After indulging in a blissful two-week cruise around the Caribbean or Mediterranean, one would expect to step back onto land feeling refreshed and at ease. However, for many, the return home brings an unexpected challenge: the sensation of still being adrift at sea, often accompanied by a lingering sense of seasickness.
Individuals have taken to Reddit, particularly on the r/Cruise thread, to share their experiences with this puzzling phenomenon. One user noted, “I usually have a mild case for a few days after a cruise. It’s strange because I don’t feel the movement while on the ship, but once I disembark, I feel as if I’m still swaying.”
This perplexing sensation is actually recognized as a medical condition called Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS), or Disembarkment Syndrome. The name, which directly translates to ‘sickness upon disembarking,’ describes a disorder where the body’s balance system struggles to readjust to solid ground after developing ‘sea legs’ during the voyage.
While the condition is not uncommon, it can be disconcerting for those who experience it, as the symptoms can linger for days after the cruise has ended. Despite the temporary nature of these sensations, they serve as a reminder that returning to the stability of land is not always as seamless as one might hope.
This feeling is actually a medical condition, known as Mal de Débarquement Syndrome (MdDS), or Disembarkment Syndrome.
Translating directly to ‘sickness upon disembarking’, the disorder affects the body’s balance system and causes it to struggle to re-adjust to land after developing ‘sea legs’.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the condition affects the inner ear or brain and can cause the sensation of rocking or swaying, brain fog, confusion, unsteadiness, anxiety and depression.
Symptoms tend to get worse when sitting, standing or lying down.
Often, even after a few days of being back on land, cruise ship passengers have reported concerns about suffering from sea sickness. This is known as Disembarkment Syndrome (MdDS)
And while they often only last about 24 hours following the cruise, some poor people have suffered with symptoms for years after disembarking a ship – sometimes getting so bad they contemplate ending their own life.
In 2015, Diane Morley, from Herne Bay, Kent, revealed she’d been suffering with MdDS for three years following an eight-day cruise to Norway.
‘It’s just got worse and worse,’ she said at the time. ‘Last year I had some surgery and had to go under anaesthetic and that made it worse.
‘It’s 24 hours a day. It doesn’t come and go, it’s always there. It’s just awful – I still feel like I’m out on the ocean waiting to be rescued.’
Diane was so ill she even thought about killing herself at one point before coming to terms with her chronic condition with the help of counselling and Valium.
‘I just felt like I had lost my life,’ she added. ‘It’s sort of a grieving process you go through. I wasn’t the same person who got on that boat. That person is still out on the ocean somewhere.’
Similarly, in 2013, father-of-two Simon Mason, from Hull, tried to end his life because he was going through ‘absolute hell’ after developing what he believed was MdDS.
His ordeal began just over a year earlier, on June 23, 2012, following a three-week family break in Europe.
In 2015, Diane Morley, from Herne Bay, Kent, revealed she’d been suffering with MdDS for three years following an eight-day cruise to Norway
In 2013, father-of-two Simon Mason, from Hull, tried to end his life because he was going through ‘absolute hell’ after developing what he believed was MdDS
Speaking of the illness in 2017, retired BP chemist Simon said: ‘It turns you into a gibbering idiot.
‘You can’t think straight. You can’t do the simplest of things. I’d spent the best part of 40 years working at BP but I felt useless.’
The Cleveland Clinic says that usually, MdDS symptoms tend to disappear on their own – but to see a doctor if they last longer than a few weeks.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a test that can properly diagnose the disorder, nor is there a cure.
However, some cruise passengers have reported taking motion sickness medicine to treat symptoms.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see samaritans.org.
