Noordam plumbing issues, Feb 7 sailing

[TravlGrl]

I just now received an email in response to the survey I completed earlier today.

 

 

Thank you very much for submitting your Guest Satisfaction Survey regarding your recent Holland America Line sailing aboard the ms Noordam. We truly value all feedback from our guests, as it helps us to maintain our Signature of Excellence and continually improve the onboard experience for all of our travelers.

 

We acknowledge your input and we truly appreciate that you have taken the time to share your thoughts and observations for us such as the plumbing onboard and also the maintenance of the ship. Comments are important to us and the points you raised have been registered against this ship and sailing. Because we take your input very seriously, we have made all appropriate senior management aware for their information and benefit. If there is anything additional you want to discuss with us or follow up on, please feel free to contact our Guest Relations team directly; you may reach us by email at guestrelations@hollandamerica.com or by phone at 1-800-599-8256.

 

Again, we want you to know that we greatly appreciate your taking the time to share your comments. We thank you for choosing Holland America Line, and we do hope you consider us for future trips.

 

 

Best regards,

Shawn Davidson

Guest Relations

[Linda&Vern]

I remember someone posted awhile back that they were on a b-t-b or collector's cruise. They reported that week #1 they had many toilet issues. They were thankful that on week #2 they had no issues. Sorry I do not remember the details or the ship. But I do remember when I read that post I thought to myself "well, the offender obviously got off the ship after week one."

Edited February 18, 2014 by Linda&Vern

[TravlGrl]

I remember someone posted awhile back that they were on a b-t-b or collector's cruise. They complained that week#1 they had many toilet issues. They were thankful that on week #2 they had no issues. Sorry I do not remember the details or the ship. But I do remember when I read that post I thought to myself "well, the offender obviously got off the ship after week one."

Do you know if they stayed in the same cabin for the second leg of their cruise? If so, I agree! The offender must have disembarked!

[lastlook]

We were on the Noordam the first week in January, and had no flushing issues until the next to last day when we had a couple of delayed flushes. My sister and BIL were in the cabin next to us and said their toilet would not flush that same morning, but also said they had called to report it and it was soon remedied (maybe that is why ours flushed on its own after a short time.)

 

At the beginning of the cruise, there was a strong odor in our cabin's bathroom - all I can think of is a strong "motor oil" type smell. It seemed to dissipate over the course of the week, but was quite strong early in the week. I never complained about it and forgot to mention it on the HAL survey after we returned.

Edited February 18, 2014 by lastlook

[legalslave]

We were in 6099 on the 01/27/14 11 day cruise. No problems at all. I did not hear of anyone else having a problem but didn't speak to everyone on the ship!

 

Diane

[sail7seas]

I just now received an email in response to the survey I completed earlier today.

 

 

Thank you very much for submitting your Guest Satisfaction Survey regarding your recent Holland America Line sailing aboard the ms Noordam. We truly value all feedback from our guests, as it helps us to maintain our Signature of Excellence and continually improve the onboard experience for all of our travelers.

 

We acknowledge your input and we truly appreciate that you have taken the time to share your thoughts and observations for us such as the plumbing onboard and also the maintenance of the ship. Comments are important to us and the points you raised have been registered against this ship and sailing. Because we take your input very seriously, we have made all appropriate senior management aware for their information and benefit. If there is anything additional you want to discuss with us or follow up on, please feel free to contact our Guest Relations team directly; you may reach us by email at guestrelations@hollandamerica.com or by phone at 1-800-599-8256.

 

Again, we want you to know that we greatly appreciate your taking the time to share your comments. We thank you for choosing Holland America Line, and we do hope you consider us for future trips.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Shawn Davidson

Guest Relations

 

 

 

Form letter.......

 

I wonder how many hundreds/thousands of those they send each week or month?

 

[TravlGrl]

We were on the Noordam the first week in January, and had no flushing issues until the next to last day when we had a couple of delayed flushes. My sister and BIL were in the cabin next to us and said their toilet would not flush that same morning, but also said they had called to report it and it was soon remedied (maybe that is why ours flushed on its own after a short time.)

 

At the beginning of the cruise, there was a strong odor in our cabin's bathroom - all I can think of is a strong "motor oil" type smell. It seemed to dissipate over the course of the week, but was quite strong early in the week. I never complained about it and forgot to mention it on the HAL survey after we returned.

Were you on deck 6, anywhere near 6034?

[TravlGrl]

Form letter.......

 

I wonder how many hundreds/thousands of those they send each week or month?

 

Yeah, I can see the area where he cut and pasted. I also find it interesting that the choice of words were, "thoughts and observations". That's an interesting way to characterize our experience. An "observation" would be more appropriate if I saw it happen to someone else, and was reporting it. Ugh! Maybe I'm just being nitpicky now.

 

We were in 6099 on the 01/27/14 11 day cruise. No problems at all. I did not hear of anyone else having a problem but didn't speak to everyone on the ship!

 

Diane

Yeah, it definitely wasn't a topic we were freely bringing up when we met new people. We were on a tour in Semana, and while on the beach portion of the excursion, we sat with another couple and talked for about an hour. It was through this conversation that I brought up our toilet issues. They'd experienced a plumbing issue (I believe on Day 2), but maintenance fixed it, and they were fine after that. We met them on Day 3, and never saw them again, so I don't know if their issue was really resolved or if they were like us. Nevertheless, it's not really a topic we started with anyone.

 

Visualize -- As I extend my right hand in a greeting -- "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Tara in Cabin 6034, and our toilet hasn't flushed since we embarked 4 days ago. Does your toilet flush?" HAHAHA! ;)

Edited February 18, 2014 by TravlGrl

[lastlook]

Were you on deck 6, anywhere near 6034?

 

No - we were on deck 8, mid ship.

[Nor'Eastah]

I don't mind at all -- Cabin 6034

 

 

Thank you for the update. So sorry to hear of your experience. We've had intermittent plumbing issues on most ships we've sailed but nothing to the extent you experienced, that would definitely not make for a pleasant cruise. I hope that Seattle acknowledges your issues properly.

[Katie333]

Definitely see how this would make your trip extremely unpleasant.

 

While I agree it's possible there was some vessel-wide root cause they were not properly addressing, the Noordam doesn't have this reputation for faulty plumbing and if it was recurrent, it would definitely be posted about here.

 

It certainly could have been holdover issues from past passengers as well. While not toilet-related (ahem), we did have an experience on a norovirus-infested cruise. When the code red was issued, all of us in our party of 4 immediately starting taking extra precautions. The captain, sounding angrier each time, re-iterated the importance of following your quarantine if you were afflicted. It was clear that some infected passengers were constantly breaking quarantine, and causing havoc with attempts to clean and bring things under control. It was also really interesting to me that we saw other passengers not doing simple things they could to prevent their own infection (touching every public surface etc). My point is that many many passengers clearly thought the rules didn't apply to them and caused widespread impact to other people as a result. (ps - my room steward told me his section was one of the only ones on the ship without any infected passengers).

[mamaofami]

I'm so sorry you had to endure this problem for so long. A non working toilet would really be problematic for me. I hope you follow up with a phone call to customer relations.

 

But, as many complaints as I've read about plumbing issues on these boards about a few ships, Noordam was never one of them.I hope this isn't the start of something new.

[cruz chic]

I was on the Noordam a year ago. I had toilet problem for all 11 days of my cruise and it seemed to be a problem in the general area. We even got letters regarding this issue. I was in 7004.

[TravlGrl]

I'm so sorry you had to endure this problem for so long. A non working toilet would really be problematic for me. I hope you follow up with a phone call to customer relations.

 

But, as many complaints as I've read about plumbing issues on these boards about a few ships, Noordam was never one of them.I hope this isn't the start of something new.

Yes, they will be receiving a call tomorrow morning, and I agree. I hope this isn't an epidemic issue on Noordam. I want to love everything about that ship, and almost do!

 

I'm increasingly relieved though of these reports that the Noordam doesn't have a poor plumbing reputation. I'd consider sailing her again based on what you've all said, but frankly, would absolutely stay away from that cabin vicinity and choose starboard instead.

 

I was on the Noordam a year ago. I had toilet problem for all 11 days of my cruise and it seemed to be a problem in the general area. We even got letters regarding this issue. I was in 7004.

 

Oh, no! I spoke too soon. Ok, thank you for that feedback!

Edited February 18, 2014 by TravlGrl

[nutensteve]

TravlGrl very sorry to hear about your problems and that it spoiled your cruise. The Noordam is a beautiful ship. We were on her for 11 days in September 13 in cabin 6065 and our friends were in 6063. We did not have any toilet or A/C problems. I hope this was just a one time occurrence.

[innlady1]

We were on the same cruise as you, TravlGrl and didn't have toilet issues in our stateroom. However, DH found the mens room near the upper dining level out of order one evening...and one of the ladies bathrooms on the Lido Deck was out one day.

 

We were in a very noisy cabin and complained to the front desk three or four times and nothing was done about it. Actually, the people in the stateroom next to us were moved after a few days because of the noise. I don't think I ever complain loudly enough! I finally gave up and put in ear plugs.

 

Sounded like they were throwing around furniture...day and night...and I mean 3 AM at times...waking me from a sound sleep...DH is very HOH and even he heard the noise. The Galley was above us. It was an upsell from an inside to outside and unfortunately I jumped too quickly without looking at the deck plans before accepting the cabin!

[TravlGrl]

TravlGrl very sorry to hear about your problems and that it spoiled your cruise. The Noordam is a beautiful ship. We were on her for 11 days in September 13 in cabin 6065 and our friends were in 6063. We did not have any toilet or A/C problems. I hope this was just a one time occurrence.

I hope so too! Thank you! And to note -- this did not spoil our cruise in an "overall" sense. It was excellent in every other way!

 

Something I've been thinking about regarding the form letter I received from HAL after completing their survey -- I spent an equal amount of time noting accolades of 3 of their team members: a bar attendant, an assistant cook, and our cabin steward. I am a bit disappointed that none of that was acknowledged by them given the amount of depth I provided about each individual. Of course, it doesn't require follow-up action on their part, but it would have been appropriate for HAL to acknowledge that at the same time they sent me the acknowledgement of the plumbing issues. But then, it further reinforces that it was just a form response I guess. :confused:

[TravlGrl]

We were on the same cruise as you, TravlGrl and didn't have toilet issues in our stateroom. However, DH found the mens room near the upper dining level out of order one evening...and one of the ladies bathrooms on the Lido Deck was out one day.

 

We were in a very noisy cabin and complained to the front desk three or four times and nothing was done about it. Actually, the people in the stateroom next to us were moved after a few days because of the noise. I don't think I ever complain loudly enough! I finally gave up and put in ear plugs.

 

Sounded like they were throwing around furniture...day and night...and I mean 3 AM at times...waking me from a sound sleep...DH is very HOH and even he heard the noise. The Galley was above us. It was an upsell from an inside to outside and unfortunately I jumped too quickly without looking at the deck plans before accepting the cabin!

*Waving to Sheila* Well, hello there! Those "out of order" public restrooms were found by us many times, and unfortunately, on more than just one day. One of the times I ventured to find a public restroom because our cabin toilet didn't work, I walked in, took care of business, went to wash my hands, but the ONLY sink in the restroom appeared to be clogged. The water was about 3-4 inches from the top, so I went ahead and washed my hands and rinsed them off just as an attendant came in and said, "The sink is broken. You shouldn't use it." I said something like, "I see that, but I needed to wash my hands." She sighed and appeared unhappy with me, but what was I supposed to do? I shouldn't have had to use that public restroom in the first place, and when I washed my hands, the water wasn't overflowing from the sink! If they didn't want anyone using it, perhaps they should have placed an "out of order" sign on that restroom as well!

 

Anyway, I'm sorry you had such trouble with noisy neighbors. It didn't even occur to me to request we be moved, but my head always tells me that each ship sails full, so I'm wasting my time (especially on a B2B collector's cruise). Live and learn. We probably should have requested we be moved. Oh, I can just envision packing all of our belongings up and then unpacking in a different cabin, but it may have had a working toilet, eh?

 

EDIT -- Oops, I see it wasn't noisy neighbors. It was the noisy galley! Still, I can't imagine anyone sleeping restfully with that above them.

Edited February 18, 2014 by TravlGrl

[Mary Ellen]

I really wish they would FINE people they catch who knowingly do that! The negative impact on the rest of us is so unnecessary!

We totally agree. There has always been the generic sign not to flush 'extras' (for lack of a better term) down the toilet. This guy made the decision not to follow the additional sign specifically stating not to flush tissue. There should have been a huge fine.

 

We also had a major Noro outbreak on that cruise. We'd guess the ship was under Code Red for around 20 days (out of 30+). This same guy came down with it - and never missed a dinner. :mad: I had a real hard time remaining civil to him the rest of the cruise after he showed up one night looking like death warmed over. Yep, you're sick and contagious. We'd rather not have you coming to the MDR to share that with us.

[TravlGrl]

We totally agree. There has always been the generic sign not to flush 'extras' (for lack of a better term) down the toilet. This guy made the decision not to follow the additional sign specifically stating not to flush tissue. There should have been a huge fine.

 

We also had a major Noro outbreak on that cruise. We'd guess the ship was under Code Red for around 20 days (out of 30+). This same guy came down with it - and never missed a dinner. :mad: I had a real hard time remaining civil to him the rest of the cruise after he showed up one night looking like death warmed over. Yep, you're sick and contagious. We'd rather not have you coming to the MDR to share that with us.

Holy cow! So, there was no consequence for anyone ignoring the quarantines?

[kjw869]

We were on the 11-day Noordam cruise and disembarked on February 7th. We had no problems with our toilet.

[hvsteve1]

Those vacuum toilet systems remind me of a story I heard years ago when I was on the late, lamented Mississippi Queen her first year out. A crew member told me the story (it's a lot easier to stand and chat with crew members on an all-American crew) of the boat's first cruise. If too many people flushed at about the same time, all the toilets on the ship would flush at once with a loud roar. The problem was fixed by the next cruise. I could imagine people on shore watching this magnificent new sternwheeler go by...the music of the calliope, the ringing of the big bell, the sound of the whistle, the roar of the toilets. :D

[trixiee]

We just got off the ship yesterday too, and had no toilet flushing issues at all - in our cabin, or in public restrooms. Maybe just lucky, (unlike in Bingo;)) :)

 

We were in 8089.

 

Loved the cruise! Some of the meals in the main dining room were not to our liking, and the Pinnacle Caesar salad sucked, but we certainly did not starve!

 

The staff were absolutely amazing!

[cbr663]

We totally agree. There has always been the generic sign not to flush 'extras' (for lack of a better term) down the toilet. This guy made the decision not to follow the additional sign specifically stating not to flush tissue. There should have been a huge fine.

 

We also had a major Noro outbreak on that cruise. We'd guess the ship was under Code Red for around 20 days (out of 30+). This same guy came down with it - and never missed a dinner. :mad: I had a real hard time remaining civil to him the rest of the cruise after he showed up one night looking like death warmed over. Yep, you're sick and contagious. We'd rather not have you coming to the MDR to share that with us.

 

Were you and him sharing a table? I certainly hope that if so, you immediately got up and requested another table. This is another reason why I do not like the MDR. I am very uncomfortable eating in such close proximity with strangers who may not be abiding by cruise ship etiquette and rules.

[cruiseapril]

People really need to abide by the quarantine rules.

 

Didn't the Explorer of the Seas have over 600 cases of noro? And that is how it spreads so rapidly-people being inconsiderate of their fellow cruisers.