For us... forward or aft?

[Sarahraegraham]

DH and I are considering sailing on the Dream next spring, Deluxe Inside Stateroom, and the pickings are slim by now. We would prefer midship (never sailed, so we've heard that's the best choice), but the only options are forward or aft, mostly very forward or aft. We are trying to decide which to pick and which deck level.

We don't have kids and won't use the adult-only areas. We would shop and see the shows. We would prefer to have a mid-deck level to have some cushion between us and the public areas if that makes sense.

Given that, I'm thinking forward on 7, 8 or 9, but as we have never cruised before I thought I'd ask those with more experience their opinions. I don't think we're prone to motion sickness, but we won't really know til we cruise. I'm also a little leery of aft because I can be a light sleeper and I've heard vibrations can be an issue but I don't know.

I am very out of my element here and would appreciate your input! Second choice options in the comments also appreciated.

 

[TestingH2O]

We like deck 7 or 8 forward on the new ships. Being on a middle deck makes taking stairs an easy choice.

 

[Elizakapeka]

I have only sailed once but we were 9 aft and the only time we heard engine noise was backing into ports, it was actually a great way to wake up and I am not a morning person for the record. We have booked the same room for our 2019 cruise.

 

[Shanti]

DH and I are considering sailing on the Dream next spring, Deluxe Inside Stateroom, and the pickings are slim by now. We would prefer midship (never sailed, so we've heard that's the best choice), but the only options are forward or aft, mostly very forward or aft. We are trying to decide which to pick and which deck level.

We don't have kids and won't use the adult-only areas. We would shop and see the shows. We would prefer to have a mid-deck level to have some cushion between us and the public areas if that makes sense.

Given that, I'm thinking forward on 7, 8 or 9, but as we have never cruised before I thought I'd ask those with more experience their opinions. I don't think we're prone to motion sickness, but we won't really know til we cruise. I'm also a little leery of aft because I can be a light sleeper and I've heard vibrations can be an issue but I don't know.

I am very out of my element here and would appreciate your input! Second choice options in the comments also appreciated.

The adult areas are forward, and most of the food offerings are aft. Since you said you won't use adult areas, I recommend aft on the Dream, as the convenience of being able to get to & from dining easily (& to easily take meals from the Cabanas buffet to your stateroom if you wish), should not be underestimated.

Aft has less rocking movement than forward, so less chance for seasickness on rocky seas.

Aft's primary drawback is that you can feel some vibration when settling into the ports, and occasionally when the ship is sailing at high speed. This is a big problem on the Fantasy, but the Dream has only minimal vibration in my experience. We sailed aft on her in December with no issues, and look forward to doing so again next December.

 

[dvcdisney]

I voted Forward and would suggest decks 7 or 8. My preference would be deck 7.

We've stated in this section several times and felt it was a good location for us. I'm sensitive to the ships movement.

However, I have no experience with Aft Staterooms.

 

[i18mulan]

I would go for an aft high stateroom. As Shanti said, forward has more rocking movement. We had an aft stateroom last year on a higher deck and it was so easy to just take the stairs going to cabanas or get water and hot choco at night and bring it to your stateroom.

As with the vibration, it didn't really bother us. We felt it when the ship was docking but nothing during the night.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

I would go for an aft high stateroom. As Shanti said, forward has more rocking movement. We had an aft stateroom last year on a higher deck and it was so easy to just take the stairs going to cabanas or get water and hot choco at night and bring it to your stateroom.

As with the vibration, it didn't really bother us. We felt it when the ship was docking but nothing during the night.

Did you stay aft on the Fantasy? How were the vibrations?

 

[Dug720]

Curious why without kids you wouldn't use the adult areas?

Also, just so you're aware, when a ship is in port, there is no shopping on board - the stores on board are only open when the ship is at sea. The main shows are once per night - you could theoretically go to it again if you skipped your dinner. Just so you have realistic expectations of those offerings...

 

[Rob1872]

I've never understood concerns from an "aft you are closer to the restaurants" or "forward you are closer to the adults area" philosophy. Unless you have serious mobility issues, it isn't that far to walk from one end of the ship to the other. Heck, when we were on deck 1 of the Magic, we usually walked all of the way up to deck 9 each time, etc. My family views all of the walking as a healthy counter-balance to the massive quantity of food we were eating!

So really, for Dream ship motion should be your primary concern; aft is better than forward. I'd agree with people talking about feeling vibration from the engines/thrusters coming in and out of port, but it never bothered us. (My family could sleep through it; as a Navy guy, my body was a little more sensitive to it.)

 

[DCLPrincess]

I prefer aft and have stayed there on all 4 ships (no issues on the Fantasy). As PP said everything is close so it really doesn't matter where you stay. In reading the responses I noticed people like both which confirms there is no bad choice. I'd stay steerage on a Disney cruise.

 

[Swimmergirl]

I voted mid aft. I've only stayed forward and mid-ship, though! We usually stay on deck 7 (I like a buffer of rooms between me and deck/restaurant noise). The last time we were forward we were REALLY far forward. The ship ran into some unexpected weather and high seas. It got so bad the captain actually made an announcement inside the staterooms at 11 or so at night telling people to stay in their rooms and away from balcony and decks. Both my kids, who have never had issues, got sea sick. I'm sure it was rough everywhere on the ship, but we were rocking big time in the front!