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Current guests onboard MSC Meraviglia are dealing with a rather crappy situation (pun intended) thanks to the poor decision of one guest.

According to a letter from MSC Cruises, which was obtained by Cruise Hive, someone decided to flush a cotton towel down their stateroom’s toilet, which has impacted the ship’s flushing system.

“We regret to inform you that we are currently facing a technical issue that is affecting the operation of our toilet flush system in different areas of the ship,” MSC wrote.

“Unfortunately, this malfunctioning has been caused by somebody that flushed a large cotton towel down the toilet, causing a blockage of the line that overloaded the extraction pump, which was subsequently damaged,” the cruise line explained.

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As of the time of publication, the onboard engineering team is hard at work making the appropriate repairs and getting all of the toilets up and running again.

At the moment, there is no change to the itinerary due to the maintenance situation. The 5,700-guest ship is currently in the middle of a 7-night cruise to the Bahamas, which set sail in New York on March 15, 2026.

A History of Repeat Offenses

Interestingly, many on social media have spoken up to say that they had received the same or similar letters while recently sailing onboard MSC Meraviglia.

This means that either some cruise passengers are really stupid, or that this might be a template that MSC whips out anytime a blockage impacts the toilets.

“Hmmmm…same letter went out mid February so…either there’s multiple stupid people or there’s a mechanical issue and they fabricated the towel story,” one recent guest said.

“lol pretty sure this is a generic letter they send when toilets don’t work, they are liars, we got the exact same one in Feb,” another chimed in.

“They gave it to us on my cruise as well. The YC concierge said it’s people using bundles of wipes most of the time and not actual towels,” said a third.

No matter how much maintenance MSC Cruises performs on its ships, they can’t prevent every issue when certain guests refuse to follow the rules.

Guests are only allowed to flush cruise line-provided toilet paper down the toilets, which is a fact that several brands, such as Carnival Cruise Line, have to repeatedly remind their guests.

Even flushing something as seemingly harmless as a wet wipe can – and often does – cause major blockages.

 Maintenance Concerns for MSC Meraviglia

Others said that this letter was an excuse that was made to cover the cruise line for ongoing sewage and plumbing problems.

“I call BS about the towel. That ship has constant sewage issues and stinks terrible on certain floors. The shower also smelled like cat urine. I’ve experienced this in both a balcony cabin mid ship and a suite completely forward,” another passenger claimed.

Upon doing a deep dive, Cruise Hive found several reviews speaking to plumbing issues and sewage smells onboard the 2017-launched ship from the past year.

It’s also worth noting that the 171,598-gross ton ship has never once failed a CDC Health and Safety inspection, though it only barely passed its most recent inspection in December of 2025.

The ship scored an 86, which is the absolute lowest passing score. Some sewage concerns, primarily related to select crew toilets, were flagged in the inspection report.

The vessel last visited dry dock for maintenance and technical work in early 2024 and is scheduled for another comprehensive dry dock visit in April of 2026 once her current season in New York concludes.

If there are bigger issues related to the sewage system and toilets, they will likely be addressed during this time.

Big Guest Mistake Shuts Down Toilet Flush System on Cruise Ship

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