After a Stomach-Churning Experience on My First Cruise, I’ll Not Set Off Again Without These £8 Hand Luggage Essentials

26 June 2024

I’ve worked as a shopping journalist for nearly six years and have tested hundreds of products. Until now, I don’t think I’ve ever been so confident that others should invest in an item without trying it myself. But it’s finally happened. Cue the drumroll – the product is: anti-nausea bands.

Hear me out. I recently went on a cruise for the first time. It was a lovely experience… until the steadily-increasing queasiness finally became actual sea sickness by the third day. An anti-nausea pill only served to knock me out, and for 24 hours I was either comatose or heaving over the toilet. I even missed dinner! I could barely recognize myself.

Feeling sick is a miserable experience, and that goes double when you’ve paid a lot to enjoy something but are forced to take to bed with the curtains drawn instead. I missed a full day of sunning myself on the top deck, enjoying some on-board entertainment, and even a bit of dolphin watching – I was genuinely too sedated and queasy to rouse myself when the alert went out to say they’d been spotted.

During a stop in Lisbon, I asked a fellow guest whether she’d suffered the same fate. She told me she’d felt fine, crediting it to a pair of £8.49 anti-sickness bands she’d picked up from Boots pre-departure. To invest in anything preventative had never occurred to me. I was genuinely annoyed that a sub-£10 purchase could have helped me stave off queasiness and enjoy the day at sea, if only I’d been more prepared.

More scientific studies are needed to draw any conclusive data on the efficacy of these bands, but they’re designed to work by pressing against the pressure points on your wrist. According to principles of traditional Chinese medicine, this should help relieve nausea. Anecdotally, it does seem to work for many people – a cursory glance through reviews suggests that many find relief while wearing them. At the very least, my fellow cruise passenger is a fan, as is Traveller commerce editor, who learned from my mistakes and promptly invested prior to a recent trip to the Maldives.

“I suffer from motion sickness, so when I found out I would be arriving at my hotel in the Maldives by boat, I anxiously planned ahead and packed some of these bands,” she said. “It could just be a placebo effect, but even wearing them made me feel a lot calmer than I was without them. The boat ride was speedy, so I was fine. I also wore them on a fishing trip where the boat did rock quite a lot, and once again I was fine. For the small price and the tiny amount of room they take up in your luggage, I think they’re well worth it.”

So, it’s a lesson learned for me and one you should consider should you have any cruises booked. I can’t guarantee that wearing these bands will stop me from feeling nauseous the next time I head out to sea. However, for under £10, it’s a gamble I’m happy to take. See some picks below.