Disinfecting cabins on cruise ship

I will be flying to southern california to taking a cruise in
November which is the begining of flu season. I would like to know
some of the precaution you take to avoid getting ill. I am currently
in my fifties and the flu could be life threating. The last cruise I
took one of the member in our group got ill and was hospitalized when
he got back home.


it is said;

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure ........

First, the flu is a virus and being such is difficult to totally kill.
Even a bleach wipe down on a hard surface leaves 5% still alive.
Antibacterial sprays and wipes, such as Lysol DO NOTHING to a virus but
wets them down.

Second, other than replacing soaps and shampoos, your cabin will get
the same service it does during the cruise. Unless your ship had an
outbreak of a Norwalk type outbreak the week before you show up, it is
nowhere near a classification of disinfected.

That being said, there are a couple of things you can do to protect
yourself. Sounds simple, but wash your hands with soap and
water,,,,often. I=92m talking 5-10 times a day. The problem is people.
Joe Blow has put down a couple thousand for a cruise. A day or two
before the cruise, a sniff or a cough starts. Hell, no little cold is
going to stop me. Joe gets on the ship and is a gentleman, every time
he coughs he covers his mouth. Small droplets from that cough cover the
palm of his hand. Joe now spends his cruise shaking hands, grabbing
hand rails, pushing elevator buttons and using tongs up on the Lido
deck. Then you meet Joe and shake his hand. You then follow along after
Joe using the handrail, pushing elevator buttons and eating on Lido
deck. You then rub your eye or pick your nose. Keep away from people
that sneeze or cough and wash your hands.

wrote in message
ups.com...
First, the flu is a virus and being such is difficult to totally kill.

We've had some discussion on this before.

The concept of killing a virus.... well... viruses are recombinant RNA and
as such, are neither living nor non-living. But somewhere in between,
according to my college microbiology class. I guess you really can't kill
something that's not really alive to begin with.

--Tom

Get a Flu Shot NOW.

--Tom


"Hope" wrote in message
...
I will be flying to southern california to taking a cruise in
November which is the begining of flu season. I would like to know
some of the precaution you take to avoid getting ill. I am currently
in my fifties and the flu could be life threating. The last cruise I
took one of the member in our group got ill and was hospitalized when
he got back home.


it is said;

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure ........

Hope wrote:

begining of flu season. I would like to know some of the precaution
you take to avoid getting ill. I am currently in my fifties and the
flu could be life threating.

Your cabin will be cleaned the usual way.

Get a flu shot before you go, wash your hands with soap and water and
keep your hands away from your face. Keep your fingers out of your eyes,
nose and mouth, that is the usual way viruses are spread.

Have fun on your cruise, then come back and tell us all about it.

Becca

I do it on every cruise. I wipe down the entire cabin. All door knobs,
counter tops, bathroom, light switches, phone...everything. I pack a
container of Lysol or Clorox wipes in my carry on so its the first thing
I do. Just piece of mind I guess. Plus the cabin is only as clean as
the room steward wants it to be. I'm sure at one time or another we
have all had those cabin stewards who did sub-standard jobs. He only
has to sanitize if he wants to. Who would know? By doing it myself I
know it been done.

Becca wrote:

Hope wrote:

begining of flu season. I would like to know some of the precaution
you take to avoid getting ill. I am currently in my fifties and the
flu could be life threating.


Your cabin will be cleaned the usual way.

Get a flu shot before you go, wash your hands with soap and water and
keep your hands away from your face. Keep your fingers out of your eyes,
nose and mouth, that is the usual way viruses are spread.

Have fun on your cruise, then come back and tell us all about it.

Becca

I got an email from a niece calling attention to the fact that some of
the flu vaccines contain mercury, with a reference to USA Today:
http://www.ias.org.nz/thimerosal_and_formaldehyde.htm

My email went on to say:

Mercury exposure can cause a devastating array of problems, including:

* Multiple Sclerosis
* Central Nervous System Disorders
* Autism
* Alzheimer's Disease

Is this really something you want injected into yourself, and your children?

Avoid mercury poisoning; don't eat fish, unless you are absolutely certain
that it has been tested in a laboratory and shown not to contain detectable
levels of mercury and other toxins. To get your vital omega-3 fatty acids, eat
high quality fish oil instead. This will also, incidentally, help keep you
from getting the flu.

Other ways to avoid getting the flu without taking dangerous shots include:

* Eating a healthy diet by eliminating sugar
* Exercising
* Getting enough rest
* Eating garlic regularly
* Not letting stress become overwhelming
* Washing your hands

To learn more about the dangers of flu vaccines, you might want to consider
calling into our telephone clinic on the subject, where you will hear a live
discussion I will conduct with my top vaccine advisor, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny,
who is widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable and outspoken
physicians regarding the impact that vaccines can have on health.

Another URL: http://www.mercola.com/2003/dec/17/flu_vaccine.htm

Who/what can you trust? We already have a daughter who has been diagnosed
with MS.

Can you believe the stuff that you read?

Ermalee ----easily confused :-)

RICK DAVIS wrote:

I do it on every cruise. I wipe down the entire cabin. All door knobs,
counter tops, bathroom, light switches, phone...everything. I pack a
container of Lysol or Clorox wipes in my carry on so its the first thing
I do. Just piece of mind I guess. Plus the cabin is only as clean as
the room steward wants it to be. I'm sure at one time or another we
have all had those cabin stewards who did sub-standard jobs. He only
has to sanitize if he wants to. Who would know? By doing it myself I
know it been done.


I do this too. It may not help, but it sure makes me feel like I'm trying!

Ermalee ---got sick on a cruise in January anyhow

We were on the Dawn Princess in April/May during one of the last Norwalk
outbreaks:

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/GIlist.htm

Prior to folks becoming ill (CDC site says less than 4%, but many more were
unreported), the cruise line did very little to prevent spreading the
disease. Antibacterial goo was available, but sort of hidden in a corner as
you walked into the dining rooms and buffet area. Once there was a solid
outbreak, the goo machines were front and center, and a crew member was
stationed there to make sure everyone got some.

Nevertheless, they still let the guests serve their own food at the
buffet -- everyone used the same plastic tongs! My advice is that besides
washing your hands a lot, and not touching your face, especially your mouth,
nose and eyes, that you eat *everything* with a utensil. You'll feel a bit
silly cutting your dinner rolls and toast with a knife, but you won't
probably get sick. The most likely source of an infection are your own
hands.

One more thing. Be sensitive to passenger illness around you -- listen to
conversations, make friends, etc. -- as the cruise line will not tell you
there is a problem until it is too late. On the Dawn Princess, the med
staff actually told passengers they had food poisoning rather than a
Norwalk-like virus! Why? In my opinion, they fear a passenger revolt, and
they would rather make a guest think they just had an isolated case, a bad
french fry, rather than something easily communicable, and really not their
fault. Odd logic, but ships have been forced to turn around before... Oh,
and we weren't among those ill, but four at our table of eight did get
sick...

Duane

"Hope" wrote in message
...
I will be flying to southern california to taking a cruise in
November which is the begining of flu season. I would like to know
some of the precaution you take to avoid getting ill. I am currently
in my fifties and the flu could be life threating. The last cruise I
took one of the member in our group got ill and was hospitalized when
he got back home.


it is said;

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure ........

In article ,
Ermalee McCauley wrote:

Becca wrote:

Hope wrote:

begining of flu season. I would like to know some of the precaution
you take to avoid getting ill. I am currently in my fifties and the
flu could be life threating.


Your cabin will be cleaned the usual way.

Get a flu shot before you go, wash your hands with soap and water and
keep your hands away from your face. Keep your fingers out of your eyes,
nose and mouth, that is the usual way viruses are spread.

Have fun on your cruise, then come back and tell us all about it.

Becca

I got an email from a niece calling attention to the fact that some of
the flu vaccines contain mercury, with a reference to USA Today:
http://www.ias.org.nz/thimerosal_and_formaldehyde.htm

My email went on to say:

Mercury exposure can cause a devastating array of problems, including:

* Multiple Sclerosis
* Central Nervous System Disorders
* Autism
* Alzheimer's Disease

Is this really something you want injected into yourself, and your children?

Avoid mercury poisoning; don't eat fish, unless you are absolutely certain
that it has been tested in a laboratory and shown not to contain detectable
levels of mercury and other toxins. To get your vital omega-3 fatty acids,
eat
high quality fish oil instead. This will also, incidentally, help keep you
from getting the flu.

Other ways to avoid getting the flu without taking dangerous shots include:

* Eating a healthy diet by eliminating sugar
* Exercising
* Getting enough rest
* Eating garlic regularly
* Not letting stress become overwhelming
* Washing your hands

To learn more about the dangers of flu vaccines, you might want to consider
calling into our telephone clinic on the subject, where you will hear a live
discussion I will conduct with my top vaccine advisor, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny,
who is widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable and outspoken
physicians regarding the impact that vaccines can have on health.

Another URL: http://www.mercola.com/2003/dec/17/flu_vaccine.htm

Who/what can you trust? We already have a daughter who has been diagnosed
with MS.

Can you believe the stuff that you read?

Ermalee ----easily confused :-)

Erm, my take on all this is that it is as much crying wolf as fact.

Yes, lots of chemicals and compounds can make us ill, but in most of
these stories what is downplayed is how much of it, it actually takes to
do it.

As for mercury... Remember they used to use it in tooth fillings...

For most of these things to happen to an individual is usually about as
likely as a train hitting me in my backyard, and the tracks are over a
mile away! ;-)