Straight from a ship engineer!

[Gon2hwe]

:( The reason more people are cruiseing now is because of a better ride and not getting seasick. If they stop giving us a smoother ride we'll have to quit riding.

[jillyfish]

It definitely is a comfort to know that people have had great success with the bands - I got a link from someone else about a digital one and I definitely think I am going to give it a whirl..and back it up with Bonine just in case! Thanks so much - :D

I have been reading the great effects of Ginger on eliminating motion sickness. We are going to bring along and try Ginger capsules................just in case :o and bring Bonine as a backup.

Happy Sailing!! :)

[Dolphins]

I have been reading the great effects of Ginger on eliminating motion sickness. We are going to bring along and try Ginger capsules................just in case :o and bring Bonine as a backup.

Happy Sailing!! :)

 

It is best to take Bonine (generic Meclizine) before you sail. Use the Ginger capsules as the back-up whenever conditions get bad or you start to feel queasy. Once you get sick, it's too late for Bonine.

[mohavemommy]

They seem to be raising the fuel surcharge now as well. See this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=14427743

[nrdsb4]

That is my worry about the patch - I have heard some people use it and have amazing success and others use it and get extremely ill...I am really petite and would worry that since it's a set prescription for everyone that it would knock me for a loop...I would really like to try it but I guess I am fairly worried about what could happen as a result....I wish I was just born with my darn SEA LEGS like the rest of my family who have absolutely no issues at all!

 

I found a list of possible scopalamine side effects: note, many people experience none of these.

 

Scopolamine is a prescription drug in the family of chemicals known as belladonna alkaloids (belladonna from the Italian for beautiful lady. Renaissance women took belladonna to get dilated pupils, an effect of scopolamine). Scopolamine should not be used by people with glaucoma. Its side effects can include dry mouth (the most common side effect,) dilated pupils with blurred vision, drowsiness, disorientation, confusion, memory disturbances, dizziness, restlessness, hallucinations, and difficulty urinating. When you stop using the patches you can also get disorientation, confusion, memory disturbances, dizziness, and restlessness.

Scopolamine's side effects are not predictable. You could have used it without problems many times before and still develop an untoward reaction. Some of the side effects are similar to the effects of nitrogen narcosis, and even if you're having a mild reaction to the scopolamine (and maybe not even know it) the reaction could be more pronounced at depth.

[wildcatlh]

That is my worry about the patch - I have heard some people use it and have amazing success and others use it and get extremely ill...I am really petite and would worry that since it's a set prescription for everyone that it would knock me for a loop...I would really like to try it but I guess I am fairly worried about what could happen as a result....I wish I was just born with my darn SEA LEGS like the rest of my family who have absolutely no issues at all!

 

My wife is petite, and the patch made her sicker than seasickness ever would have on our cruise on the Enchantment back in November... dizziness, blurred vision, all kinds of side effects. We're skipping the patches on our cruise in a few weeks.

[mohavemommy]

I bring the patch with me just in case... but tend to stick with the Meclazine. It works the best for me.

[gatrbait]

Are we still using the stabalizer excuse or was it just that the seas were pretty rough for a bit?

How are they now?

[Jimmers]

Yippee, now I can feel like I'm on a ship in the ocean.

[flahagan]

We were on the infamous Navigator cruise that got stuck in Lisbon due to a broken stabilizer.

 

We had a relatively smooth seas on our transatlantic crossing, with swells at most 6-9 feet. That said, we really rocked and rolled for several days after we left Bermuda, and the pools had to be taped off as they were spewing out so much water.

 

They cut off the aft stabilizers in Lisbon, and from that point on, we had the smoothest sail ever, couldn't even tell we were moving! Even approaching the Straits of Gibraltar, where the seas were very choppy and the winds were so strong you could barely go out on a deck, the ship sailed smoothly.

 

We were all puzzled at this, and wondered if the broken stabilizer was actually making us experience more motion?

[kidless]

On our Mariner cruise we noticed more motion in the ocean even on days when the water appeared calm. DH said he didn't think they were using the stabilizers most likely in an effort to save gas.

 

I have never gotten sea sick on a cruise but there were a couple times I felt a little quesy............lucky I always take Dramine with me....and it is a lot cheaper then oil. :D

[ehfl]

Great news....ships that actually feel like ships. For those that don't like the ocean or it's motion, then maybe a vacation aboard a ship is not the best choice? Just seems logical to me.

[RCCLCARIB]

WOW!! I hope I don't get sick in 6 ft seas w/out stabilizers!:)

[jules815]

Yikes! My husband and I enjoy a little rocking when we cruise, but we've talked our friends into going with next month, and all along we've been telling him, "you won't even feel like you're on a ship, they have stabilizers!" :eek:

 

(One of them has gotten very sea sick on a smaller fishing boat in the ocean, so has never been interested in cruising. His wife wanted to go for her 50th b-day. Good thing he'll be wearing the patch!"

[mtncouple]

No kidding! It is such a scam....$$ for extra bag, $$ for isle or window seat...$$ for overweight luggage....what next..... pay toilets???? :eek:

 

***

 

No free food on the plane anymore now. Heard it on the news last night:eek:

[Cruising Greek]

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

They owe you a cruise, not a calm ride.

 

My goodness......

 

I agree! Last I checked, only God could control the seas. How are they to guarantee a smooth ride?

 

I'd rather them save me some money on the cruise. The price of airline tickets just to GET to the cruise are going up by the day. This will start hurting the cruise lines more and more. They shouldn't add to their own misery.

[G'ma]

I rode an elevator with what turned out to be a senior ship engineer. I asked him why our ship was rocking and rolling in relatively calm seas, 4-6 foot. His reply to me was: "Due to fuel prices they and other cruise lines are no longer deploying their stailizers to reduce drag in the water." Therefore we should all expect a less than smooth voyage in the future. He also said the stabilizers cause the ship to burn up to 10% more fuel. I thought that the fuel surcharge was to offset skyrocketing fuel prices. Go figure. :(

 

Poppycock! Someone pulled your leg---thoroughly!!

[Cruising Greek]

WHY DON'T they put a couple of Sails up to cut down on fuel costs ??

 

 

 

 

 

jj.....

 

Nice idea, but what are the chances that the wind will always be from the back of the ship? People are complaining about stabilizers. If the wind isn't at the ships back, then they have to start tacking upwind. Good luck keeping people happy then, lol!

[Cruising Greek]

As a teen I got to school via the subway, and of course as goofy teens we did not sit we walked thru the cars to find friends and so on. That is about the same as being on the sea. So I have sea legs and just walk the way I did in the subways ( the old cars are not like the sissy ones we were on today; they bumped you all over). It got to the point where I could stand without holding on. So it is all about getting used to it.

 

Barbara,

 

What a coincidence! I, too, am a veteran of the NYC Subway system. That's where I got my sea legs.

[TEXASMUNK]

So we can give this thread a proper burial.

[Mark_K]

So we can give this thread a proper burial.

Thank gatrbait. It was nicely dead and buried until he resurrected it.

[Maraprince]

Not using the stablizers is nothing new. Even before the cruise lines started using the larger ships, this was done to keep from burning more fuel and there was an issue of fuel costs rising. Only difference now is that larger ships use more fuel and cost more to operate.

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[cruzincurt]

It's not necessarily the height of the waves that can cause motion. In even a relatively "low" sea, if the swells are timed just right and coming from the wrong direction, the ship will "gallop" slowly up and down, front to back, with the swells. No stabilizer is going to fix that motion.

[sdmike]

I could have paid a LOT less money to barf somewhere.