No toilet for 3 days

[Ellen495]

We are in a Neptune suite and the toilet doesn't work. It really doesn't matter that we're in a Neptune suite - EVERYONE deserves a working toilet. They are working on it. Apparently other rooms are having issues as well. 

At this point, I think they owe us some kind of compensation as we have to walk all the way out (we are in the aft at the end) to go to the bathroom. 

Frustration.

Glacier Bay is beautiful and the food is good and the people are very, very nice - having a great time other than the bathroom. Has this happened to others?

Ellen

[BroncoBobblehead]

10 minutes ago, Ellen495 said:

We are in a Neptune suite and the toilet doesn't work. It really doesn't matter that we're in a Neptune suite - EVERYONE deserves a working toilet. They are working on it. Apparently other rooms are having issues as well. 

At this point, I think they owe us some kind of compensation as we have to walk all the way out (we are in the aft at the end) to go to the bathroom. 

Frustration.

Glacier Bay is beautiful and the food is good and the people are very, very nice - having a great time other than the bathroom. Has this happened to others?

Ellen

Which ship are you on and which floor? Just curious as we had some issues on our debarkation morning (Koningsdam #7189) this past Saturday….

[CruiserBruce]

There're many stories around about the sensitivities of ship's toilets. No doubt it has happened before.. Its unfortunate this is happening,  certainly far less than desirable.  But frequently,  the problem is people putting things down the toilet they shouldn't. 

 

Hopefully the problem is fixed soon.

[LMaxwell]

3 days? Go to guest relations desk and explain you have a non-functioning toilet, that is an unsanitary situation. None of these ships are sailing full - it doesn't take a huge leap for guest relations to arrange for you to move to another room.  

[Ellen495]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

There're many stories around about the sensitivities of ship's toilets. No doubt it has happened before.. Its unfortunate this is happening,  certainly far less than desirable.  But frequently,  the problem is people putting things down the toilet they shouldn't. 

 

Hopefully the problem is fixed soon.

Definitely didn't put anything in it other than TP and yes, I hope it's resolved soon. Yes - moving to a new room is a great idea!

[Crew News]

3 hours ago, Ellen495 said:

Definitely didn't put anything in it other than TP and yes, I hope it's resolved soon. Yes - moving to a new room is a great idea!

The sewer system is shared by a number of rooms so if one room does not follow the rules by putting forbidden items in their toilets it will affect everyone.

 

Use your Navigator to report the issue and all of the ship's management will be notified.  Go to the Connect tab -> Let Us Know -> Comments. 

[Mary229]

7 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

3 days? Go to guest relations desk and explain you have a non-functioning toilet, that is an unsanitary situation. None of these ships are sailing full - it doesn't take a huge leap for guest relations to arrange for you to move to another room.  

I agree, they could even offer an interior cabin across the hall for their exclusive use 

[whogo]

After one day I think I would ask Holland America to fly me home and reimburse me all expenses for the cruise. No toilets? Cripes, Motel 6's have working toilets.

[Heartgrove]

Three days - and you have not requested to be moved? Are the neighboring staterooms affected as well? I can't believe that you are putting ups with this.

[chengkp75]

Unfortunately, unworking toilets are not uncommon on cruise ships, and three days, while a long time, is not out of reason.  Since it is reported that other cabins have the same problem, the blockage has moved down the system.  Just like your house, the waste system keeps adding toilets as it travels down the ship.  Your toilet will join with those surrounding it, then join with others on the same deck a little further away, and then with cabins above and below you, and if the blockage stops up the pipe anywhere between your toilet and the vacuum pumps in the engine room, you and everyone else "upstream" of the blockage will be without a toilet.  This is why "giving an inside cabin across from your cabin would likely not work, as that cabin almost certainly doesn't have a working toilet either.  And, as the OP says, they may have abided by the proper use of the toilet, but not everyone does.

 

A difficulty of marine vacuum toilet systems, is that unlike your home's sanitary system, which continues to get bigger as it goes down (from the 1.5" sink drain or the 4" toilet drain to the 6" main sewer line leaving the house, to the 24" sewer line in the street, and so on, the vacuum toilet system is 2" even when connected to 200 toilets.  This causes problems when someone flushes something down the toilet that doesn't belong there.  I remember one time, when someone flushed what appeared to be (from the debris we collected in the roto-rooter) a bath towel down the toilet.  This managed to move down to a section of piping that was particularly difficult to access with the rooter, and it took us 2 days to grind the towel up enough to unblock the pipe, and about 100 cabins were without toilets during this time.  We were working around the clock on this, but it was the hardest blockage I've seen in 45 years at sea.

 

I don't comment on customer service or compensation aspects, as that is not my area of expertise, but unfortunately stopped up toilets are a thing to live with on a cruise ship, as long as people are a-holes.

[albingirl]

Very sad this is going on three days.  We've had flooding in cabins in two previous cruises and when I went to guest services they acted as though this never happens.  I'd sit on a chair by guest services until they move you to another cabin.  This is unacceptable, and gross by the way. The smell must be outrageous.

[chengkp75]

17 minutes ago, albingirl said:

The smell must be outrageous.

Typically, they will come and suck out the non-flushing toilets if the problem is going to persist beyond a day.

[oaktreerb]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Unfortunately, unworking toilets are not uncommon on cruise ships, and three days, while a long time, is not out of reason.  Since it is reported that other cabins have the same problem, the blockage has moved down the system.  Just like your house, the waste system keeps adding toilets as it travels down the ship.  Your toilet will join with those surrounding it, then join with others on the same deck a little further away, and then with cabins above and below you, and if the blockage stops up the pipe anywhere between your toilet and the vacuum pumps in the engine room, you and everyone else "upstream" of the blockage will be without a toilet.  This is why "giving an inside cabin across from your cabin would likely not work, as that cabin almost certainly doesn't have a working toilet either.  And, as the OP says, they may have abided by the proper use of the toilet, but not everyone does.

 

A difficulty of marine vacuum toilet systems, is that unlike your home's sanitary system, which continues to get bigger as it goes down (from the 1.5" sink drain or the 4" toilet drain to the 6" main sewer line leaving the house, to the 24" sewer line in the street, and so on, the vacuum toilet system is 2" even when connected to 200 toilets.  This causes problems when someone flushes something down the toilet that doesn't belong there.  I remember one time, when someone flushed what appeared to be (from the debris we collected in the roto-rooter) a bath towel down the toilet.  This managed to move down to a section of piping that was particularly difficult to access with the rooter, and it took us 2 days to grind the towel up enough to unblock the pipe, and about 100 cabins were without toilets during this time.  We were working around the clock on this, but it was the hardest blockage I've seen in 45 years at sea.

 

I don't comment on customer service or compensation aspects, as that is not my area of expertise, but unfortunately stopped up toilets are a thing to live with on a cruise ship, as long as people are a-holes.

In June there was a trip report from a cruiser who complained about the room stewards replacing the Charmin brand toilet paper she brought for the stateroom.   Her husband wanted the softer toilet paper and the stewards repeatedly replaced it with the ship’s toilet paper.  Folks on the thread replied that the Charmin could clog up the toilets and they should use the HAL provided toilet paper.  The cruiser said she talked to people onboard who told her it was ok to use the Charmin she brought with her.  She made a joke of the controversy.

 

Could you please address the issue of people providing their own toilet paper.   I don’t even throw a tissue in the toilet in fear of causing a back up!

 

 

[chengkp75]

24 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

In June there was a trip report from a cruiser who complained about the room stewards replacing the Charmin brand toilet paper she brought for the stateroom.   Her husband wanted the softer toilet paper and the stewards repeatedly replaced it with the ship’s toilet paper.  Folks on the thread replied that the Charmin could clog up the toilets and they should use the HAL provided toilet paper.  The cruiser said she talked to people onboard who told her it was ok to use the Charmin she brought with her.  She made a joke of the controversy.

 

Could you please address the issue of people providing their own toilet paper.   I don’t even throw a tissue in the toilet in fear of causing a back up!

 

 

This is an urban myth.  With "normal use", any toilet paper is fine to use on ship's toilets.  Now, if you are of the "use half a roll for each use" persuasion, then any toilet paper can also cause problems, but more so with the thicker types.  People think that ship's systems are the same as boat systems, which is far from true.  The cruise lines use the thin, papery type because they go through pallet loads of it each week, and it is the cheapest they can get.  Facial tissues are also okay to flush, as these share a common manufacturing technique with toilet tissue, i.e. they both use pressed paper fibers (the factory presses wet short paper fibers between rollers to form the paper when it dries).  When wet, these fibers break apart fairly quickly.  Wipes (facial, baby, sanitary) as well as things like paper towels,  use woven paper fibers, where the naturally long paper fibers are forced together so they intertwine with each other, producing the strength that is desired in these products.  These products will cause problems in vacuum toilet systems, and are one of the primary culprits when we clear a clog. 

[Gunther1]

People bring their own TP ?  JJJJJEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

[albingirl]

I hear about people bringing their own snacks onboard.  Cheezits, and all kinds of things.  TP doesn't surprise me. 

[willoL]

1 hour ago, Gunther1 said:

People bring their own TP ?  JJJJJEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

As a parent, I always brought wet wipes along on trips when my kids were younger. Travel can upset the digestion, and giving a kindergarten age child the necessary tools to take care of his own hygiene (thoroughly!) just makes life easier and better. 🚽

 

HOWEVER, I also always have a plastic bag in my purse when carrying wipes for my children. (Heck, I don't fly without a gallon Ziplock in case I want to dispose of something while the flight attendants are busy elsewhere.) Much like dog waste on a walk, WE ALWAYS CLEAN UP AFTER OURSELVES and the wipes *ALWAYS* go in the trash--never flushed--and in a bag Mom brought if the ship's waste cans aren't lined.

 

On Crystal, if I remember correctly, their trash bins typically only had a paper doily at the bottom, no plastic liner bag. That's great when most of your waste is paper and other recyclables, but icky if you've got soiled wipes from the washroom. Not to mention my motion sick prone kid sometimes chews gum to ease his nausea. Lining the trash can near the toilet with my own bag also made it less likely my kid would chuck gum into the can and make a sticky mess! The kids were trained to throw anything "icky or sticky" in the lined can.

 

I also carry a small folded quantity of TP in my purse, or a couple of tissues, in my purse most of the time. I expect most ladies have, at some point, found themselves in a stall with an empty cardboard roll at an inconvenient moment. Fortunately, another lady in an adjacent stall will usually help, but wasn't there a Seinfeld about "no square to spare"... 😁

[Dunmore2]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

This is an urban myth.  With "normal use", any toilet paper is fine to use on ship's toilets.  Now, if you are of the "use half a roll for each use" persuasion, then any toilet paper can also cause problems, but more so with the thicker types.  People think that ship's systems are the same as boat systems, which is far from true.  The cruise lines use the thin, papery type because they go through pallet loads of it each week, and it is the cheapest they can get.  Facial tissues are also okay to flush, as these share a common manufacturing technique with toilet tissue, i.e. they both use pressed paper fibers (the factory presses wet short paper fibers between rollers to form the paper when it dries).  When wet, these fibers break apart fairly quickly.  Wipes (facial, baby, sanitary) as well as things like paper towels,  use woven paper fibers, where the naturally long paper fibers are forced together so they intertwine with each other, producing the strength that is desired in these products.  These products will cause problems in vacuum toilet systems, and are one of the primary culprits when we clear a clog. 

Thank you for your response. You are the authority when it comes to plumbing. Some items aren’t meant to be flushed, but toilet and facial tissues are fine.  Hopefully those who belittled the blogger are reading this and feeling remorse.  There’s some who take the term “cruise critic” to heart.

[TiogaCruiser]

So I’m going a bit off topic here, with this question:

 

What is a “marine toilet”?

 

For us, the context is we’re looking at a class B RV. The manufacturer (Roadtrek - (2022) the new owners) says they use a marine toilet. The salesman didn’t know what that meant. Google hasn’t cleared it up. There’s a black water tank and macerater.

 

Anyone?

Edited July 13, 2022 by TiogaCruiser

[Seasick Sailor]

Doesn't a marine toilet use a holding tank which you need to take to a depot to empty? 

[chengkp75]

39 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

So I’m going a bit off topic here, with this question:

 

What is a “marine toilet”?

 

For us, the context is we’re looking at a class B RV. The manufacturer (Roadtrek - (2022) the new owners) says they use a marine toilet. The salesman didn’t know what that meant. Google hasn’t cleared it up. There’s a black water tank and macerater.

 

Anyone?

Typically an RV toilet is set directly above the holding tank, so when you press the button to start the water flowing into it, it discharges straight down into the holding tank.  There will be water in the bowl at all times, acting as the drain trap for odors, just like your home toilet.  A marine toilet may be "dry flushed" or "wet flushed", meaning whether or not there is water in the bowl all the time (toilets on small boats move around more than RV's, so water in the bowl could splash out).  The marine toilet not only has a water pump for the water supply, but has a pump for the effluent from the bowl, so the toilet does not have to be directly above the tank.  This can be an advantage when placed in a smaller RV, like your "class B".

[chengkp75]

36 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Doesn't a marine toilet use a holding tank which you need to take to a depot to empty? 

So does an RV toilet.

[LMaxwell]

Ellen - has Guest Services done anything for you today / or / have the repairs been completed? 

[TiogaCruiser]

@chengkp75  

Thank you! ( I was hoping for a chance to ask you.)😇

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

Ok since we digressed.  According to my municipal water utility and how stuff works TP and Tissue differ significantly in breakdown rates 

 

quote

 

While toilet tissue does not usually have these additions, it does have one important feature that facial tissue does not. Toilet paper easily dissolves in water in a process that takes anywhere from one to four minutes. Toilet paper's quick-dissolve qualities are engineered to help it pass through pipes or septic systems, and to be processed by municipal sewer treatment plants.

And, while your municipality wants the effluent to break down to liquid as much as possible, a vacuum toilet system needs to have some "cohesion" to form a "plug" that gets sucked down the piping.  If the piping runs are too long, there are "booster" stations that are designed to recreate the "plug" so the effluent gets sucked down the piping.  Huge difference between land sewage and treatment plants and ship's vacuum systems.