Royal Heartburn

[goldfish65]

All joking aside, is there anything I can take to prevent it?

I was talking to my friend about his cruise on Royal, asking how he liked it, and he mentioned he had heartburn the whole cruise. And I realized that has happened to me on every cruise (Royal is the only cruise line I have been on.) In everyday life, I eat whatever I want and never have a problem, so I have no idea what to take for heartburn relief or to prevent it.  

I enjoy the food on the ship, but I don't go crazy eating everything in sight. 

Do others suffer similarly? If so, has anything worked for you? Thanks for any help. 

[firefly333]

Anti acid tablets over the counter. I saw tums in someones packing list.

[The Fun Researcher]

Sounds impossible, but don’t eat so much.

[Peewee14]

This is really interesting, I very rarely get heartburn, but the last cruise I was on in June I had it nearly every day .  I didn't eat lots , yes had a few drinks but nothing excessive. 

 

the one thing I did do differently was rather than buying bottled water I took my refillable jug and drank a lot of the ships tap water. I wonder if its something to do with that.

[ZoeyVictoria]

This is strange. My SO also has had heartburn on three Royal cruises, though never at home or on other cruiselines. 

[lovesthebeach2]

I used to get bad heartburn from the food, and I’m not a big eater or drinker. We eat very healthy at home, so I guess I wasn’t used to the salty, greasy, garlicky food on the ship.

So I’ve changed the way I eat on the ship now to be like how I eat at home and have no more issues.  I noticed since we’ve started eating more in the WJ, it’s much better because there’s so many more choices that are a bit healthier. When I eat in MDR I always say no gravies, I choose nothing with garlic or ask for none, I ask for plain veggies, salads without dressing, etc. it’s stopped all heartburn completely.

[WELDON]

A few causes could be eating fatty/greasy foods, consuming more alcohol than usual or eating late at night.  Elevating your head when you sleep may be helpful.

[TeeRick]

Eat less particularly before bedtime.  

Bring a box of an OTC acid reducer (like Nexium) and take one every day,  This might work better than just a typical antacid like Tums or Rolaids.

[BecciBoo]

I always carry Tums sugar free.  It takes a couple days for the OTCs to start working so you have to begin a few days early with Nexium and Prilosec.  If I do get it it's always when I go to sleep, but Tums does the trick for me.  Ordinarily I don't have any heartburn because we eat mostly meats.  But we allow ourselves anything on board as a treat. Carbs are the culprit, we have found.  Since eliminating carbs we never have it anymore.  And we eat plenty of fat too. Not arguing just telling you what we experience.

Edited August 11 by BecciBoo

[cruisegirl1]

I've been told alcohol, especially at night,  can be a trigger.  Use those free drinks for water.  😀

M

Edited August 11 by cruisegirl1

[Peewee14]

10 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

I always carry Tums sugar free.  It takes a couple days for the OTCs to start working so you have to begin a few days early with Nexium and Prilosec.  If I do get it it's always when I go to sleep, but Tums does the trick for me.  Ordinarily I don't have any heartburn because we eat mostly meats.  But we allow ourselves anything on board as a treat. Carbs are the culprit, we have found.  Since eliminating carbs we never have it anymore.  And we eat plenty of fat too. Not arguing just telling you what we experience.

Thats interesting , i dont eat many carbs at home but do eat more on the ship, and thinking about it I usually have a slice of pizza or two late at night..  we have 3 weeks on serenade coming up so going to try and really think about what and when I eat.

[Sunshine3601]

My DH takes prilosec on a regular basis at home and at sea but still needs an occasional tums.

I seem to only need tums on cruises due to food and alcohol consumption. 

Sure do love their French onion soup, escargot and late night pizza which are all culprits.

[BirdTravels]

No heartburn experiences, but my late night pizza (we go to Sorento's nightly) sometimes doesn’t sit well the next morning… but it is soooo good after a night of drinking. 

[loman]

Tums for the tummy worked for me .

Had to wait for a port stop to get some.

Its on my packing list now.

[firefly333]

I think it's just eating more fresh fruit than I'm used to. Could be different for different people. 

[PhillyFan33579]

As others have stated the key is to watch what you eat and drink on the ship. If you never get heartburn at home, eat the same way on the ship. I know you said you eat whatever you want at home, but my guess is you are eating differently on the ship. Other posters have suggested OTC medication like Tums, but my approach would be alter what you eat/drink to avoid getting heartburn, instead of medicating to reduce symptoms associated with heartburn. 

[Tatka]

10 hours ago, goldfish65 said:

All joking aside, is there anything I can take to prevent it?

I was talking to my friend about his cruise on Royal, asking how he liked it, and he mentioned he had heartburn the whole cruise. And I realized that has happened to me on every cruise (Royal is the only cruise line I have been on.) In everyday life, I eat whatever I want and never have a problem, so I have no idea what to take for heartburn relief or to prevent it.  

I enjoy the food on the ship, but I don't go crazy eating everything in sight. 

Do others suffer similarly? If so, has anything worked for you? Thanks for any help. 

 

I had it on several cruises. Now I always carry Omeprazole.

 

https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health-omeprazole-delayed-release-acid-reducer-disintegrating-tablets-prodid-1970094?skuId=254978&cgaa=QWxsb3dHb29nbGVUb0FjY2Vzc0NWU1BhZ2Vz&cid=ps_dh_pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwuG1BhCnARIsAFWBUC2accUW4273NERFAmONKTOvRBLAHcjAQ-KuYMn561lJGZsRvTtb9ZMaAqJ9EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Sold in every pharmacy. Don't count on ship's stores.

Tums did not work for me, so my doctor prescribed omeprazole and then I just started buying it as it is sold OTC.

Edited August 11 by Tatka

[karena1]

I take Rolaids for my husband but also take baking soda.  the food on the ship is way saltier than I cook at home, so once in a while he will get heartburn.  The baking soda usually does the trick.

 

[pcur]

OTC Prilosec is the same strength as my Rx. Acidic tummies run in my family.

 

Tums is one-off. Prilosec you keep in your system, so you are PROactive about the problem, not REactive.

 

Before 1st meal of the day, and at bedtime.

[smokeybandit]

I do tend to get heartburn on cruises, but then I look at what I eat and drink and the reason is obvious.

[pcur]

My "problem" is I feel EXTREMELY hungry instead of the usual heartburn. (Lower in the tummy rather than up by the esophagus.)

 

Well, with unlimited food and constant extreme hunger..........one needs an Rx acid reducer for sure!! 

[Jetdriver787]

Unlike at home, the bed can be something of a “tilt table” depending on the weather and the “motion of the Ocean.”  Might be helpful to sleep with more pillows (if possible)?

[Jetdriver787]

….that and not checking your onboard account just before bedtime! 

[orville99]

Heartburn on every cruise, but rarely ever at home. Three or four possible causes:

1) We eat a lot of foods on cruises that we rarely eat at home;

2) They seem to use red and green bell peppers in everything, and we would never even have those in our kitchen, let alone in our food;

3) Lately it seems like everything they serve is either fried or swimming in grease;

4) They over/under use spices depending on the nationality of the current chef, so food is rarely served the same way from cruise to cruise; and

5) Their beds are crap - we have to get extra pillows to prop the head end of the bed so we can sleep a bit elevated.

[dappledumpling]

I agree with taking a PPI (nexium, omeprazole or protronix) once daily to prevent during the cruise but just short term.. Another alternative would be a H2 antagonist like pepcid (famotidine) 

 

For the immediate relief tums  rolaids etc work well although can cause gas. At bedtime I prefer gaviscon as It is a superior product if lieing down. (real good for that alcohol induced night time heartburn)