Plumbing Problems - non-funtioning toilet

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, donaldsc said:

A big $200 OBC which you have to spend on board so you are giving them back the $200 is totally inadequate.

Ship provided OBC is almost always refundable. It was their choice to donate it to the casino.

[Wishing on a star]

Kleenex and so-called 'flushable' wipes are NOT necessarily flushable.  Especially on a cruise ship.   I am thinking that the box tissues provided on the shops are the easily degradable type of tissue.  But the Kleenex, and Puffs, that most people buy are def. NOT flushable.  It is entirely probable that passengers are bringing their favorite 'soft' products onboard and then flushing them, without realizing.

 

Another thing that I have heard being found in the system is the sliced lemons that people have in their tea and drinks.   I remember a thread like this where one person was understandably offended when told "You caused the problem..."   (always easy to pass the blame). when their Princess Cabin Steward was flushing these things when they cleaned!!!!!

 

Sorry. but if all cruise staff are not well trained, then OMG what most everyday people/passengers might flush.

 

I think that this info should be make a part of the safety drill, and all adult passengers should be required to sign/check off that they have '"read the information and warnings and agree to...."

 

Probably wouldn't help... but maybe?

[Wishing on a star]

To answer the original question...  Except for the Coral to Alaska, we have sailed newer ships, and have never experienced problems with plumbing.   Only, on the Coral, the slight odor that many had noticed and posted about in a couple of areas, like near the Theater.

[cruisingrob21]

58 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

I think that this info should be make a part of the safety drill, 

 

If I recall - it is.

Edited August 18, 2022 by cruisingrob21

[roxievegas]

On 5/23/2022 at 10:49 AM, sewingmolly said:

On our recent cruise, we spent the last day with a non-functioning, overflowing toilet.  Apparently about 200 cabins on the Caribbean Princess were affected.  This was my 11th cruise, but the first time I had experienced such problems.  It was blamed on people flushing inappropriate items, namely masks.    I'm wondering is this a common occurrence?  Have I just been lucky up til now?  My husband is somewhat reluctant to book another cruise after this, so I thought I would try to find out just how common plumbing problems are.  Also are some ships more prone to plumbing issues?

what deck and cabin ??

[blizzard44ca]

Yes - minor on Sapphire Princess. When you pushed the handle, nothing would happen for 10 minutes, then it would flush.  Steward checked it, then had maintenance come. When it was fixed, one of them said it was a sanitary product that had been flushed (implying it was me or my daughter - it wasn’t). 
 

Anyway, only once, and quite minor on our side.  (I do feel badly for those that have had major problems!)

[cruisingrob21]

13 minutes ago, blizzard44ca said:

Yes - minor on Sapphire Princess. When you pushed the handle, nothing would happen for 10 minutes, then it would flush.  Steward checked it, then had maintenance come. When it was fixed, one of them said it was a sanitary product that had been flushed (implying it was me or my daughter - it wasn’t). 
 

Anyway, only once, and quite minor on our side.  (I do feel badly for those that have had major problems!)

I wonder if this happens more proportionally on larger ships?

[4x4bob]

When calling in a plumbing problem be sure to stress it is a urgent problem.

 

I called in to report that our shower would not drain.

 

At 11:00 PM the phone rang waking me up.  I answered to be told that someone was knocking on our cabin door. Say what, OK thanks for calling.  No No I was told, it is the plumber who is there to repair your show drain. I😲

 

I asked him why so late?  He told me that it is his schedule for non urgent problems for this Deck.

Bob

[chengkp75]

23 hours ago, blizzard44ca said:

Yes - minor on Sapphire Princess. When you pushed the handle, nothing would happen for 10 minutes, then it would flush.  Steward checked it, then had maintenance come. When it was fixed, one of them said it was a sanitary product that had been flushed (implying it was me or my daughter - it wasn’t). 
 

Anyway, only once, and quite minor on our side.  (I do feel badly for those that have had major problems!)

A "ghost flush" is caused by the vacuum to your area of the system (could be one cabin, could be many) having a clog.  When you press the flush button, it sends a vacuum signal to a controller, but if there is not enough system vacuum at your toilet, the controller will wait until there is.  When the plumbers clear the clog, and vacuum is restored, the controller remembers that you pushed the button, and then initiates a flush.  I don't believe, unless it was only your cabin affected, that the plumbers implied it was you.  When a clog travels a few feet or many feet down the pipe before stopping, it can affect one cabin, two cabins, or hundreds of cabins, all caused by one individual.  When your toilet doesn't work, generally you don't know that others are affected as well, unless you hear it from your neighbors.

23 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

I wonder if this happens more proportionally on larger ships?

Of course it does.  More toilets, more passengers, more opportunity for someone to flush something down that shouldn't.

[Ombud]

On 8/19/2022 at 1:02 PM, chengkp75 said:

A "ghost flush" is caused by the vacuum to your area of the system (could be one cabin, could be many) having a clog.  When you press the flush button, it sends a vacuum signal to a controller, but if there is not enough system vacuum at your toilet, the controller will wait until there is.  When the plumbers clear the clog, and vacuum is restored, the controller remembers that you pushed the button, and then initiates a flush.  I don't believe, unless it was only your cabin affected, that the plumbers implied it was you.  When a clog travels a few feet or many feet down the pipe before stopping, it can affect one cabin, two cabins, or hundreds of cabins, all caused by one individual.  When your toilet doesn't work, generally you don't know that others are affected as well, unless you hear it from your neighbors.

Of course it does.  More toilets, more passengers, more opportunity for someone to flush something down that shouldn't.

Can the tissue supplied by the ship be flushed? 

[chengkp75]

47 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Can the tissue supplied by the ship be flushed? 

Do you mean toilet tissue, or facial tissue?  In reality, any toilet tissue is flushable in a well maintained vacuum toilet system.  While facial tissue is produced similarly to toilet tissue, and will normally not cause problems, its just better not to flush them.  What really cause problems are wipes, whether baby, adult, sanitizing, or make-up types.  These products are made differently than toilet or facial tissue, in that the paper fibers are woven, not pressed, and many have plastic fibers in them to provide strength.  These can cause clogs almost always.

[curious_st]

I have seen dirty water coming from the sink tap before.  Ive also had cabins on a couple of ships where the toilet flushed when it wanted.  Meaning, it occasionally wouldn’t flush or was delayed in flushing when we wanted it to flush, but it would also randomly flush itself.  

[MISTER 67]

On 5/24/2022 at 9:40 AM, JF - retired RRT said:

Ship toilets and hotel toilets are entirely different animals.

Better to compare hotel toilets to the one you have at home.

Ship toilets might (maybe, possibly) compare to the toilets on the space station.

Spot on.

[chengkp75]

15 minutes ago, curious_st said:

I have seen dirty water coming from the sink tap before.

That really isn't "dirty" water.  The discoloration is caused by the calcium scale that has broken off the inside of the water pipes when the pipes are drained for repairs.  It is not particularly appealing looking, but is safe.

 

17 minutes ago, curious_st said:

Meaning, it occasionally wouldn’t flush or was delayed in flushing when we wanted it to flush,

Both caused by lack of vacuum at your toilet, caused by a blockage somewhere downstream from your toilet.

 

18 minutes ago, curious_st said:

but it would also randomly flush itself.

And this is what I describe as the "ghost" flush, above.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Do you mean toilet tissue, or facial tissue?  In reality, any toilet tissue is flushable in a well maintained vacuum toilet system.  While facial tissue is produced similarly to toilet tissue, and will normally not cause problems, its just better not to flush them.  What really cause problems are wipes, whether baby, adult, sanitizing, or make-up types.  These products are made differently than toilet or facial tissue, in that the paper fibers are woven, not pressed, and many have plastic fibers in them to provideissues

Last cruise the in our cabin were thinner than the toilet paper. You needed at least two to not blow a hole through them. I think it's a preventive measure just in case you do flush them. 

[loriva]

Realize that this thread was started over a year ago but hope this is one of the things that will be addressed during the dry dock of the Caribbean Princess in October.

[skynight]

9 minutes ago, loriva said:

Realize that this thread was started over a year ago but hope this is one of the things that will be addressed during the dry dock of the Caribbean Princess in October.

Many toilet plumbing issues are caused by the passengers themselves and are not related to the actual condition of the system. While on board the Ruby this past winter my cabin along with the entire section, I was told 40 cabins, where my cabin was located suffered days of non or slow working plumbing issues. The plumber was always working on it. As explained to me someone flushed some object(s) into the system and plugged it. It took days to clear it. Nothing but marine grade toilet paper should be flushed into the ship's system. 

[Alaska05]

When we were on the Sapphire in May, our toilet stopped flushing 3 different times.  Pushed the button in and it seemed to not want to engage. We were never in the room when the plumber came so didn’t find out what the problem was. 

[dog]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

Many toilet plumbing issues are caused by the passengers themselves and are not related to the actual condition of the system. While on board the Ruby this past winter my cabin along with the entire section, I was told 40 cabins, where my cabin was located suffered days of non or slow working plumbing issues. The plumber was always working on it. As explained to me someone flushed some object(s) into the system and plugged it. It took days to clear it. Nothing but marine grade toilet paper should be flushed into the ship's system. 

On 5/24/2022 at 5:10 AM, chengkp75 said:

 

This is an urban myth.  ANY toilet paper is acceptable for use in a ship's vacuum toilet system.  What the cruise lines supply is merely the cheapest they can buy.

 

[skynight]

"This is an urban myth.  ANY toilet paper is acceptable for use in a ship's vacuum toilet system.  What the cruise lines supply is merely the cheapest they can buy."

 

My understanding is that marine toilet paper has more air than other toilet papers. However, it is doubtful that passengers travel with their own toilet paper. We are speaking about things like facial tissue, large amounts of toilet paper at one time, things like that. 

[Teechur]

On 5/23/2022 at 11:20 PM, chengkp75 said:

 

Hot tubs are heated electrically, but most people consider them only "warm" compared to home hot tubs.  That is to preclude growth of legionella in the tubs.  Hot water for sinks, showers, galleys, laundries, etc, is heated by a boiler, that is diesel fueled.

I am surprised that they don't use heat exchangers to capture engine heat. Why don't they?

Edited August 9 by Teechur

[Stosh68]

I remember my first cruise on the Diamond, my toilet wouldn't flush.   I pushed the button a couple times, waited a few minutes and tried again.   It was 11pm, and I wasn't about the report THAT kind of problem at that hour.  So I went to bed, resigning myself to having to deal with it in the morning.  

 

Somewhere around 4am, I woke up to a wooshing noise and I checked the toilet and it had flushed.   Thank god. I was dreading having to call for assistance with something still in the bowl.  While I'm sure the crew are "used to it", that doesn't make me feel better about them having to see it. 

[voljeep]

3 minutes ago, Stosh68 said:

I remember my first cruise on the Diamond, my toilet wouldn't flush.   I pushed the button a couple times, waited a few minutes and tried again.   It was 11pm, and I wasn't about the report THAT kind of problem at that hour.  So I went to bed, resigning myself to having to deal with it in the morning.  

 

Somewhere around 4am, I woke up to a wooshing noise and I checked the toilet and it had flushed.   Thank god. I was dreading having to call for assistance with something still in the bowl.  While I'm sure the crew are "used to it", that doesn't make me feel better about them having to see it. 

yep - happened to us before - 

I believe 'most' are caused, at least in the US, by the flushable wipes we use at home.

 

and as I learned, the maintenance rarely has to come into the cabins - just clear out the vacuum lines - then the wooooooshing begins - and really, a welcome sound we can live with for sure

[XBGuy]

I just stumbled onto this two-year old conversation.

 

I any cruiser has not experienced a non-flushing cabin toilet, then I would conclude that they haven't cruised very much.  It happens.  It is a temporary inconvenience.  That inconvenience can be measured as minor or major depending on how long it takes to resolve.

 

I would like to add a few items from my experience.  A few months ago, I had a conversation with my brother who once had environmental responsibilities for the lab where he worked.  (He was a chemist.)  Somehow the topic came around to flushing facial tissues down the toilet, and we were talking about terrestrial facilities, not shipboard.  He said that toilet paper is designed (if that is the word) to break up in water.  Facial tissues, on the other hand, are designed to absorb water.  So, flushing facial tissues just adds additional work at for the waste treatment plants.  So, now I don't flush facial tissues down the bathroom toilet.  However, I do now often grab a couple of squares of toilet paper if I want to blow my nose in the bathroom.

 

Several years ago we experienced toilet problems for several days on a cruise.  This was a pretty big problem and we passed plumbers working up and down the hallway for several days,  Not surprisingly, within a day the room steward left a note in our cabin asking passengers to limit flushed items to ship-supplied toilet paper (and thank you to @chengkp75 for explaining that there is nothing special about it), Number One and Number Two.

 

I was in the buffet for breakfast one morning discussing this whole issue with a very nice couple and mentioned that a common problem experienced by ship's plumbing was disposable wipes that were flushed by passengers.  The lady in the table asked "Why not?  It says they're 'flushable.'"

 

I am not, by any means, an expert, but that did not stop me.

 

"Yes, it does say that on the box.  They are flushable in your home toilet.  However, the drain pipe from you house is four inches in diameter.  The pipes on this ship are two inches in diameter.  That means they can only accommodate a quarter of the volume as your home's system, and those two-inch pipes on the ship make numerous right angle turns.  So, they can get 'gummed up' relatively easily"

 

To be honest, I really don't know how accurate my analysis was, but she was impressed.

 

As I said, this conversation happened a few years ago.  Interestingly, in 2022 the State of California "banned" flushable wipes.  Again, this was an effort to ease the task at the waste treatment plants.  It is not clear to me how this ban is enforceable.  I happened to be in a Costco a couple months ago, and was surprised to see a display that plainly said "Flushable" wipes.  You have to read the itty-bitty print in the disclosure to see "Do not flush if forbidden by law."

[Teechur]

Cooking fats cling to flushable wipes, which then stick to additional wipes in the sewers creating what workers have termed "fatbergs". I have seen photos of large (24"-36") city sewer lines completely blocked by fatbergs, and men with pitchforks trying to break them loose. 🤢

 

Commercial buildings often install sleeves in the toilets or in traps which include sharp hooks to catch wipes that have been flushed.

 

Imagine what they can do to the narrow sewer pipes on cruise ships. 😜