DISMAYED about Cleanliness

[kent05]

We disembarked P&O Pacific Explorer recently. Attached are photos of what we found behind the curtains in our room. The holes in the wall, possible vermin debris and towel animal had been there a long time. 

The matter was reported to management, but this is appalling in COVID recovery times.

[NSWP]

A shocker, rats, mice have made a mess. So much for the alleged deep clean.

The media would love this.

[arxcards]

Covid aside, that is pretty appalling at any time.

[judithann423]

 

That is absolutely disgusting.  It will be interesting to see what P & O have to say about this shocking discovery.  What else are they hiding?

 

 

[arxcards]

3 minutes ago, NSWP said:

A shocker, rats, mice have made a mess. So much for the alleged deep clean.

The media would love this.

Deep cleans are a furphy. The extra work that is done is for sanitising frequent touch points, and fogging any cabin that has had a positive case residing.

 

The spot in that picture would be happy to be cleaned with a garden rake.

[Ozwoody]

56 minutes ago, kent05 said:

We disembarked P&O Pacific Explorer recently. Attached are photos of what we found behind the curtains in our room. The holes in the wall, possible vermin debris and towel animal had been there a long time. 

The matter was reported to management, but this is appalling in COVID recovery times.

Jees and I thought our cabin on P&O was bad.

[resordanis]

1 hour ago, kent05 said:

We disembarked P&O Pacific Explorer recently. Attached are photos of what we found behind the curtains in our room. The holes in the wall, possible vermin debris and towel animal had been there a long time. 

The matter was reported to management, but this is appalling in COVID recovery times.

Can I ask what deck please? I am so close to booking this ship out of Cairns, but definitely having second thoughts again

[joejoe 59]

1 hour ago, kent05 said:

We disembarked P&O Pacific Explorer recently. Attached are photos of what we found behind the curtains in our room. The holes in the wall, possible vermin debris and towel animal had been there a long time. 

The matter was reported to management, but this is appalling in COVID recovery times.

This looks terrible,  could it be water damaged? Not that that's an excuse. 

On our Encounter cruise we found our cabin very clean & was done twice a day.

[cheznandy]

That's disgusting. Our cabin on Explorer three years ago had leftover toiletries, socks under bed. 

Adventure recently had torn carpet and holes in the floor. Leaking roof.... 

 

 

[Aus Traveller]

On our two cruises last last year on the Pacific Encounter, our cabin was kept clean and we didn't see any maintenance issues.

[NSWP]

37 minutes ago, joejoe 59 said:

This looks terrible,  could it be water damaged? Not that that's an excuse. 

On our Encounter cruise we found our cabin very clean & was done twice a day.

I agree could well be water damage, it is not uncommon for faulty balcony doors to leak in heavy rain.

 

As for the discarded towel animal that could well be a relic from the Princess days,
 

Edited March 1, 2023 by NSWP

[kent05]

The incident occurred on Level 11. It is an old ship with maintenance issues. Health and safety should be a major priority and there is room for improvement.

[LittleFish1976]

2 hours ago, joejoe 59 said:

This looks terrible,  could it be water damaged? Not that that's an excuse. 

On our Encounter cruise we found our cabin very clean & was done twice a day.

 

Definitely looks like rats or mice to me. Looks like months or years since it was vacuumed, too.

[Aus Traveller]

The photo demonstrates a serious break-down in the Housekeeping Department. I would like to know what the response was when this was brought to a supervisor's attention.

 

I can't see anything in the photo that looks like rodent droppings.I haven't had rats or mice in my home, but a Google search indicates that rat droppings are 12ml-18ml shiny black and pellet-shaped while mouse droppings are very dark brown pellets somewhat smaller. I feel the photo looks more like crumbled particle board or crumbled wood. 

 

 

[buchhalm]

OP, what was the comment from management?

Dont leave us hanging. 

🙂

[LittleFish1976]

40 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

The photo demonstrates a serious break-down in the Housekeeping Department. I would like to know what the response was when this was brought to a supervisor's attention.

 

I can't see anything in the photo that looks like rodent droppings.I haven't had rats or mice in my home, but a Google search indicates that rat droppings are 12ml-18ml shiny black and pellet-shaped while mouse droppings are very dark brown pellets somewhat smaller. I feel the photo looks more like crumbled particle board or crumbled wood. 

 

 

 

I've found that an early and reliable sign of rodents is sawdust-looking particles such as in this photo. This is because rodents gnaw at hard materials such as timber or particle board either to get through or to wear down their teeth. They also eat whatever they can find and leave crumbs/bits behind. You're  more likely to find those things than droppings although you can often see those as well but often in a different place.

 

I found evidence of mice at a house I was staying in not long ago - the sign was the husk of grains left on a bed. Turned out the critter had got into a wheat bag used for pain relief.

 

 

[Aus Traveller]

24 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

I've found that an early and reliable sign of rodents is sawdust-looking particles such as in this photo. This is because rodents gnaw at hard materials such as timber or particle board either to get through or to wear down their teeth. They also eat whatever they can find and leave crumbs/bits behind. You're  more likely to find those things than droppings although you can often see those as well but often in a different place.

 

I found evidence of mice at a house I was staying in not long ago - the sign was the husk of grains left on a bed. Turned out the critter had got into a wheat bag used for pain relief.

You obviously have more experience with rodents than I do. 🙂 I won't challenge your expertise. 🙂

[LittleFish1976]

25 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

You obviously have more experience with rodents than I do. 🙂 I won't challenge your expertise. 🙂

Yes, unfortunately, I probably do! Put it down to living in a beach shack for a couple of years or being a farmer both of which supplied ample opportunities to get to know the wildlife. Awful things, rodents. Actually there's a lot around in suburban Melbourne these days. Lots of gardeners reporting having the b****y things eating the fruit and veggies.

[buchhalm]

On the bright side,  as long as the rats are staying, it is unlikely that the ship is sinking. 

[chengkp75]

As someone who lives in a 200 year old wood frame house that backs up to about 40 acres of woodland, and who has had both mice and rats in the house (have an annual contract with pest service), nothing in the photo looks like rodent debris to me.  Another factor is that on a ship, unlike a house where rodents can roam freely up walls to multiple floors, there are very few ways for rodents to move from deck to deck (it is all steel or concrete fillers).  I mention this, because it has been my experience that you will only see rodents on ships near food sources, and passenger cabin decks are not a good source of food.

 

That material looks like the calcium silicate insulation from inside the wall panels (which are only 1/2-3/4" thick, with steel on both sides).  It looks like the steel wall panel has corroded, and allowed the insulation, which has broken down over the years of vibration, to fall out.

[arxcards]

Around 12 years ago, we had a cabin on the ship that used to identify as Dawn Princess. Generally, a clean and tidy mini suite, but it did have a broken spa tub jet.

 

Step forward to May 2022, and we had the same cabin on Pacific Explorer. Looking a bit more tired, but generally clean and tidy - and the spa tub still had the same broken jet. Cabins are for the life of the ship and show signs of wear & tear. For a 25-year-old box with 1000+ residents, they are in pretty good shape - but there is no excuse for the mess in that picture.

[arxcards]

15 hours ago, NSWP said:

I agree could well be water damage, it is not uncommon for faulty balcony doors to leak in heavy rain.

 

As for the discarded towel animal that could well be a relic from the Princess days,
 

The towel animal is laying on P&O carpet.

[resordanis]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Around 12 years ago, we had a cabin on the ship that used to identify as Dawn Princess. Generally, a clean and tidy mini suite, but it did have a broken spa tub jet.

 

Step forward to May 2022, and we had the same cabin on Pacific Explorer. Looking a bit more tired, but generally clean and tidy - and the spa tub still had the same broken jet. Cabins are for the life of the ship and show signs of wear & tear. For a 25-year-old box with 1000+ residents, they are in pretty good shape - but there is no excuse for the mess in that picture.

Apart from this mess. How did you find Pacific Explorer in 2022. Not a mini suite, but say a balcony or o/v? The reason I am asking as we are considering a cruise from Cairns, but these photos concern me.Could not think of anything worse, than being on a for 10 days if the cabin looked like this.Also,I have a phobia with rodents too! Every time book,I change my mind! Appreciate your opinion.Cheryle

[arxcards]

22 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Apart from this mess. How did you find Pacific Explorer in 2022. Not a mini suite, but say a balcony or o/v? The reason I am asking as we are considering a cruise from Cairns, but these photos concern me.Could not think of anything worse, than being on a for 10 days if the cabin looked like this.Also,I have a phobia with rodents too! Every time book,I change my mind! Appreciate your opinion.Cheryle

I would hate that too but haven't seen anything that disgusting anywhere.

 

The old Princess faux timber fixtures looked tired, but otherwise in reasonably good nick and comfortable. The sun class cabins are generally a bit small even by today's standards, but we have only had clean& tidy cabins.

 

Cruising out of Cairns is nice - PNG?

[resordanis]

2 minutes ago, arxcards said:

I would hate that too but haven't seen anything that disgusting anywhere.

 

The old Princess faux timber fixtures looked tired, but otherwise in reasonably good nick and comfortable. The sun class cabins are generally a bit small even by today's standards, but we have only had clean& tidy cabins.

 

Cruising out of Cairns is nice - PNG?

Thanks, Solomon Islands and then perhaps Auckland or just one or the other.. Our son lives in Cairns and I wouldn’t consider otherwise, but seems a way to do both. Yes, I know the cabins are small, that is why we might just for an o/v. Not a fan of the metal balcony railing and feel the o/v might make the cabin a little larger? Seems so long since we sailed on the old Sun Princess, but that is what i seem to remember.

Appreciate your input.