Volendam dolphin deck stern

I was looking at the deck plans for our upcoming cruise. I notice in the back was a large open area? Is this a crew only area or a sitting area?

That is a "Crew Only" area. It is where the aft mooring lines and winches are located for docking. Google "Volendam stern" for photos.

Generally public areas are labelled or "hatched" like the Verandah and Navigation deck stern areas, while unlabelled white space is crew only.

I'm in cabin 1958. Will this be noisy or fairly quiet?

Sorry to say it will be more than likely noisy. You are directly over an engineering space. There are also two stern thrusters, used to propel the ship sideways when docking, just forward of EE1958 that can create quite a bit of noise and vibration. There are symbols (circle with an "X" represented on the hull) for their location. Unfortunately most docking occurs in the early AM.

1958, as has been ably noted, will be noisy, at times anyways. Better than near the engine room stacks, which can have noise AND vibration!

You may find under the thermostat in your cabin a small sign warning about those side thrusters. We didn't think they were a big deal, but we don't sleep in past docking in the morning very often!