Hospitalized After Cruise

[Susie51]

I came home sick after cruising twice. Both times I thought I caught an ordinary cold, but each time I ended up with 102+ fever for five days. This has also happened to me while I've been at home. Like others have said, germs are all around us.

 

OP, I hope you get well soon and that you won't have any serious after affects.

 

I'm sorry about the loss of your mother. I'm glad you and your dad are taking a trip together.

[kryos]

What is MRSA?

 

That new terrible staph infection is floating around the schools and colleges in my community. It's very scary...and they're not on a ship or plane. Just in school.

That's probably how I got it ... I am in school (or at least was) through my employer for retraining. But the funny thing was that no one else apparently got it, so I'm wondering if I actually got it somewhere else. No one at work got it either.

 

But believe me, it is very, very nasty stuff ... and it will knock you flat.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

I figure I have a greater shot at becoming sick in my day to day life, than I do onboard a cruise ship.

That's probably very, very true.

 

Also, there are certain things I do as well to protect myself on a cruise, and one of them is NEVER, NEVER to use the pools or the hot tubs. If I want to swim, do so in a port on an excursion. In my humble opinion, those pools and hot tubs on the ship are a breeding ground for every possible bug one could pick up. So, I stay away from them. Amazingly, it's worked for me and I've been generally healthy on all of my HAL cruises.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[jhannah]

Pressing the deck number in an elevator that was recently touched by someone carrying certain bacteria/germs carries the potential to make us sick.

Which is why I always use my knuckle to press the button. Much less likely to put my knuckle in my mouth or food. (Yes, I do wash my hands often ... but this is just an additional precaution I take.)

[prescottbob]

FYI:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa.html

 

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health (and wash your hands frequently)!

Bob:)

[Stevesan]

Funny, I got food poisoning on the Island Princess myself ... along with a terrible, terrible cold on the Sun Princess. That's what led me to think that maybe Princess doesn't keep their ships as clean as Holland America does, and it's why I swore off Princess cruises.

 

Just seemed awfully funny to me ... never got sick on a HAL cruise, yet took two Princess cruises and got sick on both of them. Might be just a coincidence, but guess I'd prefer not to tempt the fates so I decided to swear off Princess cruises after that Island Princess one.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Gee, I've sailed Princess three times and never even felt bad. Two of those cruises there were more than 700 kids on board!

 

However, I once became quite ill during a Veendam cruise.

Maybe I should quit HAL?:eek:

 

Naaah. I don't think so.

[terrydtx]

If getting a bug on the ship isn’t bad enough you have to watch what you eat on shore excursions. On a RCI cruise we were in Belize and took a jungle river boat tour that included a “Typical” Belize lunch. The food looked nasty and my DW and I choose not to eat. That night almost everyone on the tour but my wife and I had food poisoning and the ships doctor called it Norovirus and quarantined those who were sick. I think they would rather declare a Noro outbreak rather than admit food poisoning.

 

My mother came back from a cruise to South America on Seven Seas cruise line with an intestinal parasite that required 3 weeks of home and hospital care. Her doctors said it was most likely caught from a shore exposure.

[hammybee]

That's probably how I got it ... I am in school (or at least was) through my employer for retraining. But the funny thing was that no one else apparently got it, so I'm wondering if I actually got it somewhere else. No one at work got it either.

 

But believe me, it is very, very nasty stuff ... and it will knock you flat.

 

Blue skies ...--rita

Rita, you have indirectly raised a very good point. Each of us is vulnerable to bacterias/virus/infections and so on. 100 people could be exposed to the same thing, at the same time and only some will become sick. Our biology, imune systems, overall physical/mental health, age, habits and so on means we all react differently to the bad stuff.

[maxout]

The only times I have felt sick on a cruise ship was when I didn't know when to put down my fork or stop emptying my wine glass... :o ;) :D

[Oceanwench]

Did the OP ever say which sailing of the Zuiderdam it was?

 

I think someone assumed it was the Panama Canal cruise, not one of the 7-day Caribbean cruises.