Are we there yet?

I got off the Westerdam on July 14 with a raging sore throat........it turned into a respiratory infection I am still trying to fight. It now feels like it has traveled to my sinuses. There was a notice left in our room of a respiratory illness spreading through the ship, and our waiter one morning said he was happy to see us since so many people were sick. After reading your post I am wondering if it just keeps getting circulated from one cruise to the next? There were a lot of people coughing from what I can remember!

This was my 15th cruise and the first time I have gotten sick..........I don’t think there was much I could do to prevent this with a “sick” ship.

I will still keep on cruising though, but if I see more than one person coughing a mask may get put on, lol!

Fashion gods are punishing you with the spots. Don't you know not to wear white after labor day? :D;p

Lol! Yes I am old enough to know that rule:D........not sure anyone follows it anymore especially in Florida where I just about melted from the humidity :p

Thanks again everyone for all the replies, lesson learned.....take towels to aqua show just in case ;)

Ask and you shall receive, oh mighty Coastie!

 

More than metal oxides, which while highly reactive are nanosized in exhaust gas, I would blame the sulfur oxides and inorganic salts that form in combustion. I don't believe the stains are "rust" but a reaction between the dye in the clothes and an inorganic salt in the soot.

 

Yes, the diesels on ships will puff a black smoke when started, just like trucks and buses do when starting from a stoplight. Once the turbocharger is up to speed, enough air is supplied to ensure complete combustion and the smoke clears. I'm not sure if Oasis has had her scrubbers completed, and even if they are, they don't have to run them when the ship is outside the North American ECA, but the scrubbers will dramatically reduce particulate emissions. A lot of soot is generated when they clean the boiler heating surfaces, and the diesel turbochargers at night, to remove the soot that builds up there, and affects efficiency. Typically, they will check the wind direction and swing the ship onto a new heading, if needed, to get the wind going from side to side to carry the soot away, but sometimes this isn't possible.

Very impressive! thanks for the reply. The worst stains are on my 2 daughters white denim shorts. They soaked and scrubbed but still the rust covered spots were left. I found 2 of those spots on one of my husbands favourite white casual shirt and soaked it in “white brite”. They came out! I am going to tell them to try this as well. They both live in different towns otherwise I could have done it. I know there is also a product called “Iron out” that may work also. Not sure about using it on beige pants though in case it bleaches the colour out.

I really appreciate all your replies and am sorry it happened to some of you too. If I can avoid going through all the bureaucracy of taking this further I will.

Soot contains amongst other things metal oxides. Rust is an iron oxide.

Thank you for that, I will mention this when I talk to them.

I remember being advised to watch out for black spots on the seats back before I went on the Oasis in October 2010. I did not sit on any of the spots so I can't help you with that, just pointing out that this is a longstanding problem.

Wish I had known that!

Given the location of the Aqua Theater, I really don't know what else it could be other than soot.

 

As to why it changed to a rust color in the wash...that'll have to be explained by an Engineer. Chengkp75, you around?

We think it is soot also, but no idea either about the rust.

Imo if that happened to us & after speaking to the customer Relations personnel , I would then ask to see the Hotel director . Yes ,that black soot will damage clothing as you have experienced .:(

Also imo RCCL is responsible & for NOT pre warning their customers, of this hazard :mad:

 

They have not got back to us but I will be calling soon.

 

Your choice ;but ,I would write a letter to Michael Bailey ,President & CEO of Royal Caribbean (you can get their address by Googling for it ) . You most likely will get a reply :)

Thank you I am hoping it will not come to that.

Probably soot. The Aqua Theater is behind the funnel. You will notice when the ship starts up to leave port that a good big puff or two of black smoke come out of the funnel. That smoke is soot' date=' which must settle somewhere, and it's probably settling on the outdoor seats.[/quote']

 

That is what I thought it was but guest services told me that they use something that comes out clear? What a load of BS! Why would soot turn to rust though when washed in some spots? Also why don't they have a warning or towels to wipe down the seats before you sit in them? We can't be the only family this has happened to.:confused:

Has anyone else experienced this. Our family of 9 had 7 of us covered in black spots all over our backsides and some down the pants. After returning home and soaked in oxy and scrubbed with cleaner there are now rust looking spots in some parts. The black come off for the most part (still some on my green capris), but the rust will not budge. We complained to guest services but now I have to take it further. What the heck is this stuff??? Guest services said it was NOT soot from the ship.

I have warned a friend that is going on the Allure in January to take towels to sit on so this doesn't happen to them.

My children didn't start traveling until the age of 2, and they both received the Hep A vaccine prior to traveling. They ate everything we ate - exposing our kids to new foods is one of the reasons I love to travel with them. At 2, my older son loved eating jerk chicken at Scotchie's in Jamaica, and he ate local food everywhere we went.

 

It is ultimately the parents call - for me I'd feed an 11 month old anything they'd eat that has been freshly made. But absolutely no ice or local water. But I do understand that if their doctor told them not to do this, they'd be reluctant to ignore his advice.

 

We brought along cereal for snacks, since they were prepackaged. I don't know if the packaged yoghurt can be taken off the ship - you can ask when you board.

Yogurt sounds like a great idea, I will definitely ask. Good for your kids for eating jerk chicken, I can't even eat that!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I really appreciate it. We have 2 months before we go, he is only 9 months right now, so maybe she can try and get him used to some packaged food we can take with us. You know you try and do the best for your kids by making them fresh food but when this sort of thing comes up you are left wringing your hands.

Is he still on formula? You can always bring extra bottles for shore excursions if you can't get him extra food.

Yes he is and I thought that too but I know he really likes his food, lol.

What islands are you going to?

San Juan, St Maarten, Labadee. On oasis of the seas. The girl I booked with used to work on royal ships, maybe she has some ideas.

It is eating island food that we are worried about. Her doctor told her not to feed him anything on any of the islands because of food safety issues. On the ship we will be fine with everything they serve mashed up. It is just too bad we can't take it off the ship.

Thanks pitzel for replying. I am his grandmother and my daughter in law feeds him mashed food she makes herself. She says he doesn't like puréed food anymore which is pretty much what jarred food is, so this is why we are wondering what we can take off. If need be we will have to take him back to the ship, so no traveling too far. Crackers and cereal will only get him so far I am thinking.

From what I remember you are not allowed to take food off the ship, so besides jarred baby food that he is not used to, what do we feed him?:confused:

"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other.”

― Mark Twain

Nice quote.:)

nice. this be my first time with carnival . i did NCL last year on the new Getaway. loved it, so i am out to try all cruise lines

once did a cruise with Louis Cruises as well.

 

I have heard many good things with Carnival, i know its more value for money, so simpler , but should be ok

i am cruising solo with a balcony, i heard both cruise will have a Halloween theme as well on first days

Haven't tried NCL, but have 2 Princess and 2 RCL. Haven't heard of "Louis" unfortunately. With our exchange rate Carnival is definitely the way to go.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2247456&highlight=gambee

I just finished reading "Gambee's" review of the Victory and really enjoyed it. He does a very nice job with lots of pictures.

Yes we liked it the first time but that was our very first cruise with our 4 kids. I think it was in 2005. A lot of green in the atrium and not as subdued as other cruise lines but a lot of fun. This is our 8th cruise I think and the 4th time with carnival. We have never had a cruise we didn't like!;) Nice that you are doing a back to back....something we haven't done yet.

oh nice, i think i be on same one maybe? i am doing Carnival Victory from the 31st.

Ours is on the 26th with Victory too. Our second time on Victory but the only cruise that worked with our timetable.

When u cruising to Grand Turk

Our cruise leaves 2 weeks from today! Can't wait.:D

you should be ok with shorts, as the promotion photo shows people in shorts. i ridden ATVS before. in shorts you will feel a bit heat from the exhaust from engine at times, but not too bad

 

will be hot in grand turk, plus with stops . so more less at own rest. i do recommend wearing shoes though, vs flip flops.

Thanks for such a quick reply! I noticed the woman in the promotion wearing shorts too which is why I asked, and from what I am reading it is hot there so wearing pants might be a bit much. I suppose we could always throw a pair in our backpack just in case. Thanks also for the tip about no flip flops......I will have to let my daughter know as I am sure she would wear them otherwise.

We have this booked for our upcoming cruise and I was wondering if you really need to wear long pants? We would prefer to wear shorts and Capri's but will wear pants if necessary. Thank you

Thanks so much "SocialZealot", your video was fantastic! Looks like a lot of fun......even with the monkeys :eek:

I was just wandering what happened to the zipline excursion that Carnival had offered about a month ago. It has since disappeared. Would you recommend doing this privately, or has it disappeared because they feel it is not safe?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

We leave on Friday for our next cruise to Bermuda which I booked last May.

We had just stepped off a cruise to Aruba and I find that it gives us something to look forward to. I also wanted to try an aft cabin and heard they go fast so booked early for that reason also.

Yes waiting is hard, but I also love planning and researching where we are going so that is part of the fun for me.

We also get trip insurance because we have elderly parents and four children so one never knows what the future may bring.

Our cruise price went down a few times but I just called each time and got an adjustment.

We also drive to the port even though it takes a good 24 hours to Florida.:)

This one is out of New Jersey so it's like a Sunday drive!!