How do you convince someone to cruise who is afraid

[kleibo]

We are planning a family trip for next year for my mother-in-law's 75th birthday and thought it would be great to do a cruise.

 

My brother-in-law refuses to go, saying he will get seasick. He got sick on a tiny little fishing boat last year and now insists he is going to get sick on the huge cruise ship. I just don't know what to do. I know he will be fine and I know he will love cruising if he will give it a chance, but he is like "absolutley not" about going.

 

He Loves to eat, likes to gamble, likes to visit different places and people, but still refuses to go.

 

He's driving me crazy.

 

Any suggestions.

[2Cruise4Ever]

Tell him that being on a small boat is NOTHING compared to a cruise ship. They are huge and have large stabilizers to minimize motion. I would also stay away from the Mid-Atlantic area as the seas around here can be very unpredictable. Go for a cruise from Miami into the Caribbean where the seas are typically much calmer than the mid-atlantic region. Also, tell him that hundreds of people who are prone to sea-sickness go cruising year after year and have no issues. If he still refuses to go, simply plan the vacation without him! He'll regret it (probably).

 

Happy Sailing!!! :D

[firefly333]

Iv got a friend who is afraid to be surrounded by water and refuses to learn to swim and hates the idea of being near the ocean. So far my reasoning is falling on deaf ears to say the least. She says it would be terrifying to be surrounded by all that water on the ship.

 

If you find words to help...Im all ears.

[Cruisenouvelle]

go without him!! Seriously, my DH gets seasick on smaller craft, bit had NO problems on our first ever cruise this spring. The Dramamine went unused. As 2Cruise4Ever observed, the large size of the cruise ship will make a difference. Worst case scenario, he can take some dramamine, or have a doctor prescribe a motion sickness 'patch' for him.

Aside - firefly333 - I'm a poor swimmer. If the ship goes down, I'm probably scred. Note, though, that the cruise ship is still safer than a car trip to the mall, statistically speaking.

[jerseygirl3]

I get very seasick on small boats, but I've never had a problem on a cruise ship. You can tell him that if he does start to feel seasick, he can visit the ship's doctor and they will give him something for it. Or he can be proactive and take something (like Bonine or Dramamine) each day as a precaution.

 

If he is still adamant, I agree with the others...go without him. If he has an attitude that is unreasonable to listen to recommendations, then chances are he'll make everyone miserable if he does get seasick.

[Sam The Cat]

I booked/took my GF on her first cruise 5 years ago I was in a wheel chair due to a broken ankle. We left from NYC She saw the ship and was debating to go or not due to the fact how big it was. I wheeled my self up the ramp and waited for her and she decided to go. Now after three cruises in a AA suite and a Ac suite she is willing to go when I call her. I have created a monster who will not travel unless less she has a butler.

 

I hope he decides to go he will have a good time

[RetireeWannabee]

Give him a deadline for when he has to decide one way or another. Then leave him alone. When the deadline comes, call him up and ask what he has decided. Whatever he decides, accept whatever he tells you. "All right, thanks for letting me know! good-bye!" NICELY.

 

I don't think it's worth your time or energy to try to convince anyone of anything they are so SURE about. Hopefully he will talk to friends and coworkers and decide that it's worth the risk and decide to go.

 

If not, His Loss. If that's the case, make sure that the next family trip is on land. Not to say you couldn't invite him for future cruises that you take, but do give him a chance to easily participate in the next big family occasion.

[golden778]

If someone is certain they're going to be sick, they most likely will be.

 

Also, if someone has a phobia about water, they shouldn't put themselves in that position unless they are certain they want to overcome it and this is the way to do it. I'm afraid of heights and it's very real to me - I don't have control over it. I get woozy and it's involuntary. I wouldn't take a vacation that includes staying on the top floor of a 14-story building, no matter how great my family told me it was. It doesn't interest me in the least, in fact my palms get sweaty thinking about it. So I think if someone has that kind of fear about being surrounded by water, they should probably choose a vacation other than a cruise.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Not to sound too negative, but you should go without him! Your sister will have a wonderful time with you and the other family members and will be able to spend lots of time with her mother.

 

Sadly, there are people who cannot be reasoned with when a cruise is considered, and it seems that your relative is in this category.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

[onthelake]

Try two things - order the cruise line DVD to try to get him enthused. Then, I see you are in NJ so I am guessing he is too, do you have a gambling cruise somewhere close? Take him out for a one day or one evening 'cruise to nowhere'. He will probably be signing you up for cruises after that.

[megr1125]

Blindfold??? Get him on the ship, keep him in the cabin then take the blindfold off at muster??

 

:D

 

I agree with getting a dvd or having him watch one of the specials they have on travel channel...heck, there is a thing on Freedom/Liberty tonight, very soon, on Discovery....that will give him an idea of the goings on, and the goings on behind the scenes...maybe he will see how much fun it is!

 

Otherwise, buy hm one of those "someone went on a cruise and all i got was this t-shirt" things!!

[JolieMadam]

My ex-husband was one of those people who always said he hated being on the water and didn't want to have anything to do with cruise ships. Somewhere along the way he agreed to go on one of those shorter 3-4 day cruises along the West Coast because his best friend managed to convince him that it would be fantastic. You can probably guess what happened...nothing but rough seas the entire time and problems with the ship...he was totally miserable...never to ever set foot on another boat!

 

When someone is so convinced this is what they don't want to be doing, leave them alone....no one will enjoy this celebration if he ends up going and hates it.

[LHP]

He may be using the "sea sickness" as an excuse for a deeper more serious fear.

 

As the parent of an AS child who has panic attacks over things that make no sense (fake sharks) .... these fears are very real to them.

 

Tell him you understand. Everyone else should go and have a great time.

But don't try to talk him into it. It is like breaking an addiction...the person has to do it for one reason and one reason only...because they are ready to.

[bububr]

Our two friends Cheryl and Kathy wanted to go on a cruise with us since we cruise three or four times a year..............Kathy can't swim.

 

We booked the cruise, a two nighter on Celebrity Century ( they do it EVERY year ) for about 175 per person. We flew in a night early and stayed at a budget hotel ( they called it a roach motel ). we had breakfast at our favorite spot in FLL, La Bonne Crepe. THEY LOVED IT!!

 

Until the bill came and they realized we were heading to the ship...Kathy turned WHITE. She wanted to just fly back and have us over for cocktails later. We told her we would let NOTHING happen to her, did she like the restaurant? she boarded with some white knuckles, and prodding. We asked her to bring her Bathing suit in her carry-on. We all went and changed and sat in the hot tub. Soon we were prunes and moving...she was trapped...........

 

 

Oaky I'll cut to the chase.

 

On this two night bahamas cruise she didn't want to go home. She loved the ship, she loved the cruise, and she loved everyone.

 

Unfortunately they cruise Oceana now...we can afford to also, but we like cruising three or four times a year so we'd be broke by now.

Okay, whats my point? try and convince people you don't know how they will react to cruise a two or three day cruise. If they do get sick it it is a very low investment on a vacation, if they don't your'r set for life.

 

I'd suggest Celebrity or Rccl for the first short cruise. Its cheap and you have plenty of time for the experience.

 

 

Dave

[iheartbda]

People have been successful in talking others to cruise and it turned out well. However, just think if you talk the person into it, they go somewhat reluctantly and all their fears come true. They can't just get off the ship and it could get ugly, not to mention that you may never hear the end of it when you get home.

 

I would hesitate to give them the hard sell. As someone else said, THEY have to be ready to make the decision.

[Annieeee]

We are planning a family trip for next year for my mother-in-law's 75th birthday and thought it would be great to do a cruise.

 

My brother-in-law refuses to go, saying he will get seasick. He got sick on a tiny little fishing boat last year and now insists he is going to get sick on the huge cruise ship. I just don't know what to do. I know he will be fine and I know he will love cruising if he will give it a chance, but he is like "absolutley not" about going.

 

He Loves to eat, likes to gamble, likes to visit different places and people, but still refuses to go.

 

He's driving me crazy.

 

Any suggestions.

 

 

Why do you feel that you have to convince him? If he said no, then he does not want to go. There is no guarantee that he will not get seasick, there is no guarantee that he will love crusing. Not everyone likes it and a good thing too cause otherwise we would all have a diffcult time booking the cruise and stateroom we want. So leave the guy at home, and the rest of you go and I hope you all have a great time.

 

Annieeee

[Andee]

I think you are making light of his genuine concerns. There is no way that you can "know he will be fine", or be sure that medication will keep his seasickness under control. I've never gotten seasick, but I can't imagine anything worse than being trapped on a ship feeling ill.

 

Would a celebration without one of her children really honor your mother-in-law? Can't the family plan something that would be pleasant for all members?

[imnance]

Iv got a friend who is afraid to be surrounded by water and refuses to learn to swim and hates the idea of being near the ocean.

 

Ha! That's me to a T. You can also throw in claustrophobic and control freak. For some reason, I wanted to cruise anyway.:rolleyes:

 

On our cruise in May, we had a wicked storm. Big honking waves and people boncing off the walls in the hallways. I was out on the balcony, leaning over the rail, getting drenched from rain and spray grinning like a loon. DH opened the door and said, "Um, Honey? Shouldn't you be hiding under the bed in the fetal position crying or something?"

 

No way!! I LOVED it!

 

Take the cruise! Poor BIL will be sorry he missed it. At least mine would be, because I'd go without him. Heck, at this point, I'd go without DH! LOL

[cruise_lover]

My sister can not swim and is deathly afraid of water even water in the bath tub. That is why she takes showers. I can not even convince her to take long hot bubble baths to relax.

 

During our first cruise in 1995 we spent 2 extra days at sea because Hurricane Rita closed the port we left from. She loves cruising. She even booked our upcoming cruise before we left the ship we were on this past January.

 

Tell your brother-in-law that he is literally comparing apples to bananas. Todays ships are so big and stabilized that there is very little motion. If he thinks he is going to be sick have him go to his doctor and get a prescription for the ear patch. My sister and I would not think of cruising without them. (Don't tell him this part) Our last cruise was so rough that people told us they were thrown out of their beds. Because we wore the ear patch we never got sick. And, I am so prone to motion sickness that I can no longer ride a train.

 

Is it possible to take him on a smaller 3 day cruise before your big trip?

[kleibo]

Thank you all. Unfortunately my mother-in-law won't go without him. I know I'll be cruising anyway next year, but I thought it would be fantastic to have all the family together for her 75th birthday. I am going to speak to my mother-in-law again and ask if she would reconsider going without him. It's worth a try. I am also going to look into a cruise to nowhere to see if those ships are big enough to be stable like the big cruise ships - maybe I could get him on that for a day. All I can do is keep trying.

[Mekamax]

If you do go with him don't go during hurricane season and go out of Florida where you are automatically in the calm Caribbean Sea. We took a friend with us who gets very motion sick. He decided it would be better to go with us since we knew all about cruising - the only reason he wanted to go was because his girlfriend had always wanted to cruise and he was going to propose to her on board as a surprise... Well can you say Hurricane?? Straight at New Orleans so we spent two days getting around it and he was SICK :eek: . Luckaly and the reason he was sold on it to begin with Carnival has a vacation guarantee where he could go home at the first port free. He almost did but stuck it out and the rest of the cruise he was fine and he proposed and we got it all on video... They even met new friends that they are still close too 10 years later...

 

So sell him on Carnival's Vacation Guarantee so he can try it and don't go in hurricane season... :) Also it is smoothest out of FLorida - the Gulf of Mexico getts churned up easialy and the Pacific is rougher... :) Debbie

[alphakitty]

Ya know, cruising is not for everyone. Believe it or not there are people who don't love it. :eek:

 

I convinced my sister and BIL to take a cruise. They went reluctantly. When they got back they said...."We didn't love it." I felt a bit responsible for pushing them into a vacation they didn't really enjoy.

[ddonalds]

If he has a seasickness problem, he probably will get seasick on the ship. I would if I didn't have the patch. IF he really has the same kind of issue I have - trust me, there is no ship big enough for me to not get sick on. I have an inner ear issue - and while I do cruise (and enjoy it), I choose my destinations very carefully. If he doesn't want to go - really, just let it go. You're just going to frustrate yourself, and him. As you said, you have other cruising opportunities - there are lots of other vacation opportunities for families that don't include ships. Don't ever try to tell someone they won't get seasick if they think they will. You might be right, which would be good. But if you're wrong - that is really, really bad..... Not worth the risk...:o

[madelinerose]

How do you convince someone to cruise who is afraid?

 

 

IMHO, you don't. If he doesn't want to go, he doesn't want to go! Why bother asking him repeatedly? Go on the cruise without him and enjoy yourselves.

 

Let him stay home. Why does he have to go? :confused:

 

Sorry, I missed Post #20. Personally, I'd like to suggest that you use your energy and time to plan a different vacation, rather than "keep on trying" to plan a cruise. I know when I say "No", I mean "No". No one could ever convince me to sky dive or climb Mt. Everest.....same with your brother-in-law. You're on the East Coast, so there's a myriad of things you could do by driving, using Amtrak, etc. etc. Good luck.

[People_Mover]

tell him to read this post :D