Brown water on Enchantment

[mommabean]

We just returned from Enchantment. The water was shut off in Cozumel between 10 am and 2 pm in the continuing effort to switch out the pipes. The water continues to be a very light pee color. At first I thought DH was forgetting to flush. Then I saw him drinking the stuff from his refilled water bottles. :eek: He did not get sick.

 

I drank only my bottled water that I've always taken on cruises (and brought some back home). I did shower and brush my teeth in the tap water. It has no taste or odor. I didn't realize there was an issue until I heard people complaining.

 

Of course I heard people complain about some rust spots on the balcony railing. That's a non-issue for me, too.

[RevSmith]

The OP should decide if it is enough compensation....and if it isn't, try writing a letter...posting here will not help...and writing a letter may not help either...I believe that is all the compensation the OP will get.

[Laura11982]

We just returned from Enchantment. The water was shut off in Cozumel between 10 am and 2 pm in the continuing effort to switch out the pipes. The water continues to be a very light pee color. At first I thought DH was forgetting to flush. Then I saw him drinking the stuff from his refilled water bottles. :eek: He did not get sick.

 

I drank only my bottled water that I've always taken on cruises (and brought some back home). I did shower and brush my teeth in the tap water. It has no taste or odor. I didn't realize there was an issue until I heard people complaining.

 

Of course I heard people complain about some rust spots on the balcony railing. That's a non-issue for me, too.

 

 

We were on this sailing with Mommabean and we actually asked the Chief Engineer about it at the "View From The Top Q & A" session and he said that that US regulations require them to use more cholorine now which is causing their pipes to erode quicker than expected. He said if they COULD take the ship totally out of commission for a week so they could replace all the pipes, they would, but that's just not possible... Again, this is just what he said.

 

It personally didn't bother me enough to let it ruin my vacation.

[Beetulz]

I received this reply from the CDC today:

 

Thank you for your e-mail. This issue has been reported and addressed by

us and RCI. It appears that there was work done on the potable water

distribution system that caused the discoloration of the water. Please

note that a discoloration does not necessarily relate to a public health

risk. In many cases, this results from iron in the pipes.

 

George H. Vaughan, Jr, B.S., M.P.H.

Captain

U. S. Public Health Service

Vessel Sanitation Program

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

4770 Buford Hwy, NE

Bldg 106, Room 05042, MS-F59

Atlanta, GA 30341

(770) 488-3524 (v)

(770) 488-4127 (f)

(404) 431-0272 ©

gbv0@cdc.gov or george.vaughan@cdc.hhs.gov

[snrlnd]

My wife and I sailed on Enchantment of the Seas in June and also experienced brown water. When I reported it to the pursers desk they acted like it was no big deal. Below is part of my review on Enchantment.

 

Our next port was Cozumel and everything went fine. We enjoyed a day at the beach and returned to the ship a couple of hours before sailing. After being at the beach we wanted to rinse off in the shower and were shocked at what happened next. My wife got in the shower first and quickly exited telling me to come look at the shower water. I went in the bathroom and saw brown water coming out of the shower head! This wasn't just a little murky, it was disgusting. I decided to flush the toilet to see if it was the same and was even more shocked to see black gritty water shoot into the toilet bowl. I then check the sink and it was brown just like the shower. I immediately went to the guest relations desk to tell them about the water and was amazed to find out that they were aware of it and told me it was "nothing to worry about". That it was "due to some maintenance they had been doing" and "after water had been run in more cabins it should clear up". We have been brushing our teeth and bathing in that water! Yuk!!! Later that day I saw my cabin steward and asked him about the water and he too said it was due to water tank maintenance and it will clear up.

[jeeppartsman]

We just returned from Enchantment. The water was shut off in Cozumel between 10 am and 2 pm in the continuing effort to switch out the pipes. The water continues to be a very light pee color. At first I thought DH was forgetting to flush. Then I saw him drinking the stuff from his refilled water bottles. :eek: He did not get sick.

 

I drank only my bottled water that I've always taken on cruises (and brought some back home). I did shower and brush my teeth in the tap water. It has no taste or odor. I didn't realize there was an issue until I heard people complaining.

 

Of course I heard people complain about some rust spots on the balcony railing. That's a non-issue for me, too.

 

Gina..i didnt know you were on that sailing. I got on right after you. We had no problem with our water. We were in 7666. They did shut the water down in cozumel though from 10-2.

[medic123]

Gina..i didnt know you were on that sailing. I got on right after you. We had no problem with our water. We were in 7666. They did shut the water down in cozumel though from 10-2.

 

Off topic, I will be in 7666 on the September 25. Is it a wonderful cabin with an awesome balcony?

[jeeppartsman]

Off topic, I will be in 7666 on the September 25. Is it a wonderful cabin with an awesome balcony?

 

it is an awesome cabin.

[Laura11982]

Gina..i didnt know you were on that sailing. I got on right after you. We had no problem with our water. We were in 7666. They did shut the water down in cozumel though from 10-2.

 

Jeeppartsman!! We were in 7666 right before you!! :D

[Laura11982]

Off topic, I will be in 7666 on the September 25. Is it a wonderful cabin with an awesome balcony?

 

It's SO swesome!!!! You'll love it!!! We noticed a little noise from the Spotlight Lounge (right under 7666) but it didn't keep us up or anything.

[Kimmer727]

You say they are shutting the water off in port from 10-2 - does that mean between those hours you can't even flush a toilet????

[Laura11982]

You say they are shutting the water off in port from 10-2 - does that mean between those hours you can't even flush a toilet????

 

You are correct. But, really, we hardly noticed until right arund 2.

[FL_Cruiser64]

We were on the same cruise as OP. It didn't occur to me to seek compensation (but I might have :D !!) We simply avoided using the H2O during the midday hours, which is what the written notices said - for two days! And- there was an announcement as we were preparing to debark that, again, water would be shut off at 0900. I just sort of rolled with it, but the stale smell of urine emanating from our toilet the entire time is what REALLY yucked me out. Sadly, there were no spare toilets (or cabins) that we could swap out.

 

Stunning post. You are a true cruiser. :)

[Wisdom]

We had the brown water thing when I was a kid. Rusty iron pipes. I can remember the bath water coming out rust brown. Won't necessary hurt you to bathe in it, but why put up with it. All the pipes need to changed out to copper.

[CTCruzin]

We had the brown water thing when I was a kid. Rusty iron pipes. I can remember the bath water coming out rust brown. Won't necessary hurt you to bathe in it, but why put up with it. All the pipes need to changed out to copper.

 

Still waiting to hear back from RCCL on this issue. I know others have gotten email replies, but all I got was the auto-reply email saying they received the email. They were supposed to send our 10% discount voucher to our TA. Nothing yet. travel was completed on 9/6. Oh well, we'll be patient. For now.

[pcur]

OK, we had cabin 4056, and there was a very light yellow tinge to the toilet water, but the sink and shower had very little.

 

It really wasn't a problem at all. We took a case of bottled water to drink (I wanted to see how I did with limiting the desalinated water, but that's another thread), and brushed our teeth with the tap water. No problem.

 

They did shut down the cabin toilets for about 4 hours in Cozumel so they could work on the water thing, but the shower and sinks were still working. We were able to use any of the public bathrooms.

 

By the way, our cabin steward, Marvin Cunningham was THE BEST I've had in 35 years of cruising with RCCL. We called him our "psychic cabin steward", because he would be no where in site, but he knew when we left the cabin, and would whisk in there and clean it up. I told the Head of Housekeeping about him, too.

 

I'm going to start a new thread about other Enchantment stuff I want to comment on, so look for it if you're interested.

[ILVMM]

OK, we had cabin 4056, and there was a very light yellow tinge to the toilet water, but the sink and shower had very little.

 

It really wasn't a problem at all. We took a case of bottled water to drink (I wanted to see how I did with limiting the desalinated water, but that's another thread), and brushed our teeth with the tap water. No problem.

 

They did shut down the cabin toilets for about 4 hours in Cozumel so they could work on the water thing, but the shower and sinks were still working. We were able to use any of the public bathrooms.

 

By the way, our cabin steward, Marvin Cunningham was THE BEST I've had in 35 years of cruising with RCCL. We called him our "psychic cabin steward", because he would be no where in site, but he knew when we left the cabin, and would whisk in there and clean it up. I told the Head of Housekeeping about him, too.

 

I'm going to start a new thread about other Enchantment stuff I want to comment on, so look for it if you're interested.

 

 

Thanks for the update; glad you had a nice trip. We leave on Monday and I'm thoroughly looking forward to this vacation. I will post here my experience on Enchantment - - particularly as this is my first RCCL cruise.

 

Let us know what the name of your thread will be! I want to hear lots more.

[pcur]

Thanks for the update; glad you had a nice trip. We leave on Monday and I'm thoroughly looking forward to this vacation. I will post here my experience on Enchantment - - particularly as this is my first RCCL cruise.

 

Let us know what the name of your thread will be! I want to hear lots more.

 

Here 'tis: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=848558

[ILVMM]

Just back from Enchantment today. Wonderful cruise and here's the update on the "brown water".

 

1. It's not really brown - - more of a very light tea color. No strange taste to it and completely unnoticeable when it was running from the faucet/shower. No smell. Toliet is white, so it was noticeable there!

 

2. Water was shut off from 2:00 am - 6:00 am on Day 3-Cozemul. Noticed that when water came back on it was a little bit darker than before. By noon, it was flowing fine. No smell, no taste.

 

One day (and I cannot remember which day) the toliet refused to flush. This was about 9:00 am. Told Lem (cabin steward) and he explained that one of the pipes was clogged up; maintenance knew about it & was working on it.

We were in room 7119; toliets in the public restrooms on floors below us were also not flushing. By early afternoon, all was well.

 

3. Believe the bottled water in room was free; we used 1 bottle the first day (DH refused to brush his teeth with faucet water) and were never charged for it.

 

4. Absolutely no color to water in Windjammer.

 

Any questions, please let me know. I will post my review of cruise tomorrow.

[aurelius180]

Just back from Enchantment today. Wonderful cruise and here's the update on the "brown water".

 

1. It's not really brown - - more of a very light tea color. No strange taste to it and completely unnoticeable when it was running from the faucet/shower. No smell. Toliet is white, so it was noticeable there!

 

2. Water was shut off from 2:00 am - 6:00 am on Day 3-Cozemul. Noticed that when water came back on it was a little bit darker than before. By noon, it was flowing fine. No smell, no taste.

 

One day (and I cannot remember which day) the toliet refused to flush. This was about 9:00 am. Told Lem (cabin steward) and he explained that one of the pipes was clogged up; maintenance knew about it & was working on it.

We were in room 7119; toliets in the public restrooms on floors below us were also not flushing. By early afternoon, all was well.

 

3. Believe the bottled water in room was free; we used 1 bottle the first day (DH refused to brush his teeth with faucet water) and were never charged for it.

 

4. Absolutely no color to water in Windjammer.

 

Any questions, please let me know. I will post my review of cruise tomorrow.

 

Did you notice any other problems/changes on the Enchantment, like a decrease in the A/C??

[ILVMM]

Nope - actually, we turned the A/C down in the room which is quite unusual for me (i'm at THAT age) as the room can never be cool enough.

 

Embarkation & disembarking went very smooth, also.

 

Met up with another Floridian who had sailed on EOS on 9/11/08. He books at the last minute & sails for about $350 (so he said)...anyway, he also remarked how everything went very smoothly on this trip versus the previous one.

 

Didn't get a chance to post my review - - laundry day!

[Cruisin' R.N.]

We were on the Enchantment last month and I thought the ship was rather warm. Usually I freeze on the ships, so I brought along a few sweaters, and never needed them once. Just a tad too warm on the ship for me. :o

[aurelius180]

Nope - actually, we turned the A/C down in the room which is quite unusual for me (i'm at THAT age) as the room can never be cool enough.

 

Embarkation & disembarking went very smooth, also.

 

Met up with another Floridian who had sailed on EOS on 9/11/08. He books at the last minute & sails for about $350 (so he said)...anyway, he also remarked how everything went very smoothly on this trip versus the previous one.

 

Didn't get a chance to post my review - - laundry day!

 

Thanks for the info! I hope our cruise goes as smoothly. I'm a big fan of A/C!! :D

 

If he booked and inside deck 2 stateroom I'm sure it's possible...

[Leiriope]

We just returned on Saturday after sailing on Enchantment. The first thing I did when I got into my cabin was turn on the water!! It had a slight yellow tinge to it, but I let the water run a few minutes and never noticed it again. There was no odor and the water in the toilet was always clear. The only time I had a problem was when they shut off the water and when I turned it on (in the middle of the night!!) it was a bit yellow and burst through due to air in the pipes, and the water in the toilet was black!! But after a followup flush all was good. All in all it was a great cruise! I was a bit disappointed in my excursions but that's another thread.

[ILVMM]

We just returned on Saturday after sailing on Enchantment.

All in all it was a great cruise! I was a bit disappointed in my excursions but that's another thread.

 

Would love to hear which excursions you took, so please let me know where you post that info.

 

We did a ship excursion in Belize...and I will post that on another thread, too.

 

Glad you enjoyed the ship as much as we did! I particularly enjoyed the solarium, and of course, the meals.