Location and Motion Sicknes

[bd6862]

I am very prone to motion sickness. We are booked on Voyager of the Seas in a suite, 9th floor, forward cabin. I have only been on one cruise before and was on a low deck in the middle of the ship. I was perfectly fine until we hit rough seas during dinner at the back of the ship The sea bands usually work for me in all cases of motion sickness. Should I be concerned since we are higher up and in a forward suite?

[Druke I]

Gross generalization of course, but the higher up in the superstructure, the more pronounced will be the "roll" motion, and the farther foward, the more pronounced will be the "pitching"motion.

 

Usually best (and smoothest) is midships, low in the hull.

 

Aft dining rooms often tend to "oscillate", particulary on ships with shaft and props, as opposed to podded propulsion systems.

 

Many stomachs cannot can not tolerate the combination of roll, pitch, and oscillation encountered in heavy seas.

 

No guarantees on the ocean - travel can be an adventure.

[Green Eyed Mom99]

I am very prone to motion sickness. We are booked on Voyager of the Seas in a suite, 9th floor, forward cabin. I have only been on one cruise before and was on a low deck in the middle of the ship. I was perfectly fine until we hit rough seas during dinner at the back of the ship The sea bands usually work for me in all cases of motion sickness. Should I be concerned since we are higher up and in a forward suite?

 

I'm just like you, booked my cabins on the Freedom and the RCCL reservation person put me in forward cabin 9th floor. I voiced my concerns and she just blew me off and said I would be fine. So now I am praying that everything will be fine. I'm taking every kind of seasickness remedy available. This is our first cruise so I don't know how I will handle it. I'm hoping my husband will be okay, he'll kill me if we spend all of this money and then he's sick:eek: Good luck to you.

[above sea level cruiser]

bd6862 & Green Eyed Mom99:

You are both on the biggest vessels afloat. Roll, pitch movement will be next to nothing in calm seas. You will be fine. Trust me. bd: if you don't feel well - go to the mall in the middle of the ship - you'll be fine.

GEMom99 - Freedom? Take Vegas and a couple of all inclusives, put them on a 1000 foot cruise liner and thats where you will be. You are so lucky!!!

Enjoy, both of you and don't worry. Bring some of that bonine or patches if you need to but I bet you won't need to take it.:)

[bd6862]

;) Thank you all for your replies. I was actually able to switch cabins this morning as a suite became available midship. My travel agent was more than helpful in the change. I will still be prepared just in case.

[Curious1]

I recently returned from my first cruise and I was on Deck 10.

I got a prescription for Transderm Scop patches.

I put one on 4 hrs before setting sail. I was fine the first night.

The second night I was woozy and couldn't walk straight. This happened again a couple nights later. Don't want to imagine what I would have been like without them. Many people complain of side effects like dry mouth and blurriness in vision but I did not experience any of that. Be sure to wash your hands before and after applying.

Next cruise I'm most definitely planning on the patches again.

Enjoy your first cruise!!

Curious1

[zackiedawg]

First of all, the ship is huge, and they really don't move very much at all unless it gets pretty rough. So I wouldn't worry about it as much on this ship.

 

Secondly, and TO ALL WHO SUFFER MOTION SICKNESS: There was an excellent episode of Myth Busters on Discovery Channel which tested different forms of supposed motion sickness cures to see if any of them were valid. They tested the arm bands with the pressure point, electronic stimulus armbands, legitimate seasickness pills from a pharmacy, and ginger pills...as well as one set of pills which were a placebo - just a vitamin pill which they were told was a seasickness pill. They tested these on two testers who are both extremely sensitive to motion and seasickness, and built a moving chair-rig and blindfolded them to prompt seasickness in a controlled manner.

 

The results were - neither armband had any effect on two different testers - both got sick within 10 minutes on the chair. The placebo did fake out one of the testers, but the other still got sick. The pharmaceutical seasick pill worked on both, but caused them both to be tremendously drowsy and tipsy.

 

The surprising discovery was that Ginger pills are NOT an urban legend or wive's tale - neither tester got sick after more than an hour on the chair (neither lasted more than 15 minutes on the other products).

 

So, if you are prone to seasickness - Ginger pills are legitimately effective, don't have drowsy, drunken side effects, and are inexpensive!

[KCDan]

We cruised last year on the Radiance. It is not a Voyager class I know. We had cabin 9502. We had reserved a certain balcony but then switched when the balcony guarentee became available to save a few $$. We thought it was definitely worse coming back into Miami being that far in front of the ship. Will not ever do the guarentee again. Hopefully being on the bigger ships, it will not be noticed.

[superjerryw]

While you may get a smoother ride on a larger ship it is not always the case. The biggest ship in the world is still just a speck on the ocean and no match for mother nature. As indicated, motion will be felt the least in the middle of the ship on the lowest deck. If you are prone to motion sickness speck to your doctor. It's best to bring some medication to protect your investment in the cruise.

[mom j]

Enjoy all the wodnerful help and hints.

 

We also have the front cabin on Radiance (7th) deck. Do you think it will be okay? Never been on the front of ship before. Looking forward to trip, apparently only one on this cruise because noone has signed up for Meet & Mingle.

[dottedline]

OK - I'm booked in an aft cabin on the AOS in October, for my very first cruise. Actually, I did cruise the Nile, but does river cruising count? :D Anyway, is the motion worse there, like in the front? Ours is a corner cabin right on the back.

[ciship]

With each cruise I get a little braver with location. First cruise, I did what was the best and had midship, 8th deck. Felt fine with no meds. Then we tried FAR forward (I mean really far forward) and felt fine with no meds. This next cruise in July, I am booked AFT on deck 10. Eeeekkkkkk! I'm more worried about this one......not because it is AFT, but because it is on deck 10. I'm crossing my fingers and going prepared. Bonine makes me woozy and lethargic, so I am going to try the ginger this time.

[ciship]

With each cruise I get a little braver with location. First cruise, I did what was the best and had midship, 8th deck. Felt fine with no meds. Then we tried FAR forward (I mean really far forward) and felt fine with no meds. This next cruise in July, I am booked AFT on deck 10. Eeeekkkkkk! I'm more worried about this one......not because it is AFT, but because it is on deck 10. I'm crossing my fingers and going prepared. Bonine makes me woozy and lethargic, so I am going to try the ginger this time.

[superjerryw]

OK - I'm booked in an aft cabin on the AOS in October, for my very first cruise. Actually, I did cruise the Nile, but does river cruising count? :D Anyway, is the motion worse there, like in the front? Ours is a corner cabin right on the back.

 

The motion of the ship is equally exaagerated at either end.

[sellio]

I am very prone to motion sickness. We are booked on Voyager of the Seas in a suite, 9th floor, forward cabin. I have only been on one cruise before and was on a low deck in the middle of the ship. I was perfectly fine until we hit rough seas during dinner at the back of the ship The sea bands usually work for me in all cases of motion sickness. Should I be concerned since we are higher up and in a forward suite?

 

I am VERY prone to motion sickness and have found the best medicine is Bonine. You can but it at a drug store. Our Target and Wal Mart do not carry it. I chew one every morning (it tastes like a baby aspirin) and NEVER have to worry. It does not have any side effects either like drowsiness, etc. It is a charm! Have a great cruise.

[bd6862]

I have read many threads that refer to "ginger" pills. First what are they? Is there a particular brand to buy? At what point do you take one?:confused:

[Green Eyed Mom99]

With each cruise I get a little braver with location. First cruise, I did what was the best and had midship, 8th deck. Felt fine with no meds. Then we tried FAR forward (I mean really far forward) and felt fine with no meds. This next cruise in July, I am booked AFT on deck 10. Eeeekkkkkk! I'm more worried about this one......not because it is AFT, but because it is on deck 10. I'm crossing my fingers and going prepared. Bonine makes me woozy and lethargic, so I am going to try the ginger this time.

 

Good luck to you, I'm sure you'll have a great time:D

[zackiedawg]

I have read many threads that refer to "ginger" pills. First what are they? Is there a particular brand to buy? At what point do you take one?:confused:

 

No, no particular brand needed. They can be found at any drug store, many grocery stores, lots of health food stores and more. They are just ginger...in fact, you could take it in food form if you wanted. You could drink ginger ale, but you'd need an awful lot of it!

 

The pills are just more convenient as they are concentrated and easy to take. Generally, you should take one 15-30min before you expect the motion to begin. You can take them after you begin to feel a little sick too...they take effect usually within 30 min. You can either take them regularly as a regimen, or only take them in response to feeling sick or expecting large seas.

 

I took them way back when I was a kid, on my first cruises - I never even waited to find out if I might get seasick - I took them preventatively...those older ships were much smaller than today's monsters and you felt much more movement. I haven't used them in a very long time, as I've since realized I'm not prone to seasickness anyway. However my mother is very sensitive to seasickness, and always used 'the patch', the armband, and anything else she could find - she discovered the usefulness of the ginger when she got sick wearing the patch - she took ginger pills, and felt better right away. Even after 100 cruises, she still packs the ginger just in case.

[atticus]

Different ship and I was on a transatlantic but..... I had a single cabin all the forward on one of the lower/mid decks. Seas were a little rough that first day and I looked forward to being able to have the sea "rock" me to sleep that night.

 

Well it was beyond a gentle rocking motion. We were hitting such large waves that I was getting hang time in my bed!! Pretty cool, though. I had no trouble falling asleep but woke up the next morning sick as a dog! I couldn't even make it out of the cabin. After an hour or so, I dragged myself down to the medical suite and got the shot. Worked wonders! Slept for about three hours after receiving it (most people are out for much longer) and was fine for the rest of the crossing. No side effects either.

 

So if worse comes to worst than you can always fall back on the shot. Charged to your shipboard account for about $55 on my ship.

[Green Eyed Mom99]

;) Thank you all for your replies. I was actually able to switch cabins this morning as a suite became available midship. My travel agent was more than helpful in the change. I will still be prepared just in case.

 

I, too, went ahead and switched cabins to more mid-ship on deck 9 of the Freedom. Went down from a D-1 to D-2, but they're the same size. I'll just feel better mentally, because I tend to turn green in the backseat of a car. Now I need to make sure I have our non-alcoholic sparking wine and chocolate covered strawberries get delivered to our new cabin:eek: or someone in our old cabin will get a surprise.

[Green Eyed Mom99]

I'll be picking up some ginger tablets and Bonine. I've already purchased some Relief Bands.

[Rabbitlady]

I saw on Great Cruises(on a RCCL ship)on the Travel Channel that there was a shot you take and you were guaranteed to feel better in 10 minutes. Is this the same shot the previous poster mentioned that made you drowsy? I got the impression that it was some new shot that you just got and felt better without having to sleep it off. Maybe I am naive but I was wondering if anyone knew about it. My husband always wears the patch and is fine... except one we hit rough seas and gale force winds... he had to just lay in bed. It sort of concerned him if he would of gotten really sick, but I assured him I saw the "shot" on TV and he would be fine. If anyone knows about this, please let me know.

We will be mid-ship on Deck 7 on the Mariner this summer.

Rabbitlady:)

[realtorron]

My DW suffered for years until she started using Bonnie worked great, problem solved.:D

[Happy ks]

I'm very prone to motion sickness. I use non-drowsey Bonine, starting the night before we embark. We also take along the wristbands, contrary to Myth Busters, they have worked very well for us many times. I did not watch the show, but you do have to give them time to work, it's not immediate. If I'm still a bit queasy in spite of the Bonine, I'll order a ginger ale instead of a cocktail. Ginger pills give me heartburn.

 

I choose the cabin according to where I want to be, with no regard to motion sickness. Because I don't want to always stay in the cabin, I want to go anywhere on the ship, no matter what time of day or night it is. If the ship is rocking enough so you can feel it, the whole ship will rock. Forward does tend to feel more movement, but that has only been a problem for me if I'm showering or trying to put on makeup.

 

Prevention is the key.

[Lyncruiser]

The other thing to remember about avoiding motion sickness -- keep food in your stomach. That's not possible once you're sick, however, so always make sure to eat while you're feeling okay.

 

They say that's why the tradition of several meals a day and the midnight meal on ships developed -- to make certain people always had something in their stomach.

 

My brother and I have been on 15 cruises and we generally never get seasick. On our last cruise, however, one evening the dinner selections didn't appeal and he ate very lightly. He reported that he was surprised to wake up in his cabin about 3 a.m. feeling queasy. He knew he'd better eat quickly. He went to the promenade cafe and had a sandwich and cookies and felt better fairly quickly. He was surprised he felt queasy as we've often been the ones to show up for dinner when the rest of the ship doesn't!

 

Also, the size of the ship doesn't mean you won't get seasick. We were on the Mariner.

 

Bonine can be a good solution. But, while it doesn't make my mom or DH sleepy at the time, when they take it they are both wiped out the next day. Seems to have a delayed drowsy reaction for them.

 

My sister-in-law is very prone to motion sickness. She doesn't sweat the cabin selection. Instead, she always uses the patch. She says the side effects are bearable -- except for once when we were crossing the Pacific. The seas were rough and the stabilizers were not on. In fact, once we started across the Pacific from Hawaii, it was clear the ship's agenda was to get to Ensenada on time. We were like so much loose cargo! She resorted to using two patches. Ultimately, she got double vision, which scared her. It cleared up when she took one patch off. So, use the patch, but don't overdose!