thinking about taking a cruise

[gottaluvPluto]

My family and I have never been on a cruise and we have been thinking about taking a cruise. It would be me, DH, DD (7) and DD(4). I like the thought of being able to have family time and also having time for just me and DH. We wouldn't have to worry about food or anything. The only bad things I can think of would be the thought of boat fever (trapped on a boat and not being able to get off), sea sick, being clastrophobic in an inside cabin or outside cabin. Have any of you felt these things on a ship? I know I am being silly, but I was just wondering.

 

[tammy bell]

You are not being silly, these are legitimate questions for a first timer. You will NOT have boat fever. The ship is so large, you will be finding places that you have never been when your cruise is over. As for sea sickness, the ship has stabilizers that limit the amount of motion that you feel. I have stayed in 2 different types of cabins: inside and verandah. I must say that I prefer the verandah, there is nothing like sitting on your verandah while you are watching the ship pull into pier. However, I never felt claustrophobic in the inside cabin. Here's my advice : GO on a cruise! You will have a great time.

 

[ivanova]

even with an inside cabin you shouldn't be clautrophobic, you won't be in the cabin much except for sleeping and changing clothes

 

[traycie2201]

tammy bell, i had all the same questions, alot were answered via the great members on the disboards, the disney cruise line dvd helped with the rest. we then booked a 7 day western for myself, DH and DS 12 in an inside cat 11 for october. can't wait.
Good luck with you're planning

 

[kshabare]

Being your first time you can try the 4 day water, 3 day land if you're nervous. Check out secret port hole rooms. They're booked as an inside stateroom with a huge (4x4?) window. It's 'obstructed view' but light comes in and can be blocked with the heavy drape. Sea sickness should not be a big problem. We brought dramamine, motrin and ginger snaps and only had to use motrin the first night for a headache (could've been the long day though). This is no boat - it's a ship.

I'll take cruising over hotel life any day of the week. Just cannot be beat. Too many reasons to list here.

Kim

 

[webray]

I had the same questions before our first cruise..in fact we were going to do a quick 3 day just to test the waters..lol.

We said the heck with it..went for the 7 day and loved it. We are hooked. We got a verandah room so that we could step outside and watch whatever/whenever..it was wonderful.

I have terrible motion sickness..and was better on the ship that on land..crazy I know. I took dramaine the morning we left..and only had to wear my seabands the first night, hubby said..I was getting my sea legs. Was fine after that.

Second cruise..took dramamine the morning we left..probably didn't even need it, but, better safe than sorry I say...was fine.
Our daughter joined us for this cruise..she also has terrible motion sickness...she didn't need anything..lol, she was fine also.

 

[Muushka]

I agree with kshabare, maybe try a 3 or 4 night cruise to start out with. Our first cruise was a 7 night and I kind of wish that we had started out on a shorter one. We did have extreme weather and that has a lot to do with the opinion.

 

[two-foxes]

I was the kind of person who said..."floating in the middle of the ocean on a hunk of metal..I don't think so!" (I say something like that for flying, too!) But you will simply forget you are on a ship! There is nothing clastrophobic about the ship. The Walt Disney Theater is a huge "Broadway" style theater. The restaurants are all what you would see on land, the spa is similar sized to some of the spas here, the nite life spots are all normal sized, too! It is tough to image what it is like until you've been there, but it won't be the bad stuff you may be expecting.....well except the pools. They are small, can't get around that!

I am a motion sickness kinda girl, and I used the patch on our 4 nite. I didn't have any side effects from it that were bad. I will try Bonine on our next set of cruises however, but have the patch...just in case!

Give a 4 niter a shot to see if you like it.... one day at sea, 2 ports. It would be a great place to start. Beware, you may get hooked! We have only done one 4 nite, then we somehow ended up booking back to backs for this fall.....then the repo for next year! Good for the soul, bad for the pocketbook

 

[Muushka]

oops, not sure why this double posted. Could not delete!

 

[gottaluvPluto]

Thank you so much for answering my questions. We are going to do a cruise, now we just need to find out when, where and how many days. Let the planning begin!

 

[RobinMarie]

I had all of the same concerns as you did. I got the patch, brought Bonine, and booked a mid-ship, Deck 2 stateroom with an Oceanview.

We all LOVED IT! I love scheduled activities, planning, shows and socializing.

My 6 yo dd could not get enough of the clubs. She had exhanged a message or two with other 6 yo DISers beforehand, and they recognized each other from pictures. You'd think they were long lost friends the way they greeted each other and maintained connections throughout the cruise!

I couldn't get enough of the opportunity to be together AND stay apart. I did most of my reading on Deck 4 - shady and comfy!

I think the patch made me a little tired, but nothing to complain about. I did not spend much time in the stateroom other than to change clothes (and boy did you do THAT a lot on a cruise!), and time for bed. I did enjoy the window and am not sure I'd cruise without one.

My daughter and I also discovered we were traveling with, whom I no longer call my SO but BB - short for BINGO BOY. He LOVED himself some bingo lemme tell ya! Thankfully he did not give it a shot until the end of the cruise but he spent a lot of money. I went with him to one of the games and was bored but he was LOVING it.

I think you will love cruising, we sure did!

 

[invaderzim]

You are absolutely NOT being silly! It is better to ponder and get answers then not to go at all for fear of the unknown!

On my first cruise in 2000 on the Wonder, I chose a 4-day cruise because I wasn't sure how I would take it. My husband had been on a tall ship, so I wasn't worried about him. My daughter isn't afraid of anything. But I was not sure how I would feel once I couldn't see land. I thought I'd go stir crazy on a "floating resort".

WRONG. I couldn't get enough of it. We no sooner walked off that ship and we booked a seven day one because four days just wasn't enough. Now we're doing our third one this August and the 14-day next year. I have a feeling we will reach a point when we just live on the ship!

Seriously though, it is a wonderful experience. Bring some Bonine or wrist bands and just go for it. It is an amazing experience and there's no better way to travel in our book.

 

[Disneyfan37]

gottaluvPluto, it's great that others have taken away your apprehension of a cruise. For what it's worth, here's my two cents.
I think a lot of people who were in your position, of a fear of cruising because of seasickness, think this way...a small boat like a fishing boat=a lot of rocking back and forth. A bigger vessel like the Magic=more and bigger rocking back and forth. Truth of the matter is like everyone else has said so far, you don't even notice what little movement there is. Take a wristband or any other precaution, just to be safe.

As far as calling it a boat....let's put it this way...do you call it pop or soda?!?!? I mean really!!!! Just have fun and get the video or DVD if you don't have it already. It's great!!!

 

[Muushka]

Originally posted by Disneyfan37
Truth of the matter is like everyone else has said so far, you don't even notice what little movement there is. Take a wristband or any other precaution, just to be safe.

No No No! We certainly did feel the movement. We felt the movement every single day of that cruise. Like I said, we did have extreme weather, but only for a few days. But the rest of the time the seas were not as bad and we still felt the ship move. That is a little pet peeve of mine, that so many say you can't feel the ship move.

But Disneyfan37, I agree with everything else you said .

 

[kellib36]

I felt it, too! A couple of our trips have had REALLY rough seas....8-15 ft waves......for a full day. Its MUCH better to have something and not need it! We've gone twice in Jan, once in Sept, and once in May. I didn't feel ANYthing the first time til the seas got rough, but the other 3, I always feel a little movement. Not a problem, but I agree some people DO feel it more than others......

 

[CM_Mom]

Yes you can usually feel the ship move. BUT, that's what DD is complaining the most about now that she's on vacation...NO MOVEMENT. Her bed doesn't rock her to sleep and there's no breeze when she lays out to sunbathe. Good thing she goes back on June 11. She may be a crew member for the rest of her life.

I will say that I slept better on the ship than I ever do at home so movement isn't all a bad thing.

Muushka, were you on one of the cruises in either late March or April that were rougher than usual? DD said even some of the crew were taking Sea Calm for a couple of those.

 

[Muushka]

Originally posted by CM_Mom

Muushka, were you on one of the cruises in either late March or April that were rougher than usual? DD said even some of the crew were taking Sea Calm for a couple of those.

Yes, that would be us. The March 20 Eastern-20 to 30 foot seas and whole gale winds. Just wondering, did she by any chance mention if that same weather system was the one that brought Brazil their first hurricane- and in March no less?

I was totally shocked that I did not get seasick. Thank God for Bonine. My husband did not fare as well though.

 

[TheWog]

As part of the planning we found January and September to be reasonable pricewise. We loved January so that we could get out of the Northeast cold. It worked. Take a 7 day. It is so worth it and I recommend the verandah.

You will feel the motion of the ship, you are on the ocean. If you go into with that you will be better off. Sea Bands and Bonine and the rest will make you not worry about it. The motion is part of the fun.

Have fun planning and a great trip.