Rudeness and bad manners - in the eye of the beholder?

[SeagoingMom]

I have traveled quite a bit' date=' but I can not remember any culture where eating directly from a buffet is appropriate.

This sounds so funny -- there are so many parts of the world where a "buffet" is a completely unknown concept... On the other hand, in quite a few cultures, squatting around a common bowl and eating with one's (right) hand is the only way it's done, unless you are a squeamish stranger and the locals manage to find a beat-up old spoon for your personal use.

 

This does not, of course, imply that cruise ship and other "first world" buffets don't have their own cultural protocols...

 

[nana51]

I hope you haven't done that again since. It's really dangerous to put trays and dishes out in the hallway on a moving ship. And hallways are certainly too small for them, as well. In my experience, if room service does not pick them up, our room steward has removed them.

 

Room stewards had to remove them both times as room service never came. I haven't done it again and won't as I never thought about the danger of a sliding tray and dishes. They just take up so much room in those cabins. I don't really care about seeing trays outside rooms as I've seen it done that way in hotels for years.

[SeagoingMom]

Please help me here. In what modern' date=' non-primative society is it considered appropriate to cut in front of people in line and shove others out of the way?[/quote']

Ummm... France (and former French colonies). Speaking from experience -- cultural norm. The French don't "queue."

Edited October 9, 2014 by SeagoingMom

[1of4]

On the ship, there has always been a note on my room service trays that asks you not put the trays in the hall, but call the number (I can't remember if the number is housekeeping or dining services) to have the tray removed.

 

I would assume (and yes I know that's my first mistake) the person in question would follow the instructions on the note.

 

Room stewards had to remove them both times as room service never came. I haven't done it again and won't as I never thought about the danger of a sliding tray and dishes. They just take up so much room in those cabins. I don't really care about seeing trays outside rooms as I've seen it done that way in hotels for years.

 

 

On our last cruise the ship left an appology plate of sweets in our room for something that was bungled. There was no note. That empty tray and dirty plates was in our room for over 48 hours until, in desperation, we put it in a little hallway only used by HAL employees. We asked our room steward, who was awful by the way, twice to remove it. Left a note on it for removal. Put it over the garbage can...even left it on the toilet! I never thought to call room service as we have never used or called room service.

 

We left our HSC in place but did not tip our cabin steward extra. That was a first for us.

[nana51]

France? My husband is French, he lines up quite well. Not happily but he does it. When we visit France people line up also. Some French people are just extremely rude. The rich ones usually. Go into the countryside and the people are lovely.

[1of4]

Ummm... France (and former French colonies). Speaking from experience -- cultural norm. The French don't "queue."

 

Korea it seems. I would wait in line for the bus every day in all weather from over 90 to -20 and every day as soon as the bus would round the corner all the koreans would pile out of the bus shelter and try to board the bus before me, even when I was very pregnant with twins.

 

I was told directly one day when I made a comment that "rules are for losers".

[Cruising-along]

...

 

I've done this, but mainly at Wal-Mart that has huge parking lots and corrals only in the first 20 spaces of any aisle of the parking lot. I'm not going to walk the full length of the parking lot in 100+ degree/>100% humidity weather because Wal-Mart is too stupid/lazy to put corrals further out in the parking lot.

 

hmm,

No matter what store's parking lot I'm in, whether the corrals are near or far, and whether there is 2 feet of snow on the ground or 100 degrees, I return my cart.

 

At our military base we have to return the carts to the store, no corrals. It's just courteous to the other shoppers and drivers who have to maneuver around those abandoned shopping carts. Walmart isn't the only store with a lack of corrals.

[Mary Ellen]

No matter what store's parking lot I'm in, whether the corrals are near or far, and whether there is 2 feet of snow on the ground or 100 degrees, I return my cart.

There are two of us then, I've never left a grocery cart other than back at the store or in a corral - no matter the weather.

 

Btw - over 100% humidity is impossible. ;)

 

We've also never left a room service tray out in the hall. We realize that we aren't the only ones using that hall and others don't need to look at our dirty dishes as they attempt to get past the tray (if even possible). If I were that upset at how long it was still in the cabin, I'd be hauling it to the Front Desk. I'm sure we wouldn't have any more problems after that. No need to be rude/inconsiderate to fellow passengers.

Edited October 9, 2014 by Mary Ellen

[makai 7]

Are you talking about folks foregoing the tongs and reaching in to grab, for example, a roll or piece of fruit, which they then put on their plate? As long as they have not pawed any of the other offerings, is there a problem?

 

I'm not offended by someone who takes an apple from a bowl for example.

It is the people who reach into a bowl of tortilla chips and stand there, eating them, dipping into the salsa, and then reach for more and continue to eat at the buffet.

 

Using hands for the bread is a bit iffy to me, as it is difficult to not touch anything else, any many people tend to 'dig' for that perfect roll :rolleyes:

 

I agree that the tongs are just as 'germy' as anything else. Came down with a lovely case of Norovirus (along with several other colleagues) during a trip for work where there were several hundred of us in conference rooms, all eating from the same buffet. NOT on a Cruise Ship! We all got sick within 1-2 hours of each other, so exposure was likely at lunch.

[MaisonRose]

Gee, I wonder what region that would be? LOL

[CowPrincess]

Regarding bath robes. Yes, please wear them. Cover up :) There are truly parts of the human body that should not be seen in public, and if you choose to wear a robe to cover those parts, I'm all in favor of it :D (On my most recent cruise, there was a couple in the NL wearing pyjama bottoms, ratty t-shirts, and pool towels around their shoulders -- robes would have been a huge improvement. Some sort of footwear would have been nice, too.)

 

We've had two experiences on shore excursions (one through HAL, one independent) where two participants have ended up in a shouting match, hurling profanity at each other. That's pretty rude IMHO.

[POA1]

Btw - over 100% humidity is impossible. ;)

 

Technically, it's possible for humidity to exceed 100%. I kind of doubt that the it was a Skylark - over 25,000 feet in the air. :eek:

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-20/news/ct-wea-0720-asktom-20110720_1_relative-humidity-condensation-nuclei-supersaturated-air

[Mary Ellen]

Technically, it's possible for humidity to exceed 100%. I kind of doubt that the it was a Skylark - over 25,000 feet in the air. :eek:

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-20/news/ct-wea-0720-asktom-20110720_1_relative-humidity-condensation-nuclei-supersaturated-air

Technically, I'm talking about parking lots where someone claimed it was 100+ degrees/>100% humidity. ;) Especially in New Orleans I'm pretty darn sure the elevation isn't over 25,000-ft, but the article was interesting. I'll keep it in mind next time I'm out and about at that elevation. :D

[cruz chic]

Korea it seems. I would wait in line for the bus every day in all weather from over 90 to -20 and every day as soon as the bus would round the corner all the koreans would pile out of the bus shelter and try to board the bus before me, even when I was very pregnant with twins.

 

I was told directly one day when I made a comment that "rules are for losers".

 

This story has bothered me all day. There is a special place in hell-o for people like that. Crazy.

[serendipity1499]

I hope you haven't done that again since. It's really dangerous to put trays and dishes out in the hallway on a moving ship. And hallways are certainly too small for them, as well. In my experience, if room service does not pick them up, our room steward has removed them.

 

I'm sorry but I don't think that one cabin being inconvenienced excuses potential harm or inconvenience to several other people, whether they be able bodied or not. Those hallways are far more narrow than a cabin.

 

As others have stated, my experience has been that the cabin stewards have removed the trays.

 

I agree with you both..

 

If trays are not removed from your cabin within a reasonable time then you should keep calling..

 

Complain to the head housekeeper if you must but never put them in hallways as it's dangerous..

Edited October 10, 2014 by serendipity1499

[Bubba54]

My top three,

1 people's behavior in the buffet. I have started just getting the food handed to you by the staff.

 

2. Being rude to the staff and treating them like servants, this I will not stand for. I will intervene every time.

 

3. Being late to a show and expecting everyone else to move for you. Get there on time or stand in the back.

 

But I never let anyone behavior ruin my cruise.

[MaisonRose]

Ummm... France (and former French colonies). Speaking from experience -- cultural norm. The French don't "queue."

 

The French, I agree, don't queue, but they do LURK. They sort of note their companions hanging out and then know when to step up and be served.

Meanwhile they are kissing their neighbors and checking on everyone's state of being!

Ca va? Oui, pas mal. Et vous? Formidable.....

Oo, Monsieur, après vous!,,

[iancal]

I can report to you baseD upon very recent experience that the Maltese and the Italians are also not exactly the champions of an orderly line up. And this is an understatement. Same for Hong Kong and for my home town of Montreal. We have learned to take it in stride.

[Floridiana]

 

I use a cane on days when the arthritis is really causing a great deal of pain and or instability. On good days, the cane is left behind, but I do walk a little slower to avoid an accidental fall.

 

On a circumnavigation cruise of Australia, I noticed quite a number of passengers with spiffy looking canes and not all those passengers looked like they needed help. So one day I asked two ladies and they said they used the canes on their doctor's recommendation. After knee and hip operations, they were fit again, but he did not want anyone to bump into them. He said that the cane was a protection against inconsiderate people in malls and on ships. To me, it looked like all Australian doctors gave this advice.

 

So my unsolicited advice ;) get the coolest looking cane you can find and off you go on good and bad days. :)

[Vict0riann]

On a circumnavigation cruise of Australia, I noticed quite a number of passengers with spiffy looking canes and not all those passengers looked like they needed help. So one day I asked two ladies and they said they used the canes on their doctor's recommendation. After knee and hip operations, they were fit again, but he did not want anyone to bump into them. He said that the cane was a protection against inconsiderate people in malls and on ships. To me, it looked like all Australian doctors gave this advice.

 

So my unsolicited advice ;) get the coolest looking cane you can find and off you go on good and bad days. :)

 

Good idea. :) I'm going to try it.

[brownbagger]

I'm fairly sure I've not seen this mentioned. On a Baltic cruise (Princess), many people of a certain culture were feeding seagulls on the top deck and kept returning to the buffet to get more food. The birds were dive bombing other passengers and I for one was worried about bird droppings in my hair. On another deck a gull flew into a stateroom through an open balcony door to grab a sandwich from a tray, scaring the occupants. I went to the ship's office to complain (which I'd never before or since done). I was told they were aware of the problem and had been trying to get them to stop. Perhaps this behavior is acceptable in their culture, but I felt they were making everyone else (they weren't the only passengers on the ship) uncomfortable. That's when I find imposing your culture on others unacceptable.

[sapper1]

I'm fairly sure I've not seen this mentioned. On a Baltic cruise (Princess), many people of a certain culture were feeding seagulls on the top deck and kept returning to the buffet to get more food. The birds were dive bombing other passengers and I for one was worried about bird droppings in my hair. On another deck a gull flew into a stateroom through an open balcony door to grab a sandwich from a tray, scaring the occupants. I went to the ship's office to complain (which I'd never before or since done). I was told they were aware of the problem and had been trying to get them to stop. Perhaps this behavior is acceptable in their culture, but I felt they were making everyone else (they weren't the only passengers on the ship) uncomfortable. That's when I find imposing your culture on others unacceptable.

 

I was on a cruise to Alaska when the captain had to come on the PA system and angrily tell passengers to stop feeding the birds. Which culture do you suppose is predominate on an Alaskan cruise?

National origin has nothing to do with common sense. Every country has its share of clueless people.

[Wakepatrol]

I'm fairly sure I've not seen this mentioned. On a Baltic cruise (Princess), many people of a certain culture were feeding seagulls on the top deck and kept returning to the buffet to get more food. The birds were dive bombing other passengers and I for one was worried about bird droppings in my hair. On another deck a gull flew into a stateroom through an open balcony door to grab a sandwich from a tray, scaring the occupants.

 

 

This is hilarious,I can see Alfred Hitchcock standing by the ships railing.

[dhill]

You must have cruised with my mother-in-law.

Now thats funny:eek:

[1of4]

So my unsolicited advice ;) get the coolest looking cane you can find and off you go on good and bad days. :)

 

Good idea. :) I'm going to try it.

 

After 2 years of my doctor telling me to get a cane because I lose my balance due to Menieres disease I finally got one a few months ago exactly for this reason. Hoping people will give me some space and not push and jostle. I have come to realize that I am not too young for it :o and that it is very helpful to keep me from stumbling and even falling.

 

That said, blast night a 20 something male push right by me from behind and knocked me into a wall so he could reach the door first...not to hold it open either.