Craziest thing you admit to OR actually heard someone complaining about on a cruise?

[AmazedByCruising]

On a recent Panama cruise we couldn't dock at Puerto Limon because of the swell. Four hours later, after departing towards our next port, the captain announced that we must return to Puerto Limon to disembark a medical emergency.

 

30 minutes later, at the front desk, a lady was complaining as to why the medical emergency would be able to leave the ship in Puerto Limon, when she had not been allowed to go ashore and had missed her shore excursion! :eek:

 

I think she didn't really understand the reason the ship couldn't dock earlier but apparently had no problem to dock a few hours later. If that's the case, I can imagine that she thought the captain must have made up a lame excuse for not docking earlier that day. Not all passengers are able seamen or regular cruisers, so I don't think this complaint is that outrageous.

[DirtyDawg]

I know how you feel! I love it when these type of threads pop up. Worst part is, this was one of the selling points for our NCL cruise booked. Drink package included = sitting at the Atrium bar while watching the crazies at Guest Services.

 

I like the way you think.:D Free(ish) booze and crazies - the perfect combo.:)

[cdwh1902]

At lunch one day I was asked if 'all Australians aspire to be like us Americans'. ;)

 

Another lunch and another ship, and from a retired Geography teacher I was told I had a funny accent and what part of Texas was I from. When I proceeded to explain that we were from Australia, again I was asked where in Texas is it. When I said that it was a continent and a country in the southern hemisphere, she was still lost until I asked her if she knew where Kangaroos came from and then she finally understood. :confused:

 

Then there have been endless anecdotes about Koalas and Kangaroos.. but I leave to my husband to have fun with!

[ifashiongeek]

On our 2012 Freedom cruise we signed up for the Murder Mystery Dinner and when the show started, music came on, actors come out to start the dinner theatre, one passenger screamed "I CAN TALK LOUDER THAN YOUR MUSIC" and here's the thing, this guy had SIGNED UP to participate but he was complaining that it was interrupting his talking :rolleyes:. But wait, that's not all, at our stop in Labadee at the beach where the suite cabanas are located he was complaining that the fish were biting him in the water and THEN he complained LOUDLY that our music was too loud and was disrupting his peace and quiet. The only thing/person disrupting the peace and quiet was his non-stop SCREAMING about things. What a D-b*g ;)

omg!! I laughed so hard at this one tears ran down my face!!! Lol!!!!

[AmazedByCruising]

A lady at the elevators who had just come from guest services. Loudly complaining that she was NOT going to pay for a piece of artwork that her son had bid on during one of the art auctions. They told her she was obligated to buy and she was saying over and over that it was not her fault and she wasn't paying.

 

It really was mesmerizing.

 

Why would she have to pay for a bid made by her son? If he was old enough to take part in an auction they should try to get the money from him and she'd have nothing to do with it. And, though IANAL, if he was 17 I doubt the auctioneer should have accepted the bid in the first place. Google tells me you need clear consent from your parents if you are younger than 18, and common sense tells me exactly the same. She should have told her son about people you shouldn't trust long ago though, and auctioneers on cruise ships fit that category very well.

[NMLady]

The lady who complained that the captain should sail closer to land so passengers could see the scenery instead of just the ocean.

[navybankerteacher]

One woman telling another (I wonder why other posters refer to such creatures as "ladies") that: "I wonder why none of the "help" are white".

[maywell]

I know how you feel! I love it when these type of threads pop up. Worst part is, this was one of the selling points for our NCL cruise booked. Drink package included = sitting at the Atrium bar while watching the crazies at Guest Services.

 

 

Got to do it on embark day and last sea day to see it - I happen to encounter 2 separate crazy instances on my last trip on Breakaway to the same Guest Services Manager. The 1st was on embark day where woman and I guess her mother complaining that weren't guarantee a handicap room for the grandmother, but their travel agent promise them it was guarantee. Either its a"guarantee room" where it can be anything but at least you have a room or its specific room # but didn't have the handicap feature. They chase, scream and poked the shoulders of the manager / supervisor (it was in open area between the Guest Services desks and line was super long). Security had to come over and deal with the ladies (dunno know if they got kick off or not, it was pretty bad).

 

The 2nd one was on the last full seaday regarding this lady that wanted to remove the DSC - I had a hard time not laughing at this woman for her stupidity and manager antics. She said she couldn't pay the $300-something DSC for her family of 5 because she has no money at all, so the manager pulls up the lady's onboard account on the Ipad and was like your account is $1k spent and you still need to settle the DSC plus other charges like the drink packages (Guess, she didn't prepay anything because one wouldn't be charge daily like that). Then the manager says for the DSC, I'll reduced to $50 altogether and forgive all of the drink packages but the lady was like "No, I'm not paying that, I said remove it, I ain't got no money'. Lady got ghetto hostile with the cussing and ratchet hand movements while the manager was all professionally smug - Minded this is happening on the line, and I was like 3 people away from them, so you know everyone on line was trying real hard to not laugh, gawk or shake their heads because it was like you got $500-something or whatever for the drink packages but not $50 for the DSC plus you're claiming to be poor, k..... Another customer rep answered everyone's question regarding OBC & refunds that helped make the line get smaller in case security had to come in and deal with that mess.

 

 

Yes, NCL Guest services is it own special little show in the Atrium, just got to be lucky to go and see it. Those meltdowns are the things of WOW the heck is wrong with them..... :eek:

 

 

Edit: I'm noticing that some NCL passengers when it comes to basic math, reasoning and/or researching information regarding the cruise line and it's policies; they are poor at it.....Not all, just the ones having the meltdowns in real life and on the forums.

Edited March 28, 2015 by maywell

[tip]

I have two to report and the scary thing is that these people probably vote in elections!

 

1) On a HAL cruise a few years ago, they offered a terrific outdoor barbeque on the Lido deck for dinner. There was a woman who was berating an officer because she had to "stand in line" and no one should have to stand in line to be served at a barbeque.

 

2) Several years ago while getting ready to sail out of Fort Lauderdale, I was heading upstairs with everyone else for the life boat drill. The folks in front of us were conversing in Spanish. The woman beside me loudly said, "If they are going to be in the United States, they should be speaking English!" I asked her if this was her first cruise and she said no, that she would also be sailing to the Baltic capitals in the fall. When I asked her if she was studying all of the languages that would be spoken, she gave me the "deer in the headlights" look.

[kandj05]

Oh I could of had so much fun with them I have a hillbilly tourist accent that I break out on occasion that would send chills down their spines.;)

 

That is exactly what went through my mind also. I would have loved to put her in her place. 😲

[AmazedByCruising]

One woman telling another (I wonder why other posters refer to such creatures as "ladies") that: "I wonder why none of the "help" are white".

 

Again (this is the third one I think), I'm with the woman as I made the same observation. I know all the reasons why, but it did feel strange that on my cruise the entire population of passengers was white and all crew except for officers were not. I hope to see Filipinos and Indonesians rich enough to be passengers soon, and salaries raised to a level where Americans would be tempted to clean cabins.

[AmazedByCruising]

The lady who complained that the captain should sail closer to land so passengers could see the scenery instead of just the ocean.

 

Fourth time I think the crazy complainer is not that stupid. The only reason for ships to sail 3/12/24nm away from mainland is taxes, casinos, etc. That's not common knowledge. It's not something I would actually complain about at the front office, but without knowing why the ship needs to be that far from shore I would tell the cruise line that seeing the scenery would be nice.

[CowPrincess]

We've done a few cruises to Mexico and should be used to this by now but aren't. Every cruise there are people who refuse to get off the ship because they don't want to be around Mexicans. And then there are the ones who do get off the ship and complain and whisper about "all those Mexicans everywhere". I always wonder where they thought they were going.

[tip]

Fourth time I think the crazy complainer is not that stupid. The only reason for ships to sail 3/12/24nm away from mainland is taxes, casinos, etc. That's not common knowledge. It's not something I would actually complain about at the front office, but without knowing why the ship needs to be that far from shore I would tell the cruise line that seeing the scenery would be nice.

 

Tell that to the passengers of the Costa Concordia!

[notentirelynormal]

Why would she have to pay for a bid made by her son? If he was old enough to take part in an auction they should try to get the money from him and she'd have nothing to do with it. And, though IANAL, if he was 17 I doubt the auctioneer should have accepted the bid in the first place. Google tells me you need clear consent from your parents if you are younger than 18, and common sense tells me exactly the same. She should have told her son about people you shouldn't trust long ago though, and auctioneers on cruise ships fit that category very well.

 

My adult children have used my credit cards many times before. It is not unheard of or that unusual. I'm sure it was an adult child using her credit card for "cabin/on board charges". She just did want to pay for his stupid purchases.

[chengkp75]

Fourth time I think the crazy complainer is not that stupid. The only reason for ships to sail 3/12/24nm away from mainland is taxes, casinos, etc. That's not common knowledge. It's not something I would actually complain about at the front office, but without knowing why the ship needs to be that far from shore I would tell the cruise line that seeing the scenery would be nice.

 

Really? Those are the only reasons? How about shallow water causing increased vibration from "bottom bounce" at high propeller speeds and increasing fuel consumption due to increased resistance, how about traffic separations schemes, how about advantageous/disadvantageous currents, how about taking the most direct course to minimize fuel consumption? As far as taxes are concerned, the cruise lines could care less. When the ship is within 3 miles of shore, the POS stations are programmed to charge sales tax, and when they are outside, they reprogram to stop charging tax. All it takes is a call from the bridge, and a couple of keystrokes from the purser.

[chengkp75]

I think she didn't really understand the reason the ship couldn't dock earlier but apparently had no problem to dock a few hours later. If that's the case, I can imagine that she thought the captain must have made up a lame excuse for not docking earlier that day. Not all passengers are able seamen or regular cruisers, so I don't think this complaint is that outrageous.

 

Since she was not an able seaman, why then should she question the Captain's decisions, based on many years at sea? From your response earlier about sailing close to shore, I know you are not an able seaman either, so your responses are a bit naive. Her complaint is from a sense of entitlement.

[navybankerteacher]

Fourth time I think the crazy complainer is not that stupid. The only reason for ships to sail 3/12/24nm away from mainland is taxes, casinos, etc. That's not common knowledge. It's not something I would actually complain about at the front office, but without knowing why the ship needs to be that far from shore I would tell the cruise line that seeing the scenery would be nice.

 

Do you realize how close to "scenery" you have to be to actually be able to see something of interest? At just one mile, details are difficult to distinguish, and at three or so miles the land is little more than a lumpy blur - while serious hazards to navigation and difficulties with assigned shipping lanes would exist. Your "only reason" is actually an expression of lack of "common knowledge".

[DirtyDawg]

My adult children have used my credit cards many times before. It is not unheard of or that unusual. I'm sure it was an adult child using her credit card for "cabin/on board charges". She just did want to pay for his stupid purchases.

 

If one of my adult kids did that I don't think I'd be complaining too loudly to the crew. I wouldn't want to advertise to everyone that I raised a kid who was that stupid.:eek:

[maywell]

If one of my adult kids did that I don't think I'd be complaining too loudly to the crew. I wouldn't want to advertise to everyone that I raised a kid who was that stupid.:eek:

 

Apparently, that woman had for no shame or didn't think that one thoroughly. :rolleyes: The level of stupidity of some people never cease to amaze to amaze and unfortunately, I happen to witness them even though I do my best to avoid them.....:confused:

[welove2cruise2014]

Not crazy but obnoxious IMO... a passenger using a ship phone at Guest Services to scream at and berate their travel agent for not having provided the promised "tray of chocolate covered strawberries" in their cabin.

[denatravels]

Did you suggest to her that she might consider getting off IMMEDIATELY?

 

DON

 

HILARIOUS! Great suggestion

[AmazedByCruising]

Since she was not an able seaman, why then should she question the Captain's decisions, based on many years at sea? From your response earlier about sailing close to shore, I know you are not an able seaman either, so your responses are a bit naive. Her complaint is from a sense of entitlement.

 

I'm sorry I said "the only reason". I didn't mean to act as an able seaman myself after 14 days as a passenger at sea and I clearly was wrong for reasons not to sail close to shore. I still fully understand a passenger who just missed an excursion only explained by a message from the speakers "we can't dock now for difficult reasons. No excursions today. Captain's orders, sorry." and a few hours later "Because of an emergency, we will dock in Puerto Limon. Captain's orders". If I booked at a resort only because it has a fantastic swimming pool only to find the pool closed because "the manager said so and he's been a manager for many years so you can take his word for it" and a few hours later I see a private party going on in the same swimming pool I would have some questions too.

[chengkp75]

I'm sorry I said "the only reason". I didn't mean to act as an able seaman myself after 14 days as a passenger at sea and I clearly was wrong for reasons not to sail close to shore. I still fully understand a passenger who just missed an excursion only explained by a message from the speakers "we can't dock now for difficult reasons. No excursions today. Captain's orders, sorry." and a few hours later "Because of an emergency, we will dock in Puerto Limon. Captain's orders". If I booked at a resort only because it has a fantastic swimming pool only to find the pool closed because "the manager said so and he's been a manager for many years so you can take his word for it" and a few hours later I see a private party going on in the same swimming pool I would have some questions too.

 

Big difference between a hotel manager and a ship's Captain. I think everyone has heard that "a Captain's word is law", regardless of whether they have been to sea or not. You've also answered your own question when you look at the portion highlighted in red above. There is a difference between a shore excursion and an emergency. If the person can't tell the difference, or feel that their enjoyment is as important as another's emergency, then that is a case of entitlement.

[declansdad]

Fourth time I think the crazy complainer is not that stupid. The only reason for ships to sail 3/12/24nm away from mainland is taxes, casinos, etc. That's not common knowledge. It's not something I would actually complain about at the front office, but without knowing why the ship needs to be that far from shore I would tell the cruise line that seeing the scenery would be nice.

 

 

Why are you reading this thread?