Fantasy failed inspection

[TomCruise48]

34 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

There will be 4 to 5 inspectors.

There is a difference between local health inspectors and USPH. USPH is not mandated with ensuring the health of the passengers, but with preventing the introduction of infectious diseases into the US, so if there isn't an imminent threat, they won't demand immediate action, but most lines will try to correct as many items as possible, and this will be noted on the report. The VSP is a program developed so that cruise ships calling at the US weekly, do not have to be fully inspected every week, with the attendant delays to turn around, including interviews with passengers about their health before disembarking.

 

If the proper culture is not present, then the crew won't care about the proper practices, and this is why USPH requires a meal service during the inspection, to stress the crew to see if the proper practices are second nature or not.

 

Again, not at home, working off the phone, so I haven't read the report, but even the silverware issue, while disgusting and unsanitary would not be considered a major threat. When Silversea had a ship where the inspectors found potentially hazardous food "hidden" in crew passageways and cabins, the inspectors poured bleach on the food items so they couldn't be used again, but did not stop the ship.

Thank you for this response.  You always provide such useful information.  Your knowledge and insight are a great asset to this forum. 

[smeck]

Carnival is once again proving what kind of corporate citizen they are.  From a blatant disregard of our oceans, to the poop cruise to this latest inspection.  To many issues for Corporate to take a pass.  Culture needs to change and change starts at the top. 

[chengkp75]

8 minutes ago, smeck said:

Carnival is once again proving what kind of corporate citizen they are.  From a blatant disregard of our oceans, to the poop cruise to this latest inspection.  To many issues for Corporate to take a pass.  Culture needs to change and change starts at the top. 

Sorry, "poop cruise" had nothing to do with poor corporate culture. Maintenance was as required, and the response was the best possible.

And other lines have occasional flailing scores on USPH.  The environmental problems are far more important and worrisome regarding corporate culture than anything from the "poop cruise".

[sanmarcosman]

2 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

 

And other lines have occasional flailing scores on USPH.  

When ships fail the flailing arms and drama should occur at headquarters 🙂

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, smeck said:

Carnival is once again proving what kind of corporate citizen they are.  From a blatant disregard of our oceans, to the poop cruise to this latest inspection.  To many issues for Corporate to take a pass.  Culture needs to change and change starts at the top. 

Truly a head scratching post....care to tie in the corporate citizen comment and poop cruise to the ops comment?  

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, sanmarcosman said:

When ships fail the flailing arms and drama should occur at headquarters 🙂

Cannot argue that.

[ontheweb]

On 8/10/2019 at 4:58 AM, chengkp75 said:

USPH inspectors have the authority to stop a ship from sailing if there is a serious threat to public health. I haven't read the report yet, but obviously they didn't feel that any of the violations were an imminent threat.

Although they may have that authority, would it be fair to say that they are more interested in getting violations corrected and stopping a ship from sailing would be a definite last resort?

[chengkp75]

59 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Although they may have that authority, would it be fair to say that they are more interested in getting violations corrected and stopping a ship from sailing would be a definite last resort?

Of course, any deficiencies are meant to be corrected, and stopping a ship would not necessarily deal with the problems any faster.

[nydney1]

We are just off the Fantasy yesterday. 

 

I did did not see any of the issues that are described. 

 

I did did notice the following: 

 

The staff on lido was taking any silverware that was still wrapped on a table and unwrapping it and placing in the dirty bins. But there were times there were dirty dishes everywhere.  (It was not a rush time, looked more like not enough staff scheduled or their was a meeting, 10 minutes later 5 people came out at the same time and addressed all the dishes)

 

There was a crew member wiping anything that was spilled at the buffet as soon as it hit the counter. I had never noticed it that fast before.

 

Dining room service was very slow. Overheard the water telling another member of the crew his other person was pulled to work lido and would not be back tonight.

 

There was an attendant at Serenity keeping kids out of the area, They were actually turning smaller kids away. There were a few between 18-21 that were laying out, but they were very quiet. Not sure how old they were.

 

i just now say the article so these things just stood out to me before seeing the review.

 

 

[PhillyFan33579]

We are on Victory right now and talked to our waiter, who we know from several previous cruises on this ship, at breakfast in the MDR this morning about this inspection.. While not condoning  the behavior, he believes Carnival has cut staff too severely in most areas of the ships. He says staff members are always looking for short cuts. Can’t say this surprises me. Anyone who reads CC regularly knows Carnival has made cuts in the MDR, cabin stewards, etc.  I seriously doubt this kind of behavior is limited to Fantasy. 

[TNcruising02]

Anyone who wipes off used silverware so that it can be reused without washing it should be fired.  There is no excuse for doing this.  Carnival's cuts don't mean that employees have to do things that are unsanitary.  It seems like it would take much less time to gather up all of the utensils for washing than to pick out utensils that don't look dirty to wipe off and reuse.

[bury me at sea]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

We are on Victory right now and talked to our waiter, who we know from several previous cruises on this ship, at breakfast in the MDR this morning about this inspection.. While not condoning  the behavior, he believes Carnival has cut staff too severely in most areas of the ships. He says staff members are always looking for short cuts. Can’t say this surprises me. Anyone who reads CC regularly knows Carnival has made cuts in the MDR, cabin stewards, etc.  I seriously doubt this kind of behavior is limited to Fantasy. 

 

From personal experience on my last 3 cruises, especially the last 2, I completely agree with this opinion.

 

It isn't that the staff isn't trying.  The problem seems to be Carnival has cut back way too far on number of staff while expecting no change in the level of service they can provide.

 

In my opinion the root of all the problems (service, cleanliness, and pollution) is at the corporate level.

[Thebosn1]

I LOVE that they pinged them for kids in the serenity area!!!

[Organized Chaos]

I"m not denying crew have been reduced, leaving a much heavier workload on those who are left. We began seeing it with cabin stewards and their teams. But in regards to the silverware situation, there's no excuse. It doesn't take a team of people to run silverware through a washer.

 

With any other problems that can be traced back to reduced crew numbers, I hope Carnival takes notice and realizes that saving a buck isn't always worth it. Over time, this reduction in crew becomes more obvious to passengers as things like unkempt areas of the ship become more visible.

[cruisequeen4ever]

The silverware issue really concerns me! Stressed or not, pressured or not, Crew can not be allowed to risk the health of the pax to save time and resources! 

[kenb]

On 8/9/2019 at 6:44 PM, Purvis1231 said:

I bring a pack of plastic forks!

Do you use them in the MDR?

[bury me at sea]

1 hour ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

The silverware issue really concerns me! Stressed or not, pressured or not, Crew can not be allowed to risk the health of the pax to save time and resources! 

 

I don't believe it is a matter of crew being allowed.  It seems to me to be a matter of crew being, albeit unofficially, encouraged, to save time and resources.  Back to corporate culture. 

 

Little happens at the bottom that is not instituted from the top.

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, bury me at sea said:

 

I don't believe it is a matter of crew being allowed.  It seems to me to be a matter of crew being, albeit unofficially, encouraged, to save time and resources.  Back to corporate culture. 

 

Little happens at the bottom that is not instituted from the top.

I that were true, in this instance, all ships would fail.  Another way to look at it is one one ship, at one time they had some issues.

[Purvis1231]

4 hours ago, kenb said:

Do you use them in the MDR?

I was making a little joke. I have sailed on the Fantasy several times and hope the problem will be fixed soon. (maybe some heads need to roll.) from what I read in the report it appears the problems did not have anything to do with the age or state of repair of the ship but with human error, neglect, and/or laziness. 

[jimbo5544]

10 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

I was making a little joke. I have sailed on the Fantasy several times and hope the problem will be fixed soon. (maybe some heads need to roll.) from what I read in the report it appears the problems did not have anything to do with the age or state of repair of the ship but with human error, neglect, and/or laziness. 

Where most things fail...the human element 

[kenb]

10 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

I was making a little joke. I have sailed on the Fantasy several times and hope the problem will be fixed soon. (maybe some heads need to roll.) from what I read in the report it appears the problems did not have anything to do with the age or state of repair of the ship but with human error, neglect, and/or laziness. 

I figured that.

[Joe817]

Phew. A ton of write ups. I hope they get the infractions corrected quickly.

 

 Thanks for the link fyree39.

Edited August 13, 2019 by Joe817

[mackenzie80]

I am friends with a crew member on board.  We met him on last 3 cruises and have kept in touch.  They said that this was some rogue kitchen staff trying to get a failing score thinking they would get days off if not cruising.

[Homosassa]

Just an FYI for everyone.

 

The inspectors that perform the vessel sanitation (and also inspection the kitchens preparing food for the airlines) are not from the CDC or "local" health inspectors.

 

They are specialists in the Interstate Sanitation Program requirements and procedures and work for the US Food and Drug Administration. 

 

Other specialists that are part of this cadre perform inspections under the Interstate Shellfish Shippers program and State Cooperative Milk Safety Program.

[ontheweb]

54 minutes ago, mackenzie80 said:

I am friends with a crew member on board.  We met him on last 3 cruises and have kept in touch.  They said that this was some rogue kitchen staff trying to get a failing score thinking they would get days off if not cruising.

Sounds more like a way to get days off by being fired.