Having been on dozens of cruises over the years, I usually only get sick in one circumstance. When I travel with friends who have a small child, I tend to catch a cold when I get off the boat.
I suspect that has nothing to do with the cruise, but rather the fact that I am exposed to germs that adults who don't have a child in school generally don't experience.
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However, in November, during the Celebrity Equinox's first voyage from Port Canaveral, I had my first illness on board. I still think it was food poisoning, but the cruise line treats anything gastrointestinal pretty much the same.
Overall, the onset of my illness was part of a comedy of errors. I went to the coffee shop late in the afternoon to dictate a story on my phone. In order not to disturb the other passengers, I chose a table somewhat far away.
As I dictated my story, I became quite animated. I was holding my phone in one hand and shaking it quite a bit. That, of course, led me to downing an entire hot latte.
My pants were soaked, my thighs were slightly burned, and luckily the coffee had splattered on my shirt, so it was pretty clear that I had spilled something on myself and not gotten my pants wet. After alerting a staff member to the mess, I returned to my room and put on a new pair of pants.
I then went back for a second coffee and decided to head over to the martini bar for something a little stronger. It was already late or early evening and my workday was over.
It seemed like a reasonable time for a gin martini, which I ordered and drank slowly.
After finishing my drink, I returned to my room, planning to grab my wallet so I could go to the casino. As I got closer to my cabin, my stomach started to feel a little sick.
I had barely entered the room and gone to the bathroom when I vomited for the first time in about 18 years. (I remember the last time because it was related to a trip to the Super Bowl where my wife and 2-year-old son were at home fighting a horrible stomach bug I contracted as soon as I got back.)
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What happens when you get sick on a cruise?
After that unpleasant episode, my body generally seemed to decide that there should be no food left inside me. I'll spare you the details, but I'm glad I'm not sharing a cabin with anyone else.
For a few hours I was a prisoner of the bathroom and vomited two more times. The third one was by far the worst and after it happened I felt 90% better.
I slowly drank a very large and very expensive bottle of Room Service Evian and decided to quarantine myself for the rest of the night.
In the morning I felt better, but I needed to let the cruise line know that I wouldn't be able to attend a ceremony the next day, which would have meant abandoning the ship and getting back on. That requires a special pass and you must say that you have not had any gastrointestinal problems in the last 24 hours.
Although I was feeling fine now and was pretty sure it was a bout of food poisoning, my email to the cruise line set off a chain of events.
The doctor's office called my cabin and insisted that he come visit me. I did and they took my blood pressure, which was actually good although it can tend to be a little high at times, and they gave me an antibiotic and a generic version of Imodium.
They also gave me a Covid test, which since it was never mentioned again, I have to assume was negative.
Celebrity Cruises asked me to self-isolate
Although I did not believe I was sick and had not had any symptoms since the night before, I was asked to self-isolate for the last day of the cruise.
That could be a big problem for someone who goes on vacation once a year, but since I had several cruises booked before the end of the year, I wasn't too bothered.
A crew member called me to see what I needed and sent me a large case of water and ginger ale. I wasn't very hungry, but they kept calling me and offering room service, so in the end I ordered rice and chicken soup, and they were both in the right place.
I was told that someone would call me that night to arrange my escort off the ship the next morning. That never happened, and when I called the next morning they told me to just say goodbye.
That was the only part of the process that I found a little frustrating because if the goal was truly to avoid exposure to other passengers, my position in the self-deboarding line certainly didn't accomplish that.
Overall, the cruise line was very helpful and in fact my only complaint (other than the chicken soup wasn't very good) was that they called too frequently. Every time I tried to rest it seemed like someone else had called me to offer me something for free.
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That was very generous, but at one point I just wanted to go to bed. If you get sick on a cruise, visit the doctor to be respectful of your fellow travelers.
Yes, that might mean spending part of your vacation in isolation, but the cruise line is protecting you, your fellow travelers, and itself by taking all necessary steps to prevent the spread.
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