Middle of ship vs bow/stern

[Idaholion]

First cruise, Fantasy western Caribbean, my TA advised a room midship. We were too late to get concierge, got a 4A. Our TA recommended for the first cruise, we were better off not being in concierge on the fantasy because all the concierge rooms are in the bow on a fantasy, and until we find out how we are with the motion, the bow and stern move more than midship.
I thought about checking first thing when we arrive to see if any concierge open up, but not if it means seasick for 6 days. (I know, the odds of last minute concierge available is 200 to 1, but thought I would check)
Any feedback on bow vs midship?

 

[drb116]

Most people say to be in the middle if you are prone to motion sickness, however very few people have issues. The majority of the time you are in your stateroom is when you are sleeping, when the motion will probably not bother you.

I am prone to getting motion sickness, but the only times I have had a problem is when I have been in Animator's Palette (particularly on the older ships), as that is in the far back of the ship and you are sitting eating.

 

[100AcreWood]

I'm prone to motion sickness. Our TA advised us to book the aft. Our choices were limited because we wanted an ocean view family stateroom for 5. I had a great time but I did get sick twice even on dramamine. When we booked another cruise onboard the CM told me I should have booked midship so he found us a midship room with a balcony. I'm curious to see if I have a different experience this time.

Do you normally get motion sickness?

 

[MelDane]

I just came back from my first cruise on the Fantasy and we had a forward room. We had no issues but my family and I are also not prone to motion sickness. Have you had motion sickness before? If so I'd stay midship. If not then you should be fine forward or aft.

 

[DizneyNutz]

First cruise, Fantasy western Caribbean, my TA advised a room midship. We were too late to get concierge, got a 4A. Our TA recommended for the first cruise, we were better off not being in concierge on the fantasy because all the concierge rooms are in the bow on a fantasy, and until we find out how we are with the motion, the bow and stern move more than midship.
I thought about checking first thing when we arrive to see if any concierge open up, but not if it means seasick for 6 days. (I know, the odds of last minute concierge available is 200 to 1, but thought I would check)
Any feedback on bow vs midship?

Just get your doctor to give you a prescription for Scopolamine patches and then don't even worry about staying wherever you want. The patches work very well and my wife uses them on every cruise. She has tried going without and fortunately they work very fast and when she started to feel sick we got the patch on and she was back to normal within 15 minutes. Only noticeable side effect is they cause dry mouth. See link below.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682509.html

 

[4HppyCamprs]

First cruise, Fantasy western Caribbean, my TA advised a room midship. We were too late to get concierge, got a 4A. Our TA recommended for the first cruise, we were better off not being in concierge on the fantasy because all the concierge rooms are in the bow on a fantasy, and until we find out how we are with the motion, the bow and stern move more than midship.
I thought about checking first thing when we arrive to see if any concierge open up, but not if it means seasick for 6 days. (I know, the odds of last minute concierge available is 200 to 1, but thought I would check)
Any feedback on bow vs midship?

Fwiw I had no problems in our room which was not midship but always felt queasy in the Walt Disney theater and one night actually did get sick. Our server said it was because of the theater location at the front of the ship.

 

[OregonDisneyDreamer]

We stayed in a far forward cabin on our Dream cruise. I'm prone to motion sickness and I was fine. I had brought some scopolamine patches just to be safe, but never needed one. My daughter (3 at the time) and husband didn't feel motion sick either. I did get a little queasy the first night in the Animator's Palette, but it passed after I had a little soda.

 

[cris0809]

We didn't enjoy the forward rooms on our concierge Dream cruse. So much so that we do not intend on staying in that location again.

My partner is prone to motion sickness and mid to low, midship is the best place for us. 14 cruises under our belts now and we've stayed all over 6 ships in everything from an inside room to concierge.

 

[ptcbass]

Ok, so we are going on our first cruise in May and I am prone to motion sickness. I was told no one gets sick on cruises now because of their great stabilizers and technology. Now I am worried.
I DON'T want to be sick on vacation. I will ask my doctor about getting some patches. I have also heard that ginger works better than anything. Anyone try it?

Oh and the guy that I talked to in making the reservations said he just got off a cruise and that aft is a good place. We booked 9th deck - aft. I hope that will be ok.

 

[2CME911]

I am prone to getting motion sickness, but the only times I have had a problem is when I have been in Animator's Palette (particularly on the older ships), as that is in the far back of the ship and you are sitting eating.

Isn't that funny, that's exactly the same for me. I hate AP on the Magic for that very reason. Do you think it might also have anything to do with no windows?

To those of you worried about choosing the right stateroom location, personally I think there's more hype about this decision than there is substance. We've stayed forward, midship and aft and have always been happy with the room. Well, anyway now we prefer an aft verandah, so that's what I usually try and book, so I guess anyone can develop a preference. I guess you'd have to call me an AFT-man.

 

[100AcreWood]

Ok, so we are going on our first cruise in May and I am prone to motion sickness. I was told no one gets sick on cruises now because of their great stabilizers and technology. Now I am worried.
I DON'T want to be sick on vacation. I will ask my doctor about getting some patches. I have also heard that ginger works better than anything. Anyone try it?

Oh and the guy that I talked to in making the reservations said he just got off a cruise and that aft is a good place. We booked 9th deck - aft. I hope that will be ok.

Don't worry, just be prepared. Bring ginger, bonine or anything else that might help. I am VERY prone to motion sickness. I have to do most of the driving. I've even gotten motion sickness while I was driving! I got sick twice on the boat. Watching the boat leave Nassau made me feel queasy and the last night the water was rough so I hit the bed at 10pm. I just needed to sleep it off. Next time I won't watch the boat leave port and I will definitely bring more than just dramamine. I wasn't sick that long thankfully so it didn't stop me from wanting to go back.

 

[woody73]

. . . my TA advised a room midship.

Listen to your TA.

I'm susceptible to motion sickness. The last time we had a forward cabin I could not get out of bed because of the ship's motion -- which was no different than when we had midship cabins.

Woody

 

[mwmom]

I have worn the patches many times when traveling. Just a word of advice…be sure you wash your hands immediately after putting the patch behind your ear. You don't want any of the medicine coming in contact with your eye. I have wiped my eye before without washing my hands and experienced severe dilation of the eye! Also, wearing the patch for me for more than 24 hours at a time does the same thing. The dilation is so severe for me that I can barely see (just as if an eye doctor had dilated my eyes). It can take my eyes up to 3 days to return to normal. This is a common side effect that is listed in the information that comes with the patches.

That said, I won't travel without them as they are the most reliable prevention for motion sickness for me. I've just learned what to do to make them work for me. You really should try it out before you get on a cruise as you don't want to experience side effects while trying to enjoy your cruise!

This will be my first cruise so I am a little nervous about this. I am going to try a combination of things since I can't wear the patches non-stop. I will alternate the patch with Bonine. Also, I won't forget my Nauzene which I found at Walgreens in a desperate attempt one time to reduce the nausea.

Hope this bit of information can help someone. I would love to hear back from some of you after your cruise to see how you did!

 

[DizneyNutz]

I have worn the patches many times when traveling. Just a word of advice…be sure you wash your hands immediately after putting the patch behind your ear. You don't want any of the medicine coming in contact with your eye. I have wiped my eye before without washing my hands and experienced severe dilation of the eye! Also, wearing the patch for me for more than 24 hours at a time does the same thing. The dilation is so severe for me that I can barely see (just as if an eye doctor had dilated my eyes). It can take my eyes up to 3 days to return to normal. This is a common side effect that is listed in the information that comes with the patches.

That said, I won't travel without them as they are the most reliable prevention for motion sickness for me. I've just learned what to do to make them work for me. You really should try it out before you get on a cruise as you don't want to experience side effects while trying to enjoy your cruise!

This will be my first cruise so I am a little nervous about this. I am going to try a combination of things since I can't wear the patches non-stop. I will alternate the patch with Bonine. Also, I won't forget my Nauzene which I found at Walgreens in a desperate attempt one time to reduce the nausea.

Hope this bit of information can help someone. I would love to hear back from some of you after your cruise to see how you did!

We have never experienced the pupil dilation even on 7 day cruise, but we found out about the patch through a friend who deep sea fishes often and he only uses half at patch at a time. So that is how my wife has always used them. No problems other than dry mouth.

 

[Parkerpirates]

I have worn the patches many times when traveling. Just a word of advice…be sure you wash your hands immediately after putting the patch behind your ear. You don't want any of the medicine coming in contact with your eye. I have wiped my eye before without washing my hands and experienced severe dilation of the eye! Also, wearing the patch for me for more than 24 hours at a time does the same thing. The dilation is so severe for me that I can barely see (just as if an eye doctor had dilated my eyes). It can take my eyes up to 3 days to return to normal. This is a common side effect that is listed in the information that comes with the patches. That said, I won't travel without them as they are the most reliable prevention for motion sickness for me. I've just learned what to do to make them work for me. You really should try it out before you get on a cruise as you don't want to experience side effects while trying to enjoy your cruise! This will be my first cruise so I am a little nervous about this. I am going to try a combination of things since I can't wear the patches non-stop. I will alternate the patch with Bonine. Also, I won't forget my Nauzene which I found at Walgreens in a desperate attempt one time to reduce the nausea. Hope this bit of information can help someone. I would love to hear back from some of you after your cruise to see how you did!

My husband and I both wore patches when we went deep sea fishing in Cabo last year. My husband is a doctor so he warned me about the side effects...we both had severely dilated pupils, making us feel dizzy and cross eyed all day. We also had dry mouth and we were drowsy. We didn't get sea sick but we felt so horrible we took the patches off that night, even though we had three more days of fishing. I experienced a little sea sickness without the patch but was fine after laying down for a bit (we were on my husbands co workers private boat). There's a huge difference in large cruise ships and private fishing boats though. I never got sea sick on the cruise ships. Just bring a little of everything just in case but I wouldn't put the patch on unless you find yourself getting sea sick. I've also heard the cruise ships will hand out free over the counter medications if needed.

 

[tweis]

We sailed aft 2012 and had no problems whatsoever. The only time I felt movement was in AP. In 2013 we were assigned room 8028 which is very far forward. I got sick shortly after the Dream left PC but you could feel absolutely every movement of the ship being so far forward and it didn't help that we had rough seas going through the straits. Needless to say, the cabins booked for our next 2 cruises are midship and aft.

 

[ptcbass]

Don't worry, just be prepared. Bring ginger, bonine or anything else that might help. I am VERY prone to motion sickness. I have to do most of the driving. I've even gotten motion sickness while I was driving! I got sick twice on the boat. Watching the boat leave Nassau made me feel queasy and the last night the water was rough so I hit the bed at 10pm. I just needed to sleep it off. Next time I won't watch the boat leave port and I will definitely bring more than just dramamine. I wasn't sick that long thankfully so it didn't stop me from wanting to go back.

I am glad I read this post. I wasn't even going to go prepared because they offer the free motion sickness medicine onboard. I should know better!
I will have to say that driving has never made me sick. You poor thing!
The only reason I know I have motion sickness is I get sick when I watch my sons video games. Only a few seconds of that and I can feel it coming on.

Everyone just says you will be "ok" and not to worry about it. I am just glad I have a room aft and not forward. I hope others post how they did too.


Update- After doing a little research it seems like ginger works better than anything else. You can do ginger pills, candied ginger, altoids that are ginger, etc. Several said it works great and apparently they even did a Mythbuster show testing it and found that ginger worked the best. Oh and several people that get motion sickness also said they got it again after getting back home for a few days. Apparently you can get land sick after being on a ship. I never have heard of that!
Anyway, hope this info helps others.

 

[100AcreWood]

I am glad I read this post. I wasn't even going to go prepared because they offer the free motion sickness medicine onboard. I should know better!
I will have to say that driving has never made me sick. You poor thing!
The only reason I know I have motion sickness is I get sick when I watch my sons video games. Only a few seconds of that and I can feel it coming on.

Everyone just says you will be "ok" and not to worry about it. I am just glad I have a room aft and not forward. I hope others post how they did too.


Update- After doing a little research it seems like ginger works better than anything else. You can do ginger pills, candied ginger, altoids that are ginger, etc. Several said it works great and apparently they even did a Mythbuster show testing it and found that ginger worked the best. Oh and several people that get motion sickness also said they got it again after getting back home for a few days. Apparently you can get land sick after being on a ship. I never have heard of that!
Anyway, hope this info helps others.

I love mythbusters! I'll definitely bring ginger next time. Thanks for the tip! And the day we disembarked I felt like I was still moving all day. The next day I was better but I kept taking dramamine for two days just in case.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

After I got sick I took non drowsy Nauzene (thankfully I brought it with just in case since we don't have a history of motion sickness, with the exception Mission Space when I failed to listen to directions not to lift my head) and within about 20 minutes I felt well enough to eat. It has active ingredients of Wild hops and Sepia and inactive ginger, ginger root and others.

 

[Zandy595]

I always get seasick, unless I take Bonine. After having midship and aft rooms, I can tell you it doesn't really matter where you are on the ship, if you're prone to motion sickness you'll feel sick no matter where your room is. Take something you know works for you and book a room where ever you want.