Seasickness & Cabin Location - Carnival Pride

[DT-Cruiser]

I need help selecting my cabin location on Carnival Pride next April. This will be my first cruise and I'm a little worried about seasickness. Should I look for a cabin on a high or low deck and should it be aft, mid, or front?

 

Thanks.

[bbwex]

This is a large topic, and some background information will really help you before we get to remedies.

 

First of all, most people don't get seasick, and if you do, it almost always passes in a day, once you get your sea legs. Yes, I know, there are some people (a very small number) who seem to take several days to get over it.

 

Seasickness is primarily caused by a conflict between the eyes (if they are not seeing the motion) and the inner ear which detect the motion. So, prevention is somewhat easy -- stay someplace where you can see the motion until you get your sea legs. Staying out on deck and watching the horizon is the cure, and the fresh air will help as well. If you are inside, stay near a window so you can see the horizon. If you are not feeling well, do not go inside and lose sight of the seas. The other thing is to eat normally. While this seems counter-intuitive, an empty stomach is not the answer. Keep away from greasy foods and don't overeat, but eat normal meals at normal times.

 

As for the remedies:

 

Ginger is clinically proven to dramatically reduce or prevent all motion sickness. You can take ginger pills (available in any drug store), eat candied ginger or ginger snaps, or drink real ginger ale (though you might need a lot). This is a natural remedy obviously, but clinically proven to work. Start taking or eating it before you get on the ship, but you do not need more than a few hours' time for it to get into your system.

 

Some people swear by the seabands, others notice no effect whatsoever. Again, no medications, but not always effective.

 

Bonine and dramamine are OTC medications available everywhere. They will work for most people who get seasick. They should be started before getting on the ship. Ships also dispense generic forms of these pills.

 

For cases of severe seasickness where nothing else has worked, there is the patch. The most common side-effect is dry mouth, but there can be some serious side-effects as mentioned and including hallucinations. If you know you are going to get seasick, and you have tried other medications without success, and your doctor recommends it, get the prescription filled in advance and try it for a week on dry land first -- you don't want to start hallucinating as you walk along the rail while you are at sea.

 

Cabin Selection

 

To minimize the ship's pitching (bow and stern going up and down) you are better off in an amidship cabin -- ideal is half-way between the bow and the stern. Look at the ship as a large seesaw -- the ends move more than the center, which hardly moves at all. As for rolling from side-to-side, you would want to be in the center measuring from side-to-side, but that would put you in an inside cabin, which violates everything we have said above, so that is not suitable.

 

They used to say that you should find a cabin on the lowest possible deck, but that was in the old days with ships with modest superstructures. Modern cruise ships with their massive superstructures move the Center of Motion upwards. So the ideal deck is likely a deck or so above the main deck -- first deck with either a promenade or balcony cabins.

 

Overall

 

Perhaps most of all, don't worry yourself into it. If you don't get motion sick in other situations, you are likely to be fine or will be fine after a few hours. While cruise ships do move in the seas, and rough seas can cause a lot of motion, bear in mind that they are not anything like small pleasure craft that bob and bounce along all the time. Motion on a cruise ship tends to be much, much slower and less dramatic. If it were a really common problem, you wouldn't see so many cruise ships out there. For most passengers, the gentle motion is calming. Cruise lines try to avoid rough seas when they can, though that is not always possible, and the seas are not always coming from the right direction (Mother Nature can be soooo finicky). For the most part, though, relax and enjoy. Odds are that you are going to be just fine, and the initial prevention suggestions should be enough by themselves.

[cb at sea]

Midships and a middle deck is what you want. Do realize that you'll only be in that space at night...the rest of the time you'll be out and about....top decks...either end of the ship...

If you think you'll have motion sicknesss, bring a medication...Bonine is a good one.

[cop704lasvegas]

Go to your pharmacy and ask them to order you chewable Meclazine HcL. This is the generic form of Bonine. However, it is chewable and cherry flavored and get's into your system much quicker. Rugby is a popular brand and it is very inexpensive. Maybe $9 for 100 pills.

 

Get 25 mg. I would dissolve one under your tongue. Give yourself 30 minutes and see if you feel better. If not take a second and chew it and swallow it.

 

It is extremely important that if you think you may get sea sick, start taking the pills at least 24 hours before boarding the ship. As someone has said, in a day or two, you will have your sea legs and get over it.

 

However, I can tell you the primary reason they don't allow guns aboard ships is because people who have full blown sea sickness would shoot themselves.

 

Also consider buying a piece of Ginger Root. Carry it on board in a plastic bag. If you need to settle your stomach and get rid of the motion sickness, get some hot water and steep some shavings from the ginger root. This will make a nice ginger tea. Drink it down. It is the most efficient way to get a good dose of ginger in you that will actually have a chance to do some good.

 

As was also mentioned, motion sickness is caused by conflicting signals between your inner ear, and what your eyes are seeing. If you are inside a cabin with no windows, and your eyes have no reference point, but your inner ear senses motion, you may get sea sick. So get on deck and look at the horizon, or look at the island. Looking at something immobile allows your eyes to get in sync with what your inner ear is telling your brain. Your brain still can tell you are moving via your inner ear, but your vision fixed on an immovable object, not on the ship, tells your brain which end is up, and gives your brain a point of reference.

 

Do you get car sick? If yes, it is only when someone else is driving, right? I have never heard of anyone driving and saying that they made themselves car sick. That's because when you are in control of the car your head anticipates the next move you are going to make. If it's a turn, or slowing down, or speeding up. You actually orient your head to keep your inner ear in sync with what you are going to do. Your poor passenger however, just decided to look left as you turned right, and his brain got conflicting signals, so he simply puked all over your back seat.

 

Patches are extremely effective, however, they really do make you extremely dry. I mean dry all the way down into your bronchioles. As soon as you feel the sea sickness has passed take the patch off. You will have enough medicine in your system to carry you through to a point where you get your sea legs.

 

As always check with your doctor and pharmacist to make sure you have no conditions that would contraindicate the use of these medications and that there are no drug interactions with other meds you are taking.

 

Happy Sailing,

 

Doc from Las Vegas

 

No I'm not a medical doctor, I have a Ph.D. in psychology

[Dayenu]

Divide the ship in 3 parts length-wise. You want to be in the middle.

 

Divide the height of the ship in 2 parts - you want to be in the lower part.

 

You better have a window (or a porthole) if you can afford to pay. And don't go for "guarantee" - they can put you anywhere, in any undesirable part of the ship.

[DT-Cruiser]

Thanks for all of the information.......:D

[bluehenfan]

I know how you feel. Seasickness is the worst feeling in the world. I get it if I even float around on a raft in our pool. I went on the Cape May to Lewes DE ferry once. It was packed with people having fun and I spent the whole time hanging over the rail praying it would just end so I wouldn't throw up anymore. I was really nervous on 1st cruise. I tried the patch behind the ear but ended up with eye problems and slept through most of the cruise. Then I found bonine. It's chewable raspberry flavored and you only take one pill a day. I take one just to be safe an hour before I board a ship for the 1st time. I have been on the Pride 4 or 5xs . I am sitting here looking at box of bonine from my last Pride cruise. Only 2 pills are missing. Once I take that initial dose I only take a dose on days seas are rough. You really don't feel a lot of motion under normal circumstances . The pills cost about $3.50 a box for 16 pills. Trust me, you won't need all 16.I usually end up throwing most of the box out when it's becomes outdated before using more than a couple. I get mine at Walmarts or any drugstore. Like all over-the-counter drugs, be sure to read the information on the box before taking any. Also, I have had cabins in several different areas of the Pride. Other than vibration I felt when sitting towards the back of the dining room I never felt a lot of motion on this ship. Last cruise on her I took the 1 pill before boarding and 1 later in the week when we hit a storm and motion woke me up in the middle of the night. I wasn't feeling sick or anything, but took a bonine just in case. Went back to sleep and next morning ocean was calm again and I was fine. I love the Pride and wish you a memorable trip.

[Desmond61]

Go to your pharmacy and ask them to order you chewable Meclazine HcL.

[cop704lasvegas]

I forgot that another side effect of using Scopolamine patches for more than a day is that it will affect your eyesight, so don't think you are going blind. It is not unusual to have blurred vision.

 

Scopolamine is extremely effective, but as soon as the sea sickness passes I truly think you are better off taking the patch off. You have no idea how dry they can make you. Your mouth will feel as if you have no moisture inside.

 

I will give you a bit of a hint however. If you ever come down with the stomach flu, Scopolamine patches will stop the nausea and vomiting. You'll still be sick, but you will feel 100% better when you are not nauseated.

 

I found this out about 15 years ago when I had the stomach flu, and I remarked to my wife that the only time I had ever felt like this was when I was sea sick. That got me thinking, and I got in my travel kit and put on a patch. Sure enough about 45 minutes later I felt as if I had been magically cured.

 

Now I understand that they are actually using patches to control vomiting when you have the flu.

 

Doc from Las Vegas

[NCTribeFan]

What I noticed on Miracle (a sister ship) on my first cruise on her, was the noticeable side-to-side movement. It was like the second hand on a clock "ticking" from 10 to 11 to 12 to 1 to 2 then back.

 

I don't know if that if because these ships are longer and narrower than many out today (they're panamax ships so they can go through the canal).

 

I had my first balcony on that cruise, and was on Verandah, so was higher and a little more forward than I usually book.

 

These ships are a very different layout from most of Carnival's, which are pretty much just variations on the same shoe-box design that they've had to 30 years. Those ships have several passenger cabin decks, then the public decks.

 

The Spirit-class has only the lowest deck as a passenger deck, then two decks of public space, then more passenger decks.

 

Definitely, lower and midship is the best area to be regarding motion.

 

If you want the fresh air, this ship has some great cabins that have french doors that open but no balcony. The lifeboats will obstruct the view, but they're a great deal. If you go for a balcony, still get one as low and midship as possible IF you're prone to motion sickness.

 

If you're prone to motion sickness. then you're more likely to be prone to seasickness. I used to get queasy no matter how flat the sea seemed to be.

 

Then I started taking Ginger Root capsules. I start a couple of days before I sail and take one am and pm. When I board, I then take 1/2 meclizine just to be safe. If I find I'm not having any problems, I stop the meclizine altogether and just take the ginger root.

 

Since I started the ginger root, I'm thrilled to say that the only day I've had even a little bit of problem was one day on my 2nd Miracle cruise when the captain took us around the west side of Cuba rather than the east to avoid a storm. I had only my 2nd balcony cabin and I was glad I did as I spent most of the day out there, huddled in my bathrobe, under the overhang (aft balcony M4230). The dining room was nearly empty that night, but I managed to eat! ;)

 

Anyway, don't worry too much about being seasick if you are NOT prone to motion sickness. Just because you're at sea doesnt' mean you'll be sick!

 

For your peace of mind, though, book as low and midship as possible and try the ginger root!

[Xmansmom]

I get seasick on our fishing boat and have gotten quessy on the Cap May ferry but out of 4 cruises I have only been sick on one. That one there was a hurricane that we skirted around and half the crew was sick as well. Except for that I have never had a problem on a cruise ship, even when I was pregnate.