Sir, That's Not Fecal Water Flooding Your Cruise Ship Stateroom, That's Brown Glue

Haven't seen this posted yet so...

http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaints/sir-thats-not-fecal-water-flooding-your-cruise-ship-room-thats-brown-glue-270728.php

Discuss...

I wish they had given the cabin # ! :eek: :(

Interesting that the mainstream media never reported this incident.

In any event, wonder if HAL's response woulda been different had the affected passenger placed a ship-to-shore call to the CDC at whatever outrageous price. I suppose while onboard one coulda moved up the chain of command til there was some semblance of satisfaction. Well, then there's always Seattle ... just a ship-to-shore call away.

This is absolutely uncalled for. I would NOT have been in that cabin for the remaining 3 days of the cruise!

Sorry to say it happened also on the repositioning cruise on this ship last year, I have been badly yelled at for talking about it. So interesting was this post.

Mind I would have shouted the whole of the atrium down, they would have done something if it had of been me.

....there are some officer's cabins on Deck 6 Forward that they could have put these people into.

Like CG, I would have been in the Atrium raising Holy H***.

Ewww!

This should have been taken care of and the people moved. The brown glue excuse is terribly lame.

Yes it often happens on all Cruise Ships on all Cruise Lines..Last year a pipe broke in the corridor & seeped through to our carpet in the cabin on another ship...They immediately took care of the problem though..Fortunately there was no odor in our cabin, or we would have been raising cain with the Hotel Manager..LOL

Malfunctions of Marine Toilets usually occur when people try to flush items down them other than the prescribed Marine toilet paper...Kleenex, flushable wipes & Tampons can not be flushed down a Marine Toilet..

We take Hefty Scrap Bags with us to use for flushable wipes etc..There are 50 in a box (under $3.00) & can be purchased in your supermarket..

Scroll down & click on "complaints" on that same WEB site...There is a similar account of the Continental Flight from Amsterdam to Newark on June 14..Can you imagine the toilets overflowing into the aisles..250 Passengers had to share one semi functional toilet for 8 hours...They were told to restrict their bodly functions & not put any paper into the one toilet.. :eek:

On the same Web site there is a similar account of the Continental Flight from Amsterdam to Newark this week....Can you imagine the toilets overflowing into the aisles..250 Passengers had to share one toilet for more than 8 hours...They were told to restrict their bodly functions & not put any paper into the one toilet.. :eek:

Years ago, on a 7 ( not a typo) hour flight from Lagaurdia to Chicago, a similar problem occured with a toilet. Someone eventually faked a heart attack which forced the plane to land in Milwaukee. I remember this as if it were yesterday. It put an end to my youthful perception that business travel was glamorous. Ahhh, the good ole days......

....there are some officer's cabins on Deck 6 Forward that they could have put these people into.

 

Like CG, I would have been in the Atrium raising Holy H***.

You know, I am hard-pressed to believe any cruise line would not find alternative accommodations for passengers in a cabin like this or that passengers would not INSIST something be done for them. If this did go down the way it is portrayed, it is the cruising version of Dumb and Dumber.

We were on this trip. The cabin at the end of our hallway on main deck 5 had an issue that sounds just like the mentioned article. We saw the door open several times...crew members sopping up the carpet...disgusting smells... I also mentioned elsewhere that our whole section of cabins was not "flushing" for most of day 6.

You know, I am hard-pressed to believe any cruise line would not find alternative accommodations for passengers in a cabin like this ...

Years ago, on a 7 ( not a typo) hour flight from Lagaurdia to Chicago, a similar problem occured with a toilet. Someone eventually faked a heart attack which forced the plane to land in Milwaukee. I remember this as if it were yesterday. It put an end to my youthful perception that business travel was glamorous. Ahhh, the good ole days......

What I don't understand is why that Continental Pilot did not turn back before he reached the point of no return from Shannon..The passengers claim the toilet explosion happened shortly after they left Shannon..That flight should have been canceled & the Passengers put up in a Hotel..JMO

Funny, I had the same perception about Travel until my company sent four of us standby to Hong Kong to work at a TA's convention.. They refused to give us confirmed space, because so many TA's were going directly from the U.S to Tokyo & Hong Kong..Lufthansa gave us standby from JFK to FRA (w/stops in HAM & CPH) & then back over the pole to Anchorage & Tokyo..We had three crew changes who insisted on trying to feed us & ply us with champagne..All we wanted was sleep..Those were the days when ladies wore the very tight fitting undergarments in order to have a flat tummy...:rolleyes:

But what if there truly were NO other cabins available because all of the "spare" cabins had been taken by others already? What is the ship supposed to do then, put them in crew space? Put them up in the infirmary?

The ship has to do whatever is necessary to acommodate the situation and if that means an officer bunks with someone else or space is made in the infirmary, so be it.

On the otherhand, if the passenger was the cause of the problem, by flushing something inappropriate down the toilet, well then, they got what they deserved.

Those were the days when ladies wore the very tight fitting undergarments in order to have a flat tummy...:rolleyes:

I was on the cusp of the demise of this particular undergarmet. And now I see my almost 19 year old DD has bought a Spanx, which by any other name is a...... We digress :)

But what if there truly were NO other cabins available because all of the "spare" cabins had been taken by others already? What is the ship supposed to do then, put them in crew space? Put them up in the infirmary?

If it was me I would have ended up in the skippers cabin, I would have performed so badly and loudly.

Continental, now thats a dirty word from the past :eek: We did a Auckland to London and back again straight through both ways on them some years ago, I never did a long haul flight ever again until last year when the lure of a HAL cruise from Vancouver to Auckland got the better of me. :D

That is really gross... I'm a regular reader of the consumerist site. I just posted a comment directing readers to this thread.

And yes, I think if I had to choose between a deck 2 inside cabin or any other cabin with this stuff soaking in the carpet... that's pretty much a no-brainer.

Theron

I think anyone who travels has run into problems, some minor some serious. Why weren't these passengers put into another cabin? I don't understand, there are always a few cabins held back for these kind of emergency, or at least I've been told that. What makes a great cruiseline is how they handle their problems, not that they don't have problems.

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I think the cruising business has changed substainally as cruise lines are pressured by shareholders to achieve profits, sometimes at the expense of common sense. The goal is to sell every cabin and they often do.

I am so sorry this has happened and those involved have my sympahty (if they ever find their way here).

I am stunned at the lack of response on the part of the staff. I would like to think that when this kind of thing happens, HAL immediately takes action. Guess not... It blows my mind that such a ridiculous excuse was given, too. I've cleaned a lot of carpet and what comes up isn't usually brown. Kinda gray maybe, but not brown and not with that kind of odor!

It's a crying shame, and absolutely negligent, that the occupants were not relocated, regardless of the possible inconvenience to staff. Between the infirmary and the brig, you'd think they'd have some room somewhere even if the cruise was fully booked. Personally, between my keen sense of smell and my strong gag reflex, they probably would have moved me without a fuss after having to clean and re-clean the cabin. :eek: Just thinking of it makes me sick to my stomach and I wasn't even there. I'm not surprised people ended up sick. The poor guy stepped in that mess wearing socks! I cringe at the thought. Like stepping on a diaper. I'm not big on litigation but I swear sometimes it seems like the only way to get a company's attention.

In any case, I think Camp637 has the right idea. Take that CDC phone number onboard and let her rip if something happens! I might not do a good job being the squeaky wheel, but there are those that can do some loud squeaking - and have the authority to follow through.

Also, just because one person on that sewage line might have done something stupid, it doesn't mean everyone on that same line should suffer. It was probably one of those sweet little angels trying to flush oranges like I've read about on here before. <ducking>;)

I think the cruising business has changed substainally as cruise lines are pressured by shareholders to achieve profits, sometimes at the expense of common sense. The goal is to sell every cabin and they often do.

Sadly, that has become the rule for many, if not most, businesses. Once upon a time, people took customer service and responsibility to their community seriously. Now, it's a human interest story when a company does the right thing.

What a disgusting situation. If that had been us, no way would we have remained in that cabin. We'd have taken all our stuff and camped out in one of the lounges if they told us no other cabin was available. I'm serious.

LeeAnn

What a disgusting situation. If that had been us, no way would we have remained in that cabin. We'd have taken all our stuff and camped out in one of the lounges if they told us no other cabin was available. I'm serious.

 

LeeAnn

That's exactly what I was thinking...had the whole scenario...sleep in the comfy chairs in the library with the great ocean view...shower in the spa...

That's exactly what I was thinking...had the whole scenario...sleep in the comfy chairs in the library with the great ocean view...shower in the spa...

I would be camping out too and while doing so, making quite a spectacle of the situation. Can you picture blanket tents with hand laundered underwear, hanging on a make shift clothes line?

I'll be cruising on the Statendam in 10 days and have a cabin on the main deck so I'm wondering if it was my cabin that was involved and if they have fixed the situation by replacing the carpet and not just covering it up.

I know that others will have been sailing on the ship since then but I still have concerns. As a new cruiser, I see that these ship dock and then turn right around with a new group of passengers. When do they have time to fix something like this? From the looks of the picture, the whole carpet should be replaced but can they do that in Vancouver or Seward in a couple of hours?