Bring your cold meds!

[D&J38]

I knew better and I still didn't do it. Didn't want to bring Nyquil or Dayquil and risk having them leak in the suitcase. "If we need them, we'll buy them later." Duh!! If you're at ALL prone to catching colds, bring your medicines with you. Maybe it will ensure you don't need them!

 

My husband started coughing a few days into our 14-day cruise. I did bring a whole bag of cough drops, but we figured he needed something more. Because we had arrived in port that morning, the duty-free store was CLOSED all day. The port of Puntarenas didn't look like it had a "pharmacia" nearby. So we went to the ship's medical center figuring he could get some cough syrup. Started with the $149 fee to see the doctor, and it would have been more but this was the 1.5 hour window when they're open in the morning. Nice doctor recommended an EKG because husband is 75 and has high blood pressure, and a chest X-ray because he heard some wheezing. What do I say--"Nah, skip all that" and have something happen?? Then they recommended a nebulizer treatment to "clear the airways." Drew blood and did at least three tests on it, determining it was a bacterial infection. Bottom line: Four days of antibiotics, little bottle of cough syrup, and the carefully itemized cost came to $1291. Haven't checked to see yet whether our insurance will cover at least some of it. This is undoubtedly a major profit center for the ship. I heard of two other cases on our cruise where the cost was closer to $3,000.

 

When the ship's store opened the next day, we bought Nyquil and Dayquil tablet packages at $14.95 each, undoubtedly FAR more than I would have paid for the generics at Walmart ahead of time.

 

My brother and I both DID catch the same thing on the trip but toughed it out with the Dayquil and a lot of cough drops.

 

Lesson learned!!

[ColinIllinois]

The more important lesson is make sure you know what your medical insurance covers before you go and buy travel/health insurance as necessary.

[jogr]

OUCH! Will bring cold meds, just in case.

[Run14]

The more important lesson is make sure you know what your medical insurance covers before you go and buy travel/health insurance as necessary.

 

I'll echo this. I was in the med bay with a 102+ fever the opening night of a 10 day Med cruise. I believe my bill was north of $3500US, but I'm not totally certain. Worth every penny in my mind because I REALLY needed a doctor (understandably unlike the OP). I'm really into points/miles/reward programs so I'm atypically knowledgeable about what my credit cards cover, but it's worth at least a google search if you have a few cards to figure out which one is best to use when booking - it can make a big difference. In my case I sacrificed a few points but recouped nearly all of the bill.

[xriva]

My wife and I both ended up in medical last cruise, and our health insurance and trip insurance reimbursed us for it all the charges. I don’t really think having a trained medical staff and a lot of specialized equipment and supplies is there simply to be a profit center.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[sanger727]

I’ve caught colds on cruises before; always bring a variety of OTC meds.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Love my butler]

Heh, you got the full spa 'upsell' treatment in the medical center. When it involves your health, how can you say no? At least you didn't have to pay a service charge on those inflated prices 'for your convenience'............

 

P.S. Lots and lots of pharmacies in Puntarenas. Just walk around town a few blocks.

[brucelegs]

I knew better and I still didn't do it. Didn't want to bring Nyquil or Dayquil and risk having them leak in the suitcase. "If we need them, we'll buy them later." Duh!! If you're at ALL prone to catching colds, bring your medicines with you. Maybe it will ensure you don't need them!

 

My husband started coughing a few days into our 14-day cruise. I did bring a whole bag of cough drops, but we figured he needed something more. Because we had arrived in port that morning, the duty-free store was CLOSED all day. The port of Puntarenas didn't look like it had a "pharmacia" nearby. So we went to the ship's medical center figuring he could get some cough syrup. Started with the $149 fee to see the doctor, and it would have been more but this was the 1.5 hour window when they're open in the morning. Nice doctor recommended an EKG because husband is 75 and has high blood pressure, and a chest X-ray because he heard some wheezing. What do I say--"Nah, skip all that" and have something happen?? Then they recommended a nebulizer treatment to "clear the airways." Drew blood and did at least three tests on it, determining it was a bacterial infection. Bottom line: Four days of antibiotics, little bottle of cough syrup, and the carefully itemized cost came to $1291. Haven't checked to see yet whether our insurance will cover at least some of it. This is undoubtedly a major profit center for the ship. I heard of two other cases on our cruise where the cost was closer to $3,000.

 

When the ship's store opened the next day, we bought Nyquil and Dayquil tablet packages at $14.95 each, undoubtedly FAR more than I would have paid for the generics at Walmart ahead of time.

 

My brother and I both DID catch the same thing on the trip but toughed it out with the Dayquil and a lot of cough drops.

 

Lesson learned!!

 

Well at 75 years old and a bacterial infection that required antibiotics, I think you would have needed more than just NyQuil anyway. You did the right thing especially for a 14 day cruise. This is why we always purchase additional travel/medical insurance.

[pokerpro5]

I always bring a bottle of NyQuil on my trips, because I get brutal colds, and I have a hard time sleeping if I don't have NyQuil at my disposal.

 

I also avoid the ship medical center as much as possible. I always thought it was crap how they turn that into a profit center.

 

When I burned myself onboard last year, they did give me some burn cream for free, and the nurse did a brief examination without charging me. But it would have been $$$ had I chosen to see a doctor.

 

It seemed like the burn was bad enough to last for a week, but it somehow healed in 36 hours.

[xriva]

For everyone in the US that thinks the medical center on the ship is a profit center, perhaps you should visit your local emergency room without insurance and see what the bill is like. Better yet, try the new doc-in-a-box "emergency room" on the corner.

 

The ship doesn't file insurance for you, they want full payment (and just charge your room account.) Our health insurance treated the doctor as "out of network" so the reimbursement was a relatively low percentage of the charges, but then we filed with our trip insurance for the balance.

 

I really don't think the medical staff is there to make money. They charge the usual ridiculous rates any US medical establishment would charge.

 

It's not one more rip-off on the ship. It's how medical care works these days.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Blondie008]

Heh, you got the full spa 'upsell' treatment in the medical center.

 

Loved this description - spot on :')

[kcdancerkc]

Between the ages of about 43 to 50 I unfortunately had to visit the infirmary about every other cruise

 

Ship 1.....bladder infection

Ship 2.....strained sternum

Ship 3 .....extreme leg edema

Ship 4..... sinusitis / swollen throat/lymph glands

 

So about every other cruise that is where I find myself :eek:

 

Thanks to always having trip insurance it was more costly than my local urgent care, but probably cheaper than the ER.

 

We came home from one other cruise and we were so exhausted that we didn't realize I had a mini stroke in Antigua!:o

 

My poor hubby! Nothing happened on our last cruise, except I did have a viral cold and sore throat, so off we went to walgreens before we embarked!

3 cruises coming up and fingers crossed!

 

Turning 55 on the next one and sooooo

hoping I dont have to tour yet another infirmary!

 

I pack so many OTCs just in case!

[newmexicoNita]

I knew better and I still didn't do it. Didn't want to bring Nyquil or Dayquil and risk having them leak in the suitcase. "If we need them, we'll buy them later." Duh!! If you're at ALL prone to catching colds, bring your medicines with you. Maybe it will ensure you don't need them!

 

My husband started coughing a few days into our 14-day cruise. I did bring a whole bag of cough drops, but we figured he needed something more. Because we had arrived in port that morning, the duty-free store was CLOSED all day. The port of Puntarenas didn't look like it had a "pharmacia" nearby. So we went to the ship's medical center figuring he could get some cough syrup. Started with the $149 fee to see the doctor, and it would have been more but this was the 1.5 hour window when they're open in the morning. Nice doctor recommended an EKG because husband is 75 and has high blood pressure, and a chest X-ray because he heard some wheezing. What do I say--"Nah, skip all that" and have something happen?? Then they recommended a nebulizer treatment to "clear the airways." Drew blood and did at least three tests on it, determining it was a bacterial infection. Bottom line: Four days of antibiotics, little bottle of cough syrup, and the carefully itemized cost came to $1291. Haven't checked to see yet whether our insurance will cover at least some of it. This is undoubtedly a major profit center for the ship. I heard of two other cases on our cruise where the cost was closer to $3,000.

 

When the ship's store opened the next day, we bought Nyquil and Dayquil tablet packages at $14.95 each, undoubtedly FAR more than I would have paid for the generics at Walmart ahead of time.

 

My brother and I both DID catch the same thing on the trip but toughed it out with the Dayquil and a lot of cough drops.

 

Lesson learned!!

Great advise: I don't remember right now what it was, but we ran out of something like that on a cruise about a year ago; yes, went to the cruiseline shop and paid a redeculous price for it.

[ray98]

Your scenario has nothing to do with 'cold meds' if this was an infection that required antibiotics.

[rayness]

I’ve caught colds on cruises before; always bring a variety of OTC meds.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

Same here. I just finished a 14 day cruise and I had a packing cube filled with all types of OTC meds. I caught a cold because this woman on a open air tour bus kept coughing into her scarf and then the scarf hit me in the face. The next day I started feeling bad and I had Zicam that I started taking right away and felt better in no time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Bootman4U]

You can get GELS with the same ingredients as in DayQuil/Nyquil or put the liquids into TWO ziplok bags in your suitcase. None of those solutions involve going to a doctor or clinic for a cold.

[suometar]

Sorry to hear about your husband, but I'm glad that he is OK. It really is not necessary to bring liquid cold meds when you travel, there are tons of medications in pill/caplet form. They even have them in the ship's gift shop.

[PelicanBill]

Totally agree you should bring a med kit to handle minor illnesses and first aid. Even a minor sprain or norovirus can be handled yourself to avoid thousands of dollars in medical center charges.

 

But do go for more serious issues... if symptom control isn't enough it may be an infection.

[KarimaJ]

Here is what we usually bring. It takes up room in the toiletry bag but if we need it them then it's worth it:

 

Cold medicine tablets

cough drops

Emergency cold powder

anti-diaherreal

motion sickness

antibiotics

bandaids/Neosporin

[june123]

Out of curiosity , can you buy antibiotics over the counter in the US or do you need a prescription ?

[KarimaJ]

Out of curiosity , can you buy antibiotics over the counter in the US or do you need a prescription ?

 

 

 

Prescription . It comes in handy to have Doctors in the family [emoji5] however if you are prone to certain things sometimes your Dr will give you a script. When my cousin went to Brazil they gave her one since she gets infections from mosquito bites.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Nebr.cruiser]

We always pack an emergency medical stash---it fits in a quart size zip bag. For a real emergency (not just a cold) we would use the ship's doctor and turn it into travel insurance. So far that hasn't been needed. But we have used the meds, mostly cold pills, bandaids or pain meds.

 

I often have a cough due to allergies so I do bring a lot of cough drops.

 

If you don't want to pack liquids, sometimes we visit a store like Walgreen's the morning of the cruise to stock up; usually on sunscreen or water though.

 

I am tempted to bring liquid Nyquil; somehow the tablets just don't seem to be as effective, but so far haven't.

 

I am prone to bacterial sinus infections and have considered asking our doctor for 'just in case' antibiotics, but so far, except for a trip to Africa, where it was recommended to bring something like Cipro, haven't for a cruise yet.

[Seminole1975]

I just got off of a 9 day cruise to the Baltic. I felt as if I was getting a cold before the trip. I starting taking Air Borne 3 times a day. It knocked the cold right out, but I kept taking it. I took it about 2 weeks before the trip and kept taking it on the cruise until I got home.

 

I was also careful to wash my hands, use hand sanitizer and not touch my nose or eyes. This was the very first cruise I went on that I did not get a bad respiratory infection! My DH got one when we got home.

 

Now our friends who we were traveling with got really bad colds with fevers about 1/2 way thru the cruise We were around them all the time and still I did not catch it! I ended up giving them my cold medications that I had brought on the trip. (I too brought a mini over the counter pharmacy based on what I read on CC threads). I highly recommend preventative Air Borne!! (It was the chewable kind that was easy to take).

[texaskit]

And then there are those (not necessarily referring to the OP), who would turn right around and say that they had gone to the ship's medical center and were told it was just a little cold. These are the people that think that if they don't get the full and complete workup that the medical staff was incompetent and they just know they were simply DYING from the latest strain of whatever disease going around. Basically sometimes it's a matter of "CYA". Again, not saying that's what happened here with the OP.

[foxgoodrich]

Out of curiosity , can you buy antibiotics over the counter in the US or do you need a prescription ?

 

In the US you need a Rx. You can, however, buy antibiotics OTC in Mexico.

 

My DH developed an abcessed tooth years ago on a cruise. He knew exactly what was happening and sought treatment on the ship. They correctly diagnosed his access and provided antibiotics for about $175. (That would probably be $600 today...:eek:)

 

So, after that experience, we went to a pharmacia in Mexico and bought a bottle of 500mg amoxicillin capsules to pack along in our travel med bag. We are not antibiotic abusers, but rather fairly well educated folks who know that some situations could be dealt with appropriately if one had access to a broad spectrum antibiotic. We've used the amoxil a few times while traveling - once for a sinus infection which was self diagnosed and cured with it. One for a sore throat that upon examination in the bathroom mirror had white spots. Once for relief for another accessed tooth. (Alas, DH now has a full upper plate, so that probably won't be happening again.) And once for a cut hand that developed an infection. In each case we did a little online research to figure the dosage and number of days.

 

We've thrown away the remains of two bottles that expired, and we have a new one in our travel bag. If you're so inclined, you can visit a pharmacia in Mexico. (possibly Belize as well) Over the years we've probably saved several thousand bucks just by having that bottle of amoxicillin in the med bag.:p (And that $$ could pay for another CRUISE!) It won't work for viruses or colds, but it's magic if you have a bacterial infection.

Judy