SEA SICKNESS

A wave of new cruisers is sailing onto our Doris Visits chat groups. Even the Azamara one has new members and that was in danger of my culling... A couple of them have raised the question of seasickness. I am not sure I have ever heard a crew member or staff say they never get it. We can cruise up to twelve times a year talking about our cruise thrillers and my past career in the movies, and I have been hit by it. Though I did also sleep through a force 11 gale back from Iceland.

To find our chat sites go onto our website, listed here. Look at all the ships on all the fleets, and the black CHAT box next to the ships will take you to the groups. The list of world ports is rather mind-blowing too .... see what a journey you have started?

This can be one of the least pleasant experiences on a cruise and it can hit anyone at any time. It is a result of a conflict in the inner ear, where the human balance mechanism resides and is caused by a vessel's erratic motion on the water. This motion sickness is the same in varying forms as that experienced in a travelling car, plane, or a white knuckle fun park ride. It comes from motion.

After a severe (or other) head injury, the crystals in your inner ear may misplace themselves and change your whole experience of balance, and getting the crystals back to where they should be, is far from easy. The treatment for that is vast, fast head movements to shake the crystals back. Age can affect the body, the motion may affect the body, ill health and injury can also affect the body and its response to the motion.

Basic ways to help yourself. Keep your sinuses clear, and have excessive earwax removed. Then, be prepared. Seasickness can even hit experienced crew at times, so don't get complacent. Arrogance is almost as bad as the movement of the sea at catching you out.

If you suffer from motion sickness and you are about to embark on your first cruise, consider booking a cabin on the ship that moves the least. The middle, or midships, and low down. This is the fulcrum-like invisible point around which the rest of the ship pivots. Like watching a sea-saw. In rough seas, those high up at the back, or the front can regret their choice. In such weather, public areas in these extremes may close just as outside decks will. The swimming pools are emptied too but when full show the motion the liquid in your body is trying to resist.

Whilst, the bigger the ship, and the newer the ship, the more stable it can be, prevention is always better than a cure. The medical centre will have fast-acting help, but in the shop, they will have both off the shelf medication and wrist bands. If in extreme weather, if the shop has to close, call reception or the medical centre. One leg out of the bed with a foot on the floor, or trying to look at the horizon are also told as helpful tips. The meaning of these cruise terms like 'stabilizers' is explained in our ABC of CRUISING.

Wrist bands, with and without magnetic buttons, are used. Both Jean and I have used them. Although we, as travelling guest lecturers we like to think being on the ship sometimes monthly means we are used to it, that is sometimes not the case. However, we did sleep through the storm force 11 back from Iceland that had the guests airlifted of a Viking ship. What storm? We asked as we heard guests talking the next day. But that is being lucky even though our cabin was behind the stage.

If worried. Book a central room, take medication and wristbands. If bought before they might be cheaper and you can access colours for your mood.

Bands are worn as a prevention, and the button sits between the two ribs of the inside wrist (Neiguan Point) and it is better when worn on both wrists. A pair. When the sea gets rough you will see many experienced sailors wearing them. They are so cheap compared with the holiday cost it seems daft not to carry them. We can cruise up to twelve times a year being a guest on one ship or other and can get (though rare) caught by a little disorientation so we always carry the bands and like a few other items are never taken out of the case.

Here is something else to help when you are seasick, as some people cannot read when motion sick. In the cruise thrillers I have written I have used seasickness and a head injury to show both. In the second book CRUISE SHIP SERIAL KILLER, one of the heroes picks up a head injury. In the next book, the effects of the sea and dealing with it all happen while solving the human trafficking on board ships, in the story CRUISE SHIP LAUNDRY WARS. Our hero has to start the cure (trying to resettle the crystals in the inner ear) while battling a human trafficking gang.

For the many who have suggested, they can see Joanna Lumley as Violet in DISASTROUS COVID-19 CRUISE ROMANCE, rest assured we have sent her the book. This is a story about a woman whose life has been suppressed by mental health problems. She cruises as a test to herself, determined to succeed. It is a romance and a troubling book. While holding the thriller thread and characters development. Her attempt is the catalyst of a number of disasters, and as often in the books a murder.

WHISPERSYNC - well, just as the population refused to accept early mobile phones, admit Debenhams or Top Shop could be bought by fledgling internet shopping sites, or that Netflix or Amazon might reduce the BBC to an also-run ... we have Whispersync. If you can't read when seasick, take note! Whispersync is still the fledgling, but growing fast. It is a system for almost any touchpad, smartphone, or Kindle. It uses a combined eBook (Kindle or other formats) with an audiobook. It means you can read the text while listening to the reader... or just read, or just listen. (No more, "I can't read when moving."). When you stop enjoying the novel, you can then pick up from where you were. It is fast taking up as a media form, like radio, like TV, but sitting in between. The manufacture of these is not easy as the paperback should, but certainly, the eBook must match the audiobook to as close to 100% the same as possible. Then the formats can be linked within the Whispersync system. Our first one to hit this system will be DISASTROUS COVID-19 CRUISE ROMANCE which has a few murders and a few failed romances entwined in the first ship back at sea under new regulations. The paperback and Kindle are out now and it is our best selling book yet. Maybe because the ship is just that bit different when guests are track and traced, vaccine certificated and forgeries dealt with as an international crime, buffet changed and face masks worn..... hey, it is just a novel, right?

Ever wondered how art is stolen from a cruise ship? CRUISE SHIP ART THEFT.

Take a moment to read the reviews on Amazon book pages or see the Amazon book series page. They can be bought as a box-set.  All these books are from the author of this blog, Stuart St Paul. He is a contributor and chat site moderator to the 43 Doris Visits ship chat sites. See his Doris Visits page. His Emmerdale fan page.