Q – We are looking for advice concerning reports of neighboring stateroom’s disturbing noise volume in Tauck’s MS Inspire Loft stateroom # 104. The noise comes from other cabins vacuum toilet-flushing. (We are currently booked in that cabin for next summer). On the one hand, we read that Tauck and Scylla would address the problem but then read that a Tauck employee used the cabin and found no problem – which we presume was then not ultimately addressed. Can you please bring us the Travel Truth?
A – We would, first emphasize, that river boats are built using pre-fabricated cabins that are dropped into place. This process is nothing like the construction of an apartment or condominium and noise from adjoining cabins can be annoying, given the thin walls. On one recent inspection, we were able to keep track of our neighbor’s digestive tract with a degree of specificity we found to be superfluous.
Yes, the Inspiration class cabins had an issue with toilet-flushing noise in certain loft cabins. Unlike some lines that might have publicly denied it, Tauck responded to Riverboatratings with a factual account of a quick resolution of this problem. During this past winter season, when the boats are normally going through their yearly maintenance upgrades, Tauck tore apart cabin walls and installed the latest type of sound-proofing insulation in all of the Loft cabins on both the MS Inspire and MS Savor, The fact that the Loft cabins span two passenger decks is a bit of a structural challenge but it would appear that Tauck has gone to considerable expense to correct this problem.
Many of the posts you will see online about cabin noises are misguided as river boats, by definition, are poorly insulated and noise coming from adjacent cabins and on-board plumbing seem to be much louder than they would be on a small, luxury cruise ship.
Your cruise next summer should now go smoothly. As experienced cruisers of all kinds will point out, if you really expect it to be as quiet on-board as you own bedroom, consider renting out the entire deck.
As a closing suggestion: Bring a portable sound machine like the ones sold at Brookstone. It will filter out much of the corridor noise and adjacent cabin conversation. Some river boat and cruise passengers tell us that they often sleep with their noise-cancelling headphones on. One frequent river cruiser we know brings a small footprint C-Pap machine and mask whenever he travels. Ironically, he does not suffer from sleep apnea.
