MSC Divina - Flooded cabin & food allergies 4/1/17 sailing

[amandaepperson21]

Our cabin was completely flooded (as in 2-3" of standing water) by the hi-fog sprinkler system on Thursday, just as I was getting ready for formal night # 2. We were treated very poorly, as though we were criminals, then told we should be thankful they weren't charging us for the damage done to the cabin.

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

 

My husband had my floor-length formal dress hanging from the rack above the TV. He was using spray and a hair dryer to get a few wrinkles out. As he was moving my dress from the TV area to the bed, he bumped the sprinkler head with the hanger.

 

Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine something so simple could set off the sprinkler system. He didn't even realize what had made it go off. Our 13yo happened to be in the cabin. She explained to us what she witnessed after it was all said and done.

 

DURING THE FLOODING

 

It was a nightmare. The sprinkler started out as little more than a mist. I called the emergency button because previous experience with calling reception taught me that there would be at BEST a 3-4 minute hold time (up to 10 minutes in my experience on MSC Divina). I told them what was happening and our cabin number. 5 minutes later I called again as no one had arrived yet. Meanwhile my daughter and I are frantically tossing everything we can onto the balcony.

 

The water pressure intensified pretty quickly. My husband was holding a towel around the sprinkler head to minimize the damage while we gathered everything we could. But he eventually had to let go and leave the room to join us in the hall.

 

We had called the emergency button twice, and reception twice from the stairway, before anyone arrived. It took 15 minutes. I'm a business owner and have to work with customers on a daily basis. If that had been my business, I would've made sure SOMEONE was in our cabin within minutes of the first call. Even if it wasn't someone who could fix it. Just someone who could help console and calm us.

 

The water pressure was enough to hurt my husbands hands. He has a physically intense job. He's in good physical condition. For him to say it hurt really means something.

 

IMMEDIATELY AFTER FLOOD

 

The guest services manager, Claudio, approached my husband and indicated that a safety officer needed to question him. I was crying and surveying the damage to our property. My teenager had already been instructed to go to dinner with the rest of our family. I heard tense voices coming from the hallway and went out to find my husband being questioned like he was a criminal. The safety officer was shouting "What did you do?!?" as if to imply this whole thing was our fault! He simply BUMPED the hanger into the sprinkler on accident!!!

 

Claudio, the guest services manager, diffused the situation pretty quickly, but I still felt humiliated and very disrespected. Not only was my formal night ruined, my personal property was ruined, I had no idea what would be done to fix it (we were questioned before even finding out where we were going or what would be done about our stuff!!), and the kicker -- we were disrespected and humiliated right in the middle of the hallway.

 

We were asked to go to Guest Services to complete an official statement the next morning. I felt like I was in the principals office.

 

HOW THEY HELPED

 

They offered to launder our wet clothes. My husband and I were handed bags to bag up our sopping wet clothing. THEN we were informed that we would be taken to another cabin. We also packed up our belongings that were tossed onto the balcony during the spray. We brought it with us. The crew brought the rest of our belongings from the wardrobe, bathroom, night stands, etc.. to our new cabin within a couple of hours. It took about 24 hours to have all of our belongings back. The laundry staff and our new cabin steward were incredibly helpful.

 

STILL NOT SATISFIED

 

Being in customer service myself, I'm not easily offended. But this whole situation left me feeling very offended. We were treated very poorly and offered nothing more than laundry service to make up for what had happened. I went to guest services late the next morning for two reasons - 1 to see if anyone could pull some strings to get us into a specialty restaurant since we missed formal night; 2 to see if they would be willing to offer an onboard credit for the value of our damaged property ($300 - a couple of electronics and cosmetics... we got almost everything onto the balcony before the heavy spray started). I was brought back to Claudio's office. He was polite every time we spoke. He essentially said, very politely, that I should forget about what happened and be happy that we weren't being charged with the several hundreds of dollars of damage done to the cabin. He explained that they would have to change out all the lights, offer compensation to the cabins next to us (water came through to their cabin), move the passengers that booked our room for the next week, etc.. He listed several expenses, one being a $500 fine that the safety officer "could" penalize us with, but hadn't "up to this point". He also made mention of attorneys and that when things like this escalate to court, the passengers never win.

 

WHY I FEEL JUSTIFIED

 

There is no indication anywhere that one should avoid so much as accidentally touching the sprinkler head. No warning sign, no red sticker, nothing. I didn't really notice it was even there until the incident. It isn't hard for something to bump the sprinkler. One of my kids could've easily touched it while monkeying around on the bed. My husband could've bumped it while taking off his shirt (he's tall). And I know something like this has happened a few times before because Claudio explained a few different scenarios. You'd think by now there would be some type of clear indication of DO NOT TOUCH. It doesn't even make sense that it would be set off simply by touching it. So how on earth are we entirely at fault??

 

In addition to there being no indication to not touch the thing, we were treated VERY poorly afterward. The security officer was incredibly rude. Claudio was very polite, but overall it was clear he didn't feel like we deserved anything more than the laundry of our sopping wet clothes.

 

FOOD ALLERGIES

 

I'm allergic to soy protein. My son is allergic to dairy. After speaking with MSC via phone 3 times pre-cruise, speaking with the Maitre D, the head waiter in our dinner section, numerous other wait staff, and people on the buffet, I conclude that no special accommodations will be made whatsoever. Nor am I confident that the staff can identify which foods contain various allergens. I asked if the surimi contained soy and was told no. I had an allergic reaction to the surimi. Thankfully it wasn't anaphalaxis (which I've experienced before!!). But the reaction was serious enough to make me question whether or not it was time to use an epipen. They also often referred to dairy as "lactose". Lactose is the sugar in dairy milk. Food allergies are triggered by the protein (whey/casein). Not lactose. Lactose-free products can still contain dairy. It made me very nervous when they would say something doesn't contain "lactose" when I asked if something contained dairy. Again, being lactose-free does NOT mean dairy free. My son can't even tolerate butter (which is pretty much all fat, no protein).

 

My son went to Puffi (kids club) mid-dinner most nights. They didn't have sorbet or any other dessert available for him other than fresh fruit. They weren't willing to make sorbet available to him during their time caring for him. However, ice cream was available to my other child in puffi, so I know they do have a freezer and could've made this accommodation for him.

 

When I asked if various foods contain dairy and was told yes, at no point did anyone indicate that they could prepare those foods without dairy. I also felt like there were times where they said something did contain dairy when it didn't, simply because they either weren't sure or didn't feel like finding out for sure.

 

Once while ordering room service for my son, I was told I had to call the kitchen to ask if something had dairy. The kitchen staff was clearly annoyed by my question and said, "I'm not sure, I would have to ask the chef." Not 'I WILL ask' but they would have to. I had to expressly ask them to ask the chef.

 

Food allergies kill people every day. This is not something people should take lightly. Furthermore, it's not like I can just whip my son up a batch of dairy-free cookies in my cabin. It's easy to work around a restaurant menu then go home and make him whatever he wants. But on a cruise, you essentially LIVE there and you have no access to a kitchen... therefore no access to prepare special foods for yourself or your food allergy kid.

 

No one had any interest in making anything special for my son. I'd have gladly paid extra. I was led to believe that he would have options. If you call bare bones "options" then sure, he had options.

 

We had a few other issues with this cruise, but those are the biggies. We won't be cruising with MSC again.

[8420PR]

Your post does feel very one-sided - you were directly responsible for hundred if not thousands of euros worth of damage yet consider yourself the victim. Regarding the sprinkler problem I can only see excellent customer service from MSC (and difficult customers) based on your account.

 

However, it looks like food allergies could be better understood and handled by MSC - here you may have a point.

[Bra_BE2014]

It would be interesting to have a picture of this sprinkler button and it's location. Wondering why nobody ever reported such an issue if it's so easy to 'bump' it.

 

 

 

 

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[sfaaa]

This sounds like an unfortunate accident that resulted in expenses and inconvenience on both sides. You have some grievances and so does MSC. Rather than antagonizing yourself further over this, perhaps it's best to just turn the page and move on.

[sidari]

Having been on the receiving end of a water sprinkler system while fighting building fires and the full effects of being drenched to the skin while doing so, I sympathise with how you would have felt. The shock of seeing it happen would have been a factor in how you reacted.

 

Sadly this accident was your husbands fault despite the fact that it was not intentional, if you go to any large store or other commercial building that have a sprinkler system and hit one of the fluid bulbs you are going to set it off, these things are designed to work right away and to make them stronger would negate their efficiency.

The mist system as you have described it did what it was supposed to do and build up to a point where it floods the cabin in order to suppress any fire .

It appears that certain people handled the problem wrong which will always cause issue, I believe that the loss to MSC was far greater than your own and as "sfaaa" says it may well be best to accept it for what it was an unintentional accident and move on.

 

And for any future cruises make sure you stay away from the sprinkler heads.

[Two Wheels Only]

*sigh*

 

You have some legit grievances but some of your comments are (to put it mildly) unrealistic.

 

MSC did not treat you like a criminal by simply asking what happened. Maybe his tone or volume was the issue but asking is what he is supposed to do. As far as "...as if to imply this whole thing was our fault!...", well.....it WAS your fault (your husband's, technically). The fact that is was an accident doesn't make it not his fault.

 

MSC was not going to reimburse you for your damaged items. If a room steward had bumped the sprinkler and damaged your items, THEN MSC would owe you something. Your night was ruined and your items were ruined but MSC had thousands of dollars/euros/whatever in damages plus the neighboring staterooms suffered damage and the people staying in those staterooms suffered. MSC didn't cause the damage. The neighboring guests didn't cause the damage. One person caused the damage.

 

The safety officer questioned everyone in the hallway. He couldn't do it in your stateroom. He could have led you somewhere else to question you but that would have seemed like a perp walk and "embarrassed" you further, right? There was no way that you would have not felt embarrassed because of what had happened. If the sprinkler soaked everyone without being touched, you would have been more angry but you/your husband wouldn't have been responsible for the mess.

 

MSC didn't "owe" you a dinner just because your husband screwed up and you missed your formal night.

 

As for a warning sign....really? :rolleyes:

Is there a sign warning you to not shower with your mouth open towards the shower head for fear of drowning?

Is there a sign warning you to not kick the balcony door for fear of cutting your leg on the broken glass?

There can't be a warning sign for everything and even if there was, would your husband have still accidentally hit the sprinkler?

 

"...overall it was clear he didn't feel like we deserved anything more than the laundry of our sopping wet clothes. " - You didn't "deserve" anything. You're lucky that you didn't have to compensate MSC for damages that your husband caused.

[Canadianmama3]

I agree with others. Yes things may not have been handled perfectly and some of your concerns are legitimate. However you are blowing things out of proportion here and playing the victim. You guys did cause a ton of damage. Even if it wasn't intentional it was your actions that resulted in damage. And yes they did the right thing questioning you to figure out what happened. Fire is a serious danger and someone doing something wrong wouldn't just admit it.

 

They did their best to resolve the situation and it sounds like they were helpful to me. And as far as the food goes it sounds like they were being cautious. Did you even ask if they could make something? If not that's on you.

 

Honestly you sound very entitled.

 

 

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[StolidCruiser]

You accidentally caused damage and you complain they didn't bend over backwards to make you feel better for having done it?

 

This is exactly the "I'm at fault but I'll dredge up some reason why I shouldn't be accountable" mentality that pervades all too frequently.

 

I would have said the same thing - you're lucky not to be charged for the damage you caused (even accidentally). However, you will fail to see that and divert attention to how you claim to have been ill treated for the situation.

 

Don't expect a lot of sympathy because you don't really deserve any. Perhaps if you has shown a scintilla of responsibilty for the accident (instead of blame for how someone else should be at fault) things might turn out differently.

[parallax]

Accidents happen. However, if your actions are the underlying reason why something happened, one should not expect the cruise line to compensate you for your negligence. It seems that MSC took a reasonable approach by taking care of your dry cleaning and moving you to a new room. Finally, I think it is crazy that the cruise line needs to warn passengers about the sprinkler. Common sense should dictate that sprinklers equal water and you should not touch. Next, will they need to place warning statements next to the outlets.

[stealthy]

Don't go back to MSC, I for one don't want you bad mouthing them for something YOU did and then look for sympathy and support.

And trust me, if you did this to any other cruise line or major Hotel chain you would get the same results. It was your fault!

[mafig]

You know I never gave those sprinkler heads a thought. Do they go off that easily?

[KarimaJ]

This piqued my interest because I thought they were only triggered by heat. A Google search show that they have been triggered by people hanging dresses and things from the sprinkler, and I saw one case of a college student who bumped it with the cardboard by accident. So yes, it can happen.

[GOLDENBONNY]

I love it. you damaged cabin and after all you are looking for free dinner? :'):')

[Reds4life]

Rather than discuss who is to blame, I'd like to say I am sincerely sorry to hear that you had a bad time. No one deserves to have a bad experience on vacation regardless of who is at fault.

[LakeWobegon]

I've been in so many hotels for work and vacation that I've seen tons of signs saying don't hang clothes on the sprinklers. They are ultra sensitive and will go off. I'm not saying clothes were hung on it but bump them in the slightest and they will go off. I tend to look at the positive side of things. At least you got most of your stuff on the balcony and only a minimal amount was completely ruined. And they moved you to a new room free of charge. MSC has to replace I would bet thousands of dollars worth of interior fittings in the room and will not be charging you anything. And hopefully you still had a fun cruise overall. That's my take on the sprinkler situation. It actually sounds like they handled it well. I don't think many other lines would handle it any differently unless it was an ultra luxury line.

[LakeWobegon]

Also, I would suspect MSC is saving the discount for the passengers who were booked in that cabin the next week. From my limited cruising experience to date, I take great pains to select my cabin based on location, balcony, experience, etc. and if I was told a few weeks if not the week before, I was being moved, especially to a lesser cabin/location/experience, I would be more than peeved since I did nothing to cause the situation. Just sayin is all, trying to offer the perspective of the person who was excited to stay there next as well.

[sfaaa]

Another positive: Fire sprinkler on MSC ship actually works and not just for show. Now we know.

[amandaepperson21]

I love it. you damaged cabin and after all you are looking for free dinner? :'):')

 

I didn't ask for a free dinner. I asked for help getting a *reservation*.

[siennamom]

What was the cabin number?

[Luckyone2]

On Friday, there was an announcement made shipwide that the aft infinity pool was closed due a to broken pipe.

[stealthy]

what was the cabin number?

 

11127

Edited April 11, 2017 by stealthy

[shipturtle]

Oh, my dad was so upset about the closed pool!

[Homosassa]

The hair dryer was used by the balcony door and had not been in use for a few minutes. Nor had the mist.

 

A few minutes? That would be more then enough time for a sensor to detect the heat and mist (especially since heat rises and the heat source was already up high).

[edspec]

DS was Gluten and Casein free for years. It was a total drag. You can't buy one processed thing w/o checking labels, even if it was ok the week before. As a PP stated you can really only trust whole fresh foods, nothing processed and nothing that has been cooked w/ other things.

We are on Divina this Saturday, yay!! Really glad our cabins aren't near OPs.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

I'm concerned about your experience with food allergies. We've had excellent experiences on DCL & NCL. I'm now a little worried about MSC. Our 16 y o has quite a few allergies. NCL prepared him special (unrequested) desserts more than once.

 

 

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