S-Class'ers - help me out!

[pandj24]

Greetings, fellow cruisers!

 

We are booked on an upcoming 14-night Caribbean on the Eclipse in our regular 1A stateroom (2 adults, 2 kids).

 

We have the opportunity to move to the Family Verandah stateroom. A few questions:

 

- If our ports are scheduled for 8:00 am, what time should we expect to hear noise from the docking process?

- If you have experience sailing at the front of the S-Class ships, how bad is the noise and vibration during docking? (no chance we will sleep through it / no chance I will sleep through it, but husband and the kids will / likely won't hear a thing)

 

Thanks very much!

[keesar]

If the ship is scheduled to dock at 8 a.m., you will probably start to dock about an hour or so earlier. But that is subject to change due to the particular port. I usually don't hear the ship docking as it is typically a quiet process. And I am a light sleeper.

 

Depending on where you are, I have sensed a vibration in the ship when in motion. You do get used to it in time. It will most likely be better than you think.

 

When we have been on the Eclipse, I have always had a wind sound coming from an overhead vent. This was on the 11th floor. I found that annoying but found a way to deal with it.

[leaveitallbehind]

When docking at a pier the only time there might be any vibration would possibly be when the forward thrusters are engaged, which is intermittent and short in duration. This can vary in degree and usually is not very disturbing factor - I would not be concerned about it.

 

What you will be subject to far more than any vibration from the thrusters is the up and down motion of the sea as the ship moves forward, which is more noticeable in the very front of the ship than elsewhere.

[trk_koa]

We had a forward corner family veranda on Equinox and definitely would say only really heavy sleepers would not be awakened if you are anchoring. Docking also was loud mostly due to the rope equipment. Lasts only a few minutes. My DH dropped right back to sleep, no problem.

 

We were deck 8 starboard, if that matters.

 

Those cabins are fabulous and we would grab if you can. Huge amount of space and the extra bedroom would be great for your family.

[NordicPrince]

We have stayed in an interior up on deck 9 very far forward 3x on Equinox and 1x in a veranda on Reflection and in the Caribbean we never felt any motion at all up and down. Sailing in the Caribbean is like sailing in a bathtub so you should have no worries about that.

 

As far as docking, as another poster said the only time you may feel something is if they use the front thrusters. I found that

usually we docked about 45 minutes earlier than the listed time. DW and I like to get up early anyway, she goes to the Solarium to get an early swim in which is something she can recommend. I like to go up on deck and watch the ship manuevering and get hot food in the Oceanview.

 

I;m sure you'll have a great cruise on the Eclipse. The S-class shps are wonderful

[mahdnc]

Greetings, fellow cruisers!

 

 

 

We are booked on an upcoming 14-night Caribbean on the Eclipse in our regular 1A stateroom (2 adults, 2 kids).

 

 

 

We have the opportunity to move to the Family Verandah stateroom. A few questions:

 

 

 

- If our ports are scheduled for 8:00 am, what time should we expect to hear noise from the docking process?

 

- If you have experience sailing at the front of the S-Class ships, how bad is the noise and vibration during docking? (no chance we will sleep through it / no chance I will sleep through it, but husband and the kids will / likely won't hear a thing)

 

 

 

Thanks very much!

 

 

 

I smiled when I saw your post. For my first 14 night Carib cruise on Dec 2013, I booked a Cat 1A quad cabin for my family of 4 on the Eclipse. I later changed it to an FV cabin and I was very glad I did. We booked an Eclipse FV for our next two cruises including a second 14 night Carib). We are also booked in a Reflection FV for a 14 night Carib sailing in Jan 2019.

 

Right now we are sailing the Great Barrier Reef in a Solstice FV.

 

The docking maneuvers causes some shake of the cabin when the side thrusters are used. The amount of shake varies and it can be very small. Most of the time my family will sleep right through them.

 

If you have any questions about the cabin, let me know.

[leaveitallbehind]

We have stayed in an interior up on deck 9 very far forward 3x on Equinox and 1x in a veranda on Reflection and in the Caribbean we never felt any motion at all up and down. Sailing in the Caribbean is like sailing in a bathtub so you should have no worries about that.

 

I would not say that with certainty as a condition that is prevalent, as it is not accurate. Sea conditions vary and can change daily from very calm to very rough - in any ocean. In over twenty five years of cruising, the absolute roughest seas we ever experienced were in the Caribbean at 25 ft+. And when you are heading into rough seas, the up and down motion is most definitely felt the strongest in the very front of the ship - which is where our family stateroom was located in that situation.

[QE2_Fan]

I smiled when I saw your post. For my first 14 night Carib cruise on Dec 2013, I booked a Cat 1A quad cabin for my family of 4 on the Eclipse. I later changed it to an FV cabin and I was very glad I did. We booked an Eclipse FV for our next two cruises including a second 14 night Carib). We are also booked in a Reflection FV for a 14 night Carib sailing in Jan 2019.

 

Right now we are sailing the Great Barrier Reef in a Solstice FV.

 

The docking maneuvers causes some shake of the cabin when the side thrusters are used. The amount of shake varies and it can be very small. Most of the time my family will sleep right through them.

 

If you have any questions about the cabin, let me know.

 

 

 

They sure are a great size and setup for families! Did you have any issues booking these for 4? I’ve always understood they will only pre sell them for 5 people or more, although have seen then open up online as sail date gets closer.

 

We too are a cruising family of four and have never had luck securing one, the one time we could it worked out cheaper to get two interconnecting cabins which did come with the added bonus of a 2nd bathroom!!

 

To to OP, we have had a cabin all the way forward and found the noise not that intrusive at docked ports. Tender ports however was a slightly different scenario.

 

There was an almighty commotion at around 4am the first morning when they dropped anchor - we woke up thinking we’d struck an iceberg or collided with another ship [emoji6]

 

We did get back to sleep though once aware what the all the noise was about. At remaining tender ports whilst it did wake us we did not mind it and easily drifted back off to sleep.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mahdnc]

Yes, we've had some issues with booking them for only 4, but our TA always got us one in the end.

 

You make a good point that when the ship drops anchor, there are loud noises associated with it because of the FV's forward location.

 

Fortunately the 14 night Carib itinerary rarely has any ports requiring tendering. I can only recall tendering once and that was at St Thomas on a 6 cruise ship port day!

 

[DominicAUS]

We have booked a FV on deck 7 just for 2 of us after seeing it available so moved from a hump cabin. We sail to NZ end of Jan. there are a few tender and docked ports. Happy to report back when we are back early Feb. looking forward to the extra space

[keithm]

Greetings, fellow cruisers!

 

We are booked on an upcoming 14-night Caribbean on the Eclipse in our regular 1A stateroom (2 adults, 2 kids).

 

We have the opportunity to move to the Family Verandah stateroom. A few questions:

 

- If our ports are scheduled for 8:00 am, what time should we expect to hear noise from the docking process?

- If you have experience sailing at the front of the S-Class ships, how bad is the noise and vibration during docking? (no chance we will sleep through it / no chance I will sleep through it, but husband and the kids will / likely won't hear a thing)

 

Thanks very much!

We've done 3 trips on Eclipse(same 14 day trips)We've done an inside, usually forward. The Family Verandas were usually a few doors down from us. What you'll notice more than anything else are the thrusters at the front. They are quite noisy, but it's pretty quick. If the rest of the family sleeps through it, well, that might be the time to get yourself a quick snack or cup of coffee & let the "sleeping dogs lie", so to speak.

[keithm]

Yes, we've had some issues with booking them for only 4, but our TA always got us one in the end.

 

You make a good point that when the ship drops anchor, there are loud noises associated with it because of the FV's forward location.

 

Fortunately the 14 night Carib itinerary rarely has any ports requiring tendering. I can only recall tendering once and that was at St Thomas on a 6 cruise ship port day!

 

We were usually where that big Princess ship is docked(Big ship facing "in" toward the port)

[DYKWIA]

We have done 3 cruises on the Eclipse each time in a Veranda. On our last cruise we were in a 1a on the hump mid ship's deck 9. The cruise before that deck 6 cabin 6103 - the second cabin from the front. I would never pick that cabin if I had the choice again ( it was a guaranteed) - it was much noisier - owing to the side platform which sometimes came down very early with a big loud thump and then had staff talking. The noise of the anchor being raised and lowered was also very noticeable. We also noticed that it seemed much more "bouncy" up front than midships (or aft) . We enjoyed our cruise we just wouldn't pick a cabin that near the front if we had the choice.

[leaveitallbehind]

We have done 3 cruises on the Eclipse each time in a Veranda. On our last cruise we were in a 1a on the hump mid ship's deck 9. The cruise before that deck 6 cabin 6103 - the second cabin from the front. I would never pick that cabin if I had the choice again ( it was a guaranteed) - it was much noisier - owing to the side platform which sometimes came down very early with a big loud thump and then had staff talking. The noise of the anchor being raised and lowered was also very noticeable. We also noticed that it seemed much more "bouncy" up front than midships (or aft) . We enjoyed our cruise we just wouldn't pick a cabin that near the front if we had the choice.

 

The noise of the anchor would only occur in tender ports where you are not tied to a pier. When docking at a pier you more likely were hearing the bow thrusters.

[QE2_Fan]

Yes, we've had some issues with booking them for only 4, but our TA always got us one in the end.

 

You make a good point that when the ship drops anchor, there are loud noises associated with it because of the FV's forward location.

 

Fortunately the 14 night Carib itinerary rarely has any ports requiring tendering. I can only recall tendering once and that was at St Thomas on a 6 cruise ship port day!

 

 

Wow - gorgeous shot - even if the port looks a little on the busy side! It was a South Pacific cruise we did - they do tend to have more tender ports as the infrastructure is not in place on the smaller islands visited.

 

Will have to keep trying to score a S class FV cabin on a future cruise!

[DYKWIA]

The noise of the anchor would only occur in tender ports where you are not tied to a pier. When docking at a pier you more likely were hearing the bow thrusters.

 

Good point, I think it must have been the mechanism to tie the ship to the dock. We had a few early arrivals at med ports and there was quite a bit of mechanical noise.

[NordicPrince]

I would not say that with certainty as a condition that is prevalent, as it is not accurate. Sea conditions vary and can change daily from very calm to very rough - in any ocean. In over twenty five years of cruising, the absolute roughest seas we ever experienced were in the Caribbean at 25 ft+. And when you are heading into rough seas, the up and down motion is most definitely felt the strongest in the very front of the ship - which is where our family stateroom was located in that situation.

 

I value your right to an opinion but I can say that I most definitely disagree with you. We have done almost 10 cruises in the Caribbean in the winter months and have never encountered any type of sea turbulence at all. I still say it;s like sailing in a bathtub. The only time we ever felt motion was on a day sailing from Florida to Puerto Rico and that is not the Caribbean,

 

If you had big swells maybe it was because you were sailing in hurricane season and got caught in a storm. That would definitely be an outlier event in my experience.

 

OP sail on with no fears.

[Fouremco]

I value your right to an opinion but I can say that I most definitely disagree with you. We have done almost 10 cruises in the Caribbean in the winter months and have never encountered any type of sea turbulence at all. I still say it;s like sailing in a bathtub. The only time we ever felt motion was on a day sailing from Florida to Puerto Rico and that is not the Caribbean,

 

If you had big swells maybe it was because you were sailing in hurricane season and got caught in a storm. That would definitely be an outlier event in my experience.

 

OP sail on with no fears.

While we've never encountered 25 foot seas during our many Caribbean cruises, we have experienced seas in no way resembling a bathtub. I'd chalk it up to good luck that you've had nothing but smooth sailing to date, not to the lack of occasional rough seas in the Caribbean during the winter months.

[leaveitallbehind]

I value your right to an opinion but I can say that I most definitely disagree with you. We have done almost 10 cruises in the Caribbean in the winter months and have never encountered any type of sea turbulence at all. I still say it;s like sailing in a bathtub. The only time we ever felt motion was on a day sailing from Florida to Puerto Rico and that is not the Caribbean,

 

If you had big swells maybe it was because you were sailing in hurricane season and got caught in a storm. That would definitely be an outlier event in my experience.

 

OP sail on with no fears.

 

You have just been very fortunate. Seas in the Caribbean often are rough outside of hurricane season and it is incorrect to suggest that they are not so in that area. My direct experience proves otherwise. We have had noticeably rough seas several times between Labadee (Haiti) and Jamaica as well as from Puerto Rico to Aruba.

 

But to your comment the seas in question were not in hurricane season but were on Christmas night and oddly enough it was not due to a localized storm. It occurred midway between the Panama canal and Jamaica and the wave size indicated was per the Captain as he instructed all outside areas closed and seasick backs placed throughout the ship. And IMO 25 ft.+ is somewhat more than "big swells".

 

It is just not accurate to make a blanket statement about sea conditions in any given sea as they can and do change frequently. You have just been fortunate in your experience to date.