Unabridged deck plans?

[ciabelle]

Deck plans posted on CruiseCritic and elsewhere show only guest accessible areas which is understandable, but it would be nice to get a general idea of what lies in the blank areas when selecting cabins. 

Specifically looking at decks 8 through 13 on Norwegian Epic. 8 is completely void aside from the outside cabins and stairwells and elevators. I wouldn't choose a cabin on that deck anyway since it's directly above the main shopping areas and lounges. However decks 9 -13 have areas with inside cabins plus several large voids in the plans as well.  Are there maps which indicate what these areas are in a broad sense? (Crew quarters, storage, housekeeping stations, the ship's funnel, etc.) as well as a noise rating for each area? Many guides recommend choosing a cabin which is surrounded only by other cabins for the quietest option, but that may not necessarily be the case if your cabin is next to one with a particularly amorous couple, or a family with young children. Obviously there's little to no control over those situations.

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, ciabelle said:

Deck plans posted on CruiseCritic and elsewhere show only guest accessible areas which is understandable, but it would be nice to get a general idea of what lies in the blank areas when selecting cabins. 

Specifically looking at decks 8 through 13 on Norwegian Epic. 8 is completely void aside from the outside cabins and stairwells and elevators. I wouldn't choose a cabin on that deck anyway since it's directly above the main shopping areas and lounges. However decks 9 -13 have areas with inside cabins plus several large voids in the plans as well.  Are there maps which indicate what these areas are in a broad sense? (Crew quarters, storage, housekeeping stations, the ship's funnel, etc.) as well as a noise rating for each area? Many guides recommend choosing a cabin which is surrounded only by other cabins for the quietest option, but that may not necessarily be the case if your cabin is next to one with a particularly amorous couple, or a family with young children. Obviously there's little to no control over those situations.

No one has those deck plans, even on the ship, passenger deck plans don't show crew only areas.  In general, the areas down the middle of passenger cabin decks are HVAC air handler rooms with cooling coils and fans.  There will be some housekeeping lockers (small, and generally near the crew stairs (typically near pax stairs)), and some housekeeping pantries (glass washers and ice machines).  If you follow deck plans straight down from the funnels, that is where the engine exhausts will run, and there is generally nothing to make noise there.  Crew quarters are typically not dispersed among pax cabins, the areas closest to pax cabins will be the bridge and senior officers aft of the bridge, possibly some hotel supervisors near the atrium, forward on the deck below the forward mooring station, and sometimes some areas on the lowest pax deck around the medical center.

[gtaylor]

I would think that all ships would want to protect and restrict access to any detailed drawings, just from a security viewpoint.

 

No need to advertise any soft points for a potential attack.

 

gary

[dexddd]

The closest thing I can think of is CDP with some rooms having notes. But then again, some of their plans or descriptions are not right.

 

At one time there was a room info thing here on CC but not sure where.

 

The other option is to post specific room numbers and ask.  But then again, we've seen people having different results with rooms at different times.   We had noise, we didn't. We had soot, we didn't.  We had noise from lounge.  We didn't. I could go on.

[kochleffel]

I've traveled on the Epic in studio cabins on deck 11. They're run down the very middle of the ship, above areas that are voids on the decks below. There is no noise from below.

 

Voids important to avoid are any that are themselves adjacent to the main dining rooms, because they're likely to be galleys that have activity almost 24 hours a day. On the Epic, both Taste and Manhattan are served from the galley aft of Taste on deck 5. There are no cabins directly above or below it.

[don't-use-real-name]

17 hours ago, gtaylor said:

I would think that all ships would want to protect and restrict access to any detailed drawings, just from a security viewpoint.

 

No need to advertise any soft points for a potential attack.

 

gary

Me thinks that you have struck a security nerve here !

When you take the BST (Back Scenes Tour) either as a paying guest or Platinum perk there are areas that

you transit and photography (video or still images) is verboten.

 

While moving about on the ship there are plenty of opportunities to view into those white non-descript areas

to crew maintenance closets - foyers with crew elevators - stairways - electrical vaults - air conditioning

ventilation chambers and a bunch of other stuff. You can't follow the crew member into these areas but

when a door is opened you can get a casual peek in passing by.

Really the only concern would be if one of these (noise sensitive) areas was adjacent to the cabin you booked.

 

As our resident Chief engineer mate (  chengkp75 ) noted look at the exterior of the ship and follow the funnel

stack down into the ship to get an idea of the ventilation exhaust of the engine room.

Crew quarters are located near the crew members work station - i.e. Bridge crew near the forward upper decks

of the ship. As for cabin cleaners/attendants - mid ship lower deck. In most cases the crew quarters will not

be a balcony or even a ocean view - this is not a pleasure cruise for these working stiffs.

 

NOTE: Cruisedeckplans is perhaps the most detailed map available for general public guest use.

NCL uses it for basic view of the decks - one by one.

If you want a more inclusive detailed plan become a life time member (for a fee $$ of course)

and then use the feature called "DRAG DECKS"

where you can superimpose one deck on top of another to make the best cabin selection or other function.

 

There are other deck plans put out by Travel Agents and whether you use their booking services you can

check out other aspects of the pros and cons or cabin selection.

A lot of these have photos and even videos (Youtube) of cabins to aid in your quest for information.

The cruisedeckplans main page also has lots of photos for viewing of cabins - exterior shots of ships -

and general public areas.

Don't be afraid to let your mouse - finger or search device pry into the ships innards. No harm - no foul here !