Don't share your cruise with seasickness

Though seasickness is hardly fatal, the symptoms usually include nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting. And choppy water is not always required to make some passengers ill: Some people are prone to motion sickness and may suffer even during moderate swells.

Children between the ages of 3 and 12 and women are often the most susceptible to seasickness, says Karen Avery, travel resource nurse at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass. Dr. Ken Dardick, a Storrs, Conn., physician who specializes in travel-related maladies, says people 70 and older are less prone to develop the symptoms.

Travel agents usually inform first-time passengers that most modern ships have special stabilizers that are deployed below the waterline to help reduce the water's action against the hull. Also, modern ships are equipped with sophisticated weather-detection systems and usually receive weather bulletins from their onshore headquarters. These ships can easily travel quickly enough to outrun most approaching storms, and that includes hurricanes.

But if you have a history of motion sickness or are merely concerned about it, Avery suggests using preventive measures. One of the most widely recommended is Transderm Scopola, a chemical contained in an adhesive patch worn behind the ear.

Available only by prescription, the Scop lasts about 72 hours and can help only to prevent symptoms.

This medication also has possible side effects, such as dry mouth, blurry vision, drowsiness and dizziness.

Often-effective nonprescription medications include Dramamine, Meclizine and diphenhydramine (commonly known as Benadryl). These are often dispensed at shipboard infirmaries or sold in the sundries shop.

Stronger, more effective prescription drugs are available. And though a ship's doctor can prescribe them, it will cost you the price of an office visit plus the pills, so you are better off going to your personal physician before the cruise.

Among these prescription medications, Promethazine and Ephedrines, when taken together, produce rapid results but also have potential side effects, such as sleepiness.

A drugless, over-the-counter option is the Sea-Band wristband, which is wrapped around the wrist before embarkation. The acupressure-inspired product has a plastic bead that pushes against the Nei-Kuan pressure point, on the palm side of the wrist.

This often helps curb nausea and vomiting, and it has no side effects. Available in adult and children's sizes, the bands are safe for pregnant women and are sold at most drugstores.

To adapt to shipboard life, Avery suggests going onto an open deck and staring directly into the horizon as soon as you get onboard. This helps the body adjust its equilibrium to even minor movement of the decks.

To minimize the ship's motion felt within the cabin, request a cabin in midship and on a lower deck.

Avery also suggests taking cruises with fewer days on the open sea; avoiding itineraries on which the ocean is most likely to be rough, such as North Atlantic crossings and the Caribbean during hurricane season (June through November), and booking aboard larger vessels (at least 50,000 gross registered tons), which tend to be more stable.

Eating lightly the first few days onboard can also help you feel less queasy, though this may be hard to do. Stick with clear broths and crackers. Ginger ale and/or ginger capsules also help when you're feeling sick to your stomach.

Remember, seasickness is often a state of mind: Plop down in that deck chair and try not to think about it. Chances are it won't happen to you.

- Freelance writer Patti Pietschmann specializes in cruises and spas.

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