Allergic to bath "soap"?

[Nanner]

Am I the only one who has a reaction to the liquid body wash HAL now puts in the showers? I find it way too harsh on my skin, especially my (cover your eyes if easily offended) "lady parts". :(

 

I've always received a bar of soap when asked (no issue with that), and had it replaced when needed. After reading some other posts, I'm thinking I may pack my own, just to be safe.

 

I'm just wondering if others have the same issue with the provided products. The shampoo isn't a problem for me, though I'm not fond of it and usually carry my own.

[ellieanne]

No. I had a reaction to the Sharp Shower Gel on my most recent cruise. When I told my cabin steward, he got me additional bars of soap and left me a new one every other day (my cruise was 15 days and I discovered the reaction on the 3rd day).

 

I actually packed my own soap saved from previous cruises just in case, but once I got the bar soap, I had no issues so it stayed packed.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we were given the Elemis products back in 2005 to try (we also had the Royal Dutch products in the cabin), DH tried the shampoo and broke out in a rash. The shampoo dried out my hair.

The hand soaps dry out both of our hands.

DH takes many medications and we felt that that may have been the cause for him.

Once HAL completely switched over to the Elemis products that is when I started to bring our own soaps and shampoo.

[1of4]

No, you are not the only one. I can't use the shower gel either as I get a rash and had to use cortizone (sp?) cream to clear it up once home. I thought I was going to scratch a hole right through me.

[monina01]

nope you are not the only one, same here. I bring my own stuff. I broke out in a rash using the shower stuff.

[sherilyn70]

My skin is sensitive so I never trust it to random bath products. I always bring my own items so that they will be no reactions.

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4

[innlady1]

My skin is sensitive so I always bring my own from home. Same with shampoo. I use Aveda hair products so pack their travel sizes.

[GeriatricNurse]

Am I the only one who has a reaction to the liquid body wash HAL now puts in the showers? I find it way too harsh on my skin, especially my (cover your eyes if easily offended) "lady parts". :(

 

I've always received a bar of soap when asked (no issue with that), and had it replaced when needed. After reading some other posts, I'm thinking I may pack my own, just to be safe.

 

I'm just wondering if others have the same issue with the provided products. The shampoo isn't a problem for me, though I'm not fond of it and usually carry my own.

 

No I have never had any reaction to any soaps or other bath products that HAL provides in the bathrooms of staterooms. :) That being said, I do pack an extra few (bath size) bars of my own soap when I travel, just in case I did have a reaction & to provide myself with 'extra' soap to use. ;)

[solocanadian]

I bring my own bath gel and shampoo & conditioner. Find the Elemis products too harsh.:eek:

Edited December 21, 2013 by solocanadian

[jaxonboy]

I get a rash on my legs that itches if I use the shower gel provided. Hair conditioner helps it heal. Now I know to bring my own. The shampoo is like using dish detergent, so I bring my own. No big deal.

[arzz]

I, too, do not react well to either the shower gel or the clear yellow bars of soap. I bring my own back up soap though on my last cruise on the Eurodam we were provided with the round white bars of soap and I do fine with that.

 

I am impressed with the large number of folks on this forum alone who react to the shower gel -- this makes me wonder why HAL doesn't find a friendlier product to provide. We loved the old Royal Dutch products.

[estebofarr]

I also can't use their products. Always bring my own.

[cbr663]

We have allergies to a lot of products so we always bring our own. We grabbed a bar of soap from the Hilton that we stayed in pre-cruise and it was wonderful. No problems with that for hand washing.

 

I mentioned to my wife that I was surprised that HAL doesn't bring in a scent free policy on its ships. She then reminded me of the fragrance store on board.

 

I know folks who can not cruise due to having allergies to scented products. I even know of one guy who cannot be around products like Purel and other hand sanitizers - he literally passes out as soon as he comes into contact with the stuff.

[Fouremco]

I've had no problems at all with the provided shower gel, but then again, I've never had any sensitivity issues with any bath products. If I did, I'd certainly not hesitate to bring with me something that I know and trust.

[Jean1946]

I'm another - we bring our own soap. My husband makes it and it is truly all natural. I do not like perfumed soaps. I keep soap packed for any and all trips I make if it is even for one night.

[Shmoo here]

Another here who brings my own soap and shampoo. I also find the Elemis soap to be very drying to my skin and makes my hair very dry.

[Hlitner]

DW is allergic to many skin products including some shower gels. There is no way for her to be sure about a new product (such as on ships) unless she tries it a few days,,,and if she does get a reaction it can be an awful case of dermatitis which might be a vacation spoiler. We cruise a lot (75-100 days a year) and have never taken our own soap....but have no decided it might be a wise move. So on all future cruises we will take a bar of unscented Dove just to be sure. And by the way, we could also talk about the Purell alcohol sanitizer that is pushed on many cruise ships. Not only is this stuff near worthless against Norovirus...but the alcohol can dry out lots of hands (we heard many complaints on our recent Eclipse cruise). We salute HAL for changing over the Byotrol stuff which has no alcohol.

 

Hank

[Freckles83]

I personally love the Elemis Sharp body wash they provide in the shower. That being said it has a very strong scent as well as some sort of mint or peppermint oil in it that can cause a cooling sensation.. which is why it probably doesn't feel so fantastic on your "lady bits". I don't think most body wash (especially heavily perfumed ones) should be used on those particular body parts anyways. As for operating a no-scent policy i think thats pushing it a bit too far.

[lindaler]

Our first cruise DH had such a bad reaction to the soaps and shampoo we got off and went to a Wal Mart and found some familiar shampoo. since then we always bring bar soap and our own shampoo. We did have a problem on the last cruise with some rug shampoo spray that our room steward thought he was doing us a good deed and over sprayed. He admitted spilling some on the carpet too. The perfume smell was so strong we could not go into the room to even change. They have some kind of ionizer fans that they hooked up and after about three treatments it was better. I was told to be sure to list that on the forms to not use the heavy scented cleaners.

[Vict0riann]

I bring my own bar of soap - can't say I'm allergic to the liquid, because I haven't used it, I just prefer something solid I can drop in the shower!:D

 

I do use the shampoo, alternating it with my own, which I bring, too.

[Barrheadlass]

Haven't had any trouble with it and the less I carry from home, the better.

[Jean1946]

I hate the hand sanitizer! I have eczema really bad at times and I will not put that stuff on my hands. One of the ship's crew almost would not let me board because I wouldn't use it.

[boatmad]

I always bring a bar of my favorite soap for the shower. Our last cruise I also brought along an 8 oz. pump dispenser of liquid antibacterial soap for the sink. We completely wiped in out in our 2 weeks onboard. Greatest move ever!

[OHCruiser]

No, you certainly are not the only one.

 

I know that they formulate those products to be low foaming and to work best with the water recycling that's done on the ship, but I really dislike them. The shower gel and shampoo dry me [and my hair] out terribly. And, yes, the "sharp [mint] shower gel" causes my "feminine side" quick agony.

 

I don't even like the bar soap because it's seems waxy and it's hard to wash off--like the hair conditioner.

 

I have a small train case that I take on every trip. It contains a bar soap that I like and 2 travel size bottles of my shampoo & conditioner. Like the ad says, "Don't leave home without it!"

[Stelladoro]

I knew I was allergic to Clinique products and after our October cruise, I've learned not to use Elemis products. I broke out in a very itchy rash on our HAL cruise. Definitely not fun! Although I immediately stopped using the ship's soap, the rash did not disappear until after approx. one week following the cruise. I always use my own shampoo, but from now on, I'll also bring my own soap.