How to Avoid Getting Sick on a Cruise

Are you nervous that you’ll get sick on a cruise? Now that cruising is back, many people are still worried about illness on ships, even those who are fully vaccinated. Here are some simple tips to avoid getting sick on your next cruise.

Before I fell in love with cruise travel, I was terrified of cruising. There were multiple reasons why, and one was that I was convinced I’d get sick. If I got on board, I’d immediately contract a stomach bug, or norovirus, or goodness knows what else. Then I’d be trapped on the ship, barfing and sweating and it would be miserable. So why bother?

Then I decided I was going to try a cruise, and then I took another, and another, and hey! I never caught anything! But it does happen, as we’ve all seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can take some simple steps to keep yourself and those around you healthy and safe on your next cruise. I’ll also share some tips on what to do if you start feeling sick during your voyage.

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What if you feel sick before your cruise?

If you’re sick when your cruise is sailing, you must declare it.

Before you physically check in to your cruise and receive your cruise card, the cruise line gives you a form to fill out with the date, your name, your ship, other passengers in your family, the basic stuff.

One of the questions on the card asks if you have been experiencing any gastrointestinal or cold symptoms. Usually, the form will ask if you’ve vomited in the past 24 hours.

If you’re sick, the ship’s infirmary staff will check you to determine if you’re healthy enough to board. Depending on the diagnosis and the severity of the symptoms, a sick person may be quarantined to their stateroom or denied boarding.

Viruses can spread quickly to other passengers on a cruise ship, and cruise lines want to avoid an outbreak that can lead to a mass quarantine or the sailing being canceled.

Since the end of the cruise shutdown, cruise lines now have enhanced health screenings for all passengers before boarding. You’ll meet with a screener who will check your temperature, verify your COVID vaccination record, and ask some questions about any symptoms you might have.

So what happens if you’re denied boarding?

If you’re denied boarding for illness (or for any other reason), the cruise line isn’t required to refund you for your cruise fare or any other travel expenses. They can and do deny boarding to any passengers they determine could cause a health risk to the other passengers and crew.

However, during the pandemic, many cruise lines now will offer a future cruise credit to passengers they determine are too sick to cruise.

How to avoid becoming sick on a cruise

Since there’s no incentive for passengers to declare a potentially communicative illness before boarding, sick people do successfully board cruises all the time. So how do you protect yourself from getting sick once on your cruise?

While there are no guarantees that you won’t come down with a bug even if you follow all of the best practices, it’s definitely in your best interest to try to avoid catching something that could take the fun out of your cruise vacation.

Note: I am not a doctor or medical professional. None of the tips that I provide in this article are meant to take the place of medical advice from a trained professional. If you need medical advice, consult your doctor or another certified medical professional.

Wear a mask

With the return to cruising, most cruise lines do require passengers to wear a mask in certain areas of the ship. Most will require you to wear a mask covering your mouth and nose when you’re in indoor public spaces, but you can remove it while eating and drinking.

You’ll often be able to remove your mask on the outdoor decks, but it’s still a good idea to keep it on if social distancing isn’t possible.

Check with your cruise line to see what kinds of masks are allowed —often bandanas and single-layer fabric masks are not. Some may require medical-grade masks, and even double-layer cloth masks might not be acceptable.

Wash your hands often and use hand sanitizer

On a cruise ship, it’s a good idea to wash your hands far more often than the average person would at home. Obviously, wash after using the restroom and before meals, but also as you leave or return to your stateroom.

Bring along a travel-sized hand sanitizer to use after touching surfaces in public areas such as hand railings and elevator buttons. You’ll also see hand sanitizer stations near dining areas, or staff will spray your hands before you eat, such as the “washy-washy” crew on Norwegian’s ships.

(If you haven’t been on an NCL cruise, they have a staff member with a spray bottle of hand sanitizer stationed outside of the buffets. They’re usually very animated and will shout, “washy-washy!” at you with a big smile as they spray your hands with sanitizer. I love those people.)

We’ve all learned that hand sanitizer can kill coronaviruses. But hand sanitizer doesn’t kill norovirus, MRSA, E. coli, or salmonella. Thorough (and I mean really thorough) handwashing with soap and hot water is your best bet.

The CDC currently recommends that passengers on cruise ships wash their hands thoroughly and use a hand sanitizer containing 60-95% alcohol if soap and water aren’t available.

Try to only use the restroom in your stateroom

Although you may be fanatical about hygiene, other passengers may not be. Try to avoid using the restrooms in public areas. Although the staff tries to keep them clean, and the public restrooms do usually look tidy, other passengers may not follow basic hygiene procedures. In your own stateroom, you can wipe down the hard surfaces with antibacterial wipes to ensure cleaner conditions.

Worried about odors in your stateroom bathroom? Yeah, there’s really no ventilation, it’s true. DO NOT liberally spray your significant other’s expensive eau de cologne. Just don’t do it. Trust me.

If you have smell worries, take along a little bottle of Poo-Pourri. It’s not expensive, and your cabin mates will thank you.

Open restroom doors with a paper towel

If you find yourself far from your stateroom and you have to use the public restroom, be sure to open the main door with a clean paper towel on your way out. Cruise ship restrooms have paper towels and a trash receptacle right by the door for this purpose. If the last person didn’t wash their hands, but you did, you just undid it by touching that handle. Yuck.

Use sanitizing wipes on hard surfaces in your stateroom

Chances are, your room steward will do a great job keeping your room clean. But does he have time to go around and sanitize everything? Probably not. Put some sanitizing wipes in your carry-on so you can give the surfaces in your stateroom a quick wipe-down.

Things to focus on? The TV remote, telephone, door handles, and anything in the restroom. It also never hurts to give a quick wipe to any flat surfaces in your stateroom you might be eating on if you order room service.

Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth

I’m a fidgety person, and this is always the hardest thing for me to avoid. But we all know germs travel quickly through mucous membranes.

Plus, any of your own bodily fluids that get on your hands from rubbing your eyes, biting your nails, or scratching your nose could transmit bacteria or a virus to others the next time you touch that handrail or bar top.

If you do touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, make sure you wash your hands or apply sanitizer each time, and ask your family members to do the same.

Avoid the buffet

If you really want to play it safe, stay away from the buffet. It makes me sad to say this because I love buffets! I’m not saying that there’s zero hygiene in cruise buffets. In fact, they’re usually very well maintained, probably more so than your average land-based buffet.

If a cruise ship has an outbreak of illness, many cruise lines will not only mandate hand washing or the use of sanitizer, but many will also switch their buffet self-service to a served buffet.

(A few cruise lines actually always have served buffets. You’ll still walk through the buffet line and choose your dishes, but the crew will serve a helping onto your plate.)

In my cruising experience, I’ve seen people pick food up with their hands, inspect it, and then put that food item back for the next person to select. I’ve also seen people cough and sneeze under the sneeze guard.

I’ve often seen people manhandle multiple clean plates in an attempt to pass a plate to a family member. They realize that the family member already has a plate, so they put it back in the stack. Ick.

I’m not saying to avoid the buffets altogether. Cruise buffets can be fun! But if you want to be sure that only trained staff has touched your food and your plate, eat in the main dining room. The food and service are better, and it’s complimentary for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Note: as of 2021, most cruise lines have (perhaps temporarily) switched to served buffets only. A notable exception is Carnival, which still has self-serve buffets.

What if you start to feel sick during a cruise?

If you feel that you’re coming down with an illness during your cruise, definitely make a visit to the ship’s infirmary. Did you know that cruise ships from the major lines have 24-hour medical care available?

On a Princess cruise, I had an allergic reaction and had to visit the infirmary. I was expecting something akin to an elementary school nurse’s office. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

The medical facility was fairly large, with a receptionist, a doctor, and a couple of nurses working when I visited. In fact, large cruise ships often sail with two physicians and three or four RNs on staff!

I had to have some tests completed, including an EKG. The doctor gave me prescription medication immediately, as well as a small amount to take with me in case my symptoms returned.

The cost of the visit was charged to my ship’s card, but it was only a few hundred dollars. When I returned home, I was able to submit the claim to my health insurance and travel insurance providers.

Have I told you lately that you should always purchase travel insurance? You should. I only had a small claim, but it made up for the cost of buying the insurance.

If you feel sick, go visit the infirmary. If you have something communicable, you may be quarantined to your stateroom (but you probably would want to stay in bed anyway). The crew will bring meals to your room, as well as any medication you might need.

With something more serious, you may be required to seek more advanced medical treatment at the next port. In life-threatening situations, a patient can be evacuated by helicopter to a medical facility on land.

You might also like: Nine Things You Need to Check Before Your Cruise

How to avoid gastrointestinal problems in port

We’ve all heard of travelers contracting “Montezuma’s Revenge” or “Delhi Belly” from something they ate or drank while traveling in a foreign country. Traveler’s diarrhea is common in much of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Mexico, and Central and South America.

Although the vast majority of those affected recover from symptoms in four days, for some people it can take a week to subside. How can you avoid a similar problem ruining your cruise?

Watch out for the water

Most of us know to avoid tap water when traveling. But did you think of ice cubes? They’re usually made from, you got it, tap water.

Avoid water that’s not from a sealed bottle, and specify “no ice” when ordering other drinks. Coffee or tea? Another no. Although the water is heated for these hot drinks, it’s most likely not boiled, so bacteria can remain.

Your safest bet is to drink sealed carbonated beverages. Why carbonated? Sometimes unscrupulous restaurant owners refill water bottles with tap water. It’s hard to fake the “whoosh” of carbonation when opening a bottle.

Stay away from raw, cut fruits and vegetables

As traveler’s diarrhea is usually due to poor sanitation, avoid any raw fruits or vegetables such as salad or cut fruit. These foods may not have been washed properly. Fruits that you peel yourself, such as oranges or bananas, are generally considered safe.

Don’t eat any raw or partially cooked meat

Ceviche, poke, sashimi, and other raw delicacies are delicious, but it’s safest to avoid them when you’re in port.

During the summer of 2018, the Bahamas’ Ministry of Health confirmed several cases of conch poisoning, caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria.

Although rinsing with clean, fresh water can remove the bacteria, play it safe and only eat cooked meats when traveling to areas where bacterial infections are common, or sanitation may be questionable.

Do you need to get any special vaccines or medication when cruising to a foreign country?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise that you ensure you’re up-to-date on all of your regular vaccines before traveling.

Additionally, as of the 2021 return to cruising, most cruise lines have strict rules that require most, if not all cruise passengers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Some lines make exceptions based on age or medical conditions, so check with your cruise line for specifics.

As for region-specific vaccines and medications, the CDC has health information for cruise ship passengers traveling to any country in the world.

If you find that you need specialized vaccines or medication that your regular doctor or pharmacy can’t provide, you may have to visit a travel clinic. Be sure to visit at least a month prior to your trip.

You might also like: Eight Things That Will Surprise First Time Cruisers

Have you ever been hit with a stomach bug or other sickness on a cruise ship? Or do you have any tips on staying healthy on board that I didn’t mention? Let me know in the comments below!

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