Do all cabins creak ?

[wowzz]

We are just passing through the BoB. There has been a reasonable swell, enough to give you the "corridor wobble '', but nothing serious.

But, yet again our cabin has been creaking and groaning (we are on Sky Princess) with intermittent random knocks and taps - and it's not the coat hangers banging together !

Regardless of the ship, we always seem to encounter these noises, once the ship starts to move a little.

Have we just been unlucky in our cabin choice, or is it just due to the modular construction of modern ships ?

Edited April 14, 2023 by wowzz

[CruiserBruce]

SHIPS creak...always.

[navybankerteacher]

When you consider the size of a cruise ship, a bit of flexing as it passes through/over even small waves has to occur. 

[Essiesmom]

You want them to bend a little, so creak is natural.  There are complaints about the Celebrity Beyond in heavy seas…EM

[ColeThornton]

It's not just the ship, it's many of the passengers.  🙂

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

We are just passing through the BoB. There has been a reasonable swell, enough to give you the "corridor wobble '', but nothing serious.

But, yet again our cabin has been creaking and groaning (we are on Sky Princess) with intermittent random knocks and taps - and it's not the coat hangers banging together !

Regardless of the ship, we always seem to encounter these noises, once the ship starts to move a little.

Have we just been unlucky in our cabin choice, or is it just due to the modular construction of modern ships ?

 

Ships will naturally flex in a seaway, but much of the noise comes from poor fit and finish. Back when I was at sea, it was common to find pieces of folded up cardboard etc jammed into spaces to reduce the noise.

 

Since you mentioned Sky Princess, if you ever sail on Diamond or Sapphire, those were both built in Japan and were vastly superior build quality to the Italian or French builds.

[MBP&O2/O]

Don't even mention the Tyne builds when they were using rivets! 🤪

 

At times it was not so much  a creek as a death rattle.

[Heidi13]

7 minutes ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Don't even mention the Tyne builds when they were using rivets! 🤪

 

At times it was not so much  a creek as a death rattle.

 

Haha!! only worked on 1 or 2 from the Tyne, most of mine were from the Clyde, Barrow-in-Furness & Belfast.

[MBP&O2/O]

Mmmmmmm ..... Barrow in Furness = British Ambassador = metal fatigue = ooops!

Same problem found on all her sister ships that were built there.

 

Quite scarey when you think they buIld nuclear subs there now !

[chengkp75]

5 hours ago, wowzz said:

Have we just been unlucky in our cabin choice, or is it just due to the modular construction of modern ships ?

It's not so much the "modular" construction (and I assume you are referring to the cabins being modular, rather than hull segments), as the desire to have what are technically called "ceilings" (an aesthetic lining of the hull), but what most would call "walls" and "ceilings" (though a "ceiling" on land is an "overhead" on ship, but I digress).  In the old days, the walls of ships' cabins were the steel bulkheads that made up the structure of the ship.  In order to have better insulation (both sound and thermal), and to provide a more pleasing surface, cabins were then built using 1/2-3/4" thick panels with steel skins and insulation in the middle.  These panels are screwed to support channels (much like the drywall and studs in your home) to provide the shape and strength needed.  The overhead panels, in particular, are typically about 1 foot wide and 12 feet long, and interlock on the long edge with the previous panel installed, and then screwed at the opposite side into the channels.  So, each panel is only hard mounted to a channel on one side, it relies on the previous panel to hold the other side in place.  As the ship moves, and the structure flexes, these screws can start to come loose, and the panels will creak.  To fix this, usually, just retightening the screws will stop the squeak, but sometimes it requires some rubber bits installed to stop panels moving when the screw holes have worn large.

[sparks1093]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

It's not so much the "modular" construction (and I assume you are referring to the cabins being modular, rather than hull segments), as the desire to have what are technically called "ceilings" (an aesthetic lining of the hull), but what most would call "walls" and "ceilings" (though a "ceiling" on land is an "overhead" on ship, but I digress).  In the old days, the walls of ships' cabins were the steel bulkheads that made up the structure of the ship.  In order to have better insulation (both sound and thermal), and to provide a more pleasing surface, cabins were then built using 1/2-3/4" thick panels with steel skins and insulation in the middle.  These panels are screwed to support channels (much like the drywall and studs in your home) to provide the shape and strength needed.  The overhead panels, in particular, are typically about 1 foot wide and 12 feet long, and interlock on the long edge with the previous panel installed, and then screwed at the opposite side into the channels.  So, each panel is only hard mounted to a channel on one side, it relies on the previous panel to hold the other side in place.  As the ship moves, and the structure flexes, these screws can start to come loose, and the panels will creak.  To fix this, usually, just retightening the screws will stop the squeak, but sometimes it requires some rubber bits installed to stop panels moving when the screw holes have worn large.

Always educational, thanks so much!

[Hlitner]

We seldom waste time/energy choosing a cabin location because having a quiet cabin (a priority) is much about luck.  We are currently on the Westerdam in a small suite, and it is among the quietest cabins we have had in over 50 years of extensive cruising.  This is not a new build, nothing special about our location, but the suite has been absolutely quiet… even in rougher seas.  Guess you could our ship has come in 😁.  
 

We have also been in our share of noisy cabins.  Sometimes the use of cardboard or paper shims can help, and other times the only solution are ear plugs