Questions and opinions on the Ryndam

[RevNeal]

I just have to ask this:

 

What constitutes a toilet or sewage problem? Based upon some of the posts here, I have mental images of thick sewage fountaining to the ceiling in the cabin bathrooms, but I really don't know the extent of the problem. So, could someone be a bit more specific???

 

I gather that there are some periodic sewage odors; this is usually due to back-ups in the system resulting from items that are clogging the lines. The Ryndam staff are not making that up ... passengers will put the darndest things in the toilets (even when specifically asked NOT to; ONE tampon in a toilet and WHAM ... 15 sewer lines branching off a main junction can be clogged for hours).

 

I have never been on a HAL cruise where there wasn't at least one time that I pushed the flush button and it didn't cycle. Frequently if I just waited for 10 minutes ...or an hour ... and tried again it would flush just fine. Sometimes system pressure drops due to 50 or 60 people pushing that button at roughly the same time.

 

Once on the Zaandam the toilet didn't work at all for most of a day. Did I whine and stomp around and demand it be fixed or I'd dive overboard? No. I shrugged, went down the hall to the public bathroom, and did my business. I DID call the front office to report the continued problem and received assurances that it would be taken care of. Those of you who followed my travel-log of my Panama Canal Cruise on the Zaandam last year ... do you remember me making mention of that event? No ... because I didn't consider it worthy of note. Things HAPPEN on a ship that's at sea, hundreds (if not thousands) of miles from a maintenance dock. I consider it impressive that the systems function as well as they do for as long as they do considering the kind of abuse we passengers put them through.

 

Once on the Maasdam we had a horrible sewage odor. It was awful in 6 cabins on the starboard side Verandah deck. We reported it and, within an hour, there was a team doing sewage line work in the hall. I was watching when they pulled out a tampon, a toy matchbox car, and half-a-pair of ear rings. I grinned and said "don't look at me!"

[Nanietwo]

Your positive outlook is wonderful!

We were on Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas last month and our toilet overflowed twice. We called maintenance and they were at our cabin within 10 minutes and had the problem fixed within an hour. We just went to the bar and when we came back the toilet was fixed.

The one thing that I have found is not to get upset about the small stuff.

 

Lynn

[smoosh21]

Thank you all for your responses. I actually ended up changing my mind and have booked the 4/8 Veendam cruise for now(timing and cost, I didn't want to give up my S Suite:D ). I still want to do the Panama canal transit at some point in the future, and will be keeping my eye out for the right time.

[DaveOKC]

On our Dec Ryndam cruise the toliet did not work at all for 2 days. On 4 days it worked "on and off". The toliet backed up but did not overflow fortunately. The smell, needless to say was pretty bad.

In the cabin next to ours it overflowed and flooded the bathroom and they could not use it for 3 days out of the seven (they had 2 small kids with them too).

The biggest complaint I had was the do not care attitude of the front desk staff. They just plain lied about getting assistance (long story) to fix the problem. The young lady in the Neptune Lounge was a jewel and alot of help fortunately!

While I agree that these things happen and you should not spoil your vacation over it, you still cannot help getting upset when the staff is not very concerned and plain lies to you about the situation.

DaveOKC

[RevNeal]

One's toilet not being operational for 2 or 3 days is a serious problem, and if the Front Desk personnel lied that is an even greater problem. I trust you issued your complaints while onboard? In addition to this, I would highly recommend that you write to Seattle-HQ and outline the problems you had and your charge of the Front Office staff lying. That should produce some results.

[jimmy2x]

One's toilet not being operational for 2 or 3 days is a serious problem, and if the Front Desk personnel lied that is an even greater problem. I trust you issued your complaints while onboard? In addition to this, I would highly recommend that you write to Seattle-HQ and outline the problems you had and your charge of the Front Office staff lying. That should produce some results.

 

Greg,

Like many others on this board, I am very appreciative of your expertise and the time spent in assisting others. I would agree that the sewerage problems on the Ryndam are usually caused by those who insist on flushing prohibited items. However, while not claiming to be a piping expert, it appears that the Ryndam has some issues in this area that are particular to her.

 

I, for one, would be "Mad as Hell" if forced to put up with some of what we have seen described here. My wife and I, along with another couple, are sailing the Ryndam next February on one of the 14 day itineraries. We can only hope that most of this issue will have gone away by then.

 

If there is still a problem, I will take your advice above. I am a believer in approaching this sort of difficulty quietly but firmly, which generally gets the desired results. On the other hand, they really don't want to tick off an ex-Navy CPO;).

[RevNeal]

However, while not claiming to be a piping expert, it appears that the Ryndam has some issues in this area that are particular to her.

 

This may be the case ... it may be that damage has been done to some of its sewage plumbing. I don't think any of us can really say at this point. However, I think we would be surprised to find out how much continual maintenance the sewage plumbing requires, and how much goes on that we don't hear about. It may just seem as though many more problems exist because we're hearing about them when, normally, we don't. I just don't know.

 

I, for one, would be "Mad as Hell" if forced to put up with some of what we have seen described here.

 

Agreed, and ditto.

 

My wife and I, along with another couple, are sailing the Ryndam next February on one of the 14 day itineraries. We can only hope that most of this issue will have gone away by then.

 

I would imagine that, IF there's a systemic problem with the sewage plumbing that it would be dealt with before next February. The engineers will know if there's a more critical problem if the instances of repair and complaints rise above a certain threshold, and economics (if nothing else) will force attention to it.

 

However, I noticed something that was said in a prior post about a neighboring cabin where the toilet overflowed; did anyone else notice it? It was a cabin with children in it. What items might those little beasts have put in the toilet to watch it get vacuumed away while the parents aren't watching??? Indeed, even just watching the the vacuum flush function can screw it up down the line by accelerating more air into the line than it's designed to handle in a single cycle. That's just ONE of several reasons why passengers are asked to close the lid of the toilet before pushing the flush button ... and, of course, the seat-lid is in the way of the button, which means that one has to be intentional about it if they want to flush the toilet with the lid up.

 

In short, I wouldn't be surprised if some damage has been done to the sewage system that needs to have more than just standard maintenance performed on it. If so, it will be done.

[the2ofus]

Re: plumbing problems. Has anyone else noticed that on the Westerdam, (and maybe the other Vista ships as well) the bars on the wall above/behind the toilet are used to hang the washcloths? At least that's where our cabin steward placed them.

 

That's a problem just waiting to happen IMHO. Those washcloths are just the right size to flush and clog the system.