Very Rough Seas--What Do You Do?

[Ballater]

Anyone have any advice when seas are as rough as during the recent Royal Caribbean voyage in the Mediterranean? Where's the best place to stay in your room...on the ship in general?

[Salacia]

Anyone have any advice when seas are as rough as during the recent Royal Caribbean voyage in the Mediterranean? Where's the best place to stay in your room...on the ship in general?

 

Hi Ballater. My experience is limited to 8 QM2 voyages, but when seas are rough and my cabin is on a higher deck, I go to midship, Deck 2. My personal preference on QM2 is to head to the Grand Lobby or the casino if it is open:)

 

If seas are rough late at night, I just go to sleep like a squirrel on a branch. QM2 rides the seas very well...

 

But most importantly, I keep my cabin TV tuned to the ship channel (39 on QM2, if I remember correctly) so that I can hear any announcements/directions from the Captain and/or the Bridge.

 

For what it's worth, I've never been alarmed by rough seas while on QM2.

 

Best wishes,

Salacia

[MAIN BAR]

If you dont get any warning from the Captain to stay in the cabin and if you are very fit person i advise you to wonder around ship.Its a great feeling to be able to walk and feel the motion of the ship.As a ex-crew member i had countless of rough seas on the QE2 i just used to love to walk around the ship when she was sailing ahead in heavy seas.But please do remember the sea law one hand for you and one for the ship.

 

Regards

[Nippy Sweetie]

I suffer more from fear of mal de mer than the sicness itself. I read that there is an injection against it but am not sure whether to have it or not. Anyone got any experience of the injection?

[philayl]

On my first trip after joining the Merchant Navy the Bosun advised me to eat porridge if I felt seasick, I asked if this would stop it, he replied "No, but it is the only thing that tastes the same coming back up as it did going down". He was right as well!:D

[The Real PM]

On my first trip after joining the Merchant Navy the Bosun advised me to eat porridge if I felt seasick, I asked if this would stop it, he replied "No, but it is the only thing that tastes the same coming back up as it did going down". He was right as well!:D

So I assume you did get sea sick?

[capnpugwash]

My advice would be to sit near a window, so that you can see the horizon and enjoy the ride.

[The Real PM]

My advice would be to sit near a window, so that you can see the horizon and enjoy the ride.

Yes, and just take your mind off it. I think at least some of it is brought about by the passenger worrying about it. But some people have told me that I am wrong. I don't think so though.

[philayl]

So I assume you did get sea sick?

Oh yes! storm force ten in the North Sea, and an 8,200 ton empty cargo ship, it certainly moved around. Although I must say it was the only time I was seasick.;)

[The Real PM]

Oh yes! storm force ten in the North Sea, and an 8,200 ton empty cargo ship, it certainly moved around. Although I must say it was the only time I was seasick.;)

Did it happen because you were nervous or does it just happen?

[philayl]

Did it happen because you were nervous or does it just happen?

Afraid I can't really remember, it was very many years ago. I remember being very excited at being in bad weather (just like a proper sailor!), I was only sixteen at the time, and very green (in both meanings of the phrase). But going away to sea was an experience I will never forget, by eighteen I had done more and seen more than any of my friends, and probably drunk more if the truth be known.

[Jim Avery]

In response to the injection question, yes, it works very well. A short nap and you will be right the rest of the voyage. Well worth the cost to feel well. As a former Merchant ship Master, I too fell victim to Mal de Mer if I had been ashore a long time and went right back to rough seas. You do get over it with time but on a short voyage, why waste even a day feeling ill? There is nothing like being on a good ship in a seaway and I echo the previous posters in that QM2 handles the seas very well. Don't worry about it, just enjoy.:D

J.

[milkcow]

Maiden crossing Norwegian Pearl Southampton to Miami: very stormy first two days: we pulled all the seats to the front of the Spinnaker Lounge and watched the spray flying over the front of the ship, huge waves coming at us, and bounced like a speedboat on Lake Erie.

 

David

[Mrs. Wilburforce]

Anyone have any advice when seas are as rough as during the recent Royal Caribbean voyage in the Mediterranean? Where's the best place to stay in your room...on the ship in general?

 

I'm new to the messageboard and I'm a first time cruiser. I've been lurking here for months and have posted on the roll call thread.

I used to get car sick as a kid on our way to the east coast. Then I would board a small fishing charter with my dad and would spend 6+ hours fishing on the Chesapeake Bay and be fine.

I'm a retired nurse with an obliging family doctor who has given my husband and me Scopolamine patches (prevention) and dissolvable Ondansetron tablets (when you think you're dying). I hope not to need either and I'm not going to think about it.

My only advice would be to NOT wait until you're vomiting to treat it. Get something before the real ugly stuff starts to happen. Vomiting can be draining and increases the need for more intervention (I.V. fluids) and increases recovery time.

I'm also taking note of the good advice already given in relation to ship position. :)

Good luck and hope you have a great trip!

[The Real PM]

Afraid I can't really remember, it was very many years ago. I remember being very excited at being in bad weather (just like a proper sailor!), I was only sixteen at the time, and very green (in both meanings of the phrase). But going away to sea was an experience I will never forget, by eighteen I had done more and seen more than any of my friends, and probably drunk more if the truth be known.

I believe you just brought up a good point. I always have noticed on a cruise that many passengers seem to become sea sick on the second night. Many times we were on our way to Bermuda from New York. The second day is usually a little rough because the ship passes through the gulf stream. So that may be the cause, but in my thinking, a good number of passengers have eaten and drunk as if there were no tomorrow. So by the second night they are beginning to feel the full affects of all that food and drink. And they feel sick, blaming it on the roughness of the seas.

 

Personally, I love to feel movement, the stronger the better--after all you are on a ship, but some people now a days feel a great deal of angush if the ship even rolls a bit. I think that has come about by advertising the new ships as something more hotel-like. I feel that as long as when you travel by ship, you remember it is a ship and also remember to be smart about what you take in (food and drink) that in most cases you will be fine. The Cunard ships handle the seas probably better than most others out there, and there should be little or no problem--at least from the ships movement!:)

[jp2001]

Personnally, I ''enjoy the ride'' as much as possible but when I started to feel very bad on the QM2, I went to my room and the only position I could stay in without being sick was sitting on my bed (as soon as I wanted to get up or lay down, I felt much, much worse – probably because the mattress absorbed part of the movement). I turned on the TV and did my best to concentrate on the funny movie as much as I could. IMHO, the worst thing you can do when you are sick is to think about each and every wave the ship takes. By concentrating on something else, your brain will fool you into forgetting how bad you feel and you will actually start to feel better.

 

I also recommend that ever woman brings a pair of flat shoes because it doesn’t seem safe to go to the Dinning Room with high heels on.

[Minoushka]

I take GRAVOL .It really does work a quarter to half a tablet usually settles my tummy Used it in SOUTH AMERICA where we had dreadful weather .Also on Radiance of the Seas YEARS ago ...the crew called the sea ...the WASHING MACHINE ...no blue just white ..barf bags EVERYWHERE I fed my kids and I GRAVOL it worked !!! I never travel without it

[Jen McD]

Bonine works wonders if you get sea sick. I have been in some pretty rough seas and have felt fine while taking it. For me it did not make me tired and I am able to drink on it..... enjoy the ride.....

[mobilemac]

We've also had good luck with a daily 25 mg pill of Bonine if we even suspect the sea might get rougher than average. Also no side effects. Note ... take it before you need it - it doesn't work as well if you're already queasy. It's sold over the counter in the US and also goes by the generic name of Meclizine.

[The Real PM]

We've also had good luck with a daily 25 mg pill of Bonine if we even suspect the sea might get rougher than average. Also no side effects. Note ... take it before you need it - it doesn't work as well if you're already queasy. It's sold over the counter in the US and also goes by the generic name of Meclizine.

I have never taken anything for seasickness. The first time we cruised, it was my husband and two children, we went armed with patches for behind our ears and planned on using them if need be. But the need never came. I always figured that the person who takes something fron the beginning really never knows for sure if the lack of sea sickness is due to what they are taking or if they would have been fine without it.

[Cruachan]

I'm also taking note of the good advice already given in relation to ship position. :)

 

Sitting under a tree is a sure fire cure as well :D

 

J

[The Real PM]

I'm new to the messageboard and I'm a first time cruiser. I've been lurking here for months and have posted on the roll call thread.

I used to get car sick as a kid on our way to the east coast. Then I would board a small fishing charter with my dad and would spend 6+ hours fishing on the Chesapeake Bay and be fine.

I'm a retired nurse with an obliging family doctor who has given my husband and me Scopolamine patches (prevention) and dissolvable Ondansetron tablets (when you think you're dying). I hope not to need either and I'm not going to think about it.

My only advice would be to NOT wait until you're vomiting to treat it. Get something before the real ugly stuff starts to happen. Vomiting can be draining and increases the need for more intervention (I.V. fluids) and increases recovery time.

I'm also taking note of the good advice already given in relation to ship position. :)

Good luck and hope you have a great trip!

Idon't know, never having taken any of the stuff, but I have heard many say that the patches make you very dry. Ond man said , all the way down to his belly button. I think that could be very uncomfortable in its own right!

[Jim Avery]

Sitting under a tree is a sure fire cure as well :D

 

J

 

Yes, that is exactly what was told to me when I was a very young, very green seaman.:eek:

[Ballater]

Thank you all for your posts. I've got the seasickness covered, but was really wondering about where one should physically feel the safest onboard if it ever came down to hours in very, very rough seas. I heard that people have fallen off their beds and been pinned against the wall. Or they have been near a window that shattered. Where IS a fairly safe place?

[Sauer-kraut]

On the floor in the center of the center of the ship. If you look around the walls of the QM2 musuem pictures you'll find the one that states that Bing Crosby spent most of his time where the photographer developed the pictures on board, because the darkroom had to be very stabile. You won't feel as much movement if you are on deck 2 near the center. :)

 

Mrs. Wilburforce, welcome to the main Cunard board. I hope you will enjoy your cruise. If you can handle the water on Lake Michigan, you can handle it almost anywhere!