Major Problems With Ruby Princess Cabin R301

[aesfortlauderdale]

We traveled on the Ruby Princess in November 2014 in cabin Riviera 301. This is a handicapped accessible cabin. We had scalding hot water (and nothing cooler) no matter what the temperature setting in both the sink and in the shower for the first four days of the seven day cruise so neither was usable. Two trips from the plumbers failed to fix the problem. The water temperature finally became tolerable although not totally fixed on the fifth day of the cruise. Additionally, we had a very annoying intermittent vibrating noise in the wall in the bathroom (sounded like a jack hammer) that we believe was tied to the water issue. We had this noise for the entire duration of the cruise. It would come on at all hours of the day and night continually waking us up and resulted in our enduring the cruise rather than enjoying it. We weren't moved as apparently there was no other handicapped accessible room available. I had recorded the sound and thought someone in the know might be able to identify what was causing the problem and asked at the purser's desk to meet with someone from engineering but was not permitted to do so. Rather, I was told by the purser’s desk that I had to call when it was happening so they could hear it first-hand. The fact that by the time someone could get to the room the noise would stop and that calling for help didn’t work was beyond their comprehension. The Customer Service Supervisor finally met with me in our cabin on day six and since she couldn’t move us brought up the idea of compensating us. Unfortunately, Princess’ idea of compensation (just under 25%) fell far short of what we thought was fair.

 

We had 30+ cruises on Princess (Elite status) and have spent a lot of money with them over the years. We are so annoyed with how Princess addressed this situation that we probably won’t travel with them again (their loss as we have been very good customers). There was obviously something wrong with this cabin when we boarded and whoever was going to get it next was going to inherit the same problem. We are curious just how long this has been going on. Has anyone else had this noise issue with this cabin and when?

[beg3yrs]

I suggest you write an e-mail to "customerrelations@princess.com". Your own post was well-written and factual so send something like that. Be specific about what would satisfy you. Your concern that this problem is not being addressed on the ship and it will affect future passengers should wake them up. Do mention that you've already posted your concern on Cruise Critic.

[nycruiser2006]

We had the same problem two years ago on the CB. We were in a B252 and took three (3) calls and visits to guest services to get it finally repaired.

Started up again on about day 6 of 7

[Colo Cruiser]

30 plus cruises with Princess and you would just give it all up?

 

:(

[Pam in CA]

I suggest you write an e-mail to "customerrelations@princess.com". Your own post was well-written and factual so send something like that. Be specific about what would satisfy you. Your concern that this problem is not being addressed on the ship and it will affect future passengers should wake them up. Do mention that you've already posted your concern on Cruise Critic.

I agree. Include details of who you talked to and the result. You could be pleasantly surprised. Be patient, though. It might take them a while to respond.

[cruzsnooze]

25% compensation sounds reasonable to me. If they didn't have another cabin to move you too what exactly did you expect? I realize it was a very annoying problem and it's a shame they couldn't get the water temp right.

The threats with posting on cruise critic seem a little aggressive. Princess must know from monitoring these boards that the cheerleaders and complainers are on here and heavily censored so have no real impact anymore.

Edited December 24, 2014 by cruzsnooze

[SadieN]

Sorry you went thru this. I like hot showers but that's ridiculous.

 

It's quite possible that it could have been going on for a bit and you're the first to complain about it.

 

We've had issues (fridge and balcony door handle) that were obviously going on for quite a while til we said something about it.

[waltd]

25% compensation sounds reasonable to me. If they didn't have another cabin to move you too what exactly did you expect? I realize it was a very annoying problem and it's a shame they couldn't get the water temp right.

The threats with posting on cruise critic seem a little aggressive. Princess must know from monitoring these boards that the cheerleaders and complainers are on here and heavily censored so have no real impact anymore.

 

I really don't think it is reasonable in this case. If in deed the person in the cabin is handicapped and there is no usable shower for 4 out of 7 days it seems unreasonable to me. Not like they can just go down the hall to take care of things. I'm sure none of us would go without a shower for that long. Of course the part that gets me a bit is not traveling with Princess again. If this was the first major issue on ship after 30 cruises and were happy to this point I just don't know. Princess should have been all over this and had it taken care of on day one.

[geoherb]

I have had good responses from customer service after smaller problems on cruises. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to hear back from someone.

 

When you write, don't threaten to never sail on Princess again.

[kruisey]

We traveled on the Ruby Princess in November 2014 in cabin Riviera 301. This is a handicapped accessible cabin. We had scalding hot water (and nothing cooler) no matter what the temperature setting in both the sink and in the shower for the first four days of the seven day cruise so neither was usable. Two trips from the plumbers failed to fix the problem. The water temperature finally became tolerable although not totally fixed on the fifth day of the cruise. Additionally, we had a very annoying intermittent vibrating noise in the wall in the bathroom (sounded like a jack hammer) that we believe was tied to the water issue. We had this noise for the entire duration of the cruise. It would come on at all hours of the day and night continually waking us up and resulted in our enduring the cruise rather than enjoying it. We weren't moved as apparently there was no other handicapped accessible room available. I had recorded the sound and thought someone in the know might be able to identify what was causing the problem and asked at the purser's desk to meet with someone from engineering but was not permitted to do so. Rather, I was told by the purser’s desk that I had to call when it was happening so they could hear it first-hand. The fact that by the time someone could get to the room the noise would stop and that calling for help didn’t work was beyond their comprehension. The Customer Service Supervisor finally met with me in our cabin on day six and since she couldn’t move us brought up the idea of compensating us. Unfortunately, Princess’ idea of compensation (just under 25%) fell far short of what we thought was fair.

 

We had 30+ cruises on Princess (Elite status) and have spent a lot of money with them over the years. We are so annoyed with how Princess addressed this situation that we probably won’t travel with them again (their loss as we have been very good customers). There was obviously something wrong with this cabin when we boarded and whoever was going to get it next was going to inherit the same problem. We are curious just how long this has been going on. Has anyone else had this noise issue with this cabin and when?

 

Several years ago I had a problem at night with noise intermittent noise .By the time someone came it cabin to listen it had stopped as soon as they had left it started up again.The aft pool was above and they did look at that.Never did find or cure it.I just do not cruise in that area of any ship now.

[Margarita Jane]

We were on CB in R743 - we had picked this stateroom because it was close to the terrace pool. This stateroom has a mechanical vent just outside the balcony. When it was running, it was too loud to sit on the balcony. If we were in bed when it was running, our bed would vibrate. As a result, Princess gave us some shipboard credit - which we were happy about. Our cruise was not ruined because of the problem, but it definitely affected our enjoyment.

 

I have been surprised that I have not seen anyone else complain about this stateroom.

 

I would definitely not be happy if I could not take a shower for even 1 day in my stateroom much less 4 days. This is a problem that would ruin my cruise. I hope you get a satisfactory response from Princess when you contact them.

[Shogun]

Hi All

Sorry to hear of your problems,

Did any senior crew visit your cabin,

Have had a cabin with noisy pipes every night it was like some one hitting the pipes with hammers, took days for plumbers to fix it but never really went way.

 

Yours Shogun

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

[donh1]

I strongly believe some cabins have regular complaints about them. The plumbing issue should be able to be fixed. The noise issue maybe an entirely different can of worms. Staff certainly would not devulge that they get regular complaints about banging noises or whatever. Lot's of motors and moving parts that are very noisy.

[elliair]

We've had similar issues as you described both on Princess and Carnival. In one instance, (last cabin aft), that there were people dragging chains up and down our wall behind the bed. The room behind us was a storage room where they kept beds, etc. We called customer service and the noise magically went away the next night. On Princess, it sounded like someone was scraping their finger nails on the balcony door. I thought we were on the cruise from hell. Two engineers came up and they heard the noise. They traced it to a loose cable (so they say), in one of the theaters ceiling. Haven't had any other issues other than cigarette smoke coming into our cabin on the Inspiration. Everyone around us got moved but us.:rolleyes:

Edited December 25, 2014 by elliair

[cruzsnooze]

I really don't think it is reasonable in this case. If in deed the person in the cabin is handicapped and there is no usable shower for 4 out of 7 days it seems unreasonable to me. Not like they can just go down the hall to take care of things. I'm sure none of us would go without a shower for that long. Of course the part that gets me a bit is not traveling with Princess again. If this was the first major issue on ship after 30 cruises and were happy to this point I just don't know. Princess should have been all over this and had it taken care of on day one.

 

They could have used the SPA shower which handicap accessible. Certainly would have been inconvenient but what can they do. I still think 25% was a fair offer.

[Love.II.Cruise]

We traveled on the Ruby Princess in November 2014 in cabin Riviera 301. This is a handicapped accessible cabin. We had scalding hot water (and nothing cooler) no matter what the temperature setting in both the sink and in the shower for the first four days of the seven day cruise so neither was usable. Two trips from the plumbers failed to fix the problem. The water temperature finally became tolerable although not totally fixed on the fifth day of the cruise. Additionally, we had a very annoying intermittent vibrating noise in the wall in the bathroom (sounded like a jack hammer) that we believe was tied to the water issue. We had this noise for the entire duration of the cruise. It would come on at all hours of the day and night continually waking us up and resulted in our enduring the cruise rather than enjoying it. We weren't moved as apparently there was no other handicapped accessible room available. I had recorded the sound and thought someone in the know might be able to identify what was causing the problem and asked at the purser's desk to meet with someone from engineering but was not permitted to do so. Rather, I was told by the purser’s desk that I had to call when it was happening so they could hear it first-hand. The fact that by the time someone could get to the room the noise would stop and that calling for help didn’t work was beyond their comprehension. The Customer Service Supervisor finally met with me in our cabin on day six and since she couldn’t move us brought up the idea of compensating us. Unfortunately, Princess’ idea of compensation (just under 25%) fell far short of what we thought was fair.

 

We had 30+ cruises on Princess (Elite status) and have spent a lot of money with them over the years. We are so annoyed with how Princess addressed this situation that we probably won’t travel with them again (their loss as we have been very good customers). There was obviously something wrong with this cabin when we boarded and whoever was going to get it next was going to inherit the same problem. We are curious just how long this has been going on. Has anyone else had this noise issue with this cabin and when?

 

I'm glad you took the time to post this. Hopefully that room will be addressed and fixed. I can't imagine having load noises at random times for an entire cruise and interrupting your sleep, let alone not being able to shower in your cabin for over half the cruise! :eek:

 

I hope other people see this that are staying in that cabin and can report back on whether it has been fixed or not.

[Sillyjilly]

It's water hammer. Had it on the Crown. They knew what it was and looked us in the face and flat out lied.

 

Hubby made a bed in the atrium until they changed our cabin.

 

Write a letter.

[delirious9876]

25% compensation sounds reasonable to me. If they didn't have another cabin to move you too what exactly did you expect? I realize it was a very annoying problem and it's a shame they couldn't get the water temp right.

The threats with posting on cruise critic seem a little aggressive. Princess must know from monitoring these boards that the cheerleaders and complainers are on here and heavily censored so have no real impact anymore.

I appreciate fully what the op is saying about vibrating sounds in the walls of the cabin, based on a previous cruise of mine.

 

If you had been submitted to this tortuous noise anytime of the day/night 24/7 I would guess that 25% wouldn't be enough for you either.

[delirious9876]

It's water hammer. Had it on the Crown. They knew what it was and looked us in the face and flat out lied.

 

Hubby made a bed in the atrium until they changed our cabin.

 

Write a letter.

A bed in the Atrium - ha ha ha !

 

Great way to tackle a complaint and make it seen and heard.

 

Love it !!!!! :) :) :)

[Sillyjilly]

A bed in the Atrium - ha ha ha !

 

Great way to tackle a complaint and make it seen and heard.

 

Love it !!!!! :) :) :)

 

It was a last resort. The sound was like someone hitting the walls with a sledge hammer at regular intervals. Sleeping was next to impossible.

[Lynniepoo]

It's water hammer. Had it on the Crown. They knew what it was and looked us in the face and flat out lied.

 

Hubby made a bed in the atrium until they changed our cabin.

 

Write a letter.

 

 

LOVE this! I'll bet they changed it quick!! :D

[Lynniepoo]

I appreciate fully what the op is saying about vibrating sounds in the walls of the cabin, based on a previous cruise of mine.

 

If you had been submitted to this tortuous noise anytime of the day/night 24/7 I would guess that 25% wouldn't be enough for you either.

 

I agree. People take cruises to relax and pay good money to do so. To be denied a shower (or even washing your face and hands) and sleep would be one thing, but to have to prove your case to the ship staff would move it to a new level for me. Definitely write a letter, and be specific about what will satisfy you, like mentioned above. Good luck!

[Sillyjilly]

LOVE this! I'll bet they changed it quick!! :D

 

Not til after they accused him of being mentally ill or on drugs. After that the crowd was on our side and they wanted to diffuse the situation.

 

Prior to the bed in the atrium they stuck by their story that the noise was caused by the tide. (We were midship, inside cabin on Deck 10. Come on.}

 

The cabins next to us were beside themselves with anger. The noise affected many cabins.

 

It took many years for us to get back on a cruise ship.

[Loonbeam]

There are two issues here - one is the noise, one the shower. While they may be related in cause, the impact of one is much more significant than the other.

 

Being effectively unable to bathe for several days renders the cabin completely unusable due to it being a health and safety hazard. If it could not be repaired properly, a new cabin should have been found somehow.

 

Noise is a different issue. Yes, its annoying, but it doesn't always render the cabin completely uninhabitable. There are mitigating options, like earplugs, etc that can be attempted.

 

Not being there, had it been just the noise issue, if the crew politely said its nothing we can easily fix, here's 25% credit, I'd probably be grumbly but ok.

 

25% compensation in exchange for not being able to bathe in my own cabin for several days, I'm not ok with that, no. I'm pretty laid back, but that's a major issue. At a minimum I would request a pro-rata for every day the plumbing was down (just fare, not excursions, etc as those were hopefully unaffected). A future cruise credit good for at least 2 years along with a shoreside contact to help in case of a similar mishap would work for me..

[satxdiver]

From what the OP was saying, it appears as though the cold water was not getting to the cabin such that all they had was hot water which is very hot as they stated. It could be hard to find the blockage depending on where it was located and even harder to fix.

 

The second problem since the noise was emanating from the bathroom indicates the most likely cause as one has already pointed out as water hammer which is caused by air in the lines. It can be hard to get the air out and stop the noise. It is a very loud noise. We have had it at home when they shut off the water main for repairs and then turn it back on trapping air in the lines. Solution is to turn on all the water faucets in the house until the air is out. The water will spurt as the air works its way out the faucet.

 

I loved the bed in the piaza (atrium?) and I can imagine the impact on the guest services. I doubt they were happy but it did get action. The discouraging part is that they resorted to blaming you instead of meeting the problem head on and fixing it. It was very poor resolution on their part until they actually fixed the problem.