Do I Really Want A Mid-Ship Stateroom?

One of the questions that I’m asked most frequently is “How do I pick a stateroom?” Because so many of today’s mega-ships seem to stretch on for miles in length, many cruisers assume there’s an optimal location aboard each where the best staterooms are located.

During the late 1800s, upper-class British travelers were said to have favored a “P.O.S.H.” stateroom – “Port Out, Starboard Home,” the position of the most expensive rooms aboard passenger ships sailing between England and India. In truth, this is strictly an urban legend. But it makes for a nice story, and illustrates how selecting a stateroom used to be (and remains) a rather complicated affair.

When vessels regularly crossed the Atlantic, one always wanted to be as close to the middle of the ship as possible. That’s because the middle of the ship was the spot that pitched the least in rough seas. The bow and the stern (the front and the back of the ship) were where you’d feel the greatest amount of motion when the waters were high.

If you suffer from motion sickness or have a mobility impediment, and you’re sailing the North Atlantic between Boston/New York and Northern Europe, then a mid-ship stateroom is still your safest bet. One irony of cruise-ship architecture is that the most stable staterooms (staterooms with the least amount of pitching) are found on the lowest decks of the ship. You’ll feel the most motion on the highest decks, where the most expensive staterooms are located.

Odds are, however, that you won’t feel any motion during your sailing, regardless of where your stateroom is located. The Caribbean, for example, is so calm that you can barely tell that you’re at sea (that’s because the islands act as a natural barrier against the choppier waters of the Atlantic).

In the past, when staterooms varied a great deal in size, the largest rooms were usually located mid-ship. But over the past twenty years, cruise lines have been standardizing staterooms in terms of layout, amenities, and overall size. With few exceptions, each category – interior, oceanview, balcony, and suite – will be identical. So if you’ve booked a stateroom with a private balcony, the size of that room will be equivalent to another room in that category no matter where they’re located aboard your ship.

I personally prefer a stateroom located on the aft end of a ship because of its proximity to the Lido Restaurant, which is always situated in the aft. Otherwise, the corridors just seem to get longer and longer each day, and I feel like I’m making a two-mile trek in order to get breakfast and lunch. And while mid-ship staterooms sometimes cost a bit more, they’re also subject to more corridor noise and traffic since other passengers will be passing by throughout the day and night.

If you do decide you want a mid-ship stateroom, be sure to check the location of your ship’s lifeboats (tenders). They may, in some instances, block the view from your stateroom and they can be noisy when raised or lowered.



by Anne Campbell