Yet another seasickness question

[horatio123]

First time cruiser, Western Caribbean later this month.  Kind of psyched up about being ill although do not have any history of motion sickness.  Find as I am a bit older :-), mid sixties, more sensitive to movement.  For example, the open ski lift to a wedding in the fall nearly did me in but I did not physically get sick. Maybe different kind of movement.  So I am researching relief bands now....a cruise agent I know needs one all the time.  Everyone says that you need to prepare for things before hand. Have read all the tips on Bonine, ginger....online yesterday.  If you read too much of that stuff, you come away even feeling nauseated. Anyone here use a relief band?  I hear sea bands do not work that well?  If this is a mind over matter thing, I need to get ahead.  Just call me crazy.

[Essiesmom]

We use the simple sea bands you can get in any pharmacy.  They work for us.  We are not prone to seasickness, though.  When I become woozy it is usually because I am sitting where I face the side of the ship.  If I move my position 90 degrees, I am fine.  We discovered this on our first cruise in 1999.  We had a cabin with the heads of the beds under the window.  We found we couldn't sit on our beds and read.  So we would leave the cabin and go to another area of the ship.  Cabins today have more flexibility, though.  EM

[jocap]

My husband is fine on a roller coaster, but feels sick on anything going round and round... at sea he's fine, except for the ship going in one direction and big waves hitting between aft and the side- just that angle, and usually in rough weather. He takes a pill, lies down and is fine as soon as the waves ease or the ship slightly changes direction. The only other time was a rough ride on a catamaran at St Martins island, and that upset him for a couple of days, even though the ship was sailing in calm seas.

This is fairly rare for him, though- probably four or five times out of many days at sea, including crossing the Atlantic several times.

Have a word with your doctor about suitable pills to take with you, just in case.

[Sauer-kraut]

seabands work, green apples work, ginger works...... don't stress about the seasickness you might not feel a thing!

[D&L Thomas]

The show Mythbusters tested all the seasickness remedies

and candied ginger worked the best, even better than Bonine or the patches.

[SRF]

What works depends on the person.  Saying one thing works better for everyone is unlikely to be true.

 

And part of it could be mental.

 

My Mother "always" had problems with motion sickness.  She took Bonine even for airline flights.  This went on for years.  Until one long flight (10 hours), when she got to the destination, she found she had never taken her pills.  She never had an issue after this.

[horatio123]

You guys have all been so nice to answer as this is addressed so many times on this site.  For me I do think it is a mental thing as I can count on my hand how many times I  have even thrown up yet can talk myself into feeling it often enough. I am kind of nuts 😉  that way.  so I thought if I went big..relief band, recommended by agent, I would erase possible paranoias and just go on with enjoying my trip.  

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, SRF said:

What works depends on the person.  Saying one thing works better for everyone is unlikely to be true.

 

And part of it could be mental.

 

My Mother "always" had problems with motion sickness.  She took Bonine even for airline flights.  This went on for years.  Until one long flight (10 hours), when she got to the destination, she found she had never taken her pills.  She never had an issue after this.

Placebos are an excellent treatment for some people.  People also confuse the nausea that comes with travel constipation with motion sickness. 

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, horatio123 said:

You guys have all been so nice to answer as this is addressed so many times on this site.  For me I do think it is a mental thing as I can count on my hand how many times I  have even thrown up yet can talk myself into feeling it often enough. I am kind of nuts 😉  that way.  so I thought if I went big..relief band, recommended by agent, I would erase possible paranoias and just go on with enjoying my trip.  

Here is a way you can test....find a water park with those wave pools that you float on with a donut floaty.  I can drift for hours on the lazy river but can't do more than a minute in a wave pool.

[lenquixote66]

I normally take non drowsy Bonine but I fall asleep.A travel agent whom I know suggested taking 2 ginger capsules for 3 days prior to the cruise and the first 3 days of the cruise.

When I cruised 2 months ago it worked great .

[CoW mAn]

People who say to prepare in advance are probably thinking about how remedies are more expensive on the ship than on land but there are some natural free things that can help but honestly don't let it get you too worried. Here's a video of me balancing a penny on it's side when a ship was at cruising speed (also talking about some simple free remedies) to show how stable the ships are
 

 

[SRF]

Stability is not the point.

 

My Dad tells of my mother.  He had her on board his carrier for dinner, tied to the dock.

 

Partway through the meal, she stated that the ship was moving.  She could feel it.  He assured her it was not moving.  She insisted it was.

 

A day or so later, he stood on the dock and watched.  And it did move.  About 2 feet up and down, on about a 10 minute period.  

 

She could feel that small motion.

[Herfnerd]

I'm extremely prone to motion sickness and sea/relief bands did squat for me.  Meclizine HCL works wonders for me.

[cb at sea]

I've never had motion sickness, so I don't know if that matters.  Our very 1st cruise was so rough (and rainy and cloudy, boo hoo) that it was difficult walking up and down the stairs....you would go to take a step, and the ship would bottom out or rise up...so, we decided to stay "tipsy"...and everything was hunky-dory!  Couldn't tell if it was the tipsy or the ship contributing to our inability to walk correctly!  At any rate, neither of us were seasick.

 

Bonine/dramamine/meclazine, etc....are all good things if you need them.  Some cruises are pretty smooth.  Others are not.  There is no way to tell in advance.  The ship has meds they will give you if you need them and don't bring your own.

[alj1208]

I am prone to seasickness. The cabin makes a difference. Mid-ship is better. Bonine works well. I hear the transderm patch is better for serious motion. I have brought the patch with me on cruises just in case but didn’t need it. I felt better knowing I had it, although you are supposed to put it on before you get on the ship. You might consider asking your doctor for anxiety medicine, if fear of sickness is what’s bothering you. 

[CoW mAn]

On 2/5/2019 at 5:10 AM, SRF said:

Stability is not the point.

 

Fair enough.

 

It makes a huge difference to my friend, the only person I know who gets seasickness. In calm waters on a cruise he's totally fine but in rough seas or on a tender he's done.

[awestover89]

The bands never worked for me. I use original dramamine and it works great, I don't even get drowsy. My husband however will pretty much fall asleep standing up if he takes Dramamine, so we've tried a bunch of different things. 

 

The bands didn't work, the patches did but he couldn't smell or taste anything while wearing them (really weird side effect). Our last cruise he used Motioneaze (https://amzn.to/2WZvitJ), which is sort of like essential oils you dab behind your ears. I was sure it wouldn't work at all, but he only got queasy once, and a ginger ale with some candied ginger was enough to get his stomach back under control. 

[Jane Fornero]

I'm getting seasick sitting in my office chair reading these posts 😞  What hope have I got of not being seasick when we go on our cruise!

[Elaine5715]

On 2/12/2019 at 4:28 PM, awestover89 said:

The bands never worked for me. I use original dramamine and it works great, I don't even get drowsy. My husband however will pretty much fall asleep standing up if he takes Dramamine, so we've tried a bunch of different things. 

 

The bands didn't work, the patches did but he couldn't smell or taste anything while wearing them (really weird side effect). Our last cruise he used Motioneaze (https://amzn.to/2WZvitJ), which is sort of like essential oils you dab behind your ears. I was sure it wouldn't work at all, but he only got queasy once, and a ginger ale with some candied ginger was enough to get his stomach back under control. 

People touch the patches with their fingers and then touch other parts of their faces affecting taste, smell and even vision.

[Elaine5715]

On 3/19/2019 at 5:09 AM, Jane Fornero said:

I'm getting seasick sitting in my office chair reading these posts 😞  What hope have I got of not being seasick when we go on our cruise!

I get seasick on floaties in pools.  I take Bonine 2x a day onboard and am fine.  The patches were most effective but I am allergic to them.  The Bonine can make me drowsy if I am not up and about.  Most times ships (in the Caribbean, at least) don't have much motion.

[ger_77]

On 2/5/2019 at 7:10 AM, SRF said:

Stability is not the point.

My Dad tells of my mother.  He had her on board his carrier for dinner, tied to the dock.

Partway through the meal, she stated that the ship was moving.  She could feel it.  He assured her it was not moving.  She insisted it was.

A day or so later, he stood on the dock and watched.  And it did move.  About 2 feet up and down, on about a 10 minute period.  

She could feel that small motion.

Some people are hyper-sensitive to motion, and like your mom, I'm one of them.  When we were in Japan visiting our son, about 2 minutes before the earthquake sensors on our phones went off, I felt nauseous, just like I was about to be car-sick.   Over the course of a couple of weeks, we experienced over a dozen small quakes, and I had the same feeling each time.  Our son said he had the same thing happen to him, and he'd been living there for more than 5 years. He started carrying candied ginger to chew on and it kept him feeling better.

 

I take Bonine (or the generic meclizine) beginning the night before we leave home, and continue it until we return.  That way I know I'll be comfortable on whatever mode of transportation we take.

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂 🙂🙂

[olemissreb]

On my first cruise, I got a little bit queasy one day and took some Dramamine which knocked me out. I didn't want to sleep through my cruise, so I got the Sea Bands and they worked great. I take them with me when I cruise, but now I also start taking Bonine (yep it too knocks me out) 2-3 nights before a cruise so that it's in my system. Taking it at night helps me to sleep better too - especially those last couple days before cruising when the excitement takes over.

[sydbarrett]

I get motion sickness from most everything, including scrolling through Instagram for too long!! Deep sea fishing on a foggy day left me hanging over the side of the boat the entire day, but the same trip on a sunny day where I could see the horizon was fine. I was sick on a rough Caribbean cruise in January and used sea bands which worked amazingly (probably placebo but who cares!). I did a med cruise late May on the Epic and didn't have a minute of sickness. This time (Caribbean, March) I plan to bring sea bands and ginger pills (my hangover cure lol) and perhaps get a prescription for something else just in case. There are so many factors that can contribute to seasickness, it is best to plan ahead (bring a few remedies with you) and not think about it as much as possible, or you will give yourself seasickness. I really recommend the bands and ginger.