Cruises and seasickness

[mummysmagicmedicine]

I have been known to feel nauseous on smaller boats sometimes and so has DH. Kids haven’t really been on a proper boat but no car sickness or air sickness. We are looking at a cruise holiday in summer either a Caribbean cruise or a European one from Southampton but I am concerned if we will feel motion sick. I am emetophobic as well so I feel like it would panic me but I love the idea of exploring so many destinations in one holiday!

Any advice or stories positive or negative please fire away!

I get travel and motion sickness from things like small boats, travelling in a car if I’m not driving etc. Went on a 2 week med cruise last year on a large NCL ship and didn’t need the Kwells I took at all, despite all the booze I consumed :)

The ship was so large and the summer med sea was calm. I chose to avoid sailing from the UK to avoid the North Sea but I suspect I’d have been fine with that too.

Just buy meds for your all and take them on the cruise incase!

I went on my 1st cruise at 13. I'd never had car sickness, nor been sick in smaller boats beforehand, but on the cruise I felt rough! Only for a few days, but it was awful!

You can also buy wrist bands which have a plastic, half ball which pushes on a pressure point. I'm unsure how affective these are, but the meds did help me.

Have you had any counselling/CBT/Hypno for your emetophobia yet?

I was worried about that too but I just took a sea sickness tablet every day and I was fine.

I too will never take another North Sea crossing, DH and DC's were fine below deck whilst I spent the overnight hours freezing on the upper deck and quelling the nausea.
I have a friend who went on a Disney cruise in the Caribbean and she was fine until the remnants of an early autumn hurricane jostled the cruise ship and she felt very ill.
I truly think you will be okay on a larger cruise ship as long as there has been no unsettled weather to rock the boat!

As someone whose 1st cruise was from the UK, and who endured a Force 9 storm crossing the Bay of Biscay, my advice would be don't cruise from the UK. Plenty of cruises start off from mainland Europe.

I have a condition which affects my balance and causes nausea, but I’m generally fine on cruise ships. The modern ones really do not move much, at all. On a recent cruise, there was one rough day when we had breakfast served in the cabin. I took the lid off, “noped” straight out of the room and on to the main deck. I was fine then though and in more than 200 days at sea, I think I’ve felt sick twice. Go for it, cruising is fab!

I have been on cruises to Northern Europe and Norway from Southampton - you barely realise you’re on a ship, occasional movement but nothing really.
Also, I don’t really get seasick but I would definitely avoid a cruise from Southampton down through the Bay of Biscay. Heard too many true stories of big seas and sickness!
Northern Europe is pretty safe from Southampton or fly to Spain/Greece and join a ship. Much less risk!

I'm fine on big cruise ships, you rarely feel them moving, but I always take Sturgeron as a precaution. DH (who served in the Navy) tells me to avoid sailing across the Bay of Biscay and the North Sea, but if you're round the Med or Caribbean in the non-stormy seasons you should be fine.

DH gets seasick from everything, small boat to large ferries. No way would he go on a cruise.

He can do a boat trip if he is outside for a short while but never indoors, he slept outside crossing the channel one year.

This is exactly why I’d never risk a cruise. I am extremely prone to motion sickness and I’d never take a cruise for this reason(And others) Some people will tell you that you won’t get sick on a cruise but you most certainly can. Even a very experienced friend became very ill on her last mediterranean cruise. For me it just isn’t worth the risk but it might be worth it for you.

Take some with you but I have never felt even the slightest bit motion sick on a cruise

Why would you even consider it if you have emetophobia? There are so many other holidays you could have.

Also eating a green apple is a well known antidote to sea sickness

Bonkers.

And don't watch the film 'The sad Triangle' - although it is a very good film

Sorry - it's called The Triangle of Sadness

I would never risk a cruise, having actually been seasick on a boat, I can just about manage a ferry crossing providing I’m well dosed up and it’s for a short duration. It would be my worst nightmare.

You won't feel anything hardly, they are big ships with stabilisers.

Thanks all for your replies! If sailing from Southampton isn’t recommended I may wait til DC are older as I liked the ease of driving to Southampton then going on a cruise🙈

We are going on our second family cruise around the Med this summer. The first one in April 2016 sailed from Southampton and we got stuck in a storm across the Bay of Biscay. It was BAD. So we won't be sailing from there again!

If you do decide to go, there are recommendations to choose a stateroom lower down in the ship and midships, as there is less movement there. But generally speaking, the ships are very stable and routings will change if possible to accommodate weather patterns; the cruise lines want everyone to have a good time.

I agree with this.

My advice is a fly cruise to either the med or Carribean.

Ships these days have stabilisers and are incredible at minimising the roll in mild seas but depending on a number of factors you can still find it rocky.

Dramamine was the answer the Captain gave on my last cruise when he did a Q & A and was asked if he got sea sick.

If you want to sail
from Southampton look at Norway - that way you avoid the Bay of Biscay.