Choosing a cruise to avoid sea sickness

[kauris]

I suffer from motion sickness and wish minimize the risk of getting sea sick. As a very frequent traveler I don't need advice on medication or other tools to avoid getting sick but I would be happy to get tips for choosing a cruise.

 

I wish to go on a Carribbean cruise. To avoid rough waters I have thought it would be best to fly to San Juan for the port of departure and thus avoid the sea days included in a cruise from Miami. Is San Juan the best choice in this respect?

 

Which month would be the best - with the least risk of winds? Summer would not be my favourite to go. Is spring (e.g. March) better than New Year's or January?

 

As for large ships, Celebrity Summit and Adventure of the Seas seem to use San Juan. Is there a difference between these ships' stabilizers etc?

 

I realize that a large ship is better in this respect, and that midship cabins are best and that I should avoid the highest decks. But I have heard that the direction of the bed has some impact. Does someone know more about this?

 

Also, if I wish to take a cruise to Alaska, which cruise should I choose for the calmest waters?

[uppitycats]

I suffer from motion sickness and wish minimize the risk of getting sea sick. As a very frequent traveler I don't need advice on medication or other tools to avoid getting sick but I would be happy to get tips for choosing a cruise.

 

I wish to go on a Carribbean cruise. To avoid rough waters I have thought it would be best to fly to San Juan for the port of departure and thus avoid the sea days included in a cruise from Miami. Is San Juan the best choice in this respect?

 

Which month would be the best - with the least risk of winds? Summer would not be my favourite to go. Is spring (e.g. March) better than New Year's or January?

 

As for large ships, Celebrity Summit and Adventure of the Seas seem to use San Juan. Is there a difference between these ships' stabilizers etc?

 

I realize that a large ship is better in this respect, and that midship cabins are best and that I should avoid the highest decks. But I have heard that the direction of the bed has some impact. Does someone know more about this?

 

Also, if I wish to take a cruise to Alaska, which cruise should I choose for the calmest waters?

 

I can't help with the Caribbean as I've never been there. But for your Alaska cruise, you want to avoid going in/out of Seattle, Washington. The stretch of sea from Seattle to Alaska is more open water, and therefore more subject to wave action. You'd best go out of Vancouver, Canada (or start near Anchorage and head south to Vancouver).

[Strangebreeze]

We always cruise on PRINCESS (mainly ISLAND princess/Carrebean Princess and P&O Oriana)and we have done most of the Carrebean from various ports including Miami,NY,SF,Barbados and we have never had one day of rough seas .

My advice to you is go with a bigger ship > 83k tons an/Bemuda d get a cabin in mid-ships and you will be fine .

[silentbob007]

The bigger, newer ships have good stabilizers BUT ... if you run through or after a storm, it is going to be choppy, no matter what. The biggest thing a cruise out of San Juan has going for it is that the islands are so close that the ship doesn't generally need to speed to the next port.

[fllady]

In Alaska take the inside passage. Usually the cruise companies have maps to show you where the route the ship will travel. Its hard to tell when the weather will get rough. Winter usually has choppy seas off and on, but summer has the hurricane winds etc. If you can check long range forecasts on the Weather to see if there will be rough weather coming. Larger ships are usually more stable, I found Queen Mary 2, to be the best cruises I have taken, and that is doing trans Atlantic. Cunard ships are made for ocean going. Good luck! I always take my Bonine! (just to be on the safe side):)

[EmTeeNesters]

Go on the Oasis of the Seas or the Allure of the Seas - they are so stable that you don't even feel the ship moving.

[trish1c]

I would say Spring. Winter still gets storms.

Obviously you know to avoid hurricane season.

I was worried about sea sickness & was pleasantly surprised that the ships were so stable.

Also book a cabin midship, mid deck. The closer you are to the fulcrum, the less motion you will feel. A balcony can be nice but not if it's making you sick.

[SuiteTraveler]

Go on the Oasis of the Seas or the Allure of the Seas - they are so stable that you don't even feel the ship moving.

 

I agree 100% with the above - you feel the least movement on these ships.

 

As to Alaska, I've sailed out of both Seattle and Vancouver. On the Seattle cruise, we had 2 extremely rough nights heading up. So rough that we literally had the MDR to ourselves both nights and all entertainment was cancelled. The waiters were having a hard time delivering trays and it was funny to watch groups of people struggling to walk along the ship's corridors - they turn and walk one way and then turn and walk another way due to the movement.

 

The Caribbean is not terribly rough by comparison.

 

The Pacific Ocean - if you pass through the Panama Canal can be rough.

 

By far, the calmest waters I've encountered are in the Mediterranean in May. The water is so extremely calm and smooth that I hardly notice I'm on a ship - even a smaller one! You might want to consider going on a Med cruise on the NCL Epic - they are doing a Barcelona to Barcelona route and this is another mega ship - similar to RCCL's Oasis class, so I would not expect much feeling of movement on the NCL Epic either.

 

It is also helpful getting a midship cabin. I don't think that it has to be that low in the ship. I've cruised on the top floor with no problem.

 

As to medications, you need to talk to your doctor about what you should do as only he/she is aware of all the medications you are taking and what is indicated/contra-indicated in your case. There are many options. This article should help you to discuss your options with your doctor in an informed manner and covers pretty much every option out there:

 

http://www.drugs.com/condition/motion-sickness.html

 

If your doctor gives you anti-seasickness medication, then you should begin taking it either a day before or early the morning of the start of your cruise so that it will be fully effective by the time your ship sails.

 

If the medicine you take does not work, see the ship's doctor who can give you a different medication or even a shot to stop the sickness immediately.

 

If you are ever in a situation in which you become nauseous, applying something ice cold to the front of your neck (such as a plastic bag of ice or anything else frozen or an ice cold can of soda pop, bottled water or beer) is a safe and effective method of providing relief from nausea until you can get medical help or get out of the situation that is causing motion sickness.

[zacc]

It is great that people are trying to give you an answer however the truth is that there really is no answer. A body of water that is smooth as glass right now can have 20 ft waves in an hour. Water conditions for any cruise vary day to day week to week. The one answer you received is only true in "theory"....the one about not cruising during hurricane season. I have cruised the third week of Sept for 10 straight years and had a problem one day when we got hammered by Hurricane Ivan. Made for some great stories! You can hit a severe storm 365 days a year.

[kitty9]

There are absolutely no assurances that you'll have a smooth cruise no matter where or when you cruise, or what ship you take. I've cruised on some of the biggest ships out there, and they were terribly bumpy, so size doesn't necessarily matter. But, I've also sailed on a relatively small ship from Crystal, and I would never had known the seas were so rough unless I looked out the window on the 6th deck and saw green water washing over the windows---32 ft+ seas.

 

There are a lot of things that go into making a rocky cruise. Some ships have very shallow drafts, and that tends to make the ship bob a bit more in the ocean. Some ships seem to have stabilizers that do a better job, Crystal's ships come to mind. But sea roughness isn't so much waves, but swells. It's the high swells that are the worst for making a cruise ship bob like a cork in a tub. So, unfortunately, there is only one thing anyone can assure you of, and that's there's no way of telling you how your seas will be. Like one poster said, you can be sailing on glass at 1pm and by 3pm you could be in the mother of all rough seas. Mother nature and the gods of the seas are in control, and there's nothing you can do.

[cb at sea]

Get some medication to alleviate motion sickness, should it occur. There is NO way to predict what the seas will be like on any given day....it could be calm...it could be rough...there's NO WAY to tell!

[ricew001]

The comments here saying you can't predict the waters are true. I noticed that you didn't need medciation recommendations.

I've only done 3 cruises and I get extremely sick. We did Princess out of Vancouver for our Alaska cruise and I was horribly sick on sea day.

We did Victory out of San Juan this January and had the best time ever with absolutely no sickness at all. I chose that itin because originally it had no sea days, but they dropped Dominica and had one sea day. I chose January because it was outside hurricane season.

I will say for my Alaska cruise I used dramamine and was much more successful with the patch out of San Juan. I was terrified by some of the posts here discussing side effects of the patch. But my line of work teaches me that side effects vary by person and my husband said: what's worse than being sea sick? what a great point he had!

For me, it's not just the ship but I also get sick on the excursions if we have to ride a taxi, a shuttle van, a bus or take a boat out. And the patch made my flight there wonderful too.

Good luck and enjoy it whatever you decide!

[kauris]

Your advice will useful when we get ahead with our plans. Of course, there are no guarantees especially nowadays when weather seems to be more changeable than before. Some people I know returned from the Caribbean a few days ago and said it had been raining and the weather was not good during their vacation.

 

I would love to choose Oasis of the Seas especially because it was built in my hometown (and they are still waiting for new orders to get more business at the shipyard) but the itineraries are not the most interesting as I wish to see many islands during the trip.

 

Ear patches will definitely be used (I will travel with a doctor so every precaution will be taken...).

 

It was a good idea to choose Vancouver and not Seattle if I decide to go an a cruise to Alaska one day.