All About Cruises

Tag: cruise safety tips

  • How To Avoid Norovirus On Your Next Cruise

    How To Avoid Norovirus On Your Next Cruise

    Unfortunately, Norovirus outbreaks are becoming more common on cruise ships as well as locations on land such as schools, daycare centers, nursing homes and other places with a large group of people in a confined space. The virus normally causes vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain and is spread through contact with stool or vomit from an infected person. On cruise ships, it is believed that the virus is spread through food or liquids that have been contaminated or from touching contaminated surfaces.

    Knowing that touching contaminated areas or items can spread norovirus is critical to avoiding infection when on a cruise ship. In common areas of the ship avoid touching handrails, elevator buttons, and especially the doorknobs entering and exiting the restrooms. Even tables and armrests on lounge chairs can be contaminated and cause you to become ill.

    It can also be a good idea to avoid the buffet line. The community serving utensils are a very common surface for the spread of contagions such as Norovirus. Germs can also grow and spread more rapidly on the buffet tables when the food is not maintained at the proper temperature. If cold food begins to get warm or hot foods cool to only a warm temperature, there is a higher risk of germs.

    Hand washing is critical when these stomach type ailments are present on a cruise. Medical professionals recommend scrubbing for 20 seconds and rinsing with hot water. It is also recommended that as soon as you enter your cabin, you wash your hands. This will help to avoid contaminating any hard surfaces in the cabin that are not cleaned as frequently as the common areas of the ship.

    You never know when there is going to be an outbreak when you are traveling, so it is always best to be well prepared. Packing a pump bottle of hand sanitizer for your bathroom is always a good idea. In addition, pack a pocket-sized hand sanitizer for each person in your travel party. These can be refilled from your larger pump bottle which is more economical than buying a large number of small bottles. In addition, packing a good supply of individually packaged hand sanitizer wipes is also wise. These can be used anywhere and are also handy to offer to a seatmate on a plane or other passengers on the ship.

    Taking every precaution to avoid contamination might not be how you wanted to spend your vacation, but it is certainly better than spending your trip alone and sick in your cabin.

  • Cruise Vacations: Safety Tips

    Cruise vacations are a beautiful thing: there are lots of reasons to take cruise vacations, one of which is that there are so many different cruises to choose from. Be this as it may, it is always wise to exercise caution when going on a vacation, and cruise vacations are no exception. Below are some of the top tips for staying safe on your cruise.

    Our first bit of advice is very general; in fact, it’s so general that it is basically a rule of life: be aware of your surroundings and stay alert. Many cruise vacations involve thousands of people, and there is no reason to assume that everyone is a paragon of virtue – this includes the crew too. So, exercise the same caution that you exercise when going about your daily life. It is wise not to walk around dark parts of the ship late at night, for example. This all seems quite obvious, but people tend to let down their guard on vacations to a degree that is often not wise. The warmth of the sun feels glorious as you sip your third delicious cocktail of the day and chat with your friends – all is well – but remember to keep an eye on your cell phone and iPod sitting nearby. That you feel full of good will does not mean that everyone else on the ship does.

    These last couple of sentences hint at two more specific safety tips. First, keep your valuables in the ship’s safe, not the safe in your cabin. The cabin’s safe is fine for small amounts of cash and items like your watch (as long as it’s a cheap watch – no need to bring an expensive one anyway), but for really important documents, like your passport and tickets, as well as valuables, like jewelry, it is best to keep these in the ship’s safe. Second, take it easy on the booze, not only because it compromises your judgment, thereby making you susceptible to the types of mistakes cautioned against above, but also because cruise ships are moving vessels, going forward at 20 knots per hour (23 mph) and often moving back and forth when the sea is rough. Lots of drink on an unsteady surface could be a recipe for – how should we put it – discomfort.

    Finally, be sure to report anything suspicious while you’re on your cruise. The best defense is a good offense, as the saying goes. Most cruises have an abundant staff, so there should be employees around to inform of any issues no matter your location on the ship, and in any event there is always an administrative office to report problems to.

    Overall, ships are secure places, but you should always exercise due caution and common sense while taking a cruise vacation. What is true of life can hardly fail to be true of cruises.

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