Crown Princess - Feb 2016

[vas1907]

Hey! We are taking Crown Princess outta LA in Feb for West coast tour down to MX. First time cruiser have no clue what to expect. Specifically interested (concerned) about sea state, sea sickness, El Nino, etc. We have a balcony room stateroom category BB.

 

Is there any meaningful data we could look at to determine how rough the seas will be. Surf reports? Feedback from arriving ship? NOAA data?

 

If seas are terrible should we / could we consider downgrading a room to a lower level, middle of ship? Even if we gave up balcony, less pitching and rolling might be good.

 

We are really looking fwd to this trip, but really concerned about sea sickness. One of our neighbors is a cruiser and said they have had the best and worst times of their lives on a cruise ship. Then was watching National news last night and it showed California apartments washing into the ocean because of rough surf. So here I am..... :D

 

Thanks in advance!

[Colo Cruiser]

Hey! We are taking Crown Princess outta LA in Feb for West coast tour down to MX. First time cruiser have no clue what to expect. Specifically interested (concerned) about sea state, sea sickness, El Nino, etc. We have a balcony room stateroom category BB.

 

Is there any meaningful data we could look at to determine how rough the seas will be. Surf reports? Feedback from arriving ship? NOAA data?

 

If seas are terrible should we / could we consider downgrading a room to a lower level, middle of ship? Even if we gave up balcony, less pitching and rolling might be good.

 

We are really looking fwd to this trip, but really concerned about sea sickness. One of our neighbors is a cruiser and said they have had the best and worst times of their lives on a cruise ship. Then was watching National news last night and it showed California apartments washing into the ocean because of rough surf. So here I am..... :D

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic, you should join the roll call for your cruise.

Other CC members share info etc.

Don't know what date you are sailing next month otherwise I would have posted a link you could follow.

 

The ocean is the ocean and looking at surf/sea reports or whatever are not going to help.

No way to predict and moving cabins on a ship that big will not make a big difference. IMO

We have done that cruise many times and have experienced chilly temps for the first day or 2 but no real bad weather.

Look at getting sea sickness patches from your doctor.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[Piepkorn]

Hey! We are taking Crown Princess outta LA in Feb for West coast tour down to MX. First time cruiser have no clue what to expect. Specifically interested (concerned) about sea state, sea sickness, El Nino, etc. We have a balcony room stateroom category BB.

 

Is there any meaningful data we could look at to determine how rough the seas will be. Surf reports? Feedback from arriving ship? NOAA data?

 

If seas are terrible should we / could we consider downgrading a room to a lower level, middle of ship? Even if we gave up balcony, less pitching and rolling might be good.

 

We are really looking fwd to this trip, but really concerned about sea sickness. One of our neighbors is a cruiser and said they have had the best and worst times of their lives on a cruise ship. Then was watching National news last night and it showed California apartments washing into the ocean because of rough surf. So here I am..... :D

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Get the US Coast Guard App for your phone. It provides buoy information that's pretty straight forward. It's available for free in the app stores for both Iphone and Android. Surf reports don't mean alot, it is swell high and frequency that is important. But it can be calm in the morning, and choppy in the afternoon for no reason at all.

 

Not sure what trip you are on (I am on 2/9 via Catalina)...but if you have a stop in either Catalina or Santa Barbara, there is always a chance that port could be cancelled due to weather conditions. Doesn't happen too often.

 

Personally I would keep the balcony, as fresh air helps if you do get queezy. Something not too far forward, and not too far back, as there tends to be more movement on the ends.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Piepkorn

[Astro Flyer]

Look at getting sea sickness patches from your doctor.

My wife is very susceptible to all types of motion sickness and by using meclizine (an antihistamine generic of Bonine) when necessary she has enjoyed dozens of cruises with fewer side affects even in very rough sea conditions.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[Colo Cruiser]

My wife is very susceptible to all types of motion sickness and by using meclizine (an antihistamine generic of Bonine) when necessary she has enjoyed dozens of cruises with fewer side affects even in very rough sea conditions.

 

 

Thats what we take with us.

[conifercruiser2]

It seems to me once the ships hit hurricane force storms the boats get real quiet....no one seems to go out and about in the ship, outside of course are closed off. My wife was sea sick only once. I was sea sick once fishing in Mexico...bobbing around with no horizen.We have been in three hurricanes on Princess. 2 on the Star off Chile and once on the Crown when Irene was hitting the Eastern seaboard we were up off Newfoundland. They may change course or drop ports to avoid them when feasible. It is always best to get some type of horizon so your body can make sense of what is going on. On the ships with Skywalker's that is where we go! Great fun to see the bridge smacked by a huge wave and count the rollers on their way in.

A really great smack puts water over the bridge! When we are in a low cabin the shudders from the force are amazing. We now hang in rooms up high or on the back to get the sense of the sea! Could happen off Mexico but doubtful, my worst weather has been extreme north or southern routes.

 

You know they are expecting big ones when they hand out Dramamine like candy and hang the barf bags out at the elevators... My wife says Meclizine is the bomb....

 

Sent from my REMIX SK1WG using Tapatalk

[Astro Flyer]

Thats what we take with us.

 

 

 

My wife says Meclizine is the bomb....

 

It's the same ingredient as in Dramamine Less Dowsy and Bonine (at a fraction of the price) & being an antihistamine once in awhile she says it makes her slightly drowsy & takes it at bedtime. Although it could also be her glass of wine that makes her slightly drowsy. :p

Edited January 28, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[Colo Cruiser]

It seems to me once the ships hit hurricane force storms the boats get real quiet....no one seems to go out and about in the ship, outside of course are closed off. My wife was sea sick only once. I was sea sick once fishing in Mexico...bobbing around with no horizen.We have been in three hurricanes on Princess. 2 on the Star off Chile and once on the Crown when Irene was hitting the Eastern seaboard we were up off Newfoundland. They may change course or drop ports to avoid them when feasible. It is always best to get some type of horizon so your body can make sense of what is going on. On the ships with Skywalker's that is where we go! Great fun to see the bridge smacked by a huge wave and count the rollers on their way in.

A really great smack puts water over the bridge! When we are in a low cabin the shudders from the force are amazing. We now hang in rooms up high or on the back to get the sense of the sea! Could happen off Mexico but doubtful, my worst weather has been extreme north or southern routes.

 

 

Great confidence builder.

[Cruise Raider]

One of my first cruises was from San Francisco to Alaska on a smaller ship, the Sky Princess. I swore I was going to get off the boat when we hit our first port and never cruise again. I get terribly sea sick, although after another 45+ cruises, I have learned a few things which I will share with you. I cannot imagine my life without cruising now that I have conquered most of my sea sickness.

 

Book a cabin midship and a balcony if feasible. The fresh air is so healing.

Down low is a bit better but midship seems to be the key. I think most BB will fit that bill so think you made a good cabin choice.

 

I don't react well to those patches, but have used Dramamine and that seems to help. More so than that, it is important to get a good night's sleep and try not to put yourself into situations that might promote sea sickness (going to the movies if inside at the front of the ship). Keep moving, go dancing or walking on the deck ... it will take away that eye / ear imbalance.

 

Keep a minimum of liquids in your stomach if the seas are rough.

Eat green apples and / or saltine crackers to prevent or help sooth the nausea.

Don't overeat or indulge in too much to drink!

 

Try SeaBands -- an acupressure wristband you can purchase for about $5 at your local drugstore (or onboard). They also make a more expensive wristband with an electrical pulse ... but never tried them as they are approx. $100 and the elastic fabric ones work fine for me.

Take ginger capsules (not ginger ale ... but actual powdered ginger) also to sooth a sick stomach.

Both of these can even be used by pregnant women.

 

Go outside and look forward, get the wind in your face.

 

If all else fails, just go back to your cabin or find a nice lounge chair and close your eyes. Sea sickness is an imbalance between what your eyes see and what your inner ear does to interpret this (certainly not medical but have been told this before and makes sense to me). With your eyes closed, the nausea will start to subside.

 

The Crown is a pretty stable ship so hope you will not need to use these but hopefully have provided some simple and readily available options in case the seas get rough. Enjoy!

[jshyshka]

Just go and have fun - believe me, you will go again .

[CU64]

Montreal to New York cruise on Cunard about 20 yrs ago. MD on board said to take 25 mg Dramamine. People at dinner could not walk/dishes falling off tables. I was afraid it would put me to sleep. It worked well. I took it before I felt seasick which is the trick.

Barbara

[rcsharp121]

I use the wrist bands when feeling any sort of sea sickness coming on. We had rough seas in Alaska, in 2010, and was never sea sick with the bands on.

We are also traveling out of LA in February, like Colo Cruiser mentioned, join your roll call as there's always great info on there.

Enjoy your trip! :)

[jasbo49]

We are really looking fwd to this trip, but really concerned about sea sickness.

 

My guess is you're worrying over what will turn out to be no big deal. I think a BB category is pretty close to midship, right?

 

It seems to me most people who fear seasickness never experience it. My wife was worried about it before our first cruise, so we took only a 4-day trip. It turned out to be a non-issue.

 

Jim