seasickness

[mattall]

What have people used to avoid this? I am concerned because we are at the front of the ship on deck 6. Thanks..:)

[Lori1035]

My daughter got sick the first night of our cruise. We aren't sure if it was just a combination of the excitement, being tired, slightly rough seas or if it was seasickness. Anyway, the head server at dinner gave her some type of seasickness tablet (can't remember the name) that they give out free. She just went on back to the room and went to bed. The next day she was fine and also for the rest of the trip. No one else in our group of 11 got sick even though a couple of them had gotten sick on fishing excursions before.

[kshabare]

Bring the Dramamine. This dosage is for children and adults alike. They sell it at Treasure Ketch. We needed it the 2nd day and the 4th day for headaches only. No adverse affects - we went to bed early and adjusted just fine. I brought the Ginger tablets and also the Bonine but just used the Dramamine - I trusted it and they were orange chewables.

Don't forget the headache stuff (Motrin) for too much sun. Don't forget the Benadryl for alergies to detergents, day at Castaway Cay (sea lice vs. snorkel vest) and too much sun. It's really costly on the ship.

Kim ºOº

[piginmud]

The drugs like dramamine make u very drowsy. I brought along the arm bands for myself and my daughter. Altho we didn't have to use them at all. We let our friends at our table use them for their daughter and apparently it worked pretty well for her!
debbie

[Mjasp]

Do kids feel the motion like adults do? I was always under the impression that kids don't get sea sick. If thats not so let me know so I can get the childrens Dramamine. My DD's are 10 and 6.

[tschorer]

Bring BONINE, NOT dramamine. Bonine is a far more effective seasickness medication, ask your pharmacist.
I travelled on an NCL boat in the north atlantic several years ago, due to a late departure we ran at full speed with NO stabilizers out in 30ft seas(we were on deck three, I was looking UP at the waves). I kid you not, NCL staff was handing out Bonine like Pez. Fully 75% of the guests AND crew were sick, restaraunts/ bars and casino were EMPTY, people literally lying on the floor in common areas. At one point the ship was rocking 20degrees from vertical, side to side...plates sliding off tables etc.
made me laugh to hear people complaining about the MINOR swells on the wonder a few weeks back... but my wife had the bonine just in case!

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by tschorer
Bring BONINE, NOT dramamine. Bonine is a far more effective seasickness medication, ask your pharmacist.
I've been looking into this because my daughters suffer from motion sickness (and so do I).

According to the directions, Bonine is only for adults and children 12 years of age and over. My daughters are 10 and 12, so one is qualified to take Bonine (meclizine) and the other isn't. Regular Dramamine (dimenhydrinate) can be given to children, but our experience is that it makes our daughters sleepy.

For more about Bonine, see http://www.pfizer.com/chc/bonine/

So what will we do with our 10-year old who is too young for Bonine? We'll give her Bonine anyway. We talked to her pediatrician and my family practioner. Both said we could give her Bonine. If you have a child under 12 who suffers from motion sickness and gets knocked out by regular Dramamine, consider talking to your physician also. Please don't take the advice that I got for my child as necessarily being appropriate for your child.

Bonine is one of several brand names for meclizine. Others include Antivert and Dramamine II

[Werner Weiss]

The Transderm Scop (http://www.transdermscop.com/) patch worked well for me on a rough Western Caribbean cruise in 1993. You stick it behind your ear. Each patch last for three days. In the United States, you need a perscription from a doctor. The Trasderm Scop patch is not for children.

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Have never cruised before, but am bringing (and taking!) Bonine as a precautionary measure. I asked my dd (6) pediatrician, and she told me to give her 1/2 a pill. This should be fine she said.

[sandee]

Her pediatrician told me it was okay to give my DGD, who was 9 at the time of our 1st cruise, a whole bonine based on her weight - she's big for her age. He said for smaller 9 y.o. he would have started out trying 1/2 pill. My DD (adult) and I tried the patch and slept away 2/3 of our 1st cruise. It also bothered my vision so much I had to wear sunglass even in the restaurants. I am very prone to seasickness and now I take a bonine about an hour before boarding and that it. Last cruise I took a 2nd bonine one day later in the week when we were traveling fast to make up for lost time dropping off a sick crew member. Felt just a tinge queesy so I tolk it as a preventative. I was fine after that.

[CRB#33]

I know this is off topic, but it was mentioned on an earlier reply

...SEA LICE!??? http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/drop.gifWhat the heck is that???

[rlskes]

is this available over the counter?

TIA!

Kim

[D,L and K's Mom]

If I remember correctley Sea lice are teeny tiny jelly-fish larve.....GROSS. We heard about them before our cruise too. I heard that they cause a red, raised rash that really, really itchs. I was told that the rash tends to be where your bathing suit would cover (seems the little buggers get caught underneath and it tends to get irritated.) We purchased some Sea Lice protectant(I kid you not) at a scuba shop but I have been told you can buy it over the web. We used the lotion (it was also a sunscreen ) and had no trouble with the little critters. I didn't hear of anyone else on the cruise that had problems with them either though. Maybe it depends on the weather?? WE were there in July. Good Luck!

[iluvorlando]

Yes, I have seen all three medicines (Dramamine, Bonine, Antivert) at our local Walgreens!

[rlskes]

Thank you :). Will look for it!

Kim

[irishdoll7]

My suggestion to anybody is try the meds BEFORE getting on the ship. Make sure that they do not make you just as sick as the seasickness. I have that problem and found that the wristbands were the only way to go for me. Just watch out for the funny tan lines

88 days till we leave and I can not wait!

;)

[pmgreene]

In SOME children I think that experiencing seasickness is psychological. My kids DS8 and DD5 seemed fine the whole trip and we experienced some rough seas. We cruised in October and faced rough seas due to a hurricane and a tropical depression a little south of us. Because seasickness is not a common concept to many children I think that if you introduce this fear that they can start to feel sick. Before the trip and during the trip we never told the kids about getting seasick. Yes, I did bring all the medicines just in case but no one complained about not feeling well. They felt a little "funny" they'd say and we'd move to another part of the ship or go to the pool (which helps with the seasick feeling) and everything would pass.

Better safe than sorry, bring the meds but let the kids judge for themselves how they feel.

I do realize that some kids are very suseptible to motion sickness and I am not negating that situation.....

[disneyholic family]

regular dramamine causes drowsiness....
dramimine 2 doesn't and lasts 24 hours....
my daughter used to live on the stuff for road trips....
i'll stock up on bonine and dramimine 2 before the cruise, however i suspect i'm not allowed to take either of them....

and yes, children can most definitely get seasick...
i remember spending the entire transatlantic voyage in my stateroom when i was 7 years old....like the earlier post, as a result of terrible storms on the atlantic.....boy.....i can still remember that horrible feeling decades later....and it was for days on end....(the other direction i'd been fine.....the weather was perfect....on the most beautiful ship ever, the Queen Mary.....i can't wait for them to finish building her successor....i'll definitely book a trip on her at least once...)

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by disneyholic family
i'll stock up on bonine and dramimine 2 before the cruise
Bonine and Dramamine II are the same thing. Both are brand names for the generic drug meclizine, which should not be given to a child under 12 unless directed by a doctor.

By the way, I found a good article on seasickness and remedies at http://www.frommers.com/tips/health/health31.html

[Kristaia]

Here is a website for a sealice product. Hope it helps.

My DH and I got sea lice very badly on Castaway Cay in May 2000. Would have loved to have known of this product before. I am very susceptible to this (don't know why, not allergic to anything!).

It does have to do with the time of year, wave patterns, etc. Check out the website for more.


Sea Lice product (http://www.nidaria.com)

[disneyholic family]

what in heavens name is sea lice???????
is it something specific to that area?
we live on the mediterannean and have never heard of it....(we have the delightful - not- menace known as jellyfish.....)

Horace,
thanks for the info...
so i'll just bring her dramamine II for her.....(and my son and husband if they need it)....

i'll just have to hope i don't get sick...or maybe i'll try a wristband......i'm not really allowed to take anything...(the reason this whole cruise thing is probably a nutty idea...especially during hurricane season)....

[Horace Horsecollar]

It seems that all the drug-based seasickness remedies cause drowsiness to some degree. Regular Dramamine (dimenhydrinate) makes our daughters very sleepy. They've fallen asleep during the day when they've taken regular Dramamine.

The full name of Dramamine II (meclizine) is "Dramamine II Less Drowsy Formula" -- not "non-drowsy," just "less drowsy."

Sandee wrote, "My DD (adult) and I tried the patch and slept away 2/3 of our 1st cruise. It also bothered my vision so much I had to wear sunglass even in the restaurants."

On the Transderm Scop patch website (see http://www.transdermscop.com/ ), under "side effects" they say:
<dl><dd>The most common side effect experienced by people using Transderm Scop is dryness of the mouth. This occurs in about two thirds of the people. A less frequent side effect is drowsiness, which occurs in less than one sixth of the people. Temporary blurring of vision and dilation (widening) of the pupils may occur, especially if the drug is on your hands and comes in contact with the eyes. On infrequent occasions, disorientation, memory disturbances, dizziness, restlessness, hallucinations, confusion, difficulty urinating, skin rashes or redness, temporary changes in heart rate such as palpitations, dry itchy, or reddened whites of the eyes, and eye pain have been reported.</dl>
So only one in six people are supposed to get sleepy from the patch.

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by Horace Horsecollar
On the Transderm Scop patch website (see http://www.transdermscop.com/ ), under "side effects" they say:
<dl><dd>The most common side effect experienced by people using Transderm Scop is dryness of the mouth. This occurs in about two thirds of the people. A less frequent side effect is drowsiness, which occurs in less than one sixth of the people. Temporary blurring of vision and dilation (widening) of the pupils may occur, especially if the drug is on your hands and comes in contact with the eyes. On infrequent occasions, disorientation, memory disturbances, dizziness, restlessness, hallucinations, confusion, difficulty urinating, skin rashes or redness, temporary changes in heart rate such as palpitations, dry itchy, or reddened whites of the eyes, and eye pain have been reported.</dl>
As I wrote earlier in this thread, I used the patch on a really rough Western Caribbean cruise in 1993. One night, dishes in the dining room were flying off the tables, and many bottles of liquor in the bars became piles of broken glass on the floor. Passengers were departing from the dining room in droves, presumably to head to their bathrooms or to the railing.

I have a real problem with motion sickness, but I was fine on the whole cruise.

The patch was not without side effects. I had a very dry mouth, especially in the morning. And I suffered from disorientation. I'm blessed with an excellent sense of direction. But on that cruise, while wearing the patch, I was constantly confused about my bearings, and often headed in the wrong direction when trying to go toward the front or the aft of the ship.

[disneyholic family]

oh i see, sea lice are jelly fish larvae....
well that suncsreen really does work....
i think it's the same one we use (though with a different brand name).....
you just have to be sure to put it on a good hour before you go into the water....
i don't know about sea lice but it does work on jelly fish (disgusting things that they are....yuck)...
i'll be sure to go to the pharmacy and buy a few bottles before our trip....

[disneyholic family]

wow Horace.
don't you just love reading the package insert of medications...
one look and there's no way you'd take it......at least no way i'd take it...
but i'm one of those people who've had a particularly nasty reaction to a simple over the counter medication (the one the FDA pulled from the shelves last year)....
after ending up in the hospital, i would never ever ever take anything not absolutely necessary..
on the other hand i will give it to the rest of the family....
dramamine II never makes my daughter drowsy or any of the other things, so that's what i'll pack for them all to take...