14 ft waves and 60 mph winds from CC to PC - is this normal??

[LiveYourLife]

OP, we just got off of the Fantasy this past Saturday and we had the exact same weather conditions leaving Cozumel on Wednesday night and most of our sea day on Thursday. We were at Remy on Wednesday night and people from several different tables left and did not come back because they were so sick. On Thursday there were many no-shows for the Palo Brunch and our Server told us quite a few Crew Members were also sea sick.

That night was not a lot of fun! I was one of the people leaving Remy. Too bad they still charged me the $400 for dinner and wine pairings for two

Ugh! I'm sorry you got sick LeahJH! Did you enjoy the rest of the cruise? I hope so

 

[ilovetexas]

I was on a Dream b2b that did not leave PC the first night of the second leg. RCL went out and sustained over a million dollars in damage to the ship.

The last night of the first leg, we went up to the top of deck 13 forward... Why not, right? I am not a small person, and had to hold on as the ship pitched up and then slammed down. It was actually pretty awesome. Lots of sea sickness on that last night. We had rooms in the forward section for both cruises, and it was rough.

All good though!

Was that, by any chance, October of 2011? I know that DCL and CCL both held ships at Port Canaveral that night. Unfortunately, I was on the CCL Fascination out of JAX and we were sailing back up through that mess. It was a nor'easter that came down the coast, we missed our last stop in Freeport and had the worst day at sea I've ever thought about!

At first my DS (it was a mom/son cruise) thought it was funny. It was starting to get bad and I tried to walk out of our cabin, almost fell down and went back to bed. He thought watching everyone trying to walk sideways was amusing. Before too long, he joined me (and the rest of the ship) back in the cabin. Spent close to 24 hours in there. Various reports stated 80+ mph winds and 30-40 foot seas. Things were crashing and rolling around. Yikes! I get seasick so I just tried to sleep.

Exterior decks were closed, shows cancelled, room service line busy, barf bags were out everywhere, etc. You really couldn't even be out and about. That high aft room was a bad choice for that particular trip. Hey, what can you do? It's a chance we take when we cruise.

 

[LiveYourLife]

but kind of not

For every cruise I start taking the "less drowsy" Dramamine once a day about three days before we leave. Then the day of embarkation, I take one in the am, and one in the pm (typically as I am getting ready for dinner). I continue the twice a day routine every day of the cruise, even if I am not queasy or sea sick. I then go back to once a day starting on the day of debarkation and continue for another two days until I get my land legs back.

This has never failed me! Even on our 7 night cruise where we had 15-18ft seas for 6 out of the 7 days!

You shouldn't wait until you are sea sick to take something. It is good to stay ahead of it.

I know everyone's bodies are different, but I thought I would share what has worked very well for me on all of my sailings.

 

[ilovetexas]

Agreed about the Dramamine starting up prior to cruise and taken daily. That has helped my body adjust to normal sea movement and even those evenings where you find it a really good idea to hold the rail when walking up/down stairs. But, those days with major storms or the Gulf of Alaska after Labor Day...well...count me out! I discovered the hard way that I can't scuba dive, either.

It's hereditary. My dad enlisted in the Navy at age 18 having never been on a boat. He spent six months with his head over the side of the ship so they discharged him and put him in the army instead!

But for most people, buy the Bonine/less drowsy Dramamine and enjoy the cruise! And take ginger candy just in case.

 

[Bear3412]

Last fall the Fantasy encounter all sea states. During the worst of it, while she chased Sandy up the FL coast, the seas were easily 30'. She handled those like a true lady, it was the sets of 18 meter rogues after midnight she struggled with. I never knew a ship that size could move like that instantly. The sounds were unusual to say the least. Prior to losing power in cabin we saw an apparent wind of 85 mph. Others reported they saw wind speed well over 100 mph. IIRC we were doing 7-9 knots basically into the wind.

We started taking Bonine 2 or 3 days prior to that night when informed the seas will become interesting. We had no sea sickness aboard. It was when we got on land when it hit. We will now continue Bonine ashore after a sailing in rough seas.

ETA; No it's not normal, but occurs every once in a while.

 

[iluvwdw4ever]

This also happened on the last night of our Fantasy cruise last December. The captain made the announcement that we were heading into some very nasty weather. My entire family was very scared and nauseous. It was an awful night. We overheard lots of fellow cruisers complaining about it the next morning in the atrium waiting to disembark.

 

[ACDSNY]

We came into Port Canaveral on Nov 9th with the same conditions as the OP. We've also had worst conditions coming into Port Canaveral on the Dream in early Nov. 2011. Luckily none of us get seasick, but it's so noisy that I can't sleep when it's like that.

 

[kapoof]

We were on the dream in September. I was worried about hurricane season and seasickness. The first night was a little choppy with some creaking, I loved it though! I love the movement of the ship and missed it when we got home. .

 

[Julz226]

Last Wednesday was a crazy out of season day. We're about an hour from Port Canaveral and we had furniture blown all over the yard.

Typically I try to do my cruising December - March around here to avoid any encounters with tropical weather. November is usually fine, but in 2012 we had a tropical storm going through at the beginning of the month, and this year - well, we just had that one freak Wednesday.

Nasty weather is a risk of cruising, because not even the mouse can control the weather, but there are definitely times of the year you can plan ahead to minimize your risk.

 

[iambrink]

but kind of not

For every cruise I start taking the "less drowsy" Dramamine once a day about three days before we leave. Then the day of embarkation, I take one in the am, and one in the pm (typically as I am getting ready for dinner). I continue the twice a day routine every day of the cruise, even if I am not queasy or sea sick. I then go back to once a day starting on the day of debarkation and continue for another two days until I get my land legs back.

This has never failed me! Even on our 7 night cruise where we had 15-18ft seas for 6 out of the 7 days!

You shouldn't wait until you are sea sick to take something. It is good to stay ahead of it.

I know everyone's bodies are different, but I thought I would share what has worked very well for me on all of my sailings.

I know everyone is different, but what about bonine versus dramamine? anyone have thoughts? Last time i took bonine, but it was very calm on that cruise which was the beginning of may 2011. It worked, but I have also taken dramamine. We have never cruised late November and i am trying to keep myself from panicking. I don't mind if I have to deal with being sick, but if DH or kids got sick, I would never hear the end of it and I would feel bad even though i have no control over it.

 

[vwrosebud]

We are sailing in Jan and hope this doesn't happen!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Just for everyone's information, you can have severe weather/ storms anytime of the year.

Granted more possible during hurricane season and hurricanes can be more severe.

The only difference between tropical storms and other storms is in tropical storms the winds blow/rotate in a counter clock wise direction and non tropical the winds blow/rotate in a clockwise direct.

AKK

 

[mj2vacation]

Was that, by any chance, October of 2011? I know that DCL and CCL both held ships at Port Canaveral that night. Unfortunately, I was on the CCL Fascination out of JAX and we were sailing back up through that mess. It was a nor'easter that came down the coast, we missed our last stop in Freeport and had the worst day at sea I've ever thought about!

At first my DS (it was a mom/son cruise) thought it was funny. It was starting to get bad and I tried to walk out of our cabin, almost fell down and went back to bed. He thought watching everyone trying to walk sideways was amusing. Before too long, he joined me (and the rest of the ship) back in the cabin. Spent close to 24 hours in there. Various reports stated 80+ mph winds and 30-40 foot seas. Things were crashing and rolling around. Yikes! I get seasick so I just tried to sleep.

Exterior decks were closed, shows cancelled, room service line busy, barf bags were out everywhere, etc. You really couldn't even be out and about. That high aft room was a bad choice for that particular trip. Hey, what can you do? It's a chance we take when we cruise.

It was. I had a friend who was on the Magic and has been on over 50 cruises. She said that was by far the worst night on a cruise and they were ordered to stay in their rooms.

 

[minniemouse1]

Thanks for the reply...so would you consider 14 ft swells "very rough"? We were getting pushed around in all directions for a good 4 hrs...doors slamming, things moving around...but I still don't know if this is normal for that crossing...?

On our first cruise it was Nov 1-4th on the Wonder and it was crazy rough. There was a hurricane building somewhere in the Caribbean. The boat was rocking so much that people were falling into racks in the gift shops, things were falling off shelves outside the WD theatre, lots of people vomiting in the hallways, and the doors were slamming on the closet in our room every time the boat would rock. I was about 5 months pregnant and felt a little nauseated pushing the stroller to dinner but as soon as I stopped pushing the stroller I was fine. All the creaking and closet doors banging bothered my husband but I slept like a baby. I did fall into the port a crib when I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night but didn't hurt myself or our 10 month old DD. She never even woke up!
The wildest part was walking on the decks. The water was just coming out of the pools in waves over the decks. It was actually quite neat to see. Nothing we have ever experienced again on our other DCL cruises. We have only done one other cruise during hurricane season. All the others were in late March/early April.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

We have experienced 20+ foot swells in both November and January. January 2001 was due to a cold front that had dropped snow across the U.S. When that cold front meets up with the warm front in the Caribbean we were told that they don't get along. We had 50 knot headwinds as well as the waves. Cozumel was a wash, the pools were closed all day Thursday, and CC was cold in the high 50s/low 60s and windy. I know that last Thursday we had horrible cold front with snow here on the coast in NC. That is very unusual for us any time of year, but especially this early. There was snow in many other states as well. It's possible that front affected your cruise on your way to PC.

It was a cold front that passed through here in central Florida and it was very windy. Cold fronts start to pass through FL anytime after mid October through March.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

I know everyone is different, but what about bonine versus dramamine? anyone have thoughts? Last time i took bonine, but it was very calm on that cruise which was the beginning of may 2011. It worked, but I have also taken dramamine. We have never cruised late November and i am trying to keep myself from panicking. I don't mind if I have to deal with being sick, but if DH or kids got sick, I would never hear the end of it and I would feel bad even though i have no control over it.

I'm extremely prone to motion sickness, and I am firmly in the Bonine camp. I used to take regular Dramamine - made me too tired. Then I tried non-drowsy Dramamine - made me feel kind of loopy, and I didn't feel as if I could drink alcohol while taking it. For my last four cruises I've started taking one Bonine each morning, beginning the day before the cruise. Works like a charm. No side effects whatsoever, and I generally have one to two drinks on the pool deck and another with dinner. My husband has no issues with motion sickness, but I always worry about my DD. I bought a bunch of children's Bonine when it was still available and I have her take one a day for the first couple of days of the cruise and then before doing an excursion that involves a smaller boat.

 

[Silverfox97]

Just for everyone's information, you can have severe weather/ storms anytime of the year. Granted more possible during hurricane season and hurricanes can be more severe. The only difference between tropical storms and other storms is in tropical storms the winds blow/rotate in a counter clock wise direction and non tropical the winds blow/rotate in a clockwise direct. AKK

Well said, Tonka!!!

In fact, there's a subtropical system in the Atlantic right now!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[ilovetexas]

FWIW - Bonine and Less Drowsy Dramamine are the same thing:

Meclizine HCI 25mg

http://www.bonine.com/products/bonine-original

http://dramamine.com/products/less drowsy.aspx

 

[CC Disney fan]

Bonine is not for kids under 12. What i should buy for DS8 ?

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Bonine is not for kids under 12. What i should buy for DS8 ?

I am a firm believer for those that have motion sickness and especially kids, call your Doctors office and ask them what they think is best for your family!

AKK