Noordam: Broken Toilet, Cold Showers, and a missed port to save money!

[Copper10-8]

I agree with everything you have said, especially not docking at Monaco, inexperienced cheap captain, .......................

 

Assumes facts not in evidence, Your Honor!:cool: That particular captain has a mere twenty years of experience at sea

[sapper1]

Assumes facts not in evidence, Your Honor!:cool: That particular captain has a mere twenty years of experience at sea

 

And most likely not cheap either. I dare say those gentlemen are very well compensated. :)

[mamaofami]

OP, are you saying that the Noordam no longer has two pools, and that the retreat area is in the aft of the ship instead of the Neptune Pool?

 

Woops. My mistake. I reread this and see you said the cabins were built forward and not aft.

 

[Hlitner]

It is all about choices and today we made a choice....and it was not Holland America. We were on the verge of booking a 57 day Rotterdam cruise (for next March) but after reading some of the recent posts, and a recent Rotterdam review (more plumbing and pool issues) DW and I decided to book a 4 week Princess cruise and then spend a few weeks driving around Europe. It makes us a bit sad, because we always take spring cruises and for the past 5 years it has always been on HA. But things are changing on this line and we do not like the changes. And the one thing that should change (smoking on balconies) has not changed whereas Princess has finally banned balcony smoking. We still have a 28 day Veendam cruise coming up next month, but no more HA plans after that voyage. We would love to get to 5 Stars with this line, but they will now have to earn back our loyalty.

 

Hank

[OlsSalt]

It is all about choices and today we made a choice....and it was not Holland America. We were on the verge of booking a 57 day Rotterdam cruise (for next March) but after reading some of the recent posts, and a recent Rotterdam review (more plumbing and pool issues) DW and I decided to book a 4 week Princess cruise and then spend a few weeks driving around Europe. It makes us a bit sad, because we always take spring cruises and for the past 5 years it has always been on HA. But things are changing on this line and we do not like the changes. And the one thing that should change (smoking on balconies) has not changed whereas Princess has finally banned balcony smoking. We still have a 28 day Veendam cruise coming up next month, but no more HA plans after that voyage. We would love to get to 5 Stars with this line, but they will now have to earn back our loyalty.

 

Hank

 

You missed taking an incredible cruise on the Rotterdam. Did it last year and it was one of the best. Ohhh, the places we saw ........ and the people we enjoyed meeting along the way.

[Hlitner]

You missed taking an incredible cruise on the Rotterdam. Did it last year and it was one of the best. Ohhh, the places we saw ........ and the people we enjoyed meeting along the way.

 

Well, we have been to most of those places and agree its a great itinerary. But the thought of spending 2 months on that ship drove us to another cruise line (we are also Elite with Princess). For starters, we can get a nice large balcony on the Caribe deck for less then an outside cabin on the Rotterdam. And then Princess gives us 1000 free internet minutes (HA gives us zero). And we are looking forward to getting back on a Grand Class ship (Ruby Princess). And instead of a single little swimming pool (the Rotterdam) plus a "bird bath" we will get 4 pools and comfy deck chairs. And imagine this...the Lido is actually open after 8 pm!

 

We still hold out hope that HA will get their act together and remember some of the things that once made it the best of the mass market lines. After nearly forty years of cruising we have learned that nothing in the industry stays the same, so as they say, the worm will turn :) But having cruised nearly 200 days with HA just in the last 4 years we have a good basis of comparison and at the moment HA does not compare favorably to Princess or Celebrity,

 

Hank

[OlsSalt]

Well, we have been to most of those places and agree its a great itinerary. But the thought of spending 2 months on that ship drove us to another cruise line (we are also Elite with Princess). For starters, we can get a nice large balcony on the Caribe deck for less then an outside cabin on the Rotterdam. And then Princess gives us 1000 free internet minutes (HA gives us zero). And we are looking forward to getting back on a Grand Class ship (Ruby Princess). And instead of a single little swimming pool (the Rotterdam) plus a "bird bath" we will get 4 pools and comfy deck chairs. And imagine this...the Lido is actually open after 8 pm!

 

We still hold out hope that HA will get their act together and remember some of the things that once made it the best of the mass market lines. After nearly forty years of cruising we have learned that nothing in the industry stays the same, so as they say, the worm will turn :) But having cruised nearly 200 days with HA just in the last 4 years we have a good basis of comparison and at the moment HA does not compare favorably to Princess or Celebrity,

 

Hank

 

Have a great time. Sounds like a much better fit for what you want. No sense paying to make yourself unhappy.

[Shorn]

Assumes facts not in evidence, Your Honor!:cool: That particular captain has a mere twenty years of experience at sea

 

How about we get the full facts how long has he been a Captain , 3 Years . Your honor Probably half that at sea that is what the op meant, time at sea was not mentioned . You were not on that cruise so I don't know how you are qualified for any opinion.

[sapper1]

How about we get the full facts how long has he been a Captain , 3 Years . Your honor Probably half that at sea that is what the op meant, time at sea was not mentioned . You were not on that cruise so I don't know how you are qualified for any opinion.

 

Perhaps years as an onboard security officer on HAL ships qualifies him to know more about the way situations are handled than you do. I know whose explanations the posters on this board are more apt to give weight to.

[Rotterdam]

My partner & I had similar experiences onboard the Veendam 2 years ago -they took away the aft pool & added cabins(The "NEW REtreat area where the aft pool was had broken & loose tiles , dirty water & fewer chairs) , cut service etc....we are 4 star mariners & have not gone back to HAL & won't. The sewage smell onboard was disgusting....the food basic cafeteria. WE felt bad for the stewards & waitstaff - they were reduced so much & the new additional cabins just made things worse. IT WAS MOTEL 6 @SEA!!!

 

BTW _ HAL should refund the port tax for Monaco .....

 

 

 

 

I will start by saying I’m done with HAL. No, this not a joke and I know the cheerleaders will probably rip me. Let me start by saying I’ve been on 43 cruises and am a three star Mariner. HAL was my favorite line until now, and I have two more cruises planned, one for Spring Break and another for next summer in Europe. Those will now be cancelled. Cruising is my favorite way to travel and always will be. I have never had a major complaint on a cruise, nor do I look fondly at the constant complainers. I work in a five diamond resort, so I understand hospitality.

 

I’m currently five days into an 11 day Med cruise on the Noordam. Many on these boards have said the Noordam was their favorite ship and upon boarding, I agreed this may become the case for me. The ship is beautiful and of course the crew is as friendly as can be.

 

Before I get into it, I will let you know of the couple of changes after drydock. The added cabins above the Lido deck (forward) are awful. It doesn’t really matter on a European cruise, but for the Caribbean, the lack of deck space is going to be bad. They have taken a very large area of open deck space away and not replaced it with anything except for the retreat cabanas (the same as the NA and Eurodam). The NA and Eurodam have the large deck space above Tamarind. The Noordam does not have this. The chair hogs will be out in force and probably for good reason. This is another money grab by HAL that will hurt the experience for their passengers. As you will see below in a few paragraphs, I don’t think they care.

 

The Indonesian crew, as usual couldn’t be nicer. Our cabin stewards are the best I’ve ever had. Couldn’t be better. The Lido service, however, has been marginal at best. The drink machines are constantly out of the advertised drink. Ice availability is hit or miss. The first two days, when you can’t serve yourself was awful. Big lines for everything and way understaffed. The average line for a cup of coffee at 9:30AM, was about 15 people long. To get a glass of juice was a huge project. Food lines extended into the elevator area at the aft of the Lido.

 

I understand the whole noro thing, but if I can push an elevator button on my own, why can’t I push the drink machine button for a cup of coffee? This is a bit excessive and no other cruise line does this, that I’m aware. If you are going to handle things this way in the beginning of a cruise, then staff it properly.

 

Our waiters in the dining room are very nice, but the service has also been marginal. It is not their fault. They are understaffed. Dinner is slow every night. In the past the Maitre D always stops by the table to check on how things were going. Not this time. The little things, like remembering your favorite things, are a thing of the past. This and the Lido, however, are not a deal breaker.

 

So, here is when it starts and ends for me. Not to get into the gory details, but the first night, the toilet won’t flush. OK, not a big deal, things break. After a call to maintenance, I’m sure it will be fixed. After a couple hours, it flushes. Later that night, the toilet won’t flush, again. Another call. A few hours later, it flushes.

 

We now move into day two. I wake up to a toilet that won’t flush, again. Now, we call the front office to escalate. Maintenance shows up about THREE hours later. Says everything should work. It does, for an hour. Once again, toilet won’t flush! Another call, repeat! We are now using the public restroom. Still getting lip service from the front office.

 

Day three arrives. Not only do we repeat day one or two with the toilet, but now the big surprise, no hot water!!! We finally get the excuse that there are too many people taking showers and flushing toilets. In 43 cruises, never heard that one. What, you weren’t expecting after returning from port that people may take showers and go to the bathroom?

 

Move on to day four. Repeat! No hot shower and a broken toilet. More excuses. No compensation, nothing. The toilet flushes when it chooses throughout the day. More time in the public restroom.

 

Now we move on to day five. Not sure about the shower yet and the toilet didn’t flush for 20 minutes (a vast improvement). Toilet problems, shower problems, a major inconvenience, but I won’t let it ruin my cruise. What happens next has left me speechless and absolutely fuming with anger.

 

Upon entering Monaco, we encountered a large thunderstorm, with high winds. This lasted about ten minutes and then blew over. Was it a bad storm? Yes, but it was just a thunderstorm that was passing through. A few minutes later the cruise director comes on and says we have to cancel the port because of the storm. What? The storm is gone and blue sky is coming. Oh wait, the forecast is for “possible” thunderstorms throughout the day and for our safety, we will not stay in Monaco. This is ridiculous. Last I checked, thunderstorms happen all time. Ports would be cancelled constantly. What if we were docked and the thunderstorm happens at two o’clock? Are they going to leave 1800 people on shore? So, I knew this was bogus.

 

For some strange reason, I was thinking that money had to be involved in some way, so I investigated a bit further. Why not wait it out and after conditions improve, head back into port? After another phone call to a higher up, we got a new and improved answer. We were told “that the rule in Monte Carlo is if you tie the lines, you will be charged the port charges.”

 

A decision was made by the captain and HAL corporate to cancel the port and save money. “ Not that I’m shocked by a bogus corporate decision, but this is outrageous. Thanks HAL. You cancel the best stop on the cruise to save money! We are now sitting a few miles off of Monaco in brilliant sunshine and calm seas. Thanks! This is utter BS. I’ve never seen this level of incompetence on a cruise. I will post some pictures of how nice the weather is as soon as possible. This idiot captain could have stayed out from the port for an hour or two, then returned to Monaco. However, he decided to be a corporate hack and save the wonderful company some money, as we were told it would cost too much to return. An absolute terrible decision that involves nothing with safety and everything with the bottom line. You screw 1800 people out of the shot to spend a day in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The safety excuse is just that, nothing but an excuse. I could take a rowboat in and be just fine.

 

No one on this staff cares. The cruise director comes on and tells us at least will have a free movie in the lounge today and some revised activities. Wow. Let’s see, a free movie (included anyway) or a day in Monaco? When calling the front office, all you get is bogus lip service, again. I’ve been dealing with a toilet at 50% and cold showers for the entire cruise, with no compensation and now this. They have my money, so they do not care! The captain said on the noon report that they looked into other Italian port (Portofino, etc.), but that the wind could be too much for the bow thrusters and we would have to get a tug instead. More bottom line from HAL. Can‘t pay for a tug and give us a beautiful evening in Portofino? For the missed stop in Monaco, we are getting a free glass of wine! Just wonderful! How insulting!

 

Due to this, the other service flaws and problems, and spending over $10,000 for two cabins, I will never become a four star Mariner and will never sail on this line again. As a travel agent, I will never recommend this cruise line and I will go out of my way not to sell it.

 

If I had found a staff member that seemed to have cared, it would be one thing, but no one could care a less that we’ve had to use a public restroom instead of our cabin, had cold showers, and missed a call in Monaco for no reason. When asked to speak to one of the “higher ups”, I was told “they don’t have to speak with you sir”. Great response! The captain couldn’t even be the one to break the news about Monaco. He passed that one on to the cruise director. Sorry, HAL, no second chances after the way we were treated. I have to hassle with enough stuff in real life. I shouldn’t have to deal with it on any vacation, let alone one that costs this much.

 

We will now enjoy the rest of the cruise, with a partially working toilet and lukewarm shower, maybe a port call in Florence if it is a perfectly sunny day, but will never sail on this line again. Oh, and still waiting to get some sort of compensation for the toilet. Of course, nothing, but they keep pushing the BINGO game today! I’ll answer any questions you have.

[sapper1]

HAL always refunds the port fees for a missed port.

[OlsSalt]

 

BTW _ HAL should refund the port tax for Monaco .....

 

HAL refunded our port taxes for a missed port in Australia, due to high winds. We are also four star cruisers and have never witnessed the conditions some have described here. So these scathing reports continue to confound. If there have been problems, they have been temporary and HAL has gone out of their way to find an accommodation around any reasonable request. We have found HAL ships to be exceptionally delightful, but then we do value cruising so we expect to get what we pay for and continue to be very pleased with HAL value.

[Hlitner]

HAL refunded our port taxes for a missed port in Australia, due to high winds. We are also four star cruisers and have never witnessed the conditions some have described here. So these scathing reports continue to confound. If there have been problems, they have been temporary and HAL has gone out of their way to find an accommodation around any reasonable request. We have found HAL ships to be exceptionally delightful, but then we do value cruising so we expect to get what we pay for and continue to be very pleased with HAL value.

 

We do understand, from your posts, that you really enjoy HA and have few to no complaints. We used to be the same, but our last few cruises (all within the last 3 years) on the Prinsendam, Rotterdam and Westerdam have shown us many problems with HA (we could give you a long detailed list) which seem to result from cut-backs in maintenance, cuisine, crew and entertainment. Some of what we have seen may be bad luck on being on the wrong ship at the wrong time, so we ignored the issues and just kept booking more HA cruises. But there comes a time when one can no longer keep their eyes closed and we just see steady decline from cruise to cruise. When we go on the Veendam next month (28 days) we hope things will be great and our faith in HA will be restored. But from multiple reviews we have seen, this sounds doubtful. And nothing can correct the fact that like on the Rotterdam, the heads at HA decided to eliminate a pool to cram in a few more cabins. This is pretty good proof that HA is now putting a few extra dollars of profit ahead of the comfort and convenience of their passengers.

 

And we have long been puzzled about the design of many HA ships. Most cruise lines have built their ships to maximize the number of balcony cabins and make them affordable. But on many HA ships one must pay a huge premium to get a true balcony which is not the case on Celebrity, Princess, RCI, Carnival, Costa, etc.

 

And regarding smoking, this is another pet peeve of ours (we hate the smell of cigarette smoke). I thought it was interesting that when I was on the Princess web site (this morning) completing some online forms for our upcoming cruise, they had a special warning that they have now severely restricted smoking (no more in the cabins, on balconies, and in most public areas). For some reason HA continues to operate contrary to most of the civilized world with their smoking policies, and with over 80% of cruisers being non-smokers this just does not make a lot of sense.

 

Hank

[OlsSalt]

We do understand, from your posts, that you really enjoy HA and have few to no complaints. We used to be the same, but our last few cruises (all within the last 3 years) on the Prinsendam, Rotterdam and Westerdam have shown us many problems with HA (we could give you a long detailed list) which seem to result from cut-backs in maintenance, cuisine, crew and entertainment. Some of what we have seen may be bad luck on being on the wrong ship at the wrong time, so we ignored the issues and just kept booking more HA cruises. But there comes a time when one can no longer keep their eyes closed and we just see steady decline from cruise to cruise. When we go on the Veendam next month (28 days) we hope things will be great and our faith in HA will be restored. But from multiple reviews we have seen, this sounds doubtful. And nothing can correct the fact that like on the Rotterdam, the heads at HA decided to eliminate a pool to cram in a few more cabins. This is pretty good proof that HA is now putting a few extra dollars of profit ahead of the comfort and convenience of their passengers.

 

And we have long been puzzled about the design of many HA ships. Most cruise lines have built their ships to maximize the number of balcony cabins and make them affordable. But on many HA ships one must pay a huge premium to get a true balcony which is not the case on Celebrity, Princess, RCI, Carnival, Costa, etc.

 

And regarding smoking, this is another pet peeve of ours (we hate the smell of cigarette smoke). I thought it was interesting that when I was on the Princess web site (this morning) completing some online forms for our upcoming cruise, they had a special warning that they have now severely restricted smoking (no more in the cabins, on balconies, and in most public areas). For some reason HA continues to operate contrary to most of the civilized world with their smoking policies, and with over 80% of cruisers being non-smokers this just does not make a lot of sense.

 

Hank

 

I know you are going to be just as happy with your Princess cruise, as we have been with our HAL choices. You made a good decision for yourself to leave HAL. Happy cruising.

[kiggy]

Well, we have been to most of those places and agree its a great itinerary. But the thought of spending 2 months on that ship drove us to another cruise line (we are also Elite with Princess). For starters, we can get a nice large balcony on the Caribe deck for less then an outside cabin on the Rotterdam. And then Princess gives us 1000 free internet minutes (HA gives us zero). And we are looking forward to getting back on a Grand Class ship (Ruby Princess). And instead of a single little swimming pool (the Rotterdam) plus a "bird bath" we will get 4 pools and comfy deck chairs. And imagine this...the Lido is actually open after 8 pm!

 

We still hold out hope that HA will get their act together and remember some of the things that once made it the best of the mass market lines. After nearly forty years of cruising we have learned that nothing in the industry stays the same, so as they say, the worm will turn :) But having cruised nearly 200 days with HA just in the last 4 years we have a good basis of comparison and at the moment HA does not compare favorably to Princess or Celebrity,

 

Hank

 

Agreed.

[Storylady]

HAL refunded our port taxes for a missed port in Australia, due to high winds. We are also four star cruisers and have never witnessed the conditions some have described here. So these scathing reports continue to confound. If there have been problems, they have been temporary and HAL has gone out of their way to find an accommodation around any reasonable request. We have found HAL ships to be exceptionally delightful, but then we do value cruising so we expect to get what we pay for and continue to be very pleased with HAL value.

 

I agree with you. I have learned over the years of being on this board to not pay to much attention to comments made about a particular ship as I fortunately haven't had any of their experiences. Last year we had a fantastic cruise on the Rotterdam, Maasdam and Volendam. We had 4 missed ports of call on the Maasdam when we did the Voyage of the Vikings and received champagne which was certainly not necessary, but a nice gesture. And we missed a port of call on our circle Australia cruise. We received our port charges back and any money charged with HAL for shore excursions. This year we have had a fantastic cruise on the Zaandam and also the Maasdam. We missed our port of call in Sydney on our recent cruise due to 40 mph winds. Our Captain was not as talkative as most of the Captains on prior cruises, but he did keep us informed. And he did try to get into port. Missing ports of call is the chance you take when cruising. If someone doesn't want to miss a port of call, they might consider land cruising or river boat cruising.

 

People have complained about the food on HAL and yet we thought the food on the Maasdam in the Main Dining Room was some of the best we have had on recent cruises ( August 31, 2013). Even many of the popular dishes were presented differently. I wish everyone who is unhappy with HAL happy cruising on your cruiseline of choice, but my DH and I are sticking with the fantastic service, food, itineraries, crew and size of rooms on HAL ships.

[Tampa Girl]

I agree with everything you have said, especially not docking at Monaco, inexperienced cheap captain,

 

 

Where did you come up with your assessment of "inexperienced" or "cheap?"

[Tampa Girl]

How about we get the full facts how long has he been a Captain , 3 Years . Your honor Probably half that at sea that is what the op meant, time at sea was not mentioned . You were not on that cruise so I don't know how you are qualified for any opinion.

 

 

Where did the "3 years" come from?

[Hoofnsurf]

I am disappointed and somewhat distressed about all of the negative comments considering we are scheduled on an upcoming (September 28) departure from Barcelona to Rome. Having researched the recent repairs and Dry Dock of the ship I was "feeling" secure that we would be sailing on a near new cruise ship on the line that we have come to love.

 

Reading the negative comments, I did recall that did encounter minor toilet problems aboard the ms Westerdam on a cruise to Alaska one year ago in Stateroom #7073. I do remember thinking the clog might have been due to Baby Wipes and/or the same fiberous facial cleansers, so made certain NOT to flush these for the rest of the cruise. We didn't have any other toilet issues for the remainder of the cruise.

 

Reading the critical comments above brought back Main Dining Room memories. We usually avail ourselves of both the Anytime Dining and The Pinnacle Grill while on a cruise vs sitting at a regularly scheduled table in the MDR. But, we did have occasion to sit with several couples two nights in a row. Only then, when everyone at our table commented about the slow service and then being served COLD food, did I ask for the Maitre'D. All of our food was removed and new dinners were brought for all who wanted a HOT meal. I wish I had commented far earlier in the cruise and WILL on this upcoming one as we, too, have paid a LOT of money to cruise on the Concierge Lounge Level!

 

Thank you to everyone who has posted comments that have jogged my memory. Am guessing that it IS "the squeaky wheel that gets the grease" really applies to cruising in general and maybe this ship specifically.

 

We have cruised a lot, and I promise to update my profile just as soon as time permits.

 

Mary

[Hlitner]

Some of the toilets on the Westerdam have a rather interesting temperament. When you push the button the toilet goes into some kind of delay mode. It will eventually flush, but it could happen in 5 seconds, 5 minutes, or even 15 minutes. Sometimes it might gurgle a bit to tell you its alive but it still does not flush. Of course given all the stories about sitting on a vacuum toilet as it flushed (we will not even go into those jokes) this means that you cannot use the toilet until it gets around to flushing itself. It becomes frustrating late at night. One night DW goes to the toilet in the middle of the night and returns to bed. Having been woken...yours truly decides to also go to the toilet which has yet to flush...but does gurgle as if to say "I DARE YOU TO SIT HERE." So in the middle of the night I have to get dressed to walk hundreds of feet to a public toilet. As I open the cabin door (at 3 am) the toilet suddenly flushes! Only on HA :)

 

Hank

[fatcat04]

We have had toilet troubles before on HAL. Sometimes the toilets seem possessed. They won't flush and then all of a sudden.. whoosh. I have no idea and never have any hopes of understanding the ways of the potties at sea. That said, toilets issues and cold showers for multiple days without a real solution would make me very angry and I don't really blame OP for being upset. I would have been too. Happy to see they did eventually get some help from HAL though. Can't imagine looking forwards to a cruise so much and then being so disappointed. Hope all is well now.

[Rotterdam]

We have had toilet troubles before on HAL. Sometimes the toilets seem possessed. They won't flush and then all of a sudden.. whoosh. I have no idea and never have any hopes of understanding the ways of the potties at sea. That said, toilets issues and cold showers for multiple days without a real solution would make me very angry and I don't really blame OP for being upset. I would have been too. Happy to see they did eventually get some help from HAL though. Can't imagine looking forwards to a cruise so much and then being so disappointed. Hope all is well now.

 

One has to remember ships have a shelf life & after so many years things break down like anything else... add to this the additional cabins HAL/Carnivore has added to these ships post build out - you have additional stress on all the utilities onboard w/ diminished passenger space and also the disturbance of the original plans to the ship...both visually & function wise.

 

So the A/c has to work harder, toilets & water flush more & passengers search longer for space / deck chairs. Soon enough the lines will be selling crew accomodations and selling them as campsites at sea...bunks & cook your own food & don't forget to clean up after yourself!(If you care to chip in the diningroom it would be a great learning experience for your children - starting at $499 per person / 12 passengers per room plus gratuities & port tax(you won't be able to disembark - by the time you finish your shift in the DR & clean all the public toilets it will be all aboard time)

[OlsSalt]

One has to remember ships have a shelf life & after so many years things break down like anything else... add to this the additional cabins HAL/Carnivore has added to these ships post build out - you have additional stress on all the utilities onboard w/ diminished passenger space and also the disturbance of the original plans to the ship...both visually & function wise.

 

So the A/c has to work harder, toilets & water flush more & passengers search longer for space / deck chairs. Soon enough the lines will be selling crew accomodations and selling them as campsites at sea...bunks & cook your own food & don't forget to clean up after yourself!(If you care to chip in the diningroom it would be a great learning experience for your children - starting at $499 per person / 12 passengers per room plus gratuities & port tax(you won't be able to disembark - by the time you finish your shift in the DR & clean all the public toilets it will be all aboard time)

 

Nice exaggeration, but don't think so. Not sure what the point is here.

[TravelingT]

I was eyeing a Greek islands cruise on the noordam for next summer but now there is no way I would touch that ship! Sewage smell? I have been on over twenty cruises and never had a toilet issue. That is where I draw the line for sure.

[Wakepatrol]

Some of the toilets on the Westerdam have a rather interesting temperament. When you push the button the toilet goes into some kind of delay mode. It will eventually flush, but it could happen in 5 seconds, 5 minutes, or even 15 minutes. Sometimes it might gurgle a bit to tell you its alive but it still does not flush. Of course given all the stories about sitting on a vacuum toilet as it flushed (we will not even go into those jokes) this means that you cannot use the toilet until it gets around to flushing itself. It becomes frustrating late at night. One night DW goes to the toilet in the middle of the night and returns to bed. Having been woken...yours truly decides to also go to the toilet which has yet to flush...but does gurgle as if to say "I DARE YOU TO SIT HERE." So in the middle of the night I have to get dressed to walk hundreds of feet to a public toilet. As I open the cabin door (at 3 am) the toilet suddenly flushes! Only on HA :)

 

Hank

 

 

I don't know if it was intentional, but this little ditty you wrote was hilarious. Thanks for the great laugh.