Motion on the Ocean; a guide to seasickness on a cruise

Apr 17, 2009

 It doesn’t happen often, but once in a while I’ll get a call from someone who says “I don’t like cruising” or “Cruising’s not for me”. My immediate response it to ask “How many cruises have you been on?” Usually the answer is either ‘never’ or ‘one, about 15 years ago’. And when I further ask why cruising might not be up one’s alley (or ocean), one of the most common reasons is seasickness.
Now I respect one’s individuality when it comes to travel and I totally understand that not all kinds of travel are good for all kinds of people. But if you haven’t tried a cruise in the last 7 or 8 years, you’ve really missed an evolution in the industry. There are many reasons to take a cruise, but the little ditty here in today’s World According To blog is more about ruling out “seasickness” as a reason not to. The following bits of info should clear up a few falacies:

-Every year the words “state-of-the-art” take on a whole new meaning. The newer and newest ships are equipped with better and better Global Positioning Systems (GPS), advanced equipment and even “wings” (think airplane) underneath the ship to stabilize motion.

-The sensation of sea legs is a real phenomenon. During or even after your first cruise, you may feel like you body is on a moving sidewalk for a short while, but it subsides after a short while and goes away completely after you take on another cruise vacation. These feelings are mostly effected by your lower extremeties and shouldn’t have any effect on feeling nasty in the noggin.

-A ship is not a “boat”. Today’s passenger ships are designed with all the comforts of luxury hotels; from the structure of the vessel itself to personal amenties as common as the little shampoo bottles in the bathroom and concierge service, to some unique amenities such as your own personal stateroom attendant who oversees the tidiness of your room ’round the clock and even makes cute little towel animals to greet you at night. If need be, he can even provide you with some warm milk and hot water bottle if the ocean is too much on your motion. While your amenities are designed to keep you cozy, most of the time…you won’t even know the ship is moving.

-Pills Pressure Points & Patches: All three offer outstanding remedies for the sensitive type. On the rare occasion that the ship is rocking before its docking, dropping a bonine pill down the hatch provides a safe and effective cure of the “whoa’s”. The patch behind the ear is the most popular preventative measure to take; it provides a timed-release dosage of small amounts of medication to help you cope. Put this on before the cruise and you’ll never feel queasy again. You may get a raspy voice or a little bit of blurred vision (side effects), but your cruise will sail on happily with you on the bow screaming “I’m king of the world!!”. Finally, you could opt for the wrist band pressure point remedy. These bands provide no medication but supposedly they massage pressure points that help eliminate supress the sway.

-Another consideration if you’re still worried about motion on the ocean is to take an “inland” cruise like Alaska or the Mediterranean . These types of cruises typically sail fairly close to land; the area of ocean where its less likely to have excessive motion.

-And finally..choose your cabin strategically. Simple physics states that the lower and more center of gravity you place an object, the more stable it is. Select your cabin on a lower floor and as center to the ship as possible–even an interior cabin versus an ocean view cabin will have a more positive effect on supressing motion.

Now, get out there and take a cruise. If you don’t have fun, you can have all your pumpkin seeds back.