Anyone Ever Experienced Seasickness on a River Cruise?

[sippican]

I have an acquaintance who is very interested in cruising the Seine with our group next year. She is prone to seasickness and is hesitant to book fearing she'll be miserable, I've never heard of anyone feeling ill from motion on a river cruise, Although I've sailed on a river cruise and don't recall feeling any motion whatsoever, I'm a poor judge because I've ridden out some pretty rough ocean waters with no queasiness. 

Has anyone been affected by motion sickness on a river cruise?

 

[reeves35]

I do not get seasick so no, but in the first couple of days I did find it kind of weird with the scene moving outside the windows with no sensation of moving onboard.  It kind of made me momentarily dizzy.  I found this most when sitting near the window in the dining room which is basically at water level onboard the Travelmarvel ships.  The sensation passed after a day or so.  

Edited December 12, 2023 by reeves35

[Gourmet Gal]

Never for me on a river cruise and I do get motion sickness of ocean-going vessels.

[sharkster77]

A friend who cruised a while ago sat at dinner one night and a tablemate asked the waiter what time they would leave port.  The waiter replied that they had started sailing 20 minutes ago! When we sailed in 2019, very often we would not realize we were moving unless we looked out the windows.  

 

Also you can see both riverbanks at all times.  At the safety drill we were told that if the ship were to sink, just go up to the top deck---the ship was taller than the river was deep.

 

I am susceptible to motion due to balance issues and I was not seasick for a single second during 8 days on the Rhine.

[Canal archive]

My father a Royal Navy man to the hilt always got seasick the first two days out he also could not watch the beginning credits of a now very old tv program called These Valiant Years, which featured a battleship fighting through huge waves - he got seasick then on dry land.

If you cruise the Seine with a company that moors in Honfluer then you do cruise the maritime stretch of the river but we never noticed any untoward movement.

[Host Jazzbeau]

11 hours ago, Canal archive said:

If you cruise the Seine with a company that moors in Honfluer then you do cruise the maritime stretch of the river but we never noticed any untoward movement.

We had a smooth sail on the part too, but I did notice that this was one river cruise where they took the Safety Drill more seriously.  [In the past we had the same joke about a barbecue on the top deck if the ship sinks that @sharkster77 mentioned!]

[Kristelle]

I am prone to sea sickness and am no good on boats, ferries etc on rough waters - but felt absolutely no motion sickness at all on our Europe river cruise, it is extremely smooth - to the point you sometimes wouldnt even realise you are moving.

[Roz]

I've never heard of seasickness on a river cruise.  Odd....

[CDNPolar]

Just to further confirm, we have a friend that would do a River over Ocean any day because she needs strong medication on any ocean voyage, but no medication on a River Cruise ever.  (And she has been on 10+ river cruises)

[Roz]

@sippican, if your friend gets that seasick on a riverboat,  could her physician premedicate her?

[Rebel54]

I suppose anything is possible.  I've known Navy people that got seasick standing on the pier so .... there's that.  However, I tend to get a little sick on small boats (snorkle or catamaran) and not a single issue with river boats.  I think it's rather unlikely.

 

Might be good to have some non-drowsy motion sickness meds or even an anti nausea stick to smell when feeling a bit off.  For me mint gum and the anti nausea sticks are awesome.

[Canal archive]

I’ve only ever felt the tiniest twinge of seasickness on a cross Chanel ferry when all around had succumbed a small snifter proved to be an adequate and completely acceptable cure.

[YoungDubFan]

I’ve done 3 river cruises (Rhine Basel to Amsterdam / Seine - RT to Paris including Normandy / Tulip Time in Netherlands & Belgium - which included sailing on some bigger waterways on the return to Amsterdam). On all 3, I’ve hardly ever felt any movement with sailing. As has been mentioned, I often wasn’t even aware when we would leave the docks. 

[JMMKUK]

SiL's husband got seasick on the Thames Clipper on the way back from Greenwich.

Went on a canal barge holiday & someone said she'd been seasick the first night. I think it was more likely the amount of booze we'd had in the pub.

Think it's possible if around an estuary but unlikely further up river.

Our Bordeaux cruise on Scenic Diamond wasn't rough even near the sea.

[Canal archive]

JMMKUK your most probably correct as all navigating on English canals is done from pub to pub to pub and repeat. Also we never had any problem on Scenic Diamond just a fantastic cruise.

[franski]

I am very sensitive to motion on a boat...  I did have some issues in Russia - but we were crossing Lake Ladoga, so not a river.  The feeling was short lived (the captain indicated it was a rough crossing, but not a bid distance to travel) - so I just took some meds & laid down.

 

I  have done the Seine twice - with Uniworld & Avalon - without any issues.

 

Fran

[jklc123]

I also had a little queasy feeling while on Lake Ladoga, during a thunderstorm. Certainly no issues on any other river cruise. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, jklc123 said:

I also had a little queasy feeling while on Lake Ladoga, during a thunderstorm. Certainly no issues on any other river cruise. 

Lake Ladoga is Europe's largest lake.  This is more like the biblical storm on the Sea of Galilee than a cruise on any river.

[pontac]

Mrs P refuses to take an ocean cruise because she fear sea-sickness, but never has had any issues on the river.

 

As @sharkster77said, you go from being moored to casting off and cruising along the river without a ripple in your wine glass and only a look though the window to tell you that you are moving.

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Lake Ladoga is Europe's largest lake.  This is more like the biblical storm on the Sea of Galilee than a cruise on any river.

Lakes in Europe can indeed be so big that they have their own microclimate, here meaning far more wind and movement of water than a river. Lake Constance has boats/ferries crossing it and has its own marker on the weather alert map. It can be really wavy on there...

 

Rivers do not do that, but ships can occasionally be affected by gusts of wind. No big deal.

 

Estuaries may be a bit different but you hardly sail them on a river cruise ship.

 

notamermaid

 

[Got2Cruise]

Tell your friend to get a cabin on the middle deck, in the middle. I think the lower level you can feel the wake or the vessel gets bumped around while docking or going thru the locks. Perfectly fine for most folks but if she’s very sensitive she might feel queasy. 

[worldtraveller99]

I get motion sickness very easily. I always bring along my Dramamine on river and ocean ships. During the day you will be out walking around anyway, and it doesn't hurt to take a Dramamine (or similar) at night - helps you sleep too.

 

Interestingly I took my pills on a Brittany Ferries overnight trip in the Channel, and while I did not feel nauseous, the movement was still disconcerting, so hard to sleep. Definitely not the case on the river, which is very calm.

[worldtraveller99]

We always travel on the top deck of river ships. When it docks, sometimes the lower decks are below the level of the dockside, so you are looking into a wall!