Are connecting cabins noisy?

[alishac]

I just booked a cabin on Treasure, and chose a connecting cabin because of the location on the hump with a bigger balcony, as well as a larger stateroom. Are these cabins noisier than non-connecting cabins? Will I be able to hear my neighbors? 

[jalves]

We have never had a problem with noise from connecting cabins on any of the Disney ships.  Of course nobody knows if the new Treasure will be any better/worse than the Wish.  

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, alishac said:

I just booked a cabin on Treasure, and chose a connecting cabin because of the location on the hump with a bigger balcony, as well as a larger stateroom. Are these cabins noisier than non-connecting cabins? Will I be able to hear my neighbors? 

I've never found connecting rooms to be noisier than any other next door room.  It mostly depends on who's in those rooms, not so much the configuration of the room.

 

You may be able to hear your neighbors, or maybe not....

 

The connecting door is actually 2 doors (each door can lock on "their side" of the connecting doorway).  The 2 doors are basically just as thick as the wall the door is in, possibly less so.

[alishac]

15 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

 

 

The connecting door is actually 2 doors (each door can lock on "their side" of the connecting doorway).  The 2 doors are basically just as thick as the wall the door is in, possibly less so.

Thanks, I didn't realize there are two doors. That makes me less concerned about it.

[gometros]

We sailed the Wish on a bump out and booked the same relative room on the Treasure. You'll like the bigger verandah.

[karmacats]

I feel like I have to chime in here, because unlike the others, I just had a terrible experience with a connecting door on the Dream. 

 

Our first ever cruise was on the Magic in 1998, and after being able to hear everything through the connecting door, we've stayed away from connecting doors for the last 25 years. However, we booked the Dream transatlantic last minute and only connecting door rooms were available. I did a ton of research and people consistently said the dream and fantasy were way better insulated than the older ships and you couldn't hear a thing through the door.

 

Well, that turned out to be a total crock. For 11 nights we got to hear the kid next door wail at 3 am and scream all morning starting at 7 am.  We could also hear the parents talking, though couldn't quite make out what they were saying, and occasionally hear other sounds such as closet doors opening (I presume). The sound was definitely through the connecting door, not from the hall. The steward confirmed both connecting doors were closed. Sound just travels. It was bad enough that if the choice in the future comes down to connecting door or no cruise, I'd pick no cruise. We got off the ship more stressed than when we got on. It was a shame, bc the room was otherwise perfect (huge 4e balcony in great location) and the trip was otherwise wonderful. But the extra balcony space is not worth the risk you won't get any sleep. 

Full disclosure, I have not been on the wish so don't know what the treasure will be like. But I would not take a chance again in a million years. 

[Shmoo here]

22 minutes ago, karmacats said:

I feel like I have to chime in here, because unlike the others, I just had a terrible experience with a connecting door on the Dream. 

 

Our first ever cruise was on the Magic in 1998, and after being able to hear everything through the connecting door, we've stayed away from connecting doors for the last 25 years. However, we booked the Dream transatlantic last minute and only connecting door rooms were available. I did a ton of research and people consistently said the dream and fantasy were way better insulated than the older ships and you couldn't hear a thing through the door.

 

Well, that turned out to be a total crock. For 11 nights we got to hear the kid next door wail at 3 am and scream all morning starting at 7 am.  We could also hear the parents talking, though couldn't quite make out what they were saying, and occasionally hear other sounds such as closet doors opening (I presume). The sound was definitely through the connecting door, not from the hall. The steward confirmed both connecting doors were closed. Sound just travels. It was bad enough that if the choice in the future comes down to connecting door or no cruise, I'd pick no cruise. We got off the ship more stressed than when we got on. It was a shame, bc the room was otherwise perfect (huge 4e balcony in great location) and the trip was otherwise wonderful. But the extra balcony space is not worth the risk you won't get any sleep. 

Full disclosure, I have not been on the wish so don't know what the treasure will be like. But I would not take a chance again in a million years. 

Sorry you had that experience, but I have to wonder whether you would have still heard a "screaming" and "wailing" baby even with a solid wall.

 

My experience shows it matters more how much noise the neighbors make than if that wall has a connecting door or is solid.

[PopPopBear]

Haven't had many cruises with connecting rooms. Just got off the Disney Dream week before last and had a connecting room. Could easily hear noise from the connecting room and did not hear any noise from the neighbors on the other wall (solid). Luckily, the connecting room neighbors were two adults with most of the noise being the TV. They were considerate and only had it on in the afternoons and never past 10pm or so. 

[alishac]

Oh boy. Starting to having second thoughts about my cabin choice...

I sleep with ear plugs in so it's not an issue for me, but my husband doesn't.

[karmacats]

9 hours ago, alishac said:

Oh boy. Starting to having second thoughts about my cabin choice...

I sleep with ear plugs in so it's not an issue for me, but my husband doesn't.

Sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out. But I wish I had had all the info when I booked my cruise, rather than just shiny happy reviews that turned out to be wrong. Then I at least could have made an informed decision.  I do think a lot depends on your neighbors; if it had been 2 adults, or older kids, it probably would have been ok.

 

To the person who asked if I'm sure it was the connecting door that was the issue, yes, it was really obviously the door.

 

Fwiw, I've been on the Dream twice before with kids next door and never heard a peep through the solid wall. Same with my 30+ other cruises. You can always hear noise from the hall, and sometimes the bathroom next door, but that's generally it and those are momentary. The only 2 times we've had persistent noise issues were when we had connecting doors, and in the room it's pretty easy to tell that's where the sound is coming through.

[alishac]

13 hours ago, karmacats said:

Sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out. But I wish I had had all the info when I booked my cruise, rather than just shiny happy reviews that turned out to be wrong. Then I at least could have made an informed decision.  I do think a lot depends on your neighbors; if it had been 2 adults, or older kids, it probably would have been ok.

 

To the person who asked if I'm sure it was the connecting door that was the issue, yes, it was really obviously the door.

 

Fwiw, I've been on the Dream twice before with kids next door and never heard a peep through the solid wall. Same with my 30+ other cruises. You can always hear noise from the hall, and sometimes the bathroom next door, but that's generally it and those are momentary. The only 2 times we've had persistent noise issues were when we had connecting doors, and in the room it's pretty easy to tell that's where the sound is coming through.

No, thanks for the heads up! Maybe I can talk my husband into wearing ear plugs to bed lol.

[Matt1jus]

Sorry, but absolutely yes you will hear more noise in a connected cabin. Only done it once but never again. 

[JTor]

How can we find out if there is a connecting door before we agree to cabin?

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, JTor said:

How can we find out if there is a connecting door before we agree to cabin?

On the DCL website, the deck plans show those rooms with connecting doors.  You can see the door openings on this example:

[mz-s]

Nearly all cabins on DCL are connecting. I don't necessarily believe that the connecting door is to blame for noise issues.