The most expensive cabins on a cruise ship are usually high and aft, with the largest balconies. The most comfortable ones in a seaway are somewhere else entirely.
A ship rotates about a center
A vessel pitches about a transverse axis roughly amidships and rolls about a longitudinal axis near the centerline. Motion increases with distance from those axes.
A cabin at the bow or stern therefore travels through a much larger vertical arc in the same swell than one in the middle of the ship.
The same applies vertically. High decks swing further in a roll than low ones, which is why the topmost forward cabins feel the most movement.
Stabilizers reduce roll only
Retractable fins extend from the hull and generate lift to counter roll, and they work well when the ship has forward speed.
They do nothing for pitch, which is the fore and aft motion most people notice on a head sea, and they are retracted in port and at low speed.
So a ship can feel steady on a beam sea and lively on a head sea in exactly the same conditions.
Suites are placed for view, not motion
Premium accommodation is positioned where the balconies are largest and the outlook is best, which usually means aft overhangs and forward-facing top decks.
Those are the positions furthest from the axes of rotation, so the highest-priced cabins are frequently the ones that move most.
Aft cabins also sit above the propulsion, where vibration is most noticeable at higher speeds and during maneuvering.
Noise follows the ship's layout
Cabins directly under a pool deck, a buffet or a nightclub inherit the noise of trolleys, furniture and equipment operating at hours the guest is not awake for.
Cabins adjacent to service pantries, laundry chutes or crew stairwells have a similar problem that does not appear on a deck plan.
Reading the plans for what sits above and beside a cabin is usually more informative about the night than the cabin category itself.
How to trade the variables
On an ocean crossing or a route known for swell, a lower midship balcony often gives a better experience than a larger cabin at either end.
On a calm-water itinerary with mostly short overnight passages, the motion argument weakens and the view argument takes over.
The useful question is what the voyage will spend most of its hours doing, since a ship at anchor in sheltered water has no motion problem at all.