A Cruise Passenger’s Toilet Problem Just Wouldn’t Go Away

One cruise guest has been having a rather crappy time (pun intended) during their sailing onboard Holland America Line’s Koningsdam.

For reference, the 2,650-guest ship is currently operating two 11-night and 18-night Caribbean sailings simultaneously, both of which embarked from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on December 9, 2025.

Unfortunately for this guest, their cabin’s private bathroom has been experiencing an issue where the toilet will not flush in the mornings – despite multiple attempts to fix it.

This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as a problem with the vacuum system, a blockage from guests flushing things they shouldn’t, or a faulty sensor/button on the toilet.

“We are currently in the middle of a 11 day cruise on the Koningsdam. We have had a persistent problem with the toilet in our veranda room #11009. Every morning but one, the toilet will not flush,” the frustrated guest shared on Reddit.

The post was made on December 14, which would have been the sixth day of the sailing if you count embarkation day.

“Every time, we call guest services or our cabin attendant and report it and they send someone to “fix” it. It is getting very old, very quickly. In order to “fix” it, they have to flush it several times which is loud and annoying,” the passenger continued.

After six mornings of no flushing, the guests were hoping for advice on how to receive compensation and potentially a new stateroom for the inconvenience.

Moving Up the Ladder

These guests already did the right thing by going to guest services to resolve their issue while onboard.

Too often, guests wait until they are home to voice their concerns, when it’s too late for crew members to try to make things right.

Read Also: Which Crew Members Will You Meet on Your Next Cruise?

As many cruise fans in the comments suggested, the passengers moved up the chain to seek help from the hotel director, who is in charge of overseeing departments like guest services, housekeeping, and stateroom operations.

“We talked to Katarina, the hotel manager and she has apologized profusely and understands how upsetting this can be on a vacation,” the guest wrote in an update.

“She told us that there was a cabin on the same deck opening up and we can move to it if the problem persists. She seems to think that it will be fixed this time,” they continued.

What happened next is a mystery. The guest left off by saying they would wait to see if the latest repair held before deciding what to do next and has yet to return with another update.

Are Broken Toilets Common?

Koningsdam is not known for flooding or broken toilets, and is still a fairly young ship at only about 9-years-old.

Even so, some guests have noticed similar issues while sailing onboard the 99,863-gross ton ship.

“I’ll be darned! I didn’t really think anything of it at the time, but my wife and I were on the Koningsdam a few weeks ago and there were two or three mornings when the toilet wouldn’t flush,” one recent guest responded to the post.

“We were always able to get it to flush again within 15 to 30 minutes; so it never became a big issue. Nonetheless, the unsettling thought of possibly having to call maintenance to fix your unflushed toilet was just that: unsettling,” they continued.

But as frustrating as this situation is, keep in mind that cruise ships are fully operational 365 days a year with rare exceptions (such as dry dock).

Despite constant maintenance and upkeep from the diligent crew members, things can still break or end up out of whack.

Many times, the issue is actually caused by misbehaving guests who are flushing products that don’t belong in the toilet.

Carnival Cruise Line, which is owned by the same parent company as Holland America Line, has struggled to prevent guests from flushing wet wipes – which can easily cause clogs and backups. And that’s just one example!