Customer Service Problem

[Dmgmd50]

We recently returned from a cruise on the Reflection. We had two connecting cabins and had a problem with one of the bathrooms where there was a drainage problem with blockage and we wound up with "dirty" water on the bathroom floor. They were not able to change our rooms since no other cabins were available. We wound up using only one of our two bathrooms. We complained to "guest services" who agreed with our complaint but said the office in a Miami would have to handle our request for a partial refund since we had paid for two bathrooms. When we got home and spoke to the Miami office, they could not find any information from the ship. When they finally knew what happened, they offered us a $300 credit for a $5,000 stateroom! We felt this was not acceptable. If you wound up with a bathroom with sewerage, what would be a reasonable amount to expect for a refund? Any suggestions on how we should proceed?

[bplazo]

I find three hundred acceptable .

[NLH Arizona]

Ask for the world, but be prepared to get a resounding no and then hope they still offer you the $300.

[bighairtexan]

In general, I get so kerfluffled with people who seem to have that sense of entitlement for little things like no ice bucket. But in your case I don't think that $300 is sufficient if you had to deal w/ "toilet water" on the cabin floor, and being in a cabin with an unusable bathroom, especially if that cabin was $5,000.

 

But then I'm not the one that decides these things, so all you get from my is empathy.

[wallie5446]

Was your cost $5000 for both cabins, or for each cabin, with a total of $10,000?

Did the back up happen the 1st evening, 2nd, or 3rd?

Did the smell infect both cabins? Was there always standing back wash on the floor? Was the "dirty" water from the toilet or shower?

These are items that would effect how they decide what is an equitable amount.

Edited July 19, 2014 by wallie5446

[WpgCruise]

I sympathize, it wouldn't be a pleasant situation.

 

In addition to what the other posters have suggested before going any further, I would determine what's fair. As mentioned was this for the whole cruise, or the last evening? What were the actual "damages" ? If the ship was full (fairly common) what were the options available to mitigate the situation on board? What could they have done they didn't do?

 

At the end of the day we agree to the Cruise Contract when we board, and this limits options we the customer think we might have.

 

Good luck, I hope you can reach a satisfactory settlement.

[joandian]

I'm not sure what amount you should receive but would love to know what would have happened if you didn't have the other bathroom to use. If you just had the one cabin, would they have then found another cabin to move you to? I would think it would health issue to have you in a cabin like with 'dirty' water in the bathroom.

[Lois R]

When did it happen? The beginning of the cruise? End of the cruise?

If you had no issues for 10 nights and 1 night with a problem? Or was

the bathroom a problem all cruise?......if it was from the beginning I

would have been in touch with various Mgmt until the problem was

fixed.....Head of Housekeeping for example......

Just wondering what steps were taken while you were on the cruise?

[hcat]

What was the cabin number w ith the bathroom issue?

 

As mentioned already, wonder what they have done if adjacent cabin parties were not with you? I would find it difficult to sleep with a sewage back up in the bathroom....was there an odor issue, yuck!

Edited July 20, 2014 by hcat

[cpj]

I find three hundred acceptable .

 

Of course it's not your money.

[CathyCruises]

Something strange about this. Unless the cruise was almost over, there would have been no "all of us used one bathroom". This would have been escalated to the Hotel Director and then to the Captain if necessary. At a very minimum, the floor should have been cleaned so that the shower and sink were usable.

 

I find it really odd when people have a bad experience on board and wait until they get home to do something about it--I am not a complainer but I would have been camping out at Guest Relations--seriously, with my pillow and blankie--until my cabin was made habitable.

[Dmgmd50]

Thanks for all your responses. I will try to answer all the questions raised. We were a party of three: husband, wife, and 12 y/ o grandson in two cabins, totaling $10,000. We noticed an odor when we boarded the ship and complained. Our cabin attendant said he would get rid of the odor and used some kind of bathroom deodorizer. On the fourth day, when we came back to the cabin we found the water on the floor with toilet debris. We contacted the attendant who got the plumber who found there was a blockage. We also contacted the Assistant hotel manager and guest services. They had only one cabin they could offer us but because we had a minor child, they could not move us since we needed connecting cabins. Though they claimed the blockage was clear, the bathroom now smelled of bleach and was not a pleasant place to be. We were afraid to use the toilet but I did used the sink. Guest services tried to be helpful and were attentive, even sympathetic, but said the compensation issue was handled by the Miami office. We had to deal with this issue for the balance of our 11 night cruise. Then when we got home and called Miami, they could not find the information, despite the fact that the ship's guest service department said they has been in constant contact and had made them aware of it. We felt that we had not been passive during the cruise and that we had made our concerns well known.

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for all your responses. I will try to answer all the questions raised. We were a party of three: husband, wife, and 12 y/ o grandson in two cabins, totaling $10,000. We noticed an odor when we boarded the ship and complained. Our cabin attendant said he would get rid of the odor and used some kind of bathroom deodorizer. On the fourth day, when we came back to the cabin we found the water on the floor with toilet debris. We contacted the attendant who got the plumber who found there was a blockage. We also contacted the Assistant hotel manager and guest services. They had only one cabin they could offer us but because we had a minor child, they could not move us since we needed connecting cabins. Though they claimed the blockage was clear, the bathroom now smelled of bleach and was not a pleasant place to be. We were afraid to use the toilet but I did used the sink. Guest services tried to be helpful and were attentive, even sympathetic, but said the compensation issue was handled by the Miami office. We had to deal with this issue for the balance of our 11 night cruise. Then when we got home and called Miami, they could not find the information, despite the fact that the ship's guest service department said they has been in constant contact and had made them aware of it. We felt that we had not been passive during the cruise and that we had made our concerns well known.

From what you said, the blockage was cleared on day 4 (same day it happened), so from day 5 to 11 you chose not to use the toilet, but did use the sink, because you were afraid to use the toilet (because you didn't think it was really fixed and would happen again?). What type of compensation do you want for the toilet/bathroom smelling and an unuseable toilet for 1 day (or part of 1 day)? If I were you, I would come up with a figure, with the reasoning behind it, and let Celebrity know that is what you expect.

Edited July 20, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[Algebralovr]

As we all know, blockages happen. I'm sorry you were the one it happened to. That said, it sounds like they dealt with it as soon as you notified them of the problem, clearing the blockage and then cleaning the bathroom. After it was cleared and cleaned, you chose not to use the toilet in that bathroom. If it was cleared correctly, it should not have back flushed and all should have been well, but for some reason you chose not to even try to use the majority of that bathroom for over half your cruise.

 

How is this different from a blockage at home? If the toilet backs up, you clear the drain and go on. If the sewer line backs up, you call the guy with the power snake to clean out the line and go on. You use the plumbing as intended once it is cleared. So, why not on the ship?

 

As for the smell of bleach, open the door to the bathroom, open the balcony room, and it should disappear fairly quickly.

 

IMHO, $300 is satisfactory for what you describe, since they dealt with the matter quickly and correctly. I'm actually surprised they didn't just offer you a little bit of OBC and call the matter closed.

[wvufan]

A big difference between not being able to use the bathroom and choosing not to. $300 seems reasonable.

 

Ship happens Glad you still had a good cruise.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[cle-guy]

A big difference between not being able to use the bathroom and choosing not to. $300 seems reasonable.

 

Ship happens Glad you still had a good cruise.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

 

I agree with this reply fully, and likely is why the line is only offering $300. Mathematically speaking, $5000 / 11 nights = $454 per day that includes cabin, meals entertainment and transport. So for the single day's issue, they have offered a 66% refund of your daily fare leaving $154, or $75 per person, to cover the meals entertainment and travel costs, seems acceptable.

 

The likely cause is another passenger flushing something down that doesn't belong.....not anything to do with how the ship maintains its systems.

 

If they could not clear the blockage at all, then I'd say you were due a free cruise, not even a pro-rated refund.

 

But in this case, I imagine he information Miami has is there was an issue, it was corrected that day so $300 may even sound like a LOT to the powers that be in this circumstance. Likely they didn't get the information straight away as You said they hadn't a clue as to your incident, but they likely then contacted the ship staff who checked their repair logs to determine they had resolved the unfortunate incident.

 

As to the connecting room issue, was the Ship staff the ones who said you could not use the other cabin due to the kid, or was it your choice to do that. I understand X has a policy where minor children must either have an adult sharing their cabin or be in an adjacent (not necessarily adjoining) cabin, which can be next door(without adjoining connector), next door WITH connecting door, across the hall, or in proximity to at the adult occupied cabin.

 

The workaround in either case is to assign 1 parent and the child to 1 cabin and the other adult to the other cabin. Then adjust your sleeping arrangements as to your comfort level (i.e. do you trust your kid to not leave his cabin without first telling you or will he just run off when he gets the freedom without regard for your family rules...)

Edited July 20, 2014 by cle-guy

[wwcruisers]

Oh man -- plumbing problems are the WORST! We had one cruise on RC that (many years later) we still refer to as: "The Cold Shower Cruise". One of the ship's plumbers spent so much time in our cabin, that we knew him better than our room steward! ;)

 

So, OP -- so sorry this happened to you. But, generally speaking, we have found that resolving major problems (including compensation) is better handled before you get off the ship. Often, that involves going up the "food chain" to the GR manager, and if necessary, the Hotel Manager. You do need to be patient, because they sometimes have to get authorization from Miami (Corporate) for certain levels of compensation. And of course, nobody wants to spend their precious vacation time standing in line at Guest Relations -- but, it can get results. Remember, once you're off the ship, you are no longer their problem.

 

The few times we have contacted Corporate, post-cruise, were when we had a problem that absolutely could not be resolved onboard. In those cases, we had detailed notes of every conversation -- including the name and position of the person we spoke to. We have found the folks at Corporate to be very responsive, in those situations. But, it sounds like you have gone as far as you can, with this problem. Just tossing out some ideas on what you could do, in the future. Hope Celebrity hasn't lost you as a customer, over this!

[NJ Fred]

If the plumbing was, in fact, functioning and the sole reason the passengers refused to use it was a "foul odor" that the cruise line repeatedly remedied via intense cleaning, commercial grade deodorants, etc., then, clearly, the $300.00 credit was a simple gesture of good will.

 

However, given the fare ($10k) paid by these customers and the class of their accommodation, I think the offer is insufficient.

 

Let us remember, we are, most likely, talking about a future on board credit. Most of these credits are time-sensitive and the recipient has to book another voyage on an "X" vessel of they have but a handful of air.

 

What do I think would have been a respectable about given the class of accommodation, nature and duration of the problem?

 

$1000.00.

[CathyCruises]

Okay, so the 'problem' with the 'unusable' bathroom was: "Though they claimed the blockage was clear, the bathroom now smelled of bleach and was not a pleasant place to be."

 

So the only stated reason they did not use the toilet, although they admittedly used the sink, was that the bathroom smelled like bleach????

 

Personally I don't think a bathroom smelling of bleach is all that horrible, way preferable to how it might have smelled, and I think $300 is very generous. We had a toilet blockage once, reportedly from a neighboring cabin using "flushable' wipes, and we were thrilled that they fixed it, never dreamed of asking for compensation! :eek:

[Lsimon]

...Though they claimed the blockage was clear, the bathroom now smelled of bleach and was not a pleasant place to be. We were afraid to use the toilet...

 

This really complicates the matter and changes what I'd think would be fair for a completely unusable toilet (100% refund) to a really debatable matter of whether a token adjustment is acceptable or if something more substantial is appropriate. If you had tried to use the bathroom and found the issue wasn't fixed then the matter would be completely different and a substantial adjustment would be in order. But if they had in fact repaired the plumbing and cleaned the bathroom then the problem was resolved and all you are due, in my opinion, is some minor compensation for a partial day of inconvenience.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Lsimon

[hcat]

Having once boarded a Royal ship (fairly new at the time) we encountered wet smelly carpet as we entered our hump cabin...blowers , rug shampooers, etc went in each day as we went out...they could not get to the source over 11 days, never relocated us..other cabins has worse issues apparently and issue of compensation never came up We eked it out but our cabin other than the balcony was not what we hoped for,.., could never walk barefoot for sure..not that we do...a bit sloshy for flip flops...!

 

at the level paid by OP , I think they should have been given a credit for one cabin....even if just for good will....written descriptions cannot really described sewage carpet smell or bleach...

 

OP...what was your cabin number? Hope we don't have any isues on Reflection next fall.....

[need2bespoiled]

We had a toilet situation back in March on Century. We were having slow flushing problems since the day we boarded. We reported the issue and were told they were fixed. On the last morning of the cruise at about 6am, we were laying in bed, when we heard the toilet overflow onto the bathroom floor. We called for service (again), but it took quite a while (over an hour and 2-3 calls, I can't remember) for someone to come. Finally when he came, we heard him tell his boss "yes, it is broken". He did fix it, and then we waited again for our steward to come to clean up the floor. Needless to say I wore flip flops in the bathroom and we had to hold it for quite a while longer than we would have like on disembarkation morning. Thankfully, we weren't in a hurray to catch a flight.

 

We had some OBC applied to our account, which was nice, but we actually didn't ask for anything. I think dinner in a specialty restaurant, and maybe a bottle of wine to the cabin would be appropriate for this type of issue, any credit our OBC I feel is generous. I also wasn't in the cabin, and feel as though only you can put a value on the impact to your vacation. You need to tell them what you'd like, but be prepared to be disappointed and move on, or be satisfied and content.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[nana541]

Why didn't the OP just flush a few times after the toilet was fixed to insure it was in working order?? That would have made sure it was in working order prior to using it....

Also if bad odors coming from the toilet that likely would have helped with that also.

 

Toilet fix day it was reported, OP maybe should have gotten a drink coupon for the inconvenience.

 

 

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[wallie5446]

What type cabin class? At $2500 pp and the single supplement of double these had to be C1, or Aqua, right?

[coldweathergirl]

Just my two cents worth to the conversation but by chance did your grandson accidentally flush something down the toilet to cause it to plug up or overflow.

I know what 12 year olds are like and they certainly don't usually own up to something like this.

 

I personally think $300 is very generous considering they fixed things quite quickly but you chose not to use the toilet for the remainder of your cruise.

 

I also feel that even if 3 people had to share 1 toilet, it wouldn't be too much of a burden since at home most people share bathrooms.