Disney Cruise Line Insomnia! Questions about room service, sleeping, etc

[irishtwins1112]

I have been having trouble sleeping every night since we started considering out Oct.31st cruise on the Dream. I feel ridiculous. Normally I am a pretty good sleeper but lately I wake up and then my mind starts racing thinking about all the exciting things to eat, see, and do on the ship. I hope there isn't 7 more weeks of terrible sleep.....or I might end up sleeping through my whole cruise once we finally get there.

A few questions:
I do historically have trouble sleeping when away from my kids and our cruise is gonna be adults only. We have only left them 2 nights before. Normally I just tough it out....but I really want to enjoy myself. I was thinking about asking my Dr to prescribe me a few sleeping pills for the trip. Any suggestions? I have heard ambien is good but my sister in law took it on vacation one time and was told that she walked to the lobby of the hotel, made herself some hot chocolate and then went back to bed. She didn't have any memory of this. Sounds kind of freaky.

Also, I have this wonderful picture of my hubs and I sitting in our room while the ship is sailing away, drinking our chilled champagne and eating some fruit and the cheese platter from room service. Does anybody else do this? What time would we need to order room service to have it before we sail away? Stupid question but how long would the champagne need to chill in the ice bucket before the sail away? I don't drink a whole lot.

Also, can you order alcoholic mixed drinks from room service?

 

[cris0809]

There are over the counter supplements you can try before Rx sleeping pills. Melatonin comes to mind. Would consider trying these while you are having issues, BEFORE your vacation to figure out dosage. I find that even with my typical insomnia on land I don't have as many issues at sea. Between the amount of activity onboard and the rocking of the boat I sleep decently - and that's saying something.

You can order a bottle of champagne through the stateroom gifts section of the your online check-in.

Sailaway is after your muster drill, somewhere in the 4:45-5:15 range so you'll have plenty of time to chill your champagne.

 

[trickiwoo]

I know hallucinations are a very common side effect of Ambien. So if it's something you are considering, I would definitely recommend trying it at home before the cruise to see how you react!

 

[kdeans1010]

I would talk to your doctor about sleep meds. I work nights and begged my doc for ambien, turns out because I sleep walk (sleep eat too) on unisom, I am not a good candidate for ambien. I am on a great super old medication that I love. PM and I'll tell you it. Super cheap and no more sleep cleaning...

 

[irishtwins1112]

Sleep cleaning! Now that would be useful! Sign me up lol!

 

[n8nally]

When I'm having trouble sleeping I take a Benedryl. It's the same ingredient as OTC sleep aids like Unisom, but much cheaper! I take one and see how that goes. If I'm still having trouble, the next night I take two. That always knocks me out.

My advice for you (from the sound of your post) is that you should try this NOW. If you are having issues sleeping seven weeks out (due to excitement and anxiety sounds like) you will definitly need to get a grip on that before you set sail. I might even talk to your doctor about an anxiety med. They could give you something mild like Klonopin which you can take just when you are feeling anxious and not every day all the time.

Some DCL pre cruise insomnia is perfectly normal and understandable, but what you are describing sounds like maybe you could use some help.

To answer your questions, room service was taking around 45 min last week on the Dream. And actually, sometimes they quoted me 45 min but it really took over an hour. I would order it early since nothing on that platter will go bad quickly. I'd do it at 3 if I were you and it was very important to me. As far as chilling champagne, that's really personal preference. How cold do you want it? On ice it will chill quickly, maybe an hour. In the fridge it may take longer. But if you bring it from home and put it in your stateroom fridge right at 1:30 when the room is available, you should be fine by 4:30-5 when the ship leaves.

Hope your cruise is everything you want it to be!

 

[kdeans1010]

Sleep cleaning! Now that would be useful! Sign me up lol!

No. It was bad. I would come downstairs and start cleaning the kitchen, eat full meals without remembering (my mom would look at me when I woke up at 10pm and ask "isn't this your third breakfast?"), or the best (!!!) was when apparently I came downstairs after my sister got engaged and threatened her (with violence) if I wasn't her maid of honor... don't remember that at all (but my sister recorded that on her phone because she couldn't believe I did it). My point being: before you look at taking anything go talk to your doctor. Because something good for me OTC might be wrong for you and that would be bad.

Oh and I brought my sleeping pills on board (in their proper containers) and still was up at 0600 because I was so excited.

 

[trickiwoo]

Sleep cleaning! Now that would be useful! Sign me up lol!

One of my grandmother's sisters once cleaned her kitchen with molasses while sleeping! So sleep cleaning might not always work out the way you want!

 

[jenpink]

Have you tried natural ways to help with sleeping? Increased exercise, increased water consumption, no alcohol, minimize caffeine... This always works for me

 

[Maddysdaddy]

I'm an insomniac as well - coming up on year 19 of lousy sleep (1.5-2 hours to start and then 15 minute chunks the rest of the night, for a total of about 4ish hours).

I know it's not the solution you're looking for, but what I did on our cruise on the Magic was to put my wife and daughter to bed and then go to the late movie every night, which got me back to the room 12:30/1 (I normally fall asleep about 11) which tired me out enough that it allowed me to sleep until around 4:30/5, at which time I threw on my shorts and a sweater, grabbed a ball cap and a book, and went up on deck to read for a couple of hours until it was time to go wake the family up for breakfast.

There was something quite peaceful about being the only one walking around the ship in the middle of the night (although I did get to know some of the deck cleaning crew, who were the only other people around when I was up).

Long story short - there's nothing like crisp ocean air to give you a giant energy boost, even if you should be exhausted.

 

[tinkerone]

sleeping pills? don't do it!! even the best meds make you groggy. if you really really feel you need some thing they sell sleeping aids (somenex i believe) in the shops on board. chances are you will not need them.
i am a horrid sleeper, up at the very least 8 times a night, however i sleep very well on the ships. its the movement i think. i don't sleep long but it is straight through and i don't get up till i actually am ready.

 

[kdeans1010]

One of my grandmother's sisters once cleaned her kitchen with molasses while sleeping! So sleep cleaning might not always work out the way you want!

Ouch, okay not good. I apparently said to my future brother in law (while asleep) when I came downstairs and they were talking about getting engaged: "I have a used dirty catheter kit and medical restraints... Don't mess with her." And then promptly went back to bed. And I said something worse to my sister. Yeah... That's why when people are like "I want sleeping pills!" I have to tell them to hold up. Benadryl does weird things to me, turns me violent. So try to go pill-less on your and before your cruise. I know my mom took a dramamine and it knocked her on her tushy for a day.

On our Panama Canal cruise I think between my friends and I (we all work NOCs) I believe we're bringing ambien, amitriplyne (mine), melatonin, and Advil PM with sleepy turtle. We have really hard times sleeping.

 

[scrapshappen]

I second the Melatonin suggestion. I have never been a good sleeper when I'm stressed or away from home. But since I went on Melatonin a couple of years ago, it has been better. I do use a Unisome when it's still been several nights and I haven't slept well though.

And Unisome is actually not the same as Benedryl. Unisome is Doxylamine Succinate and Benedryl is Diphenhydramine HCl. Unisome is the same antihistamine that is in NyQuil. Benedryl is what is in Tylenol/Advil PM and some other OTC sleep aids. Read the labels.

What I have found is with any of the benedryl medicines, I wake up as soon as it's out of my system and I cannot go back to sleep. With Unisome, I sleep all night and feel well rested the next day (not groggy).

Everyone is different. My husband zonks out as soon as he takes a Sudafed, but if I take one after 2 p.m., I can't sleep at all that night. Benedryl wires my children too.

I would test out whatever you are thinking about using now (while you can't sleep because your mind is racing about your trip) so you know what works and doesn't before your on your cruise.

 

[irishtwins1112]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[jjje]

Watch out for ambien. I take it but it makes me crazy sometimes. Nothing too bad but I have to put a post-it note on my computer not to send emails or use facebook because I get a little ... weird.

You might find you sleep really well on the ship. I never took anything while on board because I was afraid the ship would hit an iceberg during the night (as we sailed through the Bahamas) and I would have to get on a lifeboat but I wouldn't be able to because of the Ambien. To my surprise I slept like a baby every night. I think it was the rocking of the ship and from being so tired from all the activity during the day. I'm looking forward to getting back on the ship and having another week of great sleep!

 

[Postal68]

I know hallucinations are a very common side effect of Ambien. So if it's something you are considering, I would definitely recommend trying it at home before the cruise to see how you react!

I've been taking AmbienCr every night for the last 8 years due to a back injury and the worst thing that has ever happened to me was making a post on Facebook and not remembering it.

The sleepwalking, driving, hallucinations are rare, but it can happen so better to try at home first

 

[knan74]

I take Ambien and I def agree you should take it at least 5 times (not consecutively) before sailing if you choose that route. I actually recommend Ambien both as a family therapist and from personal experience. Trazadone and Lunesta have many more reports of side effects despite what research has been released (I did a long internship with a sleep specialist)

1. Start with the 5 mg of Ambien... It works best as an intermittent drug to help get back on sleep schedule. I'd take one a week between now and then if you go that route.

2. If you have any indication of sleep walking, do NOT take it on the cruise or strongly reconsider a verandah room if you were planning one and weigh the pros and cons of your specific situation:

At the right doseage and taken at the right time, zolpidem (ambien) will not have a groggy effect in the morning. I would base it on individual circumstances: I feel comfortable taking mine (I am now on 10 mg, tolerance builds semi fast) as my spouse is a light sleeper and I have no history of retrograde amnesia. People need to exercise caution as retrograde amnesia isn't something we can all recollect lol. That's why spouse and family is key here for safety. Also sleepwalking and doing activities in sleep can occur on the 184th use even if its never occurred before. Whether onboard or at home, always take precautions with family and the ability to use harmful things like verandahs or car keys into consideration

That being said, other meds may work a million times better for YOU. We all have different sleep patterns, different wave patterns, different transitions into our sleep phases.

I'd be happy to answer any questions about it... I wrote a masters thesis on sleep aids both prescription and OTC and know a bit of qualitative and quantitative info.

 

[kiford]

Also, I have this wonderful picture of my hubs and I sitting in our room while the ship is sailing away, drinking our chilled champagne and eating some fruit and the cheese platter from room service. Does anybody else do this? What time would we need to order room service to have it before we sail away? Stupid question but how long would the champagne need to chill in the ice bucket before the sail away? I don't drink a whole lot.

If you order the champagne through the stateroom gifts, it will be waiting for you when you arrive, in an ice bucket with two champagne glasses. We usually go to the sail away party, grab a couple of slices of pizza from on deck, head down to the stateroom, pop the cork and sit on the verandah eating pizza and sipping champagne. Temperature of the champagne is perfect by that time.

 

[jedijill]

Acupuncture changed my life! I was on Ambien for a year and was still having severe insomnia. I started acupuncture and I started sleeping after the second treatment.

Jill in CO

 

[bumbershoot]

Acupuncture changed my life! I was on Ambien for a year and was still having severe insomnia. I started acupuncture and I started sleeping after the second treatment.

Jill in CO

That's awesome! And you've reminded me of the other reason I really need to get back to my acupuncturists.

I have been having trouble sleeping every night since we started considering out Oct.31st cruise on the Dream. I feel ridiculous. Normally I am a pretty good sleeper but lately I wake up and then my mind starts racing thinking about all the exciting things to eat, see, and do on the ship. I hope there isn't 7 more weeks of terrible sleep.....or I might end up sleeping through my whole cruise once we finally get there.

A few questions:
I do historically have trouble sleeping when away from my kids and our cruise is gonna be adults only. We have only left them 2 nights before. Normally I just tough it out....but I really want to enjoy myself. I was thinking about asking my Dr to prescribe me a few sleeping pills for the trip.

So right now there's a reason for your wakefulness; excitement.

And MAYBE on the cruise you'll have trouble sleeping, because you're leaving the littles behind. And that's also a good reason, because that's nervous-making! I must assume you have trustworthy people in your life, though, to watch them (unlike me...I could not have made that decision because there's no family member in our lives who could have taken DS, and of course my chest would have exploded by the 3rd day if not the second, LOL...kiddo nursed like a newborn until he was 3 and then he merely slowed down a bit, but I digress). So trust those people.

Honestly rather than going the pill route, just acknowledge that you've got good reason right now to not sleep well and figure out how to work through it. Would writing things down help? Keeping paper and pen on your nightstand with a promise to write something down if you wake up? Tape recorder?

When you're on the ship, and I don't if you've cruised before, but unless you're terribly seasick, it's like being rocked to sleep by a loving parent when you're lying there in bed. It's wonderful. I've ALWAYS had sleep issues, even as a baby (my mom says I didn't nap...and I'm a nightowl...I must have been a joy for my early-waking-early-sleeping single mom). Only time sleep has been easy is when I was pregnant (and then it was uncontrollable!). But on a cruise? Oh I SLEEP. It's beautiful. And I've heard of others with the same experience.