Why the need to know the crew?

[golfb4cruzing]

I have been reading alot of comments lately about getting to know the crew, waiters, bartender, juggler and room steward. Why do folks feel that this is necessary? I mean really, I don't see the specialness. They are there to do a job and I am there to enjoy my vacation. Knowing their personal lives and history has no bearing on my vacation. Plus if I knew they didn't see their families (wife and nine kids or ailing parents), I'd probably be bummed. So I just want to go on my merry way and have a great time and relax. I don't Facebook or Twitter or whatever is the newest social opportunity. Please explain why you do it or need to.

[shof515]

because it can make your cruise more fun and enjoyable. The more you know the crew, the more friendly they are to you

[mom2boys97]

I enjoy getting to know them and hearing a little about there background and life b4 cruising... It makes my cruise enjoyable...

[golfb4cruzing]

That's what I'm asking. Why does knowing the crew make your cruise better? I can go the whole week without having a conversation with a crewmember. We also don't cruise for the ship but for the destinations. Now that I think about it, that's probably the difference. I know all my neighbors but we don't hang out. I'll wave but I don't need to talk to them.

[T. Advisor King]

I have been reading alot of comments lately about getting to know the crew, waiters, bartender, juggler and room steward. Why do folks feel that this is necessary? I mean really, I don't see the specialness. They are there to do a job and I am there to enjoy my vacation. Knowing their personal lives and history has no bearing on my vacation. ....

 

I'm with you. When I check into a hotel, I don't feel motivated to hear family stories from the check-in clerk or the housekeeping staff serving my floor. When I go to a restaurant, I don't really care where the server is from or what she did on her time off the day before. When I go to a show, I don't stop to shake hands with the usher.

 

I am as friendly with the crew as I am with other passengers. I am as likely to strike up a conversation with them as I am to engage other passengers in the same situation. But I don't go out of my way to make it so. It doesn't make my vacation any better, just in the same way it wouldn't make a hotel stay, restaurant meal or evening show any more enjoyable.

 

That isn't to say I don't get to meet those people. Occasionally it happens because it happens. But I don't make a point of it. I couldn't tell you the name of any crew member of any cruise I've been on, ever.

[luv2cruzfrmtx]

I like getting to know them and learn a little about where they're from. I enjoy learning a little about their culture. Also, I think they enjoy talking about their families. I know that when they have kids, they really enjoy telling me about their children.

 

I think sometimes when you're far from home...it helps ease the lonliness if you can talk about your family.

 

Also, we did a cruise in November and then the same cruise again in January. Some of the crew members remembered us from the November cruise. We had the same wait staff and my tea was always waiting on me when we got to the table. It was like seeing old friends and did add to our cruise experience.

[golfb4cruzing]

I'm not antisocial but if my wife wasn't with me, I could go an entire cruise without any unrequired speaking, ie order a drink or dinner. Our cruises are mental health necessary and I'm there to chill and be braindead. How many of your high school graduation class do you still talk with?

[darth frosty]

I am with you golfb4cruising. But I now understand others need to feel a connection to the crew.

 

Check this out really opened my eyes.

 

Are you raising an introvert?

http://www.geekmom.com/2011/04/are-you-raising-an-introvert/

[quickrate]

I enjoy meeting people from all walks of life-and I do cruise for the ship, not the destinations. I could be at sea the whole cruise and be perfectly content. I've gotten to know maitre'ds as well as cruise directors and have received some pretty good perks because of it. I din't get to know them for that reason, but because they recognize me, they make our cruise a little more enjoyable.

Pat

[Alwaysundecided]

I have been reading alot of comments lately about getting to know the crew, waiters, bartender, juggler and room steward. Why do folks feel that this is necessary? I mean really, I don't see the specialness. They are there to do a job and I am there to enjoy my vacation. Knowing their personal lives and history has no bearing on my vacation. Plus if I knew they didn't see their families (wife and nine kids or ailing parents), I'd probably be bummed. So I just want to go on my merry way and have a great time and relax. I don't Facebook or Twitter or whatever is the newest social opportunity. Please explain why you do it or need to.

 

We talk to the staff because it is part of the cruise experience. How could you not talk to someone if you see them over and over again in a 7+ day period? I don't regard cruise staff as servants or as background fixtures. They are providing a service to me, but they are still people with interesting stories.

 

I don't leave my cruise exchanging phone numbers or anything, but while I am there, they are a great part of the experience just like everything else.

[ShakyBeef]

I don't "feel it is necessary" or have a "need" to get to know the crew. But I do enjoy talking to people, all kinds of people. I would have a great cruise anyway, even if I never chatted with a crew member. But many of the conversations I've had with some of them over the years have been enlightening, informative, and rewarding. I don't like to speak for others, but I think for at least several of them, they enjoyed the conversations, too.

 

I don't pry into their personal affairs. We just chat. I don't monopolize their time when they are busy. These talks usually happen while sitting at a table on a mostly empty deck or lounge, or at an empty bar. And I'm not always the one to initiate the chat - sometimes it's the crew member.;)

 

I also sometimes talk to the staff of restaurants we visit and resorts that we stay at when on land vacations, for the same reasons.

 

But, to each their own. I understand how others might not want to interact with the crew at all. And I'm also aware of some that want to (and sometimes do) "interact" with them a lot more than I would. Some passengers try to get way too personal with crew.:eek:

[TheCalicoCat]

I didn't get to know Hery, don't know if he is married, etc. But he was the best bar guy that I have ever met - so I'll be looking for him on my next cruise.

[golfb4cruzing]

Well Darth that was great reading and I am now officially an Introvert and comfortable with it. But it's as I reach retirement age that it's struck. I have done the military, played professional sports, ran companies and I think my brain has just had enough. I enjoy the finer things but increase the number of filters I have. I can hang out all day with my dog and we have a great day. I don't need to know about the crew's life. I can research any culture and spend the day engrossed in that reading. Then go out and mow the lawn and just wave at the neighbor. The Ipod is a great invention. I can just have a broken one and then nobody will bother me. I am recharged after our trips. It's a 17 hour drive down to Florida from here and it's pretty quiet when the wife reads her books and it's me and the road.

[CapsR1]

It's nice to know the name of your favorite bartender or wait staff around the pool; just makes the whole cruising experience nicer for us.

 

Not interested in delving into the personal lives of the crew, just friendly small talk.

[vivavegas]

Don't really have a need to know the crew, but do enjoy talking and meeting new people.

[DaveRRT]

I hope they are friendly and do there job, I try to be polite and friendly back, I have trouble rembering names so thats not important to me.

[darth frosty]

Well Darth that was great reading and I am now officially an Introvert and comfortable with it. But it's as I reach retirement age that it's struck. I have done the military, played professional sports, ran companies and I think my brain has just had enough. I enjoy the finer things but increase the number of filters I have. I can hang out all day with my dog and we have a great day. I don't need to know about the crew's life. I can research any culture and spend the day engrossed in that reading. Then go out and mow the lawn and just wave at the neighbor. The Ipod is a great invention. I can just have a broken one and then nobody will bother me. I am recharged after our trips. It's a 17 hour drive down to Florida from here and it's pretty quiet when the wife reads her books and it's me and the road.

 

Better late than never. The really eye opening thing for me in that article was about how we as introverts recharge:

Quite simply, introversion is an explanation of where an individual draws their energy; from solitude or from the company of others. Those who recharge their batteries through solitude are introverts. Those who recharge by being with others are extroverts. These differences are hardwired into us and affect everything from how our memories work to how we process information, where we focus our attention, how we communicate and even how we use our bodies. Introverts are, in the words of Carl Jung, interested in “the inner life of the mind.”

 

Thats why, as I state in my destiny review, I spent the 1st 2 days reading. For me that was the greatest trip in the world.

 

I also think thats why I enjoy message boards so much. You typically interact with people of similar interest and you have control over when that interaction ends.

[5waldos]

I will chat a bit because they are all from interesting places, and often places we have visited. Just as when I travel I tend to chat a bit. But compared to what people talk about here- I am also an introvert. Although we did have one assistant waiter who we chatted with a lot- he was floating on air as a brand new father and it was hard not to smile with him.

[joepeka]

We talk to the staff because it is part of the cruise experience. How could you not talk to someone if you see them over and over again in a 7+ day period? I don't regard cruise staff as servants or as background fixtures. They are providing a service to me, but they are still people with interesting stories.

 

I don't leave my cruise exchanging phone numbers or anything, but while I am there, they are a great part of the experience just like everything else.

I agree totally. We don't (in the current vernacular) become BFF's with the crew but when you're in contact with them on a daily basis (your steward, MDR staff and that favorite bar tender that takes care of you) it's good to get to know a little something about them and their background. It's not the same as visiting a local restaurant where they share the same environmental experience as you - on a cruise you're being served by people from all over the world during the course of a week and their experiences can be very interesting and make the trip just that much more fulfilling. Like the OP, I tend to be an introvert but I don't keep at arm's length the service people with different and intersting lives.

[tattoos]

I have read many cruise reviews where people are highly offended that their Room Steward didn't introduce himself until the second day of their cruise....hold your horses, that's enough reason to file a formal complaint, no?

 

I could care less if I ever see my Room Steward, don't want to know his/her name, don't care where they are from, how much money they don't make or if they are married or not....just keep my room clean, towels replenished and garbage taken out. The same goes for the wait staff....just get my dinner order correct, serve it hot and in a timely manner.

 

When I cruise, I am usually spending quality time with friends and family and expect staff to perform their duties in a responsible manner and do expect them to blend into the background as much as possible. My job commands a lot of personal interaction with our customers and my jaw actually hurts when I get home from all the fake smiling I have to do, especially with rude, nasty people.

 

Cruise staff are doing a job, they are not people I want to get to know personally. They try to establish a rapport because of the possibility it might lead to a larger tip at the end of the week so the motivation is there to be accommodating to their guests. It is incumbent upon all employers to educate their employees in providing friendly, efficient service to paying customers. The employer wants every guest to spend money and return again and again.

[oldguysandgalls]

"Willam"!! 'We' told you NOT to fire the servants" !!

 

"Yes, your Majesty".

 

"Shall 'we' re-retain them your Majesty"?

 

"No, no it's too late now...'we' have been advised they went to Carnival Cruise Lines where most passengers actually 'interact' with the servants......imagine that".

 

" Yes Ma'am".

 

"Tea, William" ? " Yes, Please Ma'am".

 

"Oh William" - Yes Ma'am?" " Never you mind dear boy, Granny will pour the tea herself" ...sigh....

[golfb4cruzing]

Darth - you are deep. It would be possible to have some great books, room service and a balcony. Throw in some Mayan Ruins and I would have the greatest trip. We enjoyed the Legend but other than the Serenity area, I don't remember much about her. Saw our room steward maybe 3 times all week and had the same 3 waiters in ATD but don't remember their names. Extra tip at the end for the wait staff because they were fast and small on chitchat. We'll do it again next April.

[darth frosty]

Yep your just like me golf. I even plan on hitting the links this monday (may get rained out tho ;-)

[gmros]

I don't need to know the crew either. But sometimes we get to chat a little, like when they ask more about me and then I learn we have something in common, sometimes a lot in common. Then we chat a little more and then we become friends. I do not shot down the opportunity to make new friends whom I may enjoy hanging out with, just because they're there to serve me during my vacation. My DH and I met a few people from our cruises and we still stay in contact. When their ships dock in NYC, we meet and have lunch together or whenever they have time. Sometimes they only have 3 hours of free time.

[golfb4cruzing]

However I will admit I am very social playing a round of golf. Different priorities I guess. But just as content to play as a solo. I get to visit new lands then too. Even some new water just not carribean blue.:D