Health warning for all cruise passengers

If you’re planning on hopping on board a cruise these holidays, it has been advised to make sure you take extra precautions. No, we aren’t talking about taking medications along with you – you should consider taking contraceptives.

What seems like a silly request is really something much more serious – over 60s cruise passengers have been warned that the chances of contracting an STI on a cruise ship are increasing.

If you plan to have casual sex on your cruise, you should be prepared by taking in-date, good quality condoms. It’s easy to lose your inhibitions when you’re having a good time drinking and being merry, but according to new statistics, there were 295 confirmed cases of chlamydia last year, over triple the 94 cases on cruise ships in 2009. And that’s not all, the amount of people over 65 with diagnosed gonorrhoea has doubled in the same time period.

It is a common stereotype to think that only people under 50 have sex but medical practitioners are now realising that sexual desire does not just end when you are middle aged, in fact more than 80 per cent of people between the ages of 60 and 90 are sexually active, and the number of STIs among this group has doubled in the past 10 years, according to a study in Student BM Journal.

This is very worrying for those of us who are single and looking to mingle on our next cruise.

If you’re planning on going cruising, will you be taking this information into consideration? Do you know anyone who has contracted an STI on a cruise? Tell us below.