What are your funniest, or strangest interactions with ship personnel?

[arewethereyet]

The funniest ones to me are the verbal tangles when passengers don't grasp that English speaking staff don't necessarily understand American English idioms and slang. I've had to control my laughter at some of the miscommunications at the buffets and the omelette station.

 

The strangest interaction for me was when my room steward asked me why I didn't like him. Up till that point I couldn't have picked him out of a lineup. Anyway, I felt bad that he thought I didn't like him (very puzzling to me). So, a few days later we had a very rough passage near Nova Scotia. Our room steward actually looked green. The guy was really sick. I made a big fuss about how he was feeling, and went out of my way to look him up and ask how he was doing, when he was feeling better. I still don't know what made him feel like I didn't like him.

 

I also had a sommeliers' assistant that got my wine order wrong three times before the sommelier came over and got the correct wine. On the third wrong wine, I actually pointed on the wine list to the wine. The young lady repeated what the name of the wine was (correctly), and still brought the wrong one.

[mousey]

My strangest interaction with a crew member was on my first cruise when I was 19, I'm 64 now. I was traveling with my girlfriend who was also 19. In those days (around 1965 this was) you didn't have to be 21 or with someone 21 to cruise alone. Anyway, there was an Italian band that was playing every night in one of the dance clubs. The guitar player fell in love with me and followed me all over the ship when he wasn't playing. He would be waiting for me when I came back from excursions, etc. Nice long walks at night on the ship. Then about 3 nights into the cruise after he got done playing he tells me he asks me to walk with him to his room because he needs to change out of his uniform. I'm like okay. Duh! When we get to his room he wants me to go inside and I'm like no I'll wait out here thank you very much. He got so mad and never spoke to me again the rest of the cruise. So much for being in love with me! LOL:D However, in all the years since then that I've cruised, I've never, ever, had a bad experience with any crew or staff member of any kind. I love cruising.:D

[Harry and Lucille]

A few years ago, we cruised on a brand new ship. Second sailing. Our cabin was an inside and directly below the Captains quarters. He was on board for the first four sailings with other corporate officers to evaluate all aspects of the ship. The Captain spent a great deal of his time roaming around the ship with his typical plastic smile, shaking hands and chatting with the guests to gain insight as to their feelings. Shortly after sailaway, I was going down on the elevator and the Captain got on. We shook hands. I told him where my cabin was and jovially said that if he ever needed input on the bridge from a passenger, just stomp on the deck three times and I would be right up. We bumped into each other several times during the week. The best came the last evening of the cruise. My wife and I were walking to the elevator to go to dinner. She didn't notice, however I did. The Captain was right behind us. I told her in a loud voice that what I was wearing might not fit the dress code and that if the Captain saw me, he might throw me off of the ship at the next port. The Captain coughed. My wife turned around and the Captain was shaking his head yes. She almost fainted. On the elevator, we shook hands and I gave the Captain a token of my appreciation for the great cruise. A small key chain with a small compass attached. First real smile that I had seen from him. ;)

[Dayenu]

My strangest was when I asked the asst waiter for decaf. I don't think I needed a lecture from her that decaf has some caffeine in it. I just said, forget it, and went for dessert for coffee. In the survey form asked to train the waiters better without using names.

[cruisinnewbie26]

On the third day of a nine day cruise my stateroom attendant hit on me. I turned him down and he never did it again but it got awkward for me whenever he was around, especially if I just so happened to be alone in the room when he came knocking. It's a shame because he was so nice and hard-working but I just couldn't get comfortable around him after that. :(

[patatie]

I've had a few staff hit on me...it just gets so awkward! One was a waiter from the MDR. One night I was on deck by myself calling my bf (who obviously wasn't on the cruise with me)...and he came up and stood there and listened to the WHOLE CONVERSATION and stared at me the whole time! It totally gave me the creeps. Afterwards he said he had been just "watching over me" to make sure I was ok. To make matters worse, his attention became soooo obvious that my whole family started teasing me about him (they had no idea about the night time incident)! I had to stop being "nice" to him (as I generally was with the rest of the cruise staff/passengers) and ignore him totally.

 

And...this one didn't happen to me, but to a friend of mine. I thought it was pretty funny. It was on her first cruise, which she took with her mother who uses a wheelchair. A younger couple approached her and asked if she wanted to go for a drink with them. Her mother urged her on, not wanting to hold her back from enjoying herself on their first cruise. So they went to a bar where someone was playing a guitar. They asked her "So...do you play?" to which she responded "no, but I've had this guitar around for ages and I've really been meaning to learn..." she trailed off as she noticed a confused look on their faces. Then she got it: "Oh, you didn't mean the guitar, did you!" And then they invited her up to their room (which she declined)

[patatie]

The funniest ones to me are the verbal tangles when passengers don't grasp that English speaking staff don't necessarily understand American English idioms and slang. I've had to control my laughter at some of the miscommunications at the buffets and the omelette station.

 

I would say the same about Aussie slang!

[breeze123]

On our last cruise our cabin attendant would magically appear every time we came down the hallway or exited or room. He would just pop out of nowhere and greet us by name. It was great service, but ended up being a big joke to see if we could get in or out of our room without seeing him. Never did happen!

[GlendaleCruiser]

Habby Birdie Two Shoes, Habby Birdie Two Shoes, Habby Birdie, Habby Birdie, Habby Birdie Two Shoes.............................:D

[MMMD]

We attended the Captains cocktail party and met the Captain and a few Officers.

 

The next day we were looking for a table in the buffet and the Captain and 2 Officers waved us over to sit with them.

 

Just as I picked up my glass, one of the Officers noticed it was leaking. He jumped up, took my glass and got me a new drink.

 

When he came back the Captain joked that he was pretty good at that and maybe he should spend more time in the buffet.:rolleyes:

 

I certainly never expected a ships Officer to take my cracked glass and get me a refill. After that, whenever we saw him around the ship, he always asked if he could get me a drink.:)

[not2old]

We were on the Explorer in April this past year and had the strangest room steward(?stewardess??) We never saw her on sailaway day, no turndown at night and we had to get the next days Compass off a cart in the hall! The next morning at 8am, she let herself in unannounced and proceeded to tell us what her hours were and that she was available only during those hours so don't try to contact her! She also did the bare minimum in cleaning and never picked up our towels or gave us new ones. When we got back to the cabin after 10:30pm, the room looked the same, no towels, cabin not tided at all. We then went to hotel mgt and had them come to our cabin. We never saw this woman again on our cruise and her replacement was awesome!! This is the only time we've ever had this type of experience, but it does pay to complain if it happens to you...

[shof515]

in 2009 on the miracle, when i was walking to my cabin some crew member said hello,(myname). It was not my cabin steward or waiter, or a crew member i never seen. That was was creepy

[gingerboo]

Where's the link to the infamous "room sorbice" spiel? I'm too dumb to find it:p.

[Harry and Lucille]

Two years ago, we took our extended family on their first cruise. When my eldest son and his wife arrived at their cabin, everything looked good, however, they noticed that the bed had been thrown together and was rumpled. On a closer look, they found that the sheets were dirty and well used. My son made one phone call and within a few minutes, the Captain, First Officer and three other ships officers were at the door. They did a total inspection, took copious notes. As they left, the Captain offered sincere apologies plus gave them a $100 obc. Never found out what happened after that, but then they had what could only be described as the best service on the ship. :cool:

[Happy ks]

Where's the link to the infamous "room sorbice" spiel? I'm too dumb to find it:p.

 

 

That one was amusing to read. However, I'm always amazed how many people of different nationalities onboard have learned to speak English. And I hardly know any of their language except maybe hello and thank you. And cuss words ;)

[ChrisB123]

No story from me, but I enjoy reading others. I hope more people post. :D

[gord13]

Last year on our very first cruise we did the prepayed tip up front but I tipped our cabin guy $20 on our first day (I told him that I was always in need of ice) and ice was always there. I took a nap and woke up and of course needed ice, I pick up the phone he answers and I ask if I could have some Ice, he tells me open the door. So i open the door and he is standing there with ice. Freaky but cool. On the negative side I'm still waking up and standing in the door way with nothing on. He hands me the ice bucket and without even batting an eye tells me to hold the bucket low. I gave him another 20 bucks later for the retinal damage he must have suffered.

[texaridian]

On our last cruise, I noticed that our Assistant Waiter's fly wasn't zipped all of the way up. I debated with myself as to whether or not to say anything to him. I figured if it was me, I'd want someone to say something circumspectly so that I could fix the issue. Anyway, I asked him what his mother was like. He replied that she was a lot like me. So I told him to pretend for just a minute that I was his mother. Then I leaned close and whispered to him that his fly was down about an inch. He replied, "Oh, the Monster likes to get some fresh air." It cracked me up and now we laugh about the Monster.

 

Carol

[GlendaleCruiser]

That one was amusing to read. However, I'm always amazed how many people of different nationalities onboard have learned to speak English. And I hardly know any of their language except maybe hello and thank you. And cuss words ;)

 

 

Well, if I went to another country to work I would learn the language there. Plus, it is a requirement of their job that they speak, read, write English.

[mr green]

One time at lunch a lady asked the waiter what a Swiss carrot was. The waiter drew himself up to his full height, and replied, 'Madam, the carrot is an underground vegetable--'

It may have been that he wished to continue, but, at this point, I am afraid that I lost it.

 

john

[stowaway2k]

Usually, being seated at a "hosted" table, one at which a senior officer is hosting, is a big plus. Free wine, extra-attentive service... there's nothing wrong with that.On this cruise, my table was hosted by the ship's doctor. He had with him his wife and son.

Perhaps the good doctor and the missus were going through a rough patch in their marriage, perhaps this cruise was meant to patch things up... but...

Nearly every night the two of them argued at the dinner table. When they weren't arguing, the doctor's mood was foul enough for tension to be present throughout the meal.

The rest of us at the table, a table for eight, had become very uncomfortable. We sort of banded together with a "we'll get through this together" attitude. The five of us had become very friendly together and did not want to split up to other tables throughout the dining room. So, we "band of brothers (and sisters)" weathered the storm of the doctor's rocky marriage, and drank all the free wine we could for the two weeks we were together....

[arewethereyet]

Years ago, on American Hawaii's Constitution, we had beds that swung out of the bulkhead and locked down. Well, my wife went to bed and the locking mechanism failed. So, she folded right up into the wall. It was even funny at the time. It was like watching an old Ma and Pa Kettle movie. The staff was very apologetic (the mechanism had been malfunctioning for some time). Anyway, they rigged up some way to keep it down, but you couldn't fold it up anymore. That was a weird ship. I'm not a fat guy. At the time I weighed about 170 at 6'. If you dropped the soap in the shower, you had to step out of the enclosure to pick it up. That was the tightest shower stall I have ever seen.

 

We got a lot of laughs out of that cruise.