Problems on Star Princess

[tgomfe]

While sailing south out of Whittier on the Star Princess (8/19-26), we were in D514 and experienced problems with our toilet not flushing on the first night. I called the desk and they said they would take care of it. Soon, I noticed a workman in the hallway working inside the wall on the opposite side from our room, and also making trips inside of that room. A bit later, our toilet flushed on it's own, and continued to work later into the night. The next morning, same problem, and was fixed a bit later after another call to the desk. This continued daily through the entire week. At one time, our steward said someone had put something into their toilet that messes up the system, and someone else said much of the Dolphin deck was experiencing similar problems. Obviously, they were having a major problem. On the last day before disembarking, we received a call in our stateroom that Princess was terribly sorry for the inconvenience, and that they were crediting our shipboard account $150. A small price for them to pay for such a disgusting inconvenience. I can see why the Star is heading to drydock later this year.....and my sympathies to all those passengers in between!!

[CruiserBruce]

If you look around the boards, you will see many stories like this...it is far from rare. Too many people put the wrong stuff down their toilets.

 

The OBC was fairly generous. The fix may, or may not have anything to do with the drydock, or the need for drydock.

[paul929207]

I think $150 is reasonable.

 

You say that is a small amount for them to pay as compensation. What would you have thought was a reasonable amount?

[easyboy]

I also experienced once a similar plumbing problem in one of our cruises. Maintenance did the work from the hallway at the back of the toilet. Don't recall how long it took but was fixed by the time we returned from dinner. I guess fixing depends on the gravity of the problem.

 

 

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[MTJSR]

On the last day before disembarking, we received a call in our stateroom that Princess was terribly sorry for the inconvenience, and that they were crediting our shipboard account $150.

 

Wow you did better than we did. While on the Grand Princess our neighbors flooded their entire cabin including ours. We lived with fans and wet carpet for 3 days and got a 100 credit only after being forced to complain twice that the fans weren't really drying our cabin.

[USNUZULOOSE]

I would not have expected anything. They were taking care of the problem as it came up. Hope you still had a great cruise.

[Thrak]

People insist on flushing their adult diapers, baby wipes, etc. The system can't handle it and it causes problems for entire banks of cabins.

[LarryL]

People insist on flushing their adult diapers, baby wipes, etc. The system can't handle it and it causes problems for entire banks of cabins.

 

 

I agree 100%. No disposables products, of any kind should be flushed down those toilets. Many septic systems can't even handle them. If people would, simply, carry Ziploc of similar type sealable bags to put them in, they could help with curing those ship clogging issues. They're easier thrown out in the trash.

[Thrak]

I agree 100%. No disposables products, of any kind should be flushed down those toilets. Many septic systems can't even handle them. If people would, simply, carry Ziploc of similar type sealable bags to put them in, they could help with curing those ship clogging issues. They're easier thrown out in the trash.

 

I get the feeling that some are embarrassed by using these products and try to "hide" it by flushing them. Of course the steward sees the package of product in the cabin. I think it might help if Princess provided an opaque, sealable bag specifically for this type of product disposal. Most would have no need of the bag so it wouldn't be a huge cost but, when needed, it could save a lot of trouble with the toilet system.

[princess09]

Time for Princess to post very strong, explicit warning signs by the toilets or even on the outside of the bathroom door. I know it won't completely stop people but might help some at least.

[ggprincess2004]

That was actually pretty nice of Princess, to provide OBC for the inconvenience. One passenger, putting anything but the ship supplied TP into the system can clog and entire area of the ship's plumbing, causing problems for all the cabins in that vicinity. And apparently they kept doing it for the duration of the cruise. That was unfortunate.

[jasbo49]

I'll join those who say $150 is pretty generous. We once survived almost an entire week of a non-functioning cabin toilet on NCL. After a dozen or so visits and calls for help, they finally comped us a specialty dinner. So $150 sounds pretty good to me.

 

Jim

[Thrak]

That was actually pretty nice of Princess, to provide OBC for the inconvenience. One passenger, putting anything but the ship supplied TP into the system can clog and entire area of the ship's plumbing, causing problems for all the cabins in that vicinity. And apparently they kept doing it for the duration of the cruise. That was unfortunate.

 

One time - verified - should result in a warning. The second time - verified - should result in a very stern warning about the possibility of being put off the ship in the next port. There is no reason for others to suffer due to the pigheadedness of passengers in one cabin. The steward should not be the one who has to give the warning. It should be done by an officer.

[klfhngr]

'Only' $150?! We were diverted up north during the Swine Flu cruise and only got free Bloody Mary's and Mimosas for an hour! I think $150 is quite generous!

[chengkp75]

For the OP, there will be little to nothing done on the vacuum system during drydock. This is an operational problem, and as others have noted it is caused by flushing improper objects down the toilets. There is really no cure for it that a drydock would help.

 

As for signage, I really don't believe that would help. We have fished baby/make-up wipes, paper towels, underwear, wash cloths, hand towels, dinner napkins, swimwear, other articles of clothing, crack pipes, coke spoons, and even 9mm ammunition out of the toilets. One charter cruise we were kept busy getting BBQ rib bones out of the pipes.

 

The problem is, that unless the blockage happens right at the cabin, while it is possible to identify the group of cabins where the problem came from, it is almost impossible to zero in on one cabin. I had a group of 6 pax cabins that were without toilets for 3 days because one of them flushed a bikini down the hopper. I took the, cleaned, offending article in a baggie, and had a face to face with all occupants of the six cabins. Let's just say that there was a lot of "stink eye" between those guests for the rest of the week, and not one problem with the toilets in their area.

[Thrak]

For the OP, there will be little to nothing done on the vacuum system during drydock. This is an operational problem, and as others have noted it is caused by flushing improper objects down the toilets. There is really no cure for it that a drydock would help.

 

As for signage, I really don't believe that would help. We have fished baby/make-up wipes, paper towels, underwear, wash cloths, hand towels, dinner napkins, swimwear, other articles of clothing, crack pipes, coke spoons, and even 9mm ammunition out of the toilets. One charter cruise we were kept busy getting BBQ rib bones out of the pipes.

 

The problem is, that unless the blockage happens right at the cabin, while it is possible to identify the group of cabins where the problem came from, it is almost impossible to zero in on one cabin. I had a group of 6 pax cabins that were without toilets for 3 days because one of them flushed a bikini down the hopper. I took the, cleaned, offending article in a baggie, and had a face to face with all occupants of the six cabins. Let's just say that there was a lot of "stink eye" between those guests for the rest of the week, and not one problem with the toilets in their area.

 

I love it! That's the sort of direct action that can work. Sadly it's rarely the case that one can do that but I'm thrilled to see that it was done on at least one occasion. Thanks!

[Astro Flyer]

A more appropriate title for this thread would have been:

 

Problems with Passengers :rolleyes:

 

That's great Chief & coming from the Chief Engineer there wasn't anything they could say like they might have said to a cabin attendant. Assuming something could be done in a shipyard maintenance makes no sense because nothing could cure the real problem...passengers who flush the wrong things! :eek:

 

Thankfully we've never been affected by the actions of careless passengers but the $150 credit is more than is routinely posted for such toilet problems.

 

On a recent cruise there was a paper notification sign about toilet usage in the bathroom in addition to the mounted warning sign.

[elliair]

People insist on flushing their adult diapers, baby wipes, etc. The system can't handle it and it causes problems for entire banks of cabins.

 

There's a video on youtube of some characters flushing bagels down the toilet on a ship. They were showing how powerful the flush was and thought it was a big joke. We have a casino in town here who took out the paper towel dispensers in the bathrooms due to people flushing them down the toilet and clogging it. It only takes a couple of people to ruin it for many.

[west coast cruiser]

I would not have expected anything. They were taking care of the problem as it came up. Hope you still had a great cruise.

(y)(y)

[chengkp75]

I love it! That's the sort of direct action that can work. Sadly it's rarely the case that one can do that but I'm thrilled to see that it was done on at least one occasion. Thanks!

 

Let's just say that I didn't fit the conventional mold for a Staff Chief (way behind the scenes and rarely seen), and that if corporate had heard about it, my career would probably have been shortened. I used to spend the entire turn-around day walking the decks, checking cabin corridors and public spaces to see if there was anything I could do for the guests, and also checking the back of the house for problems in galley/laundry, and dispatching my repairmen as needed. The Norwegian engineers thought I was nuts.

[antsp]

There's a video on youtube of some characters flushing bagels down the toilet on a ship. They were showing how powerful the flush was and thought it was a big joke. We have a casino in town here who took out the paper towel dispensers in the bathrooms due to people flushing them down the toilet and clogging it. It only takes a couple of people to ruin it for many.

 

Flushing bagels down a toilet shouldn't bloke the system, not saying it right to do it. I'm sure the pastry/dough would break down in the system.

[CruiserBruce]

Flushing bagels down a toilet shouldn't bloke the system, not saying it right to do it. I'm sure the pastry/dough would break down in the system.

 

Yes, they will likely break down in the system...but probably slowly, creating a clog.

[elliair]

Yes, they will likely break down in the system...but probably slowly, creating a clog.

 

It wasn't just one bagel, they flushed several down it! I'll see if I can find the video.

 

Oh my! I went to google, typed in "youtube flushing bagels down a cruise ship toilet." More than a bagel, try socks, croissants, on and on! It's there if you want to see all the garbage people flush down the toilet.

[chengkp75]

Flushing bagels down a toilet shouldn't bloke the system, not saying it right to do it. I'm sure the pastry/dough would break down in the system.

 

Yes, flushing bagels down the toilet will clog the system. While the bagels may break down eventually, in the mean time, there has been an accumulation of other "products" upstream of the bagel and this will continue the blockage. Also, just having a temporary blockage of the pipe from the bagel will eliminate all vacuum in the pipes upstream of the bagel, so all the toilets upstream will not work. Bread tends to swell when wet.

 

Quick anecdote. Old oil field welder's trick. When you can't get a valve in a water line to seal completely, and you need the pipe dry to weld on it, take an unsliced loaf of bread and jam it in the pipe. The bread will soak up the water and keep the welding area dry, and when the welding is complete, the bread will break down and flow away.

[jefa]

I live in the Canary Islands, and nothing, except what comes out of my body goes into my toilet pan. Not even toilet paper. Everything goes in the bin beside the toilet. Restaurants and bars on the island have notices up asking people to use the bins in the toilets, but tourists don't seem to be able to read;p Hence toilets get blocked up frequently. In 25 years of living here my loo has never blocked, nor have I had to empty my cesspit. Because I am in the habit of putting paper in the bin, when I am on a cruise I do the same, but feel embarrassed as there are no bags to use, except for the sanitary towel bags, and I get through an awful lot of those!