Over the top media reaction?

[squirk]

The funny thing is if NBC/Universal had cruise ships this article would have never seen the light of day.

NBCNews.com regularly publishes these “Think” articles that are opinion-based. My impression is that they look for polarizing opinions in order to grab eyeballs.

I don’t think this was a “hit job” on DCL. They mention the commercial at the beginning, but Carnival is the cruise line that takes the biggest hit in this article.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Germs and illnesses are good for us. Exposure enhances our immune systems and makes us hardier as a species. There is actually a hygiene hypothesis that believes excessive cleanliness, hand sanitizers, antibacterial soap, etc causes the human species to weaken and develop more cases of allergies, asthma, autoimmune disorders and such.

Exactly.

 

[insureman]

My husband is a microbiologist. His response-better get her a bubble to live in!

Yup

 

[tlprice]

I'm pretty sure being exposed to many germs makes you more immune to them. I have babysat, worked at a daycare (toddlers and preschoolers), been a nanny, and taught middle school for 18 years. I'm pretty sure I have been exposed to pretty much everything out there. I almost never get sick even if pretty much everybody around me gets sick. My daughter also very rarely gets sick and I think it is because I taught school when I was pregnant with her and passed on my immunities to her.

 

[tcufrog]

The difference between a school/movie theater and a cruise ship is that if your child is sick you can take him straight to his pediatrician who knows your child’s medical history or to an ER which is much better equipped than the medical facilities on a cruise ship.

FWIW, we’re going on the Dream in October.

 

[Karin1984]

In these discussions I always think about something one of my colleagues does, and I don't. Whenever she gets out of the bathroom stall, she takes a piece of toilet paper to hold the door handle of the stall, to open the faucet and to open the door handle of the door back to the office. I don't do this, I hold everything without thinking about it. Neither me nor this colleague reports in sick. So to me, whether you do or don't... it might not make a difference. Do whatever you like, as long as it doesn't become an OCD.

 

[MomOTwins]

The difference between a school/movie theater and a cruise ship is that if your child is sick you can take him straight to his pediatrician who knows your child’s medical history or to an ER which is much better equipped than the medical facilities on a cruise ship.

FWIW, we’re going on the Dream in October.

The cruise ship doctors are perfectly well equipped for anything short of surgery.

 

[mike314]

Germs are everywhere and the only thing you can do and teach your kids is to wash your hands every so often and exercise good hygiene. The article linked above is an opinion piece and not hard news, so some facts are sensationalized over others.

 

[mike314]

The cruise ship doctors are perfectly well equipped for anything short of surgery.

Very very true, my mom went on an Oceana cruise to south pacific and caught the flu....they were able to treat her and give her meds and she felt much better within 24 hrs.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I always laugh at people who say "I don't need to wash my hands, because I used hand sanitizer". First, ew to not washing off the sanitizer, which would be bad for your skin and to ingest on food and second, who wants dead germs on them or their food? Carcass hands! Sure, in a pinch when no water is available, but otherwise, wash.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I always laugh at people who say "I don't need to wash my hands, because I used hand sanitizer". First, ew to not washing off the sanitizer, which would be bad for your skin and to ingest on food and second, who wants dead germs on them or their food? Carcass hands! Sure, in a pinch when no water is available, but otherwise, wash.

I find it ridiculous because most hand sanitizers aren't as effective as simple handwashing. Most hand sanitizers aren't effective against Noro, which is a primary concern on cruises.

 

[Toolulu22]

I guess cruisers are a different breed. On this thread the theme seems to be "germs are good for us", whereas over on another thread its all about not stepping foot in a room until its full on decontaminated: lysol spray, wipe down of all surfaces, cleaning the coffee maker/cups/etc. and who knows what germs are in/on the new shampoo/conditioner dispensers.

I get what the doctor in this article is saying, that germs spread more easily in a confined space- like a cruise ship. Its the purpose of quarantines- to keep sick people together so that disease doesn't spread outside a given area. She prefers not to cruise, and referred to the incident logs that has all cruise lines and ships listed. Disney wasn't bad compared to some other lines, but some ships are better than others. This might be something useful to know when planning in comparing ships or lines. The company she dug into was Carnival, and referenced a Disney advertisement.

Public health is an area that ALL companies should be held accountable for, regardless of our attachments to them. When something is going on in our local school-someone has a contagious illness- and parents aren't notified immediately, the superintendent has hell to pay. We get notices several times a school year about one thing or another.

I don't mind reading other people's opinions and taking them into consideration. It doesn't mean I have to act on it, but there is some useful information there.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

She does have a point...but the one time I got norovirus, it was not on a cruise ship. Her choice to avoid cruises, but I don't see the CDC out there saying "stay off cruise ships, they are just big tubes full of germs."

Wash your hands! Especially on the ships.

 

[mevelandry]

This was on the NBC news website. Discuss.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/amp/ncna1043516

"(...) what I see when contemplating such an excursion is the potential to be trapped with thousands of others in a confined space, suffering from gastrointestinal aliments like norovirus and E. coli, respiratory infections including influenza and chickenpox, or, as a recent Scientology cruise demonstrated, measles. And that just doesn't sound like a fun vacation to me. (...)

Granted for Norovirus... but at least we can get vaccinated for the rest of the stuff that are mentioned.

I feel like the author is a germaphobe. I can imagine this person doesn't take public transportation either.

 

[squirk]

I feel like the author is a germaphobe. I can imagine this person doesn't take public transportation either.

Right. She almost seems to think that catching noro on a ship is a foregone conclusion.

I wonder if the phobia led to the career, or if the career led to the phobia.

 

[mevelandry]

Right. She almost seems to think that catching noro on a ship is a foregone conclusion.

I wonder if the phobia led to the career, or if the career led to the phobia.

I've been wondering the same thing.

 

[MomOTwins]

I always laugh at people who say "I don't need to wash my hands, because I used hand sanitizer". First, ew to not washing off the sanitizer, which would be bad for your skin and to ingest on food and second, who wants dead germs on them or their food? Carcass hands! Sure, in a pinch when no water is available, but otherwise, wash.

I always feel icky after using purell, like I want to get the residue off my hands. When we can't wash hands, I use antibacterial wipes. At least then, I feel like the wipe is removing some of what is on my hand.

 

[FireflyTrance]

We took a cruise on Royal Caribbean when my daughter was two and she got horrible food poisoning, which I am almost certain she got on the ship since it was several days into the cruise. There was only one medical staff member available to see her. She had been throwing up for hours at this point. In order to see her I had to immediately pay $130, they did not accept insurance. Then all they did was prescribe Tylenol/Motrin. 12 hours later my daughter was still throwing up and we went down again. I was told to give her pedialite and given some other anti-nausea medication. The medical staff member was not a Pediatrician and was not particularly friendly or helpful. Maybe Disney has an actual Pediatrician onboard, but not all cruise lines do. I ended up also calling out to our Pediatrician back home and leaving voicemails. Took a while to hear back. If I was on land I could have taken her to pediatric urgent care. All in all fairly stressful. So there is some truth to being stuck on a cruise ship with a medical problem. Don’t expect the level of care or expertise you could get if you were home.

 

[cgolf]

In these discussions I always think about something one of my colleagues does, and I don't. Whenever she gets out of the bathroom stall, she takes a piece of toilet paper to hold the door handle of the stall, to open the faucet and to open the door handle of the door back to the office. I don't do this, I hold everything without thinking about it. Neither me nor this colleague reports in sick. So to me, whether you do or don't... it might not make a difference. Do whatever you like, as long as it doesn't become an OCD.

In the mens room at work I have seen enough guys go from the stall to straight out of the bathroom without washing their hands. Because of this I use the towel I dry my hands with to open the door. Not washing your hands in that case is just kind of wrong.

 

[Karin1984]

In the mens room at work I have seen enough guys go from the stall to straight out of the bathroom without washing their hands. Because of this I use the towel I dry my hands with to open the door. Not washing your hands in that case is just kind of wrong.

Not the point I was trying to make. It was about getting sick and if being extra careful with hygiene was of influence. From my point of view it is not. Otherwise I would want men to wash their hands every time they readjust their crown jewels, regardless if it is touching through fabric or directly on the flesh.

If you start to think carefully about everything a person touches throughout the day without washing his/her hands after, you would never leave your bed. Then again, don't Google how many germs live on your pillow... People are filthy, it is about finding balance between proper hygiene to avoid getting sick and being overly cautious.

And for the record, I do wash my hands after going to the bathroom