Vibrations on Wonder Aft Since Refurbishment?

[Shanti]

Who has sailed aft on the Wonder since her fall 2016 refurbishment? I'm considering changing our stateroom from a mid-ship oceanview to a navigators verandah aft, but some recent reports of heavy aft vibrations on the Wonder concern me. If anyone here has sailed aft on the Wonder since her refurbishment, could you please share your experience?

 

[cruiser21]

We had an inside room about 5 rooms forward of the aft elevators on deck 6 the vibration was horrible. This was in Alaska where we weren't going very fast. It was our second time on the Wonder since the refurb. The first time we were forward. We sailed in an aft ocean view to Hawaii 2015 No vibration, but the ac broke a couple of times.
It was my first time in an inside. I don't know if its normal to feel that much vibration, cracking and engine noise, but I'll never book one again.

 

[Shanti]

We had an inside room about 5 rooms forward of the aft elevators on deck 6 the vibration was horrible. This was in Alaska where we weren't going very fast. It was our second time on the Wonder since the refurb. The first time we were forward. We sailed in an aft ocean view to Hawaii 2015 No vibration, but the ac broke a couple of times.
It was my first time in an inside. I don't know if its normal to feel that much vibration, cracking and engine noise, but I'll never book one again.

Wow. So this was just a few months ago?

 

[dtrain]

I'm replying to you in a couple threads, but since this one is more on topic I'll give my report. We sailed The Wonder 7 Day Mexican Riviera on Oct 15th and had AFT secret verandah #7620. The vibrations were very, very bad when the ship was moving at full speed. Ceiling and fixtures rattling, vibrations all through the bathroom and the worst was when you laid down on the bed. Even the AFT stairwells and walls were rattling like crazy. I could not sleep for 2 of the 7 nights, both times traveling at full speed before sea days. Once the Captain pulled back a little it subsided quite a bit but was still there. Several crew members explained the speed - vibration correlation to me and also admitted it was a very well known problem in the AFT. I was offered a room change on day 6 but was told since the speed had been reduced there would be no more vibrations, and this turned out to be true. I did get a $100 OBC. It's obvious they are aware of these issues with shaking and noise in the AFT, evident by the wood shims that were jammed between the walls and ceiling perimeter of our room. I'd avoid it at all costs, it could very well impact your cruise enjoyment and isn't worth the risk.

Here's a pic of the ceiling vibration/rattling "solution" LOL:

 

[cruiser21]

Wow. So this was just a few months ago?

Yes in September. We've sailed on the Wonder 5 times. Three times pre refurb. We spent 10 days on deck 2 near the aft elevators on our Hawaii sailing. I don't recall vibration. All of our cruises have been deck 2 ocean views except this one in an inside. I thought I just had a really bad room, but it sounds like there is a problem in the aft rooms. I can't say it was speed on an Alaska sailing. It got worse out in the open ocean, but it was bad going through the fjords too. Maybe this was why the host asked me so many times how I slept.

 

[cmph]

We were in 2134 on the 7 day NYE cruise (this past NYE), which was about 2mo after the refurb, I believe. The vibrations were basically non-existent during the day and when we weren't moving quickly, but I thought they were awful overnight when we were really moving. The only other time I really noticed was in Tiana's at dinner embarkation night. The worst nights for me were embarkation night and the last night, for sure. It was a combination of the vibrations and the irritating rattling noises that were a result of the vibrations, really. I put earplugs in, which I had only brought for my kids to use during the fireworks. Thank goodness I had them!

BUT it was only me that was so bothered!! My kids slept through it, never even mentioned it, and while my husband noticed, he didn't feel bothered by it. My parents were next door, the next cabin further aft, and they were also not bothered by it. So I think it is going to matter most if you are a lighter sleeper. If you sleep like the dead typically, I'll bet it matters little to you. My parents liked the location so much that they wanted to book Alaska for the same area. I had our TA book us in the furthest to mid-ship rooms in that category, with my particular stateroom being the closest to mid-ship. When heading to the staterooms from the aft elevator lobby on 2, we'll walk down the hall toward mid-ship instead of toward aft this time. I inquired about it here back when we booked and it sounds much better. But again - it was just me, out of 6 of us.

So I guess the question to ask is if you are a light sleeper? I'm not saying I'd *never* stay in an aft nav verandah. If I won a free trip and was booked into one, I'm going! But there is zero chance I'd pay more to stay in one, even if I'm the only one in my family group who had issues with it.

 

[Macmaro]

I typically shoot for Fwd or Midship because I don't like the vibration but took an upgrade on the 10/15 Baja to a Navigator's. We had 6638 and I didn't like it. It was very loud in our cabin. Ours was shimmed like the one shown above and I believe that is what was causing the noise. They appeared to be wooden and they would pop repeatedly as the ship moved side to side. The vibration wasn't terrible to me but much more noticeable than any of the 9 prior cruises.

 

[TestingH2O]

We were in 6134 & 6135 for Alaska this summer and experienced no vibrations.

 

[BartmanLA]

We were on the WBPC trip in April/May this year, we had a Deck 7 room starboard side right off the forward elevators, we didn't experience any vibration through out the entire cruise. But on the last night (Cabo to San Diego) the seas were very rough and the ship was actually plunging through the surf and even bringing the bow out of the water occasionally, it made for an interesting evening, but it wasn't all night long. The only serious issue with vibration we experienced was aft in Tiana's Place during dinner the chandeliers were shaking and vibrating visibly through out the entire dinner service. Of course we only at there less than a half dozen times so I can't speak about the condition every single night there though. I can't imagine how much it was for people on Deck 1/2 and even people higher up on 5/6/7.

 

[Marc D]

I'm replying to you in a couple threads, but since this one is more on topic I'll give my report. We sailed The Wonder 7 Day Mexican Riviera on Oct 15th and had AFT secret verandah #7620. The vibrations were very, very bad when the ship was moving at full speed.

Your post reminded me of my NYE in 7620. I also lost two nights of sleep because of the noise and rattling. We used Navigators to insert between the wall and the ceiling. It took me a couple of days to notice that standing in front of the mirror solved a bit of the problem. It was driving me crazy when we were laying in bed. There was a video of a 1BR aft room from the same cruise. The light fixture over the table was rattling so much, you’d swear it was going to fall off. My wife made me promise never to sail in an Aft room after that.

 

[lklgoodman]

These reports have me a little worried. We sailed aft on the Fantasy and the vibrations were horrible, felt like I was sleeping on a jack hammer. I swore I'd never book aft again. We will be on the Wonder in March. Our cabin is listed as mid-ship, but when I look at the deck map it's just as close to the aft elevators as the mid-ship ones.

 

[cmph]

These reports have me a little worried. We sailed aft on the Fantasy and the vibrations were horrible, felt like I was sleeping on a jack hammer. I swore I'd never book aft again. We will be on the Wonder in March. Our cabin is listed as mid-ship, but when I look at the deck map it's just as close to the aft elevators as the mid-ship ones.

I wouldn't worry too much. Like I said above, I checked in here about the staterooms we booked for June and the feedback was that they'll be fine. They're between the aft and mid-ship elevators but are officially aft. From the, um, many things I read - it seems like the issue is really just the aft rooms that are further aft of the aft elevator bay. Goofy sounding sentence, but you get what I'm saying!

 

[cruiser21]

I wouldn't worry too much. Like I said above, I checked in here about the staterooms we booked for June and the feedback was that they'll be fine. They're between the aft and mid-ship elevators but are officially aft. From the, um, many things I read - it seems like the issue is really just the aft rooms that are further aft of the aft elevator bay. Goofy sounding sentence, but you get what I'm saying!

We were forward of the aft elevators and it was bad.

 

[Kesohio63]

We were in 7130 on the 9/4 sailing, and while I didn’t find the vibration to be annoying, the creaking of the ceiling panels took some getting used to. Once we were in the inside passage and traveling slowly, it was less noisy. I’ve only sailed in an aft stateroom, so can’t compare to other locations. More bothersome to me was the exhaust fumes smell. And the smell of food from Cabanas was pretty strong, so if you have seasickness that might be an issue.

 

[cruiser21]

The reviews I've read on here are pretty old. All of them are prerefurb. We were in 6611 if that helps with location. Lots of vibration and cracking. It would start at one end of the room and move acros the ceiling. Almost like rain on a tin roof sound. The room was also hot at night and you could hear bass from movie theatre at times. It was the first room I picked in a while. We've been gty the last several cruises. I think I prefer Disney picking my room. I did a poor job of it.

 

[cmph]

We were forward of the aft elevators and it was bad.

Sigh. Well, I'm kind of stuck and will hope for the best. My parents really wanted to stay in that area, and in that room category in particular, and no one else is willing to try forward anyway. It can't be worse than what I've already experience, anyway!

 

[Spackle75]

Is this same problem on the Magic? I will be in 7622 and now I am kind of worried about these vibration issues...

 

[Kesohio63]

How much the vibration bothers you is a personal thing. If you are in the aft area of the ship, there is going to be some vibration, especially when docking. For me, I find after the first night, I am used to it, and it doesn’t really keep me awake.

 

[tlynk]

We sailed AFT on Deck 2 and the ceiling did vibrate, but DH and I got used to it. It really wasn't that bad. When we sailed on the Fantasy it felt like a jackhammer. It was so bad that even the Guest Services desk said the ship was vibrating more than normal.

 

[tigerchic89]

I have family on the Wonder EBPC right now, deck 2 mid. They can't sleep bc of the vibrations