The very first time, we did start to feel it the first night. We had the patches that you put behind your ear, but we hadn't put them on. After that we were fine. And since then, we've cruised 4 more times and everytime we've put the patch on at breakfast before we went to the port. We've never had an issue since. And one of the cruises was right after a hurricane, and that first night the seas were rough. But we never had a problem. And the patches are supposed to work for 72 hours, so we only ever used one each. And if after the first day or two, it falls off, no big deal, we figured enough of the stuff got into our system and we were good. Some people don't like the patches and have had side effects, but for us, they've worked great.
I will warn you - once you get off the ship, it may take a few days to get your land legs back. You may feel a bit more nauseous after the cruise than you did on it. Especially if you are standing still in the dark somewhere... like going to the bathroom at night! You'll feel like you're back on board. Or when you close your eyes to go to sleep. LOL
But it goes away pretty quick. And it's still worth it!
And for someone who didn't really want to go the first time...I'm the biggest DCL nut now. My computer screen at work has a picture of DCL, my mouse pad is DCL, my coffee cup is DCL, my lanyard for my badge is DCL, and I have 2 DCL polo shirts that I wear to work. If anyone at work wants to know about DCL, they come and talk to me.
Scott