The deck above is what wakes people up
Cabin noise is mostly a question about the two decks you are not booking. Here is the test, the operator's ranking of what sits on those decks, and which of the 93 charted hulls carry each one.
The sandwich test
A deck is a quiet candidate when it has cabins directly above it and directly below it, and nothing public sharing it.
Plenty of cabins on the deck itself proves nothing. The question is what is overhead at six in the morning and what is underfoot at midnight, and a deck plan answers it if you read the two neighbouring decks rather than the one you are booking.
It narrows the field; it does not pick the cabin. On the Radiance the arithmetic clears three decks and the operator answer is two of them — a rule can only rule things out, and the last step is somebody who knows the ship. It also cannot see a deck it has no data for: where a stack stops, the table says “not checked” rather than assuming the deck below is cabins.
One numbering trap worth knowing on any hull: several lines skip the number 13, so the physical deck directly above deck 12 is labelled 14. An advisor counting numerically looks for a deck 13, finds none, and concludes there is nothing overhead.
What sits above and below, worst first
Operator judgment, and it holds on any hull — a ship record only says which of these it has and where.
The pool or Lido deckVery high risk81 hulls · 79 with the decks recorded
chairs scraping, cleaning, footsteps, music, deck parties, worst early morning.
The buffet or a large restaurantHigh risk59 hulls · 57 with the decks recorded
carts, chairs, cleaning, early breakfast setup.
A galley or service areaHigh risk5 hulls · 5 with the decks recorded
carts, equipment, dishes, overnight and early prep.
The gymHigh risk15 hulls · 15 with the decks recorded
treadmills, dropped weights, classes, all day.
A nightclub or music venueHigh risk13 hulls · 12 with the decks recorded
bass and vibration late at night.
A sports court or running trackHigh risk37 hulls · 37 with the decks recorded
bouncing balls, running, stomping, basketball through the day.
A kids' or water-play areaHigh risk28 hulls · 28 with the decks recorded
running, activity noise, daytime traffic.
The theater or a show venueHigh risk21 hulls · 21 with the decks recorded
bass, rehearsals, shows, mostly at night, with the odd daytime rehearsal.
A bar or loungeMedium-high risk2 hulls · 2 with the decks recorded
music, chairs, late crowds.
A quiet restaurantMedium risk1 hull · 1 with the decks recorded
mostly chairs and carts at opening and closing.
Spa treatment roomsLow risk3 hulls · 3 with the decks recorded
relatively quiet.
The top three — the pool or Lido deck, the buffet or a large restaurant, a galley or service area — are the ones worth checking on every booking. The pool deck is on every charted hull for the obvious reason: every ship has one, and on most of them it is directly over somebody.
The hulls with the arithmetic run
A transcribed deck stack means the test can be run rather than reasoned about. These are the ones that have one.
12 of the 93 charted hulls carry one. On the rest the placement call is the operator's own and stands on its own — there is simply no table to check it against, which each ship page says rather than implying the question was answered.
- Radiance of the Seasclears decks 3, 8, 9
- Brilliance of the Seasclears decks 3, 8, 9
- Serenade of the Seasclears decks 3, 8, 9
- Jewel of the Seasclears decks 3, 8, 9
- Grandeur of the Seasclears deck 3
- Enchantment of the Seasclears deck 3
- Rhapsody of the Seasclears deck 3
- Vision of the Seasclears deck 3
- Celebrity Edgeclears decks 8, 9, 10
- Celebrity Apexclears decks 8, 9, 10
- Celebrity Beyondclears decks 8, 9, 10, 11
- Celebrity Ascentclears decks 8, 9, 10, 11
What one looks like — Radiance of the Seas
| Deck | Cabins | Below | Above | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | — | public | — | No cabinsthe rock wall, mini-golf |
| 12 | — | public | public | No cabinsthe sports court |
| 11 | — | cabins | public | No cabinsthe pool, the Solarium, the Windjammer buffet |
| 10 | Yes | cabins | public | Check above |
| 9 | Yes | cabins | cabins | Quiet candidate |
| 8 | Yes | cabins | cabins | Quiet candidate |
| 7 | Yes | public | cabins | Check below |
| 6 | — | public | cabins | No cabinspublic space |
| 5 | — | cabins | public | No cabins |
| 4 | Yes | cabins | public | Check above |
| 3 | Yes | cabins | cabins | Quiet candidate |
| 2 | Yes | — | cabins | Not checked |
- DECK 10 Cabins below, public space directly above. Check what's overhead on the specific room.
- DECK 9 Cabins above and cabins below, nothing public sharing the deck. Passes the sandwich test.
- DECK 8 Cabins above and cabins below, nothing public sharing the deck. Passes the sandwich test.
- DECK 7 Cabins above, public space directly below. Check what's underneath on the specific room.
- DECK 4 Cabins below, public space directly above. Check what's overhead on the specific room.
- DECK 3 Cabins above and cabins below, nothing public sharing the deck. Passes the sandwich test.
- DECK 2 Can't call this one — the stack on file doesn't record what sits below it. Not a problem found; a gap.
Then run the booking
The rule narrows a hull. The client narrows it further.
Motion sensitivity changes the answer, and so does who is sailing: the same deck that is quiet for a couple is a long walk for a multigen group. Run a Booking Check for the actual client, or read how the read is made.