Check your room cleanliness and press the issue

[grapau27]

Thank you for this information. You obviously are knowledgeable and as a former chief engineer on a ship, we appreciate your opinions.

 

 

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I agree wholeheartedly,Chengs post's are always very informative.

 

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[NateUpNorth]

It’s not my position to try to circumvent the equipment on the ship. What really disappointed me was that the guest services manager and hotel director had no interest in seeing anything with their own two eyes

 

 

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This is the truly disappointing part.

It reeks of a thought process that just doesn't care because "passenger here today, gone tomorrow" attitude.

[broberts]

The reality of this situation is every room on every cruise ship this exact same thing will be found.

 

Further, the exact same thing will be found in your own home. Every home, I don't care how well you think you keep your house clean. The difference is in your house it is all your hair and dead skin.

....

 

If "every room on every cruise ship" has an air filter as filthy as the one pictured in this thread, then I guess I have to stop cruising.

 

I have not generally seen the pictured level of accumulated dirt in cabins. To suggest this is the norm makes me wonder if there is a marching band with baton twirlers in the background.

 

No. The air filter in my home gets nowhere near as caked with gunk as the one pictured in this thread. Likely because it gets replaced regularly.

[maryann2]

Thank you OP for bringing this to our attention. Will definitely be checking the air filter.

[Biker19]

Navigator 9656

Did Miguel take care of that room as well?

 

Biker, who was almost across from this cabin on the current TA and didn't notice any of this but didn't go looking for it either.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

It was NOT just the filter. That is just part of it. This is the fault of the hotel director and maintenance staff. I do not fault the room attendant as they are there to make beds and replace towels and empty trash bins. This is beyond that. Will post more tomorrow

 

 

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They just do not care....

 

Thinking.. Shut up and leave some money... 🙄

[LMaxwell]

Did Miguel take care of that room as well?

 

 

 

Biker, who was almost across from this cabin on the current TA and didn't notice any of this but didn't go looking for it either.

 

 

 

No diff person

 

 

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[grapau27]

This is the truly disappointing part.

It reeks of a thought process that just doesn't care because "passenger here today, gone tomorrow" attitude.

You make a good point.

 

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[ryano]

 

Further, the exact same thing will be found in your own home.

 

Further is right. You couldnt be FURTHER from the truth. I have a Aprilaire system in my home that uses a 16X25X4" 12 month filter. Even after 12 months it doenst look anywhere NEAR this dirty! I would be willing to bet that air filter hasnt been changed in at least a year, maybe even longer. In fact, I have never seen a air filter this dirty before. This is a complete failure of the maintenance dept on this ship and there is absolutely NO excuse you can come up with that would change my mind.

[CruisingNole]

Thank you OP for bringing this to our attention. Will definitely be checking the air filter.

 

And if it's dirty, what will you do? Request a new one? And then what? Your curiosity will get the best of you. Will you inspect the rest of every detail in the room? What if you find ABC or XYZ? You've just opened Pandora's Box and you're asking for a lousy vacation.

 

I am by no means saying this uncleanliness is acceptable, it's not, it's disgusting. But if you look hard enough, no matter where you are, you're going to find SOMETHING that's going to creep you out.

[grapau27]

And if it's dirty, what will you do? Request a new one? And then what? Your curiosity will get the best of you. Will you inspect the rest of every detail in the room? What if you find ABC or XYZ? You've just opened Pandora's Box and you're asking for a lousy vacation.

 

I am by no means saying this uncleanliness is acceptable, it's not, it's disgusting. But if you look hard enough, no matter where you are, you're going to find SOMETHING that's going to creep you out.

Why are nearly all CS men?

We had a Chinese lady CS on Harmony and she moved the bed and hoovered underneath and the room was immaculate.

 

 

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[Aquahound]

Further is right. You couldnt be FURTHER from the truth.

 

I agree. My air filters have never looked that bad.

 

Although according to those pictures, they are in the floor in the staterooms. I would imagine they dirty a lot faster in that location. Mine are in my ceiling.

[molly361]

Luckily we don't cruise for a few more months so hopefully this thread will be a distant memory. Ignorance is bliss

 

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[LMaxwell]

I agree. My air filters have never looked that bad.

 

Although according to those pictures, they are in the floor in the staterooms. I would imagine they dirty a lot faster in that location. Mine are in my ceiling.

 

The air filter was slightly above eye level; I'd say between 6-7 feet off ground (near ceiling)

[Aquahound]

The air filter was slightly above eye level; I'd say between 6-7 feet off ground (near ceiling)

 

My bad. Sorry. When I first saw that picture, I thought I saw carpet around it.

[lovesthebeach2]

OMG! That is filthy.

 

 

I wiped these down with Clorox wipes the minute I entered the cabin. Plus anything I can touch I wiped and sprayed, including the pillows and under the covers, every surface of the closet, the return, hangers, you name it. House keeping doesn't care, so I just do it myself. I'd rather be holding a fru fru umbrella drink in my hand when I enter my cabin, but Clorox wipe it is.

 

I do exactly the same. I wipe everything I can, but never thought to check the air filter!!

[lakelorain]

We had a similar experience on a Celebrity ship. Filthy air filter and filthy vents.

Stained and torn drapes(some tears over 2 feet long).

Stained sheets and towels.

Hair and dirt on the baseboards and in closet.

Carpet in cabin and in hallway torn. People were tripping in the halls.

Stained furniture in public areas.

Talked to cabin steward and his supervisor, went to guest services, talked to Hotel Director. Nothing was done. Not even an apology.

Cleanest ship I've ever been on was MSC.

[Blauelini]

While I don't condone the condition of the air filter, and I won't comment on cabin cleanliness, I'll point out a couple of things.

 

Cabin maintenance is not done strictly on turn-around day. Those air filters are, in my experience, changed every 3 months, and maintenance still could not do 1/4 of the cabins on virtually any size ship in the turn-around time, working around the cabin steward. These filters can and are changed during the cruise, maintenance will enter your cabin whenever you are not there (most commonly during port calls, when pax count is low). Shaking out the filter is not acceptable, and that filter did need renewing. While OP states he is unconvinced that other cabins are any cleaner than his, and I cannot say one way or another unless I was onboard and inspected the cabins, there is also no reason to think that the other cabins are not cleaner. The original failure to renew the filter in a timely fashion could be simply a recordkeeping failure, where a cabin is missed amongst the thousands, but not renewing it when identified is not acceptable.

 

As I've stated on many threads, the yellow to red/brown water that sometimes shows up in sinks is caused by chlorine and calcium carbonate scale in the pipes. These two chemicals, which are the only things added to ship's water, and are used to sanitize the water (chlorine) and control the pH (calcium carbonate, the active ingredient in Tums, to keep the water pH in the proper range for the chlorine to work properly) routinely form a scale on the inside of the piping system. As long as the system is filled with water, this scale stays in place. When the piping is drained for repair, this scale dries out and flakes off. Because the water in the ship's water mains are constantly circulating (unlike the underground pipes on land), this scale tends to circulate out quickly when the pipes are refilled and water service restored. However, the short pipe runs from the mains that run down the hallway, to each cabin's bathroom are static until you open the tap, so the scale tends to accumulate here. Running the water for a minute or two typically clears the water. There is nothing hazardous about this scale, as it is either chlorine carbonate or calcium carbonate.

 

As to the condensation pans in the air coolers, these are required to have sanitizing pads in them to prevent the growth of bacteria and viruses like legionella.

 

As for the question about changing the air filter when a cabin is deep cleaned for noro, noro is not an aerosol virus, it is contracted by ingestion, and the transmission vector is by touch on surfaces.

Nice having facts. Your post is very much appreciated. Thank you! Unless evidence suggests otherwise I am chalking up the dirty filter to an oversight. The way the staff handled it was terrible though.

 

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[nekocrouton]

When I sailed on the Navigator back in 2015, about halfway through the cruise my allergies started acting up something fierce. I haven't had that happen on any cruises previous to or after the Navigator so far. But after seeing this thread, I'm not surprised now. :confused:

[whitshel]

This thread and this post has really put me off travelling / cruising. I am not even a clean freak but given the perceived attention to cleaning on ships, the revelations on this thread are troubling. My local gym pays really close attention to cleaning. I have never seen the same attention to gym / sauna on a cruise ship and this thread goes some way to explain why.

 

BTW airlines have short turnaround times but they still make an effort to refresh the plane between flights. No reason why an army of ground crew can't do maintenance during turnaround window. If 500 filters are replaced on each turnaround then there wouldn't be a problem. However, I bet that doesn't happen. Raises the question, when exactly are filters replaced? When a guest complains?

 

Haha, not so fast, we have a friend who is flight attendant and he says never use the the little pillows or blankets they give you, they just repackage them and give them to the next person. Nice!!!

[furloughedagain]

I work for an airline and the airplane is vacuumed once a day... and yet people walk to the lav without shoes on. (Hint: that is NOT water on the floor) The tray tables are cleaned MAYBE once a day, and yet people eat from them. (Hint: people change baby diapers on them. Sometimes rest bare feet there too.)

 

The airlines are not a good example for cleanliness during quick turns. [emoji51]

 

 

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[Beachammo]

We always wipe down the room with hydrogen peroxide wipes when we enter the room and check the filters. I've only had two instances where we had to request that the filter be changed. On our independence cruise.....they stated they didn't have any filters available. So they removed the filter and just left it free flowing.

 

Not sure if it is our "procedure" on day one or just lucky......but we've never gotten sick on a cruise.

 

Now airplanes are a different story. Seem to always catch a bug coming home from Europe. Told my DW we need to carry a few wipes on the plane too.

 

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[sgmn]

Did Miguel take care of that room as well?

 

Biker, who was almost across from this cabin on the current TA and didn't notice any of this but didn't go looking for it either.

also just got home from the NavigatorTA - luckily I didn't see this thread before we left ! Didn't notice anything but also wasn't looking (will do next time !) but our air conditioning wasn't working properly. Didn't bother to report it as it was a fairly cool crossing but maybe it was because the filters weren't cleaned out properly?

[Biker19]

. Didn't bother to report it as it was a fairly cool crossing but maybe it was because the filters weren't cleaned out properly?

 

Unlikely, and you should have reported it.

[Cruisin'Kim]

We will to and if it isn't decent then we will have it replaced. I guess the passengers will be the ones having to remind RC that they need to do a better cleaning job. I have read about some cough that people get while on the cruise that can last for a couple of weeks. They have a name for it, but I don't remember what is. I wonder if this can some how be related? I ended up with a cough that lasted a couple of weeks from our last cruise in March. I got a cold on the second to the last day so that is what I attributed it to. I have never had a cough from a cold like that and I almost went to the doctor, but it slowly started to go away so I didn't bother. We will 100% be checking the filters from now on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start a second account. :)

 

 

 

Our cruise on Oasis last January I woke up in the middle of the night right in the middle of the cruise with a bad cough - was so ill I was in bed the next night at 7:30 - on my cruise![emoji15] cough lasted about 2months. By the last day my DH had the cough as well.

 

 

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