SeaSickness

[torismom]

Has anyone ever booked and gone on a cruise knowing you get seasick? Granted, I have only been on small boats but I was sick everytime. The largest ship I have been on was a day cruise from San Diego to Mexico and it was pure ****. I am willing to try a three day cruise with using the patch, sea bands and bonine. I guess I am just looking for reassurance. LOL

I need to try this one because my grandmother wants to take us on a 7 day cruise(instead os a land/sea pkg) and I do not want to be miserable.

Thanks

 

[Mjasp]

Jennifer... My DH gets seasick. After we booked for our 25th anniversary, a 7 night on the Inaugural Western, we looked at each other and said what are we crazy. He gets seasick and I'm not too fond of water. We were armed with the wrist band and Dramamine and the chewable Dramamine for the kids. We never opened the packages. It was wonderful, we couldn't even feel the ship move.

Hope that makes you feel better.

Joanna

 

[hydster]

and this is my 6th crusie coming up so that should give you peace of mind! I cant watch my kids on a Merry Go Round or anything or I get sick. I read your message and I just have a few suggestions.

1) Whatever method you are going to try (medication wise anyway) please try it out BEFORE you leave home! I did the patch thing about 10 years ago on the Norwegian Norway and I didnt realize I was allergic to it. I spent the first 4 days of my cruise sicker than I would have been if I had ONLY had sea sickness! I had a headache, nausea, dizzy, disoriented a little bit, my pupils dilated to the point that my eyes were black instead of blue. If you are going to try ANYTHING my recommendation would be to try them out at home before you leave on your cruise! There is NOTHING worse than having a reaction on a boat when you could have known when you were home what it would do to you. Now I know you wont know if it helps you sea sick wise but at least you will know if you are allergic or not! The patch works for some but it has TONS of side effects. I dont know if you have looked at their website but you might find it interesting! It is http://www.transdermscop.com/site2/view-insert.html and it might be interesting for you to read!

2) Bonine, Dramamine 2, and Antivert are all fancy names for Meclizine. It is the active ingredient in all of those pills and you can get it much cheaper than buying those pills. I know you get about 100 pills for 5.00 or less and usually you can get them from any pharmacy behind the counter. My suggestion is the same as with the patch..try it out BEFORE you go and if you drink try having a drink with it to know what will happen to you, if you get tired, cranky whatever with it! We take this exclusively now and we start taking it 2-3 days before we leave to get it into our systems and then we take 1 every morning when we get out of bed! It has helped on all the cruises and we can still drink alcohol with them. They do make you a little tired but tired is much easier to deal with than vomiting all over the place! These are all antihistimines so if you have ever taken one you will know kind of what they do to you...but make sure you try them out so if you have an allergic reaction you are HOME when it happens!

3) You can try the wristbands and for some people they do work although for me and my family they do not. Apparently we have too deep of pressure points for them to work so my suggestion would be to have backup remedies just in case since you wont know if they do or dont work until you are on the ship.

4) Alot of people swear by ginger tablets. You might try those on the ship as well!!

I am sure you will be fine and you may even surprise yourself and not need anything but I would suggest that you arm yourself with all kinds of aids and make sure you know how they affect you.

Enjoy your trip!
Heidi

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

I agree with what hydster says. Check it out ahead of time. My DH has tendency towards motion sickness in certain situations and because his job requires him to spend quite a bit of time on the water, in boats of various sizes he had a couple of suggestions to pass along.

In addition to trying out and taking along whatever remedies you plan to keep in mind

* take whatever you are going to take BEFORE you start to really feel sick

* avoid enclosed, inner spaces - if you can see the horizong your brain and inner ear have references to work with to stabilize your equilibrium

* ginger cookies help possibly for two reasons - the ginger and just a little bit of something to settle the stomach

* don't ask for trouble, if you feel the ship start to rock - such as at night when crossing the Gulf Stream - and you aren't feeling sick don't go looking for trouble. In other words if you're lying down and feeling ok, don't get up to look at the waves.

BTW - he was perfectly fine through both of our cruises and during the first Hurricane Bonnie kept things interesting.

 

[torismom]

Everyone, thank you for the reassurance!! I am printing this for my notebook. I so want to cruise but am scared to death of throwing up the entire time.

Thanks again.

 

[dylan'smom]

I started taking ginger caps 2 weeks before we sailed, & then I didn't really trust that so I started taking meclizine (sp?) the night before on my first cruise, & pretty much kept it up at regular intervals for the whole week.

I was sooooo spacey. I kept forgetting everything. Then I was not about to skip a good wine at dinner, so after that I pretty much slept through the shows & then crashed, big time!! Sheesh.

The next time, I skipped it, had a great time, and actually remember the trip! Just give it a try w/o the supplements. It is such a big ship & you really do get your "sea legs," as they say, after a while.

Good luck!!!!!!!!!

 

[disneyholic family]

this was also my major fear....
i have a serious motion sickness problem (on land) and have been greener than green on every small boat i've been on (last year i had to spend the rest of the day in bed after going on the statue of liberty ferry)...

to make matters worse i can't take any kind of seasickness medicine because of drug interactions...
well.....we went on the 3 day 4th of july cruise and i didn't get sick AT ALL......not for even one minute.....
and i didn't take a thing.....
boy was i pleasantly surprised.....i did feel the boat's movement when i was in certain parts of the ship but it's so very mild it didn't bother me....
and as i said, i have a VERY serious problem.....

hopefully your experience will be like mine....

 

[Valerie3kids]

I am also one of those fortunate souls who gets sick very easily-car sick, air sick etc etc. But I have had wonderful luck cruising. I go prepared and like state above try the meds ahead of time to make sure they don't make me sick to start with. I also plan ahead. If we hit rough seas I take something I don't wait until I start to feel bad.

Good Luck
Valerie

 

[dahess]

BONINE, BONINE, BONINE, BONINE!!!!

It did not cause me to be sleepy or any other side effects.

Love my BONINE!!!!!!

 

[kramer_clan]

I agree with taking the Bonine. I have not had any side effects using it.

You need to start taking it before you board. The seasickness comes from your equillibrium and if you let it get out of sink, taking the meds after MAY NOT help. I always take it the day before I board just so it is in my system. I only take it once a day with no problems.

Vicki