Sailing on LePonant --Nice to Malta

must travel

Would really like to take this wonderful trip but I am concerned about seasickness. Would someone who has taken the trip please comment? I realize it depends on the weather, etc. but just general impression of the sailing part would be most appreciated.
Thank you!

TauckTim

Hi must travel,

You're quite right, it does depend upon the weather, but some times of year are better than others. In general, the consensus I'm seeing online is that the summer months are better for calmer seas than the late fall/winter months, which at times can get somewhat rough. However, weather does vary, and the summers could be quite rough, or the winter could even be smooth as glass if the weather behaves.

Don't be afraid to pack or bring anti-nausea medication, like Dramamine. Effectiveness does vary from person to person, and you should always check with your doctor before starting a new medication, particularly if you're already on something, in case of drug interactions. Outside of that, eating right, getting fresh air, and staring at the horizon/looking out the window so you'll have visual motion to go along with the physical motion of the ship should all help avoid seasickness.

I hope this helps!

-Tim

AlanS

Having plied the waters of the Med many times, Tim is right.

I often sailed the Med on a ship as big as an aircraft carrier (in fact it was an aircraft carrier ) and have experienced rough seas in both seasons, though mostly in the winter months. Think of the Med as an ocean- it is not a lake and it can get rough just like the Atlantic or Pacific. If it can make a carrier rock and roll, just think what it can do to something smaller like Le Ponant.

jdurkin

I don't want to put a dampener on you, Must Travel, but sea sickness can be a very individual thing. Sometimes, even the crew will become ill. It all depends. Personally, I didn't find looking at the horizon at all helpful. In fact, I found the opposite. It just set me off. I had to make a point of sitting where I couldn't see the horizon. The best advice I can give is to try to acquire the anti-seaksickness patches. They are not available at all in Australia, but are available overseas … sometimes requiring a prescription. The only thing that stabilised me was that injection and a maintenance programme of the patches.

I would travel by ship again, for the right destinations, but never to just cruise. And I'd only do it if I could get those patches!

Caveat: Everyone is different. Seek your own medical advice. I did, but I could have spread those b….y pills on toast for all the good they did. Vegemite made me feel a little better, but that's comfort food for you. I think you just have to prepare for plague, pray you never see so much as a miniature rodent type creature and that you never have to take any of the stuff you took with you in the first place. Try to book a cabin amidships ... not on a lower deck or the top one, either. Oh, and cross you fingers. Then prepare for a wonderful experience.

Cheers,

Jan

British

I have never been on a cruise, but regularly crossed the English Channel with my children. Once we discovered the acupressure wrist bands for my daughter, she never had a problem again. I have used them too, but with me I was never sick all the time just occasionally. I have been on sailing vacations and encountered a terrible storm and been rocking and rolling and been fine and I have been on the Tauck tour that takes you from Naples to Capri on the hovercraft, no sea bands with me and half the ship was throwing up and when we got to the other side I wanted to die right there.
Theses bands are available at all pharmacies and have gotten much more sophisticated in design, but placed in the correct position on the wrists work well for a lot of people. I think Magellans travel catalogue has them too.
Cruises are so popular that unless you know you have a sea sickness problem from past experiences, I would go on the trip with the pills and potions and the other suggestions posted by others and hope for the best, if lots of people get sick, I just don't think it would be such a booming business.

cantraveller

I was on the LePonant in September and we had a very rough day crossing between Lipari and Palaramo. There are no stabilizers on this ship so it is not as smooth as most ships Tauck use. Overall we only had a few of our shipmates get sick. The Mediterranean is certainly not crossing a lake and was as bad as the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand except that ship had stabilizers. Overall the ship is ok as an adventure but rooms are small. Take something if you get sea sick or rethink about going on another Tauck ship.
Gary

Susan L

We took this trip two summers ago in June and were fortunate to have calm seas until we approached Malta. That area is always a tad choppy from what I hear. It was nothing compared to the surprise storm our sailboat hit on another trip (with another tour company) to the Greek Island where 10-foot waves in the middle of the night sent the boat (similar in size to LePonant) pitching like we were on a roller coaster. I don't ride roller coasters on the ground because of motion concerns but I did not get sick on the water and never have.

When you sail you never know. Having said that, sailing on those deep blue waters of the Mediterranean was my favorite part of the trip. Plus swimming in the buoyant waters was refreshing.

It's hard to give advise because everyone reacts differently to motion and the medicines sold to deal with it. You also take zodiac-type of launches to disembark in most destinations so determine whether you can handle that. One day it was choppy (not Malta) and Tauck passed out ponchos so we didn't get wet from the spray on the ride back to the sailboat. To me, it was fun as I am a huge fan of the water rides at amusement parks. Only you can decide whether your constitution is up to the task. I enjoyed the trip.

mhanchay

I just returned from a trip on the Le Ponant two week ago, May17-23. It was my 10th cruise, but my first sailing cruise . I am very prone to motion sickness and had packed three scopolamine patches. After being on the boat for two hours, I found myself getting a bit nauseous. I put the patch on and it took a few hours to work I wore it the entire trip and changed the patch every three days and felt great. A half a dozen ladies felt queesy the first day. Midway during the trip about 25% of the guest (mostly ladies) had slight issues with motion sickness.
The ship is generally under motor the entire trip, where as sailing would not get you from port to port in a timely fashion. The sails went up leaving a port and then we would be under power the entire cruise..
The trip was wonderful, the crew was great we had wonderful weather, high 70's low 80's and sunny the entire trip. The sea was mostly calm but do plan for the occasional swells.
I would recommend it and would do it again in a heart beat. Just be prepared with all motion sickness items, eg.. Scope patches, dramamine, and a motion sickness bracelet. Do consider the trip and have a great time. All the Islands were very interesting and we had a wonderful vacation.

s.tyler

We did this lovely trip several years ago and there were no seasickness issues until our last night - huge wind storm which made the ship rock and roll. Even some of the crew were ill.