Thread: New to site

Hi everyone, new to the site from Reno. I've been working so much this year I decided to treat myself to a new experience. Have never been on a cruise before (day sailors yes, cruise lines no) so decided to book myself one. Heading from San Fran on a 10 day Alaskan cruise on the Sea Princess in August, have read mixed reviews on this site about her but to be honest 10 days away from my PC and phone is what I want most as long as that delivers I'll be content. I'm worried about sea sickness (just paranoid... and recovering from vertigo lol) so bookd a balcony room on Caribe deck. Anyway plan on doing a lot of reading before I venture off in August to see what advice and wisdom I can gleam.

you are going to like it here at clf

Hey there! Welcome to our friendly cruise community!

A first cruise! How wonderful that you have chosen Alaska...one of my favorite cruise itineraries.

You will find that every ship and cruise line will have some negative posts about it. It seems to be human nature to be the most vocal on the things we consider to be below par....but there are many very positive posters who present a more balanced view of their experience. Read as much current info as you can and judge by the similarities in experience rather than the few negatives. Nothing is perfect, but attitude and outlook make the difference in how we perceive things.

Explore our forums here and jump right in to ask or share!

Welcome to CruiseLineFans!

For the seasickness ... there are lots of things out there to help you. Patches, wristbands, and ginger candy, to name a few.

But, you may be surprised at how little you feel the movement of the ship. Modern cruise ships use a remarkable system of stabilizers, which eliminate a good bit of the rolling (side to side motion) of the ship. The stabilizers don't conquer REALLY rough seas, or mitigate pitch (Front to back rocking) but they do help enormously for just normal waves.

Welcome! I joined yesterday. You're going to love it here!

Shari

P.S. My brother-in-law lives in Reno.

Welcome to CLF

Trust me, you will have too great a time to worry about seasickness. With that said, I always play it safe and get the meclizine from the ship. Non drowsy, non habit forming, and totally safe.

I tend to get motion sickness (can't read in a moving vehicle like a car or train), but I bring candied ginger and ginger flavored Altoids. A lot of people swear by ginger, but you need to double check with your doctor if you're on medication to make sure there isn't an interaction (like with blood thinners).

My mother is even worse about motion sickness. On her one cruise, she got the prescription patch from her doctor and it worked.

I would just try different things out on land and see if you get side effects (like Dramamine, which makes some people drowsy). Then bring a few remedies with you. Some of the ones you take (or do, like with the wristband that many people use) before you board the ship.

Princess is an excellent line to go to Alaska on. At one point on all the cruises, you'll be cruising a glacier bay. Princess has a naturalist onboard who narrates what you're seeing. Everyone, but everyone, is either on their balcony, if they have one, or up on the deck with camera or binoculars in hand. And Princess has so many activities, especially on sea days. I was just on a cruise with a total of ten sea days and I was never bored on them.

thanks everyone. I will keep reading up, and I do plan on bringing a variey of motion sickness remedies with me. Also plan on having pretzels and apples to keep me balanced.