First Time to DCL - Which Floor?

[Madhattermad]

Hi y'all,

First time posting to this forum. I'm in the UK and a Disneyland Paris regular but next year I am planning to do Disneyworld and a Bahamian cruise. I welcome all views and opinions on this. I've been looking at the Magic ship.

I think my preference is for a stateroom with Verandah...but where? Do I need to worry about sea sickness? is mid-ship significantly better than forward or aft? should I aim for the higher floors...they are more expensive...so does this translate to better?

I'm planning on sailing in September and it will be myself, hubby and my 1 year old daughter.

Also welcome hints and tips for a rookie

Thanks

K.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We like verandah midship and high up. We are not prone to seasickness. Depends on your budget. Make your budget and stick to it. You'll enjoy your cruise a whole lot more if you are not worried about paying it off when you get home.

 

[Dug720]

If you are worried about seasickness, the recommendation is a lower deck and mid-ship. The lowest deck with verandahs on it is Deck 5...but those are pricier because the verandahs are larger - though the section that sticks out does not have the privacy a smaller one will as people can look down onto the extended section.

 

[Madhattermad]

Great advice on floor 5! The Verandah is a big draw for me as hubby and I can sit out and enjoy chillin even if the little one is asleep.

 

[Marc D]

I’ll put forward an unpopular opinion, but you cannot control your reaction to the ship’s motion by picking one room over the next. For one thing, no one is ever in two spots at the same time for long enough to compare the effects. Also, when the ship moves, the entire ship moves, not just particular rooms. What will affect you is different from someone else. That’s why you’ll get ‘lower is better’ and ‘higher is better’ answers at the same time from different posters. All those suggestions are based on anecdotal information : ‘I was staying forward and got sick so forward is bad’ but what proves you wouldn’t have been sicker staying aft ? Finally, even if your room is midship, you’ll have dinner aft, watch the show forward and spend your pool day midship. Seasickness does not hit only at night...

Pick your room based on how close you want to be to particular venues, how much you want to pay and how often you want to climb stairs.

 

[Ross Powell]

Deck 5 is great!

 

[Aby]

On the classic ships, we prefer aft, deck 7. A quick hop up to the drink station and we find the corridor nice and quiet. Being on a deck with nothing but staterooms above and below lessens the chance of noise from your surrounding floors.

Aby

 

[jaiminee krikit]

Our last Disney cruise we were on deck 6 in an aft facing veranda. It was amazing! The veranda was almost as big as our room and most of it was covered so we could sit out there in the rain and I could avoid the sun out there. We had 2 lounge chairs and 2 regular chairs and napped out there many times!
We sailed with Princess after that but I couldn't get an aft veranda. We were midship, our veranda was so tiny. We'll definitely always try to stay in an aft room from now on.

 

[CrackersAndCheese]

Our cruise on the Fantasy, we were on deck 9 and loved it. It was quiet, but a quick walk up two floors to the pools and Cabanas.

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

The Magic typically isn't sailing out Port Canaveral in September. This year, she'll be out of New York in September. Some of those sailings will do one day in WDW and one day at Castaway Cay, but if you're planning a longer WDW trip, sailing out of NYC isn't very convenient. The September 2020 sailings haven't been released beyond the last couple out of Dover, but I think it's unlikely the Magic will sail back to Port Canaveral following the transatlantic. I could be wrong, of course, but you may want to look at the Dream or the Fantasy.

 

[pixiedustedme]

The Magic typically isn't sailing out Port Canaveral in September. This year, she'll be out of New York in September. Some of those sailings will do one day in WDW and one day at Castaway Cay, but if you're planning a longer WDW trip, sailing out of NYC isn't very convenient. The September 2020 sailings haven't been released beyond the last couple out of Dover, but I think it's unlikely the Magic will sail back to Port Canaveral following the transatlantic. I could be wrong, of course, but you may want to look at the Dream or the Fantasy.

This. For a Bahamian cruise in September, you will be sailing on the Dream, not the Magic.

The Dream is a large and stable ship, so sea-sickness is unlikely to be a serious problem on her on a simple Bahamian itinerary.

 

[lizzyb]

For our past 2 sailings on the Fantasy we have stayed on the 8th floor. First room was oceanview and the second was a balcony. This time around we are trying the 7th and with a balcony as DH insists on one.

 

[Quellman]

I’ll put forward an unpopular opinion, but you cannot control your reaction to the ship’s motion by picking one room over the next. For one thing, no one is ever in two spots at the same time for long enough to compare the effects. Also, when the ship moves, the entire ship moves, not just particular rooms. What will affect you is different from someone else. That’s why you’ll get ‘lower is better’ and ‘higher is better’ answers at the same time from different posters. All those suggestions are based on anecdotal information : ‘I was staying forward and got sick so forward is bad’ but what proves you wouldn’t have been sicker staying aft ? Finally, even if your room is midship, you’ll have dinner aft, watch the show forward and spend your pool day midship. Seasickness does not hit only at night...

Pick your room based on how close you want to be to particular venues, how much you want to pay and how often you want to climb stairs.

I agree that the ships movement will certainly impact people differently. You are correct that the nausea can be felt across the ship at any time of the day and that it can happen to people quite differently. Navy sailors are probably hardly impacted by the movement of a cruise liner, but someone who has never been on a boat may be. So the closer you are to the fixed point of a ship the less likely you'll be impacted during heavier seas. And yes, there are stabilizers that work to minimize ship movements providing a reduced movement.

All that to say, there is science behind the location and relative motion.

A ships motion is very different based on location relative to a ship. Try this simple experiment. Hold a pen at the base perpendicular to your desk. Tilt it to the right making it more parallel to the desk surface. Observe where the other end of the pen is in relation to the base against the table. It has literally moved inches along an imaginary half circle. Now move your pen the other way, passing through perpendicular the other direction. Again, observe the distances traveled. If you are on a higher deck (the end of the pen not on the table), you will travel a greater distance with a higher velocity with greater angular momentumthan the point on the table. You can also visualize it with this [link]. At the higher edges you'll travel a much greater distance than those closer to the bottom. The quick movement in a direction can lead to nausea as your body is having problems trying to process the various stimuli. Your inner ear will process that you are tilting and want to correct that, but your eyes will see you sitting in a dining room with no windows so it doesn't seem like you are moving. As your body tries to figure out what is going on, you may encounter the sea sickness.

 

[hoff41]

We have been on the 2nd floor, middlish but not exactly middle, virtually every time and have been big fans. Good access to stuff, empty elevators (because you are at the bottom), easy access to floors 3 and 4 where a lot happens, etc. and no sickness (beyond how it was felt everywhere on the ship), also the price is usually cheaper

 

[Madhattermad]

Thanks for all your advice. I opted for 5 floor forward with the extended balcony. It’s also easy for the nursery which we will likely utilise.

Also we’re on the Dream...don’t know why I thought it was the magic?!

Thanks again