Going 7day Double Dip Oct 2008 I get motion sick! First cruise About This Page:

[poetic412]

Hey everyone,
I'm new to these boards and cruising. I get motion sick on occasion. Years ago I was the person who had to sit up front in the car, or just drive due to the motion. I recently flew to Ecuador and was fine on the way down but on the way back was SICK! Any tips for me, or should I just go on and change my itenerary!
I think motion sickness is mental at times, but I have sat on a deck on the water and gotten sick before.

How much are cases of water on the cruise? I will be staying in Disney at the Animal Kingdom Lodge club level 3 days prior, would it prove to get a cab stop somewhere and buy water or just buy a case on the boat?

I'm so excited about cruising and my next DW trip I can't stand it!

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[discruisin4ever]

I too, have been motion sick many times, and experience the same fear you are having. Have been on 3 disney cruises and never experienced a problem, even with some rough seas one evening. do go prepared with motion sick aids, Alot will depend on the weather at the time as to how calm the water is. The Disney ships are large and that helps, but there are no guarantees. good luck.

[SusanW]

Cases of water are $29. I about fell over when I read that!

[Figmentlvr427]

I get motion sickness virtually everywhere. I was so afraid to go on my first cruise, but for my husband I did. I was pregnant at the time and I was only nauseous 2 times on the ship. I went again 4 months later and wasn't pregnant and didn't get nauseous at all. Well the first night but that's because you are getting your 'sea legs'. I do carry with me at all times: my sea bands, ginger capsules that I start taking a few days before, dramimine (which I also start taking a few days before), I also bring ginger ale with me since they don't have it on board. I was fine last time. And if you get that sick feeling just sit out on the deck and watch the sea sail by. It helped when I did that. Go sit on the comfy chairs on deck 4. You'll be fine. Have a great time!!!

[poetic412]

Thanks for all the tips. I do find Ginger pills work well, I imagine I will be so excited just to be on a cruise I won't get sick!

[dmpyron]

I would strongly recommend both ginger (which Mythbusters tested and found to work well) and meclizine. You can get that in the form of either Bonine or Dramamine II (not original) or under the counter from your pharmacist. For the two of us, a box of 14 Bonine does the trick. But for what we pay for that we could get a bottle of 50 generic. Not that we've needed it. Long ago we found that a) ginger snaps and ginger ale work well enough on dive boats and 2) we just flat out don't get sea sick. I've been on a 38 foot boat in 8 foot confused seas with no problems. I had to stay away from the folks chucking breakfast overboard, but that applies to everyone, in my experience.

Mythbusters tested a number of products. Wristbands didn't work. A sublingual spray didn't work. Meclizine worked. Ginger worked. A placebo had mixed results, of all the failed products tested, it had the longest "no hurl" time.

[Marv]

Originally Posted by dmpyron

I would strongly recommend both ginger (which Mythbusters tested and found to work well) and meclizine. You can get that in the form of either Bonine or Dramamine II (not original) or under the counter from your pharmacist. For the two of us, a box of 14 Bonine does the trick. But for what we pay for that we could get a bottle of 50 generic. Not that we've needed it. Long ago we found that a) ginger snaps and ginger ale work well enough on dive boats and 2) we just flat out don't get sea sick. I've been on a 38 foot boat in 8 foot confused seas with no problems. I had to stay away from the folks chucking breakfast overboard, but that applies to everyone, in my experience.

Mythbusters tested a number of products. Wristbands didn't work. A sublingual spray didn't work. Meclizine worked. Ginger worked. A placebo had mixed results, of all the failed products tested, it had the longest "no hurl" time.

I missed that Mythbusters, thanks for the update!

Do I just get any kind of ginger pills, like from any store or do I need to watch out for anything? I'd like to try ginger, Bonine and Dramamine made me sick on my pre-cruise test of them.

[dmpyron]

Carol likes ginger candy and ginger snaps. I like ginger snaps and ginger ale (get some of the more "old timey" brands, more ginger). A ginger candy (it's a hard candy) every four hours or so, three or four ginger snaps every four hours or a can of ginger ale about four or five hours. If we're diving in the morning, we usually have some ginger just before heading out, which gives us about 30 minutes. If we're taking meclizine, we take it about an hour before boarding.

[modisney]

I used the Bonine patch when we cruised in March and it worked like a charm. I didn't need anything else. I followed the directions, appling the 1st one 4 hours before sailing and reapplied on the 3rd day (we cruised for 4 days). I didn't have any issues with motion sickness at all. I felt the motion of the ship and all but no motion sickness. We even had rough water the final night (8--13 foot swells) and wasn't bothered. I do have inner ear issues so I was concerned but the patch was a life saver for me. Enjoy your cruise and be proactive about motion sickeness instead of seeing how it goes once you're on board if you think you'll experience it.

[dmpyron]

That was a TransDerm Scop patch. Not Bonine (which is meclizine). The patch uses scopolamine.

[Marv]

Originally Posted by dmpyron

Carol likes ginger candy and ginger snaps. I like ginger snaps and ginger ale (get some of the more "old timey" brands, more ginger). A ginger candy (it's a hard candy) every four hours or so, three or four ginger snaps every four hours or a can of ginger ale about four or five hours. If we're diving in the morning, we usually have some ginger just before heading out, which gives us about 30 minutes. If we're taking meclizine, we take it about an hour before boarding.

Hmm, candy and cookies every 3 or 4 hours, I think I could do that! Seriously, I've never heard of ginger candies, I'll have to check into that. I'll have a whole ginger arsenol!

[Chris_Wangard]

The last time we went, DCL had a free Bonine (meclizine) dispenser outside of the medical center. If you know you are heading for trouble, meclizine works best if you start taking it BEFORE getting underway -- therefore, if you are opting for the freebies, deck 1 should be one of your 1st stops after boarding.

[sueh818]

If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they have a product called "Uncrystalized Candied Ginger" It is a soft chewy thing that works really well for me with car sickness. At our local health food store I bought a jar of Ginger capsules, which is powdered ginger in a medicine type capsule that you swollow with water. I've had good luck with these too. The ginger capsules also work well for indigestion .

[DrDolphin]

I am a marine biologist who gets sea sick.... yep you read that right. 98% of the time on cruise ships I am just fine. They have LARGE stabilizers and my cabins tend to be in the middle of the ship.
Now - with that said. The first day of the cruise - I take a Bonine in the morning when I wake up, one when when we board (around lunch time) and one with dinner. After that - I have not needed to take additional medication.

I prefer Bonine to all of the other meds out there. Scope dries me out something fierce and it can have very adverse side effects (hallucinations, complete memory loss...) that would quick ruin a cruise....

[ripkensnana]

My mother was absolutely positive that she'd get seasick...we got her the ScoPatch and Seabands. She read about the side effects for the patch and refused to use it, also didn't use the SeaBands.......and didn't get sick at all...in fact, she decided that she loved the rocking motion of the ship (the stabilizers were on the blink the entire time, and the motion was VERY noticible).

On my first cruise, I could feel slight motion the first night just before and during dinner. My stomach decided that it was time to get queasy, but I told it strictly to behave itself...and didn't get seasick, my stomach calmed right down. Really! It's true!!! So I believe that in a few cases, seasickness is a mental thing. Not always, obviously, but at least in my case.