Cruise? YAY! or nay
 

My family is talking about going on a cruise. I've never been on one before. I'm 32 and have had RSD for 10 years. My left arm and leg are effected.

On good days i can function with enough rest and medication. In my imagination the movement of the boat is what scares me the most. If i have a bad day and need to lay down and not move, the boat will still be moving... if a breeze hurts, the movement of cars, trains, and buses hurt, would the movement of the boat be the same?

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Personally, I've never had a desire to go on a cruise on the high seas...can't get off the boat that's for sure. it just never appealed to me but I did a lot of land vacations in my life and I'll be 77 this year.

I have friends who have done them and enjoyed themselves for the most part...one friend finally gave in to her husband and went on an amazon cruise, she said it was the worst experience in her life...

I have a friend who deals with RSD and I don't think she ever did a cruise...she gave up driving 15 yrs ago I know that.

What part of the world do they plan to cruise?

It's a 5 day cruise, from new York (where I live) to nova scotia.

The movement of the boat is fairly gentle. Many people find it soothing and have a tendency to sleep like the dead on ships. Breezes could be an issue as you will always find one on deck. Of course you can just hole up except for periods when the boat is docked and then go topside. People may be an issue as well depending on how crowded the boat is. For getting on and off the ship from port stops there will be lines you have to wait in and also when getting food unless you have a suite and they can bring meals to you. I think it's worth a call to the cruise line to see how they can accommodate you for these activities. If you decide to go you can always check about departing early at one of the ports if needed.

Breeze! I didn't even think of the breeze. Thank you. I will look into it, and see what they can do to accommodate

Flying is an issue for many of us. There are other threads that discuss various coping mechanisms to deal with flying. I flew in 3 (if my memory serves me right) days early before I went on a cruise to try and get back to my baseline pain level.

I had no issues with the movement of the ship and I'm incredibly hypersensitive. I bring a down pillow to cradle my dominant arm when being driven any distance or when I fly. Ships can widely vary in size though, and the newer ones have better stability, so you might want to research your specific ship.

The best part of the trip was being able to swim in warm ocean water--I'm pretty much pain free there. I had a massage on board and utilized the ship's sauna and pool as well.

Regarding breezes, I wore Lidocaine patches over my most sensitive area and there are areas on the deck that are fairly well protected from breezes much of the time.

I did as much as I could tolerate and spent as much time in bed or relaxing and reading as I felt I needed. It was worth it to me at the time, but I think the person I was travelling with would have preferred a more active travel mate.

go for it!
 

I have rsd that affects my legs where i cannot walk far, stand for long or sit for long. My favorite vacation is a cruise because they offer so many things to do on board and shore excursions for folks with various degrees of abilities or disabilities. If you,re unsure about an event the cruise staff members can advise you. As for the movement of the ship-the way it sways back n forth and the sound of the waves, i found myself sleeping late and napping in the afternoon. I did get seasick ie severe nausea one day on the return voyage cause of choppy waters. This happened on both cruises. The cruise staff have pills available for this. So i lost one day on each cruise. Not bad. I also left out of NY but went south. Many vacations involve so many physical things i cant do, cruising offers alot in one spot that there was always something i could do.

I went on an Alaska cruise about 1 year after being diagnosed with right arm CRPS. I had no issues with the cruise- plenty of opportunity for rest and relaxation. I wore a large thin jacket to protect my arm from the breeze (I usually can't wear anything on my arm). My only issue was the 4hour time change really affected me and took me about 4 days to recover from.

I would do a cruise again if it didn't have such a large time change. Or I'd arrive a few days early to adjust to the time change.

The motion of the boat didn't affect my CRPS at all and I slept like a baby at night.

Ok, forget (?!?) about your physical issues. Imagine the overwhelming surge of happiness that you will feel participating on an exciting holiday with your family. A change of scenery and the endorphin rush, combined with use of your meds when needed, will have you sailing through.

And should you have an 'off' period you can retire to your cabin for a while until it passes.

I say, Go, Enjoy!

Dave.