Fantasy vs Wonder - ship movement and vibrations

[danicaw]

We got off the Fantasy last week and had a great cruise.
We had an Aft stateroom and although I have no problem with general ship movement and sleep great on cruises typically, we felt a lot of vibration when in the room.
Was this a function of the location of our room or the new ship?
We are booked on the Wonder to Alaska next summer and currently have another aft stateroom.
Wondering if we should move rooms.
Thanks all!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

It seems there are several threads about the aft on the Fantasy specially and potential issues caused by Hurricane Sandy. I have sailed Aft on the Dream and yes we had slight vibrations but nothing major and nothing that would prevent us from booking aft again since it's our favorite location. We have aft booked for our Fantasy Spring Break cruise in April and I'm getting a little "concerned" with so many recent posts about it but my DS has his heart set on our specific cabin so we won't move.

SO - I said all of that to say - we also cruised aft (5132) last month on the Wonder to Alaska and no movement AT ALL. I think a lot has to do with how much slower the ship is travelling and also the awesome weather conditions we had.

I just wanted to reassure you no issues and nothing even felt out of the ordinary with the aft on the Wonder!

Have a great time,
Heather

 

[danicaw]

Thank you Heather!
We like aft staterooms, so I am thrilled to hear your report.

It seemed the vibrations were stronger the faster we went. For me it was an irritant, but not enough to ruin our cruise
I do think next time we are on one of the new ships I will choose a different location on the ship - just to try it out.
We have been aft on the Magic, but its been almost 5 years, so I may have forgotten aspects of the trip.
Had a wonderful time. Can't wait to cruise again

 

[TempusFugit]

The greater the mass, the higher the natural frequency. It's most likely a resonance issue.

 

[truck1]

The greater the mass, the higher the natural frequency. It's most likely a resonance issue.

Could be but the issues on the Fantasy seem to only popped up recently. We were on the Maiden and spent alot of time aft and never noticed anything out of the ordinary.

 

[lbgraves]

We noticed horrible vibration on the MV during dinner in AP. It was so bad that it was making DH ill so he had to leave before the second course was brought out and go to our room forward, and he has never felt badly on any of our cruises -- even with 20+ foot swells. That was the only time we noticed it during the cruise, but it was the worst we have ever felt it with 75 days onboard total.

OTOH, we felt no vibration on the 3/23/13 cruise, which was after Sandy. Someone on a recent thread explained how it could be affected by the current.

 

[truck1]

Lisa it might even come and go. Current could be 1 cause but machinery that's not secured properly like on their shock absorbers that runs intermittently could be another. Were going back this Oct and I'll see if can find a ship officer that knows. We keep seeing the one that married us and hes on an extended contract to be on the Fantasy.

 

[fredandkell]

I think on any ship, old or now, you feel movement worse in the aft of the ship. We did the Dream back in April, and we were mid-ship Deck 9. Relatives were last cabin/aft on Deck 10. Their room swayed a whole lot more than ours did, and I wouldn't call our seas rough at all. There's a reason the aft-facing rooms are cheaper than the mid-ship rooms.

 

[danicaw]

We actually do fine with swells and that type of general ship movement. I sleep great on the ship typically. But this was a vibration of some sort.
Like trying to sleep on a washing machine during the spin cycle.

I think we will look to see what other cabins are open for our cruise next summer... just to be safe.

 

[lbgraves]

I think on any ship, old or now, you feel movement worse in the aft of the ship. We did the Dream back in April, and we were mid-ship Deck 9. Relatives were last cabin/aft on Deck 10. Their room swayed a whole lot more than ours did, and I wouldn't call our seas rough at all. There's a reason the aft-facing rooms are cheaper than the mid-ship rooms.

This has nothing to do with the sway. As I said, we are experienced with that and the first night usually order ginger ale to deal with that, but this was like a constant, strong tremor that just wouldn't stop. The spin cycle of a washer that rattles would be similar.

 

[ScottishDisMam]

We've been on all 4 ships, and stayed quite far aft and enjoyed it, but last year on the Fantasy we had to ask to be moved as the constant vibration bothered my husband so much. He is an officer on a ship and couldn't understand what was causing it, but thought that it wasn't right to have so much vibration. I could have put up with it ok, but I guess he's trained to tune into unusual noises and vibrations and he couldn't sleep well.

 

[Spwhoney]

Thank you Heather!
We like aft staterooms, so I am thrilled to hear your report.

It seemed the vibrations were stronger the faster we went. For me it was an irritant, but not enough to ruin our cruise
I do think next time we are on one of the new ships I will choose a different location on the ship - just to try it out.
We have been aft on the Magic, but its been almost 5 years, so I may have forgotten aspects of the trip.
Had a wonderful time. Can't wait to cruise again

We had a very aft room on the Wonder 2nd deck, We could feel a vibration, I hardly noticed, but we had to return to San Francisco for medical emergency so that meant we had to full steam ahead through the night to make up for time. It was much louder and vibrated more the faster we went. I have had a forward room and it very jumpy.

 

[Hokeysmoke]

The greater the mass, the higher the natural frequency. It's most likely a resonance issue.

Actually, it's the opposite. The natural frequency goes down with increased mass.

 

[Asnell]

Don't the newer ships (Dream and Fantasy) have some sort of additional stabilizer on the back -- I think it's referred to as a duck tail? I wonder if the addition of that would cause additional vibrations as the ships move through the water. It would make sense that it wouldn't be happening on the classic ships, since they don't have the extra tail added on yet.

 

[TempusFugit]

Actually, it's the opposite. The natural frequency goes down with increased mass.

Thanks. I had a moment of physics dyslexia.

 

[kistner5]

We were aft on the Dream and hated the vibration. For our upcoming Fantasy cruise we are forward. I know we will feel more movement but I think I will take that over the horrible vibration anyday.

 

[truck1]

Don't the newer ships (Dream and Fantasy) have some sort of additional stabilizer on the back -- I think it's referred to as a duck tail? I wonder if the addition of that would cause additional vibrations as the ships move through the water. It would make sense that it wouldn't be happening on the classic ships, since they don't have the extra tail added on yet.

The Dream class do not have ducktails. They were designed with more top weight to start with and the cog was adjusted accordingly, unlike the Magic class, that will be adding upper weight, and they have to change the cog after the fact.