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Question about Toilets


peajay84
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This is probably a strange question but are the toilets in the staterooms like normal toilets? Do they have water sitting in the bowl? Or are they like RV toilets where there is only a little bit of water in the bowl and more water runs through it when flushed?

 

Usually when we travel I bring essential oil to drip into the bowl for combating odors but this doesn't work in RV like toilets.

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There is water in the bowl, just like at home. As to the oil to combat odors, I would not recommend that as the cruise line advises against putting anything into the toilets beyond what's meant to be there. I am not familiar with that product and it could be totally harmless to use the oil but I would not myself.

Edited by joepeka
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It is very important for you and your fellow guests whose commodes are connected to the same sewage line as you that nothing other than the toilet tissue supplied for use in your bathroom be flushed into the system. It is a major issue and problem for many when unauthorized materials get into the system and cause the system to fail.

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If I could make a suggestion on EO's. I took a small diffuser on my Vista cruises and several EO blends. I explained to my room stewardess that it was a cool mist and no heating element. I never ran it when I was out of room.

 

The room always smelled great and she mentioned she just wanted to go lay in my room because it was like a spa. Also, all of my friends go that cold/bronchial cough thing, and I never got sick in the 33 days.

 

I don't think adding it to the water in the toilet would have any affect, since it always gets flushed. You could also bring some cotton balls and put a few drops on those and put on the shelves in the bathroom.

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The only time I noticed a smell was when we had many sea days in a row (due to missed port days) and they didn't have a chance to empty it out I assume. Once we were back at port it went away. The smell was only noticeable if the lid was left open, which we tried to avoid...and it was only noticeable in the bathroom. It was not overwhelming like a bus/airplane bathroom (ick)

 

 

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The only time I noticed a smell was when we had many sea days in a row (due to missed port days) and they didn't have a chance to empty it out I assume. Once we were back at port it went away. The smell was only noticeable if the lid was left open, which we tried to avoid...and it was only noticeable in the bathroom. It was not overwhelming like a bus/airplane bathroom (ick)

 

 

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That's good to know. Bought some hanging air fresheners to bring instead, just in case. Just not a fan of musty/moist smell, as well as the usual bathroom smells. :)

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The only time I noticed a smell was when we had many sea days in a row (due to missed port days) and they didn't have a chance to empty it out I assume. Once we were back at port it went away. The smell was only noticeable if the lid was left open, which we tried to avoid...and it was only noticeable in the bathroom. It was not overwhelming like a bus/airplane bathroom (ick)

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

Do they clean the system in port?? Or dump it?? I thought there was an onboard facility that cleaned the system. Maybe not

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Okay, time to clear up a few things.

 

Shipboard toilets use vacuum to suck the "product" from the bowl down to the treatment plant, not gravity like at home. Not "pressure assist". For this reason, there is a valve between the bowl and the piping system that only opens when you press the flush button. The bowl will have about 1 liter of water in it, and only uses about 1 liter per flush, significantly less than shore toilets, even "low flow" ones.

 

The ships do not "empty" the RV holding tank in port. The ships have an "advanced waste water treatment" plant that takes all of the waste water generated onboard (black water from toilets, gray water from sinks, showers, and deck drains, galley water, and laundry water) and treats it to near drinking water quality before being pumped back to the sea. They are not allowed to do this in many ports, but some allow this clean effluent to be discharged in port.

 

The most common "sewage" smell experienced on ships is not caused by the toilets, or the toilet systems, which are separate from all other drains, another dissimilarity to shore systems. All gray water drains have a "U-trap", just like under your sinks and showers and toilets at home, designed to trap a quantity of water in it to act as a barrier to smells returning up the pipes. What happens on ships is that traps that see frequent water flow down the drain (sinks and showers) have no problems with odors. However, drains that don't see much water frequently have the water evaporate due to the low humidity of the AC air on the ship, or through loss of water down the drain due to excessive motion of the ship (rough weather). Each cabin bathroom has a floor drain that is different from the shower drain. These drains are either a "gutter" type right inside the door, or a round drain usually on the floor under the toilet (tucked out of the way). A glass of water poured down these drains daily will typically keep any odors out of the cabin bathroom.

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Okay, time to clear up a few things.

 

Shipboard toilets use vacuum to suck the "product" from the bowl down to the treatment plant, not gravity like at home. Not "pressure assist". For this reason, there is a valve between the bowl and the piping system that only opens when you press the flush button. The bowl will have about 1 liter of water in it, and only uses about 1 liter per flush, significantly less than shore toilets, even "low flow" ones.

 

The ships do not "empty" the RV holding tank in port. The ships have an "advanced waste water treatment" plant that takes all of the waste water generated onboard (black water from toilets, gray water from sinks, showers, and deck drains, galley water, and laundry water) and treats it to near drinking water quality before being pumped back to the sea. They are not allowed to do this in many ports, but some allow this clean effluent to be discharged in port.

 

The most common "sewage" smell experienced on ships is not caused by the toilets, or the toilet systems, which are separate from all other drains, another dissimilarity to shore systems. All gray water drains have a "U-trap", just like under your sinks and showers and toilets at home, designed to trap a quantity of water in it to act as a barrier to smells returning up the pipes. What happens on ships is that traps that see frequent water flow down the drain (sinks and showers) have no problems with odors. However, drains that don't see much water frequently have the water evaporate due to the low humidity of the AC air on the ship, or through loss of water down the drain due to excessive motion of the ship (rough weather). Each cabin bathroom has a floor drain that is different from the shower drain. These drains are either a "gutter" type right inside the door, or a round drain usually on the floor under the toilet (tucked out of the way). A glass of water poured down these drains daily will typically keep any odors out of the cabin bathroom.

 

Thanks for the straight poop! (Sorry, couldn't resist:o).

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Thanks for the, as usual, sound technical information Chief.

 

As far as odors go, it's your odor in the bathroom, and it goes away quickly. As to germs/bacteria, etc., they are mostly from you too! :eek: And the cabin stewards clean them up daily. Probably more germs in your own bathroom and kitchen than in a ship cabin. As far as the cabin fragrance, some of that stuff is sneeze inducing and worse than B.O. smells. But it's your cabin and if you want it to smell like the stuff the car wash sprays inside your car or walking past the cosmetic department in in a store, that's your choice. :p

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Do they clean the system in port?? Or dump it?? I thought there was an onboard facility that cleaned the system. Maybe not

 

 

No idea, all I know is that it smelled up until we got to Fort Lauderdale and then it went away for the second part of our trip. I do know that they hook up to municipal water in port. Maybe that has something to do with how the system treatment works. This was the first trip where we have noticed a smell

 

 

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The room always smelled great and she mentioned she just wanted to go lay in my room because it was like a spa. Also, all of my friends go that cold/bronchial cough thing, and I never got sick in the 33 days.

 

 

What is your favorite EO diffuser blend?

 

I have a USB diffuser I was considering bringing just to have that calming, spa-like scent in the cabin that I'm used to at home.

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