Oasis-class inside balcony staterooms, noise?

[Extra Kim]

We are planing a cruise on Symphony next summer, this will be our first time sailing with a baby. Since we want to be able be outside when the baby is sleeping we feel that a balcony cabin is a must. This will be a cruise in the Med on a new ship = it's expensive compared to what we are used to pay in the Caribbean. It would probably cost us less to fly to the U.S and sail on Harmony, but since our baby will be very young we don't want to do that long flight and we don't want to take the risk of exposure of Zika.

One option to keep the cost down would be to book a inside balcony cabin. I'm not sure that we will like the lack of privacy, but the biggest issue I have with the thought of booking a inside balcony cabin is that on clips I have seen on Youtube Central Park the and especially BoardWalk seems to be noisy..?

We have sailed on the Oasis-class one time before, on Allure but that was in a ocean view balcony cabin.

 

Thoughts from people that have stayed in a inside balcony cabin are appreciated.

[Ourusualbeach]

We found our Boardwalk balcony on Harmony much noisier than the sand cabin on Allure. Unless they have fixed the issue I would expect Symphony to be similar to Harmony.

[nws2002]

Have been in a Central Park balcony on Oasis. It was loud with the balcony door open during the day, but once the door was closed I didn't hear much. The sounds were usually from the pool deck above in the afternoons.

[cb at sea]

If you want a quiet balcony cabin, get one on a deck with cabins above and below you...and on the OCEAN side...not an "interior" balcony. There is no guarantee of total quiet anywhere...hallways are notoriously noisy. Get your child used to noises! Do NOT be quiet while they sleep! Make noises...slam doors, drop pans....babies are very adaptable...they will "get used" to noise, if you provide it!

[Hey Tina]

If you want a quiet balcony cabin, get one on a deck with cabins above and below you...and on the OCEAN side...not an "interior" balcony. There is no guarantee of total quiet anywhere...hallways are notoriously noisy. Get your child used to noises! Do NOT be quiet while they sleep! Make noises...slam doors, drop pans....babies are very adaptable...they will "get used" to noise, if you provide it!

 

So you're doing parenting advice now too?

[Ashland]

Recently in a Boardwalk Balcony on Harmony with extended family (last four aft cabins on deck #9)...a bit surprised at the noise especially from the Aqua Theater when they showed late night movies....however it didn't bother our 3 year old grandson.

[MrYellowDuck]

So you're doing parenting advice now too?

 

They may as well do. The assumption that babies require graveyard-quiet to sleep is false. It is true that you can train a baby to only sleep when it is quiet and having done so some parents come to suppose that their baby had always required that quiet.

[Hey Tina]

They may as well do. The assumption that babies require graveyard-quiet to sleep is false. It is true that you can train a baby to only sleep when it is quiet and having done so some parents come to suppose that their baby had always required that quiet.

 

I'm not a parent but even I know one of the worst things you can do is give other parents parenting advice. It doesn't matter how anyone wants to raise their kids and what the OP asked about was the noise level of a specific balcony, not whether no noise vs noise was the best way to bring up their baby. Jesus.

[Extra Kim]

I didn't ask about noise for the sake of the baby. I want to be able to sit on the balcony and TALK to my wife, I want to be able to have the balcony door open during the day without having the feeling of a carnival going on outside my cabin. ;)

 

I understand that there will be some level of noise, but the question is if it's gonna be an issue.

[lbjen]

Central Park balconies will be way quieter than Boardwalk balconies, the payoff being that you don't get to see as much I guess, but CP itself is lovely to look at. Just don't go too high as you'll have noise from the pool deck too!

[Norwich Cruiser]

We've been lucky enough to cruise in both Boardwalk and Central Park balcony cabins.

 

Although there was occasionally a little noise more so in the Boardwalk it certainly did not bother us.

[purescottish]

We had a central park balcony when we sailed Oasis a few years ago, I found it noisy during the day and incredibly warm, as there is no ocean breeze, there also a lack of privacy......what I didn't like was the movement, for some reason we felt a bit seasick in this cabin and a bit disorientating, we didn't know when we left port, or when we arrived in port as you can't see the sea !

In all honesty, I would go for an outside balcony, cooler, more privacy and the sunsets are to die for

whatever you choose, have a lovely time

 

wendy

xxx

[Clarea]

We had a central park balcony when we sailed Oasis a few years ago, I found it noisy during the day and incredibly warm, as there is no ocean breeze, there also a lack of privacy......what I didn't like was the movement, for some reason we felt a bit seasick in this cabin and a bit disorientating, we didn't know when we left port, or when we arrived in port as you can't see the sea !

In all honesty, I would go for an outside balcony, cooler, more privacy and the sunsets are to die for

whatever you choose, have a lovely time

 

wendy

xxx

I had not thought of this as a disadvantage, but I can understand that the inability to see outside to get a motion reference could exacerbate the queasy feeling..

[purescottish]

Yes Clarea (congrats by the way)

I think it was not having a horizon to look at to even things out, and of course missing those sunsets and sunrises, def sticking with ''outside'' balconies from then on.

 

wendy

x

[BecciBoo]

We did the last Boardwalk balcony in the row next to the rock climbing wall...it WAS noisier if one wanted to go to sleep early. But we could carry on conversation. Lots going on there...but the Central Park was always calmer during the day...I can't imagine it being that bad with nothing going on but crickets and bird noises, a few people milling about, but we both decided to pick an outside ocean view balcony next time we do Oasis class, just like the ocean better. You won't get noise there except the ocean itself....ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Of course one can have loud neighbors on any balcony:(

[dwayneb236]

My wife and I must not be very noise sensitive. Had a Boardwalk balcony on deck 8 on our Harmony cruise and neither one of us had any issues at all with noise. Now of course with the door open you will hear something but we keep ours closed because I'm a big believer in air conditioning. Was great for people watching, and no I'm not talking about the cabins across from us. I wasn't too impressed with those views as I'm sure they weren't too impressed with their views across. HA..

 

So our experience was positive other than the lack of an ocean visible right outside our balcony. Also we are early to bed early to rise kinda people.

[Extra Kim]

I have had a lot of different cabins during the years:

NCL Epic - Solo studio

Serenade OTS - Balcony

Allure OTS - Balcony

Legend OTS B2B - 11nts inside & 10 nts ocean view

Majesty OTS - Ocean view

Celebrity Equinox - Balcony

Navigator OTS - Inside

Freedom OTS - Bow Ocean view

Silja Serenad - Ocean view

Silja Serenad - Inside promenad view

Tallink Romantica - Ocean view

Tallink Baltic Queen - Ocean view

+ two ships that I don't remember the name of.

 

With this said, the cabin isn't always that important when I sail only with my wife. We liked the inside on Legend better then the ocean view. We don't have a problem with motion sickness and it might be nice with a little extra warmt since we will be cruising in September. If it was only us two, I wouldn't mind a inside on a higher deck. But this will be our first child and this will be the first time traveling as parents and we think that a balcony cabin will give us a better cruise with the baby. It might turn out that an inside cabin would have worked just as well if the baby will be able to sleep in the baby carriage, but we don't want to take that risk.

 

We probably end up booking a ocean view balcony, even if it will cost us 150% more then our cruise on Allure.

[katiel53]

We had a Boardwalk balcony on Allure. It was 12325, which was near the aft. During the day it was noisy when we went outside. At night when the Aqua show was going, it was noisy outside, but inside the cabin with the door closed/locked it was quiet.

 

I have also stayed in an ocean view balcony as that is usually what our cabin choice is. I found that I enjoyed the Boardwalk balcony more and on our next cruise on Allure, we will be in a Boardwalk balcony. I find it interesting to people watch and see the Ocean Aria show from the balcony as well as the parades.

 

On other ships I would definitely get an ocean view balcony, but on Allure it's a totally different atmosphere.