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Harmony end of March.. anyone who tells you those big ships don't move is full of it!


MamaG

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We left Canaveral on March 13th, when Florida was having a cold snap. The first 3 days at sea were so rocky. We went down to St Maarten on the Atlantic side. Everyone was feeling it those first few days, I saw many people bumping into poles and others trying to catch their balance (so it wasn't just me). Things in our room were literally swaying back and forth. There were more seasick cleanups than I've ever seen on a ship. I was certain I was gonna get sick a few times, thank goodness I didn't. (I had bonine and Dramamine just in case.) I'm just curious if spring is more windy/rocky like that? We've never gone in spring time before. Thankfully by the time we got into the Caribbean ocean the rocking settled a bit, but we still moved around quite a lot the whole cruise. Sidenote - My poor husband is one of the rare people that suffer what they call reverse motion sickness. Everytime we get off a cruise he feels like he's moving for just about as long as we were on the cruise. So he just started feeling better a few days ago.

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We were on that cruise and I can attest to the motion Sunday and Monday!  CK was rocking & rolling at dinner way up on deck 17 and by Monday afternoon, daughter & I took Dramamine & a nap.  But when we got up later that day it seemed to have stopped. Certainly didn’t feel anything else the rest of the week.  I also didn’t see anyone getting sick or bumping into things🤷‍♀️.  My daughter is VERY prone to motion sickness and had no issues after Monday.  Funny how people can have such different experiences on the same cruise!

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We were on Symphony of the Seas the second week of March and we felt it. We always have our doctor prescribe the patch for us so it helped. I believe this month was an anomaly and not a good month. They had to cancel the Aqua Show several times our week and the previous week they did not perform because of the weather conditions. The director said it was the first time ever they experienced continuous weather conditions that prevented them from performing. They said we were going through 21 foot waves.

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I always laugh when people ask about the ship movement during hurricane season (June - November). I've found that the ships move much more during the late winter/early spring when there are cold fronts moving in all the time across the area which brings the wind and rockier seas.

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Good to know spring is often rough.. Not sure I'll do another spring one again, then. Even our ports were cloudy/rainy sometimes. Much nicer in the summer. Some of the crew were talking about how they've never it seen it that bad. I wasn't sure if they were newer, or if it really was rocking that badly. The captain said at one point that we had winds gusting up to 50mph on the ship because of headwind and us going fast.

@Pooch I've never seen their rolling cart to clean up sick before this cruise.. I saw it multiple times on this one. The little vacuum and lots of sanitizing cleaner bottles. Once it came out in the dining room. 🤮 I was really glad it wasn't me.

It was hard to tell who was drunk or not those first few days. 😂

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I remember him saying it would take til later Tuesday to get out of the bad weather but it seemed to clear by Monday afternoon.  I assume he hit the gas to get us clear ASAP.  As I said I slept most of Monday afternoon so maybe I missed what you witnessed.  When I got up, hubby & son were in the hot tub on the suites deck.

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@MamaG We were on the Oasis March 13, 2022. I haven't felt motion like that since about 15 sailings ago when we first started cruising. Yes on the smaller ships I became acclimated  but I never even felt motion on the Oasis class. I bring a little first aid bag with me every sailing & the first evening after dinner I turned green. I have sea sick patches prescribed & I usually wind up throwing them out, oh boy not this time. All I kept thinking was I NEVER felt movement on this class before. I am so glad I had those patches, no alcohol and nasty cotton mouth until probably Tuesday but I was so happy I wasn't arrogant in thinking I would never need them on the big ship. By Tuesday though things calmed down, yes aqua shows were cancelled but I'm just glad my sailing wasn't ruined by my pretty shade of green, albeit St Patricks Day was that week. Moral of this story better to have and not need then to need and not have, I was very uncomfortable for a hot second. 

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1 hour ago, Neesa said:

@MamaG We were on the Oasis March 13, 2022. I haven't felt motion like that since about 15 sailings ago when we first started cruising. Yes on the smaller ships I became acclimated  but I never even felt motion on the Oasis class. I bring a little first aid bag with me every sailing & the first evening after dinner I turned green. I have sea sick patches prescribed & I usually wind up throwing them out, oh boy not this time. All I kept thinking was I NEVER felt movement on this class before. I am so glad I had those patches, no alcohol and nasty cotton mouth until probably Tuesday but I was so happy I wasn't arrogant in thinking I would never need them on the big ship. By Tuesday though things calmed down, yes aqua shows were cancelled but I'm just glad my sailing wasn't ruined by my pretty shade of green, albeit St Patricks Day was that week. Moral of this story better to have and not need then to need and not have, I was very uncomfortable for a hot second. 

We were on oasis the following week so doing the western itinerary instead of eastern…. It was still rocky at times and extremely windy… top deck was closed the last two days and we saw multiple people stumble… got to the point where my daughter would actually walk closer than normal to older guests and reach out a hand to help them… proud mama moments…. Also, the aqua show went without a hitch the first night available but our show on the second day was cancelled about 10 minutes in because a diver slipped off the board due to motion and injured himself. They stopped the show immediately and rescheduled to the last day of the cruise hit at 7pm… I had honestly never been to an aqua show in daylight before but it went off without a hitch and we were happy to see it… as we were leaving the cancelled show, we walked past the cruise director on his walkie and he immediately knew the day and time he wanted to reschedule it for due to when he knew the ship would be in calmer ocean…. I was impressed and thought it a great touch that he made that call immediately and it was updated in the app, announced and reservations transferred all within 15 minutes. 

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We were on OA with @Neesaon March 13th and I can vouch for the motion the first 2 days or so of that sailing.  Awful.  Most I have ever felt on an Oasis class ship.  There were even bags out on the stairs by the second night. My daughters and I always pack our motion meds for every cruise (and flying) but this time we ran out lol.  Good thing one of the stops San Juan and there was a CVS and Walgreens.

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We were on HOS the week before -March 6-13. And I said to my daughter that I've never really felt the Oasis Class ships move like I did that trip! There was a lot of wind some nights and gentle rocking (I slept like a baby). But the night of the 12th the storm blew in and at night our suite was creaking! We didn't get sea sick, just stunned that we actually felt the ship rocking. Maybe this March was worse than others??

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I can't and don't want to imagine what it would have been like on a much smaller ship.  My very first cruise on Brand X cruise lines was on a smaller ship, not much of a "Freedom" or "Dream" from the movement.  I have been in similar seas on Oasis and Symphony and yes, there was movement.  But, man it wasn't near as bad. 

I'm still going to stick with Quantum and Oasis class ships.  But, that is just me! 😀

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Any ship, no matter the size is subject to the prevailing winds and swell.  Designers can mitigate ship movement with stabilisers and such, but it can never be eliminated. That being said, I know for sure Royal are really good at routing their ships to avoid the really bad weather.

We have had one cruise (Serenade) which was a tad lumpy using the seaward passage around the Bahamas. Personally, I loved it but then again I spent 10 years bobbing across the worlds oceans in the Royal Navy. There were other passengers, my wife Shery chief among them, for whom I had the deepest sympathy.

On the plus side, the pub was virtually empty for 2 days

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46 minutes ago, Fairlynew said:

What motion sickness medicine do you recommend?  I've never needed it, but one of my travel companions does.

Depends on what works for that person - we have never used it but keep a small supply of bonine on hand just in case. The medical clinic will very likely have a tub with single-serve packets of generic dramamine (often on a wall outside the clinic door so it is available 24/7) - some people swear by the patches or the bracelets and unfortunately it's sort of experimental. All ships carry Gosling's ginger beer (to make Dark and Stormy drinks, yum) - try a can of that to settle the stomach in a pinch.

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13 hours ago, Fairlynew said:

What motion sickness medicine do you recommend?  I've never needed it, but one of my travel companions does.

I used to only rely on Dramamine, but it always made me so sleepy. I read that bonine doesn't cause sleepiness so I tried it this last cruise and I didn't get sleepy, yay! But I do think it depends on the person. Maybe try both on land to see if one makes you sleepy.

 

A lot of people like the patches, but I can't stand the dry mouth.. I could drink a gallon of water in 30 mins and still feel dry. I hate it.. plus it makes me feel dizzy.

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Can anyone advise on transatlantic, New Jersey to England across the Atlantic? We luckily have never gotten seasick but have only cruised in the Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. We've cruised at various times of the year and have experienced storms and hurricanes but we were not affected physically even though we felt the boat rock, small things fall off counters like others have reported. Now that we are booked on a transatlantic I have this impression based on TV and movies that it will be on another level however it is likely irrational. But after reading this thread I researched "May transatlantic weather" and found this post on another site from 13 years ago:

"Having crossed the North Atlantic many times at all times of the year and on vessels as varied as a 9000t tramp powered by a balky Doxford and the smooth pod powered progression of the QM2, I can categorically state that the weather in May will be fine and sunny, grey and dank, warm enough to sunbathe, freezing cold, dry and crisp, pouring down with rain and/or wind driven sleet and snow, calm with zephyr breezes, howling gales, sea like a mill pond, mountainous waves, occasional hailstorms,glorious sunshine and dense fog. Then on the second day........"

Normally I disregard all worries about sea sickness but now I'm a little worried....

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