Dream foul smell

I am writing your publication to make public my “foul” experience with Carnival Cruise Lines. In these tough economic times, vacations are hard to come by. Families need to guard their funds and carefully choose whom they entrust their families memories with. This year, my wife and I, including our 12 year old son, 9 year old daughter and 6 year old daughter decided to take a vacation with my in laws who are in their 70’s for their 50th wedding anniversary. Also joining us on our vacation were my brother in law, his wife and their 8 year old daughter. This was to be a vacation to provide the type of family memories that can be recalled for a lifetime. This could be the only time we all ever get to vacation together. After weighing our memory dollars very carefully, we chose to sail on the newest, largest, Carnival Ship, the Dream.

Excitement was a bound, and anticipation was high. One day while day “Dreaming” about our cruise, I looked at an online site that reviews cruise ships. CruiseCritic.com. To my horror, most of the reviews talked about a fowl, sewer type, smell on board. We originally made our reservations back in August 2009 for a March 2010 cruise over Spring Break. Now it was January 2010 and other options were all booked. Maybe this was just an isolated few upset guests that are never happy. Not so, review after review, even those that seemed somewhat satisfied with their cruise lauded about the odd, sewer type smell on board. I thought how can a cruise ship marketed towards families smell like a dumpster?

I immediately called Carnival to get some sort of an explanation. I figured that they must be aware of the situation and have it resolved by now. I figured what type of company would allow little kids, seniors and young families be subjected to sewer odors during their Dream vacations. Spoke to several people at the customer service area who had no idea what I was talking about and insured me that there was no foul odor aboard any of their ships. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was connected to Diane. Diane assured me that no odor was present on the Dream ship, but after I insisted, she agreed to call to upper management to address my concerns. While I awaited a return call, I did some research on the internet and I spoke to Vance Guilikson, Carnival’s media relations spoke person. This was not easy to get him on the phone, but I relented. This is what I read:

Carnival spokesperson Vance Gulliksen responded to our request for comment following multiple reports of a sewage smell on Carnival Dream: "We have been told that initially there were some issues in certain open decks relating to the design of the ventilation systems within those specific areas. The problem was exacerbated under certain heavy wind conditions.

"Working with the Fincantieri shipyard, the ventilation systems in question were reconfigured prior to the ship's arrival in the U.S. in November. Since the problem was identified, the ventilation issues have largely been contained, however, there have been a few isolated incidents over the past few weeks. The ship's technical management team continues to closely monitor the situation to determine whether any further corrective actions may be necessary."

We discussed the issue, and he mentioned that he would put a call into the ship and upper management to find out a date when this situation would be resolved. I never received a return call from him. I did hear back from Diane. I was told that there was in fact a sewer type odor on board, but that it was “only” in certain areas. I thought, oh good, my 6 year old will only have to smell sewage in certain areas, not everywhere on my vacation. Obviously, I was being sarcastic and upset and couldn’t believe I was hearing the explanation she was giving me. I asked to receive a call from her supervisor Paula Sinclair. I was promised a call from her by the end of the next day. During my wait I decided to e-mail CEO Micky Arison and President Gerald Cahill. I was sure that if Mr. Arison knew of this problem, he would surely fix it, especially since it was his father who started Carnival Cruise Lines with just one ship designed to provide vacations to working families. He wouldn’t let working families pay for a cruise that he knew smelled like a sewer.

No response from Mr. Arison or Mr. Cahill. I did get an e-mail from Shela Wever, a guest solutions manager, that sent me this e-mail –“ …Please be advised that when the Carnival Dream first entered service in Europe, there were some isolated problems identified and corrective action was taken via modifications to the ship’s ventilation system. Since the ship has been operating in the U.S., we have received very few complaints on this issue. Actually, less than two in every 1,000 guests who have sailed on the vessel during this period. Nonetheless, further modifications are being made which will be completed shortly. We do not have a specific date at this time.” I also received this exact same e-mail from Carlos Villarreal. Sounds like they are getting many inquires about this issue and have developed this form e-mail. Unfortunately, all of the reviews I read dealing with the smell on board were written after these modifications were supposedly made.

Except for the money Carnival wants to make, why wouldn’t they put this ship in port and not let one paying family have to sacrifice their memories and their vacation to suffer through a sewer smell while trying to enjoy themselves. Would Mr. Arison sail on his yacht, the MYLIN IV and invite guests if it had a sewer smell on it? Would you invite guests to stay at your house if one of your rooms smelled like a sewer or dirty diapers as one review said?

I called Ms. Wever and she told me that they were aware of the smell onboard and that they were working on the issue, but that they couldn’t guarantee me that the odor would be gone by the time I sailed with them. Is this a joke? She told me to just have faith in them that they will resolve the issue, although she couldn’t promise it. How could I subject my family to this, a waste of our hard earned memory dollars? In a subsequent e-mail by her she wrote - ” …If you sail and are dissatisfied in any way with your cruise you have the opportunity to take advantage of our Vacation Guarantee program. We will not provide a full refund though due to this.” The guarantee was that my family could get off the ship at one of their stops and they would refund the rest of the cruise price. How many people reading this want to take a chance on a cruise like this, with a company like this? What do I do? What would you do? Cancel the memory vacation for my little girls and their grandma?

Sincerely,

Scott

:eek:

This ship smells real bad

Well, I see you just joined today and this is your first post.. welcome ! :D

You asked what I would do ? I think the Captain needs to buy some pine tree car fresheners and hang them from the rear view mirror on the bridge.. it might freshen things up a bit

Id go and have a good time. If you experience the smell in your cabin, go to the pursers desk and ask to be moved, insist on it. The problems only seem to be upper decks, not the lower pax decks, so you may not run into it at all, most likely not.

Id go for sure. I doubt a 6 year old would care, but maybe thats just the little ones I know.

Id go and have a good time. If you experience the smell in your cabin, go to the pursers desk and ask to be moved, insist on it.

I'd insist the smell be moved.

I sailed on the Dream and for the life of me I NEVER ran into a foul odor and apparently the vast majority of the other folks who have sailed on her haven't had problems, either.

I think you'd be far better off going on the cruise expecting to have a good time rather than expecting it to be a disaster...

Just my $.02...

:)

You are worrying before you have experienced the smell for yourself? :eek: I may be wrong.....but I think you are being overly paranoid....

Carnival should install a "He who smelt it dealt it" sign on the gangway. :eek:

We had 2 balcony rooms on deck 8, Carnival had air fresheners on the air intake and in one of the cupbords, The smell at the lifts sometimes was real bad.

We asked to be moved to another cabin, but the ship was full.

We also talked to some other people on deck 7 and 9 and they had the smell on there floors.

Another thing is that sometimes we could smell diesel exhaust fumes in our rooms, we called the desk and they sent someone up to spay air freshener.

I dont think I will sail this ship again.

Carnival should install a "He who smelt it dealt it" sign on the gangway. :eek:

Or "Please hold all number 2's until we reach the next Port of Call"

I really am not trying to be paranoid, but it's hard to get excited about a vacation already knowing there are issues like a sewer smell on board. Thank you for all your thoughtful responses.

Carnival should install a "He who smelt it dealt it" sign on the gangway. :eek:

They say that the Burito Bar is very popular:o

In a subsequent e-mail by her she wrote - ” …If you sail and are dissatisfied in any way with your cruise you have the opportunity to take advantage of our Vacation Guarantee program. We will not provide a full refund though due to this.” The guarantee was that my family could get off the ship at one of their stops and they would refund the rest of the cruise price. [/font][/color]

Sincerely,

Scott

Technically you are incorrect about this.. You can't get off on any of the ports.. you must leave the first non-us port and inform the pursuers desk you want to leave before you get to that port.

*VACATION GUARANTEE VALID ONLY IF GUEST ADVISES SHIP’S INFORMATION DESK OF ELECTION TO DEBARK AND RECEIVE PRO-RATA REFUND BEFORE THE SHIP’S ARRIVAL AT THE FIRST NON-U.S. PORT OF CALL. Refund amount will be calculated by multiplying (x) amount of cruise fare paid by guest by (y) number of unused cruise nights, divided by (z) total number of cruise nights of guest’s voyage. Refund will include the amount of an Economy fare airline ticket from port of debarkation to port of embarkation. To receive refund, guest must send copy of purchased airline ticket to the Refunds department. Refund checks will be mailed within 30 days of cruise termination. Guests paying by credit card will have the money refunded to the same card. Carnival will not be responsible for any incidental expenses of guests following debarkation. Other limitations apply. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED AND NOT APPLICABLE ON ALASKA, EUROPE, HAWAII, PANAMA CANAL, SOUTH AMERICA ITINERARIES AND CRUISES-TO-NOWHERE. The number of cruise days before arrival at first non-U.S. port of call varies by itinerary. See any travel agent for more information. Vacation Guarantee applies to cruise departures through and including December 11, 2010. Applies to U.S. and Canadian residents only. Due to a U.S. Government requirement, guests must be in possession of a valid passport to return to the U.S. by air from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, The Bahamas and Bermuda. This guarantee does not apply to Panama Canal and South America cruises, as well as Alaska, Europe and Hawaii cruises.

This is just not a problem with the Dream. It was bad when I cruised on the Triumph, and I was in a cat 12 suite. A few years ago on the Inspiration it had a bad sewer smell too. My last cruise on the Inspiration, No smell at all. The Celebration also from time to time had it. It seems to be an on going problem

I think I am going to pack some odor eater and air freshener for my Dream cruise in May. I am sure that they are trying to fix it somekind of way because all the bad publicity is not good.

Since they said the problem was partially caused by high wind, we won't have that many high wind and hopefully the problem won't be as bad.

Do you have a balcony cabin? If so the fresh ocean breeze might help as well. What deck are you on?

I really am not trying to be paranoid, but it's hard to get excited about a vacation already knowing there are issues like a sewer smell on board. Thank you for all your thoughtful responses.

But, seriously folks.

Read the reviews of this ship...here and on other sites.

How many have written essays about a "smell".....

How many have given great reviews....

How many (including our honorable moderator Mach) have sailed on the ship and not "smelled" anything rank.

You need to understand that Carnival is in the business of cruise ships. They've been building them for years......decades.....and have them built by the best shipbuilders in the world.

The architects and designers have been building ships for decades also.

They are not going to build a ship with such a design flaw that allows the ship to "reek" of sewage...not going to happen. IF (and a big "if") there has been a problem....I guarantee you it's fixed.

The first season of any new cruise ship is going to have glitches...that's why many of us choose NOT to cruise during the inaugural season.

All that being said, take ALL reviews with as much salt as you can carry.

This is just not a problem with the Dream. It was bad when I cruised on the Triumph, and I was in a cat 12 suite. A few years ago on the Inspiration it had a bad sewer smell too. My last cruise on the Inspiration, No smell at all. The Celebration also from time to time had it. It seems to be an on going problem

Triumph...4 cruises....no smell

Inspiration...3 cruises...no smell

Fascination...5 cruises...no smell

Actually, over 68 Carnival cruises, I've never been subjected to a "smell".

It must be a conspiracy....

OP, Welcome to CC. I am afraid that you have already set yourself up to have a bad experience no matter what actualy happens. If I were you I would cancel as quickley as possible. That would open up a cabin for myself and others that are highly anticipating a cruise on this beautiful ship.

OP. Apparently, you missed the NEW SHIP SMELL commercials:

I am writing your publication to make public my “foul” experience with Carnival Cruise Lines. In these tough economic times, vacations are hard to come by. Families need to guard their funds and carefully choose whom they entrust their families memories with. This year, my wife and I, including our 12 year old son, 9 year old daughter and 6 year old daughter decided to take a vacation with my in laws who are in their 70’s for their 50th wedding anniversary. Also joining us on our vacation were my brother in law, his wife and their 8 year old daughter. This was to be a vacation to provide the type of family memories that can be recalled for a lifetime. This could be the only time we all ever get to vacation together. After weighing our memory dollars very carefully, we chose to sail on the newest, largest, Carnival Ship, the Dream.

Excitement was a bound, and anticipation was high. One day while day “Dreaming” about our cruise, I looked at an online site that reviews cruise ships. CruiseCritic.com. To my horror, most of the reviews talked about a fowl, sewer type, smell on board. We originally made our reservations back in August 2009 for a March 2010 cruise over Spring Break. Now it was January 2010 and other options were all booked. Maybe this was just an isolated few upset guests that are never happy. Not so, review after review, even those that seemed somewhat satisfied with their cruise lauded about the odd, sewer type smell on board. I thought how can a cruise ship marketed towards families smell like a dumpster?

I immediately called Carnival to get some sort of an explanation. I figured that they must be aware of the situation and have it resolved by now. I figured what type of company would allow little kids, seniors and young families be subjected to sewer odors during their Dream vacations. Spoke to several people at the customer service area who had no idea what I was talking about and insured me that there was no foul odor aboard any of their ships. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was connected to Diane. Diane assured me that no odor was present on the Dream ship, but after I insisted, she agreed to call to upper management to address my concerns. While I awaited a return call, I did some research on the internet and I spoke to Vance Guilikson, Carnival’s media relations spoke person. This was not easy to get him on the phone, but I relented. This is what I read:

Carnival spokesperson Vance Gulliksen responded to our request for comment following multiple reports of a sewage smell on Carnival Dream: "We have been told that initially there were some issues in certain open decks relating to the design of the ventilation systems within those specific areas. The problem was exacerbated under certain heavy wind conditions.

 

"Working with the Fincantieri shipyard, the ventilation systems in question were reconfigured prior to the ship's arrival in the U.S. in November. Since the problem was identified, the ventilation issues have largely been contained, however, there have been a few isolated incidents over the past few weeks. The ship's technical management team continues to closely monitor the situation to determine whether any further corrective actions may be necessary."

We discussed the issue, and he mentioned that he would put a call into the ship and upper management to find out a date when this situation would be resolved. I never received a return call from him. I did hear back from Diane. I was told that there was in fact a sewer type odor on board, but that it was “only” in certain areas. I thought, oh good, my 6 year old will only have to smell sewage in certain areas, not everywhere on my vacation. Obviously, I was being sarcastic and upset and couldn’t believe I was hearing the explanation she was giving me. I asked to receive a call from her supervisor Paula Sinclair. I was promised a call from her by the end of the next day. During my wait I decided to e-mail CEO Micky Arison and President Gerald Cahill. I was sure that if Mr. Arison knew of this problem, he would surely fix it, especially since it was his father who started Carnival Cruise Lines with just one ship designed to provide vacations to working families. He wouldn’t let working families pay for a cruise that he knew smelled like a sewer.

No response from Mr. Arison or Mr. Cahill. I did get an e-mail from Shela Wever, a guest solutions manager, that sent me this e-mail –“ …Please be advised that when the Carnival Dream first entered service in Europe, there were some isolated problems identified and corrective action was taken via modifications to the ship’s ventilation system. Since the ship has been operating in the U.S., we have received very few complaints on this issue. Actually, less than two in every 1,000 guests who have sailed on the vessel during this period. Nonetheless, further modifications are being made which will be completed shortly. We do not have a specific date at this time.” I also received this exact same e-mail from Carlos Villarreal. Sounds like they are getting many inquires about this issue and have developed this form e-mail. Unfortunately, all of the reviews I read dealing with the smell on board were written after these modifications were supposedly made.

Except for the money Carnival wants to make, why wouldn’t they put this ship in port and not let one paying family have to sacrifice their memories and their vacation to suffer through a sewer smell while trying to enjoy themselves. Would Mr. Arison sail on his yacht, the MYLIN IV and invite guests if it had a sewer smell on it? Would you invite guests to stay at your house if one of your rooms smelled like a sewer or dirty diapers as one review said?

I called Ms. Wever and she told me that they were aware of the smell onboard and that they were working on the issue, but that they couldn’t guarantee me that the odor would be gone by the time I sailed with them. Is this a joke? She told me to just have faith in them that they will resolve the issue, although she couldn’t promise it. How could I subject my family to this, a waste of our hard earned memory dollars? In a subsequent e-mail by her she wrote - ” …If you sail and are dissatisfied in any way with your cruise you have the opportunity to take advantage of our Vacation Guarantee program. We will not provide a full refund though due to this.” The guarantee was that my family could get off the ship at one of their stops and they would refund the rest of the cruise price. How many people reading this want to take a chance on a cruise like this, with a company like this? What do I do? What would you do? Cancel the memory vacation for my little girls and their grandma?

Sincerely,

Scott

Take the cruise and enjoy it. We were on The Dream 12/3-12/09 in cove balcony 2309. The deck 2 hallways intermittently, but daily, smelled like sewage. The crew acknowledged that this has been an ongoing problem. Those who have been on The Dream and state that there is NO sewage smell, undoubtedly were never on deck 2! Carnival has a problem(s) with The Dream and the PR people are doing their best to gloss over the problem(s) because that is their job.

Dont care, still going. Did not read to long & boring.

OP. Apparently, you missed the NEW SHIP SMELL commercials:

 

Knowing about the smell issues, they probably wish they wouldn't have made this commercial! lol

Knowing about the smell issues, they probably wish they wouldn't have made this commercial! lol

You got that right

The op has two posts.....hey op I had the same experience when I was on the dream and we passed by RCL's Oasis