How to avoid getting sick on a cruise this summer and the first thing every traveler should pack

Don’t let your vacation go to ship.Cruises are a popular travel option thanks to endless entertainment options, bottomless buffets and easy movement from port to port — but they can also be hotbeds for infectious diseases, stomach upset and issues that arise from having a little too much fun in the sun.Here’s how to avoid getting sick on the boat, from contagions to food poisoning to sunstroke.“Infectious diseases spread quickly on cruise ships because a lot of people share the same space day and night for an extended amount of time in relatively close contact,” Dr.Shalom Sokolow, an emergency medicine physician at Northwell’s Phelps Hospital Outbreaks, told The Post.Cruises are particularly notorious for tummy bugs, with 2024 marking the worst year for stomach virus outbreaks aboard in over a decade.“Norovirus, a stomach virus, travels very quickly on cruise ships,” added Dr.

Eric Ascher, a family medicine physician at Northwell’s Lenox Hill Hospital.Both doctors stressed that it’s crucial to practice good hand hygiene to avoid catching something.“Always wash your hands after you have been in contact with other people and before you eat,” Sokolow said.Ascher recommends lathering those hands up with warm, soapy water for 30 seconds, taking extra care to wash your hands before you eat, after you use the bathroom and before touching your face.“Travelers enjoy buffets when traveling, but that is also an easy way for the norovirus to spread because of all the shared utensils,” Ascher said.That’s not the only way to induce gastro distress from the all-you-can-eat line-up — it can be easy for other bugs to spread, and certain foods pose a risk when they sit out for a long time.So, should cruise-shippers bring their own lunch out of an abundance of caution?“Plentiful and fun food is among the main appeals of a cruise and there is no reason to miss out,” Sokolow said.“However, there are a few basic steps to protect yourself from get...