Aft Vibration on the Pride

[roxierox]

We have not sailed on the Pride since 2015. At that time, there was a vibration that could be felt in the dining room in the back of the ship and there have been reports on these boards of people feeling it in their cabins. I was wondering if it is still noticeable after the dry docks that ship has had since we sailed on the Pride. We are looking at an aft cabin for an upcoming cruise. Any recent Pride cruisers have any helpful input? 

[volfan22701]

we have cruised on the Pride 6 times since 2012 and there has always been the vibration in the aft of the ship. it does not bother us but is quite noticeable in the dining room in particular.

Edited August 22, 2019 by volfan22701

[John Reid]

Three Pride cruises (4th coming up soon!). Noticeable aft vibration each time. I think of it as free "Magic Fingers" bedding.

[KellyW25]

I was on the Pride last week, Aft cabin 8270.  I didn't really notice any vibration, and the dining room seemed to have less than when I sailed her 4 years ago.

[chengkp75]

This is the infamous "azipod shimmy", which is a side to side vibration.  This is caused because instead of steering with rudders, a ship with azipods swivels the azipods to redirect the flow of water to steer the ship. Just like your car, you need to make continual, small corrections to the steering wheel to keep on a relatively straight course, the azipods are continually sweeping back and forth keeping the course correct.  This sweeping of the water flow from one side to the other of the flat hull above the azipods causes the "shimmy" and also some vertical vibration.  It can become more noticeable when there is a following sea, as the directional stability of ships with azipods is less than conventional powered ships when in following seas.

[N7786W Flyer]

10 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

This is the infamous "azipod shimmy", which is a side to side vibration.  This is caused because instead of steering with rudders, a ship with azipods swivels the azipods to redirect the flow of water to steer the ship. Just like your car, you need to make continual, small corrections to the steering wheel to keep on a relatively straight course, the azipods are continually sweeping back and forth keeping the course correct.  This sweeping of the water flow from one side to the other of the flat hull above the azipods causes the "shimmy" and also some vertical vibration.  It can become more noticeable when there is a following sea, as the directional stability of ships with azipods is less than conventional powered ships when in following seas.

 

This makes sense as the vibrations seem to be in several (maybe all?) ships in the class.  We've been on the Miracle twice and noticed the same thing in the Dining Room on both cruises.

 

Garnett

[Joe817]

I constantly felt this as well in the Scarlet D.R. on the Dream last month. Seems like I was the only one who felt it during dining. I thought it was kind of neat. More like a left and right motion more than anything else. Very subtle.

[surfone]

We just sailed on the Pride last week.  While our cabin was midship, we did eat all seven nights in the MDR and we never noticed any vibration.  Also, we spent a lot of time at the Serenity area and that's aft and never noticed a vibration. 5th time on Pride and can say we did notice some vibration on our January sailing in the MDR but think it was due to higher wave activity,  regardless it was minor and did not bother us at all. We have sailed on many lines and have had aft cabins and usually we do feel more vibrations but  did not bother us whereas it may for others.

[StolidCruiser]

The aft vibration of Spirit class ships (namely the Pride) is as noticeable today by those that are attuned to it as it was last time you sailed.

 

Personally, I was aware of it but not affected by it over a handful of cruises - whether in the Dining Room or in an aft cabin.  Everyone is different and will respond to it in varying degrees from "hardly noticeable" to "shaking the teeth out of their head".

[ShakyBeef]

We've sailed on the Pride 8 times (but not since November 2017).  We book an Aft Suite almost every time.  Have always felt the vibration, sometimes more than others, but thankfully my family and I are not bothered by it.  Other than by all the noises that it crates in the Suite, that is.  I bring stick-on felt bumper pads like these:

 

 

to stop the constant rattles, clinks, squeaks, and thumps that are the result of the shimmy. 

 

There is also the little inconvenience that the door of our dressing room in our usual OS is screwed permanently open, because, I suppose, it was moving a lot from the vibration.  Also, on one cruise in this same aft OS, the bunk bed ladder fell apart.  It had quite literally been shaken apart.  Our Room Steward replaced or fixed it as soon as we told him about it.  He said it happened every so often.  There have been some times (maybe with those following seas Chief mentioned) in the dining room that glasses and silverware were "walking" off the tables from particularly bad vibrations.  That was a mess.

 

All this said, I'll keep cruising Pride booking that same aft OS, or, when the kids aren't with us and I can snag it, a particular VS that we loved.  She's my favourite ship, ported less than 3 hours from my house, and the aft Suites are the best.

[Garth2]

Gotta keep those good vibrations happening with her...

[jimbo5544]

21 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

We've sailed on the Pride 8 times (but not since November 2017).  We book an Aft Suite almost every time.  Have always felt the vibration, sometimes more than others, but thankfully my family and I are not bothered by it.  Other than by all the noises that it crates in the Suite, that is.  I bring stick-on felt bumper pads like these:

 

 

to stop the constant rattles, clinks, squeaks, and thumps that are the result of the shimmy. 

 

There is also the little inconvenience that the door of our dressing room in our usual OS is screwed permanently open, because, I suppose, it was moving a lot from the vibration.  Also, on one cruise in this same aft OS, the bunk bed ladder fell apart.  It had quite literally been shaken apart.  Our Room Steward replaced or fixed it as soon as we told him about it.  He said it happened every so often.  There have been some times (maybe with those following seas Chief mentioned) in the dining room that glasses and silverware were "walking" off the tables from particularly bad vibrations.  That was a mess.

 

All this said, I'll keep cruising Pride booking that same aft OS, or, when the kids aren't with us and I can snag it, a particular VS that we loved.  She's my favourite ship, ported less than 3 hours from my house, and the aft Suites are the best.

Those Vista suites are sweet!  4th floor is my fav.....

[ShakyBeef]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Those Vista suites are sweet!  4th floor is my fav.....

 

Mine too, but don't tell anyone.🤫  They are already hard enough to snag.

[JMAE]

In two weeks it will be our 10th Pride cruise, the vibration helps put me to sleep.  

[fair-winds39]

We completed our 6th Pride cruise in March 2019. We book in the same area each time; Main deck AFT, standard Balcony (same cabin all 5 trips), and Upper deck AFT, extended balcony on another trip. We've done many, many cruises and maybe that's why we never noticed vibrations on the Pride. 

[drmom459]

 

[drmom459]

It seems the only area in the Pride's MDR that the vibration is noticed is towards the rear of the room - this was on the left side aft of the MDR.  It was entertaining chasing your food around.....

 

[WMQueenie]

8 hours ago, drmom459 said:

It seems the only area in the Pride's MDR that the vibration is noticed is towards the rear of the room - this was on the left side aft of the MDR.  It was entertaining chasing your food around.....

 

 

Our table for 8 was all the way aft on our Thanksgiving cruise...it was laughable how much it vibrated.  We asked to be moved the 3rd night.

[Jerseygirl1416]

8 hours ago, drmom459 said:

It seems the only area in the Pride's MDR that the vibration is noticed is towards the rear of the room - this was on the left side aft of the MDR.  It was entertaining chasing your food around.....

 

Not on our cruise. It was all over the dining room. We tried switching to several tables and felt it and heard it all over. We also had it in our cabin 6196. We couldn’t leave anything on the counters because eventually they’d end up on the floor. 

 

The vibration doesn’t bother me for a short time but after 7 nights of almost constant vibration it’s beyond annoying. I would never chance that again. We spend good money on cruises and to put up with that is ridiculous. Too many other ships in the sea!

[Jamman54]

I thought that the vibration issue was going to be addressed in this years dry dock. Is the vibration still there? 

[John Reid]

I'm looking forward to it on my Pride 10/6 cruise. It gives the prostate a tingle while dining!

[jimbo5544]

6 minutes ago, John Reid said:

I'm looking forward to it on my Pride 10/6 cruise. It gives the prostate a tingle while dining!

Way to much info...

[nodogkisses]

The vibration issue did seem to be addressed in the most recent drydock.  I sailed in an aft balcony in May and there was no vibration.  And I’m happy to report that the mdr was not vibrating either.  I also spend all my sea days from early to late on Pride Serenity and zero vibration.   So I am pretty sure they addressed it. 

 

I’m currently at the port waiting to board the Pride for my 11th time. It’s only a 3 hour drive from home and I repeat cruise on this ship and itinerary solely for regenerating.  

[VentureMan_2000]

We noticed a small amount of vibration in the aft of the ship, MDR, all the way back to 2004 on the Pride.  We sat near the entrance of the MDR, so did not really notice it.  Others in the back told us of the massage they received each evening... 😅

 

Still love this ship... beautiful inside... have cruised her twice.

[John Reid]

4 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Way to much info...

I thought I was rather restrained!

It might be an amenity that someone else may be looking for; like a public service announcement.