On a ship, germs move through hands: the CDC names handrails, elevator buttons, shared utensils, and other people as spreaders, and says wash hands often, especially after the toilet and before eating.
Sanitizer at every dining entrance, fresh steaming trays over sat-out buffet food, current flu and COVID shots, and your cabin bathroom over the busy public ones cut your risk most. If you get vomiting or diarrhea, isolate in your cabin and report it; ships manage outbreaks that way. Pack rehydration salts and usual medicines in hand luggage.
What to do
Common questions
How do I avoid getting sick on a cruise?
Cruise illness is mostly stomach bugs and respiratory viruses moving through a dense, shared space, so your defense is boring hygiene done relentlessly. The CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program leads with handwashing: wash your hands often, especially after using the toilet and before eating, because handrails, elevator buttons, shared utensils, and other people spread illness. Use the sanitizer stations at dining entrances every time. On the food side, the CDC's travel food guidance says avoid lukewarm food: buffet hot food should be steaming and cold food properly chilled, so take fresh batches rather than the tray that has sat. Other high-yield moves: be current on flu and COVID vaccines before you sail, use your own cabin bathroom instead of the public ones near the buffet when you can, do not touch your face between handrail and handwashing, and stay in your cabin and report it if you do get vomiting or diarrhea, both to recover and because ships isolate sick passengers to stop outbreaks. Most cruise illness is a few miserable days, not a ruined trip, and the kit that helps is simple: rehydration salts, your usual painkillers, and any prescription medicine in your hand luggage.