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Wind and Rough Seas


cruiselife

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My wife and I are leaving for our 3rd cruise together on Sunday and for the 3rd straight time each of our scheduled ports are forecasted for cloudy conditions and high winds. The winds are forecasted for between 20-35 mph at each of the ports with a 20-50% chance of rain. I wanted to reach out to more experienced cruisers and see how much wind is enough to where it could cause some movement at sea. I am trying to stay positive but I am also pretty sensitive to motion sickness and want to make sure I am prepared for anything we may experience. I would also love some advice on motion sickness remedies that work the best.

Hopefully one of these years we will book a cruise and get perfect weather. We are 0 for 3 so far. Here's to hoping the weather report is wrong.

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There are a few variables that can affect things.  For example, the size of the ship will greatly impact the amount of movement you feel, as a 25mph wind will move around Majesty more than Oasis (for example). The same is true for where you're sailing - as the shape and depth of the ocean floor and other factors affect swells.  Another variable is how large the storm systems are.  There are times the forecast may be quite bad, but if the storms are isolated enough, the ship may be able to sail around them, providing you with great weather - but views of a storm miles off from where you are.  

What ship are you sailing on?  One consideration, depending on your route, is that the straights of FL can be one of the rougher spots, where the rest of the sailing may be smooth.  

There are some tips for avoiding motion sickness at the below link, as well as information on how ships handle seas, but in short, stay mid-ship, look at the ocean (somewhat contrary to what many thing), and keep in mind the things you can eat/take/wear that will help (ginger, green apples, sea bands, OTC meds, etc.)

http://www.cruisehabit.com/first-time-cruiser-series-im-worried-ill-get-seasick-do-you-feel-ship-move-seasick

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Do you always cruise around the same time? If so, maybe consider picking a different time of year to get the best experience. I do not get motion sick myself but my parents and friends do and have recommended the pill (even if not feeling effects yet best to beat it before it happens) or the patch behind the ear. These are just what I have been told by others who suffer from motion sickness. 

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1 hour ago, #cruiselife said:

 I am also pretty sensitive to motion sickness and want to make sure I am prepared for anything we may experience. I would also love some advice on motion sickness remedies that work the best.

 

I can be sensitive to it too, especially if I am dehydrated and it's been a while since I have eaten, like the early morning. My favorite strategy is sucking on a hard ginger candy (I order them from Amazon) and a glass of water followed by a meal including a green apple. Every ship has piles of them in the Windjammer. To me, it gets me back to feeling great the quickest. I have used dramamine and bonine, and I don't like how they make me feel. I have not tried the patch, because I have only been queezy a couple of times.

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Just now, DunkelBierJay said:

I can be sensitive to it too, especially if I am dehydrated and it's been a while since I have eaten, like the early morning. My favorite strategy is sucking on a hard ginger candy (I order them from Amazon) and a glass of water followed by a meal including a green apple. Every ship has piles of them in the Windjammer. To me, it gets me back to feeling great the quickest. I have used dramamine and bonine, and I don't like how they make me feel. I have not tried the patch, because I have only been queezy a couple of times.

When we were on Grandeur going around Hurricane Jose..... my wife bought everything out there "just in case" ---- She ended up really loving the patch..... the only down side was that it made her drowsy...... but like a champ, she muscled through so she could have fun in the VCL at night.

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3 minutes ago, coneyraven said:

the only down side was that it made her drowsy...... but like a champ, she muscled through so she could have fun in the VCL at night.

@coneyraven was she drowsy the whole time wearing it? Can you drink alcohol with it? We are on Grandeur in 100 days (yes I just checked Ship Mate! LOL) and husband has never cruised. We are booked on 6 additional cruises so this one better be a good one for sea sickness! LOL

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28 minutes ago, Boston Babe said:

@coneyraven was she drowsy the whole time wearing it? Can you drink alcohol with it? We are on Grandeur in 100 days (yes I just checked Ship Mate! LOL) and husband has never cruised. We are booked on 6 additional cruises so this one better be a good one for sea sickness! LOL

Let me put it this way ...... It's a good thing they had plenty of Coors Light and Bloody Mary Mix on hand.

Now, did the alcohol enhance the drowsiness?  I don't know ........ But she muscled through it like a Champ -- the upside is, she slept extremely well in spite of Hurricane Jose.

21742905_1854851304532137_6466580741042080_n.jpg

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44 minutes ago, Boston Babe said:

@coneyraven was she drowsy the whole time wearing it? Can you drink alcohol with it? We are on Grandeur in 100 days (yes I just checked Ship Mate! LOL) and husband has never cruised. We are booked on 6 additional cruises so this one better be a good one for sea sickness! LOL

The patch is a 3 day use patch. I never had it come off in water. I never did get drowsy, and they do recommend applying the patch at least 1 hour prior to the activity. You can drink alcohol, it can enhance drowsiness but its barely noticeable. Also these write band I wore and seemed to work well. I've even used them on coasters and been fine.

Motion Sickness Bands - Amazon

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Wind by itself is not an indication of how much motion will be experienced. 

While wind does drive waves, not all waves are equal and it's much more than wave height that determines if you will feel motion. 

Waves crests and troughs that are close to each other (high pitch) tend to have less effect compared to when they are spaced out (low pitch).  The difference between the crest and the trough are also a factor in feeling motion.  Lastly wave direction relative to ship heading plays a big role in feeling motion.     Sailing directly into the wind and waves can feel fine but if the wind and waves are coming from the side you might feel it more.

All this to say you can't look at a wind forecast and expect to know if there will be motion felt.  Often with moderate winds you feel nothing at all.  In fact three of my last sailing had high winds at times where they had to close the upper decks but the ship exhibited no motion at all.

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I just experienced that type of weather forecast... clouds, wind and waves.  There was definitely motion for most of the cruise.  

I think there's no shame in taking Bonine or some other medicine preemptively if you are worried about it. The main side effect of these kinds of medicines is it makes you drowsy at some point, so an afternoon nap is hardly much of a price to pay.  

The bottom line, is don't let the weather forecast scare you.  The Captain will always look for the smoothest path possible, but motion in the ocean is not to say you cannot have a good time either.  

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Luckily (knock on wood) I don't tend to be affected but my wife is very susceptible to motion sickness.  We board with Dramamine and a prescription nausea medication and she's always got the sea bands on.  That is usually enough.   Only once did we lose her and that was on the Freedom when it cut across the tail of a TS/Hurricane in the Bahamas (lots of people were affected that night).   That was for about 7-8 hours. 

She won't use the patch.    A long time ago, we had a very bad experience with the patch where all the sensations that it deadens at sea came back to her on land.  Walking through EPCOT made her feel nauseous and she felt as she was on a rocking boat and it lasted for several days.    However, that was from the first generation of the patch which I believe they subsequently pulled from the market for a while so I don't think that will be the case now.  But she's still gun-shy after that experience.   

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On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 10:17 AM, Matt said:

I just experienced that type of weather forecast... clouds, wind and waves.  There was definitely motion for most of the cruise.  

I think there's no shame in taking Bonine or some other medicine preemptively if you are worried about it. The main side effect of these kinds of medicines is it makes you drowsy at some point, so an afternoon nap is hardly much of a price to pay.  

The bottom line, is don't let the weather forecast scare you.  The Captain will always look for the smoothest path possible, but motion in the ocean is not to say you cannot have a good time either.  

I think this was great advice Matt. We just got back from the sailing and it was far and away the most motion that we have ever experienced. There was no stormy weather or anything like that and the seas didn't look all that rough, but the ship was rocking quite a bit for the majority of the cruise. However, for the first time on a cruise, I experienced practically no motion sickness and I also didn't ever take any Dramamine or Bonine. I try to avoid these because I drink a lot on cruises also don't want to get drowsy. Instead I bought a ginger supplement at the grocery store that I took 3 times daily starting the day before and continued throughout the cruise. I also had a green apple with breakfast every morning. Who knows if this is what worked for me, but I will definitely be applying this method to future cruises because there really are no negative side effects. I recommend trying this method next time, but still brining along your preferred medicine just in case.

Thank you to everyone who gave ideas and advice. We had a great cruise despite the motion that we were worried about.

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16 minutes ago, Ray said:

Was it a Disney ship you were on? If it was that may explain the motion :8_laughing::8_laughing:

It was the Carnival Breeze. I doubt it really had anything to do with it, but we joked that we thought Carnival's stabilizer game was weak. When we were on Liberty the seas seemed just as rough, but we didn't feel the same motion. There's no way to know for sure, as my method for measuring motion in the seas is very unscientific and flawed (My eyes).

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