NCL Breakaway 07-17-22 HAVEN SUITE NO TOILET

[Turtles06]

13 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I never said it was not inconvenient for anyone. 

“Inconvenient” is having the nearest elevator out of service for a day. But not having a working toilet in one’s cabin for three entire days essentially renders the cabin uninhabitable.  No one should be expected to get dressed in the middle of the night and leave their own cabin to use a public restroom. 
 

 

[JennKach]

I keep thinking about if my parents had to do this.  My dad is mobility impaired and uses the bathroom a lot during the night due to medications and age.  There is no way he could safely leave the room to go find a bathroom during the night, half asleep, with his walker, especially if encountering rougher seas.     

[skeeter195]

We were on the Breakaway in October in a Haven 2 bedroom.  The A/C in the living room would not go below 76 degrees while the 2 bedrooms would get down to 64.  We like it cold so this was annoying.  Our room steward noticed it and had someone look at it. Workers tried to fix it for all week and then finally on the last day they fixed it.  We just dealt with it and never complained.  The concierge grabbed me on the last day and said that they were giving us $400 OBC for the problem.  If they were willing to give us $400 for a little warm air then I am sure that no toilet for 3 days is worth a lot more than that.  I would let the concierge know that the GM is not offering an acceptable amount.  the concierge has more power than most people realize.  

 

Good luck and I am sorry this had to happen

[happytotravel]

On 7/24/2022 at 10:16 AM, mscdivina2016 said:

In the paperwork when you arrive to your cabin, they state that only TP is to be flushed down the toilet and if you are guilty of causing an issue they threaten to charge you.

 

On MSC, there is a sign directly above the toilet in each cabin that also starts they can charge you.

Hi All,

What happened to the other 29 cabins that were on the same line?  If someone throws stuff into the toilet that they shouldn't the blockage is there and would affect them  all.  This is not the fault of NCL. It's the fault of the yoyo who did it.

 

I find it hard to believe that a change in cabin was not offered.

happytotravel

[OZ.]

On 7/23/2022 at 6:38 PM, Pizzasteve said:

Agree the amount seems ok, but FCC is not a very reasonable offer to me.   I would demand a refund equal to that amount, as you may never cruise again.  You had to walk to a 'shared toilet' what, maybe 2 times a day for 6 trips pp?  

 

What if their room was at the back or forward of the ship? The walk would be longer and would wake a person up more than a short trip to their own bathroom. Who wants to get completely woken up 2 - 4 times a night along with having to get dressed? I know I would be very upset. 

[OZ.]

On 7/24/2022 at 10:17 AM, wsb225 said:

Good morning.   To clarify, I was in a fully paid Haven, 2 bedroom Family suite that had to bathrooms and 2 toilets.  Neither toilet worked.  No upgrades were taken.  Again, fully paid for.  No other suites were available and no other cabins were offered even after I inquired. On day 3, I asked again about moving to any other cabin due to the odor, the inconvenience and constant challenge presented and NCL management stated they would relook and get back with me.  Again, no other cabins were offered and available.    After the 3rd day, management reported back that the toilet  problem was fixed.    That was toward the end of our 7 day cruise.  
 

BTW, The chain of who I reported this problem to and discussed this with went from the cabin steward to the Butler to the Haven concierge to the Breakaway Guest Services Manager and then to the Breakaway General Manager.   All I received was excuses as to why nothing could be done on board and I had to deal with NCL Corporate and that they would be in touch.     This is an unacceptable outcome and the cruise was very disappointing.  NO TOILET for 3 days.  Unacceptable.    The resolution offered by NCL is unacceptable.   

Completely agree it is totally unacceptable. Why did it take them 3 days to fix the issue?

[Cruising Lynne]

2 hours ago, JennKach said:

I keep thinking about if my parents had to do this.  My dad is mobility impaired and uses the bathroom a lot during the night due to medications and age.  There is no way he could safely leave the room to go find a bathroom during the night, half asleep, with his walker, especially if encountering rougher seas.     

I thought about this too. At least if they are in the Haven, the nearest public bathroom is pretty close by, but some of the regular staterooms are a lot further away from a bathroom. Good that the OP was in the Haven or they may have been tempted to pee in the shower at night. I hope the OP reports back if they are able to get better, more appropriate compensation. I usually get a regular balcony cabin, but if I I splurged on the Haven I would be very unhappy with this situation. 

[aubreyc1988]

I'm usually pretty understanding of things but 3 days without a toilet in room is unacceptable, no matter the situation or the room type booked. I'd be expecting a whole lot more than 12%

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 minute ago, aubreyc1988 said:

I'm usually pretty understanding of things but 3 days without a toilet in room is unacceptable, no matter the situation or the room type booked. I'd be expecting a whole lot more than 12%

Hear! Hear!  Us folks in steerage "deserve" working toilets just as much as the fine folks in the Haven.  That said, us lower class steerage folks would likely just pee in the shower and go back to bed....  Some of us grew up on farms.😎🐀

[aubreyc1988]

I had a similar situation years ago on Carnival (an inside stateroom but still)

 

All the bathrooms in every stateroom didn't work, and most of the public bathrooms onboard were backed up/out of service...you can imagine it was a nightmare of a cruise and Carnival claimed there was no problem

 

Was the last time I ever sailed with them. 

[aubreyc1988]

Just now, ChiefMateJRK said:

Hear! Hear!  Us folks in steerage "deserve" working toilets just as much as the fine folks in the Haven.  That said, us lower class steerage folks would likely just pee in the shower and go back to bed....  Some of us grew up on farms.😎🐀

And also, to be fair, the public restrooms onboard are upkept well usually, not like a airport bathroom or something. But it's more about the 2s versus the 1s lol 

[mscdivina2016]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Hear! Hear!  Us folks in steerage "deserve" working toilets just as much as the fine folks in the Haven.  That said, us lower class steerage folks would likely just pee in the shower and go back to bed....  Some of us grew up on farms.😎🐀

I stay in YC and would have used my Balcony 😆

I wonder if depends are complimentary?

[cruiseny4life]

46 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

I stay in YC and would have used my Balcony 😆

I wonder if depends are complimentary?

I honestly think this would be a quicker way to get the toilet problem fixed...alas, there's probably some type of T&C/rule/etc. that states if we do that, NCL can boot us from the cruise. Might not be the worst case scenario in case of a non-working toilet. 

 

@ChiefMateJRK, I grew up in the country/still live in the country (and I'm one of the Haven muckety-mucks). I've been known to use the shower and the trees plenty of times! Matter of fact...well never mind, I'll stop there. 🙂 

[PATRLR]

On 7/24/2022 at 4:17 PM, david_sobe said:

 Cruise cabins are like apartments.  

Sure, but with 2000+ "apartments" and being at sea, you better have staff on the ship to deal with these things.  It shouldn't take 3 days to fix a drain problem.

6 hours ago, happytotravel said:

This is not the fault of NCL. It's the fault of the yoyo who did it.

But NCL knows that "yoyo"s putting the wrong stuff in the toilets is a risk and they should be prepared for that.  It shouldn't take 3 days to fix a plumbing problem on a ship like the Encore.

The problem isn't the fact that toilets clogged or were unusable, the problem is it took three days to fix.

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

I honestly think this would be a quicker way to get the toilet problem fixed...alas, there's probably some type of T&C/rule/etc. that states if we do that, NCL can boot us from the cruise. Might not be the worst case scenario in case of a non-working toilet. 

 

@ChiefMateJRK, I grew up in the country/still live in the country (and I'm one of the Haven muckety-mucks). I've been known to use the shower and the trees plenty of times! Matter of fact...well never mind, I'll stop there. 🙂 

Yep.  Just don't be a city slicker who pees on the electric fence. 🤣

[Pizzasteve]

Thanks for the added info OP.  4 people, plus a bad odor, no offer to change cabins, to me, ups the ante considerably.  Agree with general sentiment that something equal to a full refund for the 3 days of no usable cabin seems equitable, or full refund if in FCC.

[david_sobe]

59 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Sure, but with 2000+ "apartments" and being at sea, you better have staff on the ship to deal with these things.  It shouldn't take 3 days to fix a drain problem.

But NCL knows that "yoyo"s putting the wrong stuff in the toilets is a risk and they should be prepared for that.  It shouldn't take 3 days to fix a plumbing problem on a ship like the Encore.

The problem isn't the fact that toilets clogged or were unusable, the problem is it took three days to fix.

So NCL purposely took 3 days to fix everything when they could have gotten it fixed in one day?   Not only is NCL to blame for someone's pratfall but now they are purposely delaying to fix the problem?   Not a good thing to happen but clearly there are much worse things that can happen on a cruise ship.  Its fine to vent but the conspiracy theories of NCL delaying repair is getting a bit ridiculous.  Clogged toilets happen every day on every cruise ship.  Sewage will also sometimes creep up in your sink and shower too.  This is the nature of sailing ships.   Some want to twist my words of not being sympathetic. Not true at all but some of the things written here are a tad crazy.  If this happened to someone in another cabin, they would be offered to move.  However when you sail the Haven, its sold out and there is nowhere to go except downgrade.  Every time I have sailed the Haven, there are 3 restrooms that NO ONE ever uses in the Haven complex.  Throw in a meal at Cagneys and I would be content for just walking out my cabin door and down the hall to the restroom for a couple of days.

Edited July 25, 2022 by david_sobe

[Pizzasteve]

5 hours ago, OZ. said:

What if their room was at the back or forward of the ship? The walk would be longer and would wake a person up more than a short trip to their own bathroom. Who wants to get completely woken up 2 - 4 times a night along with having to get dressed? I know I would be very upset. 

I think we are in agreement. The offer should relate to their actual situation, not some hypothetical situation.  I dont feel that a short period with no working toilet should be a free cruise for all, as it is impossible for shipboard plumbing to be 100% perfect. Riding on a ship always means certain risks, that we should all accept, the most common of which are missed ports due to weather.

 

A good manager will initiate a dialog and get parties somewhere that recognizes 'both' the inconvenience and other key facts like whether the problem was truly negligence, etc.  It is a fact that the passenger is still receiving food, lodging, gym, pool, entertainment, transit to ports, etc.  All that stuff costs money to deliver and if minor issues become a free cruise fest, those free cruise costs will just get bundled into the fares we will all pay, as a form of revenue insurance.  Its like hurricane insurance rates.  Everyone wants cheap rates, but there are real rebuilding costs to coastline homes that other less risky homes should not be forced to absorb.

 

Anyway, that is the source of my thoughts on amounts.  Again, my full sympathy with the OP.  The best outcome would have been a working toilet or move to a room with one, but absent that it is a negotiation based on contract law and customer service 'value to corporate,' sadly.  In this case NCL will claim they were not negligent, which gives them several 'outs.'

 

So the best strategy seems to be 'play loyal customer with many future cruises to spend money on', and hope for a sympathetic ear with clout.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Pizzasteve

[PATRLR]

 

 

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

So NCL purposely took 3 days to fix everything when they could have gotten it fixed in one day?   Not only is NCL to blame for someone's pratfall but now they are purposely delaying to fix the problem?  

 

I never said anything of the sort.  I have no idea why it took 3 days.  Maybe they don't have the right expertise on board to fix it and they were bumbling around trying but failing?  OP said it was mid cruise when it got fixed, maybe they needed parts or expertise that came aboard in San Juan or St Thomas?  I don't really care what the reason was, all I know is that many people in this thread (including you) seem to agree that toilet clogs happen.  If it's that regular of an occurrence, then, the ship should be prepared to deal with it in less than 3 days time.  And if they aren't, shame on them.

 

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Some want to twist my words 

 

Twist your words?  You blatantly put words into my mouth I never wrote.

[notscb]

On 7/23/2022 at 2:34 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

Call your credit card right away and put them on notice.

 

I'm curious what you mean by this when technically the cruise line filled their end of their contract of carriage. OP really wouldn't have a case for a charge-back.

 

OP, you stayed in the Haven which is promoted to be a superior level and standard of service. You didn't get that (not NCL's fault directly, but it impacted your experience). You have to decide what you think is fair. To me, given the added cost of the Haven and having to use a public restroom in the middle of the night, I'd think a FCC in a percentage amount of this cruise would be reasonable.

 

 

[notscb]

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

when they could have gotten it fixed in one day? 

 

There's another post on this forum of someone else who was on the same sailing who encountered the same 3 day problem. You might want to revisit your post and take out some of the accusatory language.

[mscdivina2016]

1 hour ago, notscb said:

 

I'm curious what you mean by this when technically the cruise line filled their end of their contract of carriage. OP really wouldn't have a case for a charge-back.

 

OP, you stayed in the Haven which is promoted to be a superior level and standard of service. You didn't get that (not NCL's fault directly, but it impacted your experience). You have to decide what you think is fair. To me, given the added cost of the Haven and having to use a public restroom in the middle of the night, I'd think a FCC in a percentage amount of this cruise would be reasonable.

 

 

Define technically? Also remember they are part of CLIA. So add in the passenger bill of rights. How it's interpreted is another issue. Adequate restroom is defined how when it comes to a "passenger"

 

Was there a cessation of services?

Would this qualify as a mechanical breakdown?

Did they give them the option to disembark?

Did they tell them not to use the toilet?

We're they provided equal service as all other passengers?

 

What Covid protocol was in place for all those people using the same bathroom?

 

 

 

 

[david_sobe]

9 hours ago, notscb said:

 

There's another post on this forum of someone else who was on the same sailing who encountered the same 3 day problem. You might want to revisit your post and take out some of the accusatory language.

Not sure what you are saying.  You may want to read my post.  I am not the one that is questioning the OP.  That was someone else.   Many are playing like expert maritime plumbers who were on board and allege it could have been fixed in one day.  Pretty silly argument and childish IMHO.  These things happen every cruise.  You must roll with the punches while cruising.  A little inconvenient for a few says but you will survive.  Many posts blame NCL for the problem and then blame NCL for not fixing it on purpose for 3 days.  I don't believe either situation because that is silly to believe.  If it rained during the cruise is it NCL's fault too?  They cant stop dumb people for flushing personal items down a nautical toilet which clogs major lines which impacts multiple cabins.

Edited July 26, 2022 by david_sobe

[david_sobe]

9 hours ago, PATRLR said:

 

 

 

I never said anything of the sort.  I have no idea why it took 3 days.  Maybe they don't have the right expertise on board to fix it and they were bumbling around trying but failing?  OP said it was mid cruise when it got fixed, maybe they needed parts or expertise that came aboard in San Juan or St Thomas?  I don't really care what the reason was, all I know is that many people in this thread (including you) seem to agree that toilet clogs happen.  If it's that regular of an occurrence, then, the ship should be prepared to deal with it in less than 3 days time.  And if they aren't, shame on them.

 

 

Twist your words?  You blatantly put words into my mouth I never wrote.

You may want to go back and read what you wrote that it "Should NOT' take 3 days to fix a line problem.   What expertise do you have to make such a statement?  You are a maritime plumber who was on board and diagnosed the problem?  Sometimes it takes more than 3 days.  I never twisted any of your words.  That is what you wrote.    Now you are saying NCL does not have properly trained mechanics and plumbers that have no expertise?  Just wow.  How would you know that?   Clogged toilets happen on ever cruise ship almost every sailing.   Its not NCL's fault someone flushed personal items down the toilet.  Its not NCL's fault it was so bad it clogged major lines and impacted many and took a few days to fix.  You realize if cruise lines cancelled a cruise for a few clogged toilets that ships would never sail.

[kmurph22]

We were on the Jade in April in a 2 BR Haven suite and the. master shower didn't work (no hot water).  We did have a second,  small shower in the room.  We were given an FCC for about 35% of the what we had paid, which we felt was fair compensation for our situation. 

 

Your situation is a lot less tolerable for sure,  I agree with others who say nothing short of 100% FCC or refund would suffice. 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by kmurph22