Scared Seasick

[9-11mommy]

We are scheduled to cruise on the Disney Wonder in April 2005 for 4 nights. Does anyone have any experience with seasickness at this time of year? We have never cruised before and I am scared to death of being seasick!

 

[faireygod mother]

Consider geting the patch and wearing it before you get under way.

 

[jrabbit]

See this thread on Motion Sickness 'cures'

 

[Par8hed]

There are two stages of seasickness. In stage 1 .... you are afraid that you're going to die. In stage 2 .... you are afraid that you won't.

 

[DrCavin]

There are two stages of seasickness. In stage 1 .... you are afraid that you're going to die. In stage 2 .... you are afraid that you won't.

That pretty much sums it up

 

[randytenn]

We've been on 3 Disney cruises, and have never gotten seasick (and we both definately can get motion sickness on carnival rides and if we try to read in a car).

We have felt the boat move a bit, but it really never got to us. I wouldn't worry about it. We do see a lot of people wearing the patch behind their ear, so you might want to check into that.

Honestly, you will be much more uncomfortable from overeating than you will be from seasickness!

 

[PoohJen]

I'm prone to motion sickness, and used bonine the whole time during my November cruise (we had rough seas all week) - I never felt ill! I took one pill each morning.

My 7yo got sick the first night (felt much better after getting ill); I gave him children's benedryl on one rough-sea day after that. He never felt sick again the whole week.

NOTE: after my son got sick, someone asked whether we had just climbed the stairs (we had), and said that stair-climbing tends to bring on the vomiting. So, true or not, we used the elevators whenever going up for the rest of the cruise! (of course, that doesn't help with anyqueasy feeling you may already have) There went my planned exercise for the week1

Good luck, and don't worry about it too much!

 

[momdoc]

Are you fearful of vomiting yourself or witnessing others vomiting? My guess would be a little bit of both! I've been on 5 cruises and never vomited myself NOR have I witnessed others vomiting. Don't be a scardy cat--I'm sure you can handle it AND have a great time to boot!

 

[westjones]

I just posted a thread about seasickness today hoping others that have been on the short and long cruises would share their thoughts.

We just returned from our 6th cruise, which was a 4 night. We did 2 seven night, 2 three nights, and 2 four nights. I am prone to motion sickness (always have been), and I had a LOT of problems on both of our seven night cruises. I didn't have too much of a problem on our shorter cruises. DH and I talked about it and we thought that maybe being further out at sea away from the islands (on the 7 night) allows the seas to get rougher. But on the 4 night we only felt a little motion and I never felt sick (I did take Bonine on the first and last night when we went through a rough spot).

We loved being on the ship for 7 nights, but I think we will stick with the 4 night cruise for now on, hoping to avoid any more bad seasick days.

DJ

 

[MarkLem]

Beer works for me (no joke!). On a charter boat deep sea fishing trip I felt sick on the way out. Drank a beer, it all went away. Of course I had to keep drinking!

 

[momsgoofy]

Consider geting the patch and wearing it before you get under way.

The patch is a freaky thing!

I tend to get motion sick on the rides at WDW and on occasion during plane trips so as a precaution I got the patch from my doctor and took a bottle of dramamine just in case. Well, first night of the 7 night western cruise this past Thanksgiving as I was unpacking I started to feel the sway of the ship...thought I'd take the dramamine first...fine...about an hour later I'm still feeling the sway so I think...eeeh, don't want to get sick at dinner so I put on the patch. Fine on day 2...we were at CC. Day 3 is sea day...the patch comes off in the shower so I replaced it and went on to the character breakfast.

I could not read the menu or anything within 3 feet which was really weird since I wear contact for nearsightedness! I had such blurred vision that I started to panic I went to the nearest restroom, grabbed a wet wipe, ripped off the patch and scrubbed where it had been. I then tossed the contacts into the garbage and could see fairly clearly at a distance but still couldn't see within an arms length. After breakfast I returned to the stateroom and laid down for a couple of hours. Slowly my vision started to return to normal, but I wore my glasses the rest of the day when I left the stateroom so I could take them off and read the menus or anything close up.

I read the prescription label on the patch and it said as clear as could be "MAY CAUSE BLURRED VISION". Brother, they weren't a kidding! I also read further and found it caused dry mouth, which I had been experiencing but had chalked it up to the decongestant I was taking for my allergies. DUH!

On Day 4 I was fine! I could see clearly, not as dry mouthed and was not motion sick! I did pop the dramimine as we were ferrying to Playa Del Carmen on our excursion to Tulum and glad I did as it was pretty rocky that morning.

For the remainder of the trip I was fine...when I'd feel the ship sway I'd take the dramamine, but it wasn't often.

So, if you get the blasted patch... try it out for a few days before you go on the cruise. Several people on the cruise I talked with after my experience had the same things...blurred vision and extreme dry mouth all after putting on the SECOND patch!

If you want to use dramamine...just buy a bottle of the Equate brand at Wally World...it's 5 bucks and you get 100 pills. They were a hit with some folks on the ferry to Playa Del Carmen.

Laura ºoº

 

[silver7]

"If you want to use dramamine...just buy a bottle of the Equate brand at Wally World...it's 5 bucks and you get 100 pills. They were a hit with some folks on the ferry to Playa Del Carmen."


I resemble that remark! I was so glad momsgoofy had the dramamine look alike! The ferry to Playa Del Carmen was brutal. I am not the seasick type and was having a very hard time there.

On both of our cruises, we all felt the movement of the ship at dinner on the first night each time, and we had early seating. When you get out of the channel it seems to be rocky for a few minutes, and then it settles down.

 

[arcruiser]

On both of our cruises, 3 day and 7 day, it seemed rougher the first day whilst we were near the coast than it did at sea. One nite on the 7 day was pretty rough, and DW was the only lady to attend/stay at dinner that evening in our dining group of 4 couples. That particular restaurant, I believe it was Animator's Palette, was near the rear of the ship and the motion is more noticeable there. Neither of us had problems... and we loved being lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the ship.

I believe the least motion will be felt near the middle of the ship and on the lower decks. Our first cruise was an inside cabin on deck 5, aft of the theater. Second cruise was higher on deck 8, in a family stateroom (thanks to upgrades), but near the middle.

I think we got more "land sick" than seasick... Seems like we were wobbly on land for a day or two after getting off the ships!

 

[two-foxes]

Consider geting the patch and wearing it before you get under way.

I am a motion sickness queen, if it moves, most likely I will get sick! Tried it all, and the worst thing I tried was the patch. Like the above poster, the side effects were horrible! I wore it on our 4 night..no problems while on the ship (just dry mouth), but I had some pretty nasty widthdrawls while on land. Then I wore it again for the first 5 or 6 days of our back to backs, after day that, I got "goofy eyes"...my balance was off, my eyes had tons of difficulty focusing (try doing a step class on a moving ship with that ), my eyes actually hurt. And I washed my hands like crazy after putting the patch on, so I know I didn't get any of the meds in my eyes. I headed down to medical and asked the lady at the desk if she knew what I should do, and she firmly said "TAKE IT OFF NOW!" Then she ranted about her dislikes of the patch and told me to take a hand full of the free stuff they have there, wait 12 hours then take some of that. Well, that safe sea or sea calm, or what ever it is called, worked sooooooooo gooooooood! (can you tell I was very happy with no side effect, free motion sickness meds!? :jumping4: ) I had no problems with goofy eyes and no problems with motion sickness for cruise #2, so I was a happy girl.

Now, back to the OP and your question...although I cannot address the sea condition specifically, start taking bonine or the great stuff DCL has at medical or guest services right when you board. Take it every day, per the label instructions, whether or not you'll think you need it. Don't skip a port day, because if you are like me, riding in a cab around (especially with how most of the cab drivers drive) sets me off. You will be fine!!!

 

[disneyophile]

I'm by no means a seasoned cruiser; I've only cruised twice. The first was about 12 years ago on a smaller, older ship. It was only 2 weeks after a hurricane hit Cancun, and guess where our ports of call were? You guessed it, the Western Caribbean! I had some motion sickness and used the patch. I found that the side effects of the patch were worse than the motion sickness and removed it after the first day. The second cruise was 2 years ago on a much larger, newer ship. Not only did I have no sea sickness, but couldn't even feel the movement of the ship. My mother, who gets sea sick very easily, went with me and had no problem with sea sickness at all. I believe that the newer, larger ships with their stabilizers make sea sickness a non problem but for a few unfortunate souls. Bring Bonine just in case, but don't be surprised if you don't need it.

 

[GirliesMom]

I was totally paranoid about getting sick and we were cruising during hurricane saeson. I took every precaution, I had the pills and the patches, you name it I had it and we didn't need a thing. Now keep in mind DH can not ride in back seat of a car he gets so sick, and we were all great. Have it in case you need it, but you should be fine!!! Have a wonderful trip!

 

[pooh luver]

We have cruised twice now in April with DCL and had no problem with sea sickness. I am very prone to getting sea sick as I got ill on my first cruise which was down to Mexico. Took a short cruise last April down to Mexico and took Bonine and that was wonderful. If in doubt, take precautions because you don't want to waste even a day.