OV room and seasickness......

I read in another forum of people saying an OV room on a lower deck gives them seasickness.......

I'm worried I should upgrade to a balcony because (soon to be) DH is very concerned about seasickness and currently I have booked an OV on deck 2.

What are your thoughts on this?

DH is a first time cruiser, and I've cruised 2x before in an interior stateroom.........

Soon to be Mrs. Taddeo. 8-10-12

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Having a balcony can be good as it can be helpful to get fresh air or look outside.

What is good is being mid deck and on a lower deck.

Avoid being too far forward.

Keith

Being midship and on a lower deck seems to work best. Also BOnine and Meclazine taken before and during the cruise can help.

~Doris~

Try googling 'seasickness' and read the myriad articles. Some of them do contain helpful advice. Fresh air, looking to the horizon, wrist bands, ginger candies, meds from your doctor at home, etc. all help some travelers.

Your cabin's location on the ship is of primary importance. Avoid either end. The

middle is more stable.

And keep in mind that 'this too shall pass.' The rough seas will end. The ship will dock. It's just an unpleasant but temporary inconvenience.

You're better off on deck 2 than higher in a balcony cabin.

The lower and more centered of the ship the better off you are. In the old days when the ships photographer had to develop rolls of film in order to sell pictures on board they had the centermost area of the ship to work in because it when the ship moved they wouldn't have much motion causing problems with the development chemicals.

Think of a teeter-totter the middle never really moves but the ends go all the way up and down.

I get sea sick just by looking at a boat :p

It's not only the type of the room, it's also the location. First, you cannot stay in inside, you must have some window: obstructed, full, or porthole. Second, location: lower middle part of the ship.

Balconies are usually high, I don't rist to be there.

If your window cabin on deck 2 is in the middle (middle 1/3 of the length of the ship) you have nothing to worry about.

We had balconies way up on deck 15 toward the back of the ship (aft).

We definitely felt the movement of the water! My husband and son both got seasick (this was their first cruise). Less drowsy formula Dramamine pills, and later Bonine pills, worked wonders for them. Take them with you on your cruise because they are much cheaper at Target or Walmart than the ship gift shop.

Well, you tolerated an inside cabin, so you will be fine. Now for your DH(TB). One of the important things about seasickness is being able to see the horizon, so the OV cabin solves that problem. Yes a veranda would allow him to go outside and get fresh air, but you can always go out on deck for that too. There are indeed many postings about seasickness (I have posted a bunch myself), so search for the other threads.

As for DH(TB). First of all, don't let him worry himself into a problem. There is a significant mental issue in how the motion affects some people. If he doesn't get motion sick in a car or a plane, he should be OK. He might take a day or two at the most to get his sea legs, but in all likelihood he will be fine. If he has had a bad experience on a small boat (fishing particularly), he should forget about that as the motion on a small boat and the motion on a cruise ship are barely related at all. The small boat bounces and bobs (if stopped or trolling), which a cruise ship moves in a much more slow and gentle fashion.

That being said, cruise ships do indeed move. Someone has talked about pitching (bow and stern going up and down) and the preference in such cases to be in an amidships cabin. Visualize the seesaw, and the motion is least in the center. The old adage about being as low as possible is no longer exactly correct as the enormous superstructures on modern ships have moved the Center of Motion higher than it was on older ships with smaller superstructures. Knowing or calculating where that is exactly is pretty much impossible unless you are a naval architect and have all of the ship's plans, but suffice it to say, it is somewhere above the main deck in many cases.

While pitching is one motion, the more common motion is rolling -- side-to-side motion, and being amidships (fore to aft) is meaningless. You would want to be in the middle going from side-to-side, but that would mean an interior cabin which violates the first rule of being able to see the horizon. Here too being closer to the deck that has the Center of Motion would be best, so a lower cabin (without being too low) would be better.

If he is really concerned he can try taking ginger pills or eating candied ginger. This is clinically proven to prevent or reduce motion sickness. This should be started an hour or so before departure. He can also take an OTC motion sickness medicine -- Dramamine, Bonine or the generic meclizine -- and these should be started the day before, though they can be started the morning of departure. There are non-drowsy forms of Dramamine.

In the meantime try to have him take it easy and not worry himself into a problem. I have seen people throwing up from the motion when you literally could not tell the ship was moving unless you saw the buildings going by when the ship was barely moving away from the pier. As Yogi Berra said: "It's 90% mental and the other half is physical."

I've read on a couple of sites to order up green apples as they help motion sickness. Has anyone tried this?

The meds-- Bonine, Dramamine, Benadryl, patch and their generics are preventatives.

Tart green apples and clear soda helps to settle the stomach. As do saltines.

Ginger can help both before and after you get ill. We'll take some candied ginger onboard with us. Others like the ginger pills.

HAL has the YumYum man. He is stationed at the exit of the MDR and hands out green apples and ginger mints.

Carnival has pickled ginger at the sushi bar.

One cruise on HAL DDtheOlder wasn't feeling well at dinner. The waiter brought her 3 green apples for hee entree. She felt better after that.

That night there were many room service carts loaded with apples and ginger ale/clear soda.

As my son pointed out, that's why Captain Jack Sparrow eats green apples in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies :)

People swear by the green apples! Also a crew member had advised to never keep the stomach empty.....eat something small often.

On our first cruise in the early 1990's we took the Bonnie and wrist bands. We were at the bar inside, after the lifeboat drill, and when we came back to our room walked out on the balcony to see we had already left the port. Never felt a thing. We have had Suites on the front of the Maasdam second suite back from the Bridge, on the sides and rear of Princess Lines. Never had a bumpy ride. We heard the fog horn on one of our cruises in Canada as we were going up the Fiord in the fog. That was something especially for the early walkers up on the top deck!

Relax, you will be fine and enjoy the trip. Keep in mind that most ships when cruising are not in deep water they stay just outside in international waters so the Casino can be open.