Sea Sickness Poll

[allears]

Hey everyone. We have friends that would very much like to go on the cruise, but the DW has a pretty good problem with motion sickness. She has to be able to see out the front window in a car or she gets sick. We know there are a number of treatments available, but we were curious as to how many people here or that you've heard of actually experienced any problems with sea sickness. We have been on three cruises on the Disney ships and never had the slightest problem. Obviously there is motion on the ship, but it's seems so minimal.

Again, from your own experiences or hearing about others, how prevelant is the problem on these newer ships.

Thanks for you input!

 

[4myguys]

I'm the same way in a car. I can't read or turn around for a long period of time or I get carsick.

I only had one problem on Magic last year about halfway through the week. One night I was waiting for a show to start, which is located forward on the ship. I think it was a combo of sitting very forward and staring at the stage waiting for it to start.

I didn't even have problems on the catamaran we rode at St. John.

 

[Mjasp]

I didn't have a problem. DH gets very seasick and we were prepared, we had every kind of remedy and we never even opened any of them.

Joanna

 

[KLR-wlv]

Just got back from the 4 day wonder and I often get seasick on smaller boats - but I had no problem. The weather was perfect so I don't know how I'd do if it was choppy - but I really loved the movement of the boat at night and never felt seasick at all.

 

[snowball22]

Just got back from a cruise in June. My Dh-43, dd-age11 and ds age 8 and a 1/2 were fine. They did not feel a bit of motion. I on the other hand was a mess. If the ship went slow I did not feel much but when the ship was kicked into high gear I became quite motion sick. I even fell twice from the motion of the ship. (I think people thought I was intoxicated). After getting off the cruise I "swayed" for a good 5 days. As a kid I never was bothered by motion but after I hit my 30's I get motion sickness very easily.

 

[ducklite]

Iam very prone to motion sickness, and also siffer from vertigo. I was a little woozy the first night, and had a real problem looking down at the water out the port holes by Parrot Cay. Otherwise I had no problems at all.

I used Sea bands and they worked like a charm. By dinner time ont he second day I was able to remove them.

Anne

 

[dclwdwlover]

As I've mentioned before on other threads, I had absolutely no prob. on the Magic & last time on the Wonder it was 5-10 min. before I actually realized we had set sail.
When I was reading these responses, however, I did remember just one night - for a brief period - that I felt slightly queasy in the WD Theater while waiting for a show to start. I'm thinking, tho, it could have been all of the food that I ate since I had two appet., one main crs, & THREE desserts! Ya think?????

 

[aprilgail2]

I got a bit sea sick on the first night but once I took Bonine I was fine the next day. I have tried Sea Bands and they didn't work for me at all but Bonine was great!

 

[jlawall]

Hi, I'm ALWAYS SICK on any kind of boat and I generally use Dramamine and I do OK.......DCL is worth it.........GO FOR IT!!!

 

[CruisinChick]

I had motion sickness problems in cars as a kid, but I cruised 10+ times without any problems at all. Then I went cruising with my DH and saw him turn green the first night and it made me remember how I was as a kid. Now we both start with Bonine. He uses it all cruise and I stop after a day or so. Bonine is great - doesn't make you sleepy like Dramamine (even the "less drowsy" formula puts me to sleep). It's best to try it at home so you know how it will affect you.

Our 4 year old is cruising for the first time this year and we're going to talk to his doctor about what we can do if he feels sick.

 

[jlawall]

I guess I need to get the Bonine!

 

[eek40]

I have cruised a bunch and never had too much of a problem, however here are a few important tips that I think really help.

First arrive at port the day or nite before, often people come straight onboard after a long day of travel. For me to get to Florida takes an hour car ride to the airport, then 5 hours of airplane travel, then you add in the drive to the port/hotel. That can make anyone slightly ill

Second, on the first day of being on the ship avoid alchol at all costs until you get used to the motion of the ship. I have seen many people with that problem.....if you want a special drink to set sail to just get without alchol for the first couple of hours.

Third, spend time out on the decks, getting used to walking around, and the motion....look out into the horizon. Take deep breaths. I have heard that eating apples helps, and I think it prob does.

Fourth, normally after leaving the port there is a section of water , I want to call it the gulf stream but I may be wrong that tends to be the hardest part of the trip as far as motion goes, during that time, try to be outdoors, for some reason our thinking says to get indoors, but actually its better to be out in the fresh air.

Hope these help, and do take the bonnie also, these are just some tips I have picked up along the way
Aimee

 

[kshabare]

Some words of advice:
+ try out medicine at home first to make sure you have no other reactions
+ Ginger tablets from the health food store
+ Ginger snaps (yummy too)
+ Dramamine before you get on the ship

I usually just end up with a headache but either a Dramamine or Motrin take care of it. Fortunately, I'm not ultra-sensitive to motion sickness.

Kim

 

[4myguys]

I've recently read about ginger too. There is a new product called Preggiepops, like a sucker. They're actually for pregnant women, but can relieve any queaziness (sp?)And what about drinking ginger ale. Would that help?

 

[Kabuli1]

My DH gets severe motion sickness from just about anything. He uses the scopalamine patches and does fine with those. Last Nov on DCL we had rough seas and many many people were sick. Go figure, that was the day my DH decided he didn't need the patch! It took him many many hours to start feeling ok again when he finally put one on again. If there had not been the rough seas, however, he would have been fine w/o the patch. I think you need to be prepared for situations like we ran into if you suffer from motion sickness. Also, many shore excursions include smaller boats and even if theship doesn't cause problems, the boats might.

As the other poster said - try any medicine before you go!!! Bonine and other drugs in that family knock my DH out for days after he takes them!

Karyn

 

[ashking]

I used to get car sick as a kid all the time so I was pretty nervous about the trip. We experienced rough seas the 3rd day out.I handled it great because I took bonine and walked around the deck to get fresh air. I was more worried about my kids getting sick but they all slept through it. So from now on I take a bonine right before I get on the ship because it does seem to be a little rough the first night during dinner. That must be the gulf stream someone was talking about. Don't worry, it isn't that rough! Since I have something in my system, I don't have a problem . And then I always take a dramamine at night to help me sleep. I sleep better on the cruise than I do at home. By the 2nd or 3rd day I don't take anything. My kids never had a problem because they are so busy having fun. I really stressed right before my first cruise but now I know if I don't worry about it and take something the first day, I'll be fine and so will you. Enjoy!!!!

 

[tezb]

anyone know from experience if Bonine is just as effective for smaller boat trips (like Stingray)as it is for being on the ship? I've taken bonine as a preventive the first few days on the ship but not sure about a boat or catamaran??

 

[SingingMom]

I was very worried about motion sickness, because I have a sensitive stomach. We brought dramamine and seabands. DH and DD took the dramamine on the first day because of MY insistence, then didn't take it the rest of the trip.

I took it every morning and wore my seabands (mind over matter, probably!) and I was fine. Our formal evening I needed to go back to the cabin and lie down with the a/c blasting, but I think that was because Lumiere's was stuffy that night and the service was extremely slow. I missed Hercules, but felt better after an hour of cool privacy!

One evening at sea I made the mistake of looking out the window on the way to dinner and saw how fast we were going! I got a little nervous and DH said, "Just don't look!" and I was fine!

Bon Voyage!

 

[ashking]

I think you hit on it. Most of it is mind over matter. Just enjoy the many activites that are offered on the ship, get plenty of fresh air, take medication at the start of the trip, and try not to think about it too much. My favorite part of a cruise is looking out at the massive ocean and seeing the beauty of God's creation. Which reminds me , a prayer for calm seas doesn't hurt either.

 

[tezb]

know what you mean ...there were times when both my DH and I could not look out any portholes during dinner. Just made us feel a little unbalanced....too much of it would cause a problem I'm sure. Would rather not have the window during dinner. We took the bonine and were fine but did notice much more rocking on our first few nights out on the Eastern. Not sure what the western will be like...hoping for calm seas...and the storms to settle!