Defending cruise ship staff

I just got off of an Alaskan cruise 3 days ago. I am handicapped and for disembarkation I had to go to the Schooner Lounge for a wheelchair. The night before the colored and numbered luggage tags arrived with a full explanation for disembarking, either handicapped or on your own.

 

I arrived at the lounge 45 minutes before my time. The crew member added me to the list and explained when they called my number he would get me a chair.

 

At this time a woman walked up with her handicapped husband. The crew member explained she was number 25 and her time was 9 am. The woman started screaming at him, she had to make the cruise shuttle bus to the airport, her fight was at 2 pm (it was 745 am) and they wouldn't make it. He tried to explain that she would be on the 10 am bus to the airport giving her over 3 hours. She continued to yell, finally getting tired of yelling and sat down.

 

Several more passengers signed in and started the disembarking process. The crew member called 1 through 4 and she jumped up. He explained that she was 25 and she would have to wait. Again, more yelling.

 

I had enough and took my instructions over to her and showed her what it said and that she would make her flight. I told her that the crew member had no control over what numbers and when they would be called and she was making it uncomfortable for all the handicapped passengers. Her husband looked at me and then told her to sit down.

 

The crew member and many passengers thanked me.

 

I know I probably shouldn't have said any thing but she was making me uncomfortable so I did. If there had been a supervisor anywhere in the vicinity I would have gotten them.

 

 

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Well done.

What would I do? Pull out my IPhone and film the abusive encounter. Then post it on YouTube and let the public shaming begin.

great idea!

A very interesting report, Slidergirl. Thank you for taking the time to share your insight.

 

I was totally unaware or the "pre-flagging" capability that you mentioned, but such a capability makes perfect sense. Being the operations-oriented person that I am, I started wondering about the most obvious difficulty with this--i.e., you can't just go by name. How do you know that the Joe Brown whether you just flagged in Los Angeles is the same Joe Brown who has a reservation in New York next week? One obvious easy answer, of course, is if the evil Joe Brown is a member of your company's "Loyalty" program. You know his number, and, most asuredly, he gives his number every time he makes a reservation.

That is a big part of it - the blowhards usually belong to a loyalty program. But, there is a profile attached to each guest. You can find by name, filter by address, email, phone. And, reservations usually has a "past guest" kind of flag if booked through reservations. Even my little hotel now has a "guest type" - assign a letter for Social guest, Group Guest, VIP, Package, and "Difficult Guest" for the profile. It shows up on the reservation.

Speaking of boors - I got to ask a guest to leave last night... I knew in advance I'd have to do it (scamming us - booked 1 night, had CC good to pay for the night, came down and asked the AM team to extend the stay, CC failed to charge on the overnight audit, no alternative means to pay). I called Security and asked that someone be at the FD at a certain time to "assist" if needed. Fortunately, the "guest" left quietly. Times like that make me wish I wasn't a Manager on Duty...

More very interesting insights. Thank you, very much, Slidergirl.

There was a particularly upsetting incident in the nightclub on the Navigator of the Seas just last week. A group of 4 men would be at this venue every night and would put lots of requests to the DJ, which were always played. What they wanted to hear did not really fit in with the "vibe" of the nightclub but they would be played nonetheless..... the result of which would be every time- the dance floor would empty while their songs were on. On the night in question, one of the men started arguing with the DJ because either his song hadn't been played (or he had missed it - I am unsure)... and he accused the DJ of holding all sorts of prejudices. The DJ snapped in a big way, turned his music off and put the house lights on and was very very upset at the accusations these guests were throwing his way. Well, the entire night club stopped, all sorts of security was called up - and the DJ went back to playing his set to an entire room (minus 4 men) chanting "Tic-Tok"....

I'm going to go out on a limb and make a big confession. I have been one of THOSE people. Tired and cranky, I have been known to snap and say something rude to some poor person just trying to do their jobs. Or sometimes, someone who was trying to NOT do their jobs. I don't take to well to being pushed around and this includes certain rules that exist only "because". Or people who come up to me trying to sell me something.

No one is better than anyone else, everyone is dealing with something, blah, blah, blah. Bad behavior is bad behavior. If you're OK with your own bad behavior, fine. I am not.

Years ago I made a rule for myself. If I lose it and say something I regret I have to go back and apologize to the person I said it to. This helps a lot, partly because it's embarrassing to admit I was wrong and partly because I'm just lazy enough to not want to walk back to the "scene of the crime". Mostly because it's just not right.

Having said all that, to me there is a big difference between being short and cranky with someone and being blatantly rude and mean. The first can be more or less ignored as a character flaw. Or maybe just being human, met with eye rolls and big sighs. I might just say to that person, "someone needs a nap".

Going out of your way to berate another human being is a totally different thing. Not only cowardly, but irresponsible. I'm not sure what I would do. But having such a big mouth to begin with, I might just tell them to "shut up before someone drops a house on you".

Folks who comment here, must have never worked with the public, it simply comes with the territory. In today's instant everything... it is a bit worse... those of us who do work with the public develop skills to deal with it, I am sure cruise staff do too. Probably one of the reasons they are rotated -- some jobs are better than others.

Folks who comment here, must have never worked with the public, it simply comes with the territory. In today's instant everything... it is a bit worse... those of us who do work with the public develop skills to deal with it, I am sure cruise staff do too. Probably one of the reasons they are rotated -- some jobs are better than others.

Just because someone is good at dealing with it does not mean its right.

As a teacher I have just had to gently explain to a pair of quite mouthy and 'entitled' parents why their daughter (who worked her way through the schools behaviour system to its extreme level in various ways) cannot go on an upcoming trip. Got some stick for it but holding my ground....apparently she has to go because its all shes been talking about this week.

I've been reading the threads and have noticed that there are a few comments from people who have noticed travellers being rude, entitled and disrespectful towards the cruise ship staff.

 

It really makes me visualize what I would do if I saw that happening. If you saw this happening, would you say anything? Have you said anything?

Seems too confrontational to put my mouth in to their interaction. Crew on ships are adult people. They don't need an 'old lady guest' or any guest inserting themselves into their work situattion. I would mind my own b usiness. NOT TO MENTION YOU MAY HAVE ENTEREd the situation late. Who know s what went on before you wer e there? I would keep my mouth shut.

I think it depends on the situation, if it was a group situation like sharing a table at dinner and someone was being rude I would say something. I don't like to see someone one being treated fairly.

If it was someone in front of me at guest services I would just commiserate with the person.

If someone was being outrageous I would volunteer to be a witness for whom ever was being abused.

If it was just an angry comment or two, I would ignore. I have no idea what has happened to the person. Everyone has bad days, there could have been a series of events before the one you are witnessing, it could be the straw that broke the camels back.

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I meant unfairly, lol

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I suspect that cruiselines have notes on difficult guests.

We once shared a dinner table with two passengers who could be called "rascals". Never offensive, rude, or destructive, but they liked to play the game: Book handicap cabin though not handicapped, complain about things to get upgrades, etc.

When they did the galley tour, they walked into a crew area, and found photos of themselves on the wall.

I caught the end of a passenger berating a crew member on a previous cruise (maybe I have been lukcy in that it hadn't happened before). I didn't witness the whole incident, which seemed to be related to where the 'gentleman' wanted to sit in the theatre. He went off grumbling and I asked the crew member if she was OK. A moment later the 'gentleman' repeared to ask me what I had said and tell me to mind my own :(

Folks who comment here, must have never worked with the public, it simply comes with the territory. In today's instant everything... it is a bit worse... those of us who do work with the public develop skills to deal with it, I am sure cruise staff do too. Probably one of the reasons they are rotated -- some jobs are better than others.

Being able to deal with the rudeness of others does not make those others less rude. Sure, people learn to deal.......people can learn to deal with all kinds of bad circumstances. So what?

Being able to deal with the rudeness of others does not make those others less rude. Sure, people learn to deal.......people can learn to deal with all kinds of bad circumstances. So what?

It seems to me you meet bullys in all walks of life who always get away with it until people stand up to them.

I caught the end of a passenger berating a crew member on a previous cruise (maybe I have been lukcy in that it hadn't happened before). I didn't witness the whole incident, which seemed to be related to where the 'gentleman' wanted to sit in the theatre. He went off grumbling and I asked the crew member if she was OK. A moment later the 'gentleman' repeared to ask me what I had said and tell me to mind my own :(

Did he have a point?

I wonder a bout all of you who say you would confront the rude guest. If and when, one of them gets violent and tells you to mind your business, how many of you would be looking for ;'compensation from the cruise line, especially if said rude person gets physical?

Did he have a point?

 

 

 

 

I wonder a bout all of you who say you would confront the rude guest. If and when, one of them gets violent and tells you to mind your business, how many of you would be looking for ;'compensation from the cruise line, especially if said rude person gets physical?

It usually only gets physical IMO if that person has had too much to drink.

The only reason i wouldn't get physical is i don't want to be ejected from the ship unless it was self defense.

It usually only gets physical IMO if that person has had too much to drink.

The only reason i wouldn't get physical is i don't want to be ejected from the ship unless it was self defense.

How many instances of people who are inebriated getting into altercations do you think happen ?

the people who get drunk and then fight are the worst.

I guess my feeling is that the type of person who isn't afraid to stand up and speak against the bad treatment of another is not usually the type of person who would then try and pull something like that with the cruise line. Maybe I'm naïve though.

I think I'm just one of those people who are in the minority here. I don't know. I totally get that you can't make a leopard change his spots. And I get that putting yourself into the situation could escalate it further. And I understand that people in the service industry deal with this every day. It's part of the job. I know this. I've been in customer service for over 20 years so I've had my fair share of verbal abuse that I cannot react to as I'd like to. And I know that getting involved in one of these situations may not always be the best choice.

That said.......I'm sorry, I can't help it.......If I am witnessing someone, be a staff member, or someone in the service industry or anything like that being unnecessarily berated or verbally abused , I am simply unable to NOT say something. It's just not in me to stay quiet about it.

Like someone said, they may not change, but sometimes they need SOMEONE to call them out on it. And sometimes, just sometimes, one person speaking up against a wrong gives others the courage to do the same. Sometimes "it starts with one" Obviously my goal would never be to make the situation worse. And I'm sure that there are times where it's best if I just keep my small stature and big mouth out of it. But good Lord, I simply cannot watch someone being abused that way and not have the common decency to stand up for them and say something. I just can't. :(

I guess my feeling is that the type of person who isn't afraid to stand up and speak against the bad treatment of another is not usually the type of person who would then try and pull something like that with the cruise line. Maybe I'm naïve though.

 

I think I'm just one of those people who are in the minority here. I don't know. I totally get that you can't make a leopard change his spots. And I get that putting yourself into the situation could escalate it further. And I understand that people in the service industry deal with this every day. It's part of the job. I know this. I've been in customer service for over 20 years so I've had my fair share of verbal abuse that I cannot react to as I'd like to. And I know that getting involved in one of these situations may not always be the best choice.

 

That said.......I'm sorry, I can't help it.......If I am witnessing someone, be a staff member, or someone in the service industry or anything like that being unnecessarily berated or verbally abused , I am simply unable to NOT say something. It's just not in me to stay quiet about it.

Like someone said, they may not change, but sometimes they need SOMEONE to call them out on it. And sometimes, just sometimes, one person speaking up against a wrong gives others the courage to do the same. Sometimes "it starts with one" Obviously my goal would never be to make the situation worse. And I'm sure that there are times where it's best if I just keep my small stature and big mouth out of it. But good Lord, I simply cannot watch someone being abused that way and not have the common decency to stand up for them and say something. I just can't. :(

Record, report and let the professionals handle it. Unless it is your fight, you are there to cruise. You are not there to play the role of World Police to right a wrong on your own.

Record, report and let the professionals handle it. Unless it is your fight, you are there to cruise. You are not there to play the role of World Police to right a wrong on your own.

Record, report and let the professionals handle it. Unless it is your fight, you are there to cruise. You are not there to play the role of World Police to right a wrong on your own.

You are right, security are trained and paid to take care of unnecessary altercations.

Record, report and let the professionals handle it. Unless it is your fight, you are there to cruise. You are not there to play the role of World Police to right a wrong on your own.

Very good point - while there is a temptation to offer support to someone being abused, the sad fact is that the more such support is needed, the more likely it is that the one offering support will also be abused - possibly physically.

if it is serious, seek help; if minor, offer comfort.

Record, report and let the professionals handle it. Unless it is your fight, you are there to cruise. You are not there to play the role of World Police to right a wrong on your own.

:D Gonna get myself a shirt that says "World Police" on it LOL

Seriously though, you aren't wrong. The logical part of me knows that. The other part of me though.....the "speak for those who cannot" part, is a little difficult to keep under control I'm afraid.

My husband would agree with you word for word. In fact, he'd probably turn to me and say, "See, I told you"

:D Gonna get myself a shirt that says "World Police" on it LOL

 

Seriously though, you aren't wrong. The logical part of me knows that. The other part of me though.....the "speak for those who cannot" part, is a little difficult to keep under control I'm afraid.

 

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Yes, it can be hard. Some UN peacekeepers came home with PTSD because they witnessed all kind of atrocities against helpless civilians and couldn't do a thing to help the victims.