Rosalie B. wrote:
"Donal" wrote:

My advice first of all for your friend would be - find a place to go
out on a boat in rough weather and see how you feel. How do you feel
on roller coasters and other amusement rides. If you can do those
things, you probably won't get sick on a cruise ship.

"Scotty" wrote in message
...
I have a non-boating friend who's going on a cruise next
week. He's concerned about seasickness. I told him ginger is
a good cure. I bought him a box of Ginger Snaps ( more for a
joke ). Should he start munching on these before he steps
onboard or wait till / if he feels bad?
I'll add my opinion to all the rest.

Seasickness is 50% physical and 50% in the mind. It is triggered by
confusion between the signals from the eyes and ears(balance).

The treatment for the physical 50% is easy. Get Stugeron. Take *half* a
tablet one hour before setting sail. A whole tablet seems to cause
uncomfortable drowsiness.

The treatment for the "in the mind" side is also quite simple. Look at the
horizon .... this will synchronise the signals from the eyes and ears. On a
sailboat, this is easy. However, on a cruise ship this will be a bit more
difficult. If it is at all rough, then you should stay on the upper decks
where you can look at the horizon if your stomach begins to feel a bit
funny. After the first 24 hours the problem is likely to dissappear.

I have only gotten motion sick a couple of times - once I had an
earache and was reading in the car. I've been on a ferry crossing
the English channel where the waves were crashing over the bow and
virtually everyone else was sick except me and my mom (my dad was
sick). My mom got us a seat where it was warm but by a window and we
drank hot tea.

My grandson who is out in his dad's power boat a lot, fishing, was on
our boat while we were bashing into the waves. There are fixed
portholes in the bow, and all the little boys (3 grandsons) were up in
the V birth watching the water splash over the portholes. They
thought it was an exciting thrill ride. This grandson got bored of it
though, and lay down on the floor to play with his Gameboy - and
promptly got sick. Lost all his cred with his cousins.

My son was getting queasy in the cockpit, but he couldn't take my
husband's usual remedy (saltines) because he'd just had his tonsils
out, and his throat was very sore.

I can get seasick in a very short time. However, I have always managed to
prevent the decent into hell by getting onto deck quickly, and concentrating
on the horizon. If I get on deck quickly enough, I am fully recovered in
under a minute. I once took 20 minutes .... and it was touch and go for
most of it!!

One of the first times we went out on our boat we were going south
from the Patuxent to the Potomac and there was a south wind which had
been blowing for some time. We left about 10 - it was a cold April
day. The tide was going out (against the wind) and the boat was
banging into the square waves and taking green water over the bow.

I was at the wheel, and I did start to get a little queasy, but Bob
kept saying that being at the helm was the best thing for me. At one
point the anchor came loose and was banging up and down on the bow.
Bob had to go out and secure it. We didn't have any jacklines, and I
knew if he went overboard I couldn't get him back, but he hung on
tight and did the job. He also had to go out a little later and take
down the staysail.

Finally about 3:30 in the afternoon, I said to him - you HAVE to take
the wheel, I can't do this anymore. So he did. I dropped a pencil,
and leaned over to pick it up, and had an moment of intense nausea
(but did not throw up), and then when I sat up, it all went away and I
was completely fine. I think the uneasy feeling I had been
experiencing was nervous tension from having to hand steer for that
length of time.



Enjoy your (non-boating friend's) cruise.



Regards


Donal

Only times I have ever gotten queasy on a boat was in extreme heat and
humidity with lolling, glassy seas...rough weather usually provides
enough activity that you don't have time to sit and think about being
seasick...object is focus...if you focus on doing something, it will
alleviate the situation....