Here’s what happens when you get sick on a cruise ship

I’ve been on dozens of cruises over the past few years and usually only get sick on one occasion. When I cruise with friends who have young children, I get cold easily when I get off the ship.

I suspect this has nothing to do with the cruise, but everything to do with my exposure to germs that adults without kids in school don’t typically experience.

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However, in November, when the Exquisite Equinox first departed Port Canaveral, I became sick on board for the first time. I still think it was food poisoning, but cruise lines treat gastrointestinal illnesses in much the same way.

Overall, the onset of my illness was part of a comedy of errors. Later in the afternoon, I went to a coffee shop and dictated a story on my phone. In order not to disturb other passengers, I picked a table that was slightly out of the way.

I was so excited while dictating my story. I held my phone in one hand and waved it around. Of course, this resulted in me spilling an entire hot latte.

My pants were soaked, my thighs were slightly burned, and thankfully the coffee spilled on my shirt, so I obviously spilled something on myself and didn’t wet my pants. After informing the staff of the chaos, I went back to my room and put on a new pair of pants.

Then I came back for a second cup of coffee and decided to go to the martini bar for something stronger. It was late afternoon or early evening and my work day was over.

This seemed like a reasonable time to have a gin martini, so I ordered one and took a slow sip.

After finishing my drink, I went back to my room and planned to grab my wallet and go to the casino. As I approached my cabin, I started to feel a little sick to my stomach.

As soon as I entered the room to go to the bathroom, I vomited for the first time in about 18 years. (I remember the last time because it had to do with a Super Bowl trip where my wife and then two-year-old were at home battling a horrible stomach bug that I contracted upon my return).

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What happens when you get sick on a cruise ship?

After that unpleasant experience, my body seemed to decide that it no longer wanted to keep food in my body. I won’t bore you with the details, but I’m glad I didn’t share a cabin with anyone else.

For a few hours I was a prisoner in the bathroom and threw up twice more. The third time was by far the worst and I felt about 90% better after it happened.

I slowly drank a large bottle of very expensive Evian room service and decided to self-isolate for the rest of the night.

In the morning I felt better but needed to remind the cruise line that I would not be able to attend the ceremony the next day which would mean leaving the ship and returning. That requires a special pass, and you have to say you haven’t had any gastrointestinal problems in the past 24 hours.

Although I feel fine now and am pretty sure it was a case of food poisoning, my email to the cruise line set off a chain of events.

The infirmary called my cabin and insisted that I come in and have a look. I did and they took my blood pressure, which was actually pretty good even though it was a little high at times, and gave me antibiotics and a generic version of Imodium.

I also got tested for COVID-19 and since they never mentioned it again, I had to assume it came back negative.

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Celebrity Cruises requires me to quarantine

Even though I didn’t believe I was sick and had not had any symptoms since the night before, I was asked to quarantine on the last day of the cruise.

For someone who takes a once-a-year vacation, this might be a big deal, but considering I had multiple cruises booked before the end of the year, I wasn’t too bummed.

A crew member called me to see what I needed and sent over a large case of water and ginger ale. I wasn’t too hungry but they kept calling me for room service so eventually, I ordered some rice and some chicken soup, both of which were left in the right place.

I was told that someone would call me that night and arrange for me to be escorted off the ship the next morning. But that never happened, they told me when I called to say goodbye the next morning.

This was the only part of the whole process that I felt a little frustrated about, because if the goal was actually to prevent other passengers from being exposed to the virus, standing in the self-deplaning queue was certainly not achieving that goal.

Overall, the cruise line was very accommodating, in fact, my only complaint (besides the chicken soup not being very good) was that they called too often. Every time I want to take a break, it’s like someone calls me and offers me something for free.

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That’s very generous, but at a certain point, I just want to sleep. If you get sick on a cruise ship, please respect other passengers by seeing a doctor.

Yes, this may mean you’re quarantining for a while on vacation, but cruise lines are protecting you, your fellow passengers, and themselves as we take every step to prevent the spread.

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