NO to Aft cabins!!

[dreamcruiser]

We just returned from a 3-night cruise on which we were assigned an Aft cabin. I know some posters are interested in finding out whether they are too noisy. After one night, we switched to a different cabin...it was not the noise factor, it was the vibrations that did us in. The bed vibrated the whole night, I assume from the engines. Even tho we were on an upper deck, it didn't seem to matter. And for those wondering about being wakened by the side thrusters during an early docking, we didn't even hear or feel that.

 

[Zandy595]

Which ship were you on? We were in 9162 Aft on the Dream and didn't have any vibration in our room.

 

[njdisneylovr]

We were in 8670 on the Fantasy and thought the room was great! I felt no vibration whatsoever. However, on another cruise ( RCL), we were Aft and the vibration ( and smell) was horrible! We were woken up every port day from the vibrations.

 

[speicher46]

We have been in AFT rooms on the Disney Magic seven times including a 14 night transatlantic cruise and thought they were absolutely great. We have booked another AFT room for the transatlantic cruise in May of 2013.

 

[Henlady]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......Let everyone think those aft rooms are terrible.......that will make it easer for us aft lovers to get them.

So, Everyone: Those aft rooms are terrible, they are noisy and the thrusters will shake the devil out of you and your room. DON'T BOOK THEM.

No offense to the OP. Some people are more sensitive to vibrations, and I'm sure it was uncomfortable for you and I'm glad DCL was able to accommodate you with another stateroom. If you are not prepared that this can happen it could be very unsettling.

We've been in aft rooms twice(6690 both times) on the Dream and have one booked for the Fantasy(7194). You do need to be aware that there can be vibrations in the room when the thrusters are activated. Sometimes it is worse than others. But it normally only lasts a few minutes, I'm sure weather/ocean conditions can change that. Most times the vibrations were minimal, only on 1 day on our last cruise did the vibrations get intense enough that the pictures on the wall vibrated and that was while we were backing into the dock at Port Canaveral.

 

[triciari]

What time of the morning does the dream usually pull in to castaway cay?

 

[kimistry6]

We were on deck 7 aft on the dream and we could feel vibrations, but only when docking, especially at castaway cay and port canaveral. I still love being aft though. This cruise we are forward, so I will be able to compare for myself which had more movement.

 

[Bear3412]

I've always been curious about comments related to aft thrusters. My understanding is DCL ships have thrusters in the front of the ship and shafts and props aft. When someone says they feel the thrusters, I assumed that would indicate vibration was felt forward. Perhaps when the two props aft are spinning in opposite direction to fascillitate docking is when people feel the powerful vibration. If the ship only has screws aft, then I'm not sure even if they are spinning in different directions, that it's technically referred to as thrusters. Hopefully someone can elaborate a bit more and confirm whether they actual do have rear thrusters. TIA

 

[outahere]

I've always been curious about comments related to aft thrusters. My understanding is DCL ships have thrusters in the front of the ship and shafts and props aft. When someone says they feel the thrusters, I assumed that would indicate vibration was felt forward. Perhaps when the two props aft are spinning in opposite direction to fascillitate docking is when people feel the powerful vibration. If the ship only has screws aft, then I'm not sure even if they are spinning in different directions, that it's technically referred to as thrusters. Hopefully someone can elaborate a bit more and confirm whether they actual do have rear thrusters. TIA

We've been on the the Magic, Wonder and Dream and all three have thrusters both forward and aft. You can see the water being churned up at both ends of the ship when they are maneuvering to or from the pier. We've been in aft cabins a few times and the vibration never really bothered us.

 

[GoofyDisneyDaddy]

I've always been curious about comments related to aft thrusters. My understanding is DCL ships have thrusters in the front of the ship and shafts and props aft. When someone says they feel the thrusters, I assumed that would indicate vibration was felt forward. Perhaps when the two props aft are spinning in opposite direction to fascillitate docking is when people feel the powerful vibration. If the ship only has screws aft, then I'm not sure even if they are spinning in different directions, that it's technically referred to as thrusters. Hopefully someone can elaborate a bit more and confirm whether they actual do have rear thrusters. TIA

The ships absolutely have rear thrusters. They also have bow thrusters.

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

We just got off the Fantasy on Saturday, we had 7192 and 7194 AFT. The vibration was so terrible that we had to be moved. Neither cabin was able to sleep with the vibration. This was during SAILING, not during docking. We were at sea, we had not docked yet.

We had guest services come to our room to see it and they said that happens in the AFT rooms.

We booked these rooms 15 months in advance just to have that balcony and had to move, we were very sad, but sleeping took precedence.

I have been on 8 Disney cruises and had never experienced anything like that before.

 

[Trekker]

It is interesting that this appears to be happening on the Fantasy but not on the Dream - can we confirm that those feeling the vibrations when at sea in the aft cabins have all been on the Fantasy?

 

[jilljill]

It is interesting that this appears to be happening on the Fantasy but not on the Dream - can we confirm that those feeling the vibrations when at sea in the aft cabins have all been on the Fantasy?

According to the OP's post they were on the Dream. They said they were on a 3 day cruise.

 

[ScottishDisMam]

We just got off the Fantasy on Saturday, we had 7192 and 7194 AFT. The vibration was so terrible that we had to be moved. Neither cabin was able to sleep with the vibration. This was during SAILING, not during docking. We were at sea, we had not docked yet.

We had guest services come to our room to see it and they said that happens in the AFT rooms.

We booked these rooms 15 months in advance just to have that balcony and had to move, we were very sad, but sleeping took precedence.

I have been on 8 Disney cruises and had never experienced anything like that before.

Oh no! We have these exact staterooms booked for our trip in October! Now I'm really worried and wondering if I should change.

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

We had only ever read positive things about those rooms (on the Dream, since the Fantasy was not sailing yet). We had never read about any vibrations, only the slight issues when docking which we would have no problem with.

The vibration we experienced was pretty bad. It was non-stop, the TV vibrated on the wall. The bed vibrated. If you put down a cup or bottle of water, it too vibrated.

Its up to you on switching the rooms, you could try it and see if it bothers you and if it does ask to be moved then, which is what we had to do. Our friends (in 7194) were scheduled for the same room on the Dream in October but moved while we were onboard.

 

[ScottishDisMam]

It really wouldn't bother my husband as he is an officer on a ship and spends half of the year at sea, but not sure if my self and my son and daughter would be put off by it.

 

[jetskigrl]

We just got off the Fantasy on Saturday, we had 7192 and 7194 AFT. The vibration was so terrible that we had to be moved. Neither cabin was able to sleep with the vibration. This was during SAILING, not during docking. We were at sea, we had not docked yet.

We had guest services come to our room to see it and they said that happens in the AFT rooms.

We booked these rooms 15 months in advance just to have that balcony and had to move, we were very sad, but sleeping took precedence.

I have been on 8 Disney cruises and had never experienced anything like that before.

Wow, I may have unknowingly saved my group from the same experience. I was going back and forth between those two rooms or a 4B/11a on deck 8. I finally went with the 4b/11a so that if our extra person backs out, we can just keep the 4b and drop the 11a.

It was hard to give up the thought of those verandahs so hearing this makes me feel better about my decision.

 

[FriendOfFanatic]

Our friends had Fantasy 7194 on the April 21 Fantasy Cruise and we had the room right above (8188). The only vibration or rumbling we felt was on docking. There was no vibration on sea days for our cruise. Either we are not as sensitive to the rumbling, or the ship was running a different prop RPM is my guess as to why we had no problem with that room and wish...jen did.

 

[ScottishDisMam]

I'm not sure if I should change now? Any advice?

 

[226ra]

On the Fantasy, there is a clearly noticeable vibration (with minimal associated noise) in the aft of the ship on ALL decks. Near the bow, large waves hitting the hull while underway reverberate through the structure but are random and their presence depends on sea state (and this only affects outboard cabins, decreasing in annoyance with the higher floors). If given a choice, mid ship is most definitely the way to go. I go to sea for a living so these issues may not be something others pick up on.