Any experience with bad odors on ship?

[rslinky]

We are doing out first river cruise in December.  The paperwork we need to sign mentions that noise and odors are normal.   Not concerned about noise, but has anyone experienced odors on the ship?  On a small vessel it makes sense that exhaust, fuel and food smells could be more noticeable.  Would hate to have eight days of sewer smells though.  We are in a lower level cabin so don’t believe our small windows open.   

[pontac]

No.

[Gourmet Gal]

Which cruise line is giving  you heads up about odors?

 

My answer to your question is that I’ve never experienced that issue on Uniworld or Tauck.  But then I also avoid bottom deck staterooms or those in the aft.

[CastleCritic]

two or three depending how you want to break it down.

 

1. cleaning smells, depending on the line and what they are using, my mother is sensitive to them and had to ask the maid on our American cruise line cruise to stop using febreeze.

2. or possibly related to 1 there was a DEFINITE smell in the corridor (third floor) of my Amwataterways cruise last fall that I never figured out if it was related to cleaning products or just the product of a ship that had been in storage for a year that still hadn't aired out after 4 months in use.  Its never happened before, didnt happen again in April on a ship that had been in mothballs the entire 2021 season and seemed to sort of dimish and come back over the week (leading me to believe it was something the maids were doing)

3, diesel fumes.  again fall trip last year I was at the stern of the ship on the third deck and occasionally if the wind was right the engine exhaust would get through the door seals on the deck door usually in a lock it wasnt overbearing.

 

I have done 3 of my 4 cruises in the bottom floor of the ship and NEVER had an issue there, but the design of the amawaterways ships has a big thick wall between that floor and the restaurant (and the crew quarters behind  us separating the ship from the engineering spaces).
 

The ships use vacuum toilets so if you smell anything sewerish...somethings gone really wrong.

Edited July 12, 2022 by CastleCritic

[Canal archive]

The only time you may get a slight wiff is if your on board when they empty the holding tanks, not pleasant but it won’t hang around for long.

[rslinky]

Thanks for the responses.  I am not overly sensitive to odors, but just that it is in Emerald’s terms of agreement as something for which they give no compensation, I thought maybe it was a frequent thing.   Looking forward to this new experience.

[Canal archive]

Sounds like someone trying to cover every and all - just in cases.

[chengkp75]

On 7/12/2022 at 1:15 PM, rslinky said:

Thanks for the responses.  I am not overly sensitive to odors, but just that it is in Emerald’s terms of agreement as something for which they give no compensation, I thought maybe it was a frequent thing.   Looking forward to this new experience.

A common cause of odors in the cabin bathrooms is the floor drain trap.  This is not the shower drain, but there would be another drain in the floor of the bathroom outside the shower to take any overflow.  These drains typically see little water flowing into them, and so the dry AC air will evaporate the water in the trap, and allow odors to back up from the holding tanks.  A glass of water down these drains every couple of days will keep them from happening.  The drain is usually tucked underneath the toilet, or a trough type across the bathroom doorway.

[CPT Trips]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

A common cause of odors in the cabin bathrooms is the floor drain trap.  This is not the shower drain, but there would be another drain in the floor of the bathroom outside the shower to take any overflow.  These drains typically see little water flowing into them, and so the dry AC air will evaporate the water in the trap, and allow odors to back up from the holding tanks.  A glass of water down these drains every couple of days will keep them from happening.  The drain is usually tucked underneath the toilet, or a trough type across the bathroom doorway.

Thanks Chief. Successfully used this fix after reading a post (from you?) several years ago.

[chengkp75]

31 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

Thanks Chief. Successfully used this fix after reading a post (from you?) several years ago.

Yeah, probably me.  I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a cabin where the irate passenger has been pestering the front desk, and I find a cabin steward there, either standing around looking lost, or frantically cleaning the shower.  I pour the water down the drain, and within 30 seconds, the smell is gone.