Not Safe to Fall Asleep on the Glory?

[WK-Orlando]

Here is one for those of us that feel that improved safety oversight is not required for the cruise lines. Forget how tall the rails are. People do not 'fall' off of ships, the jump or are pushed... On the otherhand, there are plenty of ways these folks put us in danger and you trust them at your own risk.

Not Safe to Fall Asleep on the Glory

On Tues the 16th, my wife and I along with her parents where sailing on the Carnival Glory on a seven day Caribbean cruise. When we awoke around 8:30 in the morning, our cabins where filled with an extremely strong smell of a ‘paint-thinner’ like chemical that was very overpowering and left us disoriented and having breathing difficulties. We immediately notified the room steward, who was in the hallway, and vacated the cabins. After about an hour, the smell began to subside and we returned to prepare for our tours (Ochoa Rios, Jamaica) while attempting to dress, the smell again flooded into the cabins (very quickly) and we were again forced to leave coughing and nauseous. At this point, both my mother and myself were having breathing problems and contacted the customer service desk for help. They eventually sent a supervisor to confirm the problem and promised it would not happen again. Despite feeling very ill, we decided to proceed ashore and join the tour group we paid for. This tour included some strenuous activities (climbing waterfalls) and when we arrived at the location, we decided that we were not able to participate safely as both of us, as well as the rest of our party, were feeling light headed and not breathing properly. These tour tickets cost us $300 and we were really trying to participate but it there was just no way to precede safely. We ended up sitting in the parking area and waiting for the bus to return.

That evening, I spoke with ‘Freddy’ the assistant to the Purser and was given his solemn promise that it was safe to sleep in our cabins and that the mornings ‘gassing’ would not be repeated. I have to sleep with a breathing assist device and my mother takes blood pressure medication. I explained that we are both very susceptible to this hazard and wanted to make sure it was safe. Someone with asthma or an elderly person could have been hospitalized or worse by what they did to us.

The next morning it was even worse. The air was so thick with chemicals that I just ran out of the room without even stopping to call the desk. Even our steward did not want to enter. To clear the air enough to grab our clothes required large floor blowers to be brought in. At this point ‘Freddy’ was offering us a ‘complementary’ trip to the ships doctor and I was demanding the ships safety officer make an appearance. Well, no safety officer. Apparently the staff did not feel he needed to be bothered and my requests to meet with him where refused. The Purser herself got involved at this point and we again proceeded ashore to the beach on Grand Cayman feeling like we could hardly breathe. Spent the day sitting in the shade on the beach trying to recover. On our return to the ship, I informed them that we did not feel safe sleeping in the cabins which did nothing to change the tune of the staff who said it was an accident and we were safe to return. Alternative cabins where not provided. At this point we did not know what to do. Two of the three ports on our trip had been ruined for us, we felt horrible, and the ships staff was simply not taking any proactive action to protect us. Lots of big talk about the Captain and such but still no safety officer or explanation as to how this could happen two mornings in a row.

Thursday the 25th. Mom can no longer sleep as she is afraid of the gas so when it starts again around 8am, she calls to get us out of bed and the cabin. Needless to say, I am rather ticked off and go straight to the desk in search of someone with a clue. The staff see me coming with a mixture of pity and avoidance in their eyes. Seems they all knew before I got there. Several hours later, the Purser finally decides it is time to actually see me and offers more apologizes. Still no offer of new sleeping arrangements or a safety officer. I told her we expected to be compensated and provided a safe place to sleep and that I felt they had crossed the line from accident, to stupidity, to gross negligence and reached total indifference at this point and repeated my request to speak with a ships officer. Received the same promises and vague assurances with no confidence that anything was going to be done after three days of this.

Friday we get a letter in our cabins offering us $120 per cabin for our troubles. Less than the cost of the lost tour on the first day. Hardly seemed fair that the most important three days of the cruise (10th anniversary for my wife and I). As far as I am concerned the entire trip was flushed. We are all stressed out, sleep deprived and poisoned and they are using some asinine formula figuring the percentage of our fare attributed to the cabin by the number of hours of lost usage. To say I was shocked is an understatement. We feel like we have been repeatedly assaulted by this crew and to tell us that we are getting $20 for each gassing. Great, they could have killed us and it is worth just less than the price of two drinks per person.

At least on Friday we did not wake up in gas chambers again. I did take the letters to the purser and tell her, politely, what I thought of the refunds. Next day we get hit again. This time in the afternoon and not as bad but bad enough. I called the desk and left the room. Did not bother to wait this time and the smell, as always, was in the hall as well. Couple of hours later, they tell me it is all my imagination and tell my wife the comp offer is final as if we made it up to get a better offer. For days, multiple staff come through and confirmed the smell, and the purser has the nerve to suggest this to my wife. If we were stateside, I would have called the police the second day and filed an assault charge.

Funny final note: when we checked our bill on the way off the ship, the credits, pathetic as they were, had not been applied to our cabins. Needless to say, a formal version of this letter is going to the Coast Guard Marine Safety office, the Federal Maritime office, a couple of Congressmen and likely an attorney as I feel we have grounds for a formal complaint. Obviously, I plan to copy Carnival, but suspect they will ignore it until queries start showing up from the authorities. Nice of the Purser to acknowledge that the incidents occurred in those offer letters. Bet the Carnival lawyers are going to love that!

Sad thing is that we sailed the Glory last year and had a wonderful time which is why we decide to return with the parents for our 10th. Go figure…

[Cigar Dude]

So, what was the source of the odor? :confused:

 

I've sailed Glory twice and never had this happen.

[caribbean dreams]

So I wonder what the odor was and how come it only

affected their group:confused:

 

Can we say "vacation guarantee";)

[Aplmac]

What was the source? The air-conditioning system?

 

Were the cabins on either side of you affected similarly?

 

Your cabin was an inside cabin? -on what deck?

An Ocean View cabin?

A balcony cabin with a door that opens to the fresh air?

What?

 

Help us to analyse here... :cool:

 

.

[spanisheyes]

Which cabns were they, and was it just your faily or were thre others?

[Traveler353]

Again only one side of the story. Would like to hear from Carnival. But, that is never going to happen. I am sure that you already have spoken to a lawyer. Unfortunetly it will be your word against some very tough Carnival lawyers as to the saverity of the odors. Good luck.

[WK-Orlando]

We were on deck 2. Best we can figure, they were stripping and painting behind some of the tender/life boats right on top of an air intake for the AC in our section. Never got a straight answer. There was also construction in the laundry room just down the hall and next to the print shop. Could have been any of them. Smell could have been marine paint, glue solvent, or even from the print shop. I know they had the source as when we pitched a fit each time, the smell stopped shortly after. Got the impression that the officer in charge of repairs wanted to the crew to keep schedule and did not seem to care what they were doing to us. The Pursers office would call to complain and they would stop for awhile and then get redirected to start up again.

[caribbean dreams]

I think the OP just found this letter & posted it, not sure OP has ever been on Carnival, mostly a Princess cruiser.

[Traveler353]

I think the OP just found this letter & posted it, not sure OP has ever been on Carnival, mostly a Princess cruiser.

 

Are saying that this did not happen to the OP?

[G'ma]

So, what was causing the odor?

 

And, do you really think they would leave you and other passengers in a poison gas environment?

 

We need the WHOLE story, if you please.

[steveNcindy]

...

[WK-Orlando]

Smell seems to have hit a group of five cabins along the outside. We had windows and it was out from the air conditioner. Not sure why they could not just block the intake source while they worked. This is why I think it could have been the work in the passenge laundry. The door was blocked with safety tape and the noise was not unlike floor getting ripped up.

 

The ship is really starting to show need for repair. Seemed like they were replacing floor tiles all over the place and it was the most rusted cruise ship I have seen for awhile. Carnival is replacing her with a new 'big' ship in a few months so maybe they are letting things slide til a dry dock.

 

Not sure. As I said, the trip last year was great or we would not have repeated. And even on this ride, the staff where great, food was 'the usual' and we really had no complaints outside of getting gassed three mornings in a row. What burns me is that we were totally cool with it on the first day as accidents happen and I know that most of the maintenance crew are english challenged... Day 2 is when I got pissed.

[steveNcindy]

Do not even know where to start. The lost reservations, tour bookings, wife's b-day setup...

 

This is our first and last ride on this disaster. Never thought we would find lower, cheaper (not in dollars) and just more 'K-Mart' than carnival...

 

We are frequent cruisers and this is our 4th major line to try. Heard that NCL was comparable to Princesss. Not even close... Would even go so far as to say a half step down from Carnival depending on the ship.

 

The menus were boring and many items not recognizable. They served the same food every morning (water logged eggs and cold everything else). The cruise staff spent the entire ride peddling lottery tickets rather than entertaining. Never saw them do much else. The big scam was pull tab instant tickets that appearently nobody ever wins more than $50 for spending $5 and claims that there are $2000 prizes seem to be unfounded. The casino cashier tells us half the cruises have no real winners....

 

Another sign of being super cheap... They hold up the gangway lines making people sign out forms for towels and then sign them back in again. Lose a towel and it is $25. Damn things cost them less than 25cents.

 

Drinks, pictures, shops, EVERYTHING is more expensive than any other line we have been on for lower quality merchandise and booze...

 

As for food, if you want anything better than low end buffet food (even in the dining rooms) be prepared to pay $20-30 a head as they have moved all of the good food into the specialty restaurants and even with that cover, only tap water is free.

 

Only plus items... Dine whenever, free ice cream, optional formal nights, Park West has taken over the NCL Art Auctions, Colombian Emeralds onboard, good tour selections...

 

Only tour complaint was that they held us on a tender at Cozumel for 45 min waiting for a family that overslept... Two fuddies got sick and barfed from the exhaust fumes and everyone was left sick from the posion air. The Tulum tour barely had time to drive out and back... no beach break and barely the tour... Tour staff was smug and did not give a damn about all the people they made ill...

 

Back to Princess and RCL for us!!! Maybe a Celebrity try next year... NCL not for us... Too expensive for bottom tier experience...

 

Good sailing!!! and Happy New Year!

 

You don't have much luck cruising. And you seem to attract gassing incidents too.

[caribbean dreams]

Are saying that this did not happen to the OP?

 

NO i didn't say that, just asking if maybe they found this on a different website and posted it.

[WK-Orlando]

Mr Dreams is partly correct. We usually cruise Princess at least once a year and sometimes twice. Last year our travel agent talked us into the Glory and we loved the younger crowd and found that most of the accomodations were comparible to Princess. Some better, some worse but all told, about the same. After having a rather pleasant trip on Glory last year, we passed on Princess this spring (not hard considering how few options they have in this market right now...) and went back to Glory. As I stated before, short of the gassing, the ship, staff, and food were fine.

 

I would hope that what happened to us is an isolated incident but who knows. Records are not kept or published. While I do not think the law that is currently being pushed in Congress makes total sense (hand rail heights being a silly example), there are a few nuggets that need to happen. Records need to start making it to the authorities and the ships need to be held to reasonable safety standards based on US/European laws and not those of these third world island countries. We tried several times to get the safety officer to crawl out and help and get no response. It was like the hotel staff and the ships staff were pushing back and forth with us in the middle.

 

Still not sure what happened to us or why. Just know that reporting it to the authorities is the only thing we can do. Reality is that trying to sue them would be a waste of money on a lawyer. I am looking into small claims options though. I really want to know what they hit us with and get a straight answer as to what really happened.

[LUPY48]

I totally believe your accounting and am so sorry that you had to endure this. But, prepare yourself for the 'Carnival can do no wrong' members to bash you.

[WK-Orlando]

My wife and I have sailed on these ships for ten years. Our first ride was on the old Fantasy which is what pushed us over to Princess. People do'in it in the hallway, too may power drinkers etc.

 

In the years since, Carnival has really come a long way from the drunk party boat image. These days, they have a bit of everything. Some ships are total garbage cans and others are top of the line. Just have to do your homework to pick one that matches your interests. Glory was and still is a 'nice' ship. Last year I would have given her 3.5 to 4 stars and this time (not including our little adventure) I would knock that down a half point due to maintenance issues which are just normal aging and the cost cutting in the kitchens which they are all doing. They will run her through the cleanup process sooner or later and get her back up. All of the money is going to new ships at the moment. Sad thing is we like the middle sized ships better. When they bring in the new monsters, we will have to go shopping again.

 

We sailed the old Sun Princess several years and loved most of it. Then came the Emerald which just ruined everything. Food went down, ship was too crowed, interesting smaller ports changed to the strip mall stops that can handle larger ships.

 

All told, I would prefer a rehabed Glory to the new monster ships anytime.

[salty dingo]

I don't buy this. I have cruised enough to know that there are procedures that guests can easily follow to have problems remedied. This person did not do the following:

• Identify the odor - were they painting, cleaning, or what? Did you think to ask the ship's staff what it was? Why did you not post what they told you it was? Did they tell you they did not know the source?
  
• Escalate the problem - you demanded to speak with the "safety officer"? What is a safety officer? And when no one appeared you just let it go? You needed to talk with the Hotel Manager. ANY guest can personally meet with this person, who is right up there with the captain in terms of rank onboard. No guest would be denied this request if the guest went through the proper channels which you obviously did not do.
  
• Talking about the money aspect - the cost of the tours, the amount of the credit, the "cost per gassing" tells me you are focused on the money angle and were not really focused on addressing the problem.
  

My guess is that Carnival is on to these people, has offered them fair compensation, and, wanting more money and not getting it, they come here to vent. It's a familiar pattern.

 

Edit: I answered my own question on what a safety officer is:

 

Safety Officer

 

The safety officer is responsible for instructing the crew members on safety issues and drill, such as ship abandonment procedure and fire drills. Previous experience in a similar position is required.

 

-- so this is the person you wanted to fix your problem? No wonder you got no response!

 

I would be the first to jump on the cruise line if they dropped the ball and the facts supported that. However, this story just does not hold any water. It's just a money grab.

[Bandman]

On our recent Victory cruise they were painting around the life boats and the smell of turpentine or some other chemical was so bad that we could not sit on the balcony and the smell even made it's way into the cabin.

 

I believe the OP.

[islandchicklet]

I don't buy this. I have cruised enough to know that there are procedures that guests can easily follow to have problems remedied. This person did not do the following:

• Identify the odor - were they painting, cleaning, or what? Did you think to ask the ship's staff what it was? Why did you not post what they told you it was? Did they tell you they did not know the source?
  
• Escalate the problem - you demanded to speak with the "safety officer"? What is a safety officer? And when no one appeared you just let it go? You needed to talk with the Hotel Manager. ANY guest can personally meet with this person, who is right up there with the captain in terms of rank onboard. No guest would be denied this request if the guest went through the proper channels which you obviously did not do.
  
• Talking about the money aspect - the cost of the tours, the amount of the credit, the "cost per gassing" tells me you are focused on the money angle and were not really focused on addressing the problem.
  

My guess is that Carnival is on to these people, has offered them fair compensation, and, wanting more money and not getting it, they come here to vent. It's a familiar pattern.

 

Edit: I answered my own question on what a safety officer is:

 

 

 

-- so this is the person you wanted to fix your problem? No wonder you got no response!

 

I would be the first to jump on the cruise line if they dropped the ball and the facts supported that. However, this story just does not hold any water. It's just a money grab.

 

 

Why is it the passengers job to identify a odor? He stated what he thought it was and info that the "odor" stopped when he complained. I wonder why anyone wants to post anything on these boards - you just get attacked or called a liar. Geesh!

[ardfinnantoo]

the first incident was tues 16 and the next thurs 25 ---on a 7 day cruise?

when did the glory go to ocho rios and grand cayman? seems fishy to me!

[djeddiebear]

which cabin(s) did this happen to? I have a cruise on the Glory in 3 weeks and I hope I don't run into this problem.

 

Eddie

[WK-Orlando]

Flame away if you want.

 

The Purser was the highest ranking person that would speak with us and every attempt at escalation was refused. When we asked for the source of the chemicals, they would not say. All we could get was 'maintenance in progress'. One person said they were painting and another said we 'might' be smelling a 'bonding agent' aka glue.

 

In the letter the Purser sent us, they acknowledged that an 'unknown' substance had entered our cabin through the AC on multiple days. Again I asked what they exposed us too and asked to speak with the safety officer which they are REQUIRED to have on the ship. (International Law) I even verified with one of the assistent pursers that this person existed and was the correct officer. Why they would not let me see him/her I do not know. It seemed like the ships staff (sailors etc) and the hotel staff (cleaners) where not 'coorperating' with each other. The hotel staff would tell them to stop whatever they were doing and the next morning they would do it again. It was obvious that the Pursers staff was very frustrated that this was happening but still refused to connect me with the 'officers' on the ships side of things. One of the staff explained that the 'likely' problems is that we are in a hotel in a ship. The hotel people deal with passengers and the ship people make sure we do not sink. The ship staff do not want to deal with passengers unless we are sinking. Passengers are the job of the hotel staff. They have different chains of command and only the captain is above both. I honestly feel the only reason it finally stopped was that after several days of this, someone finally told the captain what was going on...

 

As for compensation, yes, we wanted them to give us a reasonable credit on this or a future ride. Why shouldn't we? We laid out a lot of money for the trip and spent most of it recovering from this bs. I would have been satisfied with a reasonable future cruise credit and a face to face with the safety officer telling me what happened and what was being done to make it safe for us to return to our cabins. We did not throw fits, yell at anyone or get ugly in any way. The only people we had access too where not the people to blame nor did they have the power to order the sailors to stop what they were doing. THAT IS THE SAFETY OFFICERS JOB!!!

 

To flame away but you tell me how you would have responded to having your small, less than well vented, cabin so full of thinner fumes that you had to run out as you woke up three days in a row. Once, ok just an opps.. Three times and the line owes us a handshake and an explination.

[ardfinnantoo]

again your dates do not match up to a 7 day cruise

[WK-Orlando]

Eddie,

 

We we starboard aft on deck 2. I would not worry about the specific cabin. I am sure whatever they were doing will have moved to other stuff by the time you sail.. Ships require a lot of maintenance and there is always something going on. NORMALLY, they take precautions to move people out of the way or shut off the air or something so you do not really notice. I think we just had the three stooges repair crew working for a manager on a schedule that figured we were not his problem....

 

Go for your trip and don't worry about it. In hindsight we should have been more forceful but I do not like busting on people who are not the offenders... The Pursers staff could have fought harder for us, found us another set of cabins and I should have pushed harder. That said, going to the desk and throwing an ugly fit would have not helped either and the people working that desk take an awful lot of $%$@ off of passengers that are looking for a freebee or just in a bad mood. I travel a lot and crp'in on the hired help rarely does any good.