How Not to Get Sick on a Cruise
Written by Joanne Chen of cntraveler.com
Stay on board with these 12 strategies and chances are you’ll be healthy and happy your whole time at sea.
One of the biggest misconceptions about cruise ships is that they’re germ incubators—that you can’t escape. But the likelihood of catching a stomach bug on a seven-day voyage is less than 1 percent—which is about a third the risk of getting infected in your day-to-day life back home, says Dr. Carter Hill, a Seattle-area emergency-room physician who specializes in cruise-ship medicine. Here’s the catch: If someone onboard does succumb to a nasty virus, it can spread quickly across the ship because it’s a closed environment where many people share many things. When a sick passenger with poor hygiene touches a water pitcher, doorknob, or poker chips, other passengers may fall ill, too. To avoid the flu virus, stomach bug, or any other infectious condition, stick with the following strategies:
[…] Another common fear of a cruise vacation is the spread of disease such as the norovirus. The total number of outbreaks on cruises on ships with U.S. and foreign ports totals 62 outbreaks from 2010 to 2014 and the total number of people sickened went from 2,821 in 2010 to 1,766 in 2014. As it is great to see the number of outbreaks going down over the years, take the necessary precautions yourself to keep yourself healthy while cruising. […]
[…] next vacation. Ultimately, a cruise ship is as safe as you make it – be conscientious of your health and surroundings, pay attention to the crew so that you know what to do in case of an emergency and […]