Sound proofing in rooms

[Jhondy]

How easy is it to hear people in staterooms around you? Sometimes when my kid doesn’t want to go to bed she cries for a few minutes before falling asleep and I always worry whether people in rooms next to us at hotels can hear it. I always try to minimize her crying as much as I can if I know walls are thin.

We also usually use a white noise machine at night but we put it kind of loud. If walls are thin, I think we will just leave that at home so we don’t annoy people in rooms around us.

 

[nancipants]

I cannot remember hearing people in the adjacent rooms. But I have heard people running down the hallways.

 

[Calantha]

How easy is it to hear people in staterooms around you?

If there is a door between the rooms it is possible to hear. On the Wonder last month, we definitely heard a man talking loudly several times through the door and when we were on the Dream in January, there was a crying baby at 9PM every night (although not for very long).

I will say when we had stuff hung on the door that absorbed sound, it was better (FWIW).

 

[tvguy]

If there is a door between the rooms it is possible to hear. On the Wonder last month, we definitely heard a man talking loudly several times through the door and when we were on the Dream in January, there was a crying baby at 9PM every night (although not for very long).

I will say when we had stuff hung on the door that absorbed sound, it was better (FWIW).

I don't recall hearing anything from the surrounding staterooms. I did hear kids running and screaming in the hall at 5:45 am on a sea day. Why they were even awake that early is beyond me.
But it does occur to me that we may have missed some of the "putting kids to bed" at 9 pm noises since we always have late seating, so we are just getting our appetizer about 9 pm. We rarely went to bed before 1 am even though our kids were 12 and 16. We were out doing things until then, and all our excursions were late morning or afternoon so no need to go to bed early.

 

[Marc D]

In our experience, the presence or not of a connecting door has no impact on hearing noise from the next-door stateroom. The only time we ever heard someone in the next room, we were not in a connecting stateroom. We were on our other 10+ cruises and never heard anyone. If someone next door is being loud, you will hear it. If your neighbours generate a usual amount of noise, you will not hear them.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

I think it depends partially on your neighbors. I can always hear mumbling when people talk near the wall but can't usually make out what is being said. However the one time I cruised in a connecting stateroom, I could definitely hear everything that was being said anywhere near the connecting door. I'm pretty sure the people next door didn't realize this and would have preferred I not hear their argument one evening. To be fair I would have preferred that too!

It's like any hotel room. Your millage may vary based on your cabin and your neighbors. A white noise machine playing a little loudly probably wouldn't be the worst thing your neighbors might hear.

 

[Trisaratops]

I don't recall hearing anything from the surrounding staterooms. I did hear kids running and screaming in the hall at 5:45 am on a sea day. Why they were even awake that early is beyond me

I don't recall hearing anything from the surrounding staterooms. I did hear kids running and screaming in the hall at 5:45 am on a sea day. Why they were even awake that early is beyond me.
But it does occur to me that we may have missed some of the "putting kids to bed" at 9 pm noises since we always have late seating, so we are just getting our appetizer about 9 pm. We rarely went to bed before 1 am even though our kids were 12 and 16. We were out doing things until then, and all our excursions were late morning or afternoon so no need to go to bed early.

Mine (and most I know) are always up early, especially with any time changes ️

 

[tvguy]

Mine (and most I know) are always up early, especially with any time changes ️

We are west coasters on a Caribbean cruise so 5:45 am was like 2:45 am for our bodies. But even at home in elementary school getting them up at 7 am to be at school by 8 am was a daily challenge. As a matter of fact, California passed a law two years that elementary school can't start before 8:30 am because so many parents had the same issue I had.

 

[Trisaratops]

We are west coasters on a Caribbean cruise so 5:45 am was like 2:45 am for our bodies. But even at home in elementary school getting them up at 7 am to be at school by 8 am was a daily challenge. As a matter of fact, California passed a law two years that elementary school can't start before 8:30 am because so many parents had the same issue I had.

Cool, I can wish for that, haha. I'm in Healthcare so wake up and leave house with kids by 7a is all they have known (and likely the bias I have with others kids) . But I try to always keep them quiet for those normal people out there

 

[tvguy]

Cool, I can wish for that, haha. I'm in Healthcare so wake up and leave house with kids by 7a is all they have known (and likely the bias I have with others kids) . But I try to always keep them quiet for those normal people out there

Yeah, my experience was different. I worked 11 pm to 7 am until my youngest started High School. My wife worked 9 am to 6 pm . When the kids were in elementary school there were many nights when I pulled out of the driveway at 10:40 pm only to see two faces in their bedroom windows waving goodbye to me even though they had gone to bed at 9 pm. I took them to school after I got home from work at 7:30 am and often they weren't out of bed THEN.
Of course, I shouldn't be surprised. My mom was an RN and worked 11 pm to 7 am until I was 12 and I did the same thing!.
With my youngest a Freshman in High School I shifted to a 3 am to 11:30 am work shift. There were few nights they were still up at 2 am when I got up. Especially during summer break.

 

[jeffers102]

I'm surprised to hear so many experiences where people *didn't* hear their neighbors. I always heard people talking at some point, but it was never enough to keep my awake (and I'm a pretty heavy sleeper). It was also usually in the mornings, but we usually go to bed a bit late anyways, so we might have missed some of the nighttime chatter.

But to your question, it's a Disney cruise, so I can't imagine people getting twisted over a child crying for a few minutes. Back when my oldest was younger, she had occasional night terrors and there was literally nothing we could do to calm her down for a few minutes (boy I'm glad she grew out of those!).

 

[Marc D]

I'm surprised to hear so many experiences where people *didn't* hear their neighbors. I always heard people talking at some point, but it was never enough to keep my awake (and I'm a pretty heavy sleeper).

While I only once heard my neighbours (during the entire cruise since shouting was their way of communicating), I often heard people talk while passing in front of our door in the hall, especially at the end of the evening after the fireworks or the late show.

For OP, do not hesitate to bring your child for fear of her crying bothering your neighbours. Our son took his first trip to Europe when he was 4mo and his first cruise when he was 6mo. It's one of the best things you can do to make sure they become resilient and patient at an early age. And everyone should expect young kids on a DCL cruise...

 

[KarenMom]

I have definitely heard from neighbors in the room next door. On one sailing, there was a father and teenage son that constantly yelled at each other. Finally I knocked on the wall and asked them to stop yelling and I never heard from them again. I wouldn't worry about a child crying some before they go to bed, most people understand that happens and we've been there!

 

[jo-jo]

I know this about on a ship, but once at disney, I got on the elevator with a mom and 3 or 4 kids. We get off the elevator together. Walk the same direction, you see where this is going.....I stop at my room and the mom realizes they are next door. She pauses and says "I want to apologize in advance."

 

[NKHarris329]

I didn't notice much from neighboring rooms, but at times there was some noise from the verandah or from the halls.

Still.... it's a Disney cruise. Kid noises are expected. I'd be far more bothered by the arguing teens/adults than an occasionally crying baby.

 

[Cheburashka]

How easy is it to hear people in staterooms around you? Sometimes when my kid doesn’t want to go to bed she cries for a few minutes before falling asleep and I always worry whether people in rooms next to us at hotels can hear it. I always try to minimize her crying as much as I can if I know walls are thin.

We also usually use a white noise machine at night but we put it kind of loud. If walls are thin, I think we will just leave that at home so we don’t annoy people in rooms around us.

The soundproofing is better for non-connecting staterooms than connecting staterooms. Plus, connecting staterooms are better insulated on the Dream and Fantasy than on the Magic and Wonder.

I heard a crying baby and associated noises quite easily on my connecting stateroom on the Magic. The only time I've heard anything on a non-connecting Dream class cruise is when our next door neighbors were having a (relatively minor) domestic violence situation.

Usually, though, it's pretty quiet. A lot better than the WDW resort rooms, in terms of sound insulation, no matter what type of stateroom you get.

 

[anricat]

The only time we had a problem was on a connecting stateroom on the Magic. Someone next door had their phone alarm set to go off on their phone every morning at 5 AM. You might think, "what's the big deal, just go back to sleep after it goes off, maybe they want to get up and work out."

Well, it went off at 5, then 5:10, then 5:20 and then 5:30, 5:40 and so forth until 8 AM. No joke. They snoozed the phone every ten minutes for THREE HOURS. Years later I can't even hear that iPhone alert without my whole body cringing. It was horrible. Every. Single. Morning. I about lost my mind. For me, when my alarm is set, I get up. I don't understand snoozing. It makes no sense to me, and especially for three hours. My sleep was so broken, I was a wreck that whole vacation.

I'm totally fine with a little baby crying now and then. That's part of life. Babies cry! Things like that alarm that are totally controllable, on the other hand...

 

[Jhondy]

Thanks everyone! I had initially selected a non-connecting room but when I switched cruises I chose OGT. So, no idea what room I’ll get. I always get nervous at hotels when my kid is being loud or crying cause I don’t want to disturb the people in rooms around us

 

[Jhondy]

The only time we had a problem was on a connecting stateroom on the Magic. Someone next door had their phone alarm set to go off on their phone every morning at 5 AM. You might think, "what's the big deal, just go back to sleep after it goes off, maybe they want to get up and work out."

Well, it went off at 5, then 5:10, then 5:20 and then 5:30, 5:40 and so forth until 8 AM. No joke. They snoozed the phone every ten minutes for THREE HOURS. Years later I can't even hear that iPhone alert without my whole body cringing. It was horrible. Every. Single. Morning. I about lost my mind. For me, when my alarm is set, I get up. I don't understand snoozing. It makes no sense to me, and especially for three hours. My sleep was so broken, I was a wreck that whole vacation.

I'm totally fine with a little baby crying now and then. That's part of life. Babies cry! Things like that alarm that are totally controllable, on the other hand...

That would be so annoying. I also don’t understand snooze. I’d rather just have my alarm go off when I need to get up verse being woken up earlier than I need to just so I can hit snooze.

 

[Cheburashka]

The only time we had a problem was on a connecting stateroom on the Magic. Someone next door had their phone alarm set to go off on their phone every morning at 5 AM. You might think, "what's the big deal, just go back to sleep after it goes off, maybe they want to get up and work out."

Well, it went off at 5, then 5:10, then 5:20 and then 5:30, 5:40 and so forth until 8 AM. No joke. They snoozed the phone every ten minutes for THREE HOURS. Years later I can't even hear that iPhone alert without my whole body cringing. It was horrible. Every. Single. Morning. I about lost my mind. For me, when my alarm is set, I get up. I don't understand snoozing. It makes no sense to me, and especially for three hours. My sleep was so broken, I was a wreck that whole vacation.

That's awful. After two days of that, I would have politely yet persistently requested a stateroom change.