Ambient Sound

[ikajus]

Just a question about ambient noise. How much can you actually hear from inside your cabin? Can you hear the people next door? Can you here the elevator "ding" if you're near it? Can you hear the waves sloshing outside if you're near the bottom levels?

 

Any comments on this from all types of cabins: inside, outside, balcony, suite, you name it. thanks!

[mshe]

This depends where on the ship you are. I once had a room above the theater, so I could hear the show coming through the floor.

 

Otherwise most of the time the cabins are quiet. Occasionally you can hear a muffled conversation from the room next door or the TV. In the morning, you might hear footsteps pass your room... but that's the case with every hotel.

 

The only "annoyance" is when they announce stuff over the PA system - you can usually hear those announcements clearly even with the door closed. However, Most announcements are during the day.

 

Unless you're a *light* sleeper, there's nothing to worry about. If you are a light sleeper, consider bringing a set of ear plugs.

[karfest]

We were in a penthouse AB suite. We could not hear our neighbors or anyone in the hallway but the noise from up above was really annoying. From 6am to midnight it was constant noise from people walking through the pool deck/card room area.There was alot of running and sudden banging noises (did they fall down? did they leap through the doorway?did they drop a box of cement blocks?) that would startle us awake. I was tempted to set up speedbumps up there to slow the traffic. Maybe a detour sign directing everyone to the other side would have worked! I loved the room, but would never choose that location again.

 

If you are on deck 11,bring your earplugs. Even my husband,who is a heavy sleeper, was annoyed by the constant noise.

[Host CMLA]

If you are a light sleeper, consider bringing a set of ear plugs.

If you're like me, and don't like ear plugs (they make my ears itch), go to your local Wal Mart of Target and buy a small white noise machine. We got one at Target for $13.00. It plays several different sounds like rain falling, crickets, a heartbeat and a generic white noise much like a fan sound. We always take one of those on our cruises and it drowns out any outside noise including the creaking of the ship.

[Druke I]

Gross generalization, of course, but ships are pretty well sound insulated.

 

If you are right over or immediately under a show lounge, there may be some music "bleed through".

 

Worse case scenario, there may be a lot of noise. Case in point: Golden Princess' trans-Atlantic, 802, when we hit two different large storms. We could hear the bow slap when the bow hit oncoming waves, we could hear the forward elevator cars banging about in the shafts, and if you were on Prom Deck when the windows started shattering, you could hear the glass breaking, and items in the shops being thrown onto the deck. The whole period, the hull was groaning and creaking as the ship fought for seaway. There were no quiet areas on the ship for several hours.

[samdham]

Druke, that must have been pretty disconcerting. Yikes. I would have worn my life vest to bed that night.

[lovemylife]

We had two cabins on our last cruise, one inside on deck 10 one balcony on deck 9. We also are big fans of white noise, and never heard anything. Sometimes we'd hear the waves outside the balcony cabin, but that's a good thing since we paid all this money to be out in the middle of the ocean.:D

[Druke I]

Actually Samdham, that wasn't as bad as one trip on the Golden Odyssey, many years ago, in the South (or East?) China Sea.

 

The little Odyssey of now defunct Royal Cruise Line, just a 10,000 tonner, was trying to outrun the back end of a major typhoon, between Hong Kong and Manila. We had green water over the bridge, inclinometer was pegged, and screws came out of the water several times. When the screws come out, there is a terrible shaking and vibration; my wife was sure we were going to capsize. Luckily, it only lasted about 8 hrs, and we were able to avoid the major part of the storm.

 

In those same waters, Halsey's Fleet lost two destroyers to capsizing in the closing days of WW2 during a typhoon.

[Cruise_More_Often]

We were in a penthouse AB suite. We could not hear our neighbors or anyone in the hallway but the noise from up above was really annoying. From 6am to midnight it was constant noise from people walking through the pool deck/card room area.There was alot of running and sudden banging noises (did they fall down? did they leap through the doorway?did they drop a box of cement blocks?) that would startle us awake. I was tempted to set up speedbumps up there to slow the traffic. Maybe a detour sign directing everyone to the other side would have worked! I loved the room, but would never choose that location again.

 

If you are on deck 11,bring your earplugs. Even my husband,who is a heavy sleeper, was annoyed by the constant noise.

Karen, what was your suite number? I want to know whether to buy earplugs.

 

Adele

[whale-watcher]

We haven't had problems on a ship yet -- we try to keep the balcony door open a bit so we can enjoy the natural white noise of the water, and we find the gentle movement of the ship and the slight creaks and groans of the hull to be very relaxing -- but we really made use of a white noise machine while we vacationing in Mexico this winter. The sleepy little town we were visiting turned into a fiesta on Saturday night, but fortunately there was a white noise machine in the bedroom. If you are a very light sleeper, you may need some earplugs as well.

[karfest]

We were in 11060. It seemed to be under the doors that lead from the pol deck to the library area. I would think a suite further forward would have less traffic. There was also ALOT of creaking on the rough sea days, I usually like the creaking noise, but between that and the constant footsteps--AAGGHH-how was I to get a nap between meals??

[Cruise_More_Often]

Thanks, Karen! We really appreciate the info. We're a little farther forward, so maybe not so much noise (fingers crossed). We were upgraded (upsold) from a mini-suite amidship. Pretty sure that would have been noisier.

 

Adele

[professor]

We were in 11060. It seemed to be under the doors that lead from the pol deck to the library area. I would think a suite further forward would have less traffic.

I've been in AB#11050 on both the Dawn and the Star, and have not experienced this -- so apparently it's a problem only with 11060 (which is separated from 11050 by two mini-suites).

[karfest]

We just happened to be under something that caused every child to run and jump. There were 600 kids onboard and everyone of them ran across the top of our room!! The people in the mini-suite next door toward the front heard very little, the ones to the aft had the same noise we did. It was just a HOT SPOT!

 

It certainly didn't spoil my cruise, but there were a few times I wanted to just run up the stairs and scream "STOP RUNNING AND JUMPING- I NEED MY BEAUTY SLEEP!"

 

Wouldn't that have been a sight to behold;)