Seasickness, fore or aft?

[slzer0]

I know that midship is best for minimizing motion. Unfortunately the kind of room we want only has fore or aft rooms.
DH claims aft has less motion but I have read (here maybe?) that fore has less motion.

Also there's something about how the beds face which direction you are going and I don't know how to figure that out. I believe that port/starboard rooms are mirrors of each other, right? So which side of the boat has the bed facing the "right" direction?

Also i have been seeing a lot about Bonine. I have never heard of this. The only time I took something for my motion sickness it was Dramamine and it knocked me on my butt. Like, asleep on the boat bench seat drooling for the last hour and a half of the ride. Real classy. So yeah, is Bonine a better choice?
I wore a SeaBand while pregnant and carsick (I usually dont get car sick unless I rad in the car) and it didn't work at all. Just made my wrist itch.


Can a few of you with seasickness weigh in on bed position and fore-aft?
If it helps with bed positioning, we are looking at 8C/8D (Deck 6 or 7) on the Dream.
((% is on the Kids Clubs floor, and 8-9 seem too high.. 6-7 seems a happy medium, as I also read too high there's more motion.)

THANKS EVERYONE

 

[cris0809]

Everyone's motion sickness is different. There is no one answer.

Bonine is readily available in the US; I saw it at CVS yesterday. There is also the option of the less drowsy Dramamine formula. It is less potent, but my partner also finds it less effective. She gets motion sickness while riding in the passenger seat of a car, while riding attractions such as Tower of Terror or Expedition Everest and yes, while onboard the ships (sometimes). She does not find Bonine, SeaBands,ginger/pills or the aforementioned "less drowsy" Dramamine enough.

The patch, which you can get prescribed from your doctor, can be worn for the duration of the cruise but one of the side effects is dry mouth (unpleasant). Each patch lasts about 3 days, you simply apply a new one after that time. We have found if she loses it by accident in the water, with SCUBA especially, she will lose a whole day being sick because the side effects of it suddenly being gone are worse than not having it at all.

Now that I have all of that out of the way, even with how sensitive she is not every cruise has required medication and no one cruise has required constant medication.

Now onto forward vs aft, neither are ideal if you KNOW you get motion sick. You hear conflicting reports of how they affect people because the type of motion is different! The forward part is typically more up and down/ "crashing", where the back is more side to side "wiggle". The aft portion of the ship is also more prone to vibration since it's over the engines. Some people are bothered by the sensation others are more bothered by the sound.

Personally I'd pick aft when pushed but I'm more interested in being midship than any other criteria, especially on the Dream/Fantasy which are quite long.

Hope that helps!

 

[slzer0]

Thanks. I will probably bring all that and I will definitely get a prescription for the patch from my doctor.

Last two things that made me really sick or Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey, and that ride at SeaWorld where its a helicopter simulator.
I guess if I am looking at a screen and my chair is moving around underneath me that makes me very very very sick. I don't know how that translates.

I got sick on a smallish boat out to dry Tortugas and on the Key West Express on the way back as well. Both of those boats it was very rough seas.

As there are no portal rooms available mid shift, I think I'm just going to have to suck it up. Lol

 

[slzer0]

Is there any truth to the bed directions?

 

[my2boys2disney]

I get bad motion sickness...no rides at amusement parks for me. I get car sick and air sick too. But I took Bonine from the get go and had no problems. I hope that's the case again on our next cruise. I got the patch but heard a lot of negative things about it so never used it.

 

[tinkerone]

you could also try ginger tablets. gravol makes them.
i get very very sea sick in boats yet i have not been sick on any of my cruises. the first night out of port canaveral, with the currents, can make me wonder if i'm going to be ill but it has never happened.
you may be pleasantly surprised and not feel sick at all. good luck!

 

[Keurigirl]

I do NOT like motion on cruise ships. It is ok during the day, but at night, I cannot sleep at all if there is motion. Which sucks for me when cruising! I have found that I MUST have a low deck. On Disney, we've sailed twice on deck two, once on 6 and once on 7. Deck 7 had the worst motion for me, 6 wasn't too much better. But deck 2 is much, much better.

I would prefer aft by far over forward. When laying down on forward rooms I always feel as though I'm falling when the ship rocks... aft at least it's just motion and not as startling.

 

[slzer0]

I get bad motion sickness...no rides at amusement parks for me. I get car sick and air sick too. But I took Bonine from the get go and had no problems. I hope that's the case again on our next cruise. I got the patch but heard a lot of negative things about it so never used it.

That's encouraging. As a matter of fact i got airsick during a turbulent landing this past Feb at LaGuardia.

Mehhh! When did I becom such a delicate flower?! I will never give up coasters, though. Surprisingly, they don't make me sick, but I'd rid them even if they did.

May I ask where you stayed on your cruise? Fore, Aft, Mid... Deck?

 

[slzer0]

you could also try ginger tablets. gravol makes them.
i get very very sea sick in boats yet i have not been sick on any of my cruises. the first night out of port canaveral, with the currents, can make me wonder if i'm going to be ill but it has never happened.
you may be pleasantly surprised and not feel sick at all. good luck!

May I ask where your stateroom usually is?
Ginger worked while I was pregnant with my son. Good idea.

I'm going to look like a lunatic to whoever Xrays my bag. Thyroid meds, anxiety meds, migraine meds, migraine injector for emergency, drammamine, bonine, a sea band, the patch, and ginger tabs.
Might as well bring some cola syrup while I'm at it. LOL

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Is there any truth to the bed directions?

If you think there's going to be a problem with the bed facing the "wrong" way, it's likely there will be.

I know some people feel that (when lying down) it should be feet going forward. Other's like head forward. In my experience, it didn't make any difference. If it matters to you, when looking at a deck plan (at least the one on Travelocity, not the DCL one) in the rooms that are connecting the headboard of the bed is on the opposite wall. And every other room faces the same way, so it doesn't matter what side of the ship.

 

[DCSWO]

I've spent plenty of time on non-cruise ships (think gray) and you will have less movement aft and on lower decks. You have pitch (up and down movement) and roll (side to side). In general, pitch will be more noticeable forward and roll will be more noticeable the higher up you are in the ship because you are moving a greater distance. Roll will also be "different" outboard than it is closer to the middle of the ship but there is not as big a difference and there aren't too many stateroom options to correct for that. Most cruise ships including DCL have fin stabilizers which GREATLY reduce roll.

The most important thing is to not fixate on the ship's motion.

Saltine crackers can also help

 

[Heyriddle]

We just returned from a cruise on the Eastern Caribbean. I have always been prone to motion sickness, car sickness, you name it. I was worried about this cruise because we have always chosen cabins that were midship and this time we were aft in a category 8 on the 6th floor. I've done the patch; it blurred my vision horribly and I still felt ill. Regardless of what I've taken, I have always felt ill the first night until this year. This year I took sea calm (bonine) for two days prior to the cruise. I was a little drowsy but that could have been from traveling across the country as well. Once onboard, I continued to take two pills a day. I never felt sick at all. It was the best I ever felt on a cruise. I'm no longer hesitant to choose a room forward or aft as long as I start those little pills early.

 

[scrapshappen]

The key to bonine is to start it early. Not after you feel sick. Then it's too late.

 

[sgc1107]

We always do midship for location reasons but I can confirm if you are sick and go lay down lay sideways on your bed! You may want to consider even sleeping on The couch! You can notice a huge difference!

 

[Spwhoney]

I know that midship is best for minimizing motion. Unfortunately the kind of room we want only has fore or aft rooms.
DH claims aft has less motion but I have read (here maybe?) that fore has less motion.

Also there's something about how the beds face which direction you are going and I don't know how to figure that out. I believe that port/starboard rooms are mirrors of each other, right? So which side of the boat has the bed facing the "right" direction?

Also i have been seeing a lot about Bonine. I have never heard of this. The only time I took something for my motion sickness it was Dramamine and it knocked me on my butt. Like, asleep on the boat bench seat drooling for the last hour and a half of the ride. Real classy. So yeah, is Bonine a better choice?
I wore a SeaBand while pregnant and carsick (I usually dont get car sick unless I rad in the car) and it didn't work at all. Just made my wrist itch.


Can a few of you with seasickness weigh in on bed position and fore-aft?
If it helps with bed positioning, we are looking at 8C/8D (Deck 6 or 7) on the Dream.
((% is on the Kids Clubs floor, and 8-9 seem too high.. 6-7 seems a happy medium, as I also read too high there's more motion.)

THANKS EVERYONE

For sure get a aft room. I have had both and the forward room seemed more jumpy. I didn't really get seasick, felt kinda weird so bought some sea bands and took pill and I was fine. I agree with OP about pitch and roll. I loved my aft room because it would rock side to side and feel so relaxing lying on bed. I can pass on the forward up down motion in the front of ship.

 

[jenhelgren]

To save you some time-the non-drowsy form of Dramamine is Bonine.
Bonine is the name brand but the drug is meclizine. Non drowsy Dramamine is exactly the same as Bonine including the milligram doseage. If you purchase meclizine rather than Bonine it is much cheaper. I just recently discovered that the ingredient in Dramamine is essentially Benadryl which normally causes drowsiness unless you are my DD and then you bounce of the walls!!
I never had any motion sickness until after my pregnancies and now I cannot swing on a playground swing back and forth one time! I always take meclizine in the car/water and feel fine. To work to its full effect you need to take it atleast one full day ahead of the cruise and continue taking it for one day after according the pharmacist I talked to. It will help if you are already sea sick, but not nearly as well as taking it prior to movement. I have always followed those directions and never had a problem! Good luck-I already have my huge bottle ready for October!!

 

[slzer0]

To save you some time-the non-drowsy form of Dramamine is Bonine.
Bonine is the name brand but the drug is meclizine. Non drowsy Dramamine is exactly the same as Bonine including the milligram doseage. If you purchase meclizine rather than Bonine it is much cheaper. I just recently discovered that the ingredient in Dramamine is essentially Benadryl which normally causes drowsiness unless you are my DD and then you bounce of the walls!!
I never had any motion sickness until after my pregnancies and now I cannot swing on a playground swing back and forth one time! I always take meclizine in the car/water and feel fine. To work to its full effect you need to take it atleast one full day ahead of the cruise and continue taking it for one day after according the pharmacist I talked to. It will help if you are already sea sick, but not nearly as well as taking it prior to movement. I have always followed those directions and never had a problem! Good luck-I already have my huge bottle ready for October!!

Thanks! Yup, after pregnancies here too. I used to be invincible.

 

[slzer0]

For sure get a aft room. I have had both and the forward room seemed more jumpy. I didn't really get seasick, felt kinda weird so bought some sea bands and took pill and I was fine. I agree with OP about pitch and roll. I loved my aft room because it would rock side to side and feel so relaxing lying on bed. I can pass on the forward up down motion in the front of ship.

Crap. I had my fore all picked out.

 

[Goofy4Ever]

My son and I both get seasick, him more than me, and we now use the patches you get from your doctor. They work great for us. But I am still careful with the room I chose. If I can't get a room mid-ship, on a lower deck (usually we do deck 2), then I go for a room aft. Once we were forward and it was really noticeable. My son was down and out for a couple of days. Nothing worked for him except to sleep it off. But even then he still loves to cruise

 

[Spwhoney]

Crap. I had my fore all picked out.

If you plan on taking sea sick stuff you will probably be ok. Mid ship is alwas best but they tend to be more expensive. Enjoy your cruise