I’m planning to go on a cruise with a well-known company.
The ship takes around 1,000 passengers, so it’s reasonably large…
The cost for an ‘outside’ cabin (= with a view of the sea) is about £2,700 ($4,000.)
The cost for an ‘inside’ cabin (= without a view of the sea) is about £2,000 ($3,000.)
Is the extra cost worth it, i.e. will I get seasick because I can’t see the sea?
I haven’t been on boats for decades, but I have travelled in a small ferry across the North Sea for several hours in a gale and not been ill.
You probably won’t spend all your time in your cabin - and when you’re lying down sleeping, you’re not so likely to get seasick (unless you also get seasick in a rocking chair or hammock)
If you need to see the horizon to calm your stomach, you can always go and find a chair in a lounge somewhere, or out on deck if the weather is nice.
The extra cost is more about the beauty of the view, than its utility in getting your sea legs.
In my experience, the large size of the ship mitigates any discernible rocking sensations significantly. With small boats, the up-and-down movement is very immediate. Whereas on a cruise ship I barely notice it even in poor weather.
I think cabin location could make a difference. A cabin near the middle of the ship will rock less than one near either end. They will tell you that staring at the horizon can help ease seasickness but you can go up on deck to do that. I don’t think you don’t need to pay the extra money on the chance you get seasick.
I wouldn’t pay extra to prevent seasickness, but I would pay extra for the view.
I have severe motion sickness, so I got a scopolamine patch when I went on a cruise. After a few days, the patch caused vision problems (a known side effect), so I took it off. I never experienced any motion sickness with or without the patch.
That said, one of the best parts of the cruise was sitting out on my balcony watching the sea. I think I would have enjoyed the view even without the balcony.
More significant is how high up you are. If you are concerned, get a cabin on one of the lower decks. Not that I’ve ever had a problem on many cruises.
When I was on the QE2 during an Atlantic crossing in April I got invited to a part in the cabin of the Chief Engineer, way up high. The movement of the ship was far more evident up there, but was still fine.
As for whether it is worth it, it depends on where you are going. We had an outside cabin on our last cruise, around the Baltic, and while it was nice we still did our viewing up on deck. If you had a balcony it would be different. Only exception is Alaska, where you should get an outside cabin on the starboard side if you are going north or on the port side going south.
Where are you headed?
Oh - our one problem on the QE2 was the opposite of seasick. When we got off the ship we had a problem with the land not moving. Luckily we immediately got on a train for Paris that helped. That was the only night we ever paid to make the bed vibrate. And in the morning we were fine.
We cruise a lot and my wife tries to find “obstructed view” cabins. These are on deck 8 on Princess cruise ships. They are the ones that have the life boats blocking the porthole. If you check the cabin diagram you will find that some cabins have very little obstruction and you get a pretty good view from the window. You should look on the cruise critic forum for more personal comments. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/
We find that the higher decks are worse in bad weather.
I recommend getting a room with a balcony. I doubt that it will cause you sea sickness. I’ve been on a cruise ship in stormy weather and could barely feel the ship rocking.
Two reasons for a balcony room.
It’s just fantastic to sit out there.
If the ship loses power, as has happened a couple of times in the past few years, you’ll have fresh air whereas the interior rooms or those with just windows, won’t. That could be especially important if the toilets stop running.
I’m just the opposite of Jerry. I recommend an inner cabin on the lower deck, middle. If things go wrong on the ship, yeah, you’re screwed, but you probably have other things to worry about if the ship loses power. I like the inner lower because a) they are cheap, b) if you’re spending a lot of time in the cabin, you might as well just bring a bottle of booze into your bedroom and save the $3000, c) they are completely dark and quiet at night–we only use the cabin for sleep and those are the two best things for sleep and d) the middle of the ship dampens out even the slight roll you get in a big ship in rough seas.
I have a real issue with motion sickness.
I always book an outside cabin on the “A” deck. The lowest deck.
The lower you are the more the motion is dampened. And having a room with a window near the water line is worth the extra.
My brother went on a cruise and had an interior cabin. He said he felt like when he went to his room he was going down into a dungeon and it was depressing.
When I am on a cruise my drink is Ginger Ale. And I take ginger root.
I remember on one trip between Australia and Europe in a cruise liner I had a terrific outside view. Unfortunately it was often underwater as the cabin was very close to the waterline. I threw up a fair bit in the first day or so. Then I was fine.
May I recommend plenty of Orange juice - it tastes better than most when it comes back up. May I also recommend eating a full cooked breakfast as that seems to defeat much sea-sickness. I discovered that in a force 9 gale in the Atlantic on the Canberra. I made it to the breakfast hall and tucked in - one of the very few who did. Most passengers stayed in their cabins and were seasick for days.
Play online? at these prices, "Plus, staying in touch onboard isn’t cheap, though pricing is getting better. Internet charges vary by cruise line, with some charging by the minute (from roughly 35 cents to $1 per minute). These lines usually offer packages for heavy users that discount the per-minute rate, often significantly."
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