To Cruise or Not To Cruise?

I get very sea-sick/car-sick quite easily, but i'd really like to go on a cruise vacation. I hear a "drug" called, DRAMAMINE can help the situation, but I'd like to hear other opinions. I've taken a boat ride from Long Beach to Catalina Island, and I needed an "aid" to help me with the nausea and I had to sit on the open upper deck. Thanks for your input!

First of all going on the ocean on a 40, 50, or even 100 foot boat or ferry is a world of difference between cruising on one of the cruise ships used today. There are several reasons why a cruise will not likely make you sick.

(1) All of the new ships now being built have automatic stabilizer that all but eliminate any rocking from side to side. And these newer passenger ships are so long, most 900 feet to almost 1,000 feet, that the front to back motion is also all but eliminated.

(2) Cruise ships generally move from port to port overnight, generally about 6:00 PM. You go to dinner between 6 and 8 PM, maybe go to the evening show and maybe the disco and then go to bed. And when you awake the next morning you are in a new port. So you sleep a good portion of the time when the ship is moving. Then to further reduce ship motion, select a cabin on a lower deck and in the middle of the ship; there is less motion there.

(3) Cruise ships make every effort to stay away from bad weather, even changing the order of port stops if weather is bad at one.

(4) The best cruise to go on if you want to be pretty certain that there will be little motion is a cruise to Alaska. Those cruises go through the "inside passage" which is an inland waterway (rather than open ocean) where the motion of the ocean is minimal. Its almost like cruising down/up a river and in many places you can see the land/terrain on both sides of the ship.

(5) There are some options to combat sea sickness if you are really sensitive to motion. One is a prescription from your Dr for either pills (Dramamine) or a patch that is applies behind the ear. Another option is a wrist bracelet that you can purchase at boating stores (http://www.biobands.com/). And, if you go and do not get any of these, the ship will have a doctor who can dispense sea sickness pills. You can also take with you some ginger candy or cookies; they will help settle your stomach.

The Alaska cruise sounds like your best bet.

I get car-sick very easily, but seldom get sea-sick. However, I was once on the QE2 and it was simply ghastly in the Bay of Biscay, and the medical office gave me something called "promethazine" (pherergan) that was spectacular! I understand it's a prescription drug, so get it from your doctor, and you should have no problems. Beyond that, however, get a cabin in a lower rather than upper deck, and get one in the center of the ship -- much easier for folks who don't travel well.

I get really sea sick too. I've heard Dramamine helps but you can get Gravol as well. They now have ginger Gravol that does not make you drowsy. Ships have stabilizers that basically keep the ship steady. Don't worry about it. I was on a cruise this past August and there was only one night where it was bad. 18 feet waves from Helsinki to Stockholm and that was just an unexpected storm we past through it was only really bad from 9 to 2. I had been taking gravol, and I was completely fine (just a bit nauseous)

You can always take a cruise that goes into port everyday or go on a cruise that goes around the Mediterranean that has an overnight in venice at the beginning and Barcelona at the end.

To help make sure that if you do go on a cruise, get fresh air. Sea air is the best for you.


Hope I helped in anyway!

Ok people telling you that the ships don't rock are lying to you. If you get motion sick easily you WILL get motion sick on the ship. The bracelets are good. A lady at my table has had a pair she has worn on every ship for 12 years. The ship has patches that they will give out to people too.

However, the very best in BONINE. My husband takes that and it's amazing. He gets a pack at the drugstore before we go. It's chewable and you only have to take one a day. He gets motion sick even sitting in the back seat of a car and that keeps him from getting sick the whole trip. Dramamine is good and works for some people but Bonine is far better.

As far as where to get on the ship, stay in the center. Get a cabin in the middle of the ship. The front and back have more motion. You feel the water a bit more on the lower decks and the wind a bit more on the upper most decks. The ideal deck to be on is somewhere in the middle. Floor 3-6 or so. That feels the most stable which is why that is the main floors.

I also get sea sick and car sick and I got very sick on a ferry once, but I am able to cruise without difficulty. Thank goodness!!! Ask your doctor for Scopalamine or Transderm Scop. They are patches you put behind your ear and are a little pricey, but soooooo worth it. You don't have to worry about taking the pills or forgetting to take the pills, plus the patches won't make you tired and they prevent you from getting sea sick. You put one on about an hour before sailing and change it after three days. They work great!!! Take the chance and cruise. Most of the new ships you will not even notice any movement, but on some of the smaller ships you will notice and thats when the patches come in handy.

the big ships have stabilizers so most times it really helps. I would go to your doctor and tell him what you want to do, the dramamine or bonine is supposed to help. also those wrist bracelets cover a point on your arm that is a acupressure point that is supposed to help with nausea.
best wishes for your cruise.

i think you should go for it.

i like princess,royal carribean, holland america cruise lines.

I would take either a Caribbean Cruise that left Puerto Rico, you wake in a new island daily, these are very calm waters, and worst case you would only need Dramamine or the better Bonine at night time. Another route that is smooth is a Western Caribbean Cruise leaving from Miami or New Orleans.
Stick with ONLY big ships, ie. Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Princess or hesitantly Carnival

JT Render

after three cruise's i've noticed people who do get sea sick that they have these bracelets that help with the sickness. they don't make you tired. but honestly you don't even notice being on a boat. its that steady. but just in case just look at any drug store or grocery store for the bracelets.

we are going to alaska on a cruise so we went to walmart and bought the equate brand motion sickness pills off brand of dramamine ,used for air car or boat sickness all my family swears by this one .