Rude guests at Officers Q and A? Does it often happen?

We have only done cruise director Q and As before on ther lines and they have always been overwhelmingly positive.

First time we went to an officer's one on the NCL Jade 9-19th August 2017 cruise. Thankfully most guests were lovely and asked good questions but we also got these two little gremlins below which really upset me.

1) First time cruiser (obviously) asked Captain Ingar 'Why weren't we informed about the HOHO bus stopping at a certain time, we got ripped off as we couldn't see anything'. Both the Hotel director and Ingar answered politely but basically said it wasn't affiliated with the cruise line and they would look into it. She huffed and told them they didn't answer the question.

2) An apparently experienced cruiser asked the captain why he hadn't made himself visable earlier on the cruise (like other lines) as it was the last day. Bear in mind he was in the atrium on the 2nd day for a whole hour as advertised and we had some really rough seas he had to cope with. He was polite to her and explained his role while the most of the room gasped and shook their heads at her.

The rest of the room threw compliments at them to counter these two fools but as I am quite in awe of the officers I couldn't believe these guys were showing such disrespect.

Does this often happen at Q and As?

I have seen it happen when a port is missed and the guests don't like the captain's explanation.

There is often some person (trying hard to avoid the idiot/naive/no thinking label) that will ask some question that is just out of line. I do believe some folks travel with some crazy feeling that there are 2000 crew members and maybe only 100 passengers. Therefore all the crew is ready to do whatever the passenger needs - RIGHT NOW.

I often see other passengers just shaking their head. I feel for the crew many times.

Not sure how much of is rude, or naive, or lack of a brain... but I get what you are saying.

When we went to the officers Q and A there were several passengers that were clearly pushing their own agenda and asking inappropriate questions. The only one I recall was a guy that was mad that the ship didn't offer a salt substitute and harped on it for several minutes. Finally one of the officers suggested he bring his own on [emoji6]. But there were a few people doing that which was disappointing since they took up the time from others who had more general questions.

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I've seen it before. It is rare. The questions are usually about something that is completely out of the Captain's control - while he may command the ship, there are decisions that are made fleet-wide and all he can do it implement them (Coke vs Pepsi, for example.) Usually, others will ask other questions to try to derail the one that is on a mission to be heard. That is not always possible.

Maybe calling them fools is a little presumptious of me but their tone just seemed quite malicious on this occasion.

On a more positive note we had several engineers as passengers who asked great questions too. The chief engineer looked positively delighted.

It happens all the time, and this is why the officers, particularly the deck and engine officers, positively hate the Q&A's. I remember one Latitudes reception, and this boob comes up to the Staff Captain, and says "so you're a Captain wanna-be?". I had to put a hand on Staff's arm to keep him from throwing the glass of seltzer in this guy's face.

There is often some person (trying hard to avoid the idiot/naive/no thinking label) that will ask some question that is just out of line. I do believe some folks travel with some crazy feeling that there are 2000 crew members and maybe only 100 passengers. Therefore all the crew is ready to do whatever the passenger needs - RIGHT NOW.

 

I often see other passengers just shaking their head. I feel for the crew many times.

 

Not sure how much of is rude, or naive, or lack of a brain... but I get what you are saying.

Well said.(y).......Yes--sadly it happens sometimes...and I have cringed at a few questions/comments ...it is so rude and unfair to the staff .

That is why I always cringe when cruising after a policy change that some on here are negative about and folks tell them to bring it up at the meet and greet. This only puts the officers in a bad situation, because they don't make the policies, they just enforce them. So far it hasn't happend at any of the meet and greets I've attended, but if it ever does, I'll just get up and walk out, because I don't want the officers to think that I condone of this kind of behavior.

That is why I always cringe when cruising after a policy change that some on here are negative about and folks tell them to bring it up at the meet and greet. This only puts the officers in a bad situation, because they don't make the policies, they just enforce them. So far it hasn't happend at any of the meet and greets I've attended, but if it ever does, I'll just get up and walk out, because I don't want the officers to think that I condone of this kind of behavior.

That's one of the reasons that I'd never attend a CC meet n greet

I always love those Q&A sessions. So far I haven't seen anything like that. Not sure why people would ask questions that only NCL could do anything about. I really do think some people are just jerks and feel entitled to anything they want.

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Gosh, I've always had a good time at the Q&A sessions. Whether with Senior Staff or, once, with some of the entertainers. I've learned about individual backgrounds, some detail of the ship, and fun stuff like there really is a morgue and holding cells.

I've thought about asking things like "what happened to the smoked salmon at breakfast" and "why are there no pickles to go with my hamburger" (seriously) but I found a way to ask those sorts of questions privately rather than in front of an audience. I don't expect the crew to be rude to me so I certainly don't want to be rude to them.

They didn't even answer my question about where is the elevator that goes to the front of the ship, but maybe they were too busy.:halo:

We have only done cruise director Q and As before on ther lines and they have always been overwhelmingly positive.

 

 

First time we went to an officer's one on the NCL Jade 9-19th August 2017 cruise. Thankfully most guests were lovely and asked good questions but we also got these two little gremlins below which really upset me.

 

 

1) First time cruiser (obviously) asked Captain Ingar 'Why weren't we informed about the HOHO bus stopping at a certain time, we got ripped off as we couldn't see anything'. Both the Hotel director and Ingar answered politely but basically said it wasn't affiliated with the cruise line and they would look into it. She huffed and told them they didn't answer the question.

 

 

2) An apparently experienced cruiser asked the captain why he hadn't made himself visable earlier on the cruise (like other lines) as it was the last day. Bear in mind he was in the atrium on the 2nd day for a whole hour as advertised and we had some really rough seas he had to cope with. He was polite to her and explained his role while the most of the room gasped and shook their heads at her.

 

The rest of the room threw compliments at them to counter these two fools but as I am quite in awe of the officers I couldn't believe these guys were showing such disrespect.

 

Does this often happen at Q and As?

Some people are just hard to please and some people don't respect boundaries. Gosh we even find that in these forums. It takes all kinds.

I bet that was uncomfortable to witness.

Maybe calling them fools is a little presumptious of me but their tone just seemed quite malicious on this occasion.

 

On a more positive note we had several engineers as passengers who asked great questions too. The chief engineer looked positively delighted.

Aw, I would have loved that. One of the few Q&As I've attended onboard was supposed to be for tech/engineering questions (I believe it was with the chief engineer), and it started with someone asking "how much did the boat cost" and went downhill from there.

Yeah it was quite uncomfortable, especially as the HOHO bus complaint was the first question of the session. Thankfully it was followed by a young child asking 'Where does all the poo and wee go'. To lighten the mood the officers answered in jest about magic and the cruise director explained they put in glasses, turned in blue and stuck an umbrella in it and sold it as drink of the day before the chief engineer gave the true answer.

Come to think of it...there were quite a lot of envionmental questions too which were definately more tricky to answer for the guys but good nonetheless.

On our last cruise at the Q&A someone asked the captain what his salary was and also wanted to know the salaries of all the other staff on the ship! :rolleyes:

Some people are just hard to please and some people don't respect boundaries. Gosh we even find that in these forums.

Lord, isn't this the truth!

My favorite question from a Captain Q&A is from about 10 years ago on a Royal Caribbean ship - I think it was Rhapsody of the Seas. The guy asked the captain...."This ship's draft is only 26 feet. So that's all there is under the water, and there's like a 10 story building on top. Why doesn't she tip over when the wind blows hard and the seas are rough?"

The Captain shook his head and responded with a grin, "Hell if I know!"

Then when the laughter died down, he explained how all the really heavy stuff was in the bottom of the ship. It turned out to be a very informative answer, we all learned a lot, and had a good laugh as well. Gotta love a quick-thinking Captain with a good sense of humor...

Judy

We were on the Sun last month and loved the officer Q & A's. This was our first NCL cruise, after 5 on Disney (who I don't believe offers this) and we really enjoyed it. Things did take a turn at one point, though. There was a man who started rambling on about not being served his frozen margarita at the show the prior night as it was too close to the beginning of the show. He just kept going on and on (I believe he had finally gotten a margarita or two prior to the Q & A!!). It was embarrassing and uncomfortable for everyone. The hotel director handled it with grace, by asking the man to meet with him after the session was over.

I wasn't paying attention, but my son saw both the hotel director and the cruise director speak with the man afterwards. He said they had a nice, long conversation and the man finally left. But just after he left the room, both the HD and CD burst out laughing. Kudos to them for maintaining their composure for as long as they did!! :cool:

That's one of the reasons that I'd never attend a CC meet n greet

I always love those Q&A sessions.

So far I haven't seen anything like that. Not sure why people would ask questions that only NCL could do anything about.

I really do think some people are just jerks and feel entitled to anything they want.

I like to watch the Staff "cringe".

:evilsmile:

I was at one M&G where someone kept on keeping on about a personal problem; it was a horrific experience. If I want to raise something of a personal nature I do it in private with the officer concerned, I wish other people would do the same.

In 2014, we were on a Western Med. cruise on the Jade, and most of us on the roll call had become quite friendly, making many tour plans. We also had an informal meet and greet, so when the official M&G came around, we were surprised to see a few unfamiliar faces, and when questioned in a friendly way by our coordinator, they were evasive about what their CC handle was. They capitalized the crew Q&A, and behaved rudely, complaining about everything. It kind of ruined our experience, and ticked everyone in our group off. We never really discovered whether they were actually members of our roll call, lurkers or just weirdo complainers who saw people going into the room and followed us in. I have seen sign up sheets at meet and greets since then, and that is probably why.

I enjoy the Q&A's as well. Always informative. I only remember one time where someone complained to the captain about his cabin and just wouldn't stop. Of course, he made everyone cringe and people muttering unpleasantries. The cruise director who was hosting stepped in and handled it as well as she could.

I like to watch the Staff "cringe".

:evilsmile:

I SO hope you are attempting to be funny. Your comment made me "cringe".

That's one of the reasons that I'd never attend a CC meet n greet

Ditto. Although it sometimes fascinates me who might be behind a certain nickname.