Oh yes I started on the ship Wed. evening after a perfect day of snokeling,it hit me around 6:00, I was not very sociable, There were some ladies who took lots of underwater pitures, they told me their room number so we could exchange emails addresses  for the pitures, I was unable , feeling too ill,to go to there room. I see that they are posted, and are beautiful, great job,  Wanda

Right after the feb cruise I came down with a nasty URI it took 2 zpacks and I am still feeling this bad bug

I've been down with it too!  Nasty headcold.  I've learned to use a neti-pot.... thank goodness... it does offer some relief.  I'm sure I've spread my germs to everyone on the plane back to Kuwait!  Sorry!!!  But it was so worth it !!!! 

kel and i have both been sick since the cruise. nasty cough and sinus not to mention sleeping every chance i get!! Its hard with the little one running around everywhere.  i went and got antibiotics and kel went with over the counter. i am on the up swing and kel is still sick. hope this passes soon. longest virus ever!

flipflop 

I hear limes are excellent at preventing colds...lol! 

Tammy

The infection went in Mickey's ear. She finally was given antibiotics today. I spent an alone day on my birthday yesterday at the spa while Mickey spent the day in bed. Good thing we celebrated on the cruise

We are both on day 8 of our nasty colds.  I finally broke down and went to the doctor today and now have some strong meds to knock out the infection.

I would have thought all those limes would have boosted my immune system. 

This definitely was one of the worst viruses I've had.  I think I slept 75% of the past week...Am only now able to stay up for longer periods of time...

Me and Tommy both have a nasty chest cold.  Guess I didn't use enough hand sanitizer while on the ship.  Getting better though.  Hope everyone feels better soon.

  

Niki

I had a flu test and it came back negative.  There can be false negatives, but according to my doctor, they are pretty rare. 

 I'm still sick but I'm way better than I was on Tuesday and Wednesday.  If Mickey still can't get out of bed in a day or two I'd defnitely take her to the doctor. 

 This is one of the worst colds I ever remember having!  I hope everyone gets better soon.

Randi: I agree. It is the new fad to avoid antibiotics and I agree that at one point we overprescribed, but I do think that doctors should take a culture to test whether it is viral or bacterial. However, so early in the game, I would wait it out. Colds take 10 - 14 days to play out. After that if Mickey is still sick it would probably be a secondary infection that would require antibiotics. My daughter once had a bacterial skin infection from a water park and if she had been wacked with a 3-day strong antibiotic it would have been gone in a flash. By the time the doctor finally acknowledged that it was bacterial and not "inspecific dermatitis." it was too late.  "Inspecific dermatitis" is what the doctors label a REALLY bad rash/skin infection when they don't want to do any work finding out what it is. Any way because of having no antibiotics, my daughter had a recurring skin infection for years. I finally conquered it using a antibacterial soap used for acne. One of the nurses from my doctor's office later called me (off the record) to ask what I used to get rid of my daughters thing (hot tub folliculitis was the layman's term).Stay away from water parks, PS.

 I have all of the same symptoms as Mickey I think. It started with a scratchy cough, then to my chest, then sore throat and today my head is pounding and feels like a stuffed balloon and I have trouble getting out of bed but have to. My recommendation is for Mickey to take Mucinex or something to prevent a secondary infection for which you WILL need antibiotics. Also run a hot steam humidifier in her  room. You probably know all these things Right now I think Mickey and I just have a really bad cold and antibiotics make colds worse cause they kill all the germs that are competing with your cold for nutrients. At this time of year I hate to go into the doctor's office where I end up sitting next to sick people who seem to think that because they are at the Drs that there is no need to cover a cough or sneeze. Many people came on to the boat with the symptoms we are having, but didn't write it down on those health cards I would assume. Well, I better stop procrastinating here and everywhere else AND the trip is over so I suppose I must move on! I have to go clean out an apartment and, man, the way I feel it is going to take me forever. I've drugged myself with cold and cough medicine and ibuprofen and I feel 25% better!. Probably not a wise choice, but I have no choice. Hope Mickey feels better. (The other thing we might have is the H1N1. I had the vaccine also, but the last batches were weakened versions of the vaccine so we are not completely protected.) Take care and feel better. I think next time I take a trip it will not be in the cold and flu season.

 Randi wrote:

 Mickey seems to be getting worse. No gastro symptoms, but terrible cough, sore throat, congestion, achy and fatigue. She now spends most of her time in bed as she can hardly sit up. She had both the seasonal flu and H1N1 shots back at the end of 2009.  I tend to wonder if I should send her back to the Dr. for antibiotics. Anyone out there on antibiotics and feeling better? I hate the fact that they look at you and claim to know you don't need antibiotics without any cultures or tests.

Mickey seems to be getting worse. No gastro symptoms, but terrible cough, sore throat, congestion, achy and fatigue. She now spends most of her time in bed as she can hardly sit up. She had both the seasonal flu and H1N1 shots back at the end of 2009.  I tend to wonder if I should send her back to the Dr. for antibiotics. Anyone out there on antibiotics and feeling better? I hate the fact that they look at you and claim to know you don't need antibiotics without any cultures or tests.

For me, the land sickness final subsided.

Randi 

I got mine weeks before the cruise…so I guess I was immune.  I know at least a couple dozen people who are sick…who weren’t even on our cruise…wishing everyone good health soon!

Yup.  I started feeling sick the morning of debarkation and chaulked it up to good bye grief. However my symptoms wer mostly gastrointestinal cramping and nausea which have only just now eased up.  I kind of think it was the lamb chops I ordered the last nite but it also could have been an overdose of seafood which I enjoyed 2-3 times every day of the cruise.  At any rate- It was all well worth it!!  Great Trip!  Deb

Marsha got sick on Friday late afternoon--severe GI symptoms (diarrhea and nausea...no vomiting)  Called the ship nurse and was told that no one else had reported anything but she was isolated...including departure which we had to do before everyone else and our luggage couldn't mix with anyone else's.  She developed upper respiratory congestion afterwards.  I was angry when departing the ship as after all that isolation they put us in a cab (which they paid) with another person who also had GI symptoms.  Keep in mind that we had each paid $21 for transfer fees which they refused to reimburse us...and the cab cost them only $25 total!  Nice profit for HAL...plus the fact that they exposed me to another potential source of infection.  Sure enough, I got a bad upper respiratory infection and am being treated with antibiotics and have also developed some GI symptoms today...although thusfar milder than Marsha's.  The person who rode in the cab with us also said that others had the GI symptoms on board the ship but did not report them   That's a sure way to spread infection!  The norovirus is NOT effectively erradicated by alcohol based sanitizers, which leads me to question why cruise ships make such a big deal about using them...perhaps they should be pushing old fashioned soap and water!!!