A $2,000 cruise on Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas was ruined by constant motion in a front cabin. Seasoned cruisers say book mid-ship to avoid seasickness. The lesson: location matters more than size.
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My first night on a cruise ship was terrifying.
The floor trembled beneath me. Booming noises came from the decks above and below. Was that furniture sliding into walls? I sat stiffly on the couch at midnight, determined to stay awake. I read the emergency instructions over and over until I accidentally fell asleep.
I woke up to sun shining through the window. At the buffet, unfazed cruisers lined up for water slides. I realized I had just experienced a normal night at sea.
This was back in April 2022. I booked my first cruise on Royal Caribbean's 18-deck megaship, Wonder of the Seas. For $2,000, I spent seven nights in a 179-square-foot ocean-view stateroom at the very front of deck eight. It was a mid-tier room – a step above windowless interior staterooms, a step below balcony staterooms.
After that first night, I wondered whether anyone else felt the same. I talked to seasoned cruisers. They told me the front of the ship is one of the worst places if you are prone to seasickness. Higher decks in the middle feel calmer and more stable, they said.
My room was on the eighth floor at the front of an 18-deck ship. I felt constant motion. As someone who gets motion sickness from the slightest movement of bathwater, booking that room spoiled many aspects of my first voyage.
Some nights were rockier than others. On the roughest nights, I heard and felt a sensation like thunder beneath me every few minutes. Loud thumps and heavy vibrations in my room sounded like large furniture colliding.
During days at sea, when the ship did not stop, I had a hard time eating and joining activities. I did not feel rested for excursions at port stops, which included hikes in the sun. The motion made me dizzy during breakfast and lunch. I skipped the buffets on two afternoons altogether.
The room itself felt cramped. Without a balcony, I had no fresh air. The window offered a view of endless waves that made the motion worse. I spent extra time on the pool deck just to feel stable ground.
Seasoned cruisers gave me a simple rule on day two: book a cabin centered between the bow and stern, on a lower deck if you want less movement, or a higher deck if you want light but more sway. The ship's stabilizers work best near the middle.
I wish I had researched cabin location before booking. Next time, I would choose a room near the central staircase on deck six or seven, with a balcony to escape the rocking. A few hundred dollars more might have saved the whole trip.
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