Motion sickness & rough seas!

[hottie4ucmu]

Just a quick question...I have never cruised before, first time is gonna be 3/7/05 on Sensation :D . I don't think I get motion sickness, ride all the rides at cedar point for hours on end! Lots of meds make me drowsy, so I have heard about ginger and want to take it just in case. Is it just labeled ginger and does it come in tablets? Also for those traveleing in early March, how are the seas usually at that time? Rocky? Calm? Thanks a bunch!

[GoinCruisin]

Hmmm, riding rides is a bit different than being on a ship or a boat. I don't take meds... don't like them one bit, but I take ginger all the time, for EVERYTHING! Go to GNC, you can get it in capsule form, 500mg each cap. Take 1000mg the night before, then another dose in the morning, then another dose about 30 mins to an hour before sailaway.... then you may want to take one or two throughout the trip, just to be safe.... no side effects and it really does work... you can buy enough for several cruises, cheap :D

[ladycaveat]

Hey, if you can ride all those rides at Cedar Point and not feel a little . . . uncomfortable . . . you'll have no problem on a cruise. I was a flight attendant for over twenty years and have taken six prior cruises . . . never a problem. But just me on a amusement park ride and . . . well, let's just say, it's not a pretty picture . . . .

[cruizinfool61]

When I sailed on the Sensation in Oct 04, the seas were rough (remember all the hurricanes???). But, the only place that you really felt the motion was the Fantasia lounge. The night of the Midnight Mexican Buffet, we watched a comedian in that lounge and felt that we were going to heave a taco....it was a rocking:( . The higher up and closer to the stern and bow you are, the worse it feels. We felt next to no motion in our cabin near the center. I did take motion sickness patches but did not have to use them. I expected the motion to be much worse. Have fun!!!:)

[sallyb]

My DH and I have a 32' cabin cruiser that we spend almost every weekend on from April through October and I never get sick. Last February, first cruise, didn't get sick either, but did notice the motion. We remarked as to how we were walking like we were drunk when we were not! I don't know if rougher seas will affect me or not. Hope not! On a small cruiser, you are always aware that you are on a boat. On a huge cruise ship, you tend to forget.

[winncove]

I take ginger all the time, for EVERYTHING! Go to GNC, you can get it in capsule form, 500mg each cap. Take 1000mg the night before, then another dose in the morning, then another dose about 30 mins to an hour before sailaway.... then you may want to take one or two throughout the trip, just to be safe.... no side effects and it really does work... you can buy enough for several cruises, cheap :D

 

Thx for the dosage info. Did you mean 2 caps just the nite pre-cruise & one after that or do you consider 2 caps a "dose"? Sounds great & I've seen this suggestion several times before. Like the "natural" vs. problem of conflict w/other meds! :) TIA

[swells2345]

I don't normally get motion sickness but took along the ginger pills (bought at my local health food store) just in case after reading it on these boards. I didn't take them in advance and didn't need them until the 3rd day of the cruise which was pretty rough. I felt green but managed to get down two ginger pills. After about an hour, I felt fine. After that I took a couple every four hours or so and never felt queasy again. I definitely recommend them.

[kfgarrow]

Our recent Valor cruise had rough seas with 18 foot swells the first two days. Many, many people were sick! Our traveling companions, who are avid Great Lakes boaters, loved the motion. I got a little green around the gills until the Bonine kicked in. Even my hubby, who never gets seasick, was feeling it. It is always best to come prepared with whatever remedy because you never know when the seas will kick up. We were not in a storm--just rough seas all over the eastern Caribbean. You could have probably surfed at Trunk Bay--it was freaky!

[karlanee]

We were just on the Ecstasy for the 1/15 sailing out of Galveston. The day before was beautiful and warm. The day of sailing, a cold front came through and went with us the entire trip to Cozumel. The seas were rough and it was extremely windy. I didn't get sick the first time I cruised and don't get any time of motion sickness at all, but I was very queasy this time - and so were my daughters. Lots of people were sick the first two days especially. We took dramamine because my kids are too young for bonine. I didn't like that they were always sleepy. So we bought Sea Bands from the gift shop. They worked like a dream! Within a few minutes we felt better and never took them off. DD even wore hers under her long sleeved formal dress. It was always worse at dinner for some reason, probably because we were in the aft dining room.

 

We were fine on the way home, because the seas were calm and it wasn't rocking nearly as much. But boy, I loved those SeaBands!

[bwj2429]

You can get it at Walmart also and it is only about 3-4 bucks for a bottle. It is with the vitamins. They are labeled Ginger Root.

[emeraldlover]

I don't get the upset stomach, but the dizzy feeling in my head as soon as the ship gets underway. Of course, the dining room has been in the bow of the ship and it usually makes it worse. This time, our cabin is located fairly near the front. I tried the sea bands but found I just had a sore wrist. I found taking a dramamine at night before bed keeps me going for the whole day (they claim it works for 24 hours). Also, this way if I'm drowsy, I'm going to sleep anyway.

 

The ginger sounds like it works good for the upset stomach. Maybe if I didn't treat the dizzy head, I would eventually get the upset stomach, but so far that hasn't happened.

 

I think I will try bringing the ginger and see how that works.

[vaskohop]

Would you compare the motion of the ship to that of an Amtrak Train? Have travelled from Milwaukee to Chicago and don't get queasy on the train.

 

Trying to figure this out. Taking a 1st cruise on the Glory in June

[GoinCruisin]

I don't know about ginger for an upset stomach, never tried it for that... but what it does work for is the nausea, queasy, "sick" feeling (woozy, dizzy, etc)... Just make sure whatever you use is real ginger... I actually had to take some today after an antibiotic made me queasy, worked like a charm :D

[peanutzmom]

I am a rollercoaster junkie and grew up on deep sea fishing boats in South Florida, and I had *never* experienced motion/sea sickness. DH, on the other hand, has always had mild motion sickness. On our cruise in 2001, he packed Bonine, and I assumed I'd never need to use it. The first night at dinner, though, we both started to feel queasy and light headed, so we went back to the room to take Bonine to get us through the rest of the night. As a precaution, we continued to take it for the rest of the cruise, and we never suffered from the queasy/woozy feeling again. I didn't really like the somewhat "detached" feeling that Bonine gives me, but it was better than feeling seasick. I know the ginger capsules worked wonders for me during morning sickness for both of my pregnancies, so this trip we're planning on taking both the ginger capsules & the Bonine. We'll try the ginger first, and if it doesn't work, we know we'll have the Bonine to fall back on. Funny, I go out on boats at least once a month down here and never feel the slightest bit of seasickness, but I certainly felt it on my last cruise!

[Cruisegirl6]

Ginger can give some relief, one year on my cruise (I was going through ulcers at that time) and we had a hurricane at sea anyway, the seas were just a bit rough, nothing major but I had problems with my stomach and all and felt a bit seasick. I knew about ginger and asked the waiter if he could get me some fresh ground ginger (I even had it delivered to my stateroom I just made a call to the dining room and they had somebody bring it up to me) and it did give "some relief".

Your best bet is to go to a Wal-Mart or a local pharmacy and purchase the "Sea Bands", on cruises I see many people wearing these, but you must place it in the exact spot on your wrist (there is a small button thing inside the wrist that puts pressure on a certain area and suppose to stop the feeling) for it to work. Well, they do work and they cost under $10.00 each.

 

So if your worried about rough seas and getting a bit sea sick try the seabands....

 

Also remember to go to the front of the ship the bow area and look into the horizon just look at it, your brain needs to focus on direction and that will help also. :)