SeasC Posted July 20, 2013 #1 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I'm travelling with someone who hasn't cruised before and she experiences motion sickness easily. We're looking at going on the Oceania Marina in early September in the Baltic. She'd be taking non-drowsy Dramamine but she still might have motion sickness problems. Is this a bad idea for us to go on the Marina since the ship is pretty small? What are the waters like in the Baltic in September? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtdesilets Posted July 20, 2013 #2 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I'm travelling with someone who hasn't cruised before and she experiences motion sickness easily. We're looking at going on the Oceania Marina in early September in the Baltic. She'd be taking non-drowsy Dramamine but she still might have motion sickness problems. Is this a bad idea for us to go on the Marina since the ship is pretty small? What are the waters like in the Baltic in September? The Baltic is relatively flat, from our experience. but the North Sea is a different beast. Does your ship cross into the North Sea on this journey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted July 20, 2013 #3 Share Posted July 20, 2013 We have sailed the Baltic 5 times and find it to be calmer than most other oceans and we were on the R ships which are smaller than the O ships. That is not to say that you may have some rough waters which you can have any time on any seas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtdesilets Posted July 20, 2013 #4 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I think you should be fine. Says here the North Sea is best during the summer. Baltic isn't even mentioned. September is still relatively close to Summer, so I do not think it will be stormy season quite yet: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1226 Plus the Marina is their larger ship, and very new. It isn't all that small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksps cruise fan Posted July 20, 2013 #5 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I'm travelling with someone who hasn't cruised before and she experiences motion sickness easily. We're looking at going on the Oceania Marina in early September in the Baltic. She'd be taking non-drowsy Dramamine but she still might have motion sickness problems. Is this a bad idea for us to go on the Marina since the ship is pretty small? What are the waters like in the Baltic in September? What kind of cabin are you considering? The higher the deck and the farther from mid-ship, the more you'll feel motion. After too many cruises that included a day when I was out of commission with sea sickness, we stopped booking on higher-level decks. The drawback is that we aren't able to make restaurant reservations as early as the higher-priced staterooms. The big plus is that I'm no longer troubled by motion sickness during cruises, including sailing through some notoriously rough seas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPR Posted July 20, 2013 #6 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I think you'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPR Posted July 20, 2013 #7 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I get seasick and followed advice on Cruise Critic last year to take a Bonine tablet each day, starting three days before boarding the Regent Navigator--a far less stable ship. In fact, the Marina sails like a dream. We sailed from Charleston to Bermuda through a storm so bad that my wife, who never gets seasick, was on nothing but green apple slices for a full day. I was fine and ate every meal with relish. Check with your doctor. A Scolpalomine patch is another option, but that requires a prescription. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted July 20, 2013 #8 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I too think she will be fine - the Baltic is usually not rough and Marina is not small. It would be wise to book a mid-ship cabin on a lower level, as suggested by others. I also use Bonine, but only as needed. NB - must be taken a few hours before you think you might need it. I have no side-effects with Bonine; Scopolamine was a different story. Enjoy a great ship and a wonderful cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DOJO466 Posted July 20, 2013 #9 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I too think she will be fine - the Baltic is usually not rough and Marina is not small.It would be wise to book a mid-ship cabin on a lower level, as suggested by others. I also use Bonine, but only as needed. NB - must be taken a few hours before you think you might need it. I have no side-effects with Bonine; Scopolamine was a different story. Enjoy a great ship and a wonderful cruise! I also have no effects from Bonine but I will never use a scopolamine patch again. I think it made me sicker than I would have been if I had taken nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted July 20, 2013 #10 Share Posted July 20, 2013 The several times I have been to the Baltic it has been like a bathtub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare vlthom Posted July 20, 2013 #11 Share Posted July 20, 2013 My one experience in the Baltic was in June. It was about as smooth as it could have possibly been. I have very susceptible to motion sickness and required no meds whatsoever for the duration of our sailing. You and your friend will undoubtedly enjoy the Marina as well as the Baltic. To be safe, as others have mentioned, book a mid-ship cabin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted July 21, 2013 #12 Share Posted July 21, 2013 No problem sailing the Baltic, but the North Sea is another story altogether! I resisted my husband's suggestion that we try cruising in 2008 because on a land trip to Scandinavia with my sister in June 2007, I had a terrible three hours in the middle of the night on the overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo. Although I was assured that those large ferry ships sail way differently than cruise ships, I remain a mid-ships woman who has yet to venture beyond the Mediterannean or Baltic. (Although we just this week signed up for our very first Caribbean cruise in January 2014.) Bonine has worked great for me on the two days in my five-cruise (so far) history that I felt the effects of the sea, the first of which was when we missed visiting Delos in September 2008, requiring a return cruise to that area in June of the following year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roothy123 Posted July 21, 2013 #13 Share Posted July 21, 2013 We did the Baltic in August last year on Marina. It was very smooth. I hardly felt a thing. I think a lot of people who get seasick get sick on small boats and then assume they'll have trouble on cruise ships. However, modern cruise ships have stabilizers, and there isn't all that much motion on them in the first place most days/times/seas. I think you should go - Baltic was fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quaker54 Posted July 21, 2013 #14 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I have experienced both small boat and cruise ship seasickness and have used the patches and medication. I now use wrist bands and Bonine, along with ginger. Crew very helpful in bringing green apples, crackers and even ginger if you ask. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted July 22, 2013 #15 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Mr. Wonderful gets sea sick easily but had absolutely no problems in the Baltic. (He gets queasy just standing in the ocean with the waves coming in and out!) I think one of the things that helps besides fairly placid waters is that you do see land often so that fixed horizon thing worked for him. He did beautifully on a tendering to/from Santorini once that rivaled anything one would ride on a buckin' bronco! The crew was beyond amazing that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted July 22, 2013 #16 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I have experienced both small boat and cruise ship seasickness and have used the patches and medication. I now use wrist bands and Bonine, along with ginger. Crew very helpful in bringing green apples, crackers and even ginger if you ask. Good luck! I am glad that your "formula" works but how do you really know which of those things really works (wrist bands, Bonine, ginger or green apples)? Maybe you can try just one at a time and see which one is doing the trick for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quaker54 Posted July 22, 2013 #17 Share Posted July 22, 2013 In this order - wrist bands when little motion. Bonine when we experience greater motion and green apples if unable to leave stateroom. Have only experienced this once when we were in South China Sea on Nautica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulfromontario Posted July 22, 2013 #18 Share Posted July 22, 2013 We were on the Nautica last September from the 16th to the 30th from Stockholm to Dover and seas were calm. I did not hear of any one complaining about sea sickness on the cruise. We had great weather too. Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted July 22, 2013 #19 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Don't forget boiled potatoes.Isn't that the old tried and true antidote? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPR Posted July 22, 2013 #20 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I gemerally agree with Quaker54, but if you're seasick prone I'd start taking Bonine two or three days prior to embarkation. Then wrist bands when it rolls. Don't forget them for bus excursions on windy roads! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted July 22, 2013 #21 Share Posted July 22, 2013 the only thing that seems to work for my guy is to sit in the front of the bus. If he can see out the windshield he's fine....out the side windows....not so much! We try for 2nd row so that if there is someone who needs the front for their leg, foot, etc they've got it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocatraveler09 Posted July 22, 2013 #22 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I am prone to sea sickness, too. In the Baltic last year, late June to July sailing, the seas were like glass. Never even used my Dramamine......and we had two sea days (thank goodness, because the ports were wonderful yet exhausting.) We picked a midship cabin on a lower level but, since the seas were so calm, I don't think it made a difference. Problem is that weather everywhere is totally unpredictable these days, so who knows??? I did chose a Copenhagen-Copenhagen itinerary because I'd read that the North Sea was icky. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wr2next Posted July 22, 2013 #23 Share Posted July 22, 2013 For what it is worth, my wife gets sea sick very easy. We were on the Norwegian Epic ( a REALLY BIG ship) two years ago in the Mediterranean and my wife had alot of problems with sea sickness. Last year we took an O cruise in the Mediterranean and were in some pretty rough seas and my wife did not feel the effect at all. It actually surprised us. Not sure if it was the size of the ship or where our suite was on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeasC Posted July 23, 2013 Author #24 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Wow! What a great forum! Thank you for taking the time to provide really helpful tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winegirl Posted July 23, 2013 #25 Share Posted July 23, 2013 We've been on tiny boats on very rough water in the Great Lakes, to a mid sized excursion boat on very rough seas in the Gulf of Alaska, to a 150 passenger yacht in the Western Med where water slapped over the portholes all night, to a 2,000 passenger ship in the Alaska Inside passage. The Baltic was one of the calmest bodies of water I've ever been on--far less motion than Lake Michigan or Superior (they don't call the tip of WI Door County Porte des Morts for no reason.) Spouse was seasick on the Gulf of Alaska, because he does not believe in taking any medication for any reason. I took Bonine on all my cruises, starting day one before we set sail, and never had any seasickness on any cruise. The only one I felt motion on was on the 2,000 passenger ship. Our cabin was towards the top of that ship, so we felt more motion. Hence, when given a choice, I choose a cabin closer to water line. Bonine does a great job of managing any motion sickness symptoms without putting you to sleep. Take it daily, as noted on the bottle, if you are prone to symptoms. Do not wait until you are symptomatic, since it is hard to get over that once it's set in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.