Pacific Princess Vibration in Back Suites

[LewiLewi]

We were in our friends suite in the very back of the ship on the Pacific Princess. We noticed that there was a lot of vibration in the entire cabin. Our friend complained about it during the trip as well. Is this usual for the aft suites?

[nukesubsailor]

We were in our friends suite in the very back of the ship on the Pacific Princess. We noticed that there was a lot of vibration in the entire cabin. Our friend complained about it during the trip as well. Is this usual for the aft suites?

 

Ship propellers are at the rear of the ship. As a propeller spins it creates low pressure areas at the trailing edge of each blade. This low pressure causes oxygen in the water to come out of solution thus creating bubbles. The faster the rotation of the propeller, them more bubbles it creates. The propeller blades turning in these bubbles causes vibration. This is called cavitation.

Every propeller driven ship will experience vibration when it is operating at higher speeds.

There will also be vibration when the stern thrusters are used to move the ship sideways when doing docking operations.

Some people are more sensitive to these vibrations than others which explains why some people won't book a cabin at the stern while others love those cabins for the view of the ship's wake.

[Colo Cruiser]

We were in our friends suite in the very back of the ship on the Pacific Princess. We noticed that there was a lot of vibration in the entire cabin. Our friend complained about it during the trip as well. Is this usual for the aft suites?

 

Yes. Its been that way in all aft cabins that we have been in.

Especially with thrusters.

[LewiLewi]

We are trying to decide whether or not to upgrade from a mini suite to a full suite on thevOcean Princess which is the sistership of the Pacific Princess. I am wondering whether it will be very annoying or not. I'd love the extra space, especially on a longer cruise.

[mmckm]

We will only cruise if we can get a aft suite. We love them. Usually no wind, the ones we book are mostly covered. The beam on some of them is no problem my wife uses it to get behind for shade when shes had enough sun. We don't really notice any vibration when sailing, some people due. The thrusters are only used in port for docking and is no big deal as far we are concerned, usually standing on our balcony watching the docking anyway. Being at the end of the hall is very quite no kids running up and down. Other people maybe easily bothered by things we don't notice. We have always slept great at the back.

[LewiLewi]

Thank you for all of your responses.

[chrysalis]

When we were on the Royal (R ship sister to Ocean and Pacific), we knew people in an aft suite. Nice suite, but the vibration was so bad, they got another cabin just for sleeping in. They did that for the entire 24 days of the cruise.

[land lover]

We have had an aft cabin on these ships twice....yes there is vibration, at times enough that it makes the drawers and cabinets rattle and even open. It was just a minor distraction for us......afterall if you are like us and sleep with your sliding glass door open the wake drowns some of those noises out.

[compozer]

We always book aft suites and it drives me nuts. My husband doesn't seem to notice it but we usually have the tv on when we are in the cabin and he falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. But it keeps me up so I have to take an ambien if I want to get much sleep. It also wakes me up early.

We really love to sit on the balcony and watch the wake - we can do that for hours. We usually cruise during winter months to get away from the cold back home so we are so thankful to be outside that we put up with it. Better than the constant barking of our neighbor's dogs back home. We have had friends in that ask how we can stand it. The noise back there is worse than the vibration. - We have to yell back and worth to be heard when we are on the balcony.

[compozer]

What really drives me nuts at night is the constant rattling of the hangers in the closet. Closing the door doesn't help either. I try to space them out but it is frustrating.

Edited February 4, 2015 by compozer

[MessyCat]

We loved the suite on Ocean Princess (sister to Pacific). However, we were in a forward suite; right above where they drop the anchor etc and the noise frightened me when I first heard it. See first photo. Ok unless in the middle of the night. Prefer aft suites.

 

 

 

 

Spoilt me for other ships.

 

Regards Anne

[vantec]

What really drives me nuts at night is the constant rattling of the hangers in the closet. Closing the door doesn't help either. I try to space them out but it is frustrating.

 

Move the hangers close together and put a towel through them - no noise! We learned this from one of our cabin stewards.

[Bimmer09]

Hi, we had the lowest aft suite (deck 6) and there was vibration. I noticed it because there was a silver tray with drinking glasses on it on the dining room table. It was rattling so I set it on the carpet and the problem was solved. The room was then quiet.

 

I shot 20 minutes of Venice sail away with a tripod set on the balcony table and if you see it on youtube you'll find there is not the slightest shaking in the picture.

At open-sea speed the vibration will increase.

 

Thrusters used in port will cause heavy vibration but not for long.

 

The suites on the small ships are huge and beautifully furnished.

 

Norris

[LewiLewi]

Thank you all for your replies. We are hoping to get upgraded to an aft suite. If not, we will not be too disappointed.

[KruzeKrazy!]

We agree 100,000% with mmckm!

[dg33]

We were on the Diamond in a mini-suite three cabins from the aft and the vibrations were horrible! I thought it would improve once we were away from the port but it did not. Finally had to move to a mini three cabins down- that one was MUCH better! Not always are other cabins available and they were very reluctant to move us but finally did (we were on a 16 day in Asia) LOVED the Diamond once we moved!

[Mister World]

I cruised on all Princess three smaller ships Royal (now with P&O) Ocean and Pacific. There was an awful lot of vibrations in the aft mini suites (deck 8) namely 8046 to 8056 on the port side and as well in the opposite mini suites on the starboard side. On deck 7 were cabins 7084 to 7100 and deck 6 cabins 6056 to 6072. Same problem on the opposite cabins on the starboard side There was however very little vibration if any in the extreme aft cabins including the Owner's Suites (OS) We had a OS on deck 8 and had no problem I will never book any of the noisy cabins listed above. Many people were complaining that they had a hard time sleeping.

[Mister World]

Yes there is problem of strong vibration Deck 6, 7, and 8 in aft section, I have posted a more detailed note on the subject.

[piper28]

The only time we really had a problem with it was in one of the suite's on the back of the R class Royal on deck 6, and was really only on the one stretch of the cruise where the ship was going flat out. The real problem was that the ceiling had a squeak to it, and that was driving us nuts. I've been in the balcony cabins on the aft of the Ocean and Royal on deck 7 and never had a problem with the vibration. I'm sure some people would have problems, but in general I never found it to be a big deal besides that one night. (And quite frankly, I don't sleep well at night in general, and

 

As for the hangers, I've had problems with them anywhere on the ships. Doesn't matter, they will rattle anywhere. I just take down the empty hangers, which seem to be the ones causing the noise problems, and put them on the floor of the closet.

[waltd]

I had an aft cabin on the Disney Magic about 15 years ago and the vibration was bad. Had to request another cabin. Guess it comes with the territory.