Dangerous hand-rails on Adventure of the Seas.

[Barnum42]

The recent sailing we just returned from on Adventure of the seas had, amongst the unfortunately long list of gripes, one particularly dangerous issue I would like folk to be aware of.

 

When the boat was rocking quite a bit, I was using the handrails on the interior stairs. On one of them I was shocked to find it appeared to have been covered in oil. There was no traction and my arm slid up the rail. Fortunately, I was going up the stairs; had I been going down, then at best I would have been picking carpet fluff out of my teeth.

 

There was a cleaner who had just coated it in the slippery substance (turned out to be some form of anti-bacterial agent). I pointed out that it was pretty dangerous to grease up the handrails. His response was to say that he'd been told to do it every hour and if I was not happy to complain.

 

I did complain, but nothing was done about it as the next day it was still happening. I complained again and was asked if I wanted to speak to a manager. I wanted to but it turned out that no manager was prepared to talk to me.

 

So - be careful using the handrails if there is a cleaner in the vicinity. I don't know how long it takes to evaporate, but when it's freshly applied that stuff is dangerous.

[Lionesss]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

I am sure if you experienced this on the Adventure of the Seas, it will be fleetwide on RCI.

 

I will heed your warning when we sail.

 

Thanks

 

Sea Ya

[lady_cruiser]

Thanks for the warning. While I never experienced this it is something I'll keep in mind.

[edjny]

Instead of complaining, you should be thanking the person cleaning the hand-rails. That is one of the primary transmission areas of Noro and other diseases.

 

Choices...

- Hold rail a bit tighter if the disinfectant has not dried yet.....

- Get Noro because the hand rails were not cleaned....

 

I think I choose holding the rail a bit tighter...

[LMaxwell]

These crew should work in smaller sections and / or wipe down the railing. Same thing happened to me on Majesty and I WAS going down, my arm rocketed right off the rail. It's slick stuff. I don't even mind the cleaner getting my hand wet, I'm sure it's safe to touch, but really it should have been wiped with clean rags, not left without a tag or anything.

[sharpasice]

Instead of complaining, you should be thanking the person cleaning the hand-rails. That is one of the primary transmission areas of Noro and other diseases.

 

Choices...

- Hold rail a bit tighter if the disinfectant has not dried yet.....

- Get Noro because the hand rails were not cleaned....

 

I think I choose holding the rail a bit tighter...

 

Wow! All the OP is doing is giving people a warning so others don't get hurt...I can see the reason for complaining to a manager as this can be very dangerous especially to elderly. By complaining maybe they would post a sign warning people that the railing was wet and to be careful. It's a matter of safety not a choice between Noro and holding tighter.

 

I do have a question for the OP though. You said you had a long list of gripes? Would you mind sharing? Just curious as I am looking at booking AOS soon. Thanks.

[cariad1000]

Thank you for posting this advice OP. I'm sailing on AOS on 17th August and as I suffer badly from arthritis and depend on the handrails this is very useful to know. I would also like to hear of any other problems you encountered.

[Barnum42]

Instead of complaining, you should be thanking the person cleaning the hand-rails. That is one of the primary transmission areas of Noro and other diseases.

 

Choices...

- Hold rail a bit tighter if the disinfectant has not dried yet.....

- Get Noro because the hand rails were not cleaned....

 

I think I choose holding the rail a bit tighter...

That's got to be the most mild bit of trolling on any internet board ever.

 

I'll reiterate - no matter how hard a grip you have, your hand will shoot off down the rail. Plus, if you were relying on your hand keeping the rest of you in an upright direction, then the rest of you would go Jack and Jill , tumbling after.

 

I'm not whining that I got a wet hand. I am concerned that people will be seriously hurt.

 

So looking at your choices:

 

"- Hold rail a bit tighter if the disinfectant has not dried yet..... " Not an option. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the peak of his muscular status would still go base over tea kettle if he needed these rails when going down the stairs.

 

- Get Noro because the hand rails were not cleaned.. A bit extreme in a stick your tongue out anonymously at someone on the internet. But, lets go with it. As you are happy for them to coat the rails with noro reflective lubricant you won't catch noro, but you could end up with a broken neck, so noro would be the least of your worries.

[Barnum42]

I do have a question for the OP though. You said you had a long list of gripes? Would you mind sharing? Just curious as I am looking at booking AOS soon. Thanks.

 

I was not retentive enough to list everything as it was encountered, but with it fresh in mind here's some of the things:

 

The productions shows at the main theatre were far off the "Wow" mark that Royal Caribbean use in their marketing. Not just a personal opinion, but asking others, "Did you see the show last night?" always got a reply along the lines of, "Yes, it was not very good".

 

They put on an adult comedian on the 7:00pm family show. Much as I like a good dirty joke, they've no place in that situation. The cruise director did not help by adding his own smutty comments.

 

Side note - the one good act was Graffiti Classics - if you get a chance to see them, do so. Very funny and great musicianship.

 

Just keeping with the entertainment, there was an unintentionally funny singing pianist in one of the lounges. If she hit a right note, I think it was only by accident.

 

The Windjammer has gone downhill since our previous voyage on AOS' sister Ship Navigator. Limited repetitive choice, kept out too long under hot lamps so it's dried out and hard, staff reductions mean the tables are not cleared efficiently, especially during the afternoon 3-5 slot. Same for spillages on the floor - it's not just the handrails that are slippery on that boat. Management rather than re-stocking a missing item (taco shells on the one day they appeared) just pulled the whole stand saying they were getting ready for afternoon slot - which was over an hour away.

 

Plastic tongs under the hot lamps could at a pinch be used for welding. Daughter burned her hand on them - fortunately not so bad that instant treatment with ice and water prevented it getting worse.

 

The windows in Windjammer did not see a cleaner the whole week. As the view is one of the great things in here (it helps to distract your mind from the insipid food) having to peer through several ports worth of grime is not great.

 

Cafe Promenade no longer has a rotating selection of sandwiches and cakes. It's the same stuff every day. Except the last two days when they ran out of cookies.

 

I'll not bore you with the details, but a member of the crew on boarding screamed at my wife and at the time upset daughter - making her upset situation even worse.

 

Meet and mingle was a loss. They had no holders for the badges, ran out of the free gifts, promised to delver them to the cabins but never did, the food was a pile of cheese. Just that, no plates, nothing to have with the cheese. Just cheese. After doing the sales pitch the hot did the raffle and then left. It's my impression that usually, the host leads a couple of fun activities to get people to mingle, not do a sales pitch and end it there.

 

Cruise Compass published Norwegian phrases to use when in port. However, they were in Danish. The two languages have similarities, but it would be nice to have the correct words.

 

The ice skating rink was open for just one day, plus an hour and a half on another day.

 

The already reported ragged around the edge state of the ship - plenty of rust to be found, be in outside on in the cabin. Rear promenade stacked up with rolls or carpet. Often they cordoned it off. Lovely smell of carpet glue as they were replacing carpet during the voyage.

 

That gives you some ideas of the issues.

 

However, the Norwegian ports of call were lovely and the staff that have been left after the cuts were doing their best with the additional work load but you could detect they were under more pressure that in the past.

 

Speaking to some veteran cruisers - they said it's the first trip they'd been on where most people were talking about all the bad things going on. Normally guests can put up with the occasional gripe as the majority of the trip is going so well, but the cumulation of issues was outweighing the good parts.

[BND]

These crew should work in smaller sections and / or wipe down the railing. Same thing happened to me on Majesty and I WAS going down, my arm rocketed right off the rail. It's slick stuff. I don't even mind the cleaner getting my hand wet, I'm sure it's safe to touch, but really it should have been wiped with clean rags, not left without a tag or anything.

 

I'm pretty sure to be effective it has to air dry and not be wiped off.

[LMaxwell]

I'm pretty sure to be effective it has to air dry and not be wiped off.

If that is so a warning tag is warranted on the rails. Safety is always a conscious choice.

[Luv06012012]

Thank you for the heads up and I'm sorry to hear of the issues you encountered on this trip. We just booked Adventure for next year and while booking, the customer service agent told me she is getting ready to be refurbished. I hope this takes care of some of the issues....won't help with short staff though.

 

I went on her back in 2009 and had a world class vacation. Nothing could compare for a while! I'm praying things get fixed so I can leave with the same impression.

[Yorkshire Voyagers]

Thank you for the heads up and I'm sorry to hear of the issues you encountered on this trip. We just booked Adventure for next year and while booking, the customer service agent told me she is getting ready to be refurbished. I hope this takes care of some of the issues....won't help with short staff though.

 

I went on her back in 2009 and had a world class vacation. Nothing could compare for a while! I'm praying things get fixed so I can leave with the same impression.

 

Adventure doesn't go in for major refurbishment until 2016. Even without that, it's still a great ship, we've been lucky enough to have many weeks on her already this year

[BND]

If that is so a warning tag is warranted on the rails. Safety is always a conscious choice.

 

I've used the stairs while they are cleaning them and never had a problem. They weren't slippery. I do think people have some responsibility when touching something obviously wet.

 

I am always amazed at the neverending life threatening/safety issues that people are able to find and race here to "warn" people about.

 

OP, rust is an ongoing issue on EVERY ship at sea. With salt water/air you cannot really stay ahead of it, ever. That complaint from people always makes me laugh. As for the carpeting, they have to replace it and it's not like they have any down time between cruises to do so. We were on FR after the storm in PC in Oct 2011 where water came in. They were replacing carpeting left and right and while there was some odor, it wasn't terrible. In fact, I've seen carpeting being replaced on just about every cruise we've been on.

 

As for the hot plastic tongs, we've encountered that on every ship in the WJ. Problem is, there's nowhere else to put them. I hope you responded to the email survey with everyone of your issues so they can fix them all and make your next cruise perfect in every way.

[LMaxwell]

I've used the stairs while they are cleaning them and never had a problem. They weren't slippery. I do think people have some responsibility when touching something obviously wet.

 

 

That's the problem. The rails are not obviously wet to look at them. Therefore a sign is appropriate.

 

If you grabbed a rail sprayed with this cleaner it would be very slick/slippery. It's not like touching something wet with glass cleaner.

 

I don't understand why people in this post are so argumentative. They put up wet floor signs when floors are wet. They put up signs when railings are varnished. They should put up signs on stair railings when they are slick. Not difficult. May prevent injuries. No compelling reason NOT to err on the side of safety in this case.

 

I do think companies have a responsibility to warn of situations / prevent injuries whenever practical and to put it on guests to say be more careful even if you can not obviously discern a slick liquid is silly.

 

Edit: I can not think of a single compelling reason not to put a simple warning sign on slick railings. And you will not be able to convince me that warning others of a safety issue is somehow a bad thing.

Edited June 1, 2014 by LMaxwell

[BND]

That's the problem. The rails are not obviously wet to look at them. Therefore a sign is appropriate.

 

If you grabbed a rail sprayed with this cleaner it would be very slick/slippery. It's not like touching something wet with glass cleaner.

 

I don't understand why people in this post are so argumentative. They put up wet floor signs when floors are wet. They put up signs when railings are varnished. They should put up signs on stair railings when they are slick. Not difficult. May prevent injuries. No compelling reason NOT to err on the side of safety in this case.

 

I do think companies have a responsibility to warn of situations / prevent injuries whenever practical and to put it on guests to say be more careful even if you can not obviously discern a slick liquid is silly.

 

My point was I have never found them to be slick. Wet, yes, slick, no. I think some people are just a tad overly dramatic when posting. Was anyone hurt? No, but I'm suspecting just a bit embarassed. Calling this "dangerous" in the title is over the top.

 

I do think some people are the ones that the tags on hair dryers are for. You know, the do not use while in the bathtub types. You can't warn for every single little thing. This is not the same as a wet floor or varnish. It's just not.

Edited June 1, 2014 by BND

[LMaxwell]

My point was I have never found them to be slick. Wet, yes, slick, no. I think some people are just a tad overly dramatic when posting. Was anyone hurt? No, but I'm suspecting just a bit embarassed. Calling this "dangerous" in the title is over the top.

 

You may not have encountered the newer cleaning products. They are definitely slick. It's a similar consistency to a silicone lubricant, not like a glass cleaner which is wet but not really all that slick. I could absolutely see a scenario where someone could be hurt unknowingly grabbing a railing coated in this slime. You're being purposely argumentative for no apparent good reason. Good grief Charlie Brown.

[rubrrick]

Adventure doesn't go in for major refurbishment until 2016. Even without that, it's still a great ship, we've been lucky enough to have many weeks on her already this year

 

The Adventure came out of dry dock about 2 weeks before we boarded her for an eastbound Transatlantic a few months ago. There was new carpet in some of the staterooms (we had an OS with brand new carpeting), and some of the corridors, as well as a new Diamond lounge, and new cabins on deck 3.

 

My gut tells me that in 2016, she will have a wet dock to have additional cabins added on deck 12. Really nothing more than that. The original plans for the Adventure to happen in April of this year, were mostly scrapped.

 

Royal Caribbean will not spend the money to dry dock this ship within 2 years of the time that she was last dry docked, the last of March of 2014.

 

Rick

Edited June 1, 2014 by rubrrick

[edjny]

That's the problem. The rails are not obviously wet to look at them. Therefore a sign is appropriate.

 

If you grabbed a rail sprayed with this cleaner it would be very slick/slippery. It's not like touching something wet with glass cleaner.

 

I don't understand why people in this post are so argumentative. They put up wet floor signs when floors are wet. They put up signs when railings are varnished. They should put up signs on stair railings when they are slick. Not difficult. May prevent injuries. No compelling reason NOT to err on the side of safety in this case.

 

I do think companies have a responsibility to warn of situations / prevent injuries whenever practical and to put it on guests to say be more careful even if you can not obviously discern a slick liquid is silly.

 

Edit: I can not think of a single compelling reason not to put a simple warning sign on slick railings. And you will not be able to convince me that warning others of a safety issue is somehow a bad thing.

 

By your logic, they better put up permenent warning signs. Cleaning the hand rails is not a once a day occurance. I have seen them wiping down the hand rails several times a day. They do not stay wet for very long. I think a little common sense goes a long way.

[BND]

You may not have encountered the newer cleaning products. They are definitely slick. It's a similar consistency to a silicone lubricant, not like a glass cleaner which is wet but not really all that slick. I could absolutely see a scenario where someone could be hurt unknowingly grabbing a railing coated in this slime. You're being purposely argumentative for no apparent good reason. Good grief Charlie Brown.

 

Well, since we cruise twice a year and just got off GR in March, I'd say we have.

 

And, has anyone actually been injured in any way? By your logic everyone needs to be warned about every little thing all the time. Not possible.

 

Anyway, the OP had a myriad of complaints which if she doesn't want to get responses, she shouldn't post and now she's taking her toys and going home because she didn't like the fact that everyone didn't agree with her or feel sorry for her. As I said, drama. Some revel in it.

 

So, her lesson was, what? Don't use the railings? The choice when using the stairs is either to use the railings or don't. That's pretty much it.

Edited June 1, 2014 by BND

[Lilly57]

Just wanted to say that we have just returned from the Norway cruise on Adventure and we found the condition of the ship to be very good, only a little wear and tear in some areas, you really have to go looking for the rust etc. the food in all venues was very enjoyable, no problem getting a clean table. The entertainment on board was quite good, the ice show excellent. We didn't hear anyone complaining, everyone we spoke to was having a good time. The staff work very hard so you can have a good experience. We loved it, just goes to show how different people have different views of the same thing.

[SunshineCruiser24]

I'm pretty sure to be effective it has to air dry and not be wiped off.

 

Most disinfectants need to sit for a bit to be effective. The ones we use at work are supposed to stay wet for 5 minutes to be the most effective. A warning tag would be helpful though.

[swinny123]

Just wanted to say that we have just returned from the Norway cruise on Adventure and we found the condition of the ship to be very good, only a little wear and tear in some areas, you really have to go looking for the rust etc. the food in all venues was very enjoyable, no problem getting a clean table. The entertainment on board was quite good, the ice show excellent. We didn't hear anyone complaining, everyone we spoke to was having a good time. The staff work very hard so you can have a good experience. We loved it, just goes to show how different people have different views of the same thing.

 

 

That's great to hear....I'm booked on AOS for our first ever cruise in August, and seem to be hearing lots of negative comments, so refreshing to hear your opinion. As you say different people have extremely different views, and I'm really looking forward to seeing for myself ......I'm sure it'll be great :-))

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[04cruises]

I count on good support from the handrails as I have bad legs so if they are slick that would be a concern for me. Wet on most things usually does make them slick.

[homeschoolmama]

Just to raise another point of view. Maybe the "oil" on the railing came from someone's suntan lotion, maybe a drink spilled or someone just had pizza and did not use a napkin. You did not see a ship person putting a substance on the railing or you probably would not have slipped because you would have had a heads up. Not every occurence is the result of the ship failing in some way. There are 3000 people and therefore that many ways any one of them could have also caused a substance to land on the railing. I am VERY glad you were not injured. I think the lesson learned though, is you are on a ship with thousands of others, so constant caution and care is always in order. If you do find something out of line, report it to guest services immediately, but don't automatically assume the ship or its staff is at fault. Sometimes I think we are so spoiled from wonderful cruise experiences that we can fall into unrealistic expectations. I am not saying you did, but just want to raise another point of view.

 

Sent from my SCH-I915 using Forums mobile app