Motion Sickness: Advice for new cruisers

This post directed to those that are already prone to getting motion sickness and plan on needing medications.

1. Start your medicine the night BEFORE you get on the boat. Once you are on board and feeling sick, it will be way harder to make it go away. I've been on several cruises now where people were unaware of this.

2. If you didn't realize you would have motion issues or didn't follow tip #1, please read the bottle for your medicine of choice (Bonine is fairly popular). Do not pop them like M&Ms and follow them up with a couple of beers hoping to make it go away faster. You will feel worse. We had a table mate that was barely moving because he had tried this technique.

Although the packaging says 24hrs for Bonine, it is safe to take it every 12 hours according to my DH's doctor, just don't be chasing it with a lot of alcohol.

3. So you didn't follow #1 and you start to feel poorly, what should you do? Take the medicine and head to the buffet and look for a green apple, or if your ship has a sushi area, find some ginger. Both of these are shown to help settle the stomach. I just learned about the green apple from the fitness director on the last cruise. She said they are always stocked at the buffet for this reason (at least on her ship).

You can also get out into the fresh air, facing the direction the boat is headed, or go curl up and sleep for a couple of hours. Sometimes you can sleep off the initial wave and give that medicine a chance to work.

4. Once you start to feel better, stay on the recommended dosing throughout the cruise. It's working and getting drunk isn't worth it if it means you have to stop the motion sickness medicine.

These are just observations from past cruises and dealing with a DH that gets motion sick on a swing set. :rolleyes: He is still able to enjoy his cruises, but has to use the heavy duty patch meds. I have to get on the Bonine the night before we get into the first port because I get to experience what I call reverse motion sickness. Love the ship and have no issues there, but put me back on dry land and I'm crawling to get back on the ship without my meds.

Also if I may add.

Keep yourself hydrated as much as possible.

Water is great, but throwing in a glass of powerade or gatorade would be ideal.

Dehydration can only make the situation worse.

We always use the patch and have gotten used to the side effects of this drug and are able to enjoy the cruise.

Safe travels.

Also, I would like to add that even if you are fine ON the ship, you make get 'land sick' after you disembark.

We got off the ship one week ago and today was the first day that I did NOT feel like the world was swaying around me. No one warned me of this, but after researching it since our trip, I have found it is quite common for people to suffer this for 1-7 days post cruise.

While the original post has some good thoughts, since it is directed at others who may have the problem, here is a bit more advice.

First of all, with all due deference to the OP's DH, most people do not get seasick, and if they do, it almost always passes in hours or the first day at the most.

Basic issues:

Seasickness is primarily caused by a conflict between the eyes and the inner ear. If the eye is not seeing motion, and the inner ear is sensing motion, the conflicting signals to the brain cause the motion sickness. So, keep the seas and horizon in sight, stay out in the fresh air which will help a bit, and eat normal meals. I know that this last one seems wrong, but you need to eat at normal times, just don't overeat and stay away from greasy foods. (Facing the direction of the ship does not do anything, and depending on the type of motion -- pitching or rolling -- might be more bad than good.)

Ginger has been mentioned, and is clinically proven to reduce nausea. You can get ginger pills at any pharmacy, you can eat candied ginger, eat ginger snaps, or drink real ginger ale, though you might need a lot. This does not need to be started way in advance, and can even be started when feeling ill, though taking or consuming it an hour earlier will help.

OTC medications, bonine and dramamine help most people, though as the OP stated, they have to be started in advance.

The patch is really a remedy for someone who has tried everything else and nothing worked. While it is a powerful weapon against seasickness, it is a powerful drug, and has side effects. The minor ones, i.e. dry mouth, are not too bad, but some people suffer from hallucinations, and other serious effects. If your doctor does give you a prescription for this, get an extra one, and try it on dry land first.

Lastly, don't talk yourself into being seasick. If you don't get motion sick a lot, you are likely to be fine or fine after a short period of getting your sea legs. If you have been on a small boat and gotten sick, bear in mind that a large cruise ship's movement is totally different. A large ship does move in the water, but the motion tends to be slow and gentle, not abrupt and constant like a small fishing boat.

As previous poster stated, Ginger Pills are an option. I can't remember who told me about them, but I took them and never had any issues. I was really worried on our first cruise but I was fine!

Oh, yes. My advice was just to those that already have motion issues and are worried about the motion on the boat.

If you have never been prone to motion sickness, get some ginger pills and maybe a pack of Bonine to be safe (cause you know you will pay a pretty penny if you need to buy it on the ship), but I wouldn't worry about it. I've been rocked and rolled pretty good on some cruises and I don't have a problem with it whatsoever.

My issue is dry land. Boat=good, In port=bad. Walking or bumpy car ride in port=okay. Standing still=horrible. That's why I use the Bonine before port days and before we get off the boat and for about a week afterwards. I've always had this issue with boats of all sizes though, so it wasn't too much of a surprise to me.

The generic for Bonine is Meclazine. I buy a 100 tablet bottle from drugstores.com for my wife for the cost of 8 pills of Bonine

Rubbing alcohol is also a good, quick fix. Keep individual swab packets with you and a little whiff at the first sign of nausea will settle your stomach. I don't know how long the effect lasts (I've only used it after dental surgery) but I do know it works fast. I usually use Gravol for motion sickness but it can make you drowsy.

My wife is very prone to motion sickness. When she rides in the car, she cannot read or use her tablet because of motion sickness. When she lived in the Philippines, she would always get sick when she had to ride a ferry (I probably would too, but more from worry than from the motion) So, I was pretty worried about our first cruise. Would she be feeling sick the entire time, or asleep because of the medicine? (She is tiny, only 110 lbs)

So I decided to try something different. I ordered 2 of the BioBands, one for her, and one for me, just in case. She wore the band the entire cruise, and never once felt queasy..even on our last sea day when the water was a little rougher than it had been before. We took some motion sickness pills with us, just in case, but never needed to open the box. The bands were $11.95 each and we ordered them online. I have to say, it was money well spent.

This is not an advertisement for them, and I am in no way affiliated with the company. I just thought it was a great alternative to the medicine, and it worked.

We have a lot of ginger at home, tea, pills, candy, fresh, pickled. Obviously not for motion sickness, but because it is wonderful arthritis pain relief for us. A bonus!