Plumbing Issues on the Grandeur

[Kellie Poodle]

Our cruise on the Grandeur ended yesterday -- 14 day transatlantic to BCN to Miami. The smell was horrible for the entire cruise. Our toilet didn't work several times but it never overflowed. But several of the public toilet did. The smell in our cabin came in through the ventilation ducts. It was the worst when the ship was in port. I can't say when it started or why but I can say we'll never sail on her again. It's a shame because aside from the smell it was a nice cruise.

 

I absolutely agree that the smell came in through the ventilation ducts.

[SRQfireman]

I got off of there this morning, and didn't smell anything in the centrum...I watched several shows in there and didn't smell a thing....myself and at least one of my neighbors on deck 8 had issues with the toilets flushing. Our cabin steward hinted that this is an ongoing problem

[dz9yvr]

Why would you even go back on a ship you had named "Sewer Of The Seas" after the atrocious smell problem you experienced before ?

 

Thats quite a risk to take, no ?

 

I agree. Based on input from several CC members, there is a long term problem that has existed for years. Even if passengers sometimes flush things that don' t belong in the toilet, why should it be a problem on the Grandeur? People do this on every ship and the systems need to be designed to handle those situations. No way will I sail on this ship or any sister ship. There are so many good choices, why take the chance with your vacation?

Edited November 23, 2012 by dz9yvr

[readytoembark]

We were on the first cruise after the refurbishment. We stayed in a Grand Suite. I didn't notice any issues with bad smells anywhere on the ship, however we did have plumbing problems from time to time where the toilet wouldn't flush. We were told the other suites were experiencing the same issue. We figured they were just working out the kinks of the refurbishment.

[TheDunphys]

We were on Deck 3 outside cabin, just below the Crown and Anchor / Cruise sale desk, our cabin had that smell the entire cruise its very noticeable when we left the cabin for a while and arrived back in the room. We didn't really notice the smell in the Centrum though, wonder if the smell in our room made us immune to the centrum smell perhaps?

 

Once our toilet would not flush after 10 mins.... call maintenance and after like an hour still no body came to fix... we call again and then left the room to do something, when we come back a while later the toilet is flushed. at other time, it may take up to a min for it to flush but usually flush immediately or within 15~30 seconds

 

We were on Grandeur in June. Similar issues to those mentioned with unpleasant smells in the Centrum though not to the same extent as some have mentioned here. We had a forward cabin on deck 4. We too had issues with plumbing. First we requested a room change because of a constant toxic smell of burning rubber. Maintenance couldn't fix it so we were moved to another forward room on the other side (and someone else was moved into our old room we noticed). In the second room we had major delays in flushing. You would hit the flush and go to bed. Just as you were drifting off the toilet would decide to flush. It would take anywhere from 2-20 mins to flush. Not ideal. Maintenance came round but it was never resolved.

 

We had a great cruise despite the issues but there were more things that went wrong than on any other cruise. The laundry service managed to completely destroy two pair of my DH's shorts and a pair of my trousers. His rental tux (pre-ordered months in advance) arrived about 4 sizes to big. When DH requested a different one it was sent down completely unironed ie absolutely unwearable. RCCL were good in that they did reimburse us for the cost of the clothes destroyed but wasn't ideal.

 

We sailed on Splendour and Rhapsody before - both Vision class ships - and didn't experience any issues on either of them so it does seem that Grandeur is the Sewer of the Seas.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We got of The Granduer this morning, and yes it is correct that yesterday there was a smell in the centrum area, there was also a team onboard working on the issue. When the ship left port yesterday the smell was much less, and this morning the smell was not noticable. I hope it stays that way for future cruisers.

 

 

 

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I hope you are correct that they have a team working on it. We sail on the Grandeur in April. It sounds pretty awful right now!

[marci22]

Raw sewage backing up all over floors, soaking carpets, sloshing all over the place .. that is a major health hazard. Why wouldnt the CDC, DPH (or whoever it is that gives ships their cleanliness ratings) force them to take that ship out of service fix the problems, sanitize the hell out of the ship and then re-inspect it to make sure it is fit for passengers.

To call this disgusting is an understatement. Raw sewage?? And the ship is still sailing with new passengers ??

And yet they pretend to be so worried about things like Norovirus .. squish-squish hand sanitizer patrol people ain't gonna help this mess.

 

I agree!

[RoyalDiamond]

Gee, I just found a price drop for our cruise on Grandeur for next September to Bermuda. A price drop already for a cruise that's 10 months away? Bookings must be slow for that ship/cruise. We've cruised on Grandeur once before (2 years ago), and had the same smell and toilet issues. It was so bad that they gave us future cruise certificates for a discount. I was hoping that the issues had been corrected, but apparently not. Perhaps we should change to Explorer to Bermuda. But, we want to sail out of Baltimore, since we've never done that.....we'll see.

 

Peter

[first_state101]

I hope that RCCL can resolve the odor problems. We are scheduled to sale on this ship on May 17th to Bermuda. RCCL has had price drops on this sailing and has issued savings certificates. So bookings may be lagging. We had been on the Grandeur a few years ago and did not notice an odor problem.

[F27TW]

Gee, I just found a price drop for our cruise on Grandeur for next September to Bermuda. A price drop already for a cruise that's 10 months away? Bookings must be slow for that ship/cruise. We've cruised on Grandeur once before (2 years ago), and had the same smell and toilet issues. It was so bad that they gave us future cruise certificates for a discount. I was hoping that the issues had been corrected, but apparently not. Perhaps we should change to Explorer to Bermuda. But, we want to sail out of Baltimore, since we've never done that.....we'll see.

 

Peter

 

Word must be getting around.

[dz9yvr]

I heard that the Grandeur will be the next ship sent to Pullmantur after the first Sunshine ship. Sounds like a good plan.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Gee, I just found a price drop for our cruise on Grandeur for next September to Bermuda. A price drop already for a cruise that's 10 months away? Bookings must be slow for that ship/cruise. But, we want to sail out of Baltimore, since we've never done that.....we'll see.

 

Peter

 

We sail on April 24. All of the suites and balcony cabins are sold out for that sailing.

[LisaLisa87]

My husband and I are considering a 6 night cruise to Bermuda on the Grandeur to celebrate our anniversary next summer. I came to Cruise Critic to see what I could find out about the ship and itinerary, and I came across this thread. What a bummer! We live less than an hour from Baltimore and thought we had come up with the perfect plan. Now we'll have to seriously reconsider. I'd like to think that the problems will be resolved by next August, but it sounds like the problem is very persistent!

[Cathalain]

I sailed on the Grandeur in September of 2009 - it was my first cruise, as a matter of fact - and the sewage smell difficulty, while not overpowering, WAS present. It's disappointing to read that the problem apparently still exists.

 

Unfortunately, unless airlines see fit to lower their fares (hahahaha, right), we're stuck with whatever sails out of Baltimore, and apparently the Grandeur, for now, is it.

 

I hope that it'll be settled by next October, as that's our next cruise. I'd hate to think that the refurbishment would be completely ruined by the sewage smell.

 

EDIT: Our cruise price dropped, as well. Not going to try and guess why. But, no complaints either.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Cathalain

[first_state101]

Recent reviews regarding the Grandeur have been negative - regarding plumbing and odors. It seem like the negative reviews have come from several sailings. Does anyone have more information about this problem? Is there a fix for this? What is RCCL doing about this? I sure hope it can be fixed!

[dz9yvr]

I sailed on the Grandeur in September of 2009 - it was my first cruise, as a matter of fact - and the sewage smell difficulty, while not overpowering, WAS present. It's disappointing to read that the problem apparently still exists.

 

Unfortunately, unless airlines see fit to lower their fares (hahahaha, right), we're stuck with whatever sails out of Baltimore, and apparently the Grandeur, for now, is it.

 

I hope that it'll be settled by next October, as that's our next cruise. I'd hate to think that the refurbishment would be completely ruined by the sewage smell.

 

EDIT: Our cruise price dropped, as well. Not going to try and guess why. But, no complaints either.

 

 

Perhaps you should coonsider driving to New Jersey and sailing on the Explorer. Anything would be better than the sewage smell on the Stinky of the Seas (renamed by some CC members)

[ShakyBeef]

My DH and I were planning on taking our first RCCL cruise on Grandeur OTS this fall. However, reading the most recent reviews and threads concerning the sewage overflow / fumes issues, we are really discouraged.:( We are ready to move on from Carnival but love cruising out of Baltimore. The Grandeur seemed like the perfect niext cruise for us. Can any recent Grandeur cruisers give us some information on these issues? Are there still smell and overflow issues?

[cruising lady]

We were on Granduer out of Baltimore several years ago and had sewage problem came up into our shower one day we could not even use our bathroom for afternoon into late at night. It's not fun when you wake up during the night and have to go down one deck to use a public bathroom. Sorry to see she still has problems we like sailing from Baltimore sorry to see Enchantment leave and wish RCCL would put any ship but Granduer there.

[dixieva]

We had plumbing problems on the Enchantment last March. One day we couldn't use our toilet for several hours. I think all of these older ships have some problems but nothing that would keep us from sailing on them.

 

We have sailed on Grandeur several times and did not have any troule with plumbing. Have not sailed on her recently though. We've booked a cruise on this ship for 2014.

[slyster]

I have noticed the problems with some of the older ships too. I sailed Freedom when it was months old and sailed Oasis when it was a year old. No problems. however, on our Serenade cruise a year and a half ago, we had some issues where the toilet wouldn't flush three or four times. I had to call maintenance once.

 

I'm sailing Grandeur this Fall too and I REALLY hope they are no problems.

[first_state101]

I've been checking almost every day about the Grandeur. I have seen nothing in the past few weeks about any problems. I hope that no news is good news!

[BelAirMom]

we're headed out in July - i haven't shared this with DH :eek:

[maryluck]

We sail on April 24. All of the suites and balcony cabins are sold out for that sailing.

 

We sail April 6th, deck 7 (southern Caribbean out of Colon, Panama). It is my in-laws first cruise - something they've been dreaming about their whole lives. Sure hope there isn't a sewer gas issue. Will post results.

[ShakyBeef]

Thank you, everyone for your responses. I really hope that it is no longer an issue. We don't have any other choices from Baltimore, so we really want the Grandeur to be a good alternative to the Carnival Pride. And thank you, Maryluck! I look forward to your report. Happy Sails!:)

[Robinhill]

We were on Deck 3 outside cabin, just below the Crown and Anchor / Cruise sale desk, our cabin had that smell the entire cruise its very noticeable when we left the cabin for a while and arrived back in the room. We didn't really notice the smell in the Centrum though, wonder if the smell in our room made us immune to the centrum smell perhaps?

 

Once our toilet would not flush after 10 mins.... call maintenance and after like an hour still no body came to fix... we call again and then left the room to do something, when we come back a while later the toilet is flushed. at other time, it may take up to a min for it to flush but usually flush immediately or within 15~30 seconds

 

please tell me it was not 3082 which is where i am supposed to be in April!