Vibration on Fantasy ?

[darkwing818]

Thank you all for the input. Never had read of vibration issues on Dream, other than when crossing Gulf stream and that is to be expected. (that was the only time we felt any movement ) When I started to see repeat mentions of significant movement on Fantasy, I was less than happy about that possibility on upcoming cruise. You all have made me feel better and I know it will be a fabulous trip and I will take my Bonine on a regular basis.

We've sailed on the Fantasy 3 times, twice our cabins were in the Aft section, Deck 7. As I recall what I would term "vibration" was noticeable when the ship was docking or leaving port. We've sailed on all 4 Disney ships & have felt movement on all 4 in various degrees, depending on the weather, wind etc.. Bottom line I don't think we felt anymore Movement/Vibration on the Fantasy compared to the other ships.

 

[Mousemom]

Our first cruise on the Dream I found the first night to be bumpy. The captain came on the intercom and said that it would calm down as we got further out to sea and it did. I did get a little queezy.

Our second cruise the water was calm but when we went to bed I could feel vibration all night. It drove me nuts. I thought my husband was moving his feet and I asked him to stop. He was not doing anything but sleeping. After the first night it stopped. I do want to mention that I am sensitive to smells, movement, and light when I sleep. I wake easily so wear ear plugs and if my husband is reading I have a mask I wear. We were on the 10th deck in cabin 10656. I loved the location though and would gladly stay in that room again.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Having sailed the Fantasy for two cruises, we noticed vibration in AP and Royal Court but no where else, it was at it's worst leaving port.

No problem in our stateroom 12012.

 

[Greatfalls]

We've been on both. The Fantasy covers a lot more distance than the Dream, particularly for the Western Cruise. The Dream covers a relatively small area in the Bahamas. So the engines on the Fantasy are working a lot harder. The engines are mid to aft, and the rudders are aft, so the most vibration is aft and in the lower levels.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We've been on both. The Fantasy covers a lot more distance than the Dream, particularly for the Western Cruise. The Dream covers a relatively small area in the Bahamas. So the engines on the Fantasy are working a lot harder. The engines are mid to aft, and the rudders are aft, so the most vibration is aft and in the lower levels.

Agree good points.

 

[E ticket rider]

Just read another post that mentioned the lack of stabilization on Fantasy. Have sailed Dream twice and felt very little, if any, movement other than leaving Canaveral. Is it the Caribbean waters or something unique about Fantasy that causes the constant vibration ( I think that's how it was described on a previous post ) ? Has anyone ever had or seen an explanation from DCL about it since there appear to be a number of complaints . I am very prone to motion sickness and I do take Bonine but am getting a tad anxious about our upcoming cruise on Fantasy.

Dream and Fantasy are virtually identical from a mechanical standpoint. There are decor differences and some top deck changes on Fantasy to improve perceived shortcomings on the Dream, but both Dream-class ships have proper stabilizers etc. Perhaps the weather or sea state was a factor in the other post that you are referencing. I've sailed on both the Dream and Fantasy and found them both to be very smooth rides.

 

[Parkerpirates]

We just finished a cruise last Sat and we were in that same area (concierge deck 12). We had no issues in the cabin - only felt that very slight rocking motion that just lulled us to sleep on most cruise ships. We felt vibrations very strongly in AP; that was the only place we really noticed it.

Good to hear!

 

[Holly4]

We felt quite a bit of vibration a few nights on the Fantasy. We were on deck 9 aft. I think 3 or 4 nights we had such movement that it disrupted my sleep. Things were rattling on the tables and nightstands. Kids fell right asleep though and had no issues thankfully.

 

[truck1]

So the engines on the Fantasy are working a lot harder. The engines are mid to aft, and the rudders are aft, so the most vibration is aft and in the lower levels.

Not really. The way that modern ships work is that there are several diesel engines that turn electrical generators. The power that these gensets create, go to power distribution panels, which in turn send it all over the ship. The Magic class has 5 gensets, 3 of which are bigger then the other 2 if I remember correctly, and turn at different constant speeds.
The Dream class also has 5 engines, 3 12 cylinder and 2 14 cylinder engines. These gensets also turn at constant speeds.

The actual drive motors are electric and consume the most power on any ship. On all 4 DCL ships, 1 genset is dedicated to each drive motor. (There are 2 drive motors) The balance of the engines go to making the power for the ship. A computer will tell the engineers on duty when the power usage on the ships are reaching a certain level, and another engine is started to help with the load. Typically when any ship enters or leave port, all of the engines are up and running.

I figured it out 1 day and the ships doing the 3/4 day trips and the ships doing the 7 day trips work about the same amount. The 3/4s if anything might have slightly more on them as on average they will enter and leave ports about 6 times, with the 7 day trips doing up to 5.

 

[mordecai]

We were on the Fantasy in September and prior to departure I heard the same rumors in these forums of a broken stabilizer. I was slightly concerned, but we really didn't have any problems. We were full aft deck 5.

 

[wxman0]

Never been on a cruise so I am curious, is the vibration constant with occasional increases in intensity or is it smooth and with occasional vibrations? I guess the reason I'm asking is I think I could get used to it if it were constant but if it was smooth and it would randomly start vibrating, I could see where that would annoy me. Looking at taking Fantasy next February.

 

[danicaw]

We sailed on the Fantasy this past summer. We were aft deck 9 and I had some issues sleeping with the vibration. Its not like the general movement you get on a ship, which doesn't bother me at all. It was very subtle and I really only felt it in our room, but it was a bit of a bummer. Cause I usually sleep really well on the ships.
The vibration didn't bug hubby or the kids at all...

 

[pepe3penelope]

Went on Wonder and Fantasy and both times were Aft. On Wonder we felt the motion during our cruise and even had my sea legs even a day and a half after the cruise. Didn't get sick but I was wearing a band. On fantasy it was such a noticeable difference. Oy time we felt anything was on the way back the last two days. Not sure if it was because of the direction we were going.

 

[russ0907]

We stayed in an aft room on the Fantasy for 7 day cruise(western) There was more vibration in our room than we had ever experienced, but not enough for me to complain nor sleep. no issues while out and about on the ship. Had not expeerienced anything like that on the classic ships.

 

[natmom]

Okay,when everyone says 'aft' are they talking about the rooms at the very back of the ship? We are in a 4a room on deck 9 I would say it is halfway between mid and aft, do you think we will feel vibrations there?

 

[pepe3penelope]

Aft does mean the back of the ship. Hopefully you will be okay, but won't know for sure until you go.

 

[Ravenne]

Okay,when everyone says 'aft' are they talking about the rooms at the very back of the ship? We are in a 4a room on deck 9 I would say it is halfway between mid and aft, do you think we will feel vibrations there?

Yes, aft means the rear/back of the ship. I had to brush up on my ship terminologies too. Here's a list if it helps: http://powerboat.about.com/od/smallboatseamanship/tp/Boating-Definitions.htm

As for vibration, from what I've been reading, it's mixed reviews. Some people say they feel it strongly, some say they don't. Our room is kind of in that location too, and unfortunately, there are very few reviews of our room around here. Guess we'll find out.

 

[natmom]

Yes, aft means the rear/back of the ship. I had to brush up on my ship terminologies too. Here's a list if it helps: http://powerboat.about.com/od/smallboatseamanship/tp/Boating-Definitions.htm

As for vibration, from what I've been reading, it's mixed reviews. Some people say they feel it strongly, some say they don't. Our room is kind of in that location too, and unfortunately, there are very few reviews of our room around here. Guess we'll find out.

Yikes, all these reviews have me nervous. You are right, I guess we'll find out soon enough. I was having trouble finding reviews on rooms between mid and aft. All the the 4a category rooms are between mid and aft, none are forward on the ship.

 

[Greatfalls]

Mid ship should be fine. I've only ever noticed the vibration in the very back of the ship, and it's mostly in the lower levels. The vibration is very subtle, but it is noticeable. Kind of like a refrigerator. I'm corrrected that it's not the engines, but I'm guessing that the propellers are probably the culprit.

 

[disdel]

As Truck 1 posted, there are any number of reasons why any ship will have a vibration, especially seas/wind, currents, depth of water under the keel, etc.
Even on big ship, a bit of commercial fish netting could do it.

Your taking a cruise and have to expect the possibility of motion and vibration.

AKK

It looks like many posters are interchanging vibration and ship's motion. The motions can be negligible or wild, for the reasons Skip lists. But the vibration issue definitely exists, at least IMHO.

Skipper, we were just aboard FANTASY (6670) for the 12/28 New Year's Eve cruise, and then a week later on DREAM (6690). Both cabins aft, Deck 6. On FANTASY, there was a definite consistent mechanical vibration. An educated guess tells me it was running gear related. There was no similar vibration in virtually the same location aboard DREAM. I had commented about it to DW while on FANTASY, and so we were both attuned to it when we were on DREAM.

I thought I had read elsewhere that there is a possible prop/shaft/rudder issue on FANTASY, which, given their sister ship status, makes sense. Hope someone else can confirm, I don't recall where I heard that, it may have even been from staff aboard DREAM.