Cruise ship holidays can be made infinitely more pleasant if you are happy with your onboard cabin. However, if you end up in a room you dislike it could spoil the trip. When booking cruises it’s helpful to know where the cabins to steer clear of are – and the ones that are best to choose. Ex cruise ship crew member Joshua Kinser, now 39, worked in the industry for seven years.
He explained to Express.co.uk the cabins that are worth avoiding next time you’re booking a cruise.
One big problem for some passengers is the worry of seasickness. A room in the wrong part of the ship could make this condition much worse.
Kinser recommends avoiding the cabins in the middle and opting for lower decks instead.
“Lower decks will not have as much rocking and motion when in high seas,” he told Express.co.uk.
“So if you’re concerned about seasickness these are good choices.”
Another concern on cruises is the threat of fire. According to ex cruise ship worker Jay Herring’s book The Truth About Cruise Ships: “The most dangerous and likely thing to go wrong is an onboard fire.”
Safety-conscious passengers may want to stay in cabins where this poses less of an issue.
“Something else to consider is that most fires aboard cruise ships occur in the kitchens or the engine rooms,” Kinser said.
“If a map of your ship is available, perhaps it is wise to steer clear of staterooms that are near potential fire hazards such as the engine room, laundry facility, and kitchens or galleys as they are called at sea.”
However, cruisers don’t need to worry too much. According to Herring, “major incidents are extremely rare”.
He said: “Ships employ dedicated firemen, who, in the event of an onboard fire, don full protective clothing complete with masks and air tanks.”
The cabins cruise crew members live in don’t always match the standards provided in passengers rooms.
One problem Herring struggled with when he worked aboard the Carnival Triumph was noise.
“Our cabin was at the front of the ship on Deck 1, directly above the thrusters,” he wrote.
“The thrusters were roaring monsters that infected everything around them with rage, and the closer you were, the worse it was.
“We lived on Deck 1, but there were crew-ranked cabins one and two decks below us and down there the noise vibration from the thrusters were so bad that you literally had to yell to communicate.
“The ship usually arrived in the wee hours of the morning, and it just wasn’t possible to sleep through intermittent earthquakes during the docking manoeuvre.”