Royal Princess - Soot on Balcony

[pablo222]

The answer seemed to be it was the room steward's problem and that he had to get on and clean it (all the balconies under his control).

 

This seems to be standard procedure for princess 'management'

-- whenever there is a problem, beat some low level employee

into having to kill themselves, rather than actually addressing

the problem.

 

For instance, imagine some sort of automatic washing equipment

--- like on many of the outside windows -- that was run at 0300

every day to flush away the soot.

Edited October 12, 2013 by pablo222

[cherylandtk]

FWIW, the soot amount shown in the above pictures is very, very similar to what we experienced on the CROWN in April of this year. 3 mornings out of 7.

 

I was loathe to use a towel to wipe it off as I figured the towel would be ruined and the steward would have to account for that, so I gathered handfuls of paper towels from the public bathrooms and cleaned it off. Keeping the chairs and table under the overhang helped somewhat but there was nothing to do for the matting.

 

We knew it was from the stacks, and have since decided to only book fully covered balconies and/or stay well forward of the stacks. Our friends on the same deck and side, but midships, had no such mess. This is not limited to the Royal, but is probably more noticed on that ship now that the expensive aft cabins are exposed.

[icat2000]

Why stop at the Captain. I would invite a whole pile of officers and invite them to sit down in their nice clean white uniform.

 

That is unacceptable. How bad will it be when they cross the atlantic.

 

How can Princess charge high prices for these cabins with the Sooty problem.

[RickEk]

This seems to be a problem on ships with the sloping back ends (read the Celebrity boards about their soot problems). The little wings on the stacks are supposed to help mitigate the soot problem but the prevailing weather and winds all combine to dump soot on the back of ship.

[rkacruiser]

This seems to be a problem on ships with the sloping back ends (read the Celebrity boards about their soot problems). The little wings on the stacks are supposed to help mitigate the soot problem but the prevailing weather and winds all combine to dump soot on the back of ship.

 

Ocean liners of the past had soot issues on the deck aft of the funnels. Designs were changed and one never/rarely heard about the problem. Now, on the newest generation of ships, the problem returns.

 

I have to wonder if those who design the new ships and those who are supposed to be approving the design and supervising the construction of the ships know what they are doing. Carnival Corporation has a shipbuilding office in London whose job, I thought, were to oversee the design and construction of ships made for the Company. What have those folks been doing in recent years?

 

Even at least one of the newest HAL vessels--the Eurodam--has a design flaw on Deck 5 starboard side forward verandas: inadequate drainage so the verandas sometimes flood. Plus, in the Lido Restaurant, a raised area of the room is accessed by one having to go up a step, which serves as a stumbling block.

[C Cruise Dude]

To the OP, thank you for publishing the photos. That is bad, really bad. :eek::eek::eek:

[Katie333]

How disappointing, I had thought I would choose one of these cabins should I ever decide to sail the Royal/Regal. We are big balcony users and I won't sail without one. Not a lot of choices for balcony lovers on these ships. :(

Edited October 13, 2013 by Katie333

[geocruiser]

What a mess on the balcony. And what air pollution! How does any cruise line get away with this?

[Love.II.Cruise]

What a mess on the balcony. And what air pollution! How does any cruise line get away with this?

 

Believe it or not, they can use much lower grade fuels depending on where they are traveling. This can amount to much more pollution. :(

Edited October 13, 2013 by Love.II.Cruise

[homeinboca]

To the OP, I am so sorry you have had such problems with your cruise. I would never book an aft cabin and not sure what the attraction is about them? We typically book cabins from the mid towards the bow. After seeing these photo's I can honestly say, why book these at all? Of course to each his own and we don't spend a lot time in our cabin during the day, but would never stand for this. Even if there are no soot problems, you are downwind from the stacks and above the propulsion system.

[Cruiserkenn]

Ocean liners of the past had soot issues on the deck aft of the funnels. Designs were changed and one never/rarely heard about the problem. Now, on the newest generation of ships, the problem returns.

 

I have to wonder if those who design the new ships and those who are supposed to be approving the design and supervising the construction of the ships know what they are doing. Carnival Corporation has a shipbuilding office in London whose job, I thought, were to oversee the design and construction of ships made for the Company. What have those folks been doing in recent years?

 

Even at least one of the newest HAL vessels--the Eurodam--has a design flaw on Deck 5 starboard side forward verandas: inadequate drainage so the verandas sometimes flood. Plus, in the Lido Restaurant, a raised area of the

room is accessed by one having to go up a step, which serves as a stumbling block.

 

Thanks for this thoughtful posting. Believe it or not, I know your town, Centerville:). Years ago, I used to go to the Dairy Queen there :)

[spyro1952]

I am calling my TA tomorrow and bailing on my premium aft balcony for next Sept TA. That's really bad and I'm not sure they can do much about it at this point as it is an obvious design flaw and using diesel sludge for fuel. Imagine if they start charging the fuel surcharge!!! Sweep up the soot from your balcony and bring it down the the PS desk!!!

[onapea]

Soot or no soot in R732? Can't believe the picture posted.

Edited October 14, 2013 by onapea

[dforeigner]

We had noticed some comments/queries re soot on aft balconies so posted the photos in order that people could see for themselves. We do not wish to put anybody off from booking. We stayed in B735 which is classified as an owner's suite on the starboard aft corner as per David's photos but this would presumably apply to aft balconies whether deluxe or suite. This was the July Venice to Barcelona cruise.

 

We noticed soot deposits, although comparatively minor, right from our first day at sea on leaving Venice. However, the deposits were excessive after sailing through the Straights of Messina.

 

We reported the soot at the Purser's Desk who sent someone to inspect. The answer seemed to be it was the room steward's problem and that he had to get on and clean it (all the balconies under his control). We thought this was unreasonable for him and requested that he was given some assistance but the answer was no. We were really sorry for him; he was very apologetic which of course was not his fault and he worked his socks off in an effort to clean the balconies.

 

We used extra poolside towels to cover the seats; were careful with light coloured clothing; and cleaned our shoes on additional towels placed at the balcony entrance.

 

We loved the ship; in particular the entertainment in the Piazza; breakfast in Sabatini's (the Head Waiter and staff were great); balcony dinner; Captain's lunch; Bellini's bar; Alfredo's; Horizon Court. We enjoyed the cruise and in fact have booked the equivalent suite on the Regal for next year so really hope they have got this sorted by then.

 

We wrote to the Customer Services Manager on 7th August in relation to the soot and have not had the courtesy of an acknowledgement or reply.

 

Thank you for sharing the pictures with us. Do you have a Facebook account? If you do, maybe you should consider posting the pictures there as well. Not sure how long Princess will allow the pictures to be up before they delete the message. But my point is to pass the word around so more people are aware of this issue. Thus putting pressure on Princess to rectify the problem rather than blame the cabin attendant. Remember that only about 1-2% of Princess passengers actually are members here on CC.

[MessyCat]

 

Thank you for sharing the pictures with us. Do you have a Facebook account? If you do, maybe you should consider posting the pictures there as well. Not sure how long Princess will allow the pictures to be up before they delete the message. But my point is to pass the word around so more people are aware of this issue. Thus putting pressure on Princess to rectify the problem rather than blame the cabin attendant. Remember that only about 1-2% of Princess passengers actually are members here on CC.

 

The reason we posted the photos was because we recently read a report of balcony soot/tar posted by another poster; and Princess not having responded to us with any explanation or to the effect the soot issue was being dealt with; we decided to publish.

 

As anticipation is a big part of a holiday, we were reluctant to cause any possible distress to future cruisers but feel that it has not been addressed.

 

(We do not have a facebook account)

[camarodrivenrs]

Before everyone hammers Princess on this, remember the engineers that designed this were dealing with incredibly complex simulations to predict this. There are so many variables that would have to be considered--weather conditions, turbulence created by the ship's structure, fuel quality, etc. I'm a petroleum engineer and I deal with fluid flow (especially fluids with multiple components like gas, liquid, and water) and they almost never match the models 100%. Give Princess a few months to develop a solution as I'm sure they are working hard.

 

People should be receiving partial refunds though for sure if this is a continued problem.

Edited October 14, 2013 by camarodrivenrs

[dforeigner]

The reason we posted the photos was because we recently read a report of balcony soot/tar posted by another poster; and Princess not having responded to us with any explanation or to the effect the soot issue was being dealt with; we decided to publish.

 

As anticipation is a big part of a holiday, we were reluctant to cause any possible distress to future cruisers but feel that it has not been addressed.

 

(We do not have a facebook account)

 

Valid point. Hope you get a valid response from Princess soon.

[Ethel5]

I pity the poor cabin steward. All that extra work for nothing.:(

[Coral]

Before everyone hammers Princess on this, remember the engineers that designed this were dealing with incredibly complex simulations to predict this. There are so many variables that would have to be considered--weather conditions, turbulence created by the ship's structure, fuel quality, etc. I'm a petroleum engineer and I deal with fluid flow (especially fluids with multiple components like gas, liquid, and water) and they almost never match the models 100%. Give Princess a few months to develop a solution as I'm sure they are working hard.

 

People should be receiving partial refunds though for sure if this is a continued problem.

 

I am not fully convinced that they are going to work on a solution or provide partial refunds. I stayed in an aft balcony on the Sapphire years after the ship was built. There was a vent next to my cabin that ran constantly except for when the ship was docked and the smell coming out of it smelled like rotten onions. Others said it smelled like sewage. I could not use my balcony when the ship was in motion and I received no partial refund at all. I am aware of someone who did but they had to file a lawsuit to do this (which worked for them as they lived in CA). The only option that offered was on the last day, to move me to an inside cabin.

[cibaygirls]

thank you for posting these pictures. I have booked my first aft balcony on a Royal cruise for next October and now need to really reconsider that. I appreciate your photos as they are quite eye-opening. Was this something you experienced daily? I am going to gather more feedback and then need to re-think my plans. I have a dolphin balcony booked and I wonder is anyone on that level on the same cruise could provide what their experience was like. I realize that every trip, day, variable can affect it, just want to make sure I make as informed a decision as I can.

[MessyCat]

 

"Was this something you experienced daily? I am going to gather more feedback and then need to re-think my plans. I have a dolphin balcony booked and I wonder is anyone on that level on the same cruise could provide what their experience was like."

 

No, during our July cruise we had very minor soot deposits from our first day which were not a problem. Then a couple of days, when in our opinion, it was excessive.

 

If you read the LIVE FROM THE ROYAL PRINCESS thread there were a couple of OP who were in Dolphin aft cabins, one who was/is in aft corner suite who did not mention soot at all. I would really hope that by October they will have sorted this (not least as we have booked equiv. on Regal!!)

 

As previously stated we loved the ship and would hope that you are not put off from a wonderful cruise.

[eldridchapman]

Wow, that severe? Are the engines' emission that terrible? Dont tell me the Royal is still on Euro II diesel technology? hahaha

[san diego sue]

The big problem seemed to be on Caribe deck aft facing cabin. These are totally uncovered so everything drifts down. Someone on Dolphin deck had no problems as it was totally covered.

[sandflypie]

We sailed in A736 from Barcelona to Venice and experienced soot levels like those in the photo on our first night. All other nights had light soot levels. Not sure why, but we didn't experience any problems during the day on the sea days.

 

We collected extra pool towels and used those to wipe the seating and table in the morning before the cabin was cleaned. Our cabin steward did an excellent job of cleaning to the best of his ability; stains on the decking remained even after they power washed.

 

This was our first, and will likely be the our last aft cabin based on this experience. Aside from this issue, we had a great cruise.

Edited October 19, 2013 by sandflypie

[cibaygirls]

thanks Sandyflypie for the update. I will certainly be interested to see how this develops over the coming months. Glad to hear you were still able to enjoy your vacation