5 Cruise Ship Toilet Mistakes That You Don’t Want to Make!

Cruise toilets aren’t like the toilets found in your home. They work on a vacuum system that reduces the water needed by up to 90% compared to toilets you would find on land.

If you block your cabin toilet, it won’t just be you who is affected. Multiple cabins will find their toilets won’t work either, there will be blockages and smells – it doesn’t bear thinking about!

This is a quick guide on what not to do with cruise ship toilets!

#1. Don’t Put Anything Down There That Doesn’t Belong

• Only human waste and cruise-provided toilet paper should be flushed away.
  • No wipes (even those marketed as “flushable”). No sanitary products, cotton pads, tissues, nappies, clothes or food…
• Why?
  • They will block the vacuum lines, which will impact other nearby cabins.
    • Crew often find weird stuff like shoes, towels, clothing – why would you?

#2. Don’t Keep Pressing the Flush Button

• On older ships, there might be a delay between flushes
  • Many is the time I have left my bathroom, and then the toilet flushes on its own a minute or so later!
• People repeatedly pressing the button can cause issues.
  • It can trigger system errors or jams.
• If you find the toilet isn’t flushing after a short wait, call the maintenance team.
  • Don’t ever consider tackling it yourself – why would you? You are on holiday!

#3. Don’t Forget to Close the Lid

• Having the lid down helps the flush work properly.
• In the ship’s public toilets, the lid often must be down for the flush to activate.
• Having the lid down reduces splashes and muffles the loud suction noise.

#4. Don’t Be Afraid of the Noise!

• Vacuum toilets are louder than you would expect.
  • A loud “WHOOSH” sound is normal!
• This can be a surprise for first-time cruisers and children.
  • I was terrified of the toilets when I first cruised. I would flush – and run!
• It is completely harmless, of course – just part of the normal functioning of the vacuum system.

#5. Don’t Try to Fix It Yourself

• Your toilet is connected to the ship-wide system.
  • DIY tampering can cause leaks, damage, and cabin flooding.
• Call the cabin steward/maintenance team immediately.
  • They should be able to fix it quickly.

If you treat the toilets with care, there should be no issues.

It has to be said that older ships seem to struggle with toilet blockage issues more than the newer ships.

When I sailed on P&O’s oldest ship, Aurora, it seemed that a lot of the public toilets were out of order, and you had to walk up and down many decks, or return to your cabin to find a functioning one.

That said, I never had any issues with the toilet in my own cabin.

Find out all about my short sailing on P&O’s smallest and oldest ship here:

Before You Go

Find out how cruise ships treat what is known as “black water” from toilets, before it is discharged into the ocean here:

Cruise Ship Toilets: What Happens When You Flush? Step by Step Guide

Find out what the prefixes on ship names mean here:

RMS, SS, MS and More: What Do Those Ship Prefix Letters Actually Mean?