Seasick on the Century Question.

[Tenn4ever]

The Century sails from Vancouver, not Seattle. The seas are calmer on Vancouver trips than those out of Seattle.

 

That's the one we're looking to book.

[hajekfam]

We have been on the Century several times including the maiden voyage. Out of all the Celebrity ships we have been on, the Century does seem to have a vibration problem - especially in the main dining room. In fact on the maiden voyage, a couple of times we had to grab the silverware as it was vibrating off the table. But it is not a constant vibration and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with rough seas. We have been in rough seas on the Century and didn't feel any vibration in the dining room, and we have been on smooth seas where we did. However, even when there was vibration in the dining room, we didn't feel it in any of our cabins which were mid-ship.

[Buckeye 6]

I agree with what has been written about location. What you use for sea sickness is an individually preference. Everyone doesn't react the same. The one constant I have found is that I need to start taking it before the cruise leaves port and continue it for the entire cruise. On one cruise I can't remember which one the seas had been calm and I took the patch off for several days. We were sitting in the theater one morning listening to a lecture and I suddenly felt sick and the ship had lots of motion. The sea conditions changed quickly. The captain asked women to not wear heels to dinner that evening. If you do get sick you can get stronger medication(prescription strength) from the ship doctor. It will cost you but can save a cruise. Don't keep worrying and have fun

[kabado]

I have visited the ship's doctor MANY times for seasickness and finally found a cure. I even was on RCCL Rhapsody with 20 foot seas where we were really rockin and rollin and was only slightly queasy the first night.

 

According to my doc, you can take the Bonine tablet TWICE a day instead of the 24 hours it says on the box. AND (Most important) DO take the ginger capsules. I take them one for each meal. Do NOT take them if you are taking a blood thinner however.

 

According to studies by the Navy that I read online, ginger is the ONLY proven method curing seasickness.

 

Also, start taking the meds the day BEFORE the cruise.

[star09]

We are planning our first cruise for 2012 probably on the Century to Alaska (just waiting for the itineraries to be posted).

 

I get very motion sick and already plan on using the patch. Is it easier to get seasick on a ship the size of the Century as opposed to the larger ships?

Hi There,

I thought I would give my 2cents worth. I suffer from seasickness and before I went on a cruise last year I asked my Doc. for his recommendation. He put me onto a product called Avomine. It was THE best thing I have ever taken. I started taking them 2 days before and every day I was on the cruise. Never got sick once. In Australia, you can get them over the counter or prescription. I hope this helps!!:D

[Budget Queen]

We are planning our first cruise for 2012 probably on the Century to Alaska (just waiting for the itineraries to be posted).

 

I get very motion sick and already plan on using the patch. Is it easier to get seasick on a ship the size of the Century as opposed to the larger ships?

 

Although, you are getting a lot of "advice". I only, suggest you consult your health care provider and look for a solution with them, not from a message board that has no idea what your medical history is.

 

But, adding to the mix, if your current cruise selection, is round trip Seattle, this has the MOST rough sailing potential, with the routing also being the least scenic of Alaska cruise choices. IF you want the most inside passage sailing, then look for a round trip Vancouver itinerary.

 

It also is a complete myth, that this area is "smooth as glass", certainly is not. I have encountered plenty of rough sailing on all routes. And there is NO way to predict anything.

 

Being well prepared in the preventions, is key.

[Lsimon]

I see a lot of suggestions and comments above and my own preference would be to take it easy on the medications. Ginger does it for us.

 

But whatever you decide to do, my best advice would be to try it at home first well before the cruise. All of these medications have side effects which vary a lot and you definitely want to know how they'll impact you and make you feel well before your cruise.

 

A good friend of mine had seasickness problems on his first cruise. On his second cruise he sailed with us and got the patch from his doctor. He suffered severe sickness for several days before going down to the ship's doctor. They immediately determined that it was the patch and not motion sickness that were causing his symptoms. A day after recovering and switching to a very mild seasickness medication he was fine. If he had only tried the patch at home well before the cruise he could have avoided the terrible time he had on board for several days.

 

Likewise I've met people who were fine with some of the mild seasickness medications and others who found the medications made them feel badly. If you don't know how you'll react to these on land then you won't know if any symptoms at sea are caused by the medications, sea sickness, or some other unrelated issue.

[Tenn4ever]

Hi There,

I thought I would give my 2cents worth. I suffer from seasickness and before I went on a cruise last year I asked my Doc. for his recommendation. He put me onto a product called Avomine. It was THE best thing I have ever taken. I started taking them 2 days before and every day I was on the cruise. Never got sick once. In Australia, you can get them over the counter or prescription. I hope this helps!!:D

 

Thank you for the information on Avomine. I'll check with my doctor.

 

 

I have visited the ship's doctor MANY times for seasickness and finally found a cure. I even was on RCCL Rhapsody with 20 foot seas where we were really rockin and rollin and was only slightly queasy the first night.

 

According to my doc, you can take the Bonine tablet TWICE a day instead of the 24 hours it says on the box. AND (Most important) DO take the ginger capsules. I take them one for each meal. Do NOT take them if you are taking a blood thinner however.

 

According to studies by the Navy that I read online, ginger is the ONLY proven method curing seasickness.

 

Also, start taking the meds the day BEFORE the cruise.

 

That's good to know about the Bonine because the 24 hour pill is the one I always take when traveling. I have noticed that it starts wearing off far before the 24 hours but that has not been a problem in the past because we were only in the car during the day - on a cruise it would be different. One good thing is I know to always start the meds a few hours before any travel. I know my body well and do not take a chance that 'just maybe' I will be okay. :o

 

One thing I did want to add to this thread is that we have changed plans and will be traveling on the Millennium Northbound so we won't be on the Century.

[alj1208]

Scopolamine-- the drug in the patch -- comes in pills, which allow you to control the dose better based on your weight and when you need meds. I can't understand why this isn't widely known. I have posted on this topic previously. I am very prone to motion sickness and got a prescription for scopolamine pills, marketed under the brand name, "Scopace." I did not experience side effects, and I could take them when needed, instead of wearing the patch the entire time. Scopace pills worked wonders for me. I was fine and enjoyed my cruise, despite 9-foot-seas, which normally would have made me sick. I popped the scopolamine pills when it was rough and took no meds when it was calm. IMHO, meclizine is good, but doesn't cut it when there's a lot of motion.

[caribbean52010]

If you are prone to sea sickness I would definitely reconsider using simply the patch. The best solution we have found is as soon as you board the ship proceed to the pursers desk and ask for some meclazine...sea sickness pills. they give them to you free at the pursers desk. You will probably board ship about noon...once you have the pill(s) take it immediately...allowing it to ick in before you get underway about 4-5pm. donot wait until you start to feel queezy for it will be tooo late.

 

THis stuff works much better than the patch...one problem i head about the patch was that the medicine (or active ingredient) is secreted into you body at different rates depending upon your weight and size.

 

I have also seen where someone was wearing the patch and they touched the patch and then rubbed their eye. Their eye was infected and swollen the entire cruise.

[JFontaine]

I'm not an engineer but having cruised extensively on all four classes of Celebrity ships (only three classes remain) sometimes in rough seas I think each class improved on the last as far as comfort in rough seas. There are two newer class ships than Century - Century is the oldest ship currently in Celebrity's fleet. So you might want to consider a newer ship. Further, on my last Century cruise a few weeks ago the vibration in the main dining room even in relatively calm seas was very noticeable. Another tip - as in a train - avoid seats in the dining room where your chair is facing towards the back of the ship - face forward if you can.

[LinAli55]

I am very prone to motion sickness and I do not agree that the size of the ship does not matter. The size, design, and draft do matter. There is definitely more motion on the smaller ships than on S class due to all three of the forementioned. Not significantly more - but if you are sensitive to motion you would know this is true.

 

That said, the primary deciding factor is of course the seas on that particular cruise. If you have 25ft seas (which we have had, thankfully only once) any ship would be a rockin' and a rollin'.

 

As long as you use medication, and follow all the standard tips to avoid seasickness (which you can find on this board) you should be fine on Century. I have sailed her a couple times and had a great experience each time.

 

I will add one more opinion about the patch - I found it not as helpful as just taking along meds when needed. Not everyone has the same opinion, but that is mine. I use meclizine for mild-to-moderate seas, and if it gets really rough I go back to the original Dramamine, which works better but of course makes you more drowsy. You can talk to your doctor or research on the internet, and you will find that the 'prescription' doses of meclizine are higher than that stated on the packages OTC. That is good to know if the seas get rough. I believe you can safely take twice the amount on the package, but as I am not a doctor I recommend you double check with yours before taking my word on it.

 

I totally agree with you with regard to the size of the ship and the motion. Our first cruise was on the Mercury this past November. Mercury was the same class ship as the Century. I ended up getting seasick on the 2nd day. I got meclizine from guest relations and took it twice a day for the remaining 10 nights and it worked very well for me.

We just recently sailed on the Solstice and I took the meclizine just as a precaution, however, I had no issues whatsoever. At times you don't even realize you are on a ship with this class ship. Very little movement.

We hope that the OP enjoys her first cruise. If you're anything like me, you'll be addicted immediately. As you can see, we've taken 3 cruises since November and 2 more scheduled. Oh yeah, definitely addicted.

:)

Linda

[parrot_head]

My wife is going to kill me .. We are aft on a July cruise..

She is extremely sensitive to seasickness..

 

She may throw me overboard