Foul Smell in Parts of Carnival Ecstasy

[adamt]

We cruised the Liberty a few years ago. My inlaws were in an Aft Cabin and there was an extremely strong chemical smell in the back of the ship. We were told that they were painting. It made sense, and was gone in 24hrs, but it was really really strong. Not sure if this could be what you're describing, but I thought the OP's original post was very well written. No need to discredit.

[SeeBurd]

We sailed the Ecstasy a few years ago and had a similar smell in the rear of the ship. It smelled like an RV toilet and likely for the same reason. Its an old ship and likely harder to keep sewage system clean.

 

I can go back further than that. she had that port o potty smell in certain areas of the ship when she was relatively new in the early 90's. And it was always in the same places. Other than that, we loved the overboard decor of the ship.

[SeeBurd]

Ever hear of the infamous Carnival Dream sewage smell that plagued its inaugural year... and then some?

 

Yeah. I laughed every time that NEW SHIP SMELL Catnival commercial came on at the time. I wish I could teach myself how to cut and paste links on an iPhone 6s.

[chengkp75]

Thanks for the responses everyone! Yes, I don't take things too seriously or personally. You guys on here found my error and ran with it so no harm done lol :D.

 

It was my first cruise and I will say that my friend noticed it as well. Based on the responses here it doesn't seem to be serious. It was definitely not me though lol. I do have a sensitive nose as well as my friend so that's probably why it stood out to us.

 

So far I think the likely sources or causes are the ship being old and/or the laundry detergent as mentioned by CruiseGal (thanks for the very interesting perspective). I think the laundry detergent is an interesting theory as it would explain why the smell was around the food areas and why I smelled it on my hot dog (I did unroll the silverware to use the cloth before eating it). Every time I ate throughout the cruise I touched the cloth napkin so it makes sense that I could have been picking up that smell the whole time. At the front and rear of the Wind Star they have these large golden curtains and there is a positive air pressure so they are blown outward and there is a bit of wind. If these curtains are washed with the same detergent then their scent could be caught in the draft which would explain why we smelled it mainly on the outside and not so much once inside and seated. I didn't smell it on the bedsheets and didn't remember it on the towels in the cabin so perhaps they use a different detergent or stronger dose on items originating from the dinning areas.

 

My question to you is, was there any GI illness (noro) on your cruise or the one before? What you are describing sounds to me like Virkon, the agent used to fog the public spaces, and which will provide virus killing to both hard and soft surfaces when fogged.

 

The "sewer" smells that most people find on ships generally smells like when your Uncle Bob does his best "Blazing Saddles" imitation, or the dog has left you a present in the living room when you've been out of town for a couple days. (Not that I've experienced either first hand :rolleyes:) Generally this is localized, and is caused by the air conditioning drying out the U-traps in "gray water" drains (sinks, showers, deck drains, galleys, but not toilets), allowing the smell to come back up, just like the sink traps at home. Most common is the smell in a single cabin, and this is caused by the floor drain in the bath (not the shower drain), which doesn't see much water flow to replenish the trap. A glass of water down this drain daily takes care of any smell there.

[near the beach]

Frequently passengers will place things in the toilets that should not go in there. As per the post on the walls in the bath rooms. It will cause a backup of the swage and may cause an odor.

[SeeBurd]

My question to you is, was there any GI illness (noro) on your cruise or the one before? What you are describing sounds to me like Virkon, the agent used to fog the public spaces, and which will provide virus killing to both hard and soft surfaces when fogged.

 

The "sewer" smells that most people find on ships generally smells like when your Uncle Bob does his best "Blazing Saddles" imitation, or the dog has left you a present in the living room when you've been out of town for a couple days. (Not that I've experienced either first hand :rolleyes:) Generally this is localized, and is caused by the air conditioning drying out the U-traps in "gray water" drains (sinks, showers, deck drains, galleys, but not toilets), allowing the smell to come back up, just like the sink traps at home. Most common is the smell in a single cabin, and this is caused by the floor drain in the bath (not the shower drain), which doesn't see much water flow to replenish the trap. A glass of water down this drain daily takes care of any smell there.

 

I dis stink ly remember this is the first ship i cruised where the steward regularly closed the drain to the sink. Made me wonder if there were traps. But I quickly learned it was being done for a reason.

[chengkp75]

Frequently passengers will place things in the toilets that should not go in there. As per the post on the walls in the bath rooms. It will cause a backup of the swage and may cause an odor.

 

While toilet blockages are frequent, with attendant loss of vacuum, backing up is not that common (though a stinker left in the bowl is common), and generally the lines are not opened for roto-rooting in guest areas, so the smell from the repair is minimized.

[pink roses]

I have a very strong sense of smell also. I have smelled a sewer type smell at times in certain areas of older ships and the chemical smell you are speaking of on the Conquest on the sheets and certain areas of the ship.