Septic Smell on MSC Seaside - Updates???

Any updates from anyone currently on board or those that sailed last week? If there are any other problems we should be aware of, or any suggestions, kindly post a response as we are scheduled to cruise next week!!!

Any updates from anyone currently on board or those that sailed last week? If there are any other problems we should be aware of, or any suggestions, kindly post a response as we are scheduled to cruise next week!!!

I hope you have a good trip. Will you kindly post your observations when you return as well?

I never smelled it, but someone else in our group did. She smelled it in the hallways and I smelled nothing. I did encounter a few (3) public toilets that were clogged and in need of servicing. No smell in our bathroom altho the shower had a certain mustiness that I think is due to the fact that the glass door seals shut.

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I'm very interested in this topic. Any info is appreciated.

Along the sides of the outer part of the ship between deck 8 and the 9 balconies there are what appear to be vents, it could be that this is where the smell is coming from.

This is from the forward angled part of the ship to the aft angled part.

Thank you sidari for taking the time to reply. I do have a question for you, I can’t remember the deck you were on in the aft suite, but the cabins directly adjacent to yours (Bella balcony) are available on many floors. Is there any reason not to book that far in the aft given that everyone can use the elevators? I think it would be a nice spot (ship motion does not bother me). Your opinion is valued so thank you in advance.

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BB2014 ... We were on deck 14 starboard side, cannot think of any reason not to book one of the cabins you mention unless you want room service, the lifts at the back were the least used at times.

Plus you are only a short ride to deck 16 or down to the buffet on Deck 8.

Normally I am not bothered by sideways motion when in bed but there was a lot of rolling at the back.

Ty:)

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We were on Deck 5, and we smelled it every day.

When I asked one of the ships officers they said there are vents at the top of ship from tanks, just like your bathroom at home, and if the wind is blowing in a certain direction the smell is picked up by the air conditioning system It brings in air from outside for the systems. Hope this makes sense and helps to explain.

If that were the reason, wouldn't the forward most cabins be less likely to have the odor?

If that were the reason, wouldn't the forward most cabins be less likely to have the odor?

Wouldn’t it depend on the location of the vents and the direction of wind?

If what I described are the vents along the side and they certainly do look like them, then they have been very badly placed, if the air intake was close to the smoke stack as is being described you would also be getting a burnt fuel smell through the air conditioning.

I remember a hint from long ago, which may or may not be pertinent any longer.

Most septic odors coming back through the ship plumbing can be stopped by the traps.

However with a little rough seas or motion, the water in the traps can be lost, allowing the smells free flow.

I was told to always run water in your shower/tub, floor drains and sinks to make sure the traps are full.

But even knowing this I always bring a room freshener with me. May not help in common areas, but can definitely help in your cabin.

I was on deck 5 and I smelled it everyday. It never went away.

FWIW, I would like to add that sewage odors are not specific to MSC ships. We have sailed many many times on Holland America ships and they all seemed to have certain areas that always had that problem. Our cabin attendant on Seaside did say if we had odor in bathroom they have something to put in drains to stop it. Never had it in any of our cabins on Divina or Seaside.

If what I described are the vents along the side and they certainly do look like them, then they have been very badly placed, if the air intake was close to the smoke stack as is being described you would also be getting a burnt fuel smell through the air conditioning.

Who said the air intakes were close to the smoke stacks?

I remember a hint from long ago, which may or may not be pertinent any longer.

Most septic odors coming back through the ship plumbing can be stopped by the traps.

However with a little rough seas or motion, the water in the traps can be lost, allowing the smells free flow.

I was told to always run water in your shower/tub, floor drains and sinks to make sure the traps are full.

 

But even knowing this I always bring a room freshener with me. May not help in common areas, but can definitely help in your cabin.

This makes very good sense. Even at home, I run water in all tubs and sinks in the unused rooms once a month to keep water in the traps.

FWIW, I would like to add that sewage odors are not specific to MSC ships. We have sailed many many times on Holland America ships and they all seemed to have certain areas that always smell.

This is absolutely true. However; certain ship designs are far more prone than others.

Seems all ships have plumbing problems at some point. The sewer system is very fragile and it only takes one idiot flushing something prohibited to knock out a whole area of plumbing.

But there are some ship designs that are flawed when it comes to the septic system. For example, the former celebrity zenith (now sailing with pullman) has been plagued with sewer smell since its first launch. 20

Years later and it’s still not fixed as it’s a design error.

I certainly hope that MSc can fix this smell on seaview. A true design error won’t fly in the Caribbean.

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When I asked one of the ships officers they said there are vents at the top of ship from tanks, just like your bathroom at home, and if the wind is blowing in a certain direction the smell is picked up by the air conditioning system It brings in air from outside for the systems. Hope this makes sense and helps to explain.

Yes! That makes perfect sense! There were several days in the middle of our Jan 6 - 13 cruise when a smell that I have previously described here as a “mixture of airplane bathroom and rotting fish” was coming in from the vent inside our deck 15 midship port balcony room. It was horrible.

However, it was also different from the more fecal smell on deck 5 (including the lobby near customer service) so I think they have multiple issues.

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I remember a hint from long ago, which may or may not be pertinent any longer.

Most septic odors coming back through the ship plumbing can be stopped by the traps.

However with a little rough seas or motion, the water in the traps can be lost, allowing the smells free flow.

I was told to always run water in your shower/tub, floor drains and sinks to make sure the traps are full.

 

But even knowing this I always bring a room freshener with me. May not help in common areas, but can definitely help in your cabin.

I do the same! Already have it handy to pack in a few weeks!

Yes! That makes perfect sense! There were several days in the middle of our Jan 6 - 13 cruise when a smell that I have previously described here as a “mixture of airplane bathroom and rotting fish” was coming in from the vent inside our deck 15 midship port balcony room. It was horrible.

 

However, it was also different from the more fecal smell on deck 5 (including the lobby near customer service) so I think they have multiple issues.

 

 

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Oh boy!

I was on deck 5 and I smelled it everyday. It never went away.

I experienced the smell numerous times in the cabin corridors on deck 5 of other MSC ships (IIRC - on Fantasia and Splendida). I used to hate finding that I used the wrong elevator to go down to the Atrium and having to walk through these corridors - the smell was there EVERY time. On my first ever cruise, our cabin was on deck 5 on Carnival Sensation and it was the same thing there - the smell never went away (though, thankfully, it wasn't in the cabin).

Someone asked that I come over here to discuss this smell issue, and I'm not sure if this is the thread they were pointing me to, but I will see if I can copy this to any threads about the Seaside's smell problem.

While I will not dispute what passengers are told by "officers" (and many even senior "officers" have no clue what goes on on a ship), I will dispute the "officer's" facts.

One, the toilet system is a closed system, unlike your waste drain system in your home, so all smells are contained in the system, and you would only have a smell for the short period that the plumbers have the system open to clear a clog, and it would quickly dissipate, and the plumbers and front of house staff know to use deodorizers when the job is done.

While I can't comment on the installation of the vacuum toilet piping on the Seaside, this is not a new concept, having been used on ships for several decades, so any shipyard would know how to install it. Additionally, some ships are designed with toilet lines that flush up a deck, quite successfully, so routing really isn't a problem.

The hoary old story about toilet paper is a fun one. There is no such thing as "special" toilet paper for vacuum toilet systems. Many folks think of the marine toilet paper designed for use on yachts, but those systems are worlds apart from a cruise ship's vacuum system, and in fact, without getting too graphic, the system requires some strength to the toilet paper to keep the "product" "plug" intact enough to move along the pipes.

The vents from the sewage tanks, are not the grille types that you see along the side of the ship. They are merely pipes that extend all the way to the top of the funnel. It is possible that with the right wind, and the ship stopped in port, that you could get smell from these vents, but not likely.

The most common source of sewer smells is the "gray water" system, which is the sinks, showers, floor drains, galleys and laundries drain system. This is totally separate from the vacuum toilet "black water" system until it is mixed in sewage tanks in the engine room. This gray water system is a vented, gravity drain system, just like the waste drain system in your home (but without the toilets). Each and every drain has a U-trap, or P-trap, or barrel trap, just like your shower or sink (that curvy pipe under the sink) that works like a check valve, holding some water in the trap and allowing water to flow down but not allowing gases and odors to flow up. Traps that see water introduced regularly, like sinks and showers, have this trap water renewed frequently. Other traps, that don't see water regularly, like floor drains (there is one in your cabin bathroom (usually a gutter at the door, or a drain located under the toilet) for overflow, and this does not see water regularly. The AC supplies dry air, and this can evaporate the trap water and allow odors to come up. A glass of water down this drain daily will prevent odors in your cabin. Other deck drains are located in various technical spaces around the ship (cabin stewards' pantries and linen lockers) (pipe and electrical chases) (elevator pits) (machinery rooms), and these see even less water than your cabin bathroom drain. The AC dries these traps out as well, and finding where they are located, especially for a new ship, requires time, and record keeping so that staff remember from one instance to the next, where the traps in a particular area are and how to fill them (elevator pits are the worst).

As noted, vessel motion also shortens the "life" of trap water in traps that don't see water regularly.

Someone asked that I come over here to discuss this smell issue, and I'm not sure if this is the thread they were pointing me to, but I will see if I can copy this to any threads about the Seaside's smell problem.

 

While I will not dispute what passengers are told by "officers" (and many even senior "officers" have no clue what goes on on a ship), I will dispute the "officer's" facts.

 

One, the toilet system is a closed system, unlike your waste drain system in your home, so all smells are contained in the system, and you would only have a smell for the short period that the plumbers have the system open to clear a clog, and it would quickly dissipate, and the plumbers and front of house staff know to use deodorizers when the job is done.

 

While I can't comment on the installation of the vacuum toilet piping on the Seaside, this is not a new concept, having been used on ships for several decades, so any shipyard would know how to install it. Additionally, some ships are designed with toilet lines that flush up a deck, quite successfully, so routing really isn't a problem.

 

The hoary old story about toilet paper is a fun one. There is no such thing as "special" toilet paper for vacuum toilet systems. Many folks think of the marine toilet paper designed for use on yachts, but those systems are worlds apart from a cruise ship's vacuum system, and in fact, without getting too graphic, the system requires some strength to the toilet paper to keep the "product" "plug" intact enough to move along the pipes.

 

The vents from the sewage tanks, are not the grille types that you see along the side of the ship. They are merely pipes that extend all the way to the top of the funnel. It is possible that with the right wind, and the ship stopped in port, that you could get smell from these vents, but not likely.

 

The most common source of sewer smells is the "gray water" system, which is the sinks, showers, floor drains, galleys and laundries drain system. This is totally separate from the vacuum toilet "black water" system until it is mixed in sewage tanks in the engine room. This gray water system is a vented, gravity drain system, just like the waste drain system in your home (but without the toilets). Each and every drain has a U-trap, or P-trap, or barrel trap, just like your shower or sink (that curvy pipe under the sink) that works like a check valve, holding some water in the trap and allowing water to flow down but not allowing gases and odors to flow up. Traps that see water introduced regularly, like sinks and showers, have this trap water renewed frequently. Other traps, that don't see water regularly, like floor drains (there is one in your cabin bathroom (usually a gutter at the door, or a drain located under the toilet) for overflow, and this does not see water regularly. The AC supplies dry air, and this can evaporate the trap water and allow odors to come up. A glass of water down this drain daily will prevent odors in your cabin. Other deck drains are located in various technical spaces around the ship (cabin stewards' pantries and linen lockers) (pipe and electrical chases) (elevator pits) (machinery rooms), and these see even less water than your cabin bathroom drain. The AC dries these traps out as well, and finding where they are located, especially for a new ship, requires time, and record keeping so that staff remember from one instance to the next, where the traps in a particular area are and how to fill them (elevator pits are the worst).

 

As noted, vessel motion also shortens the "life" of trap water in traps that don't see water regularly.

Thank you for your explanation!