Unpleasant Experience in the Windjammer on Enchantment

[teamfour]

I wanted to share this experience only because I think it shows how non-action by management can allow a situation to get out of hand. No it did not ruin our vacation, but it certainly made for an awkward evening.

 

We were eating in the Windjammer when two couples sat down at the table right next to us. After a few minutes, one of the gentleman, who had obviously had a little too much to drink, started saying very loudly (loud enough for about one-quarter of the restaurant to hear) that he was Woody Woodpecker. He then started describing body parts and other physical actions in a very graphic way. Let me say I am nowhere prudish, but I even found this to be extreme for the setting. This went on for about 10 minutes and I bit my tongue the whole time. His other table mates looked uncomfortable but made a weak attempt to quiet him down. We know the wait staff heard all of this because they kept looking at him in astonishment.

 

At about the 10 minute mark, the gentleman called over one of the female staff and asked her if she would prefer her man to be Woody Woodpecker or Superman; he went on to graphically describe what the attributes would be for each. She just laughed but did not answer. At this point I had enough. I called the young lady over to my table to 1) remove her from a situation that she was uncomfortable with, and 2) to request that she send the manager over. At this point the gentleman started verbally attacking me with foul language and anatomical descriptions. Again, I never opened my mouth.

 

We are now about fifteen minutes into this situation. The waitress came back and told me the manager was busy doing something else and that he would be by later. She then suggested that we move to another table! I refused and asked her to have the offending party move. The whole time I am still be verbally attacked. About this time two other gentleman approached the jerk (yes, I'm done calling him a gentleman) and asked him to be quiet because their children were sitting nearby and could hear the whole event. The jerk told him to go away and started verbally abusing them as well in a very ugly manner. The two guests continued to ask him to be quiet but finally gave up and left the Windjammer with families in tow.

 

A second waiter came by and suggested we move. Again I refused. At this time, after 20 minutes of this, the offending man and his group got up and left. The waitress came over to apologize and say that the manager would be right over and that security had been called to follow the man out of the Windjammer.

 

The manager never did show up. I then went to guest relations to file a complaint. I stated that although I was disgusted with the actions of the guest, I was more disappointed with the non-actions of the staff. I realize that the wait staff should not be put in a position to handle that kind of situation. However, they should have notified management after a few minutes of the event, and most certainly the female staff involved should have done something immediately after the guest asked her the inappropriate question. Even more, I was totally amazed at the failure of the manager to not come to our table. There is nothing that could have been more important other than someone dying that should have prevented him from addressing the situation.

 

Guest relations apologized and said they would have the manager call me. One and a half days later I received a voice mail from the manager saying that if I still wanted to discuss the matter I could find him in the Windjammer. No apology was offered.

 

At this point I decided not to pursue that matter.

 

I'm sure that this is an isolated management issue, but I did want to post it here, I guess just to get it off my chest.

 

Thanks for "listening".

[debache]

The manager should be called out on this....it is the manager's job to take care of these situations, 1st by speaking to the drunk and 2nd by notifying security.....no excuses not to speak to you when requested (even if the manager could not have, at least a supervisor who could rectify the situation)....I encourage you to at least file a complaint with the corporate office...

[HardWorker49]

Funny you should say this. I just got off the oasis this am and while I didn't have an experience even close to what you describe, I did observe a couple of situations where it became evident to me that the personnel on th ship really do not have much authority to handle unruly situations. In one situation, an intoxicated guy was repeatedly doing bellyflops in one of the pools on the deck. Security spoke with him at length asking him to stop both for his safety and for the safety of the people in the pool. The guy defiantly walked away from the security guards and proceeded to do another bellyflops. The reaction of the security guards was to merely shoe their heads and walk away!

 

I think the goal of the ship crew is to make everyone happy so they can sell more liquor and get repeat customers. If they come down hard on people who are out of control after drinking too much word may get out and that could hurt business. Just my opinion

[teajak]

I wanted to share this experience only because I think it shows how non-action by management can allow a situation to get out of hand. No it did not ruin our vacation, but it certainly made for an awkward evening.

 

We were eating in the Windjammer when two couples sat down at the table right next to us. After a few minutes, one of the gentleman, who had obviously had a little too much to drink, started saying very loudly (loud enough for about one-quarter of the restaurant to hear) that he was Woody Woodpecker. He then started describing body parts and other physical actions in a very graphic way. Let me say I am nowhere prudish, but I even found this to be extreme for the setting. This went on for about 10 minutes and I bit my tongue the whole time. His other table mates looked uncomfortable but made a weak attempt to quiet him down. We know the wait staff heard all of this because they kept looking at him in astonishment.

 

At about the 10 minute mark, the gentleman called over one of the female staff and asked her if she would prefer her man to be Woody Woodpecker or Superman; he went on to graphically describe what the attributes would be for each. She just laughed but did not answer. At this point I had enough. I called the young lady over to my table to 1) remove her from a situation that she was uncomfortable with, and 2) to request that she send the manager over. At this point the gentleman started verbally attacking me with foul language and anatomical descriptions. Again, I never opened my mouth.

 

We are now about fifteen minutes into this situation. The waitress came back and told me the manager was busy doing something else and that he would be by later. She then suggested that we move to another table! I refused and asked her to have the offending party move. The whole time I am still be verbally attacked. About this time two other gentleman approached the jerk (yes, I'm done calling him a gentleman) and asked him to be quiet because their children were sitting nearby and could hear the whole event. The jerk told him to go away and started verbally abusing them as well in a very ugly manner. The two guests continued to ask him to be quiet but finally gave up and left the Windjammer with families in tow.

 

A second waiter came by and suggested we move. Again I refused. At this time, after 20 minutes of this, the offending man and his group got up and left. The waitress came over to apologize and say that the manager would be right over and that security had been called to follow the man out of the Windjammer.

 

The manager never did show up. I then went to guest relations to file a complaint. I stated that although I was disgusted with the actions of the guest, I was more disappointed with the non-actions of the staff. I realize that the wait staff should not be put in a position to handle that kind of situation. However, they should have notified management after a few minutes of the event, and most certainly the female staff involved should have done something immediately after the guest asked her the inappropriate question. Even more, I was totally amazed at the failure of the manager to not come to our table. There is nothing that could have been more important other than someone dying that should have prevented him from addressing the situation.

 

Guest relations apologized and said they would have the manager call me. One and a half days later I received a voice mail from the manager saying that if I still wanted to discuss the matter I could find him in the Windjammer. No apology was offered.

 

At this point I decided not to pursue that matter.

 

I'm sure that this is an isolated management issue, but I did want to post it here, I guess just to get it off my chest.

 

Thanks for "listening".

Did you get the managers name,if not they will still know. Please send your letter by registerd mail to corporate headquarters, include the name of the ship and the exact date and time Your letter is excellant just as written here.That is totally unacceptable.:eek:

[Tony O]

I would go to the Royal Caribbean website and copy and paste the post to them.

Here is the link:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/contactUs.do

Go to "Post Cruise Questions and Comments "

I have used them and they do read and respond.

[johneeo]

If they come down hard on people who are out of control after drinking too much word may get out and that could hurt business. Just my opinion

 

Will not hurt business as much as getting a reputation that obnoxious drunks can act inappropriately at will.

[English_in_Spain]

In a situation like this I would ask a member of staff to call security not a manager. This sort of behaviour is unacceptable and needs to be dealt with and seen to be dealt with.

 

If security were called and refused to come I would contact a senior officer.

[johneeo]

.... started saying very loudly (loud enough for about one-quarter of the restaurant to hear) that he was Woody Woodpecker.

 

Woody Woodpecker has a working brain, obviously this guy did not.

 

Glad I was not there. It would have been ugly.

 

Security should have taken care of this promptly.

[Rancher Dave]

Definitely send a complaint to Adam Goldstein at RCCL's corporate offices.

 

Managers have a duty to act and if they don't the Corporate offices need to know and let what may roll down hill to the Master, hotel director, and director of Food and Beverage aboard the ship. The manager probably needs to go home for allowing a situation like what you described to fester for an entire meal.

 

Feel bad you had to listen to it and that families had to leave to keep the kids from being exposed to it.

[Esmerelda]

I would have went straight to a house phone myself and called security. NO one should act like that anywhere.

 

:mad:

[cruisenfever]

Send an email immediately to Lisa Bauer who is Senior VP of Hotel Operations at LBauer@rccl.com

[BMT]

When I recently complained that guys were coming into the MDR wearing baseball caps and shorts in the evening, I was told that Management will not interfere as the passengers would complain. Jeans also appeared in the MDR on formal night. (However, the person concerned did remove his baseball cap when he sat down. Hallelujah:D:D) Again, staff ignored his refusal to adhere to the dress code.

 

Could be why the behaviour on board RCI ships is deteriorating - our next cruise is on Queen Elizabeth and then onto the Eclipse, so I shall have a chance to see whether the behaviour on these other lines is any better!! Could be just a sign of the times - sigh!! But I am just an old fogey I suppose. I am not of the 'me me me' generation.

[riclop]

When I recently complained that guys were coming into the MDR wearing baseball caps and shorts in the evening, I was told that Management will not interfere as the passengers would complain. Jeans also appeared in the MDR on formal night. (However, the person concerned did remove his baseball cap when he sat down. Hallelujah:D:D) Again, staff ignored his refusal to adhere to the dress code.

 

Could be why the behaviour on board RCI ships is deteriorating - our next cruise is on Queen Elizabeth and then onto the Eclipse, so I shall have a chance to see whether the behaviour on these other lines is any better!! Could be just a sign of the times - sigh!! But I am just an old fogey I suppose. I am not of the 'me me me' generation.

This is totally a different issue as to what the other poster was talking about. Baseball caps and jeans is not insulting like what the poster experienced.

[Aquahound]

What an idiot. It's bad enough he's such an a$$, but when he started sexually harassing the staff member, he should have been dealt with immediately. Yes, I agree. All to often, staff is very slow to act on stuff like this.

[setsail]

If the manager would not take action at the very time this was happening then there is nothing you can do. I would have just moved to another table. We had a few drunks on our last cruise- they staggered from the d- lounge on the way to the DR, had trouble standing up in the elevator, they were yelling and falling over others and thought it was funny.

[F27TW]

Could be why the behaviour on board RCI ships is deteriorating - our next cruise is on Queen Elizabeth and then onto the Eclipse, so I shall have a chance to see whether the behaviour on these other lines is any better!! Could be just a sign of the times - sigh!! But I am just an old fogey I suppose. I am not of the 'me me me' generation.

 

 

I hate to burst your bubble, BMT, but Cunard is owned by CARNIVAL (you know, the Fun Ship line) and Celebrity is owned by RCI (same corporate office as RCCL).

 

Don't expect the bad behavior to be handled that much differently.

[Ashland]

Funny you should say this. I just got off the oasis this am and while I didn't have an experience even close to what you describe, I did observe a couple of situations where it became evident to me that the personnel on th ship really do not have much authority to handle unruly situations. In one situation, an intoxicated guy was repeatedly doing bellyflops in one of the pools on the deck. Security spoke with him at length asking him to stop both for his safety and for the safety of the people in the pool. The guy defiantly walked away from the security guards and proceeded to do another bellyflops. The reaction of the security guards was to merely shoe their heads and walk away!

 

I think the goal of the ship crew is to make everyone happy so they can sell more liquor and get repeat customers. If they come down hard on people who are out of control after drinking too much word may get out and that could hurt business. Just my opinion

Chair Hogs are perhaps the biggest poolside offenders they usually deal with....:D:D

[teajak]

If the manager would not take action at the very time this was happening then there is nothing you can do. I would have just moved to another table. We had a few drunks on our last cruise- they staggered from the d- lounge on the way to the DR, had trouble standing up in the elevator, they were yelling and falling over others and thought it was funny.

Totally wrong, their is a lot that the OP can do as outlined in all of the posts above.:(

[Maraprince]

Staff should not be told to call Security. That should be the first thing they should do. Agree that it not their place to confront a guest who obviously was too drunk to be out in public. Not only were you offended and insulted by his behavior, others nearby also had to put up with it.

 

The person who asked you to move to another table should also be reported for not calling Security at that point. What has to happen before Security is called? Must one guest get physical with another?

 

You have to wonder at RCL's company policy in situations of this nature. Is selling liquor and achieving a certain amount of sales more important that the safety of other passengers? Children were also present.

 

This sends a very negative message and leaves a very bad taste for guests security and well being.

 

What kind of training does the staff receive and what steps would have been taken if the situation became physical?

 

Most certainly contact RCL management today. What occurred should never have gone to that level without some intervention by Security.

 

MARAPRINCE

[johneeo]

The person who asked you to move to another table should also be reported for not calling Security at that point.

 

Agreed.

 

In any situation like this, the first thing to do is have security handle it.

[wolfcathorse]

Forget children witnessing this...is it RCI policy for management to let their female employees be sexually harassed by guests? Won't RCI protect their female employees? I just wish the jerk had asked Capt Karin or Capt Lis their preference...oh wait, he wouldn't have gotten that far, THEY would have had him removed as soon as it became aware he was public nuisance #1!

[setsail]

Totally wrong, their is a lot that the OP can do as outlined in all of the posts above.:(

 

Well, I guess there wasn't . It seems the behavior continued didn't it.

[Ocean Boy]

When I recently complained that guys were coming into the MDR wearing baseball caps and shorts in the evening, I was told that Management will not interfere as the passengers would complain. Jeans also appeared in the MDR on formal night. (However, the person concerned did remove his baseball cap when he sat down. Hallelujah:D:D) Again, staff ignored his refusal to adhere to the dress code.

 

Could be why the behaviour on board RCI ships is deteriorating - our next cruise is on Queen Elizabeth and then onto the Eclipse, so I shall have a chance to see whether the behaviour on these other lines is any better!! Could be just a sign of the times - sigh!! But I am just an old fogey I suppose. I am not of the 'me me me' generation.

 

There is a huge difference between what the OP is writing about and another dress code and the "me me me" generation rant.:rolleyes:

[teajak]

Well, I guess there wasn't . It seems the behavior continued didn't it.

Not talking about when it happened, their is a lot that can be done now.Communication with the top brass is a starting point with a registered letter to the top man.

[BMT]

I hate to burst your bubble, BMT, but Cunard is owned by CARNIVAL (you know, the Fun Ship line) and Celebrity is owned by RCI (same corporate office as RCCL).

 

Don't expect the bad behavior to be handled that much differently.

 

Not bursting any bubbles!! Never mind Carnival owning Cunard - I 'betcha' its still stuffy!! I am walking around practising 'stuffy':D:D

 

Carnival also owns HAL , as well as Princess - and I wonder who would call HAL the 'fun' ships? Hehehe!!

 

Thing is that Celebrity is a different operation - prides itself on being a 'cut above' the Royal Caribbean operation. Whether it is or isn't, is open to the jury!! Me - hehehehe!!!!!

 

I believe that security on RCCL is told to keep a low profile - if the Indie is anything to go by, they earn huge income from the bars!! The more the punters - sorry guests - drink, the more they profit!! So, a drunk equates profit - when I was a shareholder, I wouldn't have argued with that.:D:D

 

We do a lot of cruises on Royal Caribbean and the standard of behaviour certainly seems to have deteriorated in recent years. We are a little isolated from it by having the generous perk of two private lounges - but even there, we are beginning to see issues - on our last cruise someone in the DL was drunk and making racist comments about some of the staff. Security was not called unfortunately, although many guests were upset.

 

I wonder whether the drinks packages have anything to do with it? People do seem to want to get their money's-worth!!!