Nieuw Amsterdam - Sewage Odor Sailing 02/12/2012 - 02/19/2012 - RSVP Charter

[absolutboy20]

I was on this sailing and I have to say I had an amazing time on the ship, but one major issue we had in our stateroom that lasted for four days during our cruise was a terrible sewage odor in our stateroom. I'm going to be writing a complete review of my cruise, but I was wondering if any other cruisers experienced this problem?? We had friends who were sailing and also had the same problem on a different floor, and we ran into several other people at dinner who were experiencing the same problem all on different levels. I also smelled it by the Ocean Bar on the 3rd floor. We complained to management several times, and they initially denied any problems until finally they admitted to having a problem and they have known for two days and were trying to find the source of the problem. The scary part was that it was coming through the ventilation system in our room, and not from the sewer lines. We were in 7062.

[Boytjie]

I was on the same sailing and I don't recall smelling anything like that - not saying you didn't smell it, just that I did not smell it. :D

 

I walked most of the decks from one end/side to the other throughout the cruise (why can't my friends' cabins be grouped together?!) but didn't notice smells. I also did not notice smelling smoke in the hallways as I have sometimes smelled on previous cruises.

[Himself]

I was on that magnificient ship for two weeks before your sailing and I never caught any bad oders on that ship.

[DCParky]

I was on the same sailing and did encounter some smells the last couple of days of the cruise. I couldn't say it was sewage, but there was a smell. It coincided with the time that the crew revarnished the railings on our balconies,so that's what I attributed it to... A few minutes with the door open, and the smell subsided. We were on the 6th deck mid-ship.

[absolutboy20]

We had the varnish smell which I didn't mind as there was "wet varnish" sign on our balcony, and it went away after it dried. The part that bothered me about the whole issue was the concierge from the Neptune Lounge came and confirmed the smell in our room, even did a "smell" test three times comparing the outside air to the inside. The plumber came out and confirmed there had been several similar complaints but it was not from the plumbing but from the HVAC system. Then two technicians for the HVAC system come into our room, pretend they do not smell anything and give me a lecture that they checked the filter and there are four other rooms connected to our line and that we were the only ones complaining. I didn't think that the response of checking a filter is right if one is smelling sewage. Luckily, the next day when we were in the lounge and speaking with the concierge, a fellow passenger overheard our conversation and stated that they were in 7070 and had a similar problem. That night we finally got a response from the concierge that there is an issue and they had known about it for two days. We did get an apology letter the last full day of the cruise from the head of Guest Relations on board stating the issues were not up to HAL standards. I get that a ship can have problems, but I don't like being lied to that there isn't a problem. The smell was so bad at night when we were sleeping that we needed to prop the balcony door for ventilation. There was never any odor in the bathroom, just in the entryway and bedroom area.

Edited February 23, 2012 by absolutboy20

[Typhoon1]

Deck 8 was odorless.

 

RSVP cruisers are pretty knowledgeable about what can go into the sewage system which is usually the source of the problem.

[puli]

We had the varnish smell which I didn't mind as there was "wet varnish" sign on our balcony, and it went away after it dried. The part that bothered me about the whole issue was the concierge from the Neptune Lounge came and confirmed the smell in our room, even did a "smell" test three times comparing the outside air to the inside. The plumber came out and confirmed there had been several similar complaints but it was not from the plumbing but from the HVAC system. Then two technicians for the HVAC system come into our room, pretend they do not smell anything and give me a lecture that they checked the filter and there are four other rooms connected to our line and that we were the only ones complaining. I didn't think that the response of checking a filter is right if one is smelling sewage. Luckily, the next day when we were in the lounge and speaking with the concierge, a fellow passenger overheard our conversation and stated that they were in 7070 and had a similar problem. That night we finally got a response from the concierge that there is an issue and they had known about it for two days. We did get an apology letter the last full day of the cruise from the head of Guest Relations on board stating the issues were not up to HAL standards. I get that a ship can have problems, but I don't like being lied to that there isn't a problem. The smell was so bad at night when we were sleeping that we needed to prop the balcony door for ventilation. There was never any odor in the bathroom, just in the entryway and bedroom area.

 

We had exactly the same problem on our Holiday sailing this year on the Noordam; however, the Neptune Concierge staff, and in fact the Seattle office itself, did acknowledge the problem right away. For us it was about 16 days of a 21 day sailing, and yes, we too had to sleep with the balcony door open.

 

We shall not be cruising on HAL again until the ventilation problem can be corrected and the affected ships named.

[tropicgal2]

We were on the Niuew Amsterdam in December. The only place we noticed a sewage smell was on the lower promenade deck, when walking through the art gallery, and occasionally by the Pinnacle Grill next door to it. The odor was so bad, we walked through every day very quickly! lol

On the 6th day at sea (7th night) it was gone. That was the only place on the ship we noticed a bad smell. I did mention it in the passenger form we filled out at the end of the cruise.

They did varnish our balcony one day, and I couldn't sit out there, until the smell went away.

It was still a great vacation and cruise.

[Monsoonalblue]

Hi Absolutboy20, we had a terrible sewage smell in our cabin on the Noordam. The response you received on the NA was almost identical to the response we received on the Noordam. The Neptune concierges came to our room 3 times. On two occasions they could not smell the odour ( we really started to think we were imagining the stench:confused:). On the third visit, they confirmed that there was indeed a smell. As you mentioned, it didn't ruin our cruise, we hung two lavender sachets purchased in Dubrovnik from the air conditioning vents:)

[puli]

Hi Absolutboy20, we had a terrible sewage smell in our cabin on the Noordam. The response you received on the NA was almost identical to the response we received on the Noordam. The Neptune concierges came to our room 3 times. On two occasions they could not smell the odour ( we really started to think we were imagining the stench:confused:). On the third visit, they confirmed that there was indeed a smell. As you mentioned, it didn't ruin our cruise, we hung two lavender sachets purchased in Dubrovnik from the air conditioning vents:)

 

May i ask which cabin and what sailing? Ours was cabin 7068 right aft of the portside mid-ship outside elevators and our sail date was 12/17/12 to 1/7/13. The hallway also had that smell and on deck 8 from the mid-ship elevators aft it was even worse.

[Monsoonalblue]

May i ask which cabin and what sailing? Ours was cabin 7068 right aft of the portside mid-ship outside elevators and our sail date was 12/17/12 to 1/7/13. The hallway also had that smell and on deck 8 from the mid-ship elevators aft it was even worse.

 

Hi Puli, we were on the same level but I can't remember the cabin number. It was the last cruise of the Med Oct/Nov 2011. I wonder if it's an on- going problem or if it's just something that happens on cruise ships to an unlucky few.:)

[puli]

Hi Puli, we were on the same level but I can't remember the cabin number. It was the last cruise of the Med Oct/Nov 2011. I wonder if it's an on- going problem or if it's just something that happens on cruise ships to an unlucky few.:)

 

I read an explaination on one of these boards by a known poster of many years that the problen is arising on many ships in different lines.

 

His theory is that in order to meet the requirement for disbursement of "clean waste water" sewerage must be burned first and that the resulting fumes, although not toxic, are released through the ship 's ventilation system directly to the ship's funnel. Unfortunately over time minute cracks and fissures open up along the ventilation system and thus the smell in certain cabins/sections.

 

He of course put this in engineering lingo but it makes sense to me! I know it has been reported on several HAL ships as well as Princess and even a few really upscale lines.

[Monsoonalblue]

I read an explaination on one of these boards by a known poster of many years that the problen is arising on many ships in different lines.

 

His theory is that in order to meet the requirement for disbursement of "clean waste water" sewerage must be burned first and that the resulting fumes, although not toxic, are released through the ship 's ventilation system directly to the ship's funnel. Unfortunately over time minute cracks and fissures open up along the ventilation system and thus the smell in certain cabins/sections.

 

He of course put this in engineering lingo but it makes sense to me! I know it has been reported on several HAL ships as well as Princess and even a few really upscale lines.

 

That certainly makes sense to me also. Hopefully, next time, neither of us will have the cabins with any cracks in them. :)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Krazy Kruizers]

These updated reports seem to indicate that there is a growing problem on HAL ships.

[tangerinebunny]

I'd hoped to avoid the problem by sailing in newer ships, but obviously that's not the solution.

[tangerinebunny]

It proves nothing, but I ran the phrase 'sewer odor' through the search engine and got these thread hits:

 

Celebrity - 26

Princess - 34

HAL - 41

Norwegian - 47

Carnival - 121

 

I'm not validating any of the observations nor saying that the same ship isn't being discussed repeatedly, but the problem doesn't seem confined to one line.

[VioletHorse]

It proves nothing, but I ran the phrase 'sewer odor' through the search engine and got these thread hits:

 

Celebrity - 26

Princess - 34

HAL - 41

Norwegian - 47

Carnival - 121

 

I'm not validating any of the observations nor saying that the same ship isn't being discussed repeatedly, but the problem doesn't seem confined to one line.

 

That's a very good point. We sailed on the Celebrity Summit last spring, several months after its major drydock/refit. Although we didn't experience any sewer odors in our room, there were many complaints of ongoing sewer odors in the pricier Aqua Class staterooms.

[Jsipes]

Just competed cruise, we had obstructed view Upper Prominade Deck.

A foul smell was noted as soon as we checked onboard. We determined it was commomg from the floor drain next to the toilet. I had a 2 inch roll of clear package wrapping tape in my suitcase, so I cut a 3 inch piece of tape off and sealed it over the crrome cover of the drain. NO MORE ODOR the whole cruise. We also made sure to keep the sink and bathtub drains closed.

[cbr663]

We had the varnish smell which I didn't mind as there was "wet varnish" sign on our balcony, and it went away after it dried. The part that bothered me about the whole issue was the concierge from the Neptune Lounge came and confirmed the smell in our room, even did a "smell" test three times comparing the outside air to the inside. The plumber came out and confirmed there had been several similar complaints but it was not from the plumbing but from the HVAC system. Then two technicians for the HVAC system come into our room, pretend they do not smell anything and give me a lecture that they checked the filter and there are four other rooms connected to our line and that we were the only ones complaining. I didn't think that the response of checking a filter is right if one is smelling sewage. Luckily, the next day when we were in the lounge and speaking with the concierge, a fellow passenger overheard our conversation and stated that they were in 7070 and had a similar problem. That night we finally got a response from the concierge that there is an issue and they had known about it for two days. We did get an apology letter the last full day of the cruise from the head of Guest Relations on board stating the issues were not up to HAL standards. I get that a ship can have problems, but I don't like being lied to that there isn't a problem. The smell was so bad at night when we were sleeping that we needed to prop the balcony door for ventilation. There was never any odor in the bathroom, just in the entryway and bedroom area.

 

This is a very poor way in which to handle a passenger concern. Being spoken to in a manner that is indicative of a lecture is unprofessional. To make the comment that you are the only passenger complaining is akin to denying that the problem exists. Stating that there isn't a problem when in fact there is one just destroys trust.

[RuthC]

This is a very poor way in which to handle a passenger concern. Being spoken to in a manner that is indicative of a lecture is unprofessional. To make the comment that you are the only passenger complaining is akin to denying that the problem exists. Stating that there isn't a problem when in fact there is one just destroys trust.

Do you realize this post is over 4 years old?

[cbr663]

No Ruth, I did not realize that the thread had aged. My apologies for not paying closer attention.

[kevingastreich]

We shall not be cruising on HAL again until the ventilation problem can be corrected and the affected ships named.

 

It has probably already been done. Bon Voyage. :p

[OlsSalt]

I was on this sailing and I have to say I had an amazing time on the ship, but one major issue we had in our stateroom that lasted for four days during our cruise was a terrible sewage odor in our stateroom. I'm going to be writing a complete review of my cruise, but I was wondering if any other cruisers experienced this problem?? We had friends who were sailing and also had the same problem on a different floor, and we ran into several other people at dinner who were experiencing the same problem all on different levels. I also smelled it by the Ocean Bar on the 3rd floor. We complained to management several times, and they initially denied any problems until finally they admitted to having a problem and they have known for two days and were trying to find the source of the problem. The scary part was that it was coming through the ventilation system in our room, and not from the sewer lines. We were in 7062.

 

Yes, we had a very funky smell coming from our balcony scupper drains for 42 days on the Amsterdam, rendering the balcony virtually unusable for the majority of our Tales of the South Pacific cruise that had many long sea day stretches. It was just plain sad and a bad luck of the draw. More bilge funk smell than sewer.

 

HAL acknowledged the problem and kept trying to run stuff though the drains which gave temporary relief and did offer small compensation.

 

HAL has been more than generous to us in the past with several complimentary upgrades, so we took this one for the team this time. But had this happened to a new HAL passenger, it would have been very unfortunate. Or maybe in their cabin assignments, they knew how to allocate this one after all. We kept calm and carried on.