Blocked toilet

[P&O Lynn Knickers]

mad::mad: Hi. I am currently on-board Radiance of the Seas a C&A Diamond Loyalty Member. I wonder how many of you cruise lovers have got up three mornings in a row and found your cabin toilet full and overflowing onto the floor. The cabin doesn't smell too great!! Yes they apologise, yes they clean it up and sanitise the floor But frankly I don't think they give a ****. At the end of this cruise I'll be one night off being a Diamond Plus Loyalty Member - somehow I don't think I'll be reaching it. I've pm'd RCI and sent emails to Michael Bayley, but no reply. Never thought I would be so disappointed with Royal Caribbean.

 

So in the order of how you mentioned it in your post.

Ship : Radiance of the Seas

Status :Diamond member

Issue : Toilet issues

 

So your status is more important than the issue.

snobbery to me.

 

 

 

.

[LocomotionCruiser]

We have also had this occur on more than one cruise. Usually just for one night tho and usually late at night. I stayed up and watched them fix the problem. The sewer pipe from the toilet is spliced into the same pipe from the adjoining cabin. When this happens to you it should also be happening to your neighbor which means the source of the problem may not be your cabin. The pipe is also a smaller diameter than what is used in a residential home thus making it easier to be plugged. As I tell my wife each time we cruise it is better to flush frequently rather than once at the end of the process!!!

[robtulipe]

We had a similar experience with RCI on our first Hawaii cruise. It took days of complaining from the start of that cruise to resolve a sewage leak, which wasn't a major flood due to an over flowing toilet, but an under the floor plumbing problem resulting in a constant leak that caused a damp and smelly carpet at the bathroom entrance. The house keeping staff, even the supervisor, weren't very responsive so I had to take up a with the hotel staff before we got any real action.

Even after the leak was found and repaired the house keeping supervisor just said that they would have the carpet cleaned and we would have to put up with a fan in our cabin (for two days it turned out) to dry out the carpet. We asked at the service desk about getting another cabin and the staff just blew us off saying none were available and nothing else was offered to us .

We found an overflowed toilet waiting for us after changing to a new cabin for the second of B2B Princess cruises. That cabin and section of the ship had not been occupied on the previous cruise, a TA. The customer relations officer, who got involved immediately, said that they would clean and dry the carpet both inside and outside the cabin but the drying out with fans would likely, and did, take a few days to do as the fans were outside that cabin for that amount of time at least. We, now being more experienced, insisted that this wasn't acceptable. That CR officer then said that the only open cabins they could move us to was a lower category obstructed ocean view but if we were willing to wait a better cabin could be available to us later that day as embarkation was still going on. We left our luggage unpacked on the bed of that second cabin and later that day were upgraded to a premium extra large balcony mid-ship Caribe deck cabin which we were allowed to stay in for the whole 12 nights we were onboard. They also sent several employees immediately to move our belongings to the new cabin once it was determined it was available to us.

As you can see there was a huge difference in the level of service and response onboard for a similar problem.

Edited April 3, 2015 by robtulipe

[Chip and Dale]

mad::mad: Hi. I am currently on-board Radiance of the Seas a C&A Diamond Loyalty Member. I wonder how many of you cruise lovers have got up three mornings in a row and found your cabin toilet full and overflowing onto the floor. The cabin doesn't smell too great!! Yes they apologise, yes they clean it up and sanitise the floor But frankly I don't think they give a ****. At the end of this cruise I'll be one night off being a Diamond Plus Loyalty Member - somehow I don't think I'll be reaching it. I've pm'd RCI and sent emails to Michael Bayley, but no reply. Never thought I would be so disappointed with Royal Caribbean.

 

Hi

 

I knew exactly what you meant when I read your post and don't blame you in the least for being exasperated by the situation.

 

We had toilet problems on Serenade, the sister ship to Radiance (these ships seem to be plagued by toilet issues and trust me it is NOT all due to people putting things in the toilets - some of it is design) and went through something similar to you. We did a cruise with friends to celebrate our anniversary and wound up wishing that we had stayed home. It was a port intensive cruise.

 

Day 1 - toilet would not flush - maintenance fixed it.

Day 1 - AGAIN - the toilet would not flush - maintenance fixed it.

Day 2 - We wake up to a strange noise and realize that the toilet is flushing non-stop and looks like a cyclone - Maintenance cannot fix the toilet in the cabin, so they open up the cabinet in the wall outside of the cabin and adjust a pipe so that the toilet stops flushing

Day 2 - AGAIN - now the toilet won't flush and is beginning to overflow - maintenance comes and fixes it just in the nick of time

Day 3 - You guessed it we suddenly have the never ending flushing AGAIN and maintenance comes to fix it in the cabin and cannot, so they open up the cabinet in the hall and make another adjustment and the toilet stops flushing.

Day 4 - We go into port and return for lunch and to use to washroom in the cabin and when we flush BAM a pipe in the wall opens up and gushes water into the cabin at a force that looked like Niagara Falls.

 

DH called maintenance immediately while I moved everything off the floor onto the bed, including lifting the bedskirt, drapes, anything that could be affected by water. Maintenance didn't believe us:rolleyes: so they said they would get to it when they could. Now honestly if I am maintenance and someone calls to tell me that water is gushing into the cabin and almost ready to overflow the lip in the bathroom, I think that I might just check it out! Long story short - I went to Guest Relations - they didn't believe me and said well what can we do, you called maintenance go wait for them in your cabin. DH ran down the hall and found a cabin steward (not our own) and begged him to come help. HE DID! He was a sweetheart and called maintenance and apparently the language that came out of his mouth when they doubted him about how serious this was, was a shocker. By the time maintenance arrived the water had flowed out into the cabin and had a wonderful river running to the balcony door, which we opened and for a few minutes the water flowed over the lip, over the balcony and out into the water at the port.

 

We were told repeatedly by numerous officers including the Hotel Director, that it was an unfortunate situation but we needed to realize that most passengers exaggerate so they don't always react quickly when they receive maintenance calls. They did offer to move us from our balcony to an inside and by this point we had endured such rudeness and lack of concern we said NO, please fix the cabin we are in. They do carry carpeting on each ship for such situations and replaced the carpet and dried out the cabin. It took the rest of that day, and we lost our time in port that day because we were fighting with people to resolve the problem.

 

As someone else posted, you work hard for your money and when you pay for a cruise you expect that if there are problems, that they will be addressed and resolved. We were Diamond at the time, so no special treatment required, but this was definitely NOT our first rodeo, so we had seen how situations like this had been handled on other ships. The crew and especially the officers on this ship handled things very badly and were quite rude at times on top of it. The handling of problems varies greatly from ship to ship although they are the same line. Once again we know this because this was not our first rodeo!:)

 

OP I agree with the others who posted helpful suggestions, request a meeting with the Hotel Manager and try to express your concerns as calmly and rationally as possible. I would ask what He/She can do to help you and see what they say. If they can move you and you are happy with the move, great, if not then they will need to devise a solution to help you. If they are smart, they will automatically offer something to you - small shipboard credit for the nuisance you have endured or a nice bottle of wine or dinner in a specialty restaurant. You may feel that they should offer you something, or nothing as long as the problem is solved, this is up to you and no one else. We allowed the problem to continue with disastrous results thinking that maintenance knew what they were doing and found out after the fact that the adjustments that were made in the hall cabinet caused the flooding.

 

I wish you a resolution to this problem very soon! I hope that the rest of your cruise is wonderful and much more enjoyable!:)

Dee

[Dorset Cruiser]

While I agree with you - they should have been moved, I just don't know why being a Diamond should have any influence on how this was handled.

 

The way I read it was that the OP had nearly reached Diamond because of their RCI loyallty but that the problem they encountered with their toilet overflowing had tested that loyalty to breaking point and it was now likely that they would not cruise RCI again and thus would not reach Diamond level. Did not read it that they expected better treatment because tney were Diamond.

 

Have to say if my toilet overflowed three mornings running, I would be hopping mad and would expect to be moved to another cabin.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD.

[A2Mich]

Thanks; your comments are appreciated. I was never suggesting that my loyalty level should give me special treatment, but it does go to show that what you know you're meaning when you write something is not always the way it's read by others.

 

 

Well since you posted this, I digress and apologize that I misinterpreted what you were trying to state. When I first read it, it came across to me as yet another snobby post along the lines of "well, I'm diamond so better than the other lower level cruisers" posts that seem to be all too common here from time to time. I honestly do hope that your problem was addressed, but hope you understand that a cabin switch may not be possible.

[bigque]

DANG! you came back and made a post but didn't say if the problem has been cleared up, or if you get another cabin or if they offered you anything! Everyone is always quick to post about a problem and about how ticked off they are about it but are very slow to come back and tell the board when it was a satisfactory resolution. Geeze!

[John&LaLa]

Our very first RCL cruise, Nordic Empress, had toilet issues. No overflow, but no flushing. After 3rd day, they moved us to a balcony cabin. And they moved our kids cabin as well.

Two years ago we had cow sweet on Freedom, and shower backed up. They fixed it and gave us a 25% FCC.

My advice is deal with on board staff until some resolution happens

[squadron]

mad::mad: Hi. I am currently on-board Radiance of the Seas a C&A Diamond Loyalty Member. I wonder how many of you cruise lovers have got up three mornings in a row and found your cabin toilet full and overflowing onto the floor. The cabin doesn't smell too great!! Yes they apologise, yes they clean it up and sanitise the floor But frankly I don't think they give a ****. At the end of this cruise I'll be one night off being a Diamond Plus Loyalty Member - somehow I don't think I'll be reaching it. I've pm'd RCI and sent emails to Michael Bayley, but no reply. Never thought I would be so disappointed with Royal Caribbean.

 

By the time you have reached diamond plus status don't you realize that you call maintenance not the CEO! Actually this problem could happen to anyone your status doesn't matter. Had a non flushing one once - maintenance was there immediately - between sets of rooms there is an area where the plumber goes in and solves the problem. Plumbing on the ship isn't like that in your home - more like a boat or travel trailer.

[papaflamingo]

In all likelihood they will get some kind of offer. But the comment in one of the posts that no one cared is absurd. Of course they care. But other than moving to another cabin, which, these days, is unlikely as the ships are full, what should they do? It's a ship. It's at sea. The maintenance while at sea is fantastic, but limited to available parts. The problem with a toilet may be buried deep in the system. My son is a Navy Pilot. He deploys on a specific carrier that has the vacuum style toilets. They spend 6 months at sea and first thing every morning they need to turn on the TV to see which bathrooms are operable. The system is literally in repair every day. They have crewmen who's sole job is repairing the bathroom system. They aren't as nearly as good or reliable as the one's on the cruise ships (lowest bidder, after all).

So, if the ship is full, and they keep trying to repair the problem, exactly how much money will make it "ok?" Of course they deserve some compensation as their vacation is interrupted. But come on, money isn't the answer to everything. My guess that RCCL will gladly offer a discount on a future cruise.

[Setting sail for fun]

Until it happens to you - some people will never understand. Hope it is resolved favorably.

[TheMastodon]

mad::mad: Hi. I am currently on-board Radiance of the Seas a C&A Diamond Loyalty Member. I wonder how many of you cruise lovers have got up three mornings in a row and found your cabin toilet full and overflowing onto the floor. The cabin doesn't smell too great!! Yes they apologise, yes they clean it up and sanitise the floor But frankly I don't think they give a ****. At the end of this cruise I'll be one night off being a Diamond Plus Loyalty Member - somehow I don't think I'll be reaching it. I've pm'd RCI and sent emails to Michael Bayley, but no reply. Never thought I would be so disappointed with Royal Caribbean.

 

Make sure you complain to the hotel director.

 

Once you are home, call customer service and they will open up a case. Chances are, you will get a ton of future booking credits for your next cruise. Then you can get your dumb pin!!!

[ryano]

But other than moving to another cabin, which, these days, is unlikely as the ships are full, what should they do? It's a ship. .

 

Very good point. Ive read that they always keep a few cabins for reasons such as this but I dont know who to believe.

 

I do know one thing though. I know for a fact that the accessible cabins have been sold out for months on my upcoming cruise. Im not sure WHAT they would be able to do for me in case my cabin had a bad problem and I needed to be moved. :o

 

Hope I never have to find out.

[Dorset Cruiser]

Make sure you complain to the hotel director.

 

Once you are home, call customer service and they will open up a case. Chances are, you will get a ton of future booking credits for your next cruise. Then you can get your dumb pin!!!

 

Don't think OP is at all worried about their 'dumb pin'. Think they are more worried about the fact their bathroom was flooded with sewage three times! I know I went into a public restroom during our recent cruise on P&O Arcadia and found all three toilets overflowing with sewage - it was disgusting and I can only imagine what it would be like to have that happen in our stateroom bathroom even once.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[north29]

The problem is that there are several bathrooms connected to the same vacuum pump. In spite of all the warnings, if one of your neighbors keeps putting feminine hygiene products in the toilet it will continue to back up. Short of stationing in a guard in each of your neighbors bathrooms, there's not much that can be done to prevent rude passengers.

 

Somethings RC cannot control. If the op just was on a cruise, I bet there were many kids on board. ON our last Christmas cruise the KIDS maybe even older KIDS(20+) were flushing plastic cups and any thing they could, to see if it would flush down the drain. Yes, it created problems for many cruisers.

I was with a partially operating toiled with many issues for 7 of 8 days, they had no where to move me to. Yes I received compensation, and even told them that booking any ship so full that there were no rooms to move cruisers to, even if it was a inside cabin was not right.

I still had a greats cruise so be it STUFF HAPPENS.

[shipgeeks]

There have been posts in the past in which cruisers say they flush wipes, feminine hygiene products, and their own brand of toilet paper (brought from home). None of those are compatible with ship toilets, and can affect neighboring cabins as well as one's own. Perhaps this should be stated more clearly in bathrooms, daily planner, etc.

[peteukmcr]

There have been posts in the past in which cruisers say they flush wipes, feminine hygiene products, and their own brand of toilet paper (brought from home). None of those are compatible with ship toilets, and can affect neighboring cabins as well as one's own. Perhaps this should be stated more clearly in bathrooms, daily planner, etc.

Very good idea about stating it in bathrooms and the cruise compass.

 

Hotels in Greece have no problem in clearly stating the limitations of the sewerage system and that in most cases used toilet paper must not be flushed down the toilet but placed in the bucket next to the toilet!

 

Now, I expect those who have not spent time in Greece to be grossed out, but that's the system.

 

Maybe RCI should provide bins for this purpose too if you insist on using your own toilet paper!

[N2Mischief]

I just want to say that I feel for the OP. We just got off a ship, not RCL, but our shower and the drain behind the toilet backed up every time someone around us showered. It flooded our bathroom with foul smelling foamy water and black sludge. It was not raw sewage and it was still gross!

 

Every night they sent a plumber, once even a supervisor, and every night we were told it was fixed and it happened even on our last night and every night before.

 

It wasn't just the grossness. It was having to call guest services, wait an hour or more for the plumber, never knowing if we should take a shower because what if that stuff starts coming up. Not being able to use the toilet because the bathroom was 2 inches deep in yuck. It was just inconvenient.

[WetToes]

I don't care if you are Diamond or Diamond Plus, poop happens sometimes. They came and cleaned up the mess and fixed the problem, Sure it would be a pain to deal with it. Do you except them to do give you a free cruise ?

 

I don't care about their status either, ... but 3 mornings in a row? I'd be po'd too.

Have they fixed the problem, ... after 3 tries? We don't know, do we?

The OP deserves something.

Edited April 3, 2015 by WetToes

[poncho1973]

Thank you. I was wondering what bearing their C&A status has on fixing a toilet. I don't care if you are Illudium, Uranium, Kryptonite, Plutonium or whatever---they're still no better than me, and yes, their ---- does still stink. If they have resolved the issue, and cleaned, disinfected/sanitized, what else is expected?

 

1. I'm Rhenium and I am better than everyone else because of it and because they let me drive the boat.

2. I use Poo-Pourri, so you're incorrect.

3. I love lamp.

Edited April 3, 2015 by poncho1973

[lindahope]

It happened to us 5 times on the Brillance but we had a family ocean view room, and they could not accommodate us with a comparable cabin. The bathroom was unusable for several hours each time and because those cabins are forward there are no close restrooms we had to walk midship and then up or down one level to use the bathroom and we had our kids with us!! Talk about annoying!!

 

Guest services sent strawberrys ... Corporate understood.

[Smurfette27]

Indeed there should be some sort of compensation! When you pay thousands of dollars on a cruise vacation, you should be able to expect a functioning toilet at the very least. Stuff happens and one incident could be forgiven but 3 mornings in a row? It doesn't matter what your status is with RCI, I WOULD expect some sort of accommodations... either being moved or a credit to my account. Talk about ruining a vacation!

 

I can't believe how many people here are on RCI's side saying they've done all they could do by cleaning it up 3 separate times... just unbelievable.

[BonnieSte]

In the upper right corner of every post you can see the number of posts that user has ever posted on CC. The number of posts by a user may influence others.

 

Biker, who just increased his post count.

 

Thank you biker, is it kind of like... he who dies with the most toys... kind of thing :D

[NavyVet1959]

If you look at all the diseases that can be acquired by contact with fecal matter and how common stopped up sewage systems aboard ship appear to be, it's a wonder we don't hear about more shipboard GI-tract outbreaks.

[Big_G]

DANG! you came back and made a post but didn't say if the problem has been cleared up, or if you get another cabin or if they offered you anything! Everyone is always quick to post about a problem and about how ticked off they are about it but are very slow to come back and tell the board when it was a satisfactory resolution. Geeze!

 

Maybe the OP is sitting on his couch laughing his butt off at the battle he started. :D