Recent Sun cruisers-Sewage odors-your experience

If you haven't been on the Sun in the last 4 months and/or had an aft cabin in that time period, then of course you wouldn't have problems with sewage odors so not sure what this adds to the discussion.

 

Take it from someone who has been on the Sun in the last 4 months (20 days in April) in an aft PH and the problems were not only real but some days forced you to leave the cabin. At that time they spent several days denying a problem and then "revealed" that raw sewage was leaking into the aft elevator bank. The odor was marginally minimized on the last few days of the trip but by no means disappeared.

I think the refit was after your cruise. More recent comments haven't been as bad and those prior to the refit.

We are sticking to our aft balcony. I was thinking of asking for transfer to a forward mini-suite, but the prices at still too high for that.

We were moved to another cabin on the sun due to sewerage issues.

We were moved to another cabin on the sun due to sewerage issues.

Was that before or after the refit?

Sounds like there may be several problems going on with the Sun now.

If they had some seepage of raw sewage - even gray water - into something like an elevator shaft that would account for the bad smells in the Aft sections of the ship.

Currently the Sun is going to Sitka in order to dump it's tanks into the deep ocean - the reason they are giving is that after repairs and sanitation of the tanks during the last dry dock has left them without enough bacteria to digest the sewage - they use an anaerobic process similar to RVs and septic tanks.

Perhaps the problem is now solved and will get even better as time goes on.

We had an aft mini-suite (10067) and a balcony (10063). We came prepared for the worst with reed air fresheners, but were pleasantly surprised. Here are our observations:

1. We experienced NO sewer smell in the cabins--EVER.

2. We experienced NO sewer smell while sailing.

3. While in port, there was a slight, intermittent smell in the deck 10 hallway. A whiff, but by no means so overwhelming that we were gagging.

4. While in port, there was a slight smell while leaning on the balcony railing. But never while sailing.

5. We never smelled anything in the Seven Seas (aft) dining room or in the Great Outdoors.

6. We never smelled anything in the aft stairwell (decks 5-11).

I can't vouch for the smell in the cabins or hallways on decks 7-9, but we were so pleasantly surprised that the "hype" didn't turn out to be true in our experience. We loved the cabin location and the views. I would book the same cabins again!

We had an aft mini-suite (10067) and a balcony (10063). We came prepared for the worst with reed air fresheners, but were pleasantly surprised. Here are our observations:

 

1. We experienced NO sewer smell in the cabins--EVER.

2. We experienced NO sewer smell while sailing.

3. While in port, there was a slight, intermittent smell in the deck 10 hallway. A whiff, but by no means so overwhelming that we were gagging.

4. While in port, there was a slight smell while leaning on the balcony railing. But never while sailing.

5. We never smelled anything in the Seven Seas (aft) dining room or in the Great Outdoors.

6. We never smelled anything in the aft stairwell (decks 5-11).

 

I can't vouch for the smell in the cabins or hallways on decks 7-9, but we were so pleasantly surprised that the "hype" didn't turn out to be true in our experience. We loved the cabin location and the views. I would book the same cabins again!

Thanks, this is reassuring.

We had an aft mini-suite (10067) and a balcony (10063). We came prepared for the worst with reed air fresheners, but were pleasantly surprised. Here are our observations:

 

1. We experienced NO sewer smell in the cabins--EVER.

2. We experienced NO sewer smell while sailing.

3. While in port, there was a slight, intermittent smell in the deck 10 hallway. A whiff, but by no means so overwhelming that we were gagging.

4. While in port, there was a slight smell while leaning on the balcony railing. But never while sailing.

5. We never smelled anything in the Seven Seas (aft) dining room or in the Great Outdoors.

6. We never smelled anything in the aft stairwell (decks 5-11).

 

I can't vouch for the smell in the cabins or hallways on decks 7-9, but we were so pleasantly surprised that the "hype" didn't turn out to be true in our experience. We loved the cabin location and the views. I would book the same cabins again!

Thank you so much for this information. It is really nice to get first hand information from someone who has recently been in the aft cabins. We will be in an aft mini suite on Deck 9 in October. I was very concerned about all the reports of these sewage smells but ultimately chose to keep our cabin and "take our chances". It appears that the problem is being corrected and that the smells have decreased over the last several weeks.

I'm sure we will love the cabin location and the views as much as you did. This will be our first time in a cabin location other than a side balcony.

Thanks again for your comments. I am feeling better about all this now.

Thank you so much for this information. It is really nice to get first hand information from someone who has recently been in the aft cabins. We will be in an aft mini suite on Deck 9 in October. I was very concerned about all the reports of these sewage smells but ultimately chose to keep our cabin and "take our chances". It appears that the problem is being corrected and that the smells have decreased over the last several weeks.

 

I'm sure we will love the cabin location and the views as much as you did. This will be our first time in a cabin location other than a side balcony.

 

Thanks again for your comments. I am feeling better about all this now.

I'm glad this info helped. We were really nervous before our cruise and went so far as to try to change cabins. We then just decided to take our chances, too. We didn't go to the Latitudes events, but heard from others that the captain spoke about the bacteria problems after the refurb and the reason for the change from Skagway to Sitka. I was personally very happy with the change.

You will love the aft mini! Have fun!

I'm glad this info helped. We were really nervous before our cruise and went so far as to try to change cabins. We then just decided to take our chances, too. We didn't go to the Latitudes events, but heard from others that the captain spoke about the bacteria problems after the refurb and the reason for the change from Skagway to Sitka. I was personally very happy with the change.

 

You will love the aft mini! Have fun!

We are going north bound on the 5th of September. I have booked and paid for the train in Skagway. I will not be happy with a chance in schedule, is this what is happening every sailing?

I recently voiced my concerns via NCL's website forms. The response came in overnight:

"Norwegian Sun’s water treatment system is currently undergoing routine maintenance. Some guests have reported isolated instances of slight odors as a result of this maintenance. The onboard team is working to ensure that these issues are quickly resolved and we thank our guests for their patience."

Fingers crossed...

We are going north bound on the 5th of September. I have booked and paid for the train in Skagway. I will not be happy with a chance in schedule, is this what is happening every sailing?

I don't think our cruise has changed its itinerary. I was looking at my reservation yesterday and it was still the same.

I don't think our cruise has changed its itinerary. I was looking at my reservation yesterday and it was still the same.

According to the following document (dated June 29), your itinerary hasn't changed. (This is the document we took as "the truth." The tour operators and port authorities are more in the know than the NCL reps.) There should be a more current update coming out soon.

http://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016-All-Ports-All-Vessels-Updated-June-29-2016.pdf

I recently voiced my concerns via NCL's website forms. The response came in overnight:

 

"Norwegian Sun’s water treatment system is currently undergoing routine maintenance. Some guests have reported isolated instances of slight odors as a result of this maintenance. The onboard team is working to ensure that these issues are quickly resolved and we thank our guests for their patience."

 

Fingers crossed...

Let me just clarify, that if this is indeed the case, it is the waste water treatment plant (most likely the part that dries and incinerates the solid waste left after treatmend that I mentioned previously).

From the recent email responses from NCL, it is at least on their radar. This thread getting more and more posts and rising up to the first one in the forum continues to bring this issue up for them as the people who have been here long enough know NCL monitors these forums. Hopefully they get it rectified before the Fall! :)

We were on the Sun on from Val to San Francisco. We had an aft balcony on the 8th floor. Let's say on a scale of 1 to 10 being the worst it was a 1000. I was under the impression that a septic tank had broken as they went around the horn with bad weather for 2 days. WE rolled wet towels up and put them on the floor/door to keep the smell out. I always travel with a small Body and Bath room spray. WOW that saved us. I felt so sorry for all the staff, passengers where rude, loud, and NCL was trying to get the problem solved. Beware if u really give a crew member a bad time, your on camera, and they will 86 u right off the ship if u abuse the staff. I just had them note in my notes, that I was concerned about this cruise. The person at the desk assured me that the problem was going to be taken care of when the ship was in port for 9 days. in SFO. Everyone started to get a very bad non productive, wet cough.

I always have my A/C filter checked when I get on the ship and I take a small can of Lysol to spray in the vent systems. I am not going to canx my cruise, just keep checking the progress of the "The Smell of the SUN" episode goes on...Happy Cruising...I love NCL>>>

We had an aft mini-suite (10067) and a balcony (10063). We came prepared for the worst with reed air fresheners, but were pleasantly surprised. Here are our observations:

 

1. We experienced NO sewer smell in the cabins--EVER.

2. We experienced NO sewer smell while sailing.

3. While in port, there was a slight, intermittent smell in the deck 10 hallway. A whiff, but by no means so overwhelming that we were gagging.

4. While in port, there was a slight smell while leaning on the balcony railing. But never while sailing.

5. We never smelled anything in the Seven Seas (aft) dining room or in the Great Outdoors.

6. We never smelled anything in the aft stairwell (decks 5-11).

 

I can't vouch for the smell in the cabins or hallways on decks 7-9, but we were so pleasantly surprised that the "hype" didn't turn out to be true in our experience. We loved the cabin location and the views. I would book the same cabins again!

Yeah! We are booked in 10060 in Jan. 2017 so very happy with your report. I think I'll stop reading the Sun "smell" reviews now. :D

I am starting to really worry about the cruise we have booked for 5 September.

 

We have a really good deal on the cruise that included the drinks and meal package and as such we would be looking at over $3000 to change cabins.

 

Our cabin is behind the aft elevators (lifts) on deck 10, i was prepared for some noise as a result but not sure i can handle a poo smell as well.

 

Its really to late to change the cruise as all our other holiday plans are built around this sailing and another out of Seattle back to Australia.

 

Needless to say i will be following this closely.

 

Sylva

My TA emailed me today after she rang NCL for a 2nd time and read my last email to them about the complaints on CC. At first they where not willing to move us until she insisted that they try to move our cabin due to the large amount of complaints. They put her on hold and then came back with a choice of five other cabins in our "sold" out category. She was able to move us to deck 9 forward. A much better position between two cabin decks and away from the smell issues. :D

My TA emailed me today after she rang NCL for a 2nd time and read my last email to them about the complaints on CC. At first they where not willing to move us until she insisted that they try to move our cabin due to the large amount of complaints. They put her on hold and then came back with a choice of five other cabins in our "sold" out category. She was able to move us to deck 9 forward. A much better position between two cabin decks and away from the smell issues. :D

Deck 9 was a great deck to stay on - I was midship, but was often forward coming up and down from the Observation Lounge. I noticed very little smell forward, and Deck 9 is great because it's so quiet. It also experiences less motion than the higher decks.

I only noticed the smell in the corridors of Deck 9 once, and it was very brief - I had been leaving my cabin to go somewhere, came back an hour or two later, and the smell was completely gone, so I suspect they were venting something. It never came into the cabin.

Thank you for the update. We are on the Sun in an aft balcony in February and I'm so glad to hear this. I could change rooms but, I really wanted the views from the aft as we go round the South America horn.

I just spent a week on the Sun (July 18-26) in 9265. This cabin is immediately next to aft stairwell & elevators. I didn't have any issues with smells, odors, sewage, etc. NONE. This was also a remarkably quiet location given the proximity to stairs & elevator. Having a balcony was an indulgence I will never regret!!

I was disappointed about not going to Skagway because I really wanted to take the bus trip to the Yukon, but Sitka was nice too.

Hopefully this will help alleviate some worries. It was an amazing trip.

Thank you so much for this information. We will be in those cabins in November and started to have second thoughts about the entire trip due to all the horrible reports about NCL SUN that we have been reading.

You have given us hope!!!!

We also just returned from an Alaskan cruise on the Sun (7/11-7/17). We were midship deck 9 but spent a lot of time in the aft in the restaurants, theater, etc. We never smelled what we thought was sewage but there seemed to be a strange odor like cabbage cooking. We thought maybe it was kitchen ventilation since it was mainly during meal times. We could smell it even outside on our balcony. It wasn't sickening, so we just ignored it. The worst odor on the ship was cigarette and cigar smoke. It seemed to be everywhere we went. I had raw sinuses the entire week. But overall, we were pleased with the ship, our cabin, and the cruise.

We were on the Sun July 18th-25th. We were in 9050, mid balcony. We spent a lot of time in the great outdoors, and on our balcony. I did not notice any odor. And a few times when in Stardust, or aft stairwell I tried to see if I could smell anything, and I could not. Also did not smell any bad odors when on balcony in port. I was also concerned about the showers with the curtains that stick to you, and meant to bring weights as was recommended by others, but forgot. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a non-issue, as long as you make sure curtain is closed completely, and inside the shower. We had a great trip!

Cruised on the Sun July 11 - 18 and I was prepared for odors but did not experience any sewage odors during the cruise and was quite happy about that. We stayed in aft mini-suites on the 9th deck, and aft inside cabin on the 9 deck and aft inside cabin on the 4th deck. The aft stairwell on the 4th deck did have a smoke smell, but the hallways spelled very clean.

Was on the Sun July 18-25 -- our cabin was 3 doors past the aft elevators. I was worried, as I'd been following this thread, but I'm happy to report that there were no odors!