Just returned from a round the world 121 day cruise on a passenger ship out of England, the MV Magellan. The vast majority of cabins do not have minibars and I was informed that the refrigerator at Reception could be used to store my vials of Lantus and Humalog. It worked quite well until the night before debarkation and I went to pick up my remaining 4 vials of which 2 were frozen.
The cruise director informed me that the ship is not liable and passengers store their insulin in their refrigerator at their own risk. I said it would have been nice if you added that caveat before I booked the voyage when I informed them I was diabetic and insulin dependent. They said it was too hard to find out the storage temperatures for each medicine that passengers were storing in shipās refrigerator.
I have never had insulin go bad outside of a refrigerator. Once I put my cartridge iin the pen, it stays out until it is finished. My house can get up to 30Āŗ in summer, and if I am carrying my pen in my jeans pocket it may be even warmer outside. I just returned from a week away. I took three cartidges of Novorapid and one extra of Levemir. I am still using the last of this supply. No issues. In 50 years I have only seen one bad vial of insulin, and that was a bottle of Lente straight from the Pharmacy about 48 years ago. I have taken my insulin with me in temperatures from -30 to +40. In winter I carried my insulin close to my body to prevent freezing while involved in ourdoor activities, but in summer I leave it someplace relatively cool (e.g. not in my car) In 50 years I have never, ever had a problem with carrying my insulin without refrigeration. I of course keep my stash in the fridge, but the cartridges in current use sit on my bathroom counter or travel with me.
When I buy insulin on a warm day, the pharmacy offers me a cold pack, which I always accept because I can put them in my pop cooler to keep the Diet Pepsi cold.
Iāve been on a variety of cruises leaving from the US (east coast and Gulf of Mexico) sailing with Carnival and Spain (NCL).
On each, Iāve kept my insulin in my cabin. If the cabin had a fridge, Iād check to see if the bottled water in that fridge was even slightly frozen or seemed too cold for comfort. If so, then no use of the fridge for me. If not, then Iād stash my insulin there.
Iāve never made use of a centralized fridge for medicine. Not because I didnāt trust the ship (though now I donātā¦) but because I didnāt know that option even existed.
But so far Iāve never had problems with in-cabin storage.
Why not keep it at room temperature? It will last WELL beyond a month. Like numerous months. I donāt know why people (some people) act as if on day 32, the insulin is useless. Thatās not the case, regardless of the type. Some folks even report THROWING OUT their insulin if it isnāt consumed a few days past a month. SMH.
