What I’d do differently...

[CM Dad]

1. I’ve been told that one doesn’t even feel the ocean on big ships. This is not true. You feel it. I’m not prone to motion sickness but I was sick on the first and last night. Not puking or bedridden, but definitely had to leave dining room for air. Get that ear patch thing. I don’t think the wristbands did anything.

My wife went to the Gold and Platinum reception (back when they still had them on shorter cruises) with a 5 year old granddaughter. The seas were a little rough, and our granddaughter ended up puking on Captain Mickey. That was the first time in her life that she had thrown up. Several others in our traveling party of 15 were a bit under the weather that day. That was a 5 night out of Miami.
Took every one (plus one new grand daughter) on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean this past year and everyone was fine. The grand daughter that had the problem on the earlier cruise was worried the whole trip that she was going to get sick again.

 

[dclpluto]

My wife went to the Gold and Platinum reception (back when they still had them on shorter cruises) with a 5 year old granddaughter. The seas were a little rough, and our granddaughter ended up puking on Captain Mickey. That was the first time in her life that she had thrown up. Several others in our traveling party of 15 were a bit under the weather that day. That was a 5 night out of Miami.
Took every one (plus one new grand daughter) on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean this past year and everyone was fine. The grand daughter that had the problem on the earlier cruise was worried the whole trip that she was going to get sick again.

She will have a story to tell. Let me tell you about the first time I threw up.

 

[MomOTwins]

Just finished my first cruise (Dream) and it was amazing. If it helps a fellow lurker, here’s what I’d do differently on our next cruise:

1. I’ve been told that one doesn’t even feel the ocean on big ships. This is not true. You feel it. I’m not prone to motion sickness but I was sick on the first and last night. Not puking or bedridden, but definitely had to leave dining room for air. Get that ear patch thing. I don’t think the wristbands did anything.

2. The food was better than expected. But for the love of tastebuds, don’t order the noodle dish on Pirate night. Gross flavorless ramen with sad little tofu squares. The mushroom ravioli was also terrible. The tastiest thing we ate was an ahi appetizer—absolutely delicious. Steak was good, jerk chicken was good. All desserts very good. Room service BLT was really surprisingly good for such a basic sort of thing. Dole Whip with Rum is not as delicious as those they sell at Disneyland hotel in CA (not sure why, as I thought it was some sort of pre-fab mix?) but still yummy.

3. I wish we’d played the Detective Agency on the first day. My son (9) had no interest, but my daughter (7) and I played it on the day at sea and saw areas of the ship we’d somehow missed to that point. It’s very well-done and worth a quick play through.

4. I’d skip the Halloween costumes next time. Extra packing and the Halloween party (though nicely done) didn’t really do it for my family. Pirate night, however, was really fun.

5. I’d book a longer cruise next time. I was worried I’d be bored on a cruise, so we did 4 days. At least one more day would have been nice. Next time, I want 2 days at Castaway Cay—so clean, so fun!

Totally agree -- I feel the motion of the ship so much when I'm aft or forward. I memorably went tumbling down the stairs on the upper deck of the Walt Disney Theater on my last trip because I was so dizzy -- worst part was I was holding a glass of wine that went everywhere, and I knew everyone would just think I was a lush-y when I hadn't even drunk any of it yet! I will say midship is SOOOO much better for me, so I highly recommend a midship cabin.

I love that Ahi appetizer too. The dole whip is not actually real dole whip; it different form what they serve at Walt Disney World too (I heard it is a pre-made mix added to ice so more of a slushy than a real dole whipe). *sigh* At least the self-service soft serve is pretty good.

You can always combine a 3-day and 4-day back-to-back cruise to get a "7-day" Dream cruise with two stops at Castaway Cay. Often that is cheaper or the same price as the 5-night cruises they run in the summer with two stops at Castaway Cay. That said, I thought the second time the cruise did not go by so fast for me. Once you know where everything is and what things you are interested in doing, you can get a lot of vacation packed into a shorter cruise. I loved our second 3-day cruise on the dream so much, and was totally relaxed and in vacation mode the minute we walked into that lobby and had our names announced. Plus, 10 minutes in the rainforest room obliterates all of my work stress instantaneously (rainforest passes are the best!)

 

[lilsonicfan]

It's so sad to read that some people had bad experiences when sick on the first night. I was really sick on the first night and I think I basically escorted my family down to dinner, then had to go back to my room right away. Dinner took a while so I did come back at some point and the servers were absolutely so polite and sympathetic. Next cruise I plan to take Bonine before even getting on board.

 

[Impromark]

For those of us on meds, manage them appropriately. I am prone to gout, and had an attack at WDW, exactly when I ran out of my medications to deal with the symptoms. Walking was so painful I had to be wheelchaired onto the cruise ship! We spent the first hours of our honeymoon cruise stuck in the cabin (not in the fun way), and after hobbling down to the muster drill we missed the sailaway party down in the sickbay waiting for the doctor to prescribe the right happy pills. I'd recovered enough by the first part day, but it did put a damper on our cruise experience.

We're doing our second-ever cruise next weekend, with DCL this time, and are doing our darnedest to be over-prepared to relax!

Mark

 

[mischief32]

Yep, first cruise, thought it would be my last, was horrible. I did not make it thru dinner but my husband enjoyed the extra steak. They came back to the room and I was in bed green. I did take Dramamine and was fine the next day, ginger does not work for me, must have real stuff. I now take Bonine the night before we leave and every day until we disembark. I was fine last time. I will never cruise without my Bonine. That said my daughter was fine until we had dinner in Enchanted Garden. I feel you can really feel the ships motion on the 2nd Floor. I know some disagree with this but for us we could never stay on that floor. WE stay at least 5th floor and above.

 

[SingingMom]

first cruise on Magic I felt "off" one night and sent the family to the show. rest of the trip was fine. 2nd cruise (on Celebrity) could not eat the entire trip - not "sick" - just couldn't bear to try to eat. 3rd cruise (glutton for punishment!) on Fantasy - perfect - NO problems. One day we could "feel" the ship move...my advice is not to look outside when that is the feeling.

Friday we leave from NYC to Bermuda - hoping my seabands are good to me!!

 

[Jess_S]

I cruised as a kid without any sea sickness, so I was surprised to experience as an adult. On my first cruise as an adult, I made the mistake of lying down in my inside stateroom when I felt ill. That only made things worse because I was somewhere with no fresh air and no view to help my brain adjust to the idea I was on a boat. I now swear by Bonine and make sure to get out on deck if I start to feel off. The air and actually seeing the ocean are a big help.

 

[Starwind]

T The dole whip is not actually real dole whip; it different form what they serve at Walt Disney World too (I heard it is a pre-made mix added to ice so more of a slushy than a real dole whipe). *sigh* At least the self-service soft serve is pretty good.

Actually, the pineapple Dole Whip is the real Dole Whip, but it is not made in the same type of dispenser as at the parks so the consistency is softer.

When we sailed on the Fantasy in December I asked to see the package of the mix because of food allergies. The package is the same as the package I bought directly from the manufacturer [I make it in my ice cream maker at home]. It is a powder that is mixed with water and then put into a soft serve machine to be mixed further, chilled and dispensed.

My guess with the consistency difference between DCL and WDW is a couple fold: different dispensing machine -- the WDW I am pretty sure can get it much colder much faster -- and as a result less tumbling time to get it to a harder consistency. Its like when I make it at home in my icre cream maker. When the mix first goes in it is pretty much liquid. After 35 minutes it is a pretty good soft serve like ocnsistency, but still some liquid. I have to put it into the freezer to chill for a while to get it so there isn't any immediate liquid, and you have to be careful not to chill too long or it becomes closer to hard ice cream (though never gets quite that hard, IME).

SW