What is the definition of "door slamming"?

[Tenderpaw]

Today I saw on John Heald's blog a complaint about "door slamming" by someone's neighbor in which the complainer was practically begging for mercy to be spared from more door slamming.   I've also seen people on here also get positively twisted up over "door slamming" with numerous posts about it practically ruining a cruise.  

 

My question is, what is "door slamming"?  Is it where you just let the door close and latch on its own?  Or is it when you pull it shut hard?  Do you have to ease it shut manually in order to "not slam"?  What is required to socially acceptably close a cruise ship door?

 

I confess, i often just let the cabin door close on its own.  From what I have observed,  it is pretty common. 

 

So, am I a slammer?

[Cruise, J.D.]

Most hotel doors are set up to "slam" on their own. My practice is to avoid this during early mornings and at night, whether on a ship or a land-based hotel. 

[Eli_6]

I am guessing they are referring to letting the door close as many hotel and cruise rooms have heavier than normal doors that do make a noise when they close.  I don't think door slamming is a big deal unless it is in the middle of the night.

[ColeThornton]

If you let the door close on it's own and it makes a loud noise then next time close it slowly by yourself to be considerate.  Simple.

[Matco]

I do know that if you have the balcony door open/ cracked and someone opens the cabin door the rush of air will cause the cabin door to slam harder than normal. Caught me off guard the first time that happened

[klfrodo]

Since you ask, Yes, I would consider you a door slammer.

 

If, when the door closes, and it bangs shut and causes you to wince, pull your shoulders up, look back at the door,,,, you've slammed the door.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong and doesn't take any time to hold onto the door handle and assist the door in easing shut. Just a common courtesy. As easy as taking the empty shopping cart back to a close holding area instead of just anywhere. 

[nascartim]

Once you've entered your room, you can gently shut it by turning the handle and easing it closed, but unfortunately when you are leaving the room, there will be a little bit of a slam as you cannot turn the handle to ease it, as it is in a locked position, but at least you should catch the door before it becomes a full on slam. 

[MisterOJ2]

I honestly think the sound of a door slamming is triggering for a lot of people. It doesn't bother me, but I think it's a fairly common thing to be triggered by the sound of a door shutting loudly.

[cruisingguy007]

Last cruise the neighbors had small kids who would go in/out of the cabin to the balcony over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again. Well, you get the picture. Letting the balcony door slam each time. I close mine quietly, twas quite irritating indeed.  

[tattoos]

Count me in the group of cruisers who cannot tolerate door slammers.  There is no reason for slamming the door to your balcony or the stateroom door.  

 

When you leave your room, hold the door with your hand until it closes softly.  When you go in or out of the balcony, hold the door by the handle and close it softly.  It only takes a few seconds longer than if you just let it go and it slams shut.

 

We just returned from a cruise on the Horizon and splurged for a balcony room since we haven't traveled for over two years, never again.  We were surrounded on all sides and above and below by slammers.  The couple next to us were the worst, one person would come out onto the balcony and slam the door then the other person would come out and slam the door then one would go back into the room and slam the door followed by the other person who would slam the door.  Whenever I returned to my stateroom during the day, this would be their ritual.  I sat on my balcony twice during the entire 8 day cruise.  Forget about having a peaceful  cocktail in our room while showering and getting ready for dinner.

 

It's bad enough when you have no control over your children and allow them to slam the doors constantly but if you are a grownup, please, please, be more considerate of your fellow passengers.

[Guest BasicSailor]

I admit I'm a former door slammer. I mean these people next door on several cruise made it impossible to sleep any time during the day or night. They slammed, I slammed, Harder. Those damn door henges are tough, I'm here to say  😁. So then I joined Door Slammers Anonymous ,  cured me in a matter of several years. 😆. No more door slamming for me, thank god for inside cabins.

[cruisingguy007]

31 minutes ago, tattoos said:

Count me in the group of cruisers who cannot tolerate door slammers.  There is no reason for slamming the door to your balcony or the stateroom door.  

 

When you leave your room, hold the door with your hand until it closes softly.  When you go in or out of the balcony, hold the door by the handle and close it softly.  It only takes a few seconds longer than if you just let it go and it slams shut.

 

We just returned from a cruise on the Horizon and splurged for a balcony room since we haven't traveled for over two years, never again.  We were surrounded on all sides and above and below by slammers.  The couple next to us were the worst, one person would come out onto the balcony and slam the door then the other person would come out and slam the door then one would go back into the room and slam the door followed by the other person who would slam the door.  Whenever I returned to my stateroom during the day, this would be their ritual.  I sat on my balcony twice during the entire 8 day cruise.  Forget about having a peaceful  cocktail in our room while showering and getting ready for dinner.

 

It's bad enough when you have no control over your children and allow them to slam the doors constantly but if you are a grownup, please, please, be more considerate of your fellow passengers.

 

It's maddening to be sure. I just tossed on some headphones and pumped the volume up to drown it out during the day/evening and ran a noise maker app at night to get some sleep. Inside cabins are definitely much quieter, you only get the occasional hallway slammer neighbor, not a surround sound slam session from all angles. If I didn't have the noise app I wouldn't have gotten much sleep. I was quite done with it at the end of 7 days lol. I'm not sure how it didn't bug the slammers themselves? Didn't ruin my cruise but was annoying as heck.   

[LatinaInTexas]

Husband takes naps and is a light sleeper and it never fails wherever we travel we are on the floor with all the door slammers. We also seem to end up with all the loud talkers, shouters screechers and yellers passing by.

I don't slam doors and I definately don't be obnoxiously loud in a hallway of rooms at all hours ughhh.

[JandPB]

If you don’t know what door slamming is, you most likely are someone being complained about. 

[pe4all]

People who come in 2 or 3 (or later) in the morning, stand outside our cabin yelling instead of talking/whispering and then slam their cabin door drives us nuts.  Seems like it happens every cruise.

[TNcruising02]

4 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Last cruise the neighbors had small kids who would go in/out of the cabin to the balcony over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again, and over and over again. Well, you get the picture. Letting the balcony door slam each time. I close mine quietly, twas quite irritating indeed.  

I can see how this would be extremely annoying.  If people are in, out, in, out, constantly.  Other than that, I am surprised that a person leaving their cabin or coming in later that day would impact someone's vacation no matter how loud their door was when they shut it.  Maybe some people have a low tolerance for certain sounds and need silence in their cabins.

The only things I find annoying are when people are very loud while walking down the cabin hallway late at night or very loud late at night in the cabin next door.  One cruise, we must have been next door to a cabin with kids in it because every single night they were loud and up very late.  We had a connecting door, so we never made that mistake again when booking.  But I've never experienced a door shutting that was upsetting.

[rolloman]

While out at sea, leave your balcony door open then walk to the front and open the cabin door...you will experience firsthand what a real door slam is when it shuts itself. 

[ray98]

If the door is making anything more than a muted click you are doing it wrong.

[victory2020]

Years ago Carnival actually had a sentence in their Capers about noise/loud voices (not that it helped). Door slamming is why I never get balconies on Carnival. While most cruise lines have sliding doors, Carnival - at least on older ships- have slamming doors.

On our last Princess cruise it was the cabin steward who let the doors slam! First time he didn't get an extra tip

Edited May 10, 2022 by victory2020

[Ralphinsc]

I just try to be courteous to my neighbors by letting them know when I come and go via door slam so they can return their TV back up to volume level 68. For some courtesy is a lost art. But not here. Definitely not here..... 😜🤣

[Buckimion]

The poster in John's message noted that they were handicapped. Quite a few of the handicap rooms on the old Triumph/Conquest class ships (and I assume others) are forward by the hidden balconies. We had an accessible balcony cabin on Valor and a 4J on Triumph that was right by the door the outside and that thing slammed day and night, not by the same person, but by different visitors.

[azrayne]

I'm terrible with door slammers with kids...I'll ask them to be aware of the noise and if they don't get it and keeps happening, I play with them.   When I get in at 2a I'll call the room multiple times as I change and get ready for bed.   It seems fair...they usually get the point pretty quick.

 

Childish, yup but the point is made.

[Moviela]

I think door slamming is a Swedish problem. That right. Assa Abloy is the company that makes the door locks on millions of hospitality doors. These door locks made in Sweden have a specification that will close the door firmly in case of fire, and for security to be sure the latch is firm. You don't want to leave your room with the latch sitting on the strike rather than in it. The mechanicals bind a bit, so the force needed to insure a proper latch will slam the door. Kabang. Every time. 

 

The only solution is to stay and supervise the closing. Every time. No matter what. Violators should subject the deck to group punishment, starting with push-ups.

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, azrayne said:

I'm terrible with door slammers with kids...I'll ask them to be aware of the noise and if they don't get it and keeps happening, I play with them.   When I get in at 2a I'll call the room multiple times as I change and get ready for bed.   It seems fair...they usually get the point pretty quick.

 

Childish, yup but the point is made.

 

Could work but experienced cruisers may unplug their phones, I only plug mine in to call for room service, then it gets pulled out slightly to disconnect.

[John1928]

Relying on human behavior rather than an engineering solution is a recipe for failure almost every time.