Ultimate Cruise Snob Stories

[Lucybelle]

:)Sailing on the Diamond and had lunch at the Horizons-woman sat at our table who immediately started to have a whinge,not happy with the shower etc etc.We were amused (and horrified) to hear her say that she felt the cheese board was inferior and simply not large enough.Precious...

[TracieABD]

I wonder if anyone reading this thread recognizes themselves in any of the posts!:eek:

[nhcruiser]

Who is Hyacinth Bucket? Undoubtably notorious...

 

I had to Google it to understand as well. Very funny comment when taken in the context of the poster...........:p

[sharbin1]

I would rather cruise with Onslow :D

 

Add Daisy to the group and we'd have a great time!

[Amuse Bouche]

I wonder if anyone reading this thread recognizes themselves in any of the posts!:eek:

 

One could hope! altho, I'm finding much less unpleasant people on the Princess board than I do on others. Might have to stay with Princess for a while!

[Amuse Bouche]

you are 100% right, I worked in food service when I was younger, rule number one, never piss of the chef, and rule number two, never complain and send the food back to the kitchen because then you are breaking rule number one and bad things can happen. I am not saying that happens all the time but I do not want to take that kind of chance. I just leave and go someplace else

 

I agree, but not in this particular case. In restaurants, the food is made to order. On a cruise, it's made to order in mass quantities. I'm sure the servers just go and pick up whatever you have selected, while the chefs are busy making mass quantities.

On HAL, the head server of a particular section orders the food, and then the servers take it from there to you. I ordered a mussels appetizer, tasted the broth first, then noticed two bitter muddy mussels. I was showing my husband, they noticed and brought me another that was on hand. It was delicious and they noticed that I was adoring it. It was incredible. When I finished, they told me they took the liberty of having an extra brought out in case my husband wanted to have one. I thanked them profusely, they brought one for me AND one for him...and ordered me a third one without asking. In all, I had 4 and skipped the main course. I know that was HAL, and this is Princess...but how could it be so different, given it's a mass amount of people all sitting at the same time?

The kitchen doesn't know what you are ordering. Only your server does.

[windsor26]

Was her name Hyacinth Bucket?

 

That was the strange thing in all other ways she was friendly and charming - just - I think - out of her time frame.:):)

[notentirelynormal]

I wonder where this 11 year old "elite-ist" learned such behavior. And wouldn't it be grand to be a fly on the wall when he buys passage for the first time under his name, rather than mom or dad's, and finds the elite status doesn't follow and he is handed the newbie blue card.

 

I have found the the person who brags the loudest and the longest often has the least to brag about.

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

 

Well when he is old enough to legally buy his own ticket he will be old enough to get his black elite card. Just because he is a minor doesn't mean he doesn't get days and cruise credits towards his status. He just doesn't get the benefits until he's 18.

[notentirelynormal]

Not sure but I think 11 year old kids don't accrue any sailing days, so cannot be elite or any other status :D Have to be 18 or older. I'll be an old man before I'm elite! :p

 

Yes, they do accrue and on their personalizer and boarding passes it shows their actual status. They just don't get any benefits until they are a legal adult. One more cruise under his belt and my 7 YO DGS will be at platinum level. The reason I mention this is in jest because the last time we boarded in LA the lady at the pier told us that we (DH and I) could use the Elite lounge but only us (just the 3 of us sailing) and we'd have to leave the non elite outside. Ya, ok, we're going to leave a 5 YO outside by himself. Like Forrest Gump said (well I think it was him) .... you can't fix stupid.

[rdemn]

i was on a cruise last year with my mother inlaw and ... O wife is coming i'll finest later

[MicCanberra]

Yes, they do accrue and on their personalizer and boarding passes it shows their actual status. They just don't get any benefits until they are a legal adult. One more cruise under his belt and my 7 YO DGS will be at platinum level. The reason I mention this is in jest because the last time we boarded in LA the lady at the pier told us that we (DH and I) could use the Elite lounge but only us (just the 3 of us sailing) and we'd have to leave the non elite outside. Ya, ok, we're going to leave a 5 YO outside by himself. Like Forrest Gump said (well I think it was him) .... you can't fix stupid.

I would have let him in but made sure he didn't have any scotch or tequila.:D

 

Stupid is as stupid does.;)

[Starlaker]

Rdemn, now I am intrigued!

[MicCanberra]

i was on a cruise last year with my mother inlaw and ... O wife is coming i'll finest later

Better not - I think:D

[Nomsayin]

Hyacinth pronounces the surname of Bucket as Bouquet to be more snooty.:D

 

I believe she has an American cousin, Egbert Souse ("accent grave over the e").

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

We can pick fairdinkum people rather quickly.... when they ask what my DH does for a living (Interstate Truck Driver).... if they turn their backs on you (which has happened) no loss..... if they continue with the conversation and we become friends over the course of the cruise.... great! You know they are worth getting to know and not snobs. :D

[caribill]

There was one couple at trivia who had been on the ship for a number of cruises and knew almost all of the answers from having had the questions before. Naturally they won almost every time.

 

They liked to sit in one particular spot and often showed up early to get that spot.

 

One day, one of our team mmebers came extra early on purpose and took "their" spot. When they arrived, they chastised our team member for taking their spot and then left since they could not sit there. That day another team had a fair opportunity to come in first.

[Gbeman]

I have enjoyed the thread.......but also just deleted my "cruise history" signature.:)

[PunkiC]

My choice not to complain and I would not eat and ( on a cruise ship) hit the buffet later if I was hungry. For a mistake once I would say nothing to no one and assume a mistake had been made and leave it at that. If it happened repeatedly I would say something at the end of the cruise. Just my opinion. Again to each there own.

 

Yes, to each his own.

 

I had the exalted privilege of having my waitress training planned and personally reviewed by none other than Mr. Walt Disney himself. His philosophy was that we all had to do everything we possibly could to make all of our guests to the Magic Kingdom as happy as possible. To have failed in our service to the point where a guest left hungry and was forced to "hit the buffet later" would have been an unthinkable failure.

 

We were never allowed to walk by a table, even if our arms were loaded with trays, without smiling, making eye contact with all of our customer tables and at least mouthing, "Are you OK?" As soon as we were able to do so, we were trained to approach each table and sincerely inquired if everything was to their liking. We were trained to make sure our customers left happy.

 

The funny thing is that when I walked by a table, arms loaded with trays and asked if everything was OK, everyone always said something like, "Oh don't worry about us, you are so busy".

 

I sense that they waiters on cruise ships have that same Disney attitude of doing whatever it takes to make the customers happy and would really want to know if they or the kitchen had made an error. I could, of course, be wrong, but am happier believing that they really care as much about me as I care about them. And I really do care about them.

 

Luke 6:37

[dmwnc1959]

"Keeping Up Appearances" from the BBC...

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098837/

 

Hyacinth pronounces the surname of Bucket as Bouquet to be more snooty.:D

 

I love this show and have watched most all of it on DVD. I always wondered though about her and pronouncing of the last name since Hyacinth and the two sisters (Rose and Violet) were named after flowers.

 

I would rather cruise with Onslow :D

 

Love Onslow, love his wife even more the way she is always wanting to snuggle and be romantic, and then Onslow will do something like roll his eyes or ask for another beer. ;)

 

Loved the episode when they cruised the QE2. Hilarious! :D

 

.

[LittleMissMagic]

Yes, to each his own.

 

I had the exalted privilege of having my waitress training planned and personally reviewed by none other than Mr. Walt Disney himself. His philosophy was that we all had to do everything we possibly could to make all of our guests to the Magic Kingdom as happy as possible. To have failed in our service to the point where a guest left hungry and was forced to "hit the buffet later" would have been an unthinkable failure.

 

Do you mean Disneyland? Or do you mean that you were trained the way you were because of Walt Disney's belief in customer service which continues to live in all of the Disney parks today?

 

Just curious if you worked at Disney durig or after Walt Disney was alive. I have the greatest respect for his creativity, determination, and high expectations for customer service and atmosphere. Walt Disey had such a great impact on the entertainment industry, as well as the travel and tourism industry.

[Wehwalt]

In all honesty - I've had my chuckles and giggles reading through this thread, but really... are we not being as rude and judge-mental of other people as the people are who are reportably being 'rude' here on this forum?? Don't criticize others til you've walked in their shoes. All is fun in life - if you let it.

 

I suspect that if we asked the subjects of the comments about the incidents in question, they might have their own perspectives on events.

[Wehwalt]

Do you mean Disneyland? Or do you mean that you were trained the way you were because of Walt Disney's belief in customer service which continues to live in all of the Disney parks today?

 

Just curious if you worked at Disney durig or after Walt Disney was alive. I have the greatest respect for his creativity, determination, and high expectations for customer service and atmosphere. Walt Disey had such a great impact on the entertainment industry, as well as the travel and tourism industry.

 

It would be interesting to know. After almost fifty years, the number of people with a direct influence from Walt is declining.

[Wehwalt]

There was one couple at trivia who had been on the ship for a number of cruises and knew almost all of the answers from having had the questions before. Naturally they won almost every time.

 

They liked to sit in one particular spot and often showed up early to get that spot.

 

One day, one of our team mmebers came extra early on purpose and took "their" spot. When they arrived, they chastised our team member for taking their spot and then left since they could not sit there. That day another team had a fair opportunity to come in first.

 

If that's who I think you mean, they sat by the entrance in the Pacific Lounge because most seats there aren't high backed and he (won't use names) had a bad back, so there was a reason for them not to stay. And I played on their team, it wasn't a question of having heard the questions usually, even though it was certainly true that by the time I joined up with them, they had been on the ship for three months. They were generally very knowledgable though with blind spots, I remember they were pleased and surprised when I got a question on the group "Air Supply" (probably after most of your time). However, there was that reputation. Might be worth a mention they gave away the prizes to crew and passengers. And I heard how many total nights they had been on Princess from someone else, not from them. I will admit, though, it was cool when the Captain came over to chat during afternoon trivia!

 

Just proves my point that despite everyone's good faith, there's often multiple perspectives.

[Parvatiiv]

We can pick fairdinkum people rather quickly.... when they ask what my DH does for a living (Interstate Truck Driver).... if they turn their backs on you (which has happened) no loss..... if they continue with the conversation and we become friends over the course of the cruise.... great! You know they are worth getting to know and not snobs. :D

 

I admitedly won't tell people exactly what I do for a living. I jut say "communications". Because it never fails that someone is either going to gripe or complain about my employer or ask for my supposed expertise to fix something. Some examples being I was on a plane flight and the lady sitting next to me noticed said company name on my laptop bag and started drilling me about her item that we don't even sell or pretend to sell or the time I used my parents hockey tickets only to sit down and have the guy who sits by them and that I've never met lean over and say "I have a bone to pick with you....." I'm on vacation, I don't want to talk about work.

[ChevyCruiser]

The somewhat funny thing about the status bragging is that the loyalty program is a complete marketing ploy started by the cruiselines (and airlines, hotels, etc.) to make people continue to invest in their product by rewarding them for doing so. I will admit that I was once a victim of this game. I recall thinking, "Oh, only X more days til I'm X level on Royal Caribbean!" And the extra perk I got for achieving a new level? A gift basket in the room on embarkation day. That's when I realized how silly I was - dedicating my loyalty to a cruiseline so that I could get some free Internet or a gift basket - things that I don't even need or really even desire. If something is important enough to me, I'll buy it. And that's when I decided to quit feeling so loyal to any company and choose the cruise with the itinerary I want on the ship that I want which fits my schedule. That break from loyalty allowed me to try Princess and visit the Panama Canal - something I'd always wanted to do that I couldn't have possibly done (at that time anyway) with Royal Caribbean (not to say I'm not happy with Royal - I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my cruises on Royal Caribbean... and every line for that matter... it's cruising I love, not cruiselines).

 

Get out of my head...this is my story exactly. ;)

 

When I'm stuck with an unsufferable boor or snob, I play mind games with them. (mind games don't always work if BOTH parties are well armed) Through a combination of hard work, living below my means, and timing I was able to retire in my early 50s, and thus I still look like I should be employed. When a cruise snob asks "What do you do?" I'll sometimes reply that I just got out of prison and I'm weighing my options. Or I'll say that I've been unemployed for three years and I'm holding out for a management position. Or I'll say that I'm fresh out of rehab and it was overrated....as I raise my glass.

 

Sometimes a cruise snob will act like they are close personal friends with the captain and I'll tell them how I remember when he was a cabin boy on freighters out of Hong Kong.

 

Most cruise snobs are so full of B.S. that they don't recognize when it's being shoveled right back at them.

 

I find them to be a source of entertainment....