My personal experiences onboard the Sapphire 28 day Hawaii/Samoa/Tahiti cruise.

[notentirelynormal]

How sad to see posters complaining about people over 70, coming on board "their cruise" and ruining the ambience of "their " cruise. YOU will be over 70 one day. Are you going to waste away your final days in front of a TV, sequestered in your home so that you won't offend the younger generation? Would any of you want to be in the shoes of the people you are complaining about? How fortunate for those that still have their health. How sad for those that lack compassion.

 

My signature shows the cruises I have been on. I am 65 years young and have met many older cruisers on my trips. I have met many younger than I also. On each of our cruises there were some rude and obnoxious people of various ages.

i walked the halls with scooters and wheelchairs. Some of the poor behavior was directed my way and some was just observed by me.

I never let it ruin my cruise. I have enjoyed every one of my cruises and can not conceive of denying the same pleasure to a group because of their age and or disability.

 

I think you are missing the point. No one has said people in their 70's shouldn't cruise. In fact the OP pointed out that was how old her husband was. HOWEVER, being older does not give you the right to be rude, nasty and mean. If you accidently bump into someone say you are sorry and try not to do it again. You don't have the right because you are mobility challenged to hit other people. This is not age specific - it is RUDE specific. Manners are still applicable to the older crowd, right?

[gertz]

To me this is a sad, sad, thread. I think you will find a percentage of rude people on every cruise. But the percentage is generally very low. Just because you are "older" does not equate with being rude, nice, or any thing else. I have found much younger people to be in the majority here for the rude category. And I suspect, but I don't know, the vast majority of people knocking on Toto's door or ringing her phone were not "older people".

I now find my self in that bracket but I don't feel or act any different than or according to wife, grand kids, and friends than I did 20 or 30 years ago.

And let me say to references of WW 2 especially and Korean veterans of which I am also. You should thank god for these people as you might not be cruising at all if it weren't for the WW 2 people.

I do apologise for the above but I had to get it off my chest. I hold posters like Toto and Pam and others to the highest esteem and I don't think I have ever been rude to them or any one else.

[nevada1]

What an interesting trend this blog is taking. Granted, rudeness has no age minimum or maximum.

One comment I left out earlier is in regards to the men undressing at the pool on deck 15. My wife and I were talking about that and we discussed the fact that they could have been European. They have a different outlook on their bodies and public nudity than Americans do. I've even seen Aussies dress and undress at the pools on a cruise ship. It doesn't make it right in our eyes but, hopefully, that was the case. Lord knows I don't even want anyone to see me without a shirt, let alone naked. Yuck

Ditto on the Speedos on the grossly overweight men. That's almost as bad.

[Loonbeam]

I don't think they were implying causality. In my view, they were saying that the two were contiguous, there were a larger number of older people than normal and many of them were quite rude. This does not imply that all older folks are rude nor all rude folks are old. I've seen enough corroborating posts to think that this really was a problem.

 

I have to wonder if there was a significant amount of space sold via a tour or travel group that caters to (I shall use the term my 85 plus year old Grandma used and hope you understand the spirit intended) 'old seniors'. The account given would seem to lend itself to that.

 

Add in a larger number of VIPs than may be normal, a large number of elites on board (not surprising given the length), you had just a perfect storm of the potential for bad developments.

 

 

How sad to see posters complaining about people over 70, coming on board "their cruise" and ruining the ambience of "their " cruise. YOU will be over 70 one day. Are you going to waste away your final days in front of a TV, sequestered in your home so that you won't offend the younger generation? Would any of you want to be in the shoes of the people you are complaining about? How fortunate for those that still have their health. How sad for those that lack compassion.

 

My signature shows the cruises I have been on. I am 65 years young and have met many older cruisers on my trips. I have met many younger than I also. On each of our cruises there were some rude and obnoxious people of various ages.

i walked the halls with scooters and wheelchairs. Some of the poor behavior was directed my way and some was just observed by me.

I never let it ruin my cruise. I have enjoyed every one of my cruises and can not conceive of denying the same pleasure to a group because of their age and or disability.

[Mom33]

Some of the posters here were complaining about the ambience of the ship being a downer because of the presence of the aged. I responded to that.

I am not going to quote the posts. If you have been reading here from the beginning, you can find the ones I am referring to.

 

One even suggested that the disabled that sit in front of the bus should let everyone off first instead of making them wait for them to leave the bus.

What is the big rush? Why should they defer to your impatience? The bus usually empties from front to back.

 

The point is that rude and obnoxious people are present on all cruises. I don't let it dictate to me what cruises I go on or I would never cruise again. I don't let it affect my cruise either.

 

I am thankful for my good health and ability to see the planet I live on while I can. I also applaud those who get out there, beat the odds of age and disability, and see the world while they still can. :)

[megs1954]

I wonder who the VIPs were. If they were high rollers with Vegas dealers, it seems like they would have been happier on a shorter cruise. Seems like a long time to be out of touch with civilization with the lack of Internet service. Gamblers that I've read about like to be in the action. No one seems to know who they were.

[Cruzin-K]

I can certainly understand Toto's opinion of her cruise. Rude people, no matter their age, can certainly put a damper on a vacation. And to be constantly around rude people for almost a month, I would have been happy to be home as well.

 

The rudest cruise passengers I've come across were on a 3 night RCI cruise out of Miami over a holiday weekend. A couple of large groups from the same country of origin, who have a huge presence in Miami (you can do the math on this one), took over certain venues and made it difficult for the rest of us to enjoy the experience. One large rowdy group were "hooting and hollering" during the past passenger party and drowning out the Hotel Director who was trying to give a speech. I had never seen such rudeness on a cruise before. The same group was spotted later, in one of the shops on board giving the clerk a hard time and preventing others from doing any shopping at all. They really were an awful group of people. I would be very hesitant to book a short cruise from Miami ever again; just like I would be hesitant to book a 28 day cruise to Tahiti based on what I read here. I'm not a fan of sea days anyway, so it's not likely that I'd book it anyway. The cruise I'm most looking forward to, once I can afford it, is a 10 day cruise from Tahiti to Bora Bora, etc. Someday :)

[Loonbeam]

Actually this is handled the way it is on airlines for good reason...

 

Passengers with limited mobility should board first and disembark last. The reasoning for this is to not only give them more time to get settled but it is often a lot easier for them to board/exit without all the other passengers and their gear around..

 

 

One even suggested that the disabled that sit in front of the bus should let everyone off first instead of making them wait for them to leave the bus.

What is the big rush? Why should they defer to your impatience? The bus usually empties from front to back.

 

:)

[Aus Traveller]

I wonder who the VIPs were. If they were high rollers with Vegas dealers, it seems like they would have been happier on a shorter cruise. Seems like a long time to be out of touch with civilization with the lack of Internet service. Gamblers that I've read about like to be in the action. No one seems to know who they were.

I think it is unlikely they were high rollers. I think it is more likely they were shareholders with large holdings or cruise line executives and/or their families. I doubt that TAs (even important ones) would be treated as VIPs, but maybe so.

 

Probably the great itinerary attracted the VIPs to go on this particular cruise.

[happytalk44]

I assume Toto is reading this thread and wonders what in the name of Heaven her post has started. Why is it that a comment about any one thing makes everyone think their own personal ox is being gored? This sounds almost like the attitude on the cruise itself ( I was there). A comment about rude people does not make her having said all older people were rude. A comment on older people does not make it that she was bad-mouthing WWII veterans. A comment about folks confined to a lounge chair does not make it about anyone's daughter. and on--and on--and on!

I keep following this thread in disbelief. Toto posted in an effort to share her thoughts. She was not demeaning or belittling to anyone. THAT is not Toto. I agree that this thread should be closed. If folks do not want to know the facts of the cruise please move on.Try to avoid just being rude and reading things into a post that was not here in the first place.

Flame away-- but it is pathetic that this "happy" cruise family on CC has shown some of these colors.

Unfortunately, we have probably now run off one of our more knowledgeable posters on Princess issues. I will feel the loss.

[Whoo]

I assume Toto is reading this thread and wonders what in the name of Heaven her post has started. Why is it that a comment about any one thing makes everyone think their own personal ox is being gored? This sounds almost like the attitude on the cruise itself ( I was there). A comment about rude people does not make her having said all older people were rude. A comment on older people does not make it that she was bad-mouthing WWII veterans. A comment about folks confined to a lounge chair does not make it about anyone's daughter. and on--and on--and on!

I keep following this thread in disbelief. Toto posted in an effort to share her thoughts. She was not demeaning or belittling to anyone. THAT is not Toto. I agree that this thread should be closed. If folks do not want to know the facts of the cruise please move on.Try to avoid just being rude and reading things into a post that was not here in the first place.

Flame away-- but it is pathetic that this "happy" cruise family on CC has shown some of these colors.

Unfortunately, we have probably now run off one of our more knowledgeable posters on Princess issues. I will feel the loss.

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

[compozer]

I assume Toto is reading this thread and wonders what in the name of Heaven her post has started. Why is it that a comment about any one thing makes everyone think their own personal ox is being gored? This sounds almost like the attitude on the cruise itself ( I was there). A comment about rude people does not make her having said all older people were rude. A comment on older people does not make it that she was bad-mouthing WWII veterans. A comment about folks confined to a lounge chair does not make it about anyone's daughter. and on--and on--and on!

I keep following this thread in disbelief. Toto posted in an effort to share her thoughts. She was not demeaning or belittling to anyone. THAT is not Toto. I agree that this thread should be closed. If folks do not want to know the facts of the cruise please move on.Try to avoid just being rude and reading things into a post that was not here in the first place.

Flame away-- but it is pathetic that this "happy" cruise family on CC has shown some of these colors.

Unfortunately, we have probably now run off one of our more knowledgeable posters on Princess issues. I will feel the loss.

 

 

Well said.

[marvin]

We were on this cruise with TOTO and have to agree with everything that she wrote. Once we left Hawaii we were out of touch with the world. There was no satellite TV, no news paper put out by the ship. We were any time dining however after one week we realized that no matter which venue we would go to, we would spend 2 hours there with the very slow service. We then went to the HC for dinner for the next 3 weeks. Our room steward was wonderful and yes we did take good care of him. We have 2 more cruises booked with Princess however we are starting to think that cruising is not what it used to be and seems to be going downhill faster all the time unless you go on Azamara, Oceana,Crystlal etc, Marviin

[rdsqrl]

I assume Toto is reading this thread and wonders what in the name of Heaven her post has started. Why is it that a comment about any one thing makes everyone think their own personal ox is being gored? This sounds almost like the attitude on the cruise itself ( I was there). A comment about rude people does not make her having said all older people were rude. A comment on older people does not make it that she was bad-mouthing WWII veterans. A comment about folks confined to a lounge chair does not make it about anyone's daughter. and on--and on--and on!

I keep following this thread in disbelief. Toto posted in an effort to share her thoughts. She was not demeaning or belittling to anyone. THAT is not Toto. I agree that this thread should be closed. If folks do not want to know the facts of the cruise please move on.Try to avoid just being rude and reading things into a post that was not here in the first place.

Flame away-- but it is pathetic that this "happy" cruise family on CC has shown some of these colors.

Unfortunately, we have probably now run off one of our more knowledgeable posters on Princess issues. I will feel the loss.

Couldn't agree more.

I'm desolated that Toto will no longer be posting and hope she changes her mind. She would have never responded to a review such as hers with the kind of calumny and general obtuseness demonstrated by some of the posters on this thread.

[nevada1]

I assume Toto is reading this thread and wonders what in the name of Heaven her post has started. Why is it that a comment about any one thing makes everyone think their own personal ox is being gored? This sounds almost like the attitude on the cruise itself ( I was there). A comment about rude people does not make her having said all older people were rude. A comment on older people does not make it that she was bad-mouthing WWII veterans. A comment about folks confined to a lounge chair does not make it about anyone's daughter. and on--and on--and on!

I keep following this thread in disbelief. Toto posted in an effort to share her thoughts. She was not demeaning or belittling to anyone. THAT is not Toto. I agree that this thread should be closed. If folks do not want to know the facts of the cruise please move on.Try to avoid just being rude and reading things into a post that was not here in the first place.

Flame away-- but it is pathetic that this "happy" cruise family on CC has shown some of these colors.

Unfortunately, we have probably now run off one of our more knowledgeable posters on Princess issues. I will feel the loss.

 

Ditto on this. I followed Toto's every post before the Sapphire cruise. She was extremely helpful and polite. I relied on her for useful and timely information. I am not an acquaintance of hers but wish I was. She posted an honest view of her feelings regarding the cruise and the board has taken an awful turn. We will continue to use Princess--as well as Celebrity, Azamara and a couple of the "all inclusive" lines." Good luck, Toto, and thanks again.