Seasick?

Once upon a time I was so worried about being seasick I called my doctor for prescription patches to prevent seasickness.

Nothing that follows is medical advice. You should always consult your doctor for you particular healthcare concerns. As usually, I’m just sharing stories.

Growing up I experienced motion sickness riding in cars and on rollercoasters. As an adult, I had been on snorkeling boats, whale watching boats, ski boats, and tour boats one particularly rough ferry between Maui and Molokai. So, when boarding a cruise ship I was concerned. I had seen people become very ill on some of these trips. I packed original motion sickness pills, less drowsy motion sickness pill and the above mentioned motion sickness patches.

I soon learned that I had overdone it. The behind the ear patches made it hard to stay awake and the ship I happened to be on hardly moved at all. Knowing that prevention is easier than curing when it comes to seasickness, I stepped down to the original pills every 4 hours. By the end, I was taking 1 less drowsy pill at night. Ships are very different to boats. Their size and stabilizer help a lot. That said, rough weather, bodies of water known for rough seas can move even the large ships enough to make some of us queasy.

Here are some suggestions I have been given to combat motion sickness. The one I’ve heard most often from crew member on boats and ships is to look at the horizon. On a snorkel trip I heard a crew member tell a few passengers to mover to a central location on the boat, drink natural ginger ale with grated fresh ginger added, look at the horizon, don’t lay down and not to close your eyes. most folks took her advice and disembarked only slightly green. One lady disagreed with the suggestions. Her family had to carry her off the boat. I’ve also heard ginger candy chews or hard candies and green apples suggested. A lot of passengers opt for “Sea Bands” to avoid side effects. If you haven’t seen them, Sea Bands are stretchy wrist bands with a plastic nub that activates an acupressure point. If you do get sea sickness you can’t overcome, don’t suffer. Call the onboard medical center, they can help.

Now, let’s say cruises look like so much fun you wish you could try one. Or maybe you feel left out while your friends and family cruise. Here are my suggestions for testing it out. First, the prevailing thought is the lower you are in the ship and closer to the middle your are the more you can avoid sea sickness. I have heard this point argued, but of course different things work for different people. Think of it like a hobby horse. The middle moves less than the head and tail. As stated earlier, having an ocean view or balcony is helpful. Fresh air helps me. If it helps you, you’ll want a balcony cabin. I would choose a season and location with calmer seas. A common one would be the Bahamas or Caribbean outside hurricane season. I would choose as short a cruise as possible. For example, on a three day cruise you’re generally onboard between about 11 am and 2 pm and the ship won’t leave the dock until 4 to 6 pm. Most often you will be docked in a port by the time you wake up and remain there until late afternoon or early evening. The next morning you should be near or in the next port and stay there several hours again. The final morning you will nearly always wake up docked back in the home port and off the ship by 9 or 10 am. Point being, you aren’t actually sailing all that much. You may also want to consider an Oasis class ship from Royal Caribbean. Oasis, Allure, Harmony, Symphony, and Wonder of the Seas are all HUGE, Unless there is a terrible storm, you may forget you are on a ship. Many venues and activities are interior facing. In fact, some balcony cabins actually face inward overlooking a garden or boardwalk area. I was on the Allure one year in June and only felt any movement at all once in the shower. It was hardly noticeable. We were on a upper deck very far forward.

One finally thought, some folks experience an unbalanced feeling after they disembark. I usually continue my less drowsy pills each night after I disembark as well as a day or two before boarding.