You don’t want to experience motion sickness or seasickness, and you definitely don’t want the norovirus. We’ve all heard the disaster stories from cruises – the stories where the whole cruise ship tends to fall ill.
Luckily, illness on a cruise ship is rare. Disney, particularly, has some of the highest standards of all the cruise lines.
Here’s the good news:
There are many things you can do to help yourself from getting sick on a cruise, including protecting your family and others! While no one can say that you will be completely illness free, you can definitely change your odds to be in your favor.
How to Protect Yourself from Illness on Your Cruise Ship
Proper Handwashing
This is always number one! It’s the best way to avoid getting sick and spreading germs. It’s quick and simple. Be sure you are washing your hands correctly.
Soap and water are our best defense. Don’t simply rely on hand sanitizer. While I’m a fan of hand sanitizer, there are some germs that have a hard shell (spores) and hand sanitizer does not destroy them all. Only soap and water can destroy some bacteria. So, handwashing always reigns supreme.
Disney does a great job of handing out hand sanitizing wipes before you enter each restaurant. However, they’ve gotten even stepped it up a notch on the Disney ships, and they’ve installed sinks prior to entering the buffet-style restaurants. They encourage you to use these, and you should. It’s a great way to avoid illness!
Be Honest Before Boarding Your Cruise Ship
When you go to the port to check-in for your cruise, you will be asked if you have been sick recently. Please be honest!
If you are honest about being recently ill, it doesn’t mean you are automatically not allowed to cruise. You will meet with someone from the Disney Cruise medical staff, and they will decide the course of action. While sometimes, it may be decided it’s best you should not be allowed to cruise, it can also just mean a day or two of room quarantine on the ship.
Again, be honest for the sake of your fellow passengers.
Avoid Getting a Sunburn While on Your Cruise
I ruined a few vacations in my 40 years around the sun. In Cancun, I burnt my feet so badly I couldn’t wear shoes or flip flops and could barely walk the last day or two. This is NOT a fun way to end a vacation.
Apply sunscreen liberally, and reapply it often.
Limit the time spent in the sun. Take breaks – there is plenty to do on the ship.
If you get off at Castaway Cay or any other port, definitely take your sunscreen with you!!
Don’t forget about your lips – I highly recommend a lip sunscreen as well.
Stay Hydrated
Speaking of being in the sun, you’ll be in the heat a lot – so stay hydrated! Drink plenty of water while on vacation!
While the water is safe to drink on the Disney Cruise ship, I’ll be the first to tell you it doesn’t taste great. We usually order a huge cooler of bottled water when we get on the ship (there will be plenty of people walking around to sell these), and we get an awesome Disney cooler to take home and plenty of bottled water.
Now, speaking of water safety, it may not be safe to drink tap water from any of the ports. So be on the safe side, and carry bottled water with you or buy only bottled water when off the ship.
How to Handle Motion Sickness on the Disney Cruise
One of the other things people worry about while on a cruise is motion sickness. I’ve only experienced it once, and it was through a storm season. It was also very mild! My husband, who is also very prone to motion sickness, has actually never gotten sick on one of our Disney Cruises.
So how do we avoid motion sickness?
We go prepared.
Before going on your cruise, talk to your primary care provider about medications for nausea or motion sickness. They can prescribe prescription-strength medication for you to have on your trip.
You can also look at a few non-prescribed ways to avoid or treat seasickness.
Where Should You Stay on a Disney Cruise to Avoid Seasickness?
Where you stay on your Disney Cruise can certainly help prevent seasickness. The one time I got motion sickness on the cruise we were staying aft, or toward the back of the boat.
Motion is generally felt higher up on the ship, and toward the back of the ship.
Staying on a lower deck, toward the middle of the ship, can reduce the amount of motion you feel.
Other Disney Cruise Posts You May Enjoy:
Safety of Disney Cruise Verandah Doors: Video Included!
Not So Obvious Things to Pack on a Disney Cruise
Is a Disney Cruise Worth It? 13 Reasons to Take a Disney Cruise
Eight Awesome Things to Do On an Adult Only Trip on a Disney Cruise
Over the Counter Medications for Seasickness
You can buy several different over the counter medications for seasickness, such as Dramamine.
You can buy medicine for seasickness while on the cruise, but it’s usually a bit higher, so we always pack our own.
Wristbands for Motion Sickness
There is a non-drug solution for seasickness prevention, and that’s SeaBands. You may want to pack these as well.
Here’s a quick list of everything I’ve mentioned (and more), in case you want to pack everything you might need to prevent sickness while on your Disney Cruise:
- hand sanitizer
- Clorox bleach wipes
- bottled water (Again, we usually buy this once onboard. But, Disney does let you pack your own if you want.)
- SeaBands
- Dramamine
- sunscreen
- sunscreen lip balm
- prescribed nausea and motion sickness medications from your primary care provider
Do you have any other great tips or tricks on avoiding illness while on a cruise? What ways do you avoid getting seasickness? I’d love to hear your ideas on keeping your cruise illness free!
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