to do high-heat treatment of stuff, do an approved bug fog bomb, much more... It can take months to get it all done. For the OP - I hope you took all necessary steps as soon as you got home to fumigate and treat what you took with you. If you didn't, please call an exterminator familiar with bedbugs ASAP.

Not on a ship, but in a state park lodge room....

Be aware that the bites may not show for a week or more. Even after my bites healed (2+weeks!), psychosomatic itches and twitches persisted for weeks We were fortunate that none hitched a ride to our home since our luggage was far from the beds but to be sure we checked every seam in every article of clothes and in our suitcases as well as washing all clothes on HOT followed by a hot dry.

Flashlight, magnifying glass and mattress seam checks are now mandatory for our travels ever since last October.

I know this is probably a strange question....but has anyone ever heard of a cruise ship having bed bugs??

Definitely,Yes . We always check our cabin thoroughly . If you check on line you can find listings of hotels and ships where passengers found Bed Bugs.