Check your room cleanliness and press the issue

[Hoopster95]

This is absolutely the result of cost cutting and management stretching resources and maintenance.

 

It is so very sad to see RCL continuing to strive to become (or already is) a bottom feeder cheap cruise line.

Thanks for reporting this LMaxwell.

[reallyitsmema]

If an air filter is clogged the air will take the path of the least resistance which would be AROUND the filter. Therefore not all of the air is being filtered.

 

 

 

Ha ha ha, good idea. :D You are probably right. Channel 10 does the Dirty Dining reports which gets alot of attention. Would love to see RC comment about this on the news.

 

It is posted twice on a different social media site. The Royal Caribbean rep is active on other posts but seems to be skipping the posts concerning the dust.

[KasinoCrazy]

My next cruise is in September on Oasis. I will be sure to investigate this. But i won’t take pictures if i see something similar, I’ll be hand carrying my air filter down to a Guest Services for all the guests to see.

We are on the OASIS in January. My daughter has grown up with terrible allergies/asthma. We have never vacationed because of her illness. It appears now that she has possibly maybe somewhat outgrown them ~fingers crossed~. So we decided to finally take a vacation, so a cruise it is. Now after reading this post I am a bundle of nerves already. My TA told me last month when we booked that she would have them do a deep clean of the room before we arrive. Usually if we have to stay away from home we take an air mattress and our own bedding for her along with a air purifier and essential oils. We plan on taking a zippered mattress protector to encase the mattress on the ship that she will be sleeping on. I'm thinking I will take her own bedding as well. I don't know if I can carry a air purifier on board or if it will be needed. We are in an aquatheater suite on deck 8. This post really concerns me now :(

[emdia43]

It is posted twice on a different social media site. The Royal Caribbean rep is active on other posts but seems to be skipping the posts concerning the dust.

I can't find it ...:confused:

[SeaHunt]

OP thanks for posting about this. It makes me think of the hotel inspector guy on TV (Hotel Impossible) and the grungy hotel rooms he reports on. Ugh.

 

We sailed with friends on our last Oasis cruise and had two CL rooms. My husband and I had previously sailed in them, but our friends in the adjacent stateroom hadn't. When the rooms were ready we dropped our carry on in our room and went next door anticipating what our friends thought of their beautiful room. I fully expected to hear a big "Wow!", but instead the very first thing they said to me was "Did you see how dusty that table is? We can sign our names in the dust" (and then they did)! No wonder if the room filter was anything like yours LOL.

[DrD]

I wish I didn't know about this but too late.

 

Luckily I should be ok on my upcoming, the Symphony is brand new.

[emm126]

To OP- I find it very strange that RC cut the travel agent out of this situation, that is kind of unheard of. If it were me, I would have my agent fight for me. Depending on the agency, they have hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in RC bookings backing them up. I had an issue on another cruise line a couple of years ago (not as gross as yours-lol) I was getting no where. When my TA stepped in I got the refund I thought was fair and what I was asking for. You are not asking for a refund, you are stating I will continue to book with RC however something unacceptable happened and they need to fix it. It's customer service 101 to me. Good luck!

[LMaxwell]

OP...mind telling us what cabin this was...or at least the general location ?

 

 

 

Navigator 9656

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

My next cruise is in September on Oasis. I will be sure to investigate this. But i won’t take pictures if i see something similar, I’ll be hand carrying my air filter down to a Guest Services for all the guests to see.

 

 

 

That’s what I did after they reinstalled the dirty one; plunked it down in the GS desk

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

It is posted twice on a different social media site. The Royal Caribbean rep is active on other posts but seems to be skipping the posts concerning the dust.

 

 

 

I haven’t posted this anywhere but this thread and sent in email to RCI and my TA; no social media

 

 

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[ARandomTraveler]

As OP stated in his original post "The second photo shows the same filter after ship personnel banged it out and reinstalled the spent filter" so the maintenance person put the old filter back in after a rudimentary cleaning.

 

 

 

Oh I missed that, thanks. Oh my god!!! I can’t believe they did that.

 

 

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[trapeze5]

I have experience with the hospitality industry. Quite a bit of experience, actually, and with a major and upscale worldwide hospitality management company.

 

One of the axioms of the industry (and I'm sure that this applies to the cruise part of the industry) is that "the customer will not pay for something that they can not see." They count on the vast majority of their customers not looking very closely at a great number of things.

 

Now...that said, it is probably impossible to properly maintain a multi-thousand room ship which is almost always sold out and has a turnaround time measured in only a few hours between disembarkation and embarkation. In a typical hotel the number of days per year with 100% occupancy can be counted on the fingers of two hands. Most days for a VERY busy hotel will have an occupancy rate in the low to mid 80% range. This gives the staff an opportunity to schedule and perform proper maintenance (by hotel engineering staff) and deep cleaning (by housekeeping staff). Proper maintenance is performed quarterly at a minimum. Deep cleaning is performed semi-annually to quarterly at a minimum. These numbers apply to hotels with 1500+ guest rooms.

 

Maintenance of a guest room includes work on televisions, carpet, paint, plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures and heating/cooling system, etc. Deep cleaning involves rotating (and sometimes replacing) mattresses, shampoo or steam cleaning carpets, total clean of all wall surfaces, total clean of curtains, etc.

 

These things can simply not be done during the turnaround time that a ship is in port. Not for a few rooms and certainly not for the entire ship. Is this acceptable? Well, no...no it's not. But the reality is that you just cannot physically deal with a multi-thousand room property in the few hours per week that the rooms aren't occupied. Another reality is that the economics of paying for the ship involve it being in constant service week after week after week. Shutting it down for, say, a week to perform proper maintenance and a deep clean of all rooms MIGHT be something that could be done once a year...maybe even twice a year...and maybe this is done...don't know since I haven't researched the ship schedules for an entire year. But again, the economic reality is if the ship isn't sailing with paying customers nearly every day of the year it is losing money.

 

So...they wing it the best they can with the resources that they have. Doesn't make a dirty room right. Doesn't make it acceptable. But no one is going to get fired for most of these cleanliness atrocities because the reality is that almost no one could do a better job given the laws of time and space involved with a cruise ship schedule.

 

By the way, there is no penalty in energy for a dirty filter. There would be a penalty with an individual self contained heating/cooling system but that won't be what's in play for a facility of this size. Very large facilities typically use hydronic heating and cooling systems (i.e. hot water and chilled water fan coil units). They count on the room blower motors running nearly 24/7 and a plugged air filter actually causes the ship's central system to use less energy rather than more. The only energy penalty is to the room occupant who doesn't get the heating or cooling that they deserve due to low air flow over the hydronic coil. And yes, it is true that a dirty filter actually filters better than a clean one but only up to the point where air is forced to take the path of least resistance around the filter media. Of course, at that point there wouldn't be much air movement and the room occupant will suffer with a lack of heating or cooling.

 

One of the more serious concerns with any forced air system that isn't properly maintained is the opportunity for biological activity in the cooling coil's condensation drain pan. If there is sufficient condensation (and there always will be in a cooling coil in a humid environment) you could potentially be exposed to some really nasty pathogens that like to grow in a dark and moist environment...legionella is the one that comes to mind first. So, for me...that is a far greater concern than a dirty air filter...at least from an overall health standpoint. Fortunately, most people have a strong enough Immune system and are not susceptible to exposure. It also helps that on a ship there is ample opportunity to be exposed to fresh air. In any event, even with what I have described, a person is far more likely to become ill from something they come into contact with on a shore excursion than something onboard.

 

I'm going to be embarking on Liberty in a few days and I will most definitely do a close inspection of my room. I check every hotel room I stay in...occupational habit.

[SRF]

If an air filter is clogged the air will take the path of the least resistance which would be AROUND the filter. Therefore not all of the air is being filtered.

 

Yes, there is some point where it flow no air. But very little will flow around the filter. As it get more clogged, the suction from the HVAC system makes the edges seal better.

 

At least until the filter is physically pulled out of position.

 

But the point is, YOU cannot look a a filter and decide that it is working properly or not. And just having a layer of dsut and debris does not make the filter unclean or unsafe.

[LMaxwell]

Yes, there is some point where it flow no air. But very little will flow around the filter. As it get more clogged, the suction from the HVAC system makes the edges seal better.

 

 

 

At least until the filter is physically pulled out of position.

 

 

 

But the point is, YOU cannot look a a filter and decide that it is working properly or not. And just having a layer of dsut and debris does not make the filter unclean or unsafe.

 

 

 

You can’t tell the service life of that filter had passed by looking? On the ship they told me the filter was 4 weeks old which I do not believe. If a filter looks like that at 4 weeks old there is a bigger environmental problem

 

 

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[ARandomTraveler]

If a filter looks like that at 4 weeks old there is a bigger environmental problem

 

 

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Agreed. I change my air filter every 3 months at home and it looks nowhere near that dirty.

 

 

 

 

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[cello56]

We were on Serenade April of 2016. It was formal night. DH had already gotten ready, and was waiting for me down in the Centrum. I hopped in the shower and then brushed my teeth. This is what kind of water I had washed and brushed with. I grabbed my phone and took a photo.

 

 

I got dressed and headed to Guest Services to complain about the disgusting water in my cabin, and to find out if I had been exposed to something bad. The GS person was absolutely rude and condescending to me. Brushed it off as the ship changing water tanks. End of story. I'm sorry, but what? No apology. Nothing.

[davekathy]

We were on Serenade April of 2016. It was formal night. DH had already gotten ready, and was waiting for me down in the Centrum. I hopped in the shower and then brushed my teeth. This is what kind of water I had washed and brushed with. I grabbed my phone and took a photo.

 

 

I got dressed and headed to Guest Services to complain about the disgusting water in my cabin, and to find out if I had been exposed to something bad. The GS person was absolutely rude and condescending to me. Brushed it off as the ship changing water tanks. End of story. I'm sorry, but what? No apology. Nothing.

That's when you elevate your complaint/concern up the chain of command as LMaxwell did. No way to spend a vacation discussing problems/issues but sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[cello56]

That's when you elevate your complaint/concern up the chain of command as LMaxwell did. No way to spend a vacation discussing problems/issues but sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

I asked to speak with the person in charge at GS. The guy looked down his snooty nose at me and said "I AM the person in charge." I also included this info in my post cruise survey and gave them my name and phone number. NOTHING was done. You are right though, I should have complained up the 'ladder.'

[ObstructedView2]

Op, I'm sorry you had to deal with such an issue. What a disgrace, sheesh! There's no excuse at all. No matter how fast cabins are turned around, no excuse.

 

Let's not forget the real bottom line here, that being HEALTH. Dirty air filters fail to remove airborne bacteria, instead permitting it to recirculate, spreading infections to others. Filters can result in a build-up of allergens such as fungi, pollen & bacteria in the air triggering:

 

 

• Fatigue
  
• Coughing & sore throat
  
• Congestion and wheezing
  
• Eye, nose and throat irritation
  
• Asthma attacks
  
• Flu-like illnesses
  

And more........ Nasty bacteria can cause all sorts of issues. Most likely hundreds, if not thousands of passengers experience unnecessary common colds when cruising because of this.

 

***And what about the air filters that are throughout a ship, in main areas, common areas, speciality restaurants, buffet, & so on. Germs & nasty bacteria being resurcilated over & over.

 

Also: (Important)

When a stateroom is bleached down for Norovirus I wonder if the air filter is changed in that cabin!

Hmmmmmmmm....:confused: Probably not!!

 

 

:eek::eek:

Edited May 2, 2018 by ObstructedView2

[Hoopster95]

If a filter looks like that at 4 weeks old there is a bigger environmental problem

 

Probably from all the dog hair on board

[SeeingTheWorldBySea]

We were on Serenade April of 2016. It was formal night. DH had already gotten ready, and was waiting for me down in the Centrum. I hopped in the shower and then brushed my teeth. This is what kind of water I had washed and brushed with. I grabbed my phone and took a photo.

 

 

I got dressed and headed to Guest Services to complain about the disgusting water in my cabin, and to find out if I had been exposed to something bad. The GS person was absolutely rude and condescending to me. Brushed it off as the ship changing water tanks. End of story. I'm sorry, but what? No apology. Nothing.

 

I'm amazed this didn't deter you from booking more cruises with Royal. I think I would have thrown in the towel after seeing that water.

 

This whole post has be totally skeeved out.

 

We were on Allure in March and all came down with some degree of cough/cold. It's still lingering in various stages from ear infections to strep throat. My mom got the worst of it and came home with pneumonia. She insists it came from something in her room. I brushed her off as being a hypochondriac, but maybe she isn't far off. I dare not tell her I stumbled upon this post.

 

My friends just got off Freedom a few weeks ago and they developed horrible coughs a few days into the trip. They can hardly breath. My friends doctor told her she has a wrinkle in her lung because she isn't getting enough air to fill it. So scary.

 

I always bring chlorox wipes and give everything a once or twice over. Every surface, drawer, light switch, door handle, toilet, tv remote, you name it it gets wipes. I do this in every hotel and cruise cabin. This past cruise i used the hospital grade ones because the flu was pretty bad still. I even used them on the table in the windjammer. I don't usually look under the bed or couch or in corners. Maybe the less I know the better.

 

We will be going on Freedom in January and you better believe I'll be checking closer. The air filters in all 3 or our grand suites better be clean. It's terrible to pay so much for vacation to come home sick for months. Honestly I always expect some type of head cold as a result of travel, but this is just insane. And as "trapeze5" put it, were could be exposed to worse like legionnaires. Yuck how scary. The turn around rate is fast. A few hours at best. But heck, they paint the hull and clip carpet fibers while under way, maybe they start changing cabin filters with the appropriate frequency.

[Aquahound]

I really wish I didn't read this thread. Sometimes, I'm content just living in blissful ignorance. But now that I can't unsee what I've seen, I'll definitely be looking closer at the air intakes and vents.

[Vlgg731]

This is a maintenance issue not house keeping. It is not the responsibility of the cabin steward and can be done anytime

[emdia43]

I have got 'cabin cough' almost every time I have sailed, almost always needing prescriptions before I could get better (I have asthma) and I will certainly be checking my room filters ASAP when I board Allure. There is NO excuse for not changing these things regularly. If the ship is too big to manage essential cleanliness measures,then provide more staff to do it, don't just ignore it.

[emdia43]

Here is the latest inspection report - https://wwwn.cdc.gov/inspectionquerytool/InspectionDetailReport.aspx?ColI=MTkzMDA0MDA%3d-FHoml9Ll3bI%3d it concentrates on kitchens. No mention of rooms. Maybe CDC needs to be made aware of these filter problems.