Norwegian Breakaway = Stay Away

[Laureninkc]

Let me start off with not my first cruise, but it was the first, and now LAST for my husband.  We were celebrating our delayed honeymoon and my husband's birthday, and it was a disaster!  Stay with me.  On the first full day on the ship our toilet backed up and sprayed #2 water all over our bathroom (yes, my husband used the toilet that morning).  My bathroom was completely unpacked.  The guest service staff REFUSED to move us or properly clean our room, laughed in my husband's face when he asked for a toothbrush,  and only on day 4 did they move us when I made a stop to medical and he demanded to speak to the public safety officer.  Yes, you read that correct- by day four I was exorcist style out of both ends, but don't worry,  my husband was 12 hours behind me.  We remained sick for the remainder 4 days of our cruise and back at home.  And medical?  You can't get a TUMS without paying 150 dollars to see the doctor.   Another passenger came in while I was waiting with her son- in a FULL allergic reaction.  Do you know what they did?  TURNED HER AWAY.  Pay 150 or else.  No medical for purchase on the ship.  Seriously,  this is the TIP of the iceberg.  Did I leave a survey?  You bet.  Have they contacted me? Absolutely not.  PEOPLE- bottom line: overpriced, under serviced, miserable employees, and even worse; horrific experience. 

[hallux]

Apparently one of your fellow passengers was flushing things they weren't supposed to.  Here's another passenger from your trip reporting issues with the toilets and what they were told.  It shouldn't have taken 4 days to resolve, unless it WAS resolved and the offender kept doing what they were doing.

 

35 minutes ago, Laureninkc said:

Pay 150 or else.  No medical for purchase on the ship.

Medical care on ships is not included in your fare.  Do I sympathize with the parents seeking care for a child in distress?  To an extent.  If it was a known allergy the parents should have been prepared to handle it just in case.  If it was a known food allergy they should have been forthcoming with their server (they ask EVERY TIME you're seated) or asked the right questions at the buffet.  If it was an allergy they weren't aware of before, that's a problem.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

59 minutes ago, Laureninkc said:

Let me start off with not my first cruise, but it was the first, and now LAST for my husband.  We were celebrating our delayed honeymoon and my husband's birthday, and it was a disaster!  Stay with me.  On the first full day on the ship our toilet backed up and sprayed #2 water all over our bathroom (yes, my husband used the toilet that morning).  My bathroom was completely unpacked.  The guest service staff REFUSED to move us or properly clean our room, laughed in my husband's face when he asked for a toothbrush,  and only on day 4 did they move us when I made a stop to medical and he demanded to speak to the public safety officer.  Yes, you read that correct- by day four I was exorcist style out of both ends, but don't worry,  my husband was 12 hours behind me.  We remained sick for the remainder 4 days of our cruise and back at home.  And medical?  You can't get a TUMS without paying 150 dollars to see the doctor.   Another passenger came in while I was waiting with her son- in a FULL allergic reaction.  Do you know what they did?  TURNED HER AWAY.  Pay 150 or else.  No medical for purchase on the ship.  Seriously,  this is the TIP of the iceberg.  Did I leave a survey?  You bet.  Have they contacted me? Absolutely not.  PEOPLE- bottom line: overpriced, under serviced, miserable employees, and even worse; horrific experience. 

I can tell there really isn’t a response you’ll find acceptable.  So…..Sorry for your experience, and cruising probably isn’t something you should consider in the future.

[Laureninkc]

It presented as an unknown allergic reaction and the mom just didn't know what to do.  We have children and I sympathize with the situation she was in.  I paid my 150 and moved on!

[Laureninkc]

17 minutes ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

I can tell there really isn’t a response you’ll find acceptable.  So…..Sorry for your experience, and cruising probably isn’t something you should consider in the future.

I really hope I can get my husband on another cruise line!  I have been on 5 lines so far and this is the ONLY time I have had an issue.  I want to show him the good side!

[hallux]

10 hours ago, Laureninkc said:

I really hope I can get my husband on another cruise line!  I have been on 5 lines so far and this is the ONLY time I have had an issue.  I want to show him the good side!

and in my 5 cruises I've only had good experiences on my 3 NCL cruises while I found some things to complain about on my two RCL cruises.  Point being that there are good and bad to be said about almost ANY cruise line and one experience doesn't tell the full story for any cruise line.

Edited July 25, 2022 by hallux

[bellevuemountain]

I’m curious.  Would it be helpful to take a picture / video of events (example, a toilet that overflows with human offerings inside a cabin) to submit when bringing up the issue with management?  And would it be against CC community guidelines to post these pictures here?  
 

Perhaps it is ignorance, but I am having a hard time with the concept of the post.  If this question has been answered before, pardon the suggestion.

Edited July 25, 2022 by bellevuemountain

[Lightnin42]

Oh boy. I’m planning being on the Breakaway in about a month. This will be my fourth time sailing on her. Never had a problem before.

[chengkp75]

18 hours ago, hallux said:

Apparently one of your fellow passengers was flushing things they weren't supposed to.  Here's another passenger from your trip reporting issues with the toilets and what they were told.  It shouldn't have taken 4 days to resolve, unless it WAS resolved and the offender kept doing what they were doing.

I considered this to be a foregone conclusion when cruising restarted, and am frankly surprised that there haven't been more complaints about blocked toilets.  And, it could very well have taken 4 days to resolve, depending on what was flushed, and where it lodged.  I've had two events that took days to resolve, one where a passenger decided it would be a good idea to flush their bikini down the hopper, and it lodged in a bend in the pipes that was particularly hard to reach with the roto-rooter to chop it out.  The second was when a passenger decided it would be great fun to flush a hand towel down the hopper, and this also lodged where we were lying on top of ductwork, in the overhead against a steel bulkhead, trying to chop this out.  Due to that position, it required three plumbers at a time to operate and feed the roto-rooter in, and then it took days of cutting to get it clear, working shifts around the clock.

[MsMidge]

23 hours ago, Laureninkc said:

Let me start off with not my first cruise, but it was the first, and now LAST for my husband.  We were celebrating our delayed honeymoon and my husband's birthday, and it was a disaster!  Stay with me.  On the first full day on the ship our toilet backed up and sprayed #2 water all over our bathroom (yes, my husband used the toilet that morning).  My bathroom was completely unpacked.  The guest service staff REFUSED to move us or properly clean our room, laughed in my husband's face when he asked for a toothbrush,  and only on day 4 did they move us when I made a stop to medical and he demanded to speak to the public safety officer.  Yes, you read that correct- by day four I was exorcist style out of both ends, but don't worry,  my husband was 12 hours behind me.  We remained sick for the remainder 4 days of our cruise and back at home.  And medical?  You can't get a TUMS without paying 150 dollars to see the doctor.   Another passenger came in while I was waiting with her son- in a FULL allergic reaction.  Do you know what they did?  TURNED HER AWAY.  Pay 150 or else.  No medical for purchase on the ship.  Seriously,  this is the TIP of the iceberg.  Did I leave a survey?  You bet.  Have they contacted me? Absolutely not.  PEOPLE- bottom line: overpriced, under serviced, miserable employees, and even worse; horrific experience. 

Next time try a different cruiseline.  Not all cruise lines hire incompetent people.  We were on a Hawaiian cruise with them around 20 years ago and weren’t sure we were even going to make it, as nothing seemed to work right and all they did was blame the passengers…

[Harratine]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I considered this to be a foregone conclusion when cruising restarted, and am frankly surprised that there haven't been more complaints about blocked toilets.  And, it could very well have taken 4 days to resolve, depending on what was flushed, and where it lodged.  I've had two events that took days to resolve, one where a passenger decided it would be a good idea to flush their bikini down the hopper, and it lodged in a bend in the pipes that was particularly hard to reach with the roto-rooter to chop it out.  The second was when a passenger decided it would be great fun to flush a hand towel down the hopper, and this also lodged where we were lying on top of ductwork, in the overhead against a steel bulkhead, trying to chop this out.  Due to that position, it required three plumbers at a time to operate and feed the roto-rooter in, and then it took days of cutting to get it clear, working shifts around the clock.

Thanks for the feedback. I am also wondering if the down time of the cruise ships is playing a part.  Restarting a vacuum system after not using it for a year and a half would seem to be something that could cause havoc.  

[chengkp75]

1 minute ago, Harratine said:

Thanks for the feedback. I am also wondering if the down time of the cruise ships is playing a part.  Restarting a vacuum system after not using it for a year and a half would seem to be something that could cause havoc.  

No, not really.  The systems were always running, remember, there was crew onboard all the time.  If the toilets are left too long without flushing, the water in the  bowl will evaporate, and this can lead to loss of vacuum and smells.  So, the toilets in the guest cabins would be flushed weekly or every other week, to keep the valves working.

[Harratine]

1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

No, not really.  The systems were always running, remember, there was crew onboard all the time.  If the toilets are left too long without flushing, the water in the  bowl will evaporate, and this can lead to loss of vacuum and smells.  So, the toilets in the guest cabins would be flushed weekly or every other week, to keep the valves working.

Interesting.  Thanks for information.  You are always on point with the technical responses.

[coffeebean]

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I considered this to be a foregone conclusion when cruising restarted, and am frankly surprised that there haven't been more complaints about blocked toilets.  And, it could very well have taken 4 days to resolve, depending on what was flushed, and where it lodged.  I've had two events that took days to resolve, one where a passenger decided it would be a good idea to flush their bikini down the hopper, and it lodged in a bend in the pipes that was particularly hard to reach with the roto-rooter to chop it out.  The second was when a passenger decided it would be great fun to flush a hand towel down the hopper, and this also lodged where we were lying on top of ductwork, in the overhead against a steel bulkhead, trying to chop this out.  Due to that position, it required three plumbers at a time to operate and feed the roto-rooter in, and then it took days of cutting to get it clear, working shifts around the clock.

I do understand some of these clogs in the toilet system can be very challenging to clear. Having said that, wouldn't the cruise line offer another stateroom to anyone on that clogged line, providing the ship was not at full capacity?

[chengkp75]

6 minutes ago, coffeebean said:

I do understand some of these clogs in the toilet system can be very challenging to clear. Having said that, wouldn't the cruise line offer another stateroom to anyone on that clogged line, providing the ship was not at full capacity?

It would depend on how many cabins are affected.  The bikini incident only affected about 6 cabins, but the hand towel took out around 100 cabins.  I typically don't comment on guest relations questions, as that is not my wheelhouse, but they didn't have 100 cabins available.  All the toilets on the ship flow together to about 4-6 systems, and any toilet upstream of the clog isn't going to work, so if it gets close to the end, you could be talking about 25% of the entire ship being without toilets.  A vacuum toilet system does not have increasing pipe size the further along it goes like a home or land system does, the pipe is the same size from the highest deck to the engine room, so the clog could catch anywhere.  I have had total system clogs (25% toilets down), but fortunately we cleared it quickly.

[QuattroRomeo]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

It would depend on how many cabins are affected.  The bikini incident only affected about 6 cabins, but the hand towel took out around 100 cabins.  I typically don't comment on guest relations questions, as that is not my wheelhouse, but they didn't have 100 cabins available.  All the toilets on the ship flow together to about 4-6 systems, and any toilet upstream of the clog isn't going to work, so if it gets close to the end, you could be talking about 25% of the entire ship being without toilets.  A vacuum toilet system does not have increasing pipe size the further along it goes like a home or land system does, the pipe is the same size from the highest deck to the engine room, so the clog could catch anywhere.  I have had total system clogs (25% toilets down), but fortunately we cleared it quickly.

 

! Chengkp75, you have provided so many informative posts that I think you should write a book entitled "The Bikini Incident and other Adventures of a Cruise Ship Engineer"!  I know I would buy it!!

 

Is there any way to know what stateroom caused the problem (short of having the item visible in a  particular toilet)? And given how common a problem this is, are there any promising engineering inventions on the horizon? 

[chengkp75]

8 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Is there any way to know what stateroom caused the problem (short of having the item visible in a  particular toilet)? And given how common a problem this is, are there any promising engineering inventions on the horizon?

My plumbers became pretty good detectives in determining the offending cabin down to a small group, or even the actual cabin.  For some, after laundering, I would take the offending garment and show it to all passengers whose toilets were affected, and let them trade the "stink eye" between themselves.

 

As for relieving the problem, no, unless you completely re-invent a new toilet system, a vacuum system is always going to be susceptible to clogs from foreign objects.  We've seen articles of clothing, towels, cloth napkins, feminine hygiene products, food bones, crack pipes, coke spoons, and even ammunition that was flushed down the toilet.  It's incredible, because people can't flush this stuff down the toilets at home, yet they think nothing of it on the ship.  When there is a noro outbreak on a ship, the amount of underwear we find in clogs jumps dramatically (I'll leave you to visualize why).

[pdmlynek]

32 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

As for relieving the problem, no, unless you completely re-invent a new toilet system, a vacuum system is always going to be susceptible to clogs from foreign objects.  We've seen articles of clothing, towels, cloth napkins, feminine hygiene products, food bones, crack pipes, coke spoons, and even ammunition that was flushed down the toilet.  It's incredible, because people can't flush this stuff down the toilets at home, yet they think nothing of it on the ship.  When there is a noro outbreak on a ship, the amount of underwear we find in clogs jumps dramatically (I'll leave you to visualize why).

Wow, that is incredible!  People who put objects like these in the toilet system should be made to pay for repairs, and clean up other cabins.  This is simply an unacceptable behavior.

 

[MsMidge]

Oh please. If someone came to a passenger and showed what was apparently clogging some pipe, I am sure he would be greeted with a big old “get away from me, stop accusing me, and I don’t care what you say you found” and a talking to later from management.  

[chengkp75]

29 minutes ago, MsMidge said:

and a talking to later from management.  

I was "management", one of 4 top officers on the ship.  And, the Captain concurred with my actions.

[SeaShark]

On 7/25/2022 at 4:06 PM, chengkp75 said:

I considered this to be a foregone conclusion when cruising restarted, and am frankly surprised that there haven't been more complaints about blocked toilets.  And, it could very well have taken 4 days to resolve, depending on what was flushed, and where it lodged.  I've had two events that took days to resolve, one where a passenger decided it would be a good idea to flush their bikini down the hopper, and it lodged in a bend in the pipes that was particularly hard to reach with the roto-rooter to chop it out.  The second was when a passenger decided it would be great fun to flush a hand towel down the hopper, and this also lodged where we were lying on top of ductwork, in the overhead against a steel bulkhead, trying to chop this out.  Due to that position, it required three plumbers at a time to operate and feed the roto-rooter in, and then it took days of cutting to get it clear, working shifts around the clock.

 

What people fail to realize is just how far reaching the effects of an incident can be. People see the clog, people see the inoperable toilets. However, three plumbers working shifts around the clock for days means that these people aren't available for other duties/issues/problems...so not only is there the immediate issues with the toilets, the work that these folks would otherwise be doing is delayed.

[MsMidge]

23 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

What people fail to realize is just how far reaching the effects of an incident can be. People see the clog, people see the inoperable toilets. However, three plumbers working shifts around the clock for days means that these people aren't available for other duties/issues/problems...so not only is there the immediate issues with the toilets, the work that these folks would otherwise be doing is delayed.

Your assuming that every toilet problem is a clog and that it could take so many people so much time to unclog it.  

[SeaShark]

7 minutes ago, MsMidge said:

Your assuming that every toilet problem is a clog and that it could take so many people so much time to unclog it.  

 

Sorry, but I never said every problem is a clog, nor did I say every issue took this many people. I was commenting on the one specific issue mentioned in the thread I quoted which was a clog and which did require a specific complement of workers to resolve. To try to say every incident is the same is as erroneous as trying to argue how one small difference negates the comparison.

 

My point was (and still is) that workers are a resource, and when they are diverted for instances like the one described, then they are also not available to do the work they would normally do instead, and the problems flow downstream from there.