motion sickness

[wld]

Ok those of you who avoid spinning rides, get nauseous on airplanes, and have to ride in the front seat of a car. How do you do on cruises and does cabin location make a difference? I have used trans scopolomine in the past with success, but not thrilled about using it for a week straight. Bonimine helps a little. Wouldn't want to spend my 25th anniversary sick in the cabin!!!

Thank you

 

[Dznefreek]

Cabin location does make a difference.

We were on deck 6 dead center near the elevators and never felt the ship moving while in our cabin.

The only time we did feel the "motion of the ocean" was while we were in "Sessions" on the Magic having drinks. It is located in the bow of the ship.

Do not use the Bonimine. We gave it to my niece and it made he sleepy and she missed the whole first day.

 

[buzz&woody'smom]

After having multiple surgeries in the past 19 months I get naseous very easily. I do take Phenegran several times a week anyway. On the Wonder the only time I felt it was the first night at dinner and then the last night while sleeping. I took chewable Dramamine in the event my DS's needed it and they did not but I did and it worked fine.

 

[eeyore74]

I have used the Transderm Scop patch but the side effects can be bad. For our cruise and flight, I used Bonine - the chewable ones and they worked great! No drowsyness, even though I drank a lot of Bahama Mamas.

Dramamine makes me ill, so I didn't want to try Dramamine II.

You could get a few different things and try them out before you go. That way you'd know how you react.

 

[candyht]

We sailed the 12/19 Wonder. I have twin daughters and both of them got seasick the first night. They starting getting dizzy at dinner while at Animators. Under my doctor's advisement, I gave them Benadryl. It was rough seas the first night, but DH and I were fine. We were really worried that both of us would get seasick. We felt the most motion while at the front of the boat, especially in the theatre during the shows. Our cabin was located on Deck 6 right in the middle. We did feel a lot of the rocking. Our closet doors kept sliding open and close. I was told that a lower deck in the middle of the boat is best. Deck 2 would probably be ideal.

 

[tkd lisa]

I get motion sick too. I can't read in a car, etc, but I'm usually okay on roller coasters. I just can't do the spinning things.

That said, we were WAY forward (7005) on our May cruise. I could feel the ship move. I took Dramamine II every day (it's the same thing as Bonine), and was never particularly sleepy nor particularly sick. The only exception was when we went on a deep sea fishing trip in Cozumel. I got sick on that boat, then coming off the boat, it was probably 95 degrees, so I had a pretty rough time making it back to the Magic. Once on board, I took another dramamine, but didn't really recover until the next morning.

So for me, being forward and high up didn't matter to the sickness, but I could feel the ship move. Being on a little boat really made me sick though.

 

[wld]

Thanks guys, this is so making me nervous. I was so sick on the plane back from FL this year (didn't take anything). I just wanted not to move, hard on a boat I know. Since we are booking fairly late I wonder what we will get. When I use expedia and it lets me pick my room none of them looks in the middle, they all look front or back with nothing in the middle!!
Anxious to hear about any other motion sickness sufferers out there and how they fared.
I think I will avoid small boats though.

 

[twhipple]

I get queezy when I am on rides that spin, sometimes get carsick (only in the back seat), but when we were on the Magic last fall, I was fine. We were on 7th deck aft with a navigator's verranda. I think that probably helped being able to look outside. The first day I took a Dramamine II (actually took it the night before) and was fine. I wasn't tired, just felt a little more mellow than normal. The next day I stopped taking the Dramamine II and was fine. I think the hardest part was getting used to the different footing you needed and once that happened, the motion seemed normal. The only time I felt weird to boardering on queezy was on deck 3 walking from forward to aft. The water was too close and seemed odd from the portholes, but otherwise, I was fine. Hope this helps

 

[tinybubbles]

Cabin location can make a very large difference. I personally love the motion of the ship, and was very disappointed by our cabin location on our last cruise, as it minimized the motion.

Here's how you choose the cabin:

The very best cabins (given you don't want motion) are as close to the waterline and miship as possible. Those actually aren't the most expensive cabins! Being midship is slightly more important than being low, because most of the ships motion is front-to-rear (a result of the excellent anti-roll planes that the ships have).

Also, you should get a cabin with a window. So the best bet is floor 2 around the midship elevators; I think it's cabins around 2500 or so.

 

[hawkrn]

on the 12/5 Wonder cruise, we were 1 1/2 hours late leaving Port Canaveral and I think the captain went "full speed ahead" as they say! I did not get nauseous until I laid down to go to sleep. About 4 hours later it felt like the ship had stopped, but actually it was going normal speed and I felt fine. But that first night our closet doors were opening and shutting and my son's toothbrush which was on the bathroom sink went flying out into the hallway. We were deck 6 midship. I had taken Dramamine before we left from our hotel and not only didn't it work, it left me feeling drugged and with a terrible headache. I won't touch the stuff again.

 

[hydster]

without getting green faced and feeling really yucky so I know where you are coming from. I have used the patch but had bad experiences with it so I stopped using it. We have started using Meclizine (the active ingredient in Bonine and Dramamine 2) and for us it worked the best. I do know that you have to take it before you get sick to have it work the best and for us we tried it on the first cruise (after the patch) at home and it made us really sleepy so we started taking one at night so that the major sleepy effects would be worn off by the morning...it worked like a charm. Then for the rest of our trips (just plane rides included)I start taking the pills about 3 days before we leave just to get them into my system and keep me from getting really drowsy. Then we take 1/2 to 1 tablet every morning when getting out of bed and we seem to do fine on them. I have heard some people have great luck with the wristbands but I unfortunately was not one of them. My pressure points in my wrist must be too deep for the little knob to hit so that is out for me. We usually always try to get a cabin mid-ship but we dont pay much attention to the deck number but mid-ship seems to be the best. We had a cabin at the very FRONT of the ship once and it was MURDER on me! I was sick the entire time (this was when I found out I was allergic to the patch as well) but it was yucky and I swore NEVER again at the front or back of the ship. We have been tempted to get the back of ships because the balconies are usually larger but it isnt worth it to me.

Heidi

 

[mcnuss]

I am ok on the ship if I can see out. So we had a verandah and I used it a lot. We were just behind the aft elevators and I only remember feeling motion once all week. I used the Patch for the first 3-4 days, but for the first time ever, I did not like it. My mouth was dry all the time, and my eyes too. I must have had enough residual in my system to hold me for another day, but then the motion sickness got the better of me. I took a dramamine and very nice long nap (that I felt guilty about LOL), then I went and read on Deck 4 in the fresh air & sunshine and I was fine. I then took 1/2 tablet of Dram at night only and never had a problem.

ps: If Dramamine makes you ill, but Bonine does not, Dramamine II will work since they are exactly the same. (In fact, you can just go ahead and get the generic, no need for a brand name. It's about half the price.)

 

[kajohn]

I have found that the bonine works well for me. I take one everyday in the morning, and don't feel a thing, queasy that is.

I have found you just have to give in to the rocking, and enjoy it. The first time or two I sailed, I would get nervous when I felt motion, which made the motion sickness worse.

By my last cruise, in Alaska, we hit rough seas on the last night, and we had fun trying not to hit the walls as we walked down the corridors!

I also got land sick for the first time on that trip. We went salmon fishing and spent 5 hours on a small boat, I was so used to the motion, when we got back to town, I was totally queasy, I told my husband, no more shopping get me back to the ship!