Just home from the "No Manners" group cruise....

[Pam in CA]

Anecdotal experience only speaking, I've found a higher instance of what I'd consider "rude" out of NY ports. I think part of it is that the attitude (one part arrogance and one part ignorance) is part of the local culture, as is a dog eat dog way of getting ahead. I currently work in NY, and it can occasionally be difficult to be in that negative environment.

This has been my experience as well on cruises with a high percentage of passengers from the NY Metro Area. We used to take a Caribbean cruise every Christmas until we experienced something like OP did and said, "Never again." The next year, we took a Mexican Riviera cruise even though it meant flying completely across the country rather than from New England to FL (I was living in the Boston area at the time) and it was fabulous with mostly very polite people. I grew up just outside of NYC and spent several years living there, and this behavior seemed to be the norm; people thought nothing of it.

 

I'm taking a cruise out of Bayonne in a couple of weeks. It'll be interesting to see whether we see this type of behavior.

[JanetAlice]

I was concerned about leaving from NYC as well. (I was born in Brooklyn but now live in the Capital Region of NY). Not only did it leave out of NYC but it was also a spring break cruise. By in large everyone was very polite. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Luck of the draw.

[chaz2010]

Someone already stated this, so I will go with it as well...

 

The big problem was the area. Brooklyn. And I am not just picking on people from that borough, but from the cities that surround it.

 

I have been on many cruises, and those with an influx of New Yorkers (mostly repositioning cruises) have the highest rate of rudeness.

 

I am going to get slammed for saying this, but I have to from personal experience. It's part of the culture. Definately.

 

Being from New Jersey, it's true that it's more "dog eats dog" kind of world up here. There is a certain attitude and way of life that I can see would shock other people.

 

...but let me emphasize, not all people from this area are like this. However, watch a show like JERSEY SHORE and you can understand the stereotype.

 

Bottom line, there is rudeness all over the world. Perhaps I am picking on my own neck of the woods because I see it all the time compared to other places I have visited.

 

Well I know it looks bad for us from NY/NJ, based on the examples in this thread. But we can't always assume that everyone on the ship is from the home port. When I get on a ship in Seattle of Barcelona, I would imagine most people aren't from there. Although in the case of Brooklyn, it is probably mostly from there. Why would someone fly to New York to go on a cruise to the Caribbean when Florida would be more practical. Well, I would hope at least a few of these people maybe drove in from PA or MD!

 

Whenever we meet and have a bad experience with someone from a a particular palce, we tend to have a negative image of that place. But keep in mind that the opposite is also true. Whenever I meet someone on a cruise and engage in conversation, I try to have the attitude that I am the first person that they have ever met from New York. So if I am pleasant and not rude to them, they might have a better opinion of New York, and not just stick with the stereotypes of Jersey Shore, Housewives, tc. I become angry and frustrated with rude people but remember encounters with kind people for a much longer time!

[mykidsmom]

that being said there are very many wonderful, polite, and considerate people who live and work in ny. And i'm sure that these people cruise out of ny on occasion too!

 

 

 

thank you :)

[califgary]

It seems we always see at least one person with the "Its all about me" attitude as well - all we hope for is that they don't form a club and take a cruise - but I guess they did and went on yours! Yikes.

[flamomo]

The question that comes to my mind is, "how did these people teach their children to be decent human beings?" :confused:

 

They didn't ...... that's why the numbers of rude, mannerless, "me first no matter what" people has grown by leaps and bounds, and they seem to be everywhere these days!! I travel fairly often, and, IMO, no state or city in the US has a corner on them. They are EVERYWHERE!!

[nabau]

I have been on 1 Cunard cruise from NY and enjoyed it immensely. From your write up it seems as the majority of rudeness was with the older crowd and I can relate to that.

On the other hand, my worst experience was on a cruise from the west coast. Absolutley appalled at the obnoxious behavior on that ship, additionally it looked as if the entire ship lost their luggage, worst dress I have ever witnessed. Loads of phony passengers, it made me think twice about cruising again.

Well maybe it wasn't a group cruise per say, but man i have never been on a ship with so many people that were so down right rude and didn't have the most basic manners.

 

I am left wondering how to avoid this "group" of people again. It was a 9 day from Brooklyn. So was it the 9 day'er with the older crowd? Was it Brooklyn with the New York crowd ? Was it Princess ?? Was it East Coast folks?

 

We have sailed Princess and RCL from the left coast and never ran into these rude nasty people. Heck all of our Carnival cruises added together didnt equal this one... maybe it was it just bad luck ?

 

I am sure someone is going to ask for examples... Here you go... EVERY SINGLE Lounger and sitting chair on the Lido inside and out was reserved. If you wanted to find a lounger you were just out of luck. If you wanted a piece of pizza you were eating standing up or in your cabin or on deck 7. I thought about moving some peoples stuff but witnessed a pushing match and almost fist fight.

 

Elevators... First day a women with one of those walkers on wheels enters the Elevator. She doesnt say excuse me or pardon me or anything just rams that walker into people until THEY MOVED out of her way. Once on the elevator rather then asking "Please hit 12" She litterally took her hand and slapped people in her way so she could make her way to the buttons. I cant even count how many times the Elevator doors would open and people would RUSH in before people could even get off the darn elevator. So we had to wait while everyone who JUST rushed on could back off so people could get off.

 

First formal night i excused myself from the dinner table to visit the mens room at the same time the Champagne water fall thingy was going on. A women in a scooter had her husband LITERALLY walking in front of her scooter shoving people out of the way so she could make her way to the dining room. I had left the bathroom and been handed a glass of champagne and was just just turning around to walk back into the dining room when this "gentleman" just shoved me out of his way into the wall. I was FURIOUS! No "excuse me or pardon me" just a shove face first into the wall. Needless to say i wiped the champagne off myself and the wall and turned around to the "gentleman" who shoved me and warned him he better not EVER lay a hand on me again, and if we weren't on a cruise ship he would have been picking himself up off the ground....

 

First stop in Grand Turk....Seems 20% of the passengers experienced a line for their first time in their lives. They were just cutting in where ever they saw fit.

 

San Juan we were waiting for our excursion and the lines were very very long. A elderly women was trying to make her way thru our line and i stopped "traffic" to let her pass thru the line, of course some *(&%^& cut thru and almost knocked me and her over so he could make his way thru the line.

 

One of the sea days some "Lady" was walking thru Horizons CHOWING down on pizza. I told her its not very sanitary to eat IN THE BUFFET LINE to which she replied "F off".. I replied "Wow you are very lady like. Your more hog like then human like as most humans can wait to get to a table to eat while you and hogs eat right at the troth." - By this point i was no longer being polite myself.

 

Disembarkation - Another almost fist fight over the elevators. Security was called and i just shook my head in amazement.

 

Like i said i enjoyed the cruise and not EVERYONE on the ship acted so poorly, but i was just amazed and appalled and if possible would like to avoid that crowd of people again if possible.

[1 HappyCruiser]

Next time choose a cruise that leaves from Fl instead of NY. It really cuts down on the number of New Yorkers & diminishes the problems considerably.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

I thought he Op was talking about my cruise on the Ruby, such a pity,

 

that folks have become so rude to each other,

 

 

yours Shogun

[firefly333]

wow, and I was annoyed with a "gentleman" with my group cruise who was rude this last time.

 

You got me way beat!!! I hope I dont get on a ship with your group. I have seen some HC folks who think everyone should cater to them who think barging onto a elevator without waiting their turn is how its supposed to be, no matter who had been waiting longer.

[Calico Jack Sparrow]

Hey! It's no fair bashing us New Yorkers.

Op, it was just your luck to run into a couple of rude people on your cruise and that's unfortunate.

NY has a lot of people and it gets crowded often. People learn to be a little aggressive, but that's why there's a song that says if you can make here you can make it anywhere. Not all of us are rude. In fact, most of us are not. Please do not catergorize us.

 

We saw plenty of rudeness on our cruise out of San Juan. There were a few Quinceneras going on with fairly large groups of Hispanics. We couldn't even say anything because they didn't speak any english. Sail with 2 or 3 thousand others and you're bound to find more then a couple of idiots. Best advise is to try and ignore them.

 

Personally, I love to show them the same kind of rudeness, but the DW is afraid I'll get hurt by someone. She just gets me another shot of Tequila and forget about it.:D

[euro cruiser]

While the New York location may have something to do with it, I think the more important variable is the number of passengers.

 

Someone in an earlier post lamented the correlation between cruising becoming financially possible for more people and the decline of manners on board. This may be part of the problem as well, but just as all southerners are not bigots, all middle class people are not unmannered boors.

 

However, the behavior of all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, economic status, etc., deteriorates as greater numbers of people compete for scarce resources. It almost doesn't matter if the actual ratio of passengers to lounge chairs is the same on a 5,000 passenger ship as a 400 passenger one, because the perception of scarcity will be greater on the larger ship.

 

Which is all a long winded way of saying sail on the smaller ships if you want to minimize your chances of running into this behavior.

[luddite]

It is absolutely stunning to read about the loutish behavior that so often accompanies a cruise out of New York. It would seem that there must a connection between a shipload of New Yorkers and rude, boorish behavior but for the life of me I am unable to make the connection.

[cruiseron36]

On another note - a few years ago we took a roundtrip Panama Canal cruise from LA - LA. The ship had a majority of Californians aboard. Having anytime dining we met a lot of new people each day, mostly Californians - none of them rude - however - what a bunch of ONE - UPPERS!! We did meet and connect with one couple who were not one uppers and dined with them several times for a change of pace.

[nabau]

While it may cut down on the number of New Yorkers, which, for the record I have no problem with, departing from Florida during non peak months increases the "retirement home" passengers and op listed problems with scooters and walkers. So leaving from FL may be a bigger nightmare.

Next time choose a cruise that leaves from Fl instead of NY. It really cuts down on the number of New Yorkers & diminishes the problems considerably.

[Laurab23]

Max,we were on this cruise too but luckily did not run into any really rude people.We have sailed from NY several times so maybe we are just more used to this type of behavior.I do find the tri state area people to be a little louder and more aggressive in the whole but a dear friend of mine who also went on this cruise is from Long Island and she is in no way like the people you described,so there are good New Yorkers out there!You just never notice them because the others overshadow them.I think in todays society there are rude people everywhere and you ran into all of them on the ship.

I hope you had a good cruise otherwise.We had a great time.

 

Laura

[nybumpkin]

I'm a New Jerseyan by birth, have lived in upstate NY for 25+ years, travel frequently to NYC for business, and have taken 7 cruises out of NYC (#8 in July). Also 6 cruises from Southern ports (#7 coming up in August). I've seen chair hogs on all cruises (even cruises to Canada). I've seen line cutting on all cruises. Elevators? After a while we try to avoid them if we can. The one generalization I can make about we NYers is that we do tend to be in more of a "hurry up" state than others. I do find a faster pace on NY-based ships.

 

The only time I ever saw an actual fight over chairs was on a cruise out of Port Canaveral. On one of our NYC-Canada cruises, we spotted an empty chair near the pool the same time as did another couple. We laughed and, since we all really wanted the chair to stash our towels and shirts, agreed to share the chair. It worked out fine.

[Sapphire723]

Next time choose a cruise that leaves from Fl instead of NY. It really cuts down on the number of New Yorkers & diminishes the problems considerably.

 

It diminishes the NYer problem but seriously increases the unwanted radiation and groping from the TSA problem. Unfortunately, that's why I've been cruising so much lately out of NY and NJ. This coming up cruise out of Brooklyn will be our honeymoon and I only want one person's hands down my pants that week!

 

I wish it were easier to drive to FL. because I do like leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale! I haven't in a few years, though. :mad:

[NJRonbo]

This coming up cruise out of Brooklyn will be our honeymoon and I only want one person's hands down my pants that week!

 

Damn. I just spit out water. That's way too funny. Bravo!

 

You know, New Yorkers and those of us here in the central northeast are very good people. Exceptional people.

 

But, the sterotype is true. We are very much people in a hurry. It is a very fast-paced life here. People do not slow down. There is very little patience and stress runs high.

 

Personally, I woud not want to sail with a ship full of people from my area. I have done it too many times and I have seen actual fights break out on the ships.

 

Unfortunately, like the previous poster, flying is a huge ordeal. To avoid that I have to look at sailing out of Brooklyn. Not something I am necessarily looking forward to.

[IDsailor]

It was a 9 day from Brooklyn.

 

That explains it all.

[sjcruiser]

We saw this on our November cruise on the Explorer out of Bayonne. It was mostly and older crowd, which caused most of the issues with pushing, shoving, and line cutting!!!

[1 HappyCruiser]

It diminishes the NYer problem but seriously increases the unwanted radiation and groping from the TSA problem. Unfortunately, that's why I've been cruising so much lately out of NY and NJ. This coming up cruise out of Brooklyn will be our honeymoon and I only want one person's hands down my pants that week!

 

I wish it were easier to drive to FL. because I do like leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale! I haven't in a few years, though. :mad:

 

We lived in the NE area most of our lives & don't a lot of cruising from NY & Baltimore to Bermuda and I know just the types of people you're talking about in the OP. Given the choice I'd go with the grouping over the typical people leaving from NY. If you have to fly why choose NY and all that goes with it.

[FUN33]

Next time choose a cruise that leaves from Fl instead of NY. It really cuts down on the number of New Yorkers & diminishes the problems considerably.

 

 

Don't bet the bank on the FL Caribbean crowds having better manners. It's just been getting worse every year no matter where your cruise begins in the US.

 

Thankfully, non US departures (Europe - Pacific etc) still have better mannered passengers.

 

We are so grossed out with passengers trying to consume 2X their body weight in 7 days.

[trotti]

I'm taking my first cruise in June. You guys are scaring me (LOL)! While reading the different boards, I like what one cruiser said....the most important thing to take with you is your patience and a sence of humor! But, sometimes, I know, it's easier said than done! (at least for me.) Sounds like it was a patience trying experience.

When I was a kid, my mom always told me, "If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours because they must really need it!" That's what I always try to do with rude people. Sometimes it actually works and they soften up (but, I must admit, not usually). If only every one would follow the golden rule................

[1 HappyCruiser]

Don't bet the bank on the FL Caribbean crowds having better manners. It's just been getting worse every year no matter where your cruise begins in the US.

 

Thankfully, non US departures (Europe - Pacific etc) still have better mannered passengers.

 

We are so grossed out with passengers trying to consume 2X their body weight in 7 days.

 

That's very true but leaving from NY almost guarantees that they'll be a higher percentage on people from NY & you'll notice the difference big time with their pushy attitude. You can spot the typical type on the ship from their behavior in a second.