# Sea sickness and cruise cabins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786 "2015-03-11T22:30:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/21 "2015-03-12T11:46:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Oh - our one problem on the QE2 was the opposite of seasick. When we got off the ship we had a problem with the land not moving. I experienced this too - it wasn’t exactly a problem, but the not-moving land was notably different from having been on the ship for a week or so. FWIW the ship I was on (not the QE2) didn’t move around much. my understanding was that it had [active stabilization.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilizer_(ship)) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Milton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6bbea6/32.png) [@Mr.Milton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Milton)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/22 "2015-03-12T13:34:16Z")
Mr. Michelson is quite right. If you are prone to seasickness (as I am), you will experience it pretty much anywhere on a ship. Just a little less so in some areas than others. Amidships around the ship’s center of motion you would experience less percieved motion, but you will probably want to go to other areas of the vessel as they have good dining facilities and shows and so on, and they can’t put everything amidships. FWIW, I’ve done cruises on cruise ships and those big nuclear powered ones with the flat tops. On the latter, the hangar bay was the most comfortable in terms of not getting queasy. The “seeing the horizion” thing makes me at least more and not less ill. I would very strongly recommend the scopalomine patches. I have used them, and find that the newer ones produce n discernable side effects. I have heard that if you barf on a cruise ship and the crew is aware of it, they may well believe you could be suffering from some virulent disease that could spread to the rest of the passengers vice simple seasickness and require you to spend the rest of your trip quarantined in your cabin. So IMHO, the best thing to do is to take the strongest measures aganst becoming seasick --thus I recommend the patches to you. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/23 "2015-03-12T14:39:04Z")
Pretty much any cruise ship built since about 1980 has active stabilization. Which varies in effectiveness depending on the sea state, swell direction, etc. But it’s always better than nothing. And another vote that on most ships, online access is low data rate, high latency, and scary-expensive. Preload the tablet with e-books and enjoy being **de** tached from the world, not **at** tached to it. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/24 "2015-03-12T15:28:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And another vote that on most ships, online access is low data rate, high latency, and scary-expensive. Preload the tablet with e-books and enjoy being **de** tached from the world, not **at** tached to it. This is starting to change some. The cruise line we like to use sent us a letter saying that people in our loyalty group (about 2 to 5 cruises) will now get wifi access included with out cruise. The high latency and low data rates still apply. But getting away from email and the like is absolutely one of the pluses of cruise vacations. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/25 "2015-03-12T16:57:43Z")
I get seasick and carsick everywhere, including on cruise ships. I cruise often. I found the interior cabin problematic because there were no distractions (waves, sky) and I could concentrate on the ship moving around me. But medication knocked that shit right out. As long as you have Dramamine (original formula, NOT non-drowsy), you’ll be fine. And it’ll make the excursions better too, if you go sailing anywhere. If you’ve ridden on a ferry without being sick (my god man!) you shouldn’t worry. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/26 "2015-03-12T17:55:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Pretty much any cruise ship built since about 1980 has active stabilization. Which varies in effectiveness depending on the sea state, swell direction, etc. But it’s always better than nothing. > > And another vote that on most ships, online access is low data rate, high latency, and scary-expensive. Preload the tablet with e-books and enjoy being **de** tached from the world, not **at** tached to it. My first cruise was 1980, so I’m pretty sure that the QE2 didn’t have it. I was fine the entire trip, and the North Atlantic was fairly smooth that trip. One thing I did learn - if you have a choice, go east to west not west to east like we did. You get an extra hour every day instead of losing one. Important in getting enough to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/27 "2015-03-12T17:59:34Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > This is starting to change some. The cruise line we like to use sent us a letter saying that people in our loyalty group (about 2 to 5 cruises) will now get wifi access included with out cruise. The high latency and low data rates still apply. But getting away from email and the like is absolutely one of the pluses of cruise vacations. When I absolutely had to be connected during our Mediterranean cruise, the internet was so slow as to be just about unusable. Play a game using it and you’ll get your ass whupped. But telling work that you are out of touch so don’t even bother is worth the prices of the cruise. Back to viewing sites - the ship card room, music room and library often have nice windows and nice chairs. I bought some CDs in Victoria BC before our Alaska cruise, and listening to them while watching the coast go by was a highlight of the trip. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/28 "2015-03-12T18:39:04Z")
I’m a former submariner, so I have plenty of experience being at sea and sleeping in an inside cabin. Thankfully, I never had any issues with seasickness. My wife, on the other hand, gets motion sick all of the time, so when we went on our first cruise (on the Disney Cruise Line), she insisted on an outside cabin. Personally, I loved having the balcony, too. When we took a Mediterranean cruise in 2013, we loved watching the Italian coast go by as we arrived each morning in a new port. I would never go an cruise without one. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/29 "2015-03-12T19:12:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Queen Mary 2 has four ‘VM Series’ folding fin stabilisers built by Brown Brothers of Edinburgh. There are one piece, passive type design (which means they don’t have flaps) and when combined reduce the ship’s roll by 90%. > Each stabiliser: > • weighs approximately 70 tonnes > • is 2.5 metres wide > • extends beyond the ship’s side by 6.25 metres > • has a surface area of 15.63 square metres > • provides 1070 kN lift > • takes approximately 30 seconds to extend or house [http://www.cunard.com/documents/press%20kits/queen%20mary%202/queen\_mary\_2\_technical.pdf](http://www.cunard.com/documents/press%20kits/queen%20mary%202/queen_mary_2_technical.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/30 "2015-03-12T19:37:26Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > [http://www.cunard.com/documents/press%20kits/queen%20mary%202/queen\_mary\_2\_technical.pdf](http://www.cunard.com/documents/press%20kits/queen%20mary%202/queen_mary_2_technical.pdf) Stabilizers? [Here’s one (pic in third post)](http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1907964). Looks like a symmetric airfoil (hydrofoil?) shape, as opposed to a simple flat flap; that thing is made to generate substantial amounts of force in the vertical direction, so they can kill a rolling motion before it really gets going. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/31 "2015-03-12T23:04:59Z")
> [@jezzaOZ](#): > > I remember on one trip between Australia and Europe in a cruise liner I had a terrific outside view. Unfortunately it was often underwater as the cabin was very close to the waterline. I threw up a fair bit in the first day or so. Then I was fine. > > May I recommend plenty of Orange juice - it tastes better than most when it comes back up. May I also recommend eating a full cooked breakfast as that seems to defeat much sea-sickness. I discovered that in a force 9 gale in the Atlantic on the Canberra. I made it to the breakfast hall and tucked in - one of the very few who did. Most passengers stayed in their cabins and were seasick for days. I had that experience, but on an older, smaller ship of Carnival Cruise lines in the Caribbean. The seas were so rough that it was difficult to walk down the hallways with out bumping into the walls. The dining room was nearly empty since almost everyone was sick. The only time I wasn’t sick was in bed, the ship seemed to rock me head to foot and I went right to sleep. It was an inside cabin, but in that extreme case it wouldn’t have mattered if it was outside. I’ve been on 8 cruises, and that was the only time I’ve ever been seasick. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/32 "2015-03-13T00:45:25Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I have read that people who book inside cabins often leave the TV on, set to show the live view from the deck. This gives an illusion of a window… Disney Cruise now has “virtual portholes” in their inside cabins that splice Disney characters into the live feed from outside. ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfyre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfyre/32/9972_2.png) [@Shadowfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfyre)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/33 "2015-03-13T21:17:04Z")
Venturing a bit into IMHO territory here, but I’ve been on 3 cruises in my life. Two of them have been in rooms with “windows”. My first cruise I was in an inside cabin. I didn’t know if I would get sea sick or not, but I loved it. I was hardly there but to sleep and when I wanted to sleep it was dark. Use a towel to block the light from under the cabin door and you couldn’t tell, visually, if your eyes were shut. My second cruise (honeymoon) on an older ship, had a window in the room. It was literally a porthole. A small round window with bolts and latch that was permanently painted shut. The company mounted a curtain over it. It let in a lot of light, even at night, but being on our honeymoon, I kinda enjoyed it. My last cruise was last year and we had a “window” room. Look, if your room is below the lowest deck, don’t bother with a window room. This window was so dirty on the outside from the salt spray, that it was nearly impossible to see out. It wasn’t made to be opened, so no chance of letting a refreshing breeze in. And it let a lot of light into the room in the morning. If I ever go on a cruise again, it will be in a room with a balcony where I can sit - tropical drink in hand - and enjoy the breeze and scenery. You can do that on the deck as well, but it gets rather loud and crowded. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/34 "2015-03-13T22:31:53Z")
I went on a river cruise with Viking. We were fortunate enough to have a balcony on the top deck. The cabins on the lowest deck were referred to as “Aquarium Class”. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786/35 "2015-03-14T00:10:31Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_York](#): > > We cruise a lot and my wife tries to find “obstructed view” cabins. These are on deck 8 on Princess cruise ships. They are the ones that have the life boats blocking the porthole. If you check the cabin diagram you will find that some cabins have very little obstruction and you get a pretty good view from the window. You should look on the cruise critic forum for more personal comments. [http://boards.cruisecritic.com/](http://boards.cruisecritic.com/) > We find that the higher decks are worse in bad weather. I’m fortunate enough not to be prone to seasickness. If the ride is really rough ( when the empty coat hangers in the closet start banging around ) I can get so I just want to stay reclined but rough seas actually make me really hungry. Room service icomes in handy at such times. I usually cruise on Princess and I prefer to be up in the bow (close to the gym and spa and away from the food - the buffet and restaurants are concentrated in the stern near the kitchens ). I don’t mind the extra motion, in fact I kind of like feeling the ocean. I always get a balcony cabin on Deck C -on the larger Princess ships that gets you an extra large balcony at no additional charge. The upside is that this is one of the generally less desirable ( everyone wants to be near the middle ) and therefore cheaper balcony cabins, downside is reminding them NOT to upgrade me unless they’re giving me a suite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-sickness-and-cruise-cabins/714786.md?page=1)