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Best Cruises that are Quiet

Tnet

By Tnet,
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Tnet

Tnet

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My wife and I are thinking of taking our first cruise but I've heard from a friend that went on a St Petersburg excursion, that the ship he was on played music non stop 24/7. He said the only place it was quiet was in his cabin. This concerns us as we want a ship that is quiet, not a Las Vegas casino hotel experience. We'd appreciate any feedback on this especially the ones that also do repositioning (we were thinking of going or coming back from Europe this way).

 

TIA!

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$hip$hape

$hip$hape

Posted
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Usually one or more of the lounges is not used during the day and is a great place of solitude to sit and read

I agree. There is enough area on a ship for everyone's liking.

And others may avoid a TransAtlantic, thinking it would be too quiet.:)

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Velvetwater

Velvetwater

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You probably want to pick a cruise line catered for older clientele and when kids are in school.Avoid Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Although these ships will have many quiet spots.

 

Something like Holland America,Cunard,Pand O Celebrity or Princess may be more up your street or any river cruise company.

 

If a repo cruise is what you are after almost all lines have them around April/May time and October/November when ships are going to or heading back from Europe for the summer season. Cunard's QE2 does transatlantics all year round and is reasonable on prices too. I personally recommend a Panama Canal repo cruise and these tend to happen intermittently through the year as well.

Edited by Velvetwater
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thinfool

thinfool

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My wife and I are thinking of taking our first cruise but I've heard from a friend that went on a St Petersburg excursion, that the ship he was on played music non stop 24/7. He said the only place it was quiet was in his cabin. This concerns us as we want a ship that is quiet, not a Las Vegas casino hotel experience. We'd appreciate any feedback on this especially the ones that also do repositioning (we were thinking of going or coming back from Europe this way).

 

TIA!

 

Strongly recommend that you, for your first cruise, ignore the opinions of others and form your own.

 

NO US based cruise ship plays music 24/7 except on the in-cabin televisions. This is easily managed by pressing the 'power' or 'off' button.

 

A Baltic cruise, indeed any European cruise, is port intensive, meaning that you spend many more days ashore than at sea. Personally I think that a Baltic itinerary for your first cruise is very ambitious. Nevertheless you will have a wonderful time filled with lifelong memories. Have a great time!! :D

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Bookish Angel

Bookish Angel

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Usually one or more of the lounges is not used during the day and is a great place of solitude to sit and read

 

I was recently on an RCI ship in which signs were posted in the Viking lounge that there were quiet hours. I went during said hours but some people's voices were so loud it was worse than the music elsewhere.

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ducklite

ducklite

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Try Windstar. Very quiet. No music except in the evening in the lounge when the band plays a variety of styles and at levels low enough that you can have a conversation with the person next to you, no announcements in cabins (other than muster the first day), no long winded announcements about BINGO, deck parties, auctions, etc. If you are laying by the pool you'll hear nothing but the ocean.

 

No children, no ridiculous hairy chest contests, just a laid back, adult atmosphere. The average cruiser is in their 40's through early 70's, well traveled, and interesting. No formal nights--ever. Dress code during the day requires shirt and shoes to eat and requests a shirt unless you are at the pool. Dress code after evening is (non-denim) slacks and closed toed shoes for gentlemen and skirt or slacks for ladies. Elegant casual. Very easy to pack for.

 

Windstar repositions two of their ships each spring and fall between Europe and the Caribbean. If I ever do an ocean crossing with them I would probably choose the Wind Surf as it's slightly larger.

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Lerin

Lerin

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No disrespect to your friend, but he is exaggerating.

As a person who also dislikes noise and chaos, even I have found tons of peace and quiet on Carnival ships.

 

Do not worry about noise but rather look at what you do want from a cruise and go from there.

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cruising cockroach

cruising cockroach

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If you don't have much control of where your cabin is, go for HAL. Clientele tends to be older, especially on longer repo cruises, and thus go to bed early.

 

MSC and Costa are said to have the disco pounding all the time. HAL's "late night" venue is on top of the suite and will, if it even does so, only bother the command and navigational crew.

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Lulubelle45

Lulubelle45

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OI've sailed Celebrity NCL and HAL definitely HAL is the quietest (being younger than most on board , I've dubbed it the Snooze Cruise) Last call for drinks in the nightclub on a Friday night was 11:30pm-Zaandam

Edited by Lulubelle45
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Flatbush Flyer

Flatbush Flyer

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All of the above are mass market lines. Beyond noise, there are other issues of mediocre food and being nickel /dimed for every little thing. Check our premium lines like Oceania - a truly civil experience with great food, evening piano bar at Martini's, classical string quartet in main lobby and decent yet non-obtrusive shows after dinner.

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ducklite

ducklite

Posted
Posted
All of the above are mass market lines. Beyond noise, there are other issues of mediocre food and being nickel /dimed for every little thing. Check our premium lines like Oceania - a truly civil experience with great food, evening piano bar at Martini's, classical string quartet in main lobby and decent yet non-obtrusive shows after dinner.

 

Windstar is mass market? Less so than Oceania to be honest.

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GUT2407

GUT2407

Posted
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Never not been able to find somewhere quiet.

 

However a few suggestions

 

assuming you are looking at "Mass Market"

 

HAL

Princess

Celebrity

Cunard

 

Longer cruise.

 

Get a Balcony, I looooooooooooove sitting on our balcony just watching the ocean, am a bit of a hermit and herself has trouble with loud noise so t is great for us.

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notentirelynormal

notentirelynormal

Posted
Posted (edited)
My wife and I are thinking of taking our first cruise but I've heard from a friend that went on a St Petersburg excursion, that the ship he was on played music non stop 24/7. He said the only place it was quiet was in his cabin. This concerns us as we want a ship that is quiet, not a Las Vegas casino hotel experience. We'd appreciate any feedback on this especially the ones that also do repositioning (we were thinking of going or coming back from Europe this way).

 

TIA!

 

I have to agree with another poster. Music is NOT played 24/7 even on cruises that are considered party cruises. Sure there is usually music playing somewhere during the day and early evening but even then not all night long. Your friend is exaggerating and you need to confront him/her and ask for a more honest statement. I've been on a few cruises and never ever has music been playing wherever and whenever I went on a ship.

 

There are many choices in cruise lines and ships so it might make is easier for you to figure out an itinerary and go from there.

 

Ask you friend hard questions (if you trust his/her opinion) and ask for honest answers. I can say I went to Disneyland and there was never a quiet moment because of all the kids and then when you really question me you find out I sat in a nice restaurant with no children in sight and enjoyed a quiet drink for an hour or so overlooking the lagoon. I think you'll find the same thing with your friend.

 

Or, it's like saying "there was nothing I could eat!". Really, so for an entire week you went hungry. I doubt it. I didn't get a moment's sleep. So you stayed awake the whole cruise? Blanket statements are rarely correct.

 

Welcome to CC. Check out the various cruise lines and ports and you will get a ton of valuable information.

Edited by notentirelynormal
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Piggeldy

Piggeldy

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We'd appreciate any feedback on this especially the ones that also do repositioning (we were thinking of going or coming back from Europe this way).

 

We were on a lovely and quiet WBTA on Celebrity Eclipse in 10/13.

It being our first cruise and after eight quiet days at sea it was quite a surprise to experience how "loud" other ships were in port. I think it was Norwegian Epic that was in port with us in St Maarten and it was blasting music at sailing (it probably wasn't but it felt like it). We didn't experience any loud music in public areas (pool, lawn, bars, library) on Eclipse, sometimes soft music playing in the background but definitely not 24/7 and never disturbingly loud.

 

We will be on QM2 EBTA in June and I doubt Cunard will be blasting loud music throughout the ship 24/7. I hope they don't :)

 

For a quiet cabin, from what I have learned on here, make sure to have cabins above and below you and pick a cabin away from the discos/theatres. On Eclipse we were on deck 10 (with cabins on deck 11 and deck 9) and even though we were close to the forward elevators the cabin was extremely quiet. With Curnard we have booked a guarantee which worries me a bit but we will be fine with anything we get.

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