Invisible Bed Bugs?!

[Mycruiseobsession]

Just read the news on a story about alleged bed bugs.

 

I have titled this invisible as the article says the ship claims they found no actual said bugs. 

 

I have never experienced this on any ship nor heard of it being an issue on any cruise I have been on.

 

What about you?

Edited May 18 by Mycruiseobsession
Title explaination

[Mycruiseobsession]

Link to news article I read.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-13432125/PO-cruise-nurse-corrine-mcIvor-complained-bed-bugs.html

 

[MicCanberra]

36 minutes ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

Just read the news on a story about alleged bed bugs.

 

I have titled this invisible as the article says the ship claims they found no actual said bugs. 

 

I have never experienced this on any ship nor heard of it being an issue on any cruise I have been on.

 

What about you?

I have certainly never seen any bed bugs on any ship I have been on, and I certainly haven't felt any invisible ones either.

[Chiliburn]

55 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I have certainly never seen any bed bugs on any ship I have been on, and I certainly haven't felt any invisible ones either.

What about invisible monkeys in the middle of the night Mic ?

Edited May 18 by Chiliburn

[MicCanberra]

Wouldn't know about that, have never been able to see any invisible things.

[Mycruiseobsession]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

and I certainly haven't felt any invisible ones either

Oh my I nearly choked on my tea reading that! 😂

 

I wonder what other invisible things are out there feeling random cruisers? 

 

My cruises seem less exciting now. 

[MicCanberra]

33 minutes ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

Oh my I nearly choked on my tea reading that! 😂

 

I wonder what other invisible things are out there feeling random cruisers? 

 

My cruises seem less exciting now. 

Perhaps Chiliburn's invisible monkeys can get a bit handsy in the middle of the night.

[Mycruiseobsession]

Yes @Chiliburn do tell us more about these invisible monkeys?! 

 

Maybe they eat the invisible bedbugs? 

Edited May 18 by Mycruiseobsession
Typos I constantly make them.

[Chiliburn]

10 hours ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

Yes @Chiliburn do tell us more about these invisible monkeys?! 

 

Maybe they eat the invisible bedbugs? 

This is a family forum ,children may be reading !

[icat2000]

Ive never had bed bugs in my 33 cruises with variety of lines including PO Australia. 

[Bubbeh]

Yew, yew, yew!  I'm itchy all over just reading that.  A million years ago my Dad brought back bed bugs from an army camp.  It was horrible and very expensive to replace mattresses, carpets, furniture etc etc etc.  Mum was so angry and upset, Dad was just lucky he didn't get replaced.

[Jean C]

Just now, Bubbeh said:

Yew, yew, yew!  I'm itchy all over just reading that.  A million years ago my Dad brought back bed bugs from an army camp.  It was horrible and very expensive to replace mattresses, carpets, furniture etc etc etc.  Mum was so angry and upset, Dad was just lucky he didn't get replaced.

From what I've read and heard about bed bugs, they need to be avoided like the plague. As Bubbeh said, they can be expensive and difficult to eradicate, so they can be a real problem.

 

You should never put your bag or suitcase on the bed, if in a hotel, use the provided luggage rack (so you don'tinadvertently take any home with you). Also, I am paranoid about never leaving my suitcase or bag unzipped or partially unzipped, it's always tightly closed up.

 

The little critters have never got me, but if there's any sort of insect or bug that bites, it will make a beeline for me 😪 

[debmm]

We had bed bugs on the the last cruise I took on Pacific Dawn. I was covered in bites. Found one crawling along the bed and took photos (killed it of course) and reported to hotel staff. The would not confirm anything however gave us a free dinner at one of the pay restaurants and offered to move us to another cabin. Showed my Doctor the day we got back to Brisbane and he confirmed my photo was a bed bug. My bites were infected by this time and required antibiotics. After some to and fro with P&O on return we got a full refund and additional payment to cover replacement of our luggage.

This was the first and only time I have encountered bed bugs in around 30 cruises and many land trips. Given my reaction to their bite I am now paranoid about them. 

Edited May 19 by debmm

[MicCanberra]

Goodness. Hope I never encounter them.

[Aus Traveller]

I had an terrible encounter with bed bugs in a motel in Sydney during a week-long stay. I had a couple of hundred bites on my arms and lower legs that resulted in extreme itching and also an asthma attack.

 

The bugs are not invisible - they are oval shaped and from 5mm to 7mm long.

Edited May 19 by Aus Traveller

[Jean C]

From what I understand, they predominantly come out at night and retreat to their hiding places during the day, so they are not often seen, often hiding behind fixed headboards.  Back in the day they used to say you'd find them under the "folded down" binding edge along top and bottom edges of mattresses. They have also become resistant to traditional bug eradication products, so I suppose are now super bed bugs, ugh 😒 

 

I saw a documentary once about a US family who somehow brought them home. They were so bad in the bedrooms, the family dragged their mattresses downstairs to get away from them. However, they insdvertently brought them downstairs with the mattresses and infected downstairs as well. They tried everything, without success. Eventually they got on to an outfit who wrapped the whole house and heat treated it to a temperature that got the better of the little blighters. It cost them an arm and a leg but they loved their house, and it fixed the problem.

 

Be afraid, be very afraid 😨 

[ceeceeDee]

We've never encountered them on any cruise (including Pacific Dawn) or hotel we have stayed in.

Like Jean, we don't put our suitcases on the bed.

I've read some reports where people routinely pull back the bedding and inspect the mattress when they first enter their hotel room. Probably not a bad idea.

[Aus Traveller]

22 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

I've read some reports where people routinely pull back the bedding and inspect the mattress when they first enter their hotel room. Probably not a bad idea.

After encountering bed bugs in our Sydney motel, I carefully inspected the mattress in the motel we stayed in on the way back to Brisbane.

 

I feel if the bed bugs referred to the article were invisible, they could have also been mythical.

[Jean C]

32 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I feel if the bed bugs referred to the article were invisible, they could have also been mythical.

With respect, the article I read said the victim was a nurse, the ship's doctor diagnosed classic bed bug bites and said they had seen other cases. They were "invisible" because they had gone back to their hiding place, it could be in the walls, behind drawers or the desk, anywhere, and maybe not easily accessible - just because the cruise personnel didn't see them, doesn't mean they didn't exist. Apparently one feed will sustain a little sucker for a year. 

 

To be forewarned is to be fore-armed.

 

Sure, she wants compensation, but the moral of this story for all of us is to be aware, understand something about best practice and take reasonable precautions.

[Aus Traveller]

I think that just looking at the allergic response on the skin from a bite wouldn't make it clear which critter caused it. Maybe they were bed bug bites and maybe they weren't. I have seen bites from sea lice that look rather similar.

 

Edited May 19 by Aus Traveller

[Sparky74]

This thread prompted me to watch some YouTube videos on the subject and doing that made me itchy! 😱

[Jean C]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I think that just looking at the allergic response on the skin from a bite wouldn't make it clear which critter caused it. Maybe they were bed bug bites and maybe they weren't. I have seen bites from sea lice that look rather similar.

 

Fair point 👍

[ceeceeDee]

12 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Fair point 👍

Unless you manage to catch and confine the critter to a glass jar so it can attend an identity parade.

[arxcards]

A friend encountered beg bugs on a Pacific Jewel cruise 10 or so years ago. It was handled pretty well, and no compensation was sought. They aren't endemic to a particular brand of ship, and like covid, they are initially bought aboard by passengers in their luggage.

 

I haven't encountered any on our cruises, unless they were the invisible type with invisible bites.

[arxcards]

😴😴😴

Night, night, sleep tight. I hope the ..... well, you know! 🤣