I already have the seabands and 2 different prescriptions from my doctor.
I should also add that we haven't actually gone on our DCL cruise yet, so I'm not speaking from experience here, but I've been doing my research this past week.
Good point! Since I don't usually get seasick, I'm fine if I wait until I start feeling a bit queasy to put them on. That isn't all that often for me anyway. If you're prone, prevention sounds like a very good policy.I just read the instructions that came with mine and it said it's better to prevent seasickness than to try to cure it -- they recommend putting them on before. My family is very prone to motion sickness, though, so I think we may end up being much more proactive than most people need to be.
She uses the Sea Bands and has taken close to a dozen happy cruises. She puts them on while we are still at the dock before we board and keeps them on the whole time. She still has problems with the tenders though. She not bad if they are short and the sea is calm but she'd rather just stay on the ship if it's rocking out there! (everyone on the tender would rather she stay on the ship too!) I don't know if they work for everyone but they are a miracle for her.
Thankfully, only one of my kids inherited this. We just got home from a not so smooth Magic cruise. I always wear 1/2 a patch (a full one makes me loopy) and I gave my DS9 a 1/4 of a patch. I let his wear off and he was fine. On the roughest day I wore sea bands. They were great. My only issue with them is that they drive me crazy when they are wet. So, I bring 2 pairs and that way, I can have a dry one ready to go. Hope this helps! 
. Second, very, very few kids get motion sickness. A four year old should be just fine alone! Good luck!
The joke in my family is that I get seasick in the bathtub.
As a pharmacist, I'll offer my opinion...first, try to prevent seasickness. Once you feel it, it can be very difficult to get control of. I am prone to motion sickness and take a meclizine 25 mg each night beginning the night before boarding. Take it at night and you won't generally notice the drowsiness at all. It's not worth skipping it if your worried (worrying/thinking about it can even bring it on or magnify it!) - don't want to ruin your trip by not feeling well!
He put it on the night before we were to leave PC and by the next morning he felt "wacked out" and said his mouth was the driest it had ever been. He took it off and within 3 hours he was back to normal. From then on, he used the non-drowsy Dramimine each day and did great for our March 09 cruise. Granted, on our Nov 08 cruise, he tried the oral meds and the seas were much rougher, and he felt yucky the whole time we were moving. He never "got sick", just felt "off".
