Help me take the plunge! Nervous mama (seasickness)

[busymommy2pink]

Let me start by saying we are the hugest disney fans, we love staying at the World. Looking for something different maybe, and would really love to take a Disney Cruise (western Carribean on the Fantasy). My only issue is, my youngest and I occassioanly suffer from motion sickness, so will on onccassion feel car sick. Are we going to feel sea sick? Do you notice the boat moving or rocking? Should we chance it (dollar is very bad and any disney vaca will costs us 40% more) or should we stick to Disney World? Any part of the boat that would be better for our situation than another? Thanks for any input!

 

[TeaBee]

Let me start by saying we are the hugest disney fans, we love staying at the World. Looking for something different maybe, and would really love to take a Disney Cruise (western Carribean on the Fantasy). My only issue is, my youngest and I occassioanly suffer from motion sickness, so will on onccassion feel car sick. Are we going to feel sea sick? Do you notice the boat moving or rocking? Should we chance it (dollar is very bad and any disney vaca will costs us 40% more) or should we stick to Disney World? Any part of the boat that would be better for our situation than another? Thanks for any input!

My kids and husband all have terrible motion sickness in cars and airplanes and none of them have a problem on cruises. We usually have everyone take a dose of dramamine or bonine for the car ride to the port so they have a dose in their systems for the first day on the cruise and then they don't have to take anything afterward. I know this isn't the case for everyone, but we've had really good luck on both Alaska cruises and Caribbean cruises. We've always stayed mid-ship.

 

[Lake_Mary]

This probably isn't too helpful, but I don't get motion sickness in a car, roller coasters, spinning... anything really. This last cruise, I got land sickness. Was 100% fine on the ship, but when we got home I felt almost like I had the flu. Sitting down it felt like the entire room was rocking. I'm only sharing so that perhaps your motion sickness won't apply to cruise ships? Dramamine is really supposed to help, my husband has taken it before on rocky cruises.

 

[kddlm]

Let me start by saying we are the hugest disney fans, we love staying at the World. Looking for something different maybe, and would really love to take a Disney Cruise (western Carribean on the Fantasy). My only issue is, my youngest and I occassioanly suffer from motion sickness, so will on onccassion feel car sick. Are we going to feel sea sick? Do you notice the boat moving or rocking? Should we chance it (dollar is very bad and any disney vaca will costs us 40% more) or should we stick to Disney World? Any part of the boat that would be better for our situation than another? Thanks for any input!

This could have been written by me a few years ago! I get motion sickness if I drive over a low bridge and see the water moving out of my peripheral vision! Cannot read or look down while in car, etc...... I always stayed away from even attempting a cruise because of it......boy did I not know what I was missing!!

I am not a "medicine" type person...would rather try natural remedies first. I was very uneasy about trying the ear patch that many talk about due to some side effects I've read (blurry vision that sometimes does not go away, very thirsty, etc...). My regiment consisted of wearing Sea Bands, taking Bonine (similar to dramamine) in the a.m. and p.m. and started it a few days prior to cruising and also took a ginger root tablet daily while on cruise. Needless to say I was able to look over the side of ship enjoying the views and never felt queasy. Will not say I did not feel the ship moving....you do feel movement. I found it especially in the dining rooms on lower levels. We were on deck 10, mid-ship. The movement did not make me feel sick though. My DH on the other hand, who is not typically prone to any type of motion sickness, did not do anything to prevent it, and felt pretty nauseous most of the time. For our cruise in 50 days, he is going to be getting the patch this time.

Do not let your fear of motion sickness hold you back. As long as you do something to prevent it, you should not have a problem. No doubt you will love it!

 

[cmsb]

I get motion sickness in pretty much every moving vehicle, so I understand! When I cruise, I get my doctor to prescribe a patch for me. I put it on 2 days before the cruise in order to get the medicine into my system. We did the Western Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy in the summer of 2014. The only place I still felt sick was in Animator's Palate. I tried to eat there both nights and wound up leaving early both times. I was fine everywhere else on the ship. Surprisingly, my child who gets motion sickness in the car was fine everywhere on the ship. My other child was the one who wound up not feeling well, also on the nights we were in AP. We just took children's Dramamine and used that. As for a cabin, pick something mid-ship. I prefer the higher decks, too. The cruise is a magical experience, but so is going to the parks, so you will enjoy whichever you decide on!

 

[sambycat]

I would try a cruise, but I personally would try a 4 day. Lots of people get motion sick in a car but only have issues on the boat in more extreme conditions. There are many threads about sea sickness prevention, but cruises are definitely worth giving it a try!

 

[dreadpiraterose]

I definitely suffer from motion sickness, but I happily cruise. Non-drowsy dramamine works perfectly for me. I start taking it the day before we go. I also take natural ginger root with meals, which also helps quell any possible queasiness. I've heard good things about the prescription patch, but I don't do well with medical-grade adhesives, so I stick to dramamine and that works just fine.

 

[KingRichard]

http://motioneaze.com/

This is what we use for the last 5 years. A drop or 2 under the ear before, during or after the effects of motion sickness!

My DD was 3 when we started with no worries.

Had tables mates that tried other things and gave them a couple drops and they were cured!

Cost only $5-10 bucks!

Works in the car or the parks.

Doesn't seem as good for land sickness though?

 

[Laine Anderson]

Let me start by saying we are the hugest disney fans, we love staying at the World. Looking for something different maybe, and would really love to take a Disney Cruise (western Carribean on the Fantasy). My only issue is, my youngest and I occassioanly suffer from motion sickness, so will on onccassion feel car sick. Are we going to feel sea sick? Do you notice the boat moving or rocking? Should we chance it (dollar is very bad and any disney vaca will costs us 40% more) or should we stick to Disney World? Any part of the boat that would be better for our situation than another? Thanks for any input!

I get car sick, sea sick, plane sick - anywhere that moves. I've been known to get a little light headed on elevators too. I always take dramamine for planes and started it on the boat the first day or so but after that I forgot to take it. I realized later in the day that I hadn't needed it. Every now and then I'd feel the motion of the boat but I didn't feel sick from it. I tried sea bands but those things didn't do a single thing.
I got land sick for about a week after the cruise though - that was the weirdest thing ever! It felt like I was on the boat before I got used to the motion, it would last a few minutes and then it would pass.
FWIW we had a stateroom that was mid-ship and at night I could feel the motion but while sleeping it didn't bother me, even on the first night. The big ships have stabilizers although one member of the crew said that our captain wasn't a fan of using them. Not sure if that was true or not.
I did have chewable dramamine with me at all times just in case. I'm not stupid. ;-)

 

[mischief32]

I get motion sick but I took the plunge and we sail in 66 days. You never know until your try something. I ride roller coasters but not spinning rides and the 3D stuff can get me also I just ride without the glasses. I am prepared with motion eze, dramine and I will get seabands. I have some nausa medicine for when I get vertigo and I am taking that also. Hoping for the best.

 

[MelInAZ]

My son and I are prone to motion sickness. I get dizzy very easily, which doesn't help. We took a 3-day last March and the first night was a doozy. The winds were 50+ mph and they closed down the AquaDuck and put away all the chairs on deck 12. I had on sea bands and I was taking meclizine (aka Bonine) as that is my go-to medicine for motion sickness. I took a nap and woke up after about 1.5 hours and tried to get up so we could go to dinner, no go - I think I went to sleep for the night at 6pm. I never got sick but at one point my husband asked me if I wanted to fly home from Nassau the next day and I told him I wasn't sure yet. Throughout this all I was worried about my son (then 13 years old) and he was completely fine (sea bands and meclizine for him as well).

The next morning I felt much better and decided not to fly home from Nassau because that was a port day, then we'd have a nice slow sail to Castaway Cay that night and then the trip back to PC was overnight as well. The rest of the trip was perfect and everyone had fun.

Honestly, I felt a bit of panic that first night thinking I was trapped on the ship until my husband mentioned the fact that I could fly home from Nassau if needed. That made me feel better and let me concentrate on not getting sick (I never did - yay).

Now after reading all that, the good news is that even though it was a very uncomfortable experience for me, we leave for a 4-night cruise in 32 days. Yes, the family convinced me to give it another try and I agreed (not even reluctantly). The concierge and waitstaff explained that our first night was much rougher than normal and that gives me hope that there's a chance it won't be so bad this time. If it is, I know what to expect and I'll just take my medicine and go to bed a bit earlier.

So you won't know if you'll get seasick unless you try it and even though that first night was rough for me, it was a fantastic trip. I'd say go for it.

 

[ahain]

DH & I both use the Scopolomine patch (the same patch the anesthesiologist put on DH prior to his last surgery after DH reported that he is sometimes nauseous coming out of anesthesia). Works like a charm for us whether on a roller coaster or a cruise. the only side effect we notice is (very) dry mouth (primarily at night), so I take Biotene spray along to help with that. We apply the patch when we arrive at the cruise terminal and by the time the ship sails, we're good to go. The medicine enters your system reasonably quickly. You do need to be very mindful to wash your hand thoroughly after applying the patch and NOT to touch your eyes before doing so s the medicine can cause vision issues if it gets in your eyes.

 

[SpaceSquirrel]

I can't go to 3d movies, rollercoasters, backseat etc w/out getting motion sick, it's really bad.
I've cruised before and tried the patch but it made me really sick (which isn't uncommon).
For me I start taking bonine a couple days before we sail (1 pill a day, every evening) and start wearing sea bands beginning the morning before I board and I'm just fine.
Once I took off my sea bands to shower and ended up really sick, so now I bring a couple pair so I can just swap out after I shower/swim to give the other pair time to dry.
Oh, about showing, don't take really hot showers because that makes people feel dizzy on the ship.

You probably know but it's a lot easier to prevent motion sickness than to treat it after it hits.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

Here's my standard speech about cruise ship motion sickness: The Disney ships are so amazingly beautiful that it's easy to forget you are actually on a ship at sea...your era just see a beautiful hotel! Keep telling yourself that you *are* at sea! The ice cubes slosh around in your water glass at dinner because you are at sea!! They're supposed to do that!! I wa a mess on the first night of my first cruise until I had this little talk with myself. Also, I take a chewable Bonine every evening (starting the night before sailing) and do very well now.

Previous posters are correct: the first and last nights can be rough because the captain has a schedule to keep. On our Nov. 2013 cruise we were on deck 7, between the mid and aft elevators. We had friends on deck 9, the third room back (#9004). We awoke around 1am to some hangers banging around in the closet. That far forward on deck 9?...she woke her husband up in tears, thinking they were going to die.

 

[MelInAZ]

Oh yes location matters. I should note that we were on deck 12 in a forward room and I'm pretty sure that is one of the worst places to be if you're concerned about feeling motion. So what did we book this time? Another deck 12 forward room.

 

[TrySomethingNew]

I am prone to motion sickness, and we did the Disney Magic across the North Sea, to and from Iceland, last year. Yes, the North Sea is often rough, and one leg was rough for our trip -not to mention that they had a longer distance to cover in the same amount of time as the Iceland ports were switched, so they were traveling at a faster rate.
I brought over the counter meds (Bonine, ginger tablets as examples), and Prescription meds (patch and Zofran -anti nausea). I did well on just Bonine at night so that the drowsiness would not affect me during the day. I had 2episodes where I had to lay down for 15-30 min because the motion was obvious and I was nauseous.
I would recommend that you try out some over the counter meds before traveling to see if you tolerate them and how they affect you. Also, if you are very worried, talk to your doctor. And, of course, try not to travel during times of the year that are more likely to experience rough waters.