Help, currently stuck on Dawn with leaking toilet

[HarleyYogi]

We are now on hour 12 since first reporting plumbing problems.  We have called guest service, our room steward, the floor manager for our deck who has also notified the head of housekeeping and here we are still with continuing liquid/water on our floor and no sign of engineering. Does anyone have any advice on how to get this fixed? It’s a sanitation issue.   Should I escalate off ship to NCL?

[PartyPlannerLady]

"Liquid water"?  I'd simply go down to guest services and speak to someone there in person asking firmly but politely to have someone from engineering, etc to meet you there right away. 

[9tee2Sea]

put lots of towels underneath the leak, then leave a note for the cabin steward telling him/her why there is a mound of wet towels under the toilet tank.  If you see your cabin steward, mention it to them

[zqvol]

Escalating to off the ship will accomplish nothing. Go to guest services and wait until you talk to someone with stripes on their sleeves. 

[tomk3212]

Seriously??!!?  You're posting this on CC in hopes of getting this crappy situation resolved???  What, do you expect the CEO of NCL to read this and say, "DAMN!!!  Somebody on the Dawn better fix this ASAP!  I'd better call the ship's Captain right now..."

 

As @zqvol suggested above, get yourself down to Guest Services ASAP & DON'T LEAVE until you talk to a senior officer.  Be polite but FIRM & state that the problem has existed 12 hours & needs to be fixed ASAP.  'The squeeky wheel always gets the grease"

[chengkp75]

Where is the water coming from?  Is the toilet bowl overflowing?  Is it water, or sewage?  Are you actively doing anything about it?  A little explanation, and I may be able to help, if you are at all handy.

 

Now, go to guest services, and tell them that you want to speak to the Hotel Director, or the Staff Chief Engineer, in person, to report this issue, and that if you don't get to see them right away, you will be filing a report with the USPH/CDC for a violation of the Vessel Sanitation Program.  That will get their attention.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, 9tee2Sea said:

put lots of towels underneath the leak, then leave a note for the cabin steward telling him/her why there is a mound of wet towels under the toilet tank.  If you see your cabin steward, mention it to them

There is no toilet tank.  But, if it is merely water overflowing a clean toilet bowl, it is the water valve that is stuck on, and simply turning off the water supply to the toilet (in the locker in the passageway outside the bathroom) will stop the overflowing.

[bluesea777]

Place towels on floor around overflowing toilet and when wet, take photos with your phone and go down to Guest Services and show them the photos. 
 

 

[kitkat343]

Also, as a general note if there is a major problem on the ship that you feel you are entitled to compensation for, you need to resolve that while on the ship.  If they tell you onboard, "oh, just contact the cruise line after the cruise and they'll help you" you need insist on escalating the issue on the ship.  The people on the ship have the most power to fix problems, and contacting the cruise line after the cruise has ended is unlikely to get you much of a resolution (and that's not a slam of NCL - this has been reported on the forums of different cruise lines).  If something major occurs, you go down to guest services and refuse to leave until they fix the problem.  Good luck. 

[Asawi]

I had a room problem when I was on Dawn in March (incredibly high noice from ventilation - we're talking "earplugs necessary even during daytime" noice level) and I really had to be insistent to get it fixed. Everyone that came to check it out agreed it was an issue but ship was full with no room they could move me to. It took about 3-4 days on my 12-day cruise to get it fixed (after they had told it couldn't be fixed, all I could hope for was compensation after the cruise - fortunately they were wrong...). 

The reason I tell this is to point out that it seems as you cannot just wait for something to be done. Even if reported more than once, keep on it and INSIST that both hotel manager and technicians come to look! Rinse and repeat...

[Laszlo]

11 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

There is no toilet tank.  But, if it is merely water overflowing a clean toilet bowl, it is the water valve that is stuck on, and simply turning off the water supply to the toilet (in the locker in the passageway outside the bathroom) will stop the overflowing.

One of the reasons I carry a tube of 3M 5200  Lol

[HarleyYogi]

14 hours ago, HarleyYogi said:

We are now on hour 12 since first reporting plumbing problems.  We have called guest service, our room steward, the floor manager for our deck who has also notified the head of housekeeping and here we are still with continuing liquid/water on our floor and no sign of engineering. Does anyone have any advice on how to get this fixed? It’s a sanitation issue.   Should I escalate off ship to NCL?

All, thank you so much for the advice and apologies for the delay is reporting back here.  Last night at approximately 10:30pm the plumber showed.  It appears resolved but the level of effort it took by me is unacceptable and brings a new meaning to free-style cruising where you stand in lines for 30 minutes for guest services and many phone calls.  This is only my second experience with NCL, the other being Pride of America, and they appear to be no where near RCL/Celebrity in service, food and presentation.  Lesson learned.  

[Laszlo]

1 hour ago, HarleyYogi said:

All, thank you so much for the advice and apologies for the delay is reporting back here.  Last night at approximately 10:30pm the plumber showed.  It appears resolved but the level of effort it took by me is unacceptable and brings a new meaning to free-style cruising where you stand in lines for 30 minutes for guest services and many phone calls.  This is only my second experience with NCL, the other being Pride of America, and they appear to be no where near RCL/Celebrity in service, food and presentation.  Lesson learned.  

Unfortunately sometimes you just need to bang on the right doors. A number of years back my wife and I were on the Dawn for a 7 day cruise. Day one our room steward tells us the refrigerator is not working. Not a huge problem but I do like keeping drinks in there. Before we left port I went to guest services, told them the issue and I got a lot of nods. One day later nothing has happened so I go back down to GS. Now they tell me it can't be fixed and they don't have any replacements, OK.... guess will have to live with it. We receive a cheap bottle of wine. Later that afternoon we are invited in the Captains cocktail party which we attend. While standing around with a drink in our hands who comes over to us and ask how our cruise is going? The Captain and maybe even better yet the hotel director. I give the hotel director the cliff notes version of the story, the Captain doesn't look too pleased. He asked for our names and cabin number. I kid you not, by the time we got back to our cabin 20 minutes later not only was the fridge fixed.... it was brand new Lol

[dexddd]

2 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Unfortunately sometimes you just need to bang on the right doors. A number of years back my wife and I were on the Dawn for a 7 day cruise. Day one our room steward tells us the refrigerator is not working. Not a huge problem but I do like keeping drinks in there. Before we left port I went to guest services, told them the issue and I got a lot of nods. One day later nothing has happened so I go back down to GS. Now they tell me it can't be fixed and they don't have any replacements, OK.... guess will have to live with it. We receive a cheap bottle of wine. Later that afternoon we are invited in the Captains cocktail party which we attend. While standing around with a drink in our hands who comes over to us and ask how our cruise is going? The Captain and maybe even better yet the hotel director. I give the hotel director the cliff notes version of the story, the Captain doesn't look too pleased. He asked for our names and cabin number. I kid you not, by the time we got back to our cabin 20 minutes later not only was the fridge fixed.... it was brand new Lol

We had similar experience, twice.  First was POA in an OS doing a TransPac to Hawaii.  One day cancelled due to drydock not done.  Got on, butler says whirlpool on balcony not working, work request was in.  I don't recall exactly how much longer, maybe day three still not working.  Happened to be walking out by pool deck and see Klaus who I've always heard great things about but we never sailed with.    Mentioned it to him and fixed within the hour.  May not sound like an issue but we partially picked that room over others for whirlpool.  I expect things to be working in the room.

 

Second was Spirit in an OS.  Shower put out a trickle.  Mentioned to butler first night.  Next day at Lats party mentioned it to either HD or Maintenance.  Even had a CC member see room and showed shower output.  Thought it was funny.  By dinner, still nothing went to Captain's party.  At line entering was Captain and Concierge.  He happened to ask how things were going so I took the opportunity to let him know what happened.  Concierge went pale.  Shower fixed by time we went back to the room.

 

I will say we see very few maintenance issues here, so not a widespread problem I'd say.  Way back Dawn was known for leaky pipes but no reports in years.

[julig22]

3 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Unfortunately sometimes you just need to bang on the right doors.

 

While standing around with a drink in our hands who comes over to us and ask how our cruise is going? The Captain and maybe even better yet the hotel director. I give the hotel director the cliff notes version of the story, the Captain doesn't look too pleased. He asked for our names and cabin number. I kid you not, by the time we got back to our cabin 20 minutes later not only was the fridge fixed.... it was brand new Lol

Yup, getting the message to the right person tends to work wonders. Years ago I was having issues with my NCL transfer back to JFK - they cancelled the excursion I'd booked and said there wasn't a shuttle. Apparently everyone on the ship was local LOL!

I was not pleased. Got into an elevator with the hotel director, who asked how it was going. I started to just say great (the cruise had been good) but saw those stripes and told him about the transfer fiasco. They called within an hour to tell me there would be a shuttle waiting when we disembarked.

One excellent reason to attend the Meet & Greet. They usually give you a card with the contact info for all the officers - and emphasize to use it.  I've also had success with more general issues by putting comments in the box by Guest Services, got a follow-up call the following day.

[The Traveling Man]

4 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Unfortunately sometimes you just need to bang on the right doors. A number of years back my wife and I were on the Dawn for a 7 day cruise. Day one our room steward tells us the refrigerator is not working. Not a huge problem but I do like keeping drinks in there. Before we left port I went to guest services, told them the issue and I got a lot of nods. One day later nothing has happened so I go back down to GS. Now they tell me it can't be fixed and they don't have any replacements, OK.... guess will have to live with it. We receive a cheap bottle of wine. Later that afternoon we are invited in the Captains cocktail party which we attend. While standing around with a drink in our hands who comes over to us and ask how our cruise is going? The Captain and maybe even better yet the hotel director. I give the hotel director the cliff notes version of the story, the Captain doesn't look too pleased. He asked for our names and cabin number. I kid you not, by the time we got back to our cabin 20 minutes later not only was the fridge fixed.... it was brand new Lol

Which just goes to confirm "it's not what you know, it's who you know."  We have had similar experiences on the Dawn as well as other ships.  It's why we go out of our way to meet and get to know the senior officers.

[PartyPlannerLady]

All the OP had to do to stop the leak until it was fixdc is close the valve on the feed line to the toilet.  At least that would have stopped the leak until it got fixed properly.

[Kortehgehn]

1 hour ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

All the OP had to do to stop the leak until it was fixdc is close the valve on the feed line to the toilet.  At least that would have stopped the leak until it got fixed properly.

I will admit that I didn't pay too much attention to the details of the bathroom plumbing on our last voyage, but I don't believe that those valves are accessible to passengers.  I think they are typically located outside the stateroom behind a panel in the hallway as @chengkp75 alluded to in a previous post.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

2 hours ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

All the OP had to do to stop the leak until it was fixdc is close the valve on the feed line to the toilet.  At least that would have stopped the leak until it got fixed properly.

That might have caused plumbing issues on the rest of the ship.  Not to mention that they shouldn’t have to.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

All the OP had to do to stop the leak until it was fixdc is close the valve on the feed line to the toilet.  At least that would have stopped the leak until it got fixed properly.

Please go back and read post #7, written by our retired ship's chief engineer @chengkp75. The valve is not in the cabin and not intended to be accessible by a passenger . It's located in a locker in the hall.

Edited June 1 by njhorseman

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

All the OP had to do to stop the leak until it was fixdc is close the valve on the feed line to the toilet.  At least that would have stopped the leak until it got fixed properly.

Valve is not accessible to passengers 

[mexico8]

On 5/30/2024 at 12:34 PM, julig22 said:

Yup, getting the message to the right person tends to work wonders. Years ago I was having issues with my NCL transfer back to JFK - they cancelled the excursion I'd booked and said there wasn't a shuttle. Apparently everyone on the ship was local LOL!

I was not pleased. Got into an elevator with the hotel director, who asked how it was going. I started to just say great (the cruise had been good) but saw those stripes and told him about the transfer fiasco. They called within an hour to tell me there would be a shuttle waiting when we disembarked.

One excellent reason to attend the Meet & Greet. They usually give you a card with the contact info for all the officers - and emphasize to use it.  I've also had success with more general issues by putting comments in the box by Guest Services, got a follow-up call the following day.

I totally agree with your last paragraph.   We had an issue and having met personnel at the Meet and Greet they fixed the problem for us promptly.  They give out cards with their contact info and it sure comes in handy when you need assistance from them (as you pointed out as well).

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, Kortehgehn said:

I think they are typically located outside the stateroom behind a panel in the hallway as @chengkp75 alluded to in a previous post.

That is correct, but in most cases the door to the locker is only held closed by two pushbutton locks.  Push in and release, and the door will open.

 

As someone stated, the passenger shouldn't have to do this, but then again, do you want to spend  a little effort to make your time onboard better, or wait for them to fix it, and then moan about how your vacation was ruined.

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

That might have caused plumbing issues on the rest of the ship.

No more so than shutting off the water to your bathroom sink at home would cause plumbing issues in the kitchen.

[Host Kat]

Since the OP posted their thanks for the advice & reported the outcome last Thursday, this thread is now closed.