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Bed Bugs From a Cruise: How to Unpack So They Stay Out of Your Bedroom
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$50 OFF your first service + FREE inspectionNew customers · No code needed · No expirationBed bugs from a cruise come home in luggage, not on people, so the most useful thing you can do is decide where the suitcase gets opened. Don't roll it into the bedroom and flop it on the bed. Open it in the garage or on a tile floor, put clothes straight into the dryer on high heat, and run a flashlight along the seams and zippers before the bag goes back in the closet. It takes a few minutes, and it's the routine we'd use ourselves coming off a ship at Port Everglades or PortMiami.
A quick look at the cabin, before you settle in
Bed bugs can turn up anywhere a lot of people sleep in a short time: hotels, dorms, buses, planes and, yes, cruise cabins. It isn't a sign of a dirty ship. It's just traffic. So when you first walk into the cabin, give it two minutes before you unpack.
- Leave the suitcase in the bathroom or on the luggage rack while you look.
- Pull the sheets back at the head of the bed and check the mattress seams and corners.
- Look along the headboard edge, the bed frame and any upholstered chair.
- You're looking for live bugs (flat, brown, about the size of an apple seed), tiny shed skins or small dark spots that look like a marker dot.
If you see anything like that, tell guest services and ask for another cabin. For the rest of the trip, keep the suitcase on the rack or in the closet, zipped, and off the bed and carpet.
On the way home
Once you're off the ship, keep it simple. Put luggage in the trunk or the truck bed rather than on the seats. When you get home, the bags go to the garage, the laundry room or any room with a hard floor. Not the bedroom, and definitely not on the bed or under it, because that's exactly where a hitchhiker wants to end up.
How to unpack after travel so bed bugs don't move in
Here's the routine, start to finish:
- Lay down a light-colored sheet on the garage floor or tile. Anything that falls out is easy to spot on it.
- Open each bag on the sheet. Move clothes straight into a plastic trash bag, worn or not, and carry the bag to the laundry.
- Run the dryer on high heat. Heat kills bed bugs and their eggs. Clean clothes can go right into the dryer for at least 30 minutes on high. Dirty ones get washed, then dried on high. Check care labels for anything delicate.
- Bag what can't take heat. Shoes, toiletry kits and souvenirs can sit in a sealed plastic bag while you look them over.
- Inspect the empty suitcase with a flashlight. Check the seams, zipper tracks, wheel wells, the handle sleeve, pockets and the edges of the lining.
- Vacuum the suitcase, inside and out, then empty the vacuum outside into a sealed trash bag.
- Store luggage away from bedrooms. A garage shelf or a hall closet is better than under the bed.
Bed bugs from luggage tend to stay close to where they were dropped until they find a sleeping person. Keeping the bags out of the bedroom until they've been checked is half the battle.
What bed bug signs look like at home
You don't need to be an expert. Our bed bug page has photos and the full list of signs. The short version: check the mattress seams, box spring corners and headboard for small rusty or dark spots, shed skins and the bugs themselves. Bed bugs feed at night and hide during the day, usually within a few feet of where someone sleeps.
How long after travel do bed bugs appear?
There's no set day. If one or two bugs made it home, they can stay hidden and feed for a while, unnoticed, before there are enough of them to notice. Bite marks don't help much either. Some people get itchy welts, some get a faint mark, and some don't react at all, so one person in the bed may be covered while the other has nothing.
That's why it's worth checking the mattress seams and headboard a few times over the weeks after a trip, especially if anyone woke up with bites on the ship. Not sure the bites are from bed bugs? See bed bug bites vs mosquito bites. A flashlight and two minutes when you change the sheets is plenty.
If you think bed bugs from a cruise came home with you
- Don't move to the couch. It feels like a fix, but bed bugs follow the person, and now you've got two places to treat.
- Skip the store-bought fogger or bug bomb. It rarely reaches where bed bugs hide and can push them into walls and nearby rooms.
- Catch one if you can. Clear tape or a sealed bag works. A sample or a sharp photo helps us confirm it.
- Leave the bedroom as it is until we've looked. Hauling a mattress through the house can spread the problem.
Then call us for a FREE inspection. If treatment is needed, our bed bug treatment page explains how it works and includes a prep checklist so you know what to do before the visit. For the full room-by-room list, see how to prepare for bed bug treatment.
For general pests around the rest of the home, our plan is $125 per quarter (about $42 a month), with monthly and custom schedules quoted after the inspection. For plan customers: "If pests come back between visits, so do we, at no extra cost." There are no long-term contracts and no cancellation fees. We're family-run and licensed, with 30+ years in the business, and hablamos español. See plans and pricing or all of our pest control services.
Cruise bed bug FAQs
Is it common for cruise ships to have bed bugs?
How do you check for bed bugs on a cruise ship?
Do ziploc bags keep bed bugs out?
What kills bed bugs on suitcases?
Back from your cruise and seeing signs?
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