How often do people get sea sick?

[sethschroeder]

I would prepare like there might be issues and get the meds, bands, other things?

We were fine but took meds the first night at sea as felt just a little something in the stomach. After that first night though was completely fine and if I felt anything at all just got some air out on the deck.

Basically don't worry about it but be like hyenas and be prepared. Everything to prep costs $20-$30 and fits pretty much anywhere in your suitcase?

 

[cruisehopeful]

My first experience with seasickness was on a Disney Cruise. I had never had seasickness before and it really caught me off guard. After that, I always took Bonine on my cruises to make sure it didn't happen again.

 

[JaimeInParker]

I've invited my SO to join me on a Halloween on The High Seas DCL with my DS. She's excited about joining but has never been on a cruise. She'd like to know if people get sea sick often on the ships or if that's not really something to worry about. Any thoughts or advice?

Sea sickness can hit you with no notice - we were on a cruise with a green-horn waiter assistant who had to excuse himself during dinner as he was turning tints of green - having said that, my family and I don't take any chances and were the patch behind the ear the entire cruise - never gotten sick with it yet

 

[braysmommy]

I have never felt sea sick on DCL but put me on a smaller boat and I feel it. My brother has a sailboat so every time we go out on it I have to take meds. On our first ever cruise, the EBTA, we bought everything we could ahead of time and ended up having calm seas the entire time.

 

[JM23457]

One tip if you're worried about seasickness: Avoid cruising during the height of hurricane season, late August through mid-October.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We've never experienced seasickness but members of our family have had it. One was due to an existing inner ear problem and the other just a first time on a ship and rough seas for two days. They both lived to sail again.
Hurricane ... Ha! We were in Hurricane Sandy on the Fantasy and believe me no one got sick (at least couldn't smell it anywhere on the ship). We were all hanging on for dear-life from dinner till morning. The entire interior of the ship was trashed. Rough seas don't trash a ship.

 

[Micca]

You can "feel the earth move under your feet"

This is how I know that either a) I've just come off a cruise, or b) I've become Carole King

 

[juju]

Appears from these answers that it just depends. I’ve had to go into Nassau alone and eat brunch at Palo alone because my husband was too sick. We’ve been on several cruises elsewhere and he always gets sick when we go out to open water. He has used meds, patches, sea bands and the wrist zapper. Let’s just say he was overjoyed when he heard “Primeval Hurl” was not reopening. But he has a short memory and would be up to cruising again!

 

[AJA55]

First cruise years ago. I got sea sick. Someone gave me the sea bands to use and they did nothing form me. First port got land sick. As my friends were shopping I was sitting in a lovely area. A shopkeeper came out and said: "Your off one of the ships. See that cooler? It has beers for free for you. It will make you feel better. When you get back to the ship drink vodka and ginger ale."

I swear worked. And vodka and ginger ale are my go to when I don't feel good.

 

[sarahann77]

I get motion sickness from simulator rides or backward spinning (aka octapus) but fine via car, plane, roller coasters, smaller boats. I prepared assuming I'd have an issue so I wore Sea Bands and had ginger candies with me. The first day was horrendous for me getting used to the motion. Choppy days were others that I was affected more. The rest of the trip I was fine but I never took off the sea bands. I don't think I used the ginger candies short of 1 or 2 for either of my 2 cruises. After the cruise it took a few days to not feel the land moving as others mentioned.

My husband never really needed the sea bands so after the first day I think he took his off the first cruise.

 

[Boopuff]

If it moves, I get sick. I have serious inner-ear issues. My saving grace has been the Transderm patch. I've been able to go on catamarans, roller coasters, planes... so far it's been wonderful. (it is a prescription) Ginger ale is my go-to drink!

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I was sea sick every night of our cruise. It was the worst for me during dinner since the dining rooms tended to be where the most motion was. I tend to get motion sick in the car so was prepared for it. I started taking Dramamine a couple days before the cruise to get it in my system and also used sea bands, that worked well enough every night except the one we had rough seas. Another passenger saw I was having issues and gave me a sea sickness patch they didn’t end up needing. It was a game changer and I’m still kicking myself for telling my doctor I didn’t need it when he asked.

Like others have said I would just bring some with you just in case, or if she is someone who gets motion sickness she should talk with her doctor and see what they think.

ETA: We were on the Fantasy and I think part of my issue was the vibration. In our midship room I was fine but Animators Palette was the worst, and Enchanted Garden was also a bit rough.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

The seas have to be seriously rough for me to be sick. Like 13ft high. It’s highly unlikely it will get that way. Make sure you get a room in the aft/mid part of the ship. She’s less likely to feel any motion. I would also suggest a balcony room where she can let fresh air into the cabin if she needs it.

 

[mmmears]

How often? Depends on the cruise. Depends on the person. Midship helps me, wearing a patch helps me, but there was one time it was seriously rough (as in many of the servers couldn't serve the second seating of dinner rough) and I felt very very queasy even with it on. Most of the time I'm fine.

 

[JM23457]

Hurricane ... Ha! We were in Hurricane Sandy on the Fantasy and believe me no one got sick (at least couldn't smell it anywhere on the ship). We were all hanging on for dear-life from dinner till morning. The entire interior of the ship was trashed. Rough seas don't trash a ship.

I didn't say anything about a ship being trashed. Tropical storms & extreme weather patterns can make the ship a lot rockier, and some people have a hard time with that level of motion, hence my advice to someone who was already concerned about seasickness.

I know rocky seas don't affect everyone. I personally did not have any issues at all on a very rocky Fantasy cruise, even though we had a far forward inside cabin on deck 8. I could feel the movement, & even the CMs commented on it- people would sway while walking in the hallways at times. But it never bothered me. It did cause my son to vomit one evening, but he recovered soon after & has never been seasick before or since.

You can't tell how others are doing with seasickness by the smell of the ship. People usually try to be sick in private, and if they can't avoid being sick in a public area (like my son who vomited at the entrance of Royal Court), the crew closes the area off and cleans it up very quickly.

 

[Lizgistix]

Not to brag but one of my reports on 23andMe said I'm more inclined to experience sea sickness.
Then again it also said I'm most likely to be below average weight, and...well......

 

[Cruising Engineer]

I didn't say anything about a ship being trashed. Tropical storms & extreme weather patterns can make the ship a lot rockier, and some people have a hard time with that level of motion, hence my advice to someone who was already concerned about seasickness./QUOTE]
I wasn't referring to you but to our experience being IN A HURRICANE. The ship wasn't rocking, it was violent breaks with the waves hitting the side of the ship. Main dining seating was rushed because the staff couldn't get the trays of food out of the kitchen, it was one plate at a time. Second seating was canceled, with no dinner. Our stateroom was on deck 10. Water was coming down the staircases from the pool deck. Trying to get to the stateroom wasn't a sway down the hallways but more like a barroom bouncer throwing you against the wall again and again.
Hurricane season is no time to test your sea legs or your stomach.

 

[JM_97]

Never gotten seasick on either cruise I've been on. On my first one I was worried so I took some Drammaime once I got to the stateroom. We had smooth seas anyway but I'm sure the medicine still helped. I didn't take it on our second cruise and had no problems. I know people who are more sensitive to it and they say that those bracelets really help. I think as a general rule of thumb, it's more choppy in the winter months. And then of course if you're around a hurricane or tropical storm

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I've invited my SO to join me on a Halloween on The High Seas DCL with my DS. She's excited about joining but has never been on a cruise. She'd like to know if people get sea sick often on the ships or if that's not really something to worry about. Any thoughts or advice?

What I do is take Bonine every day, starting the night before setting sail. I have not gotten sea sick doing this. In fact, I have gotten "land sick" post cruise a couple times, so my last cruise, I did the Bonine daily and did not get seasick or land sick post-cruise and neither did my kids.

 

[jrabbit]

1 hurricane??

Dramatic Right!!!
and maybe a little overstated.

But we were scheduled to stop in Cabo San Lucas (a tender port) and when I woke up in the middle of the night I thought that we were NOT going to be stopping because the bed was like a seesaw! Later in the morning the announcement came that we were skipping the port due to safety concerns (no duh!!). Talked to the cruise directer and she said that she could not open the door to her balcony (It's good to be an Officer!!). The hurricane was to the south west of us and tracking out into the Pacific, so we were in the NW quadrant of the windstorm (where the strongest winds are). The pools were closed, but they were fun to watch. The water was sloshing from one side to the other and then shooting up 20+ feet when it hit the wall.

Later in that cruise we were to the south of Katrina and were not impacted at all by her (New Orleans on the other hand!) We have been on a couple of other cruises where we were lucky and missed the incoming hurricane by a couple of days (but the leading edge of the storm brought high winds and lightning every time)