Experienced cruisers can I have your opinion?

[Keys2Heaven]

Having a balcony or line of sight to the horizon is what helps prevent sea sickness. Thus when you go into an enclosed place it is harder for you body to square up the motion it feels with the stationary position information it is getting from your eyes.

 

Try wearing sea bands. Or for medical get Dr advice but a patch or Bonine has done wonders for many.

 

I second this. When taking flying lessons, you learn about spatial disorientation, which is what happens when you lose visual reference to the horizon (i.e. flying into very low visibility or a cloud). Basically, your body misinterprets all the signals your brain is sending and you may think down is up or vice versa.

 

Fresh air, some soda crackers and a visual reference to the horizon is often a good cure for motion sickness.

[candigirl41]

I am probably in the minority here, but I swear by sea sick patches. I put one on as soon as I board the ship and have never been sick. We were in the very front of the ship once and the motion was awful. I couldn't leave the room because it was so rough and I also have an inner ear imbalance and mobility issues. I just rested in the cabin and watched TV. But as I said, I never got sick.

 

Candi

[manmachine]

Some great advice here. Definitely ginger and bonine beginning two days before the cruise. Ginger capsules work great you can get online. Think about a ship... it moves two ways... up and down, and back and forth. The lower on the ship the less the back and forth affects you. The more in the middle the less the up and down. The middle bottom is like a fulcrum.

 

 

I have cruised A LOT

[FabFam4]

Meclizine is a lifesaver!

 

 

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[Oceansaway17]

I learned a long time ago from a sailor on Homes Lines that if you feel sea sick, Eat dry bread without fluids. And get into fresh air for a minute. Have the wind blow in your face. But I also like the sound of ginger as well. Make sure you limit alcohol and spicy foods if you can..

[fair-winds39]

We've been cruising since the mid-eighties, and I take Bonine a day or so prior to any cruise. I don't really think that I need it, because there have been times where I've forgotten to take it as directed, and I've been fine. I think I have my sea legs by now, but my very first experience on a ship was years ago on a special transatlantic crossing in mid-April from Southampton to Philadelphia on the QE2, and I was very seasick for 5 days, and I never want to feel that way again. I never ate so many saltines and apples in my life.:) DH has never taken anything. I swore I wouldn't get on another ship, but that was then....we just came off of our 25th cruise in April.....can't wait for the next one.

 

We used to book mid-ship, oceanview cabins, but since 2010 we've booked AFT balconies, and I don't really notice any difference in the ship movement any more from mid-ship to AFT. I really take the Bonine just to be on the safe side. I think if you're skeptical though, I would say stay closer to lower decks and mid-ship.

[map92]

I am very prone to motion sickness, ( can't ride in the back seat of a car) I start taking Dramamine a few nights before we cruise and it does the trick .(Use the less drowsy formula). Take some with you on the cruise just in case.

[dmdiver]

I've also heard that green apples are good and available on the ship. As far as ginger capsules, you can get them pretty much anywhere - they are with the vitamins/supplements. When we used the sea bands, the pharmacy at Walmart ordered them for us.

[jdemps]

I'm very prone to sea sickness and begin taking meclizine 3 days before getting on the ship and then 1 each day. Doesn't help much when I return since I will still sway for around 4 weeks. I've tried the watch, sea bands, etc. but I just get sea sick and my inner ears don't react well. My ears pop when going more than 6 floors in an elevator. Meclizine has worked the best for me. I would probably have cruised more if I didn't get so nauseous and sway for so long after the cruise, but I still cruise and have 2 planned this year.

 

I've heard reports of ginger pills working great to crytalize somemthing in the inner ear so y ou don't get sea sick. maybe look into it, can't hurt I think?

[New Orleans cruise Queen]

I use the patch but I have to cut it in half. The whole one makes me too thirsty and dry mouth. I have been in very rough seas where they were giving barf bags away at the elevator and I was fine.

 

 

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[ParrotRob]

The dining room is lower than the Empress Deck. And the upper deck is only one lower, so probably not much difference. Midship is generally the best - as someone else said, think of the ship like a see-saw - the ends move up and down the most, the closer to the center you are, the less rise and fall. Also, as several people have said, sit someplace where you can see the horizon - your brain is having trouble reconciling what it feels (motion) with what it SEES (stability). The same concept applies to carsickness. If you look at the horizon you're better off than looking down at your phone or a book.

[wemjam]

SWEAR by Sea Bands (little wrist bands you wear - non medication!). I too get motion sickness super easy, can't ride in back of a car, can't watch overly "motion" movies etc.

 

Used to always take sea sickness medicine of all kinds, then my husband bought me Sea Bands! They are AWESOME!. NO medication or side effects going into my body, I don't have to wear them all them time and can simply put them on if I start feeling a little sick and they work within just a couple minutes. Unlike any kind of medication, you have to stay on it all the time because usually if you wait to take it until you are feeling unwell it is too late and you can't keep it down.

 

Can buy these for less than $10 at any drug store. I wear one if I start feeling just a little bad and if it gets really bad I put on two. Was on a cruise not too long ago where it was so choppy seemed like 1/2 the ship was laying around on deck sick... I didn't feel a thing with my bands on. I can take a 10 hour flight to Europe and don't feel a thing (usually get sick on a plane within 15 minute of take off!)

 

Supposed to work for morning sickness too, can't account for this personally, but could see why it would work for that too.

[iriecruising]

I agree with those who mentioned Ginger. My first cruise I felt "off" little nausea, little headache and just off kilter. Cruise line gave me ginger capsules and 2 days later we were on a catamaran in St. Maarten in rough waters. People getting sick everywhere and I was sitting up front like "wow this is a blast" Not even a little seasick! I bring it on every cruise and take it for every long car trip now!

[siestakeys04]

My aunt has motion sickness no matter what her doctor gave a prescription for the patch behind her ear. Boy I tell you she was like a new woman no problems at all.

[nutterbutter818]

I put a patch on the morning we board (you need to put it on at least 4 hours before) and change it out every three days. Works like magic for me.

[Elaine5715]

Queasiness can also be attributed to dehydration and/or constipation not always motion sickness.

[JerseyGirlJen]

I've told this story here and there on this subject. 3 weeks before my first cruise I had a minor outpatient procedure done under sedation. For 2 weeks afterwards I was dizzy, queasy, and unable to keep my balance. Turned out I had an allergic reaction to the sedation anesthesia. I told my Doctor I was cruising, and that I was concerned because I was having these issues on top of my normal carsick/seasick issues. My Doctor prescribed me Meclazine, the same dosage as the OTC Bonine , BUT with instruction to take a pill every 6 hours.

It worked wonders, even in the 15' seas we encountered. My friends all joke that if you look at me the wrong way I'll throw up, so for those pills to work really says something.

See if your Dr can write you the RX. You get a lot more pills than in a box of Bonine and it's typically less expensive.

 

 

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[LuckyStar]

My last cruise I was unexpectedly sea sick. Very mild. I bought some dramamine on board and it did nothing. I drank a ginger ale very slow and that did the trick. In my past cruises, I have taken ginger candy with me and that helped other people in our group who were having some issues. So I'm a big believer in the ginger solution. Its another option.

 

Jenny

[Bookworm1985]

I start taking Bonnie and ginger pills a few days before the cruise, during the cruise and a few days after and haven’t gotten sick.

 

 

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[pspercy]

I am very prone to motion sickness, ( can't ride in the back seat of a car) I start taking Dramamine a few nights before we cruise and it does the trick .(Use the less drowsy formula). Take some with you on the cruise just in case.

 

The active ingredient in "Dramamine Less Drowsy" is meclizine,same as in Bonine. Only wish it was available when I was a kid !

[Ellusionz]

The active ingredient in "Dramamine Less Drowsy" is meclizine,same as in Bonine. Only wish it was available when I was a kid !

 

I didn't know that. Wonder why I still get drowsy on that and not on the bonine.

[A&Jfamily]

I know this is totally dependent on the person, but if you've experienced sea sickness you may have some insight.

 

My last cruise I was on the empress deck (7) in the middle. I didn't feel sick at all throughout the cruise, however when I stepped into the bathroom, or the dining room (which I assume was on a higher deck) I could feel my stomach being uneasy. It wasn't ever ending in being sick, it was just uncomfortable.

 

I booked another cruise on the upper deck (6 I believe) in the aft- with a balcony. Being that I'm lower do you think I'll still feel sick? Is being in the back going to affect me? Watching the water doesn't affect me so I'm not worried about the balcony. I'm just wondering if I should talk to my doctor and be on something during the cruise and expect to feel sick-- or if I should only bring stuff just in case.

 

Again I know it depends on the person, but any insight would be helpful if you've had the same experiences.

 

Thank you!

 

In my personal experience motion sickness happens when the object you a re traveling in is moving but your brain cannot tell that it is and feels that it should be stationary. The gentle roll of the boat doesn't bother me, curvy roads turn me green unless I am driving so my brain knows I am controlling the motion. On a recent road trip, I wore seabands if we were doing a long stretch of driving. They worked like a charm.

 

As for motion, on the ship, personally, we like the back the best - seems the smoothest and most controlled - and we usually stay on 7.