More than 30 million passengers board cruise ships each year — and the vast majority do almost nothing to prepare for the health risks specific to cruise travel. Most passengers don't review their vaccination status, don't understand norovirus prevention, aren't aware of the limitations of onboard medical facilities, don't carry adequate medications, and have no plan for a medical emergency at sea where the nearest hospital may be a helicopter evacuation away.
Dr. Paul Kilgore is a board-certified internist, physician-epidemiologist, travel medicine specialist, and creator of TravelGuard™ — a comprehensive travel health risk assessment tool. He has lived overseas for 12 years, worked across 30 countries, and brings both clinical depth and global health experience to the specific challenges of cruise passenger health.
This session provides a comprehensive, evidence-based guide to cruise passenger health preparation: pre-cruise medical assessment and vaccination review, managing chronic conditions at sea, norovirus and respiratory illness prevention, understanding what the ship's medical center can and cannot do, motion sickness and seasickness management, port-of-call health risks at each destination, medical evacuation realities, and how to build a personal cruise health kit. Dr. Kilgore addresses the health risks that cruise lines minimize in their marketing and gives passengers the information they need to make informed decisions.
Attendees leave with a practical, physician-designed cruise health preparation checklist and the knowledge to travel by sea with confidence.

Format: Keynote, breakout, or pre-travel seminar. Duration: 45–60 minutes. Target audience: Cruise passengers (especially seniors, families, and those with chronic conditions), travel agents, cruise ship guest enrichment programs, retirement communities, corporate incentive travel planners, AAA and travel club audiences. AV needs: screen, microphone, HDMI.