How to clean and sterilize nebulizer on a cruise ship?

Hopefully some of the experts can share, a good travel tips thread could be helpful. One thought would be to use disposable neb cups? Depending on your risk tolerance either rinse really well with hot water and replace after several days or daily. I have seen many cruisers will cut up a new sponge and add a few drops of dish soap to bring to wash out cups and tumblers so this could be an option. You can rinse with bottled or filtered water as well. Enjoy the cruise.

I hope you get better solutions than mine. I didn't have this condition when I cruised, but I did a hiking trip in Switzerland in the fall and had to figure something out. I took a silicone foldable bowl, a new cleaned quart thermos, a small bottle of dawn and one of the coiled wire heaters. The bowl worked well for soaking. The little coiled thing quit after a couple uses. In one hotel, I had electric kettle. In another, the kitchen staff graciously gave me very hot water in thermos I'd use in silicone bowl for soaking-2 trips each cleaning. I was able to get vinegar at last place. I think you could take vinegar on board. My solution wasn't ideal, but did my best. Good luck and enjoy!

Thank you for sharing information and your thoughts.

Thank you for sharing how you managed to keep everything clean.

I went to Africa in February this year and brought a thermos that could hold hot water and a collapsible bowl with a lid. At every place they had very hot water in a dispenser for tea. I could fill up the thermos and use that it disinfect with a bit of Dawn. I am not sure if this was a good choice, but it seemed to work for me.
My CT scan 3 months after I got back showed my brochiectasis stable.

I have travelled minimally since I've been on Arikayce for MAC (with underlying bronchiectasis), but have thought about how to handle the situation. I have nebulizer equipment that can be boiled and sterilized (Pari LC Plus and Monaghan AeroEclipse XL) and have a Procter Silex hot pot (also called an electric kettle) that can boil water, and thought that this would be a good solution when travelling. I see that there are now collapsible, space saving silicone kettles available as well (Amazon)! The nebulizer equipment provided by insurance generally cannot be boiled or sterilized without melting/deforming, so I switched to equipment used by CF patients, the gold standard in airway clearance, so that I could sterilize my equipment. I use a baby bottle sterilizer daily and then don't have to worry about adequate cleaning, rinsing with sterile water, etc. It makes life much simpler.

@lauraws, good for you to be going on a cruise! I hope you have tons of fun. When we cruise, I nebulize with the Pari Trek S and use my Aerobika twice a day and wash and air dry my equipment after each use; once a week, I sterilize using a 5-minute alcohol soak. For a two to three week trip, I bring a 2-3 ounce bottle of Dawn dishwashing detergent and two 16-ounce bottles of 70% isopropyl alcohol. You can use the ice bucket for a washbowl or even borrow a bowl from the kitchen (I tried a collapsible bowl but it was too shallow). I also bring my plastic LifeStraw 7-cup pitcher for clean water.

When you first meet your cabin steward, let him know you will have nebulizer parts laying on a desk or whatever and that they should not be disturbed. Also, most cruise ships do not allow you to boil water in your room - please respect this rule as it is for everyone's safety! While it would theoretically be easier to buy Dawn or isopropyl alcohol in port, they are not always available. We discovered (after many visits to many Boots) that isopropyl alcohol is simply not sold in Great Britain 🙂 Bon voyage!

If you could get an electric kettle that would be great. I just got back from UK and every hotel had an electric kettle in the room. I brought a collapsible silicone bowl. FYI for UK travelers. They do not sell alcohol for medicinal purposes there. I checked in many places and could only find wipes. Bring some in a small bottle or vinegar that can get through TSA. Or buy vinegar there.

Isn’t ‘surgical spirit’ in UK the same as 70% isopropyl alcohol? It’s used as a cleaning agent because of its disinfecting properties and used in both medical and household settings.
Maybe very difficult to get.

May I ask how you shower on a cruise? They do not have shower filters.

This is the wrong discussion for my question, but I cannot locate the thread on the different shower filters and also the shower heads with the larger holes that reduce the vapors.

Besides the Pall filters for showerheads, are there others that are recommended, and do the showerheads with the larger holes (and the one which has flaps that open and allow drying) offer a safer alternative?