Caribbean Plaza deck: Noise to wake the dead

[Mississippian]

I recently returned from a Caribbean Princess cruise. I was kind of excited to have inside cabins on the Plaza deck. My son and I were in P331 and my wife and daughter were two cabins away in P319. These cabins are right next to the art gallery and really in the thick of things. We loved the location.

 

There was NO noise problem from the art gallery or anything, but on several nights at around 3 a.m. or so there was really loud clanging sounds underneath our cabins. It sounded like someone was opening and shutting an iron door repeatedly for an hour or more. Sleep was out of the question. I think this may have been the ship stabilizers, based on something I think I read on another post. It was really loud.

 

My wife said she would never stay on the Plaza deck again. I don't know if the problem would have been as bad if we had been a bit forward.

 

We stayed on the Lido deck once years ago and loved it. We also concluded after this trip that the Riviera deck near the Terrace pool would be an awfully good place to have a stateroom.

 

I'm just passing this information on for those of you who might find it useful.

[TracieABD]

I have heard this before, but for the life of me, I cannot remember the cause...

 

Anyone?

[2little time]

We had an aft cabin on our recent Emerald cruise. On several occasions, one of which was all night long, we heard loud banging as well. It sounded like a basketball hitting the hoop but much louder. No one seemed to know what it was.:(

[kristacpa]

I've stayed in a Window Suite on Fiesta, and know EXACTLY what you are talking about. Sounded like heavy metal on metal, from watertight doors, or something "big". Every morning like clockwork...so my guess was that it's something maybe tied down overnight and when the ship wakes up in the morning the crew makes some noise...

[AKman2495]

While I'm sorry about that I am relieved-I was going to book plaza 331 but my TA said we would prefer the Riviera deck instead.

 

I guess I can sleep better (no kidding) knowing that it was a good choice.

[cherylandtk]

We just got off the Crown for 24 days and had P323. Same metallic clang early in the morning on most days. Teeth jarring and it came right into the room, but thankfully did not go on for an hour. It sounded to me like someone with a 20 lb. monkey wrench whacking on a big metal pipe.

 

Disembarkation night was very noisy, sounded like gorillas throwing the Samsonites around in the cages (for those of you who remember that old commercial). It went on for hours, lots of electric motors (whirr, clunk, ahrreee, clunk, brzbrzbrbz, clunk) and clanging metal cages. Occasional voices and then we had the dance party bass thump nightly from 9:45-12:00. Love the ease of location, but not going to stay on that deck again, EVER.

 

I did not let it ruin the vacation, we took naps to catch up on sleep if needed (room was always quiet in the daytime!), but if you want a quiet room, don't go on Plaza deck anywhere in the 300's.

[vmom]

Thanks for the info. I wonder if this is true for just those cabins in that area and not the P2-- cabins further forward. Or is it related to something specific to the Caribbean Princess?

 

Did you ever ask the staff what it could have been?

 

I have twice stayed on the Plaza deck, inside cabin at the approx same location on the Golden and the Coral and not heard any noise at all. On the Golden the back of the cabin was by the art gallery and it was quiet.

 

I wonder if the noise could have been from something directly under the cabin in the crew area? Did the staff indicate what was under your cabin on the Caribbean P ?

[Worn out mailman]

 

Disembarkation night was very noisy, sounded like gorillas throwing the Samsonites around in the cages (for those of you who remember that old commercial). It went on for hours, lots of electric motors (whirr, clunk, ahrreee, clunk, brzbrzbrbz, clunk) and clanging metal cages. Occasional voices and then we had the dance party bass thump nightly from 9:45-12:00. Love the ease of location, but not going to stay on that deck again, EVER.

 

 

On at least one of our two Plaza deck Princess cruises we heard this....it was on the last night, so like cherylandtk's post above I assumed it was people setting up the baggage for offload. We didn't hear it on all the other nights like so many posters above.

 

This wasn't nearly the problem as the raw sewage smell coming from our john all week on our Emerald cruise in '10 (P324).

 

As for enabling full enjoyment of the Piazza, a Plaza deck stateroom is great, esp. if you wake up earlier than your travelmate (iow, your wife or girlfriend :) ) and want to grab a quick coffee and donut while they sleep.

[lovevacadays]

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. That must have been awful.:eek::eek::eek:

 

I have only sailed on Plaza deck once and really, really loved it. It was very quiet for me. Not sure what the difference might have been.

 

Hopefully, your next cruise experience will be better.:)

[jrzebird]

I'm so sorry that you had the disturbances. I have sailed on the CB three times, on Plaza deck, in the 200 cabins (inside, forward). Most recently, 2 weeks ago. I have never heard a sound. OK, this time I could hear the music from the shows, but that's early in the evening, ending by 10:45, and not a bit disturbing.

 

I'm glad that you posted this, because I'm about to book another cruise and was looking at the 300 cabins, to be more midship. I really do love the Plaza deck but noise that startles me from sleep in not a good thing.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for that report, hopefully it will help others get a good night sleep.

[NewPennCruiser]

I got a good laugh out of the subject on this thread and it reminded me of our cruise a couple of years back on the Caribbean Princess in New England. We had previously stayed on the Plaza deck on the Emerald and loved the location so when we booked the New England cruise we chose Plaza Deck again. I know on both cruises we were port side with ocean view and near the elevators so possibly in cabin P248 or P302. (sorry can't remember exact cabin)

 

On the New England cruise we were awakened one morning by noises and vibrations that made it seem like our beds were falling through the floor. What we ultimately figured out was that we were directly above the forward area used for tendering on Deck 4 and they were opening the doors and putting the side dock out, etc. We tendered twice that cruise and just happened to tender off the port side both times, but we were prepared the second time. At least it wasn't in the middle of the night, but if you're in one of these rooms and you happen to tender, be prepared around 6:30am to 7am (whatever time they start to prepare things for tendering) for a lot of loud noises.

 

We still would stay on Plaza Deck but might pay a little more attention to location next time. You have to remember that Deck 4 has a lot of crew and mechanical areas below the cabins that could be the source of many of the noises folks occasionally hear.

 

Dave

[sherryf]

Thanks for the info. I wonder if this is true for just those cabins in that area and not the P2-- cabins further forward. Or is it related to something specific to the Caribbean Princess?

 

Did you ever ask the staff what it could have been?

 

I have twice stayed on the Plaza deck, inside cabin at the approx same location on the Golden and the Coral and not heard any noise at all. On the Golden the back of the cabin was by the art gallery and it was quiet.

 

I wonder if the noise could have been from something directly under the cabin in the crew area? Did the staff indicate what was under your cabin on the Caribbean P ?

 

I've been on the Plaza deck on the Golden twice, in 255 and 322, and never had problems with noise. P322 backs onto the Art Gallery, and one morning there was a bit of noise as they took paintings off the wall to move them, but other than that, not problems. When we were in P255 we heard a bit of noise from the Princess Theater one night, but that's all. Thinking back, there may have been other occasional random noises, but nothing that kept us awake at night. You gotta expect some noise on a ship. I think what I remember most about that location was what sounded like waves, or maybe could have been thruster noise? Like I said, never loud or bothersome enough to disrupt our sleep.

 

I do recall having a noisy cabin a couple of years back, an inside on a higher deck, maybe Dolphin or Emerald. Anyway, I don't know what was next to us, but there was a constant thumping noise. Not super loud, but enough to hear constantly. It was annoying, but didn't ruin my cruise or anything. Just saying that you can encounter a noisy cabin on any deck, so if it's a problem for you, do your research thoroughly before booking a specific cabin. I'm usually just happy to be on the ship, and got that noisy cabin on a guarantee, so took what I got. Not a big issue for me. I spend most of my time out of the cabin anyway, and always travel with ear plugs just in case. :D

[Mississippian]

...I spend most of my time out of the cabin anyway, and always travel with ear plugs just in case. :D

I sometimes take the noise complaints with a great big grain of salt, particularly since many of them seem to be about noise during waking hours. But this noise was from roughly 3-6 a.m. So we couldn't be out of our cabins since we were trying to sleep! It lasted at least an hour, and I think once it lasted several hours, and it was really loud.

 

Based on the comments it seems to be a Plaza 300-level problem, not a 200-level problem. That said, per my wife we won't be on Plaza deck again. I really did like the location.

 

Our cabin bathroom did have a pretty bad sewage smell. I figured it was a bathroom so who cared if it stank a little?

Edited December 1, 2012 by Mississippian

[zahav1]

Often the noise on Plaza deck is the stabilizers, especially if there are rough seas. We had terrible stabilizer noise on Plaza deck near the art gallery on the Star, but then cruised on the Coral also on Plaza deck, but this time forward-center and had no noise, nothing, it was great.

[metairiegal]

Oh great! We are booked on the Caribbean Princess in P309!

[sprinkles]

Oh great! We are booked on the Caribbean Princess in P309!

 

My sentiments exactly - I'm in P325 for a TA! But, I have no desire to change my cabin, I have stayed in this spot so many times and LOVE it! I will however, make sure I have ear plugs, just in case.

 

Tammy

[susancruzs]

I was on the Emerald for 25 days last fall (cruise + TA) in P244. Prior to choosing, I read negative comments don't book a cabin by blank white spaces, by a stairwell, I loved the cabin. It was just beyond the stairwell and by a stewards access hallway, never heard a thing.

 

I loved the access to the International Café, many times I did not bother with the Horizon for breakfast or lunch. Coming back from shore excursions when elevators/stairwells are jammed, a walk in the park, no waiting.

 

I haven't cruised on the Royal and booking the Regal for 2016 in Europe, was rather disappointed to see no Plaza cabins! I'll take one of the sideways ones on Baja I guess.

Edited February 24, 2015 by susancruzs

[Colo Cruiser]

This thread is 3 years old, sometimes in rough seas the deployment of the stabilizer (which is very close) can be really loud and sounds similar.

I have not seen anyone post similar complaints.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[GinnyF]

I recently returned from a Caribbean Princess cruise. I was kind of excited to have inside cabins on the Plaza deck. My son and I were in P331 and my wife and daughter were two cabins away in P319. These cabins are right next to the art gallery and really in the thick of things. We loved the location.

 

There was NO noise problem from the art gallery or anything, but on several nights at around 3 a.m. or so there was really loud clanging sounds underneath our cabins. It sounded like someone was opening and shutting an iron door repeatedly for an hour or more. Sleep was out of the question. I think this may have been the ship stabilizers, based on something I think I read on another post. It was really loud.

 

My wife said she would never stay on the Plaza deck again. I don't know if the problem would have been as bad if we had been a bit forward.

 

We stayed on the Lido deck once years ago and loved it. We also concluded after this trip that the Riviera deck near the Terrace pool would be an awfully good place to have a stateroom.

 

I'm just passing this information on for those of you who might find it useful.

 

I think I can tell you what you were hearing-or at least I heard the same noises once on a HAL ship. I was directly above the cargo loading doors AND the same area doors were used to take on and off-load the pilots. They were large, solid metal doors which, when opened or shut, caused a huge metallic noise, which, literally, caused me to jump up from a deep sleep. At first I was told they had no idea what was causing the problem, so once I got up, went on deck, and asked a worker what was below us at that spot. And it was the loading doors. Another day-in that same area-workers were stripping the concrete floors at that area. Imagine pounding and scraping concrete with giant machines. They were able to find me a different cabin for the return from AMS and at least for the new days before that point we were at sea for three days. Other wise, I really would have had to fly home.

Ginny

[Colo Cruiser]

I think I can tell you what you were hearing-or at least I heard the same noises once on a HAL ship. I was directly above the cargo loading doors AND the same area doors were used to take on and off-load the pilots. They were large, solid metal doors which, when opened or shut, caused a huge metallic noise, which, literally, caused me to jump up from a deep sleep. At first I was told they had no idea what was causing the problem, so once I got up, went on deck, and asked a worker what was below us at that spot. And it was the loading doors. Another day-in that same area-workers were stripping the concrete floors at that area. Imagine pounding and scraping concrete with giant machines. They were able to find me a different cabin for the return from AMS and at least for the new days before that point we were at sea for three days. Other wise, I really would have had to fly home.

Ginny

 

 

Very well could have been the shell door.

Concrete floors? I think not. :eek:

Decks are steel.

[GinnyF]

Very well could have been the shell door.

Concrete floors? I think not. :eek:

Decks are steel.

 

Sorry, but I was making a point about the noise. I stand corrected.

[sprinkles]

Mississippian,

 

Just had to come on here and eat my own words from my earlier post. I just got back from my TA (had time in Europe after) in P325, so many times I thought of your post and had wished I had changed cabins. The sounds under my cabin during the middle of the night were insane. None of it made sense, it only happened during the middle of the night and yes usually during tougher weather. I made a video at two am for my family. It was like a rolling sound that would build to a loud crescendo then usually followed by a slam. Ear plugs were no help at all. My next door neighbors talked to me one day about it too, sleep was near impossible. I knew the lady across the hall in the inside from cruisecritic (also where I normally book) and she never heard it (made me wish I had saved the money and booked the inside that I usually book on Plaza deck).

 

Plus an added bonus was they had terrible issues with getting us any air conditioning for the first few days of the trip, on most of that plaza hallway behind the art gallery. No kidding, it had to be 90 degrees in my cabin for the first two days. I felt bad for my cabin steward having to clean those cabins drenched in sweat. I spent as little time as possible in my cabin. Live and learn, as far as the rest of the complaints about this ship, I didn't see it, had a wonderful cruise, despite the above. Still love Princess, but this ship is ready for drydock.

 

Tammy

[Colo Cruiser]

Mississippian,

 

Just had to come on here and eat my own words from my earlier post. I just got back from my TA (had time in Europe after) in P325, so many times I thought of your post and had wished I had changed cabins. The sounds under my cabin during the middle of the night were insane. None of it made sense, it only happened during the middle of the night and yes usually during tougher weather. I made a video at two am for my family. It was like a rolling sound that would build to a loud crescendo then usually followed by a slam. Ear plugs were no help at all. My next door neighbors talked to me one day about it too, sleep was near impossible. I knew the lady across the hall in the inside from cruisecritic (also where I normally book) and she never heard it (made me wish I had saved the money and booked the inside that I usually book on Plaza deck).

 

Plus an added bonus was they had terrible issues with getting us any air conditioning for the first few days of the trip, on most of that plaza hallway behind the art gallery. No kidding, it had to be 90 degrees in my cabin for the first two days. I felt bad for my cabin steward having to clean those cabins drenched in sweat. I spent as little time as possible in my cabin. Live and learn, as far as the rest of the complaints about this ship, I didn't see it, had a wonderful cruise, despite the above. Still love Princess, but this ship is ready for drydock.

 

Tammy

 

Sounds like stabilizers, as far as temp in the cabin imo there is no excuse for not having this work correctly. You know that this is probably an issued for every passenger /every cruise in that cabin. :(

[PescadoAmarillo]

We also concluded after this trip that the Riviera deck near the Terrace pool would be an awfully good place to have a stateroom.

Sshhhhhh! It's the BEST, but don't tell anyone!