Panoramic Oceanview room -- loud noise from the ship's horn?

[mleng]

My family will be on a cruise to Alaska on Explorer of the Seas in mid August. We will be in room 1864 and 1866, the Panoramic Oceaview rooms above the bridge. There have been plenty of reviews about the size and view of the rooms, but I want to specifically ask about the noise from the ship's horn. I read one post from somebody several years ago that the ship's horn was right above the rooms and it went off in the middle of the night.

 

Does the horn only go off when there is fog or does it go off every time it enters the harbor? If it only goes off in fog, what's the probably of having foggy weather in Alaska in August?

 

Some members of my family suffer from insomnia, that's why noise is a huge issue for us.

 

This question obviously apply to all the ships with the new Panoramic Oceanview rooms that are above the bridge, so I welcome input from anybody who has stayed in one of these rooms on Navigator, Voyager, Adventure, Freedom, Independence, Liberty, etc.

 

Thank you.

[purplegrapefruit]

We've stayed twice in panoramic ocean view room 1852 on the Navigator. It's the quietest room we've ever had on a cruise ship and the whole area is very quiet. The spa is behind and the bridge underneath, so the neighboors are pretty quiet. I don't remember hearing the ship's horn.

[Russ Lomas]

We had no issue with the horn when staying in the Family Panoramic cabins in the past. Very quiet area of the ship and very little foot traffic in the hallway up there. No cabins above you either. The only thing I did hear was on a couple of rough sea days we had a bit of creaking that sounded like it was coming from the windows, but could have been from the ceiling panels close to the window. With that said, the panoramic cabins for Alaska will be amazing and you should not worry at all about the fog horn.

[Hoopster95]

OP said specifically his/her sailing is Alaska. There is chance for fog on the Alaska itineraries.

 

OP, your question should be asked specifically to those fellow cruisers who have actually sailed on Explorer on the Alaska itinerary (not just any ship that has never sailed in Alaska).. and also those cruisers who have sailed on Navigator out of Galveston who had been stuck in fog a few times.

 

Entering Juneau in July a few years ago on Rhapsody

 

 

 

Inside passage leaving Ketchikan from a different Rhapsody sailing in September

 

 

 

Rhapsody's horn was blowing.. I suspect, without specifically sailing on Explorer in Alaska, Explorer would have to as well.

[mleng]

Thank you Hoopster95. I will find a better board, such as the one dedicated to Alaska cruise, to ask this question.

[purplegrapefruit]

Thank you Hoopster95. I will find a better board, such as the one dedicated to Alaska cruise, to ask this question.

I think you are over thinking this. The panoramic views are the best on the ship . You'll be missing out on great views. We were in the room a few times when leaving port and I don't remember noticing the horn.

[mandaleigh]

I hope someone from my sailing on Adventure 5/25/18 can answer this for you. We had fog the entire last day and the fog horn was going every 90 seconds from 9 pm until we docked then next morning.

 

We were deck 10 midship/ aft and could hear it in our room with the balcony door closed.

 

Worst fog I have ever seen and have no clue how they got us back into NY Harbor safely.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mleng]

We are back from the Alaska cruise Aug 10-17 on EOS. I had asked about the fog horn noise during trip planning, so I thought I would provide a first-hand account.

 

Our cabin 1864was gorgeous with 5 floor-to-ceiling windows covering the entirefront wall that faced the ocean. For anAlaska cruise, it’s especially nice because we were able to sit in the cabinand watch the postcard-worth view of Seattle skyline and later the fjord andglacier. However, there were some practicalconsiderations: (1) If there is a fog at night, the ship is required to soundthe fog horn regularly (I didn't time the interval, but it felt like every minute or so). The hornwas above the bridge, so practically right outside of our window or the windows of any of these Panoramic view cabins. On thistrip, the horn went off for 2 hours during the first night from 10:30 to 12:30 and 3 hours during thesecond night (1 to 4 AM). It was brutal. The Guest Service desk gave us freeearplugs. I also had a White Noise appon my phone. I turned the volume to thehighest level, and with the earplugs, my kids and I were able to drift off tosleep. My wife, who must have had moresensitive hearing, got barely any sleep in those 2 nights. (2) The closet space was bad. The quirk in the layout of the room that madethe cabin twice as large as a normal cabin also made the closet space only halfas large as a normal cabin. We had tohang our windbreakers and sweatshirts in our parents’ cabin next door. (3) When the ship was going at full speed andthe wind picked up, it was rocking! Thehigher the floor, the closest to the front, the more you would feel it, andthis cabin was basically on the highest floor and closest to the front. (4). We had 4 people in the cabin and wasable to sleep comfortably. I wasinitially a little concerned about the pullout couch since my teenage son anddaughter wouldn’t want to share a couch bed. To our delight, the cabin steward converted the couch into 2 separatetwin beds.

 

In summary, this was a beautiful room and I would definitely book it again if the price is reasonable. In my opinion, it should be about equal to a balcony room.

[DonTreadOnMe]

Our favorite rooms so far. Don't recall being annoyed by the horn.

[Hoopster95]

We are back from the Alaska cruise Aug 10-17 on EOS. I had asked about the fog horn noise during trip planning, so I thought I would provide a first-hand account..... (1) If there is a fog at night, the ship is required to sound the fog horn regularly (I didn't time the interval, but it felt like every minute or so). The hornwas above the bridge, so practically right outside of our window or the windows of any of these Panoramic view cabins. On this trip, the horn went off for 2 hours during the first night from 10:30 to 12:30 and 3 hours during thesecond night (1 to 4 AM). It was brutal.

 

Thank you for reporting back about your first hand experience and detailed knowledge from original concern on your original post. I'm sure many CC'ers can learn from this.

[Russ Lomas]

We are back from the Alaska cruise Aug 10-17 on EOS. I had asked about the fog horn noise during trip planning, so I thought I would provide a first-hand account.

 

 

Our cabin 1864was gorgeous with 5 floor-to-ceiling windows covering the entirefront wall that faced the ocean. For anAlaska cruise, it’s especially nice because we were able to sit in the cabinand watch the postcard-worth view of Seattle skyline and later the fjord andglacier. However, there were some practicalconsiderations: (1) If there is a fog at night, the ship is required to soundthe fog horn regularly (I didn't time the interval, but it felt like every minute or so). The hornwas above the bridge, so practically right outside of our window or the windows of any of these Panoramic view cabins. On thistrip, the horn went off for 2 hours during the first night from 10:30 to 12:30 and 3 hours during thesecond night (1 to 4 AM). It was brutal. The Guest Service desk gave us freeearplugs. I also had a White Noise appon my phone. I turned the volume to thehighest level, and with the earplugs, my kids and I were able to drift off tosleep. My wife, who must have had moresensitive hearing, got barely any sleep in those 2 nights. (2) The closet space was bad. The quirk in the layout of the room that madethe cabin twice as large as a normal cabin also made the closet space only halfas large as a normal cabin. We had tohang our windbreakers and sweatshirts in our parents’ cabin next door. (3) When the ship was going at full speed andthe wind picked up, it was rocking! Thehigher the floor, the closest to the front, the more you would feel it, andthis cabin was basically on the highest floor and closest to the front. (4). We had 4 people in the cabin and wasable to sleep comfortably. I wasinitially a little concerned about the pullout couch since my teenage son anddaughter wouldn’t want to share a couch bed. To our delight, the cabin steward converted the couch into 2 separatetwin beds.

 

 

In summary, this was a beautiful room and I would definitely book it again if the price is reasonable. In my opinion, it should be about equal to a balcony room.

We have 1864 booked on the Adventure in the future and are looking forward to it very much. We will hope there is no fog in the Caribbean for our sailing. Thanks for the info on the size of the smaller closet. We usually do not take much that we hang in the closet on Caribbean sailings, but will keep your comments in mind and be sure not to bring many items that require hanging. Glad you enjoyed those windows. We had one of the family panoramics on the Freedom and were WOWed by the windows.