Inconsiderate Cruisers

[turtle27]

I still remember on a cruise when we were in the adult pool and a lady came in. Then, about 15 minutes later her daughter came to the pool, and got in. One of us said something to a CM (the CM saw, but was silent) and then the CM said something to the mom. The daughter almost broke into tears because she just wanted to spend time with mom, but mom wouldn't leave the adult only area. We then got looks from the mom for the rest of the time we were there. It was apparently our fault that we wanted the adult only pool to really be the adult only pool. We are just used to adults allowing their kids into the adult only areas now, the rules just don't apply to them, and us adults should just get over it seems to be the attitude.

On this last cruise, we had a few issues standing in lines for photographs. So we were all waiting a bit early and there was a big family in front of us. There were 9 people in the family there. So we wait while each kid gets an individual photo, then photos with the kids together. Now the photos with the parents. Now the photo with just the aunt and uncle. Now just the adults. Then the whole group. We were like, finally, our turn! But wait, so a 10 year old runs up and now we have to wait for another whole set of photos to be taken. I would have been happy with a, do you mind, so sorry. But nope, nothing. Maybe I find this rude and others would not, but I was a bit floored.


Generally, unless people are just being especially discourteous, I let it go. We are all on vacation. Why do I want to be upset about something. Share a smile, give someone a compliment, hold a door open, offer to carry a tray if needed.

 

[k3chantal]

What really gets me is people who wander into dinner whenever they feel like it, throwing off the poor servers' rhythm. That's just disrespectful!

Completely agree!!!! Then, the late people proceed to complain about service.......ugh!

 

[Hundredacre]

Not to be blunt but stacking used plates on a table is a huge faux pas!! You are supposed to put your knife and fork together in the five o'clock position to indicate to your server you are done. If the service is good, they will pick it up immediately when they see this.

Yikes! I referenced what my parents taught me growing up to explain what is engrained in me, that you do what you can to help those helping you. I should probably elaborate that growing up on a cops salary, we never dined at white linen and 5 o'clock fork/knife establishments, we didn't even have any in our town, but even in all their poorness, my parents did somehow manage to teach us how properly use utensils.

For a little more clarification, at Cabanas we stack and consolidate all dishes on the side of the table and if we're out by the pool area, we bus them ourselves. In the MDR, with the exception of our last cruise, I don't stack and consolidate all dishes like we're eating at a buffet but if we're done with our bread plates, I put that on my regular plate and I absolutely HAVE to pick up/straighten up after my kids as much as possible. (This is part upbringing referenced earlier, part Mom OCD.) I never throw my napkin on my plate (gross) and I rarely lick my plate clean ;-) (<--before you get you get too worked up, that was a joke) Now our last cruise, we DID eventually start stacking things on the side of the table, frowned upon, I know, but after staring at used plates for 15+ minutes and not seeing our servers I couldn't take it anymore. I had hoped it would help move things along, our son has ASD and does not do well in crowded dining rooms so sitting there for well over an hour each night just waiting is not ideal, but it did not help. We ended up skipping our two last meals in the MDR because of it.

My comment was not meant to be a reprimand (sorry!) but to explain why staff may not want people stacking plates. I too stack plates sometimes to get them out of the way. But for the staff, if the restaurant is professional, it makes them look badly in front of management circling the room.

 

[Ofinn]

If your on a ship with 5000 people there are going to be people that irritate you. Believe it or not you or your kids may do something that irritates someone else and you don't even realize it. I find people that constantly complain about other peoples behavior, or how they dress, or how they don't follow the rules to be quite boorish. My other thought is they must not have a lot of interaction with the general public if they think people on DCL cruises are rude. I'm with Turtle 27 smile and "just let it go". You're on vacation.

 

[aprincessatlast]

We just spent 3 weeks in a hotel in our home town (Netflix was filming a new series at our house and we were displaced for a bit)

MJ

Did not want to read through 14 pages to see if anyone asked this but how does that happen? Did someone just come by and say they wanted to film at your house? Are you allowed to tell us the show or do you have to wait? Very interesting.....and oh yeah people are slobs. lol

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

On this last cruise, we had a few issues standing in lines for photographs. So we were all waiting a bit early and there was a big family in front of us. There were 9 people in the family there. So we wait while each kid gets an individual photo, then photos with the kids together. Now the photos with the parents. Now the photo with just the aunt and uncle. Now just the adults. Then the whole group. We were like, finally, our turn! But wait, so a 10 year old runs up and now we have to wait for another whole set of photos to be taken. I would have been happy with a, do you mind, so sorry. But nope, nothing. Maybe I find this rude and others would not, but I was a bit floored. .

OMG! This happens to us everytime we go to WDW!
Our last trip to WDW we got stuck behind a family of 21! At the epcot character spot.. (Meet the fab 5 in a row)

This was one of biggest pet peevs, so when my family + extended family went on a DCL last April..
I walked my entire group through how we were going to do pics..

- Kids 1st
- hubby and I jump in
- grandma and papa jump in
- aunt and uncle jump in (for full family photo)
Everyone leaves. And no autographs books..
By the 3 night the photographers knew to be ready, and and snap snap snap.. Done!

Only exception were statue photos on formal night.. And Salior mickey
Only cause We had to add couples photos.

My family 1st thought I was being over contorling when I told them how we had to take pictures, they really hated it.. On the 1st night we stuck behind a huge group and all the sudden there was no more complaining!
Our pictures turned out great! We had tons and We had gotten so good at taken pictures that by the end up trip.. My brother in law was timing us to see if we could bet our best time!

 

[mmouse37]

Did not want to read through 14 pages to see if anyone asked this but how does that happen? Did someone just come by and say they wanted to film at your house? Are you allowed to tell us the show or do you have to wait? Very interesting.....and oh yeah people are slobs. lol

Here is a cut and paste from my reply earlier in the thread:

I know this is getting OT but here is the quick run down.

Funny thing...I had just gotten home from the 2 week Panama Canal cruise in the beginning of November and was going through the pile of mail. There was a letter that was obviously left in our mailbox stating they were interested in our house and would we be interested in talking to them about filming. I sat on it for a week and then said what the heck and called them. They were there the next day taking pics of the interior and exterior and said if the director and producers liked the photos they would call. Never, ever expected the call but they did. A few visits by directors, produces and the star later and then found out in early January that our house was chosen. Can't get into details about the show or plot but they filmed here for a week (with a week of prep work and a week of clean up) and they did change many, many things in the interior of our house. And no, our house is not really unique at all. Just a house on a cul-de-sac. I think they dropped off tons of letters in peoples' mailboxes in the area. We just got lucky!!

I am not sure how much I can say about it so I am not going to say anything at this time, but there is some info about the show online.

MJ

 

[MUN]

It doesn't bother me how some one leaves their plate or forks etc. What bothers me is the lack of manners and simple rule following. We were in Palos one night and I want to say we were leaving. Another group came in and the Maitre D made them put on a shirt and tie before he would let them in.

Palo requires men to wear a shirt.

 

[jane01jp]

If your on a ship with 5000 people there are going to be people that irritate you. Believe it or not you or your kids may do something that irritates someone else and you don't even realize it. I find people that constantly complain about other peoples behavior, or how they dress, or how they don't follow the rules to be quite boorish. My other thought is they must not have a lot of interaction with the general public if they think people on DCL cruises are rude. I'm with Turtle 27 smile and "just let it go". You're on vacation.

Hear hear!

 

[Stratus22]

God Knows I have my pet peeves but the one thing I do on a positive note is help out the Room Attendants. I can't leave my clothes everywhere along with my shoes and other items. I always clean up before leaving the cabin for the day. I also give my room attendant a smorgasbord of chocolates. I don't know, it must be the Italian in me. Ofinn is right, we're on vacation...so live well. Happy Cruising all.

 

[Iamaplanner]

From the person who said that I get annoyed at very few things, there is something I need to add because I just got off the Fantasy. The chair savers by the pool were out of control! It seems like everyone has wised up that the CMs will clear towels on chairs if they have gone unused for a long period of time so people are now putting personal belongings to reserve the chairs. The CMs are less likely to move that. But omg, it was out of control. lt would be one person saving six + chairs. I finally told one lady that I was taking one chair when no one in her family showed up after more than an hour. She told me they were all at a Star Wars event. I said no chair saving. She said that I could sit but we'd be required to "give her the chair back when her family gets back from their activities". WTH

 

[mcd2745]

From the person who said that I get annoyed at very few things, there is something I need to add because I just got off the Fantasy. The chair savers by the pool were out of control! It seems like everyone has wised up that the CMs will clear towels on chairs if they have gone unused for a long period of time so people are now putting personal belongings to reserve the chairs. The CMs are less likely to move that. But omg, it was out of control. lt would be one person saving six + chairs. I finally told one lady that I was taking one chair when no one in her family showed up after more than an hour. She told me they were all at a Star Wars event. I said no chair saving. She said that I could sit but we'd be required to "give her the chair back when her family gets back from their activities". WTH

Unfortunately, it's the one problem for which the entire hospitality industry - be it cruise ships, hotels/resorts, etc. - just can't seem to come up with a decent answer. The attitude/mindset of these people who think those chairs are theirs for the entire day, even if they leave for meals or other activities, is...to be blunt...flat-out disgusting. Last time I was on the Fantasy...I went up to the beverage station a couple of mornings for coffee around 7am. I would see only a few other people walking around up there. However, at least 2/3 of the chairs on deck had towels, bags, books/magazines, or other personal belongings on them already. Not a single chair had a person in it. It's kinda sad, really, that these people have an existence where a chair holds this much importance in their lives and causes them to stoop to such tactics. I'm glad we're not a family that likes or wants to spend a lot of time around the pool.

 

[toddsman]

We experienced a number of these inconsiderate entitled types on our recent cruise. The biggest issue that compounds the behavior (and I made sure to mention this in feedback to DCL), is the DCL staff does not enforce its own rules. For example regarding chair saving. Every Navigator has a paragraph about the no-chair saving policy. Yet, people do it and staff doesn't say anything (pool and theaters). The other big peeve I have is the small children (obviously not potty trained) in the pools. There is clear rules about that, yet the lifeguards don't say anything and then low and behold, the pools need to be closed for cleaning. Along, the same theme, is the running and horseplay in the hallways, especially after quiet hours. Typically, the cabin stewards are in the halls and can easily ask the kids to stop running, but I noticed that they just turn a blind eye. I am sure, if one of these kids got hurt for running and screwing around while unsupervised, the parents would blame Disney (not actually take accountability for letting their children run loose while they were belly-up and one of the bars).

I understand that DCL is all about customer service, however they need to realize that by not holding everyone accountable their policies, it ruins the experience for a much larger group of people. I believe the 'inconsiderates" are the minority on the ship, but they cause the most headaches (the bad apple ruins the bunch).

 

[Nanaree]

Unfortunately, it's the one problem for which the entire hospitality industry - be it cruise ships, hotels/resorts, etc. - just can't seem to come up with a decent answer. The attitude/mindset of these people who think those chairs are theirs for the entire day, even if they leave for meals or other activities, is...to be blunt...flat-out disgusting. Last time I was on the Fantasy...I went up to the beverage station a couple of mornings for coffee around 7am. I would see only a few other people walking around up there. However, at least 2/3 of the chairs on deck had towels, bags, books/magazines, or other personal belongings on them already. Not a single chair had a person in it. It's kinda sad, really, that these people have an existence where a chair holds this much importance in their lives and causes them to stoop to such tactics. I'm glad we're not a family that likes or wants to spend a lot of time around the pool.

Three words...Lost and Found. We found this to be the case too. We followed the rules and rarely ended up sitting next to the pool because of the chair-saving. Wish I'd thought to have the CM take items to lost and found.

 

[wcw57]

what makes you think CM will just take this stuff to lost and found on your say so? I have no experience with this, but it seems, ummmmmm, unlikely?

 

[Drusilla99]

The only thing that I've noticed on our cruises, and other trips, that bothers me, doesn't really affect me and another poster mentioned it awhile ago. It's when parents yell and are downright nasty sounding to their kids on these trips. Believe me, I know how kids can be, I've been cruising with my teens since they were 2 & 4. It's not always easy, but it can be fun. The amount of yelling that I've heard go on on these vacations doesn't sound like much fun to anyone. When I overhear this happen it's hard to ignore and that's the only reason it has stuck with me.

 

[wombat_5606]

My last cruise in September, I saw a lady sitting at SB in a chair, submerged in the sea and she had a gallon ziploc bag. She proceeded, for more than an hour, to completely fill that bag with seashells. I couldn't contain myself any longer and I mentioned that you are not supposed to do that. She stated that she didn't see a sign, nor had she ever seen it in the Navigator. I'm hoping the security people confiscated them, but I'm doubtful. She looked like she wasn't going to leave them behind just because I was bothered by it and I'm fairly certain she worked on some way to conceal them in case I was correct.

 

[phinz]

It's everywhere. Rally loud music??
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/video/caught-on-camera-airplane-brawl/vi-AAgDgQY

It's Spirit Airlines. Doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

[kid-at-heart]

The only inconsiderate behavior that bugs me when on a ship (or in a hotel) is having my sleep interrupted by people not using their inside voices/feet in the hallways. I have tried earplugs and they just do not do the trick in drowning out all the hallway noise. But mostly, I am just so excited to be on holiday that I am willing to put up with other folk's inconsiderate behavior. Sadly, most of the time, folks are inconsiderate simply because they are unaware of how their behavior is affecting others. When you bring it to their attention, they do try to modify their behavior.

 

[Skiton]

The only thing that I've noticed on our cruises, and other trips, that bothers me, doesn't really affect me and another poster mentioned it awhile ago. It's when parents yell and are downright nasty sounding to their kids on these trips. Believe me, I know how kids can be, I've been cruising with my teens since they were 2 & 4. It's not always easy, but it can be fun. The amount of yelling that I've heard go on on these vacations doesn't sound like much fun to anyone. When I overhear this happen it's hard to ignore and that's the only reason it has stuck with me.

In all fairness, you have no idea what sort of stunts that child has been pulling all day, or how patient the parent might have been up until the point where they lost it. I say this from experience. I love my oldest son more than life itself, but he can be a very challenging child. At his best he's sunny and helpful and enthusiastic, but at his worst...watch out. Our first Disney cruise, when he was six (almost seven), he spent the first two days in such a snit that we couldn't do anything with him. We tried all the "good parent" tricks you can think of. We tried to jolly him out of it, we tried ignoring his behavior, we tried talking seriously to him, reasoning with him, etc. Didn't matter. He was in a bad mood and determined to make everyone else just as miserable as he was. Finally on the second night, he flat-out refused to get dressed to go see "Aladdin." My DH had had enough, and frankly so had I. He said "You can't make me go." DH said "Actually, yes I can" and dressed him like he was a two-year-old. DH then proceeded to take him by the hand and literally drag him to the elevators, then dragged him all the way down the ship to the Walt Disney Theater. He didn't yank him or hurt him, he just kept walking straight ahead with a tight grip on our son's hand. It was actually pretty funny. My son got tired of being dragged while lying like a rag doll and instead stood up and literally dug in his heels. So DH dragged him that way, with his heels skating along the marble floors. And when we got to the theater DH picked him up and sat his bottom in a seat and said "You will sit here and watch the show quietly OR ELSE." Or else what, I don't even know, but my boys generally don't try to find out. And after that we didn't have a single issue with him for the rest of the trip.

My point is that I'll bet there are a lot of people who watched this spectacle and were appalled. They probably thought, "Is that really necessary? You're on vacation! Just have fun, talk to the kid, why drag him and make him do something he doesn't want to do? And who drags their kid around like that, anyway?" But we had had 48 hours of this child thinking he was running the show and being a pill just for the sake of being a pill, and we were done. And you know what? That was the end of it for him, he was a doll after that for the rest of the trip.

I also would like to say that as a parent, sometimes I feel like you can't win. If you don't reprimand your children, you're a lazy parent who's raising entitled brats who are obnoxious and don't behave. If you do discipline them in public, you're an awful parent who is mean and can't even let them enjoy this wonderful vacation.