" wrote:

Why is it that modern cruise ships become "rustbuckets" in only 15
years?!
Are they poorly built or poorly maintained?

I say BOTH!
snip

Am I the only one who ever smelled sewer gas throughout a cruise ship?
That's due to not cleaning out the drain pipes regularly. It's also
due to poorly maintained or no water softening equipment.

No you are not and not that's not what it is due to. We smelled sewer gas constantly on the aft
promenade deck of the Statendam - more when we were in port or when we had a tail wind. It wasn't
from not cleaning - it was from poor design. The gas from the sewage vents got re-entrained into
the ventilation system. I was told that the ship engineer was quitting because he couldn't stand
the complaints anymore and he couldn't do anything about the problem.