Does one get immune for sea sickness eventually & what about the crew?

In another thread I read about a ship where a lot of passengers got sick, but a lot of crew as well in 15-18 ft waves.

Does crew get used to the motions of a ship after spending years on them? 15-18ft is not that unusual is it? On my very first cruise we enountered 10ft, and that did lead to a lot of empty chairs in MDR but at least all familiar crew were there. Would hiring agencies check if potential crew members are prone to seasickness?

In my case I've certainly gotten much more used to movement and haven't been seasick in years. However, if the seas are bad enough, it can still happen, I'm sure, even to crew who spend most of the year on board.

My first cruise, way back in 1974, I was very sick the first couple of days; older ship, our cabin was right in the prow. Didn't get sick again except on the ferry from Cozumel to the mainland once for many years. Had a slight case during an Alaskan cruise where seas were very high--the area where you are in the Pacific briefly.

That was in 1994; I haven't had any problems since then, but no terrible seas either; have been fine on multiple small boat rides, even if choppy as well.

Going around the Horn in January so we will see!

If you think you might be getting seasick, put on your swimsuit and get in the pool. That will ease the swaying feeling.

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My answer is based on your thread title and not content'

I don't know about getting immune to sea sickness but usually on each cruise I go on I have 1 day (near the middle) where I feel sort of "off" which I attribute to sea sickness. Idk if this answers your question about immunity but I figured I'd share.

I don't believe there is any "immunity" to motion sickness. Typically, crew who experience sea sickness don't return after their first contract. Those who return didn't experience sea sickness the first time. Almost everyone feels sea sick in some form of weather, the worst I've felt was in only 6 foot seas and 15 knot winds, but then again, we were in inflatable liferafts off the coast of Nova Scotia in March for survival training.

If you think you might be getting seasick, put on your swimsuit and get in the pool. That will ease the swaying feeling.

Ken M! Nice to meet you here! :D

I don't believe there is any "immunity" to motion sickness. Typically, crew who experience sea sickness don't return after their first contract. Those who return didn't experience sea sickness the first time. Almost everyone feels sea sick in some form of weather, the worst I've felt was in only 6 foot seas and 15 knot winds, but then again, we were in inflatable liferafts off the coast of Nova Scotia in March for survival training.

That's a bit different from a 3000 pax ship :) While total immunity may not be achieved, I can imagine that after 30 years people can handle more than someone who's never been on a ship?

That's a bit different from a 3000 pax ship :) While total immunity may not be achieved, I can imagine that after 30 years people can handle more than someone who's never been on a ship?

You may be able to suppress your nausea better after years at sea, but if you are susceptible, you will always be susceptible. But I'm not a doctor, and don't play one on TV.

I don't think there's any such thing as immunity from seasickness. Just degrees of susceptibility to it. Some people just never get seasick, no matter how heavy the seas. Oh, how I envy them. Others only get sick in really bad seas. And then there are people like me that get queasy with the slightest rolling. Even after years of cruising. Thank God for Bonine, or I'd never leave solid ground.

DH sailed in naval vessels for almost 25 years (mostly destroyers). If the weather was rough right at the start of a cruise, he'd feel sick for a couple of days before he got his sea legs back. ( I remember his very first trip - he was thankful that he was aircrew. He'd bring along a box lunch to eat in the helo, knowing he'd be able to keep it down while airborne). But if the rough weather occurred later in the cruise, he was OK. He might get queasy, but wouldn't need to know the location of the nearest bucket at all times.

I got to be immune to motion sickness. Having been in the Navy. Then lived on my own 40 footer for seven years. And umpty squat number of cruises later. But, if someone is calling Ralph within earshot, or the unmistakeable scent, I join right in. Have always been a joiner.

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I felt terrible on my first Midshipman's cruise - then, once on my first assignment when we hit really heavy weather. After that, just once when bobbing about in a landing craft in choppy seas sniffing diesel exhaust. Most sailors I knew had problems on their first or second rough sea day - but virtually all overcame it. I suspect attitude plays some part -.when they know they are in for their two (reserve) or six (regular) year hitch, they know they have to "get used to it" -- and most of them just do.

Attitude does play a part.

Those who worry about becoming seasick are much more likely to than those who don't. ;)

Attitude does play a part.

 

Those who worry about becoming seasick are much more likely to than those who don't. ;)

So do you have a study to share about this, or is it your opinion? For me, personally, it's not attitude. It's not worry. It's real. I

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So do you have a study to share about this, or is it your opinion? For me, personally, it's not attitude. It's not worry. It's real. I

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No study to support ... just what I've observed on cruise ships and boating off the coast of SC.

So do you have a study to share about this, or is it your opinion? For me, personally, it's not attitude. It's not worry. It's real. I

 

 

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The undeniable fact that many U S Navy sailors who experienced seasickness on their first one, two or three times in rough seas became able to deal with it demonstrates that having had experience enabled them to overcome it. That means attitude or lack of worry - because if seasickness were purely an automatic response to ships motion, they would experience it every time they went to sea.

Experience cures seasickness in most cases.

D.W got seasick for the first time on her 18th cruise.

In not to bad sea's. :confused:

Go figure.

Over the years I have gotten more used to rough seas the more we sail and also have a good sense when I should take medication to prevent sea sickness.

Keith

Admiral Nelson suffered from seasickness but that was part of his job. He was cured eventually but the cure was somewhat drastic :eek:

I got to be immune to motion sickness. Having been in the Navy. Then lived on my own 40 footer for seven years. And umpty squat number of cruises later. But, if someone is calling Ralph within earshot, or the unmistakeable scent, I join right in. Have always been a joiner.

 

 

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I am very lucky not to get seasick (apparently the way my ears, eyes and stomach are wired up together?) but I'm a joiner as well. I stay as far away as I can from anyone who looks uneasy. That's also why I usually carry crystallised ginger with me on small boat excursions, and dole it out liberally to the green-faced ones if they want it.

We have been fortunate that never of us have ever gotten sea sick. And we have sailed in really rough waters at times. Have never taken any kind of medications for sea sickness.

Crew -- we had a captain on a HAL ship many years ago who was always sea sick. Can't remember his name.

Even the most hardened sailor can get seasick if the conditions are right!

Anecdotal evidence only, but I used to get terrible motion sickness as a child - I had to sit in a seat where I could see out the windshield in a car, and I threw up on every plane flight I went on. Even on the school bus, I always sat right up front, staring straight ahead.

Gradually, as I aged, it all just drifted away. I went on my first cruise in the 90s and I have never once had a bout of seasickness - even in particularly rough waters headed to Alaska, while my cabin mate was camping over the commode. Nowadays I can even read in the passenger seat of a car - I frequently will read aloud to my husband as he drives - and there's nary a sign of nausea or discomfort.

Maybe I just outgrew my motion-sickness. Maybe I did grow some "immunity" or the like. Who knows - I did have a tumor removed from my acoustic nerve a few years back that the surgeons said had probably been there for 20-30 years. Perhaps that mass growing and pressing on the vestibulocochlear nerve sheath for so many years acted as a remedy for me. Even after having the tumor removed, though, I still am resistant to standard motion sickness. I haven't been in major swells since, though, so no reports there.

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38 cruises, plus a Pacific crossing on a cargo ship in horrendous weather, no discomfort whatsoever. In fact, I love the motion.

Although I know it is a genuine thing, I also believe the power of suggestion can play a part. We were on a harbor cruise, fine weather, everyone aboard happy and smiling. As soon as the commentator announced that seasickness meds were available if needed, dozens of passengers stopped smiling, turned pale, and made a rush for the meds.

I see the same thing on cruises. If the captain so much as announces that we could hit some weather, great numbers take to their beds.

Sad, when I think how many people pay big bucks to go to theme parks to be swung upside down, dropped, and spun around.

I had a sailor that worked for me on the carrier Eisenhower and I had to send him to his bed whenever we took anything more than a 2 degree roll. I got my sea legs early on by sailing on an LST (a shallow draft landing craft) and in many small boats doing practice beach assaults. If the seas are really rough I might feel it in my inner ear but won't need to pay tribute to Davy Jones. On my last ship (a Knox class frigate) many of my shipmates got sick when it got rough and they couldn't understand why I didn't. Our first cruise was on NCL Dream and the Gulf of Maine was fairly rough and many people looked like it wasn't agreeing with them, including DW.

I was in the engine ion on the carrier USS Nimitz. We rarely felt motion down on the bottom decks. Whenever we had a 'newbie' in a group chat situation, we would all start swaying in unison. Just a given thing. Usually, it became a 'sick' initiation. So, yes, a lot of it is in the head.

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