Below decks, you are not likely to have the vaguest notion of the direction in which the vessel is headed (in a large vessel). What counts is fore and aft, port and starboard. Hopefully, exits would be labelled;if not, finding them would be one's first order of business.

Interference from electrical circuits and surrounding ferrous metal is likely to render your compass highly inaccurate, in any event. Feeling the ship's motion is more likely to give you an idea of direction than any compass.