Mid-Ship Cabins, Are They Your First Choice?

[need2cruisesoon]

I see many cruise lines charge a premium for the mid ship location obviously as you are close to all the venues on the ship.

But are you concerned with noise and foot traffic to stairwells and elevators? Is the mid ship location a high priority when you consider your next cruise? What has your experience been with mid ship cabins?

 

 

Me, I like all the way forward or aft for the quiet atmosphere of these locations.

[blondie2011]

Like forward cabins, quiet usually

 

 

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[spookyfudge]

I see many cruise lines charge a premium for the mid ship location obviously as you are close to all the venues on the ship.

But are you concerned with noise and foot traffic to stairwells and elevators? Is the mid ship location a high priority when you consider your next cruise? What has your experience been with mid ship cabins?

 

 

Me, I like all the way forward or aft for the quiet atmosphere of these locations.

 

Yes, always

[Sixtytwo]

We have been all over, forward, aft, and midships. We mostly like high and forward. Closer to the early morning coffee!

[Kartgv]

Our favorite is an aft-facing cabin, but they sell out quickly. We aren't bothered by ship movement, so that doesn't affect our decisions. Midship cabins are nice for closer access to most venues. Our choice depends on the price differences for different sections. On one cruise we're currently looking at, there's a $1500pp difference between an "Aft" MiniSuite and a "MidAft" MiniSuite. That's ridiculous and we won't pay it to save a few steps. We just look for a cabin that preferably has other cabins above and below it, and isn't right across from the elevators/stairs/laundry room/service staff supply rooms.

[tortoisegirl]

I like midship because it has noticeably less motion than fore and aft in rough seas (I am prone to motion sickness, and many of the routes we have done are not ideal for that, such as Alaska that is round trip Seattle). It is worth a bit of premium for me, a few hundred dollars. The ships we have been on have only fwd & aft elevator/stair banks, so being in between those we are far from both, so no noise. The only downside is we are usually directly in the middle of the two, so we have quite a long walk, but I don't really mind getting more exercise.

 

We also only book cabins which have only cabins above & below us, to reduce the noise potential from venues. Lately we've also been booking a lower floor, as we have realized that we most commonly go to the main dining room (not buffer), low decks to disembark, and the promenade (on Royal). Lower is also better for less motion.

[crazy4tweety]

Find middle is best if you get motion sickness I have not had any motion sickness but the people I cruise with do so I always try to book middle to make them more comfortable

[fishywood]

The noisiest cabin I have ever been in was one forward of the forward elevators. No place for the noise of footsteps and conversations to go except echoing off the front dead end of the hallway.

(OK I will qualify that as "the noisiest from fellow passengers". The absolute noisiest was a cabin directly below the MDR Galley. But I digress...)

 

People do seem to like cabins roughly halfway between the midship stairs/elevators and either the forward or aft shaft. Often they command almost as high a premium as dead midship (if on a middle deck). Assumes less foot traffic, and equal choice of which stairs/lifts to take to/from the cabin. Me, I would rather be very close to one elevator than equally not-so-close to two. I have been in cabins right next to the aft elevators on at least five Princess cruises, have never had a problem with noise or excess vibration from the rear thrusters beyond the actual moments of docking in port.

[mom says]

We always book as close to midships as possible. Ease of access to venues isn't a consideration for us. It's all about minimizing motion sickness. We also only book cabins that have cabins above and below. Noise due to proximity to elevators and stairwells has never been a problem for us.

[GUT2407]

Mrs Gut has some motion issues, so midship is perfect.

 

I have mobility issues so near the lifts suits me.

 

Never had noise issues.

[Hlitner]

We have been cruising for over forty years and could care less about being mid ship. Motion is not much of an issue with us and we actually enjoy some motion at night as it rocks us asleep :). Mid ship cabins generally cost more money and have the maximum amount of foot traffic in the corridors. Also consider that most of the major mechanical equipment such as Engines are located amidships because of weight distribution issues. Our favorite spot on most ships is somewhere forward of the forward stair case/elevators. As you move towards the bow there are very few heavy mechanical noises other then the bow thrusters which we find a terrific alarm clock as a ship nears a docking location. Foot traffic is generally at a minimum since the only folks walking in front of the forward elevators are the residents :). Cabins towards the aft are also fine (and have much less motion then cabins towards the bow) but sometimes suffer from vibration or shimmy motion due to the props. On vessels that do not have much of an aft vibration problem we have no issue with aft cabins.

 

Hank

[Slugsta]

I am very prone to motion sickness so prefer lower passenger decks and no extremes of forward/aft. Other than that, it is a case of making sure we are not below areas of high traffic or above/below the theatre.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We are really ok with almost any location, but prefer towards the aft. I now really look for cabins near the stairs/elevators because then you don't have to walk the long narrow halls.

 

I would rather not have a cabin really, really far forward though.

[sail7seas]

We always have mid ship cabins with a few exceptions. We once had an aftt on Princess and did NOT like the location at all and never booked it again

 

 

I once had a far forward and thought the ride no t so smooth The cabin was beautiful but I don't like a far forward location.

[sail7seas]

I never was seasick but got a little queasy in the far forward cabin.

[sloopsailor]

We prefer forward balcony cabins. Not because they are quieter, but because we enjoy the sound of the bow splashing through the water. We find the sound one of the most relaxing anywhere. We also enjoy any movement. It's like being rocked to sleep.

[GUT2407]

Hint...

 

You can often save a bit by taking the firs cabin or two in Mid-Fore or Mid-Aft.

[Heidi13]

DW suffers from motion sickness, so we always try to book a m'ships cabin on the lowest deck that has another deck of cabins below. Being closer to the ship's centre of gravity has less movement, therefore the higher you go or more fwd or aft you go the movement increases.

 

Noise - this varies significantly mainly due to the pax and we find it is never the same, even when sailing on the same ship. Never really experienced any noise in m'ship cabins; however, we avoid being next to a stairwell, laundry, etc.

 

Fwd cabins - in addition to increased movement you may experience noise from the anchor (lower decks) or whistle (upper decks), bow thrusters (cause both noise and vibration) and if the ship has access to a fwd viewing deck you may have slamming doors to deal with.

 

Aft cabins - same movement as fwd cabins. In addition to bow thrusters, depending on speed you may get propeller noise/rumble.

 

In summary, we are happy paying a premium for a m'ships cabin. Happy wife, happy life.

[Bookish Angel]

We choose mid-ship or aft as we like to get in as many steps as possible and aft sections have been the quietest for us.

[cb at sea]

We prefer a cabin near the midship elevator foyer. Makes daytime so much easier, as that is when you tend to go back and forth to the cabin frequently. Convenient!

[DukeASUGirl]

We always book as close to midships as possible. Ease of access to venues isn't a consideration for us. It's all about minimizing motion sickness. We also only book cabins that have cabins above and below. Noise due to proximity to elevators and stairwells has never been a problem for us.

 

This. It's all about minimizing motion sickness for me.

[SPacificbound]

Our preferred spot is rear facing aft with cabins above and below.

 

We have been on 22 cruises for 257 nights, which is not much compared to a most people on CC.

What is significant about it to us, is that with the exception our first cruise, when we didn't know any better, and 4 Queen Mary 2 crossings, all of our cabins have been rear facing aft which we love.

 

Unfortunately they seem to be few and far between now. :eek: