Anonymous wrote:I’m with you, OP. I have no interest in cruises and have general anxieties and phobias surrounding them, though not based on personal experience. But, Disney is known for providing a very good cruise experience. If it were me, I would suck it up and go out of a sense of obligation. There’s zero chance I would let my distractible husband and his family members watch my kids on a cruise.

Same! Especially a 5 year old with drowning risks.
I think I would try to go if I were you. I get it. I was on a cruise when there was a fire and a black out for 5-6 hours. People were trapped in elevators and running in pitch black to get kids from the club. This was at least 25 years ago though. I’m not that into cruising personally. But given someone treated my family to the trip, I would try to go. Get an rx for xanax.

I've never heard anything bad about Disney cruises. They always are highly ranked. Even with your fear of cruises, this should be a totally different experience and you'll enjoy it.

Anonymous wrote:Is there any way one child would be willing to stay home with you, preferably the child most likely to end up falling off a balcony? Would that make things easier and safer for DH to go without you? Perhaps you could plan some special staycation outing for the kid who stays.

Don't do this! kids are old enough to know they are missing the big event. Just go op. You will enjoy making a core memory with your kids!

We did a Disney Cruise with our 5 year old - it was one of the most memorable vacation for us all. Went to Alaska and had excursions everyday. The cruise had an amazing array of things to do, food was great, evening shows were fun.
Do it Op for your kids.

I would ask, “Are you me, OP?”, except that I was 22 a lot longer ago than you were.

I, too, went on my first cruise when I was 22. The seas were rough; even the captain got seasick. It ended with a waiter spilling a pitcher of boiling hot chocolate on my leg. I happened to be traveling with a bunch of student nurses. They all say I was their first burn victim.

In the next decade and a half, I traveled all over the globe, and avoided all cruises except for one to a remote destination that is almost impossible for tourists to visit in anything else than a ship.

And then DD came along. We went on a Disney cruise when she was 5, and it was…fine. No rocking, no rolling, very stable, and so much fun for DD, with easy access to the characters. It went so well that we went back on another Disney cruise when she was 11. Again, no worries, and a great time.

Cruises will never be my first pick, but, as people have noted, they are much better these days in almost every respect. Go and enjoy!

If it were me I'd stay home and send my husband with the kids. In the meantime I would watch a lot of videos of the ships and see how safe they are and talk with the kids about how to be safe on the boat and how they need to listen to their father or the kids club people.

I am like you and I’m just not getting a balcony cabin either.

Ask your doctor to prescribe you an anxiety medication, start taking it a week or two before you leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be the same way. FWIW, a Disney cruise is probably going to be the best cruise option out there. If I was going to go on a cruise (ugh) it would be a Disney cruise.

100% this.

How many years ago was your cruise? Ships have become more stable. I mean, no, they can't account for terrible weather, but overall sailing is smoother, IMO.

There are also so many seasick products...patches, bracelets/bands, glasses, etc. now compared to even 15 years ago.

Oh jeez, it was probably 2005? So yes a long time ago.

I watched a YouTube video and it does look really nice. I’m gonna buckle up, get some Zofran & Xanax and make it happen.

I also get motion sickness very easily and went on my first cruise this summer (Princess, not Disney). I recommend preemptively taking Dramamine rather than taking it after you feel sick. I had read somewhere that the days at sea can make you sick because the boat is moving faster. We only had one of those days on our 7 day cruise and that was the only day I really felt like I was on the water. I took Dramamine as soon as I woke up and I was fine by the time breakfast was done.

I get horrible motion sickness and I agree with this. Don't wait until you feel horrible, just expect that you need it, and take it even on land days. Just take it the entire time you're on the cruise, through one extra day after the cruise ends. I made the mistake of thinking "oh, we'll be in port all day, I don't need dramamine today" and ran for the first pharmacy I could find on land because I was rocking all over the place on dry land! I took the chewable dramamine which didn't make me drowsy at all but also hear that Bonine is better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I got seasick from day 1. The cruise ship was old and one of the stabilizers broke and it was so choppy even seasoned cruisers were struggling. I also felt very trapped and things felt dirty. Then on the last day I ended up with what was later diagnosed as e. Coli. It was AWFUL.

First, there is nothing wrong with your reaction to what happened to you. You should consider your reaction more like PTSD than anxiety. You had a very traumatic experience and have a negative psychological reaction to it and anything that reminds you of it.

That said, you need to work on getting over your trauma. It's not healthy for you. If you are experience anxiety issues months before the event, then, yes, you need to talk to your therapist about increasing the medications or changing the medications to help you cope with the situation you are in.

Last, I'll agree with others. Carnival is the bottom of the barrel and Disney is several steps up from Carnival. The 18-20 years difference is also important. Ships are larger, the engines and equipment are more advance and better. Last, since the pandemic, all cruise lines have significantly improved their sanitation practices and are much more careful about procedures to reduce ship-borne illnesses.

I forgot to add that when you book your cabins, you should aim for a cabin in the middle of the ship. This is a good description:
https://www.cruise.co.uk/bulletin/seven-positions-on-a-cruise-ship-and-why-you-should-try-them/#:~:text=Going%20back%20to%20the%20see,ships)%20will%20stay%20relatively%20stable.

Going back to the see-saw metaphor, imagine the middle of the it. Whilst the seats go up and down, the middle never actually moves. It's the same on a cruise ship. As it cuts through the waves, the front or end will move up and down but the middle of the ship (mid-ships) will stay relatively stable.

Anonymous wrote:
I got seasick from day 1. The cruise ship was old and one of the stabilizers broke and it was so choppy even seasoned cruisers were struggling. I also felt very trapped and things felt dirty. Then on the last day I ended up with what was later diagnosed as e. Coli. It was AWFUL.

First, there is nothing wrong with your reaction to what happened to you. You should consider your reaction more like PTSD than anxiety. You had a very traumatic experience and have a negative psychological reaction to it and anything that reminds you of it.

That said, you need to work on getting over your trauma. It's not healthy for you. If you are experience anxiety issues months before the event, then, yes, you need to talk to your therapist about increasing the medications or changing the medications to help you cope with the situation you are in.

Last, I'll agree with others. Carnival is the bottom of the barrel and Disney is several steps up from Carnival. The 18-20 years difference is also important. Ships are larger, the engines and equipment are more advance and better. Last, since the pandemic, all cruise lines have significantly improved their sanitation practices and are much more careful about procedures to reduce ship-borne illnesses.