Stay Safe and Healthy Onboard

Tips to stay safe and healthy onboard

We have a few tricks and tips to help you feel safer and stay healthier onboard. Make these little things a habit and be sure your cruise will be as amazing as can be, just safer and cleaner as ever too! Regardless of whether it’s time to travel safer or you simply have a cold, while you’re sailing away on the holiday you’ve been dreaming about for so long, this ‘new way to travel advice’ will help you enjoy your holiday wherever you are and whatever you want to do, knowing you’re staying safe. While Cruise Lines make sure the environments you’re in are safer and cleaner than ever before, by making these few things a habit, you can contribute to your own safety and feel more comfortable on holiday too.

Read our article about the new health and sailing ship procedures onboard that, in combination with these tips, make your travel experience a lot more pleasant and relaxing, knowing your safety is our first priority.

Wash your hands often with soap

Washing your hands often is the best way to prevent you from getting into indirect contact with colds, flus and viruses that can spread easily. Be more aware of what you’re touching that other people have touched, like handrails and equipment for shore excursions. Just make sure that after you touch them, you don’t touch your face and then, once you’re done, simply wash your hands. A quick routine to keep you clean and safe. Rinsing your hands with water might not be enough, so just make sure you have access to soap, then imagine you’re removing the invisible germs off your hands, so scrub them off the back of your hands and in-between your fingers too.

Don’t touch your face

Try not touching your eyes, nose and mouth, especially before washing your hands, to avoid spreading any germs you might have on your hands onto other more open parts of your body and so getting sick. It’s a little habit that can be difficult to get used to but maybe carry something in your hands to keep them busy while you get rid of the habit. Maybe start bringing your handbag with you everywhere you go and have an anti-stress ball in the other hand, whatever keeps your hands busy, avoiding you touching your face.

Use hand sanitiser too

A little extra precaution is hand sanitiser. If you can’t access soap and wash your hands as frequently as you might need, this is a good interim procedure before your next visit to the bathroom. These gels will be available everywhere on the ship, but it might be good to carry one with you at all times too.

Always keep a distance

It is good practice to just stay a meter away from anyone you're talking to or anyone in front of you while you're queuing for the bar, for example. No one needs to be that close, just get into the habit of taking an extra step back everywhere you are and feel more comfortable being around people and enjoying your holiday as usual.

Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing or sneezing

If you have a tissue great, however, sometimes we use our hands when sneezing or coughing unexpectedly, use your arm and elbow to cover your face instead and protect both your hands from getting germs stuck on them and other people next to you from getting involuntarily ill too.

Swap hugs, high fives and handshakes

We know that high fiving a teammate, hugging your friend or shaking hands to introduce yourself to someone new, are commonplace actions on cruise ships, especially when you’re relaxed, thoughtless and simply having fun! We recommend swapping these for an elbow bump or a thumbs up, it might feel strange at first but whomever you’re elbowing will appreciate your gesture even more, because it shows you’re respectful of their health and safety too! Another small habit to replace to continue to enjoy your holiday as normal.

Use your elbows more

We’ve seen elbows can be useful for sneezing in them, saluting with them, but what else can we do with our elbows instead of using our hands? Turn around and push a door open with your back and elbows, instead of using your hands, you can switch the light on in your cabin by knocking it with your elbow too, whatever you can think of, swap your hands with your elbows, but not all the time or you might end up in a funny situation, grabbing your cocktail with your elbow is probably going to be tricky, so just remember, whatever else you need to touch, just wash your hands frequently and don’t touch your face in-between, right?

Get medical support when you feel ill

If you don’t feel very well, take advantage of the medical centres onboard to find out what you may have and what treatment you can get in order to feel better and get back to your holiday as soon as possible. Ask the doctor what you should do and consider staying in your cabin and taking advantage of the concierge service and some in-room entertainment until you’re fully recovered too! This way you can recover quicker and you'll avoid anyone else maybe getting sick too.