Hidden travel cost #301

[demisod]

Turns out that Costa Maya is a malaria-risk area in the eyes of the Red Cross. I cannot donate blood for a whole year.

[sue d. miller]

YIKES!!!

 

Sue

7 days on Star Princess 10/24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pattie63]

When I dontated blood after going to Costa Maya (2002), they asked for more details and I explained that we were there only for a few hours and stayed near the beach areas -- we did not go into the rain forest. I was allowed to donate under those visitation circumstances and have continued to donate since then. I know each Red Cross area has different standards (such as BP which has to be over 100 in NYC but Bergen County, NJ has no requirement as long as you're healthy)

 

I managed to donate right before our 1 April Coral cruise this year since, under no circumstances (so I've been told), can you donate if you've been in Panama or Costa Rica. I'm benched for one year.

 

QE2 - 2000

Grand Princess - 2002

Coral Princess - 2004

[MaryPoppinz]

Yep. Canal cruisers are out of business. There are no Central American countries on the "okay" list. Caribbean cruisers are generally good-to-go, except for Haiti and possibly Mexico, as Pattie mentions.

 

It's unfortunate. I like the topic, though. I haven't seen it before, and it's something people might forget to factor into their cruise decisions.

 

"I'm gonna book myself on that Princess Cruise."

-- Fox Mulder, X-Files 'Three Words'

[pattie63]

Maybe we could rename the thread? It's not getting many hits and people might want to check on certain issues (such as autologous blood donation, platelet donations, transfusion, organ donation, etc) before they go. Wouldn't it be tragic if someone went on a cruise to enjoy themselves prior to a critical donation (of some sort) and then found out that they could not make that donation because of the area they visited? Not likely but I guess it could happen.

 

QE2 - 2000

Grand Princess - 2002

Coral Princess - 2004

[LeeLeesCruisin]

I lived in Panama for 14 years and never had trouble donating blood in the past. I haven't done so in the past two years, though, so maybe things have changed? Does anyone know when these rules went into effect? I haven't tried to give blood recently, but was thinking about doing so soon.

 

LeeLee

 

Carnival Fantasy

9/6/01 RCI Sovereign of the Seas

8/1/04 Sapphire Princess Honeymoon!

[pattie63]

Hi - they've been toughening up travel countries within the last two years. But if you've been away from Panama for a while then it should be no problem. My advice is to call your local blood center and discuss it with the coordinator prior to making an appointment. I go so fed up with going over my travel history every two months, which took a good solid 1/2 hour (they don't keep/have access to records from prior donations), I started to complain and they (Bergen County Blood Center) developed a form you can sign that stays in your file and you just need to go over and update your recent travel with them each donation.

 

QE2 - 2000

Grand Princess - 2002

Coral Princess - 2004

[Jeepers385]

I live in NJ too (Mercer Cty) and when I went to give blood in January I couldn't because I had been to Belize. Told me I had to wait for a year after my visit which would have been February but they wouldn't change their mind. So now I'm going to try next week.

 

Debbie

 

Sapphire Princess 10/2/04

Carnival Destiny 2/8/04

Grand Princess 7/6/03

RCL - Nordic Empress 2/03 & 4/02

Crown Dynasty 7/00

Queen of Bermuda 7/87

Carnival - Mardi Gras 11/75

 

[soprano]

So, in light of this, is it necessary to take anti-malerial drugs while cruising the Panama Canal?