DEAR MISS MANNERS: I like to travel and have been many places in the world. I am very prone to seasickness, though, so waterborne vessels rarely make an appearance in my travels. (As I write this, I am mentally reliving a one-hour turbojet ferry from Hong Kong to Macau — gah.)

People often ask me why I don’t go on cruises, but when I answer with the seasickness response, they won’t hear of it. They are sure that whatever boat they have in mind — from a gigantic cruise ship to a paddle-wheel riverboat to a canoe — will be fine for me because of XYZ. Or that a particular body of water won’t cause seasickness. Or that this motion sickness device will work a charm for me, as it did for them.

The reality is that all boats on all bodies of water make me queasy. I’ve tried all the “cures,” and I still suffer mightily. Is there a courteous way to tell these well-meaning people that waterborne travel is not in my future, ever?

GENTLE READER: As what you call the Seasickness Response has not discouraged people, perhaps your version of it is less demonstrative than Miss Manners had originally pictured — gah.

Assuming whoever you are speaking with is not proposing to rent Jet Skis posthaste, perhaps it would be quicker to agree that you will take their suggestions under advisement — and then change the subject.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, [email protected]; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.