Toilet trouble on the Dawn

[Barb Nahoumi]

Good to know------thanks.

[tallyho8]

Last month on the Dawn in cabin 8582 we woke about 3 AM to find the bathroom floor covered in about 2 inches of water. Luckily, very little escaped over the door frame into the cabin.

 

A water line leading to the toilet was leaking and to make things worse the floor drain was stopped up causing the water build-up. (clean water)

 

Maintenance arrived in about 20 minutes and took about 30 minutes to fix the problem causing us to lose some sleep.

 

Guest services phoned us the next day and gave us 2 free dinners at the steak house.

[GeezerCouple]

Last month on the Dawn in cabin 8582 we woke about 3 AM to find the bathroom floor covered in about 2 inches of water. Luckily, very little escaped over the door frame into the cabin.

 

A water line leading to the toilet was leaking and to make things worse the floor drain was stopped up causing the water build-up. (clean water)

 

Maintenance arrived in about 20 minutes and took about 30 minutes to fix the problem causing us to lose some sleep.

 

Guest services phoned us the next day and gave us 2 free dinners at the steak house.

 

On the Pearl over the holidays, in the Haven, we had THE SEWER LINE BUBBLE UP ONTO THE FLOOR OF THE BATHROOM, and in the 2BR suite, there is NO DOOR between the bedroom and the bathroom.

 

There were horrible gurgling sounds, and worse sewer smells, and that went out into the LR area despite a door being closed.

 

This went on for DAYS AND DAYS, and what did they do?

 

Well, the first attempt by NCL was - STUFFING TOWELS DOWN THAT DRAIN.

 

What did that accomplish?

Well, it worked to stop that drain from backing up onto the floor... until...

 

The sewage came up in the toilet area drain, and then INTO THE BATHTUB.

 

And ... this went on and on and on.

For DAYS.

 

Finally they relocated us to a cabin, while they tore up the flooring and did who-knows-what, but at least when we came back (after FINALLY getting a non-sewer night's sleep!), things were better.

 

We ended up getting a token OBC that was barely enough for ONE bottle of wine that we ordered.

 

NCL, are you reading this?

 

WHERE IS THE RESPONSE TO US?

This was a PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD.

RAW SEWAGE WAS BUBBLING UP FROM THE DRAINS.

 

You know precisely who we are: You relocated us.

Do we really need to take more to Social Media about this?

Really!?

 

GeezerCouple

[ALS1214]

We had a morning without a toilet ( would not flush) in room 9152. I'm hoping that it won't happen again because we have the same room for our trip this July. They took care of it right away but when my husband called they said well do you have to use it now ? My husband was like YES that's why I'm calling. He had to find a public one. But we loved the location of the room. I'm hoping they fix the problems by our cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[amberdc87]

After reading this I hope we don't have the same problems in November. We are staying in room 12522. Anyone had any problems with deck 12?

[valleyvillage]

Once in a while I will come across a post touting the great idea of taking along one's own toilet paper! :eek:

This is the cause of many of these vacuum toilet problems because the only kind of paper that should ever be used here is what the cruise line supplies. There is a reason!

[chengkp75]

Once in a while I will come across a post touting the great idea of taking along one's own toilet paper! :eek:

This is the cause of many of these vacuum toilet problems because the only kind of paper that should ever be used here is what the cruise line supplies. There is a reason!

 

Sorry, but this is another urban myth about cruise ships. The type of toilet paper has absolutely nothing to do with blockages in the piping, but it can affect the effectiveness of the downstream treatment plant. In fact, not to get too gross, in order to work effectively, the "package" that your toilet discharges into the vacuum piping needs to maintain some "consistency" in order to be pulled down (or in some cases up) the piping.

 

I can say that after 20+ years of maintaining shipboard vacuum toilet systems, I have never had a clog caused by "incorrect" toilet paper. Paper towels, "handi-wipes", underwear, swimsuits, face cloths, hand towels, dinner napkins, crew uniforms, toothbrushes, crack pipes, coke spoons, and other things yes, toilet paper no.

[Sparkygirl]

After reading this I hope we don't have the same problems in November. We are staying in room 12522. Anyone had any problems with deck 12?

 

 

We have sailed twice on the Dawn Deck 12, 12500 and 12018 no toilet problems.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dexddd]

After reading this I hope we don't have the same problems in November. We are staying in room 12522. Anyone had any problems with deck 12?

 

Don't recall reading much about problems on 12 with toilets. Chair scrapping from above though has been reported for rooms in that area.

[Laszlo]

Not just on the Dawn. We got off the Sun two weeks ago and had issues most of the week in our mini suite. First day was fine then it went down hill. No smell, just not flushing and or flushing with a 15-30 minute delay. I went to guest services 4 times in 4 days. I was first told it was normal, I told the guy that was BS. Found out it was not just us but the cabins to the left and right of us also were where in 1011. Finally on Friday it started working normally. Our fridge went out on day two, it wasn't warm but hot inside. They took it out for repairs and we got it back 3 days later

[newmexicoNita]

Scheduled for a cruise on the Star (sister ship) in December.

 

Anybody have any problems with plumbing on the Star in the past?

 

Some of the older ships I would guess, scale, back up and have issues over time.

 

I have not heard of any problems on the Star, but have heard about plumbing issues with the DAwn and Sun. We had a slight issue on the Sun about a year ago, nothing like OP and it didn't create a serious problem I am happy to say.

[pizzalady1]

Sorry, but this is another urban myth about cruise ships. The type of toilet paper has absolutely nothing to do with blockages in the piping, but it can affect the effectiveness of the downstream treatment plant. In fact, not to get too gross, in order to work effectively, the "package" that your toilet discharges into the vacuum piping needs to maintain some "consistency" in order to be pulled down (or in some cases up) the piping.

 

I can say that after 20+ years of maintaining shipboard vacuum toilet systems, I have never had a clog caused by "incorrect" toilet paper. Paper towels, "handi-wipes", underwear, swimsuits, face cloths, hand towels, dinner napkins, crew uniforms, toothbrushes, crack pipes, coke spoons, and other things yes, toilet paper no.

 

Well, that is interesting. Now you are going to spark a whole new set of posts about people bringing their own toilet paper!

[fonrouge82]

We sailed in cabin 9115 on the Dawn 8/15. Our toilet did not flush from day 1 until day 7. Our cabin steward was very courteous EVERY time we mentioned it. Plumbers were sent each time we reported it. We called Guest Services if our steward was not available. Finally, after the 4th day, they sent a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries. I'd much preferred a toilet that flushed. We were forced to use the public restrooms, which was like having a cabin without a private bath :( Hopefully the toilet issue will be remedied during the next dry dock!

[casofilia]

Being a Pom we use the toilet not the bathroom!!! :D

 

I always smile when we are at a crew "Meet & Greet" for the repeat cruisers, we are Platinum, that they have the three "Most Important" crew members there. :rolleyes:

 

They never have the right people!! The most important person on the cruise is the "Toilet Unblocker", can you see the Captain doing that job!! The next one is the person who has, at midnight, to prepare a totally new "Daily Newspaper" when the ship is unable to dock. Number 3 is the "Head of Finance" who has to deal with all the irate passengers in the last 24 hours when they get their OB account.

 

In my mind they are the backbones of the ship!! :D

 

Mike

Pom by Birth; Coin Collecting Retired Kiwi by Choice.

[GORDONCHICK]

We'll be in 9567 over Thanksgiving and here's to hoping the toilet works and remembering to keep everything off the floor (not as easy w/3 people in the cabin).

[Floridanamaw]

We cruise on the Dawn on the 18th. Our cabin is on the 11th deck so hopefully we won't have any of the problems the lower decks have. Hopefully!!

[pokerpro5]

Wow, happy I'm on the 10th floor on my upcoming Dawn cruise, and not right above these bad toilets!

 

Still, it's making me a bit nervous.

 

It also seems NCL cheaps out (or onboard staff isn't empowered?) when it comes to compensating people for long-term-broken toilets.

 

I keep hearing stories of passengers without a consistently working toilet for the ENTIRE WEEK getting something laughable like a comped specialty meal and $100 OBC. Or sometimes just the comped specialty meal. Terrible.

[CRUISERAT]

If anyone out there has booked cabin 9600 on the Dawn, you might want to get on the horn right now and starting lobbying for a new cabin. For most of our Jan. 25 Western Caribbean cruise, we had a toilet that wouldn't flush. What's more, there are several other cabins on the Dawn (and presumably some other ships) that have this problem because of the way the plumbing system is designed.

 

What started as a small thing -- the toilet sometimes taking a while to flush -- became a big thing, culminating in overflows and middle-of-the-night calls to guest services. On the last night, we called guest services in the middle of the night and they said they couldn't help us (even though we'd been told numerous times that plumbers were available 24/7).

 

We called or visited guest services 10 or 12 times, trying to get the problem fixed. A number of reps there were kind and sympathetic and promised to "take care of it." It was never truly fixed and remained a problem to the bitter end. They did comp us a dinner at a specialty restaurant, so that was better than nothing as a goodwill gesture. But we would rather have had a working toilet.

 

Along with a wee-hours overflow, the lowlight or this ordeal was a visit to the hotel director, Sonja Sommergger. We asked to see her mainly because we were told during our CC Meet and Greet that officers would rather hear about problems directly from guests while still onboard than to read about them later on Cruise Critic. To us, this was a courtesy visit. After I explained our problem, she said she already knew about it, then launched into a 5-minute speech that could best be summed up as "s**t happens." She said our cabin and several others were just at an unlucky spot in the elimination plumbing. And, oh well, what can you do?

 

I don't know what we expected, but this wasn't it. Of the dozen or so apologies we heard from crew members over the week, hers was by far the least sincere sounding.

 

We don't expect perfection on a cruise, but we should be able to count on three squares, a decent bed and a working toilet. In this case, two out of three ain't good.

 

Jim

 

We went to Bermuda in May had the Garden Villa and had sewer smell 4 out of the 7 days.Me and dw woke up almost Puking from the smell that had built up in the room at 3 AM

[ashley_and_jason]

I can say that after 20+ years of maintaining shipboard vacuum toilet systems, I have never had a clog caused by "incorrect" toilet paper. Paper towels, "handi-wipes", underwear, swimsuits, face cloths, hand towels, dinner napkins, crew uniforms, toothbrushes, crack pipes, coke spoons, and other things yes, toilet paper no.

 

I'll remember on my next cruise, not to flush my crack pipe! :eek:

[pathubia]

We have cruised the Dawn 4 times 11th and 12th deck, have never had a toilet problem....

[Floridanamaw]

We have cruised the Dawn 4 times 11th and 12th deck, have never had a toilet problem....

 

 

I'm glad to hear that. Hopefully being on deck 11 will be a good thing.

[Va. Plumber]

As you might guess from my screen name, I am a plumbing contractor.

Have been for forty years. I have seen just about every way to wreck a toilet.

 

I admit I do not know much about the cruise ship vacuum systems, but assume they are way more intricate than your average residential or commercial one. In my world it's hot on the left, cold on the right and stuff goes downhill. Would really love a ship tour sometime about such things.

 

That being said, think of the Dawn as a 1140 room fraternity house (not counting public restrooms and spa) where it's always Saturday night. No matter how many posted notices, people will still try to flush a lot of crap

(figuratively speaking). Disposable diapers, sanitary products, great wads of T.P. and God knows what else.

 

Please, before I get roasted, I am in no way blaming the poor souls who have had problems. I am sure you all are model citizens, but you have no way of knowing what the previous tenant did or those upstream or downstream from your cabin. I am sure no one would own up to the dirty dead anyway.

 

I have sailed on the Dawn multiple times. First time, I used men's room near the Oriental restaurant. The lavatory was busted to pieces. Obviously, someone was angry over the gratuity plan. That was a long time before the recent increases. Hate to think what they would do now. On last Bermuda

cruise, tried to use men's room while awaiting suite disembarkation. Floor was flooded. An unhappy passenger probably got in one last shot before leaving.

[Barb Nahoumi]

We were on the Dawn last June. Our bathroom on deck 9 was fine, but there were a number of public Ladies Rooms which had Out of Order stalls. One had a broken sink.

 

Years ago on the Pride of Aloha, now the Sky, a kid flushed his toy down the toilet. This stopped up bathrooms everywhere, including public ones. Not a pleasant few hours, it took for the problem to be repaired.

 

As others have posted, it just takes one to plug up many.

[gcdogwalker]

We got home from the Dawn yesterday and had the same problem with the toilet almost every day. They did call us about it after we reported it and thought it had been repaired. Then it happened all over again and again and again all through our cruise and we kept reporting it until the cruise was over. Not a very nice way to remember our cruise to Bermuda!

[pokerpro5]

We got home from the Dawn yesterday and had the same problem with the toilet almost every day. They did call us about it after we reported it and thought it had been repaired. Then it happened all over again and again and again all through our cruise and we kept reporting it until the cruise was over. Not a very nice way to remember our cruise to Bermuda!

 

Can you please tell us which cabin you were in? If you don't remember, please just tell us the deck number.