Does cruise ship air-con make you sick?

[editor@cruisecritic]

I just got off an otherwise fantastic 12 night cruise from Istanbul to Aqaba, great time, but a couple of days before the end I started to feel distinctly flu-ish, and wound up with a nasty cold/flu "thing" that's still bothering me. This has happened twice before (on, oddly enough, the same ship, though not this one). Nobody else seemed bothered, my husband didn't "catch" my cold, and so I'm wondering: Does anyone else seem to get these respiratory bugs on ships that are related to the air-con?

 

A crew member told me he did, that it's because the air is really dry. For me, it's only happened on long cruises. It's miserable and I'd like to find a solution (I like long cruises!). Has anyone asked the ship to borrow a humidifier? Did it help?

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

[paul929207]

Maybe turn down the air??

[LHT28]

I seem to get a cold or upper respiratory bug on most cruises not sure if it is the A/C or not

Might be just all the other passengers coughing without covering their mouths

 

I usually leave the lid off the ice bucket at night & find this does help with the dryness when sleeping

They have travel size humidifiers

I was going to get one for the next cruise but DH does not think it will help so still wavering on the idea

 

Whatever causes the condition it is not pleasant to be sick on vacation ;)

 

Lyn

Edited November 16, 2012 by LHT28

[beachbum53]

Sometimes, at least for me, going from an indoor air-conditioned area to the outside, then back in again really screws up my sinuses. Maybe that's what happened to you. Were you in a balcony cabin? Maybe next time, try leaving the air-conditioner off (if possible) in your cabin and leave the balcony door propped open. Could be you've got ultra-sensitive sinuses.

[Keith1010]

It really should not have been the cause of your cold/virus.

 

Keith

[OVgirl]

Keeping your mucous membranes and sinus cavities hydrated will really help minimize getting a bug. This hydrated skin layer is your bodies first defense against infection. You can buy small cans of saline mist at your drugstore. The air on airplanes is also dry and a good source of sinus/chest infections.

[geoherb]

I also use the saline mist. There are a lot of different brands. I have found that the drugstore brand works fine.

[Sandy Sails]

I usually get sick with a lower respiratory illness on Day 3 of a cruise - which means I caught it on the airplane. It takes about 3 days to develop so count backwards from when you first got your sore throat. It sure is miserable.

 

The last cruise, we had visited Disney World first. A little girl sat next to me on a bench and proceeded to spray me with her cough. I was horrified. And sure enough, exactly 3 days later, there was the sore throat. :mad:

[jocap]

Keeping your mucous membranes and sinus cavities hydrated will really help minimize getting a bug. This hydrated skin layer is your bodies first defense against infection. You can buy small cans of saline mist at your drugstore. The air on airplanes is also dry and a good source of sinus/chest infections.

Thanks for the tip....our last cruise was 18 nights in an inside cabin, and I was using those Vick inhaler sticks all the time, which were on sale on board- but never since coming home. I'll look for it in the chemist's.:)

[Putterdude]

I don't think it is necessarily related to the A/C on a ship but more likely that fact that people are living in pretty close quarters.

[searoses]

whether it be land or sea the plane ride gets to me....i was sick after every vacation regardless of where it was until i started wearing a mask at least on the way down so i didn't get sick while on vacation. sat across from a little boy who vomitted numerous times. the flight attendant remarked it was too bad he was so sentive to air travel. the mom pipes up...oh no..it's not that. he was sick all night at the hotel!. groans heard all around us....i was very smug in my itchy,funny looking mask.

[BruceMuzz]

The CDC did a study a while ago, claiming that 40% of people getting off an airplane come down with a virus within 24 hours.

[Krazy Kruizers]

In spite of hundreds of days of flying and hundreds of days of cruising we have only gotten colds a couple of times.

[deladypilot]

I havent gotten sick on either of my cruises but along the same lines, if I stay in a hotel for more than 2 days I wake up with a clogged nose.

 

Although the hotels have a/c units it is probably much the same as what you are experiencing. I never get sick from it, just the clogged nose until I get out and about and then it is there again the next morning.

 

So I agree, try the ice bucket trick or if you have a balcony, crack the door. Something to let some humitity into the room.

 

Best of luck

[Nebr.cruiser]

I haven't especially noticed this on a cruise, but long flights are another matter. My husband almost always comes down with something afterwards, and this May we both got horrible sinus infections that wiped us out for a couple of weeks after our flight from Europe.

 

There were several people on our flight with masks on....it looked awfully uncomfortable, but maybe worth it, after our experience. I think it is a combination of the dry air and close proximity to people with various sicknesses as well as the stress of travel.

[Aquahound]

I just got off an otherwise fantastic 12 night cruise from Istanbul to Aqaba, great time, but a couple of days before the end I started to feel distinctly flu-ish, and wound up with a nasty cold/flu "thing" that's still bothering me. This has happened twice before (on, oddly enough, the same ship, though not this one). Nobody else seemed bothered, my husband didn't "catch" my cold, and so I'm wondering: Does anyone else seem to get these respiratory bugs on ships that are related to the air-con?

 

A crew member told me he did, that it's because the air is really dry. For me, it's only happened on long cruises. It's miserable and I'd like to find a solution (I like long cruises!). Has anyone asked the ship to borrow a humidifier? c

 

Carolyn,

Do you have allergies? Ships AC systems are ridden with dust and mold. My wife has a mold allergy and unless she takes Zyrtec, she will be sick by day 5. It took numerous cruises to finally pinpoint the problem. We always knew it was related to the AC because her symptoms always came upon wake up, but it took a little while to figure out it was due to allergens in the system rather than the temperature.

 

You'll have a hard time getting that answer from anyone in the business, but my suspicions were confirmed by engineers I know working on Naval vessels. And yes, people leaving balcony doors open are partly to blame for the mold.

Edited November 17, 2012 by Aquahound

[eponym]

I just got off an otherwise fantastic 12 night cruise from Istanbul to Aqaba, great time, but a couple of days before the end I started to feel distinctly flu-ish, and wound up with a nasty cold/flu "thing" that's still bothering me. This has happened twice before (on, oddly enough, the same ship, though not this one). Nobody else seemed bothered, my husband didn't "catch" my cold, and so I'm wondering: Does anyone else seem to get these respiratory bugs on ships that are related to the air-con?

 

A crew member told me he did, that it's because the air is really dry. For me, it's only happened on long cruises. It's miserable and I'd like to find a solution (I like long cruises!). Has anyone asked the ship to borrow a humidifier? Did it help?

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

And... we don't often fly before a cruise, and cruise at many different times of year, so there is really only one explanation - the ships ventilation systems may be mucked up and not healthy on longer cruises.

 

I would like to know more about testing of these ventilation systems for general public health protection. Are they tested,how frequently, what is evaluated, what are the regulations (if any), and where are the resulting reports published?

Edited July 13, 2015 by eponym

[OCruisers]

Sometimes, at least for me, going from an indoor air-conditioned area to the outside, then back in again really screws up my sinuses.

 

That is basically what my sinus doctor told me. He suggested that I not become chilled when returning to a/c so I always have a light wrap of some sort with me. Also, public areas on the ship are sometimes cold enough to "hang meat". :D

 

Open the bathroom door after taking a shower to add humidity to the air! :)

 

LuLu

Edited July 13, 2015 by OCruisers

[lannp]

I also use the saline mist. There are a lot of different brands. I have found that the drugstore brand works fine.

 

I now carry some with me and use it every day, a few year's ago the ship doctor's told me to do that because I had developed an upper respiratory bug. I don't generally live 24/7 in air conditioning so it is not a problem at home.

[chengkp75]

Carolyn,

Do you have allergies? Ships AC systems are ridden with dust and mold. My wife has a mold allergy and unless she takes Zyrtec, she will be sick by day 5. It took numerous cruises to finally pinpoint the problem. We always knew it was related to the AC because her symptoms always came upon wake up, but it took a little while to figure out it was due to allergens in the system rather than the temperature.

 

You'll have a hard time getting that answer from anyone in the business, but my suspicions were confirmed by engineers I know working on Naval vessels. And yes, people leaving balcony doors open are partly to blame for the mold.

 

Yes, there are molds and dust in the ventilation system, just like any ventilation system. The ships don't use HEPA filters, simply because of cost, and the fact that hotels and the like don't use them either. USPH does require the use of sanitizer pads in air handler drains, mainly to stem molds and bacteria like legionella. The ships will look at "rattling the ducts", getting duct cleaners in to remove the dust and crud every other drydock or so, usually with an air quality test shortly before shipyard.

 

There are some nice little air purifiers out there that would handle a ship cabin and not take up too much luggage room (some even claim to prevent noro! :rolleyes:)

 

Not sure that the open balcony door contributes to mold problems, but it does affect the ability of the air system to remove humidity. The supply air/exhaust air systems are usually tied together using an enthalpy wheel or heat transfer wheel to cool the incoming air with the outgoing air, which will reduce humidity, while short circuiting the system via the balcony door doesn't do this.

 

And as others have said, change in climate (going from home to plane to ship) can cause sinus problems that can result in respiratory issues.

[Aquahound]

Thank you cheng! This thread pre-dates your CC membership, so I'm glad it was bumped up to give you a chance to weigh in. :)

[chengkp75]

And... we don't often fly before a cruise, and cruise at many different times of year, so there is really only one explanation - the ships ventilation systems may be mucked up and not healthy on longer cruises.

 

I would like to know more about testing of these ventilation systems for general public health protection. Are they tested,how frequently, what is evaluated, what are the regulations (if any), and where are the resulting reports published?

 

Okay, here's where I get on my foreign flag cruise ship talk. Who do you want to inspect and test the ventilation systems? They aren't US flag, so don't fall under US environmental laws. If you're looking for the flag states to require this, good luck, that's why they are "flags of convenience", and they certainly wouldn't publish any results.

 

Now, having said that, the USPH Service does inspect foreign flag cruise ships that call at US ports for sanitation, and compliance with the Vessel Sanitation Program. However, the mandate for the USPH is not to ensure the health of passengers on foreign flag ships, but to prevent the introduction of contagious diseases into the US. A big difference. The VSP was developed jointly by USPH and the cruise industry to allow the cruise ships to disembark passengers weekly into the US without having everyone go through a USPH health survey upon disembarking, and a full sanitation inspection weekly. Guess how long that would take for 5000 passengers? If the cruise line adheres to the construction and operation guidelines of the VSP, USPH will only inspect the ship twice a year. A failing score on a USPH inspection can mean the loss of the ships permit to embark passengers in the US.

 

The VSP has sections that cover air conditioning and ventilation. They do not require regular air quality testing, but do require the sanitizing pads I mentioned, and limited inspection of the ductwork during their onboard inspections.

 

The inspection scores for all cruise ships that call at US ports can be found on the USPH/CDC VSP website, including the actual report of deficiencies found and corrective action reports from the ship.

 

Other than the USPH, and the FBI in some criminal instances, the US has very little control over foreign flag ships and their operations. I don't think you would get much traction writing to the Bahamas Maritime Authority, or the Panamanian Maritime asking about air quality testing, any more than you would from Hilton or Marriott if you asked them about their hotel air quality.

[Amandah1987]

Carolyn,

Do you have allergies? Ships AC systems are ridden with dust and mold. My wife has a mold allergy and unless she takes Zyrtec, she will be sick by day 5. It took numerous cruises to finally pinpoint the problem. We always knew it was related to the AC because her symptoms always came upon wake up, but it took a little while to figure out it was due to allergens in the system rather than the temperature.

 

You'll have a hard time getting that answer from anyone in the business, but my suspicions were confirmed by engineers I know working on Naval vessels. And yes, people leaving balcony doors open are partly to blame for the mold.

 

 

Thanks for this info, I suffer with hayfever and my daughter has asthma so will make sure we are both prepared, I did see elsewhere that you can get someone to come clean the a/c vents just request it to be Done and they will do it

[chengkp75]

Thanks for this info, I suffer with hayfever and my daughter has asthma so will make sure we are both prepared, I did see elsewhere that you can get someone to come clean the a/c vents just request it to be Done and they will do it

 

Yes, they may come and clean the vent register in your cabin, but any horizontal ductwork throughout the ship, and any screw protruding into the duct while holding it together will collect dust that will eventually break free and move throughout the system. What they are doing is just cosmetic. If you have allergies, I would suggest an air purifier for your room.

[MaxineTurner]

Just got back from an 8 day cruise around Caribbean. I developed an upper respiratory infection on day five. You could hear coughing all over the ship including some crew members. As it was a Christmas cruise there was a very large number of children. We always eat in Speciality Restaurants for the duration of the cruise. Several times we were seated next to people where one or more of them was clearly sick, coughing, sneezing etc. I stayed in my cabin feeling sick and miserable for the duration of the cruise. I am a senior and always wash my hands etc. People just don't care about others. They paid for the trip and they are going to get out and about regardless of how many others they make sick. They don't even try to cover a cough. We have been on 15 cruises around the world. This problem deserves more attention. I know crew members can't report every sick person they see walking around but something should be done. People lie on the Embarkation cruise questionnaire. You hear coughing all through the line. Don't have an answer. Just venting.