Carnival Ecstasy Poop/Feces/Sewer Smell....

Just got back from a 5 night on Ecstasy. Terrible smell in multiple locations on the ship. I had to put wet washrags over our drain openings in the bath. Especially raunchy right at the main entrance to our formal dining salon. Quite appetizing. None of the crew would admit there was a smell. (except the maitre 'd who acknowledged they were working on it) Pretty bad in the Casino as well.

Figured since my review wasn't posted yet, I'd let some of you know. Good luck with that old boat. We came back into Galveston at 2:30 instead of 8AM due to a malfunctioning propulsion system. Lots of grumpy folks getting off the boat trying to figure out how to fly home.

Ship is old and quite tired. Go Conquest if you're going out of Galveston.

Well, you know, excrement occurs! :p Sorry, I couldn't resist.

This issue seems to happen on all ships in various places at various times. The only ship I know of that has a permanent reputation for this is one of RCCLs older ships.

I know it is annoying and aggravating. The basic reason is the complexity of the marine sewage system as mandated by law nowadays. In the old days, the heads, and every sink on the ship just dumped into the water. That worked quite well. What we have now is a major system which is both fussy in its diet and hard to maintain.

Anyway, I am sorry this happened. I know it made your cruise less enjoyable.

Doc

This was my fourth cruise and the first time we've had to deal with it. It was the low point each and every day. I hope it's not an issue on newer ships. I do not plan to cruise the older ships any longer.

I have cruised ships even older than Ecstacy - Holiday, Jubilee, and twice on NCL Majesty, all very old ships by today's standards.

Never did I have any issue with the ship's condition. I have read plenty of posts from people who did have an issue, but personally, never a problem.

hmm...this is not good! i'll be sailing on the ecstasy in a few weeks and i hope the problem is fixed by then. smelling ***** on the boat isn't my ideal vacation:(

It's probably time to start sinking the Fantasy Class ships...

It's probably time to start sinking the Fantasy Class ships...

With all the money they are pouring into renovations of the Fantasy class ships, I dont think they are going to sink them

hmm...this is not good! i'll be sailing on the ecstasy in a few weeks and i hope the problem is fixed by then. smelling ***** on the boat isn't my ideal vacation:(

On the flip side, the house rock band was excellent. The shows were not too good IMHO. But, the little Asian guy, Jay, in the karaoke bar is hilarious. I've never done the karaoke thing, but my family (wife and I are 48, kids 25, 25, 19 and son in law 33) all loved it every night. Jay is really really funny.

I found the best drinks were mixed at the casino bar.

Coffee bar was really great as well.

We had a great time overall. I gave it a 3 stars in my review but it would have been 4 stars without the smell. More about the people I was with than the ship itself. Food was excellent overall in my opinion. We've never gone to our assigned table each night on any of our cruises, but we did this time. Kitty, our server, was a doll.

I'd be more worried about the engine problems if you are not driving to Galveston. We got to Progreso late and they cancelled our tour to Chitzen Itza due to a lack of time.

It's probably time to start sinking the Fantasy Class ships...

Probably true, but let's wait until after my cruise (and especially not while i'm on it!!):eek:

With all the money they are pouring into renovations of the Fantasy class ships, I dont think they are going to sink them

I wonder when they'll pour some money into the Ecstasy.

I wonder when they'll pour some money into the Ecstasy.

I actually heard it was going into dry dock this Sept.

Just got back from a 5 night on Ecstasy. Terrible smell in multiple locations on the ship. I had to put wet washrags over our drain openings in the bath. Especially raunchy right at the main entrance to our formal dining salon. Quite appetizing. None of the crew would admit there was a smell. (except the maitre 'd who acknowledged they were working on it) Pretty bad in the Casino as well.

 

Figured since my review wasn't posted yet, I'd let some of you know. Good luck with that old boat. We came back into Galveston at 2:30 instead of 8AM due to a malfunctioning propulsion system. Lots of grumpy folks getting off the boat trying to figure out how to fly home.

 

Ship is old and quite tired. Go Conquest if you're going out of Galveston.

Your right it is an older ship but from what i read here most ships have problems every now and then, while on the shep we didnt get any of that sorry u had to go through it hopefuly u still enjoyed your cruise.

It does seem to me that there are more problems with the Ecstasy over the years than any other Carnival ship. Heck remember the fire years back? Although I had a great time on that ship, the Ecstasy is by far the ugliest ship I've been on!

Alot of the plumbing whoopsies on cruise ships are caused by passengers flushing things they are not sposed to flush down the loo. Only takes one loo to be bunged up with a nappy or a wipe or the wrong type of loo roll and the entire deck load of loo's will go haywire...and if by chance it is a loo in one of the public loo's that is bunged up, then you will get some backflow with the associated 'perfume' wafting around the public areas too.

She is going into drydock September 19-October 16 to get Evolutions of Fun upgrades:

And they are turning 90 something oceanviews into balconys!

It's probably time to start sinking the Fantasy Class ships...

Ummm.. probably not.

Carnival is investing 1/4 of a BILLION dollars in the Evolutions of Fun upgrades for the Fantasy Class ships. I've sailed on two ships, Inspiration and Fantasy, that have had the upgrades done and they were both beautiful.

Lots of folks love the Fantasy Class and tout the smaller size, the more personal service and the chance to take a shorter cruise as pluses.

Expect to see them for the next ten to twelve years.

:)

We had Kitty as our server too. She is the best combo, professional and FUN!

That smell can be bad, but I agree it is usually caused by a passenger doing something to the system. Normally flushing diapers, dddduuuuuhhhhh.

There is one vent on the outside that has the smell pretty much all the time, but hey you got to have a vent, ooooorrrr else Kaboom.

We have to agree with "Mach" on this one. We have cruised on the Fascination three times in the last 6-months and have had no problems what-so-ever. We will probably fit in another sailing on her some time this year.

Had this problem on the Destiny last fall, which is both a newer and different class of ship. It seemed only to be on the lowest level, which is unfortunately where we ended up on that cruise. The rest of the ship seemed fine, and I didn't hear any complaints, so we must have just drawn the short straw that time. However, the service was excellent, the ship was clean, and te cruise was very fun, so that was all that counted, IMHO. . .

We were on the June 13th sailing and we never smelled the smelly smell that smells....anywhere on the ship. However in Feb we did, but just slightly in a couple of places.

Sorry that you had to experience the smelly smell, but glad that you still had a good time.

We sailed the Fantasy twice, no problem. We did have this same problem on the Fascination last October. We were on the Upper deck at the back of the ship and had some sewage smell in the hallway by our room and by the door in our room but not anywhere else on the ship. It was pretty gross. I figured they were having some pumping issues.

We just sailed on the Inspiration and no smell there.

We just got off Fantasy and yes we encountered some pretty bad odors off and on. Luckily none in our stateroom but there were times the hallways stunk pretty bad and other areas. It didn't seem to last long so it wasn't a big enough issue to impact our cruise. Sure wouldn't want to deal with it all week though.

What's funny is on Holiday we only caught fleeting wiffs now and then and had the odd tinted wanter on one day. Fantasy we had more smell and had off colored water everyday. Couldn't even drink the water from the tap or the dining room, it tasted like mold or something. Even the staff said they had to switch to bottled water because they couldn't drink it anymore.

All that being said we are getting ready to rebook Fantasy for next year. Buying bottled water for the dining room and an occassional bad smell isn't going to keep us from going on her again. Those are minor annoyances for us. Had it been worse we may be looking for a different class ship.

Scott F:

Which deck were y'all on?

It's probably time to start sinking the Fantasy Class ships...

We experienced that odor on The fantasy, right out of dry dock.

It was awful.

I have experienced this in smaller doses on other ships but that was very tolerable...not a problem. When the odor engulfs the ship, affecting your cabin and even the dining rooms, it makes for a rotten sailing.

My sympathies to the OP.

Been on Ecstasy 2x and a third booked for Nov. We have never had an issue with smell and have been on the Upper deck and the Riviera deck. I have always had a good time on her and loved the staff. My autistic son likes this ship best of all. Cant wait to see the changes from drydock. Sorry you had the smell and the delay! Better luck next time.