Recent Sun cruisers-Sewage odors-your experience

We are booked on the Sun for an Alaska cruise 5 Sep. I booked early and have a nice aft balcony.

However, many reviews and posts on cc have commented about terrible sewage odors, particularly in the aft stairwell.

I really don't want to give up our aft balcony, but am concerned about the sewage odors, which seem to be worse aft.

I doubt if NCL will fix this problem before our cruise, so please, tell me your experience on the Sun if you have cruised recently.

We've had mild sewage odors on several ships, can't remember which though. If they are from your cabin, you can usually fix that. The water drain trap in the bathroom is probably dry. Just pour a bunch of water in it/them. That has cured it several times.

I too am interested in responses to this. We are booked in an aft mini suite for 2 weeks in October. We too booked very early (April 2015) to get an aft mini suite. But I am getting very concerned about numerous reports of how terrible the smell is and the duration of it.

It is incredulous to me that NCL would allow this major issue to go on for so long (this goes back years apparently). A potential health hazard, extreme unpleasantness with the smell in the aft cabins that you can't even stay in your cabin because the odor is so strong, and it appears to cover a good portion of the ship (aft cabins and hallways, aft stairwell and sometimes into the buffet). I don't care how old the ship is or how old the ventilation system is, they need to get this fixed!

And to think my major concern a few months ago after NCL cancelled the Mexican Riviera cruise and replaced it with this Panama Canal cruise was that we temporarily lost our original aft cabin and were moved to one directly above the theater so I was concerned about the noise. It appears as though that would have been the least of our problems!

I too am interested in responses to this. We are booked in an aft mini suite for 2 weeks in October. We too booked very early (April 2015) to get an aft mini suite. But I am getting very concerned about numerous reports of how terrible the smell is and the duration of it.

 

It is incredulous to me that NCL would allow this major issue to go on for so long (this goes back years apparently). A potential health hazard, extreme unpleasantness with the smell in the aft cabins that you can't even stay in your cabin because the odor is so strong, and it appears to cover a good portion of the ship (aft cabins and hallways, aft stairwell and sometimes into the buffet). I don't care how old the ship is or how old the ventilation system is, they need to get this fixed!

 

And to think my major concern a few months ago after NCL cancelled the Mexican Riviera cruise and replaced it with this Panama Canal cruise was that we temporarily lost our original aft cabin and were moved to one directly above the theater so I was concerned about the noise. It appears as though that would have been the least of our problems!

I sent an email to my PCC who is excellent, about the problem. I haven't heard from her yet.

I sent an email to my PCC who is excellent, about the problem. I haven't heard from her yet.

On another thread about two weeks ago someone called their PCC or a person at NCL to ask about the smell on POA that they had read about many times. The NCL rep knew nothing about it and said there was no problem so it will be interesting to see what they have to say about the Sun. On our post drydock trip on POA it was there but recent reports seem to indicate it is gone from the Deck 6 area.

As far as the Sun, we were on in 2010 aft and had a bit of a smell mostly in the back hallway and then out where we mustered, I think deck 7 outside, it was pretty strong outside there. Once we got underway and for the rest of the 12 day trip we never smelled it again.

These smells seem to be very mysterious as to when they are around and when they go away.

I filled the Floor drain in Sun cabin 9077 as soon as we got in and again during the week.

No problem.

.

We were on the Sun this past April 9-29, Santiago-San Francisco, in an aft penthouse. The smell was awful. it started about the beginning of the second week. It was horrible in our cabin. It also was prevalent in the aft stairwells. People went up and down the stairs covering their faces. We did not go to the buffet but other cruisers reported the smell leaked into the buffet.

At one point the captain claimed the smell had been due to a hole in a gray water tank, and that it had been fixed, but the smell continued after that.

It was bad enough that we were unable to stay in our cabin on several sea days.

Complaints were not addressed. At one point 10 of us went to guest relations. The attendant tried to fob us off by recording our cabin numbers, but we were persistent enough to get to talk with a higher up. However the problem still was not fixed.

While on board we thought it might be related to the large numbers of contractors on board and the work they were doing. However per recent reports the smell seems to have continued post dry dock.

I would definitely try to move my cabin if I were booked on the Sun in an aft cabin on an upcoming cruise. As far forward as possible.

This has nothing to do with in-cabin floor drains. The smell was too strong and too pervasive in the whole aft of the ship. You could smell it outside on the promenade. Some days the doors to the promenade deck were propped open to try to get rid of the smell but it did not work.

This was far far worse than occasional sewer smells we have smelled on many cruise ships. It was really sickening, and I mean that literally.

There are "sewage" odors on ALL ships! They are generally not long lasting, and can vary from place to place. It's a design flaw of ship's waste drains....I don't know why ship designers can't get a handle on this!

That said, our last cruise, we had an awful odor in our cabin for the 1st 4 days....finally, it abated.

We were also on the Sun from Buenos Aires to San Francisco and agree that the smell was very bad aft; even when walking on the promenade. There IS a problem on the SUN; NCL know all about it and seem to be doing NOTHING.

We were on the Sun May 16-May 23. The smell was there every time we went up or down the aft stairway. That is the only place we went that it was there that we noticed.

We had a forward penthouse on the 5/8 sailing. We did not encounter any bad odors the entire cruise. We did venture to the aft for dinners, but most of the time we were in the front of the ship.

It's been a while but I have cruised twice on the Sun both in the same corner aft penthouse. While we experienced no odors, on both trips it seems they were always little fans drying in the hallway. It was not of a major inconvenience to us.

I am sorry for those who experienced this unfortunate situation.

I just talked to my PCC, who takes good care of me when booking for cruises. She did some checking on the sewage problem. I told her about all the complaints on cc, some before the refit and some after.

She gave me the customer service number to call. I plan to call them tomorrow.

Number is 866-625-1164

I decided not to change from our aft balcony cabin. If the sewage odors are a problem, I will raise holy hell with NCL.

I booked very early to be able to snag an aft cabin for Alaska. We aren't sailing until 2018 but this sure has me questioning if we want to take this cruise. Balconies (and especially the aft balcony) are so expensive for Alaska - I refuse to pay that kind of money to smell sewage all week. We have plenty of time to cancel if needed, so I'll be following this problem closely. Given that there are concerns dating back past 2014, I don't know what to think.

Please let us know what you are told about this situation. We are going on the Sun (aft balcony) in February for a south america cruise. This is an important bucket list trip for us and I'm concerned about this ruining the cruise.

Maybe we'll give them a call as well!

Sonora, my wife, has said it was a sickening smell. That's being gracious. As another cruiser put it, "We thought someone died and was rotting in their room". And it was the whole aft area of the ship.

On the Promenade deck the crew would have the aft doors open when the smell was especially nice. If you happened to walk by there it would just about knock you over.

On the Sports deck the crew had the door open by Cagney's and the smell was horrible. I don't believe that was a way to attract business.

Also, this seemed to happen from about 4am to 5 or 6am, we would get a different smell. It smelled like the incinerator exhaust was coming through the air vents. A tech in a white jump suit came to our room after we said something. He offered to close our vents.

There were big globs of greasy soot or unburnt diesel our deck every morning. I don't know why this seem to happen over nights but it did. You could find the little globs because they would always leave oil rings. You didn't go out on your balcony in the morning without wearing their slippers and a wash cloth to wipe off the handrail and chairs.

Our suite was above the main theater. There was noise, loud thumping, but it usually ended around 10 or 10:30. Didn't bother us too much.

If you did make a complaint you either got what felt like fake empathy or an argument.

Other than that, most of the ports were good. Although LA was a cluster. And disembarking in San Francisco could have been better. It seemed to me that someone forgot to notify the cab companies that a ship full of people was emptying out there that morning.

I was on the Sun post dry dock May 8-16, 2016 in cabin 9072 aft/port side. The smell was very prominent both inside my cabin and in the hallways. This sewage smell does not come from the bathroom or drain. It comes out of the air vents., your air conditioning. Staff is well aware of the on-going problem. They will send housekeeping to spray a godawful powder to "freshen" the room. For people like me with severe allergies, it's a nightmare. I left my balcony door open, even at night, to get pure, clean Alaskan air into the cabin. We were not offered any cabin exchange either.. only a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries. Do I really want to eat in a cabin that smells of poop? Nope. Buyer beware of booking Aft area cabins until you ate guaranteed that this long term problem has been properly addressed.

On the "Sun Drydock" thread there is a great explanation of house this sewage smell problem is in the pipes and what needs to be done to fix it. If I find the post, I'll put it here. Best to you all Sun sailors.

I am just in total shock that my favorite ship is "sick".

I am just in total shock that my favorite ship

is "sick".

Be thankful that it is only the ship that is sick.

I only hope that no-one is so badly affected that they need hospital treatment

or worse.

NCL has been warned so many times about the problem I don't think even their conditions would save them from a hefty compensation claim.

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

I am following closely too. I booked almost 600 days out to get an aft mini, and we sail in less than 2 weeks.

I will not be happy if there is a problem, and I will be working my way up the chain if there is.

I am following closely too. I booked almost 600 days out to get an aft mini, and we sail in less than 2 weeks.

 

I will not be happy if there is a problem, and I will be working my way up the chain if there is.

can you come back after your cruise and let us know how you got on?

Please let us know how it is.

We decided to stick with our aft balcony. I plan tok call NCL customer service today and discuss the problem.

If NCL doesn't deliver on this cruise, I will demand some compensation.

I forgot to mention the blue water. After a long warm port day we wanted to shower when we returned to the ship. I noticed there was some blueish water by the drain in our tub. Thought it was a cleaner our steward may have used to cleaned the tub. So once showered we left the room and ran into our steward. He said, "Oh, the water is blue, don't drink it". Some people had their hair color changed from it and had to spend hours in the salon to fix it. Our shower curtain and wash cloths turned blue.

Pics of the blue wash cloth and shower curtain.