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P&O ship with best noise insulation between cabins


HarryTravelling
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My wife and I have just had our first cruise and it was aboard Arcadia to Norway. We thoroughly enjoyed it and are considering breaking into the piggy bank for the next cruise. Now when our balcony door was upon we sometimes heard chatter on other balconies (as expected and as seems reasonable). When our balcony door was closed, we heard nothing from other cabins - though the air conditioning was so loud this may have masked things. However, some of the people we chatted to were disturbed with noise from neighbours.

I'm aware that in booking another cruise I should seek to avoid being above or below public areas, away from known service areas, and I know that there is a degree of pot-luck with neighbours, but clearly some ships are better insulated for noise than others.

My question is: Can anyone please tell me which of the P&O vessels have the best noise insulation? Or the worst?

Thank you for any feedback you can give!

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We have sailed Arcadia, Azura, Britannia and Ventura and the sound proofing between the cabins is about the same, and we seldom hear anything. There is in fact more noise through the cabin door, but even though our accessible cabins are always near the lifts even this does not cause too much of a problem.

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You've picked the main things to avoid. There is one other thing you can do though and that is to avoid cabins that have connecting doors to adjacent cabins. These are shown on the ships plans but you do need a magnifying glass. I had one of these cabins on a Celebrity ship and you could hear next door more easily than in one without it.

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We had an interconnecting cabin on our recent QM2 voyage and could hear every word spoken by our neighbours, unfortunately this was an Early Saver so we didn't have a choice of cabin....but if you have a choice AVOID these cabins!!!

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On Oceana and Ventura I could hear the TV from my sons cabin next door, no problem as I could ask them to turn it down. Didn't hear anything from them next door when we were on Aurora. You are certainly going to have quieter neighboring cabins if there is only 2 people in the cabin, i.e. not say a family of four, so pick a cabin without bunk beds. We have had cabins near service areas and haven't experienced any problems and in fact they may have been quieter with less footfall from guests.

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We've never had noise on any ship except Ventura. It had a crew service door near to it (on the deck plan it looks like a grey dead-end corridor I think the cabin was C752 but I will try to check). Basically the door opening and closing when the crew came on shift and shouting across to each other was very noisy and woke up up every morning. Hope this helps on the list of things to avoid.

 

 

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We've never heard noises from an adjoining cabin apart from when we had one where our bathroom backed on to the next door's bathroom so we could hear when they flushed their loo but we were never bothered with it, day or night.

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Thank you all for taking the time to reply and for improving my education with your own knowledge and experience.

It may interest you to know that I emailed P&O Customer Services a few days ago. I received their reply today, the core of which was 'All of our ships are built to the same specification in terms of noise insulation'.

 

Thanks and Regards!

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We have sailed Arcadia, Azura, Britannia and Ventura and the sound proofing between the cabins is about the same, and we seldom hear anything. There is in fact more noise through the cabin door, but even though our accessible cabins are always near the lifts even this does not cause too much of a problem.

 

Thanks terrierjohn. I feel reassured.

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I would tend to avoid cabins near the laundry as there is more footfall and voices, but it would only be a minor issue.

 

We haven't noticed any difference across the fleet, the cabins we have had have all been fairly well sound proofed and any very occasional excess noise has had more to do with neighbours that design. (We had one lot that had very loud domestics virtually every day and used some choice language, then you saw this sweet and polite older couple in the corridor - insulation stops normal conversation but not raised voices)

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My experience has been different to most people, in that we have found the sound insulation between cabins to be quite poor on all 6 of the P&O ships we have been on. I have always been able to hear our neighbours TV, drawers closing, toilets flushing and even conversation (albeit mostly a muffled noise rather than hearing every word, but some people have loud voices that do carry and you can hear what they are saying in adjoining cabins). Two cruises ago, we were woken abruptly most mornings by one of our neighbours who had a sneezing fit every morning, yet made no attempt to suppress the noise! Here are some tips for being a good cruise neighbour;

 

1) Don't allow your cabin door to slam shut. It sounds like a rifle shot to your neighbours and there is no need. Although you can't pull the handle down when closing it, a firm tug engages the lock - queitly.

2) Be aware that the pre-set volume on TV's is usually way too loud, so turn it down when the info screen appears and before you select a channel. Why P&O doesn't fix this I've no idea. And when watching TV (or playing music) please keep in mind that it could be irritating for your neighbours unless at a fairly low volume.

3) Don't talk at full volume as you can be heard! We found it very funny on Aurora when our neighbours had regular heated discussions, especially when she called him a 'selfish pig'!

4) Also, when walking back to your cabin at night, keep corridor conversations to hushed tones. We have often been disturbed by sudden loud conversation or laughter outside our cabin. Nice to see that people are enjoying themselves, but irritating if you have just dozed off.

5) Don't slam drawers - it creates a real thud on the wall for your neighbour.

6) Avoid moving balcony furniture early morning or late at night as the noise will disturb those above, below and to both sides of you.

 

OK, so I am being a tiny bit tongue in cheek, but all of the above are true and we adhere to them out of consideration to our fellow cruisers. Sadly, many of our neighbours are often less considerate!

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I would tend to avoid cabins near the laundry as there is more footfall and voices, but it would only be a minor issue.

 

 

 

We haven't noticed any difference across the fleet, the cabins we have had have all been fairly well sound proofed and any very occasional excess noise has had more to do with neighbours that design. (We had one lot that had very loud domestics virtually every day and used some choice language, then you saw this sweet and polite older couple in the corridor - insulation stops normal conversation but not raised voices)

 

 

 

Laundry - completely agree!

 

 

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My experience has been different to most people, in that we have found the sound insulation between cabins to be quite poor on all 6 of the P&O ships we have been on. I have always been able to hear our neighbours TV, drawers closing, toilets flushing and even conversation (albeit mostly a muffled noise rather than hearing every word, but some people have loud voices that do carry and you can hear what they are saying in adjoining cabins). Two cruises ago, we were woken abruptly most mornings by one of our neighbours who had a sneezing fit every morning, yet made no attempt to suppress the noise! Here are some tips for being a good cruise neighbour;

 

1) Don't allow your cabin door to slam shut. It sounds like a rifle shot to your neighbours and there is no need. Although you can't pull the handle down when closing it, a firm tug engages the lock - queitly.

2) Be aware that the pre-set volume on TV's is usually way too loud, so turn it down when the info screen appears and before you select a channel. Why P&O doesn't fix this I've no idea. And when watching TV (or playing music) please keep in mind that it could be irritating for your neighbours unless at a fairly low volume.

3) Don't talk at full volume as you can be heard! We found it very funny on Aurora when our neighbours had regular heated discussions, especially when she called him a 'selfish pig'!

4) Also, when walking back to your cabin at night, keep corridor conversations to hushed tones. We have often been disturbed by sudden loud conversation or laughter outside our cabin. Nice to see that people are enjoying themselves, but irritating if you have just dozed off.

5) Don't slam drawers - it creates a real thud on the wall for your neighbour.

6) Avoid moving balcony furniture early morning or late at night as the noise will disturb those above, below and to both sides of you.

 

OK, so I am being a tiny bit tongue in cheek, but all of the above are true and we adhere to them out of consideration to our fellow cruisers. Sadly, many of our neighbours are often less considerate!

 

 

 

If ever we all go on a cruise critic meet cruise (boxing gloves packed) baggie I go next door to Selbourne! I wear earplugs on some cruises and my husband sleeps on his 'good' ear (although he appears to have selective deafness in both).

 

 

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Well, thanks for all the guidance. I will take it all on board and all onboard. Ahem. I'll try to avoid the pitfalls but go armed for defence e.g. headphones, earplugs etc. And I can always put a pillow over my ears... Come to think of it, my wife regularly helps me with practice for this as I often wake up to find she's pressing a pillow over my head.

Thanks again.

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  • 4 months later...
My experience has been different to most people, in that we have found the sound insulation between cabins to be quite poor on all 6 of the P&O ships we have been on. I have always been able to hear our neighbours TV, drawers closing, toilets flushing and even conversation (albeit mostly a muffled noise rather than hearing every word, but some people have loud voices that do carry and you can hear what they are saying in adjoining cabins). Two cruises ago, we were woken abruptly most mornings by one of our neighbours who had a sneezing fit every morning, yet made no attempt to suppress the noise! Here are some tips for being a good cruise neighbour;

 

1) Don't allow your cabin door to slam shut. It sounds like a rifle shot to your neighbours and there is no need. Although you can't pull the handle down when closing it, a firm tug engages the lock - queitly.

2) Be aware that the pre-set volume on TV's is usually way too loud, so turn it down when the info screen appears and before you select a channel. Why P&O doesn't fix this I've no idea. And when watching TV (or playing music) please keep in mind that it could be irritating for your neighbours unless at a fairly low volume.

3) Don't talk at full volume as you can be heard! We found it very funny on Aurora when our neighbours had regular heated discussions, especially when she called him a 'selfish pig'!

4) Also, when walking back to your cabin at night, keep corridor conversations to hushed tones. We have often been disturbed by sudden loud conversation or laughter outside our cabin. Nice to see that people are enjoying themselves, but irritating if you have just dozed off.

5) Don't slam drawers - it creates a real thud on the wall for your neighbour.

6) Avoid moving balcony furniture early morning or late at night as the noise will disturb those above, below and to both sides of you.

 

OK, so I am being a tiny bit tongue in cheek, but all of the above are true and we adhere to them out of consideration to our fellow cruisers. Sadly, many of our neighbours are often less considerate!

 

Great post Selbourne!

Whilst we endeavour not to go on at him too much on holiday these are some of the niceties we try to teach our young son onboard (and he soon picks us up if we don't set the right example ourselves!).

On a separate note one of the reasons we generally prefer an aft cabin is that there is usually less traffic outside the door at night time.

All the best.

Damian

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  • 7 months later...

Just returned from P&O Britannia Norwegian cruise. Stayed in suite B523.

Noisy suite with poor sound insulation. I could hear everything in the nextdoor suite, guests talking, laughing, walking on the wooden floor near the entrance of the suite, TV sound, toilet flushing, door closing. Also I could hear people walking and talking in the corridor.

The suite also vibrates, even in port, more noticeable when lying in bed at night. I thought I was sleeping on a vibration bed.

On a number of occasions, I could hear the air-conditioning, as well as high-pitched "wind" noise via the vent (located behind the wardrobe and fridge). Whenever there is sea movement, more noise from the ceiling, wall, cupboards etc.

To sum up: just noisy

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Just returned from P&O Britannia Norwegian cruise. Stayed in suite B523.

Noisy suite with poor sound insulation. I could hear everything in the nextdoor suite, guests talking, laughing, walking on the wooden floor near the entrance of the suite, TV sound, toilet flushing, door closing. Also I could hear people walking and talking in the corridor.

The suite also vibrates, even in port, more noticeable when lying in bed at night. I thought I was sleeping on a vibration bed.

On a number of occasions, I could hear the air-conditioning, as well as high-pitched "wind" noise via the vent (located behind the wardrobe and fridge). Whenever there is sea movement, more noise from the ceiling, wall, cupboards etc.

To sum up: just noisy

 

I’m sorry to hear that you experienced noise. I presume you were on the cruise that ended yesterday? We were and had a totally different experience.

We were in inside cabin C536, heard a muffled bang in the cabin next door once and that was it. I did hear the whistling noise either Wednesday or Thursday night, it was around midnight and lasted for about 10 minutes. My husband didn’t hear a thing. I think the noise came from the bathroom vent.

Our cabin was a booked on a select guarantee fare, basically we booked the cheapest inside cabin price but no choice of cabin number. We got “free” coach transfers too. I was a little bit worried because there was white space next to our cabin on one side, turned out to be a crew staircase. Again we heard nothing.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have just completed my first cruise on P&O Britannia. I was in an inside cabin on Deck A. I am very pleased with the level of insulation. I heard nothing all week from other rooms. The only noise was the rattle from the coat hangers in the open wardrobe during rougher seas. I could however, hear some kids outside my cabin door, usually between 5-6pm. Maybe, they were in the corridor or in their room with the door open. It was quite annoying but I tried to ignore it. The noise could only be heard from my doorway and nowhere else.

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On Oceana a few years ago, we didn't hear a thing from one side but on the other side there was a gentleman who was very hard of hearing. I could hear the BBC news from 6am every morning as though it was in our own cabin. Not a very restful holiday.

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On Oceana a few years ago, we didn't hear a thing from one side but on the other side there was a gentleman who was very hard of hearing. I could hear the BBC news from 6am every morning as though it was in our own cabin. Not a very restful holiday.

 

That’s one of my bugbears as well. We are often disturbed by neighbours TV’s early in the morning. It doesn’t help that the default volume is set way too high. Often, by the time the person has turned it down it’s too late as it has already woken us up!

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I have been very lucky as I’ve never been disturbed by noise from neighbours and I am quite irritated by such things! (Selbourne’s post made me smile!)

My worse cabin for noise was an inside on C deck midship on Azura. I didn’t sleep well at all that cruise. There was a humming noise (may have been the funnel) that I heard every time I put my head on the pillow! Annoying as I choose midships especially to avoid too much movement as we were going down to the Canaries. I have since gone back to forward cabins with no problems.

 

 

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