The two things that help most are both decided before you sail. A cabin in the middle of the ship, and the right medicine, bought and timed properly. Everything you do once the sea gets up is a smaller adjustment on top of those.
Modern ships are steady, most sailings are calm, and plenty of people who were sure they’d suffer never feel a thing. This is for the crossing where it does happen.
Book Midship, and Book Low
The NHS advice for motion sickness on the water is to “sit in the middle of a boat”, and a cabin is the same idea applied to a whole holiday. A ship pivots around its centre, so the bow and stern travel furthest when it pitches. Midship, on one of the lower passenger decks, moves least.
Guarantee cabins are allocated by the line, so if movement worries you, pick your cabin at booking instead of taking the guarantee rate. It’s the only way to know where on the ship you end up.
A deck plan at booking shows where each cabin sits on the ship. If you’re prone to motion and choosing between a high balcony forward and a midship cabin two decks down, the midship one is the steadier choice.
What to Take, and When
Timing matters more than which one you buy. They all work best taken before you feel unwell, and the lead times are longer than people expect.
Five to six hours of lead time is easy to miss when embarkation day starts early. The instructions allow for putting it on the evening before, which takes the timing out of your hands.
- Hyoscine tablets (Kwells, Joy-Rides, Boots Travel Calm): start working in 20 to 30 minutes. Take a dose at least 20 to 30 minutes before you sail, or as soon as you start to feel sick, and you can repeat every 6 hours. Pharmacies sell 150 microgram and 300 microgram strengths
- Hyoscine patches (Scopoderm): stick behind the ear 5 to 6 hours before the journey, or the evening before. One patch lasts up to 72 hours, after which you swap to behind the other ear. Never wear more than one at a time
- Cinnarizine (Stugeron): 2 tablets 2 hours before travelling, then 1 tablet every 8 hours during the journey if you need it
Sort the patch out before you leave home, because it needs a prescription in the UK. The tablets you can buy over the counter at any pharmacy. Hyoscine tablets aren’t for children under 3, and the patches aren’t for children under 10.
Both have side effects. Hyoscine commonly brings a dry mouth, constipation and blurred vision. Cinnarizine commonly makes people very sleepy, and the NHS says not to drive or use machinery until that passes.
The Drinks Package Question
The NHS advises against alcohol with hyoscine and with cinnarizine, in both cases because they can leave you very sleepy. Its general motion sickness advice also says not to drink shortly before or during travel.
Hyoscine and cinnarizine can each leave you very sleepy, and the NHS advises against drinking alcohol with either. If you’re medicating for the crossing, that’s the stretch to go easy on, package or no package.
On a ship that’s a real decision, because the drinks package is usually bought weeks ahead. If you know you’ll be medicating through the Bay of Biscay on the first two days, count that in when you work out whether a package pays for your week.
What Actually Helps Once You Are Feeling It
The NHS list is short. Look straight ahead at a fixed point, the horizon being the obvious one. Get fresh air. Close your eyes and breathe slowly, focusing on the breathing. Try ginger, as a tablet, a biscuit or a tea.
What to leave alone is just as short. Don’t read, watch films or use a phone or tablet. Don’t watch rolling waves or other moving objects. Don’t eat a heavy or spicy meal. Screens are the hard one on a ship, because the sea day you feel worst is the sea day with least to do. A deck chair facing the horizon beats a film in the cabin.
Acupressure wristbands come up constantly and are harmless to try. The NHS position is that they don’t work for everyone, which is fair enough for something that costs a few pounds and takes up no space.
Some Sailings Move More Than Others
Where you sail changes the odds. The Bay of Biscay, the North Sea and open Atlantic crossings have a reputation for movement that Caribbean and Mediterranean itineraries don’t, and a Southampton departure heading south usually crosses Biscay in the first couple of days. That tells you when to be organised. Patch on the evening before, tablets in the day bag, cabin chosen with the crossing in mind.
It also tells you when to stop worrying. A week of island-hopping in the eastern Caribbean in March is about as calm as sea travel gets, and packing a strip of tablets you never open is the whole of the preparation.
Frequently Asked Questions
A cabin in the middle of the ship on a lower passenger deck. NHS advice for motion sickness on the water is to sit in the middle of a boat, and a ship pivots around its centre, so the bow and stern move furthest.
Hyoscine tablets such as Kwells start working in 20 to 30 minutes, so take a dose at least that far ahead of sailing and repeat every 6 hours if needed. Cinnarizine, sold as Stugeron, is 2 tablets 2 hours before travelling and then 1 tablet every 8 hours during the journey.
Yes. The hyoscine patch needs a prescription in the UK, so arrange it before you travel. You can’t buy it over the counter. Hyoscine tablets and cinnarizine tablets can both be bought at a pharmacy without one.
Up to 72 hours from one patch. Stick it behind the ear 5 to 6 hours before the journey starts, or the evening before you sail. If you’re still travelling after 72 hours, take it off and put a fresh one behind the other ear. Never wear more than one at a time.
The NHS advises against it with both hyoscine and cinnarizine, because each can leave you very sleepy and alcohol adds to that. Its general motion sickness advice also says not to drink shortly before or during travel. Worth thinking about if you’re buying a drinks package in advance.
The NHS says acupressure bands do not work for everyone. They’re cheap, take up no space and cause no side effects, so pack them alongside something else instead of relying on them.
The Bay of Biscay, the North Sea and open Atlantic crossings have a reputation for movement that Caribbean and Mediterranean sailings do not. A Southampton departure heading south usually crosses Biscay in the first couple of days, which is the stretch to be organised for.
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