Princess Behaving Poorly in New Zealand

[lissie]

Pretty pathetic from a major cruise line really. And laughable - you don't need to  be an expert on Maori culture to know how bad these crew members are! https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12290113

[cruzsnooze]

There are no real pirates in the caribbean but when you disembark the ship there are people dressed like pirates.  Should Princess do away with them since they're not authentic pirates? Is it done for authenticity or kinda in fun?

[Steelers36]

37 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

There are no real pirates in the Caribbean but when you disembark the ship there are people dressed like pirates.  Should Princess do away with them since they're not authentic pirates? Is it done for authenticity or kinda in fun?

I disagree with your statement on pirates.  That is not a cultural appropriation.  A lot of the things Princess does at the pier are on the silly side at best.  I agree with the linked article - why not hire some locals to do something authentic? 

 

In Princess defense - OTOH - they do often hire local troupes to put on native dance or other entertainment on board.  I do wish they would do better with the silliness with photos as we disembark at a port.

 

Per the article, Princess has put a stop to it after being contacted by the locals.  I think all would agree that no ill intent was meant by Princess staff.

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by steelers36

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Princess made a mistake. The world today is lets post it for everyone to see and be judged by wow is all I can say


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bemis12]

People spend entirely too much time looking for something to be offended by.

[Daniel A]

Princess needs to do more than just apologize.  Just to make sure these good people are never offended again, maybe all Carnival Corporation Ships should avoid docking in the Port of Tauranga and go somewhere else instead.

[Haboob]

13 hours ago, lissie said:

Pretty pathetic from a major cruise line really. And laughable - you don't need to  be an expert on Maori culture to know how bad these crew members are! https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12290113

No better, no worse than the Photo Dept of any ship of any cruise line at any port on the planet.

[billco]

When a cruise ship docks in a foreign port the first thing it should do is make sure it is respecting the culture. I hope this is a learning experience, not only for Princess Cruises, but for the people who cruise and visit  the ports. It seems strange as people debark to go to their excursions to learn about the local culture, customs, and history that the first exposure is something so culturally insensitive. 

[weedpindle]

Well, the photogs are a bunch of jerks on the piers...

[masterty]

We live in a victim society. Choose to be a victim or not. The choice is yours. 

[PoohUnderstands]

Why do things like this get so blown out of proportion these days?  why such thin skins?  Now if these Princess crew members were just dancing around etc., I would have some reservations, but they look like the ridiculous dressed crew members that you have your picture taken with when you disembark at each port of call.  If that is so, let's just all be adults and not be so serious about our individual cultures or backgrounds in a situation like this.

 

Yes, not in good taste at all, but then again, let's all just breathe and live on........

 

Pooh

Edited December 2, 2019 by PoohUnderstands

[jagsfan]

4 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Princess needs to do more than just apologize.  Just to make sure these good people are never offended again, maybe all Carnival Corporation Ships should avoid docking in the Port of Tauranga and go somewhere else instead.

👎

[Bwana Tom]

6 hours ago, bemis12 said:

People spend entirely too much time looking for something to be offended by.

Absolutely right!

Tom

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, billco said:

When a cruise ship docks in a foreign port the first thing it should do is make sure it is respecting the culture. I hope this is a learning experience, not only for Princess Cruises, but for the people who cruise and visit  the ports. It seems strange as people debark to go to their excursions to learn about the local culture, customs, and history that the first exposure is something so culturally insensitive. 

 

We like to do a variety of immersion vacations where we spend a month or more in different countries.  The thing that I noticed about cruising is that many people are not really interested in other cultures.  They take their culture along in the ship, get off to say they have been there and done that and then go right back to their culture in the bubble of a cruise ship.  I would not expect much compassion on CC about how other cultures might feel slighted by being portrayed in an inappropriate way by crew or others....it just comes as part of the territory of cruising Princess....IMHO....

Edited December 2, 2019 by PrincessLuver

[c-boy]

geez !  that's kinda harsh. 

 

[losfp]

I saw this posted as well on an Australian facebook group for princess cruises and the mixture of opinions on both has been interesting.

 

I guess we still have a ways to go with addressing cultural appropriation and sensitivity in showcasing various cultures in the places we visit.  It honestly baffles me that for many people, their first reaction is defensiveness and lamenting that people are too easily offended and that we're too politically correct nowadays and that this is a blatant cash grab by locals... instead of saying "oh, I wasn't aware that this was considered offensive" and then striving to better understand other cultures.

 

This was definitely a misstep from Princess, though I believe it's more ignorance than malice.  They made the right noises once the issue was made public - so we'll see how it goes.

[Daniel A]

2 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

They take their culture along in the ship, get off to say they have been there and done that and then go right back to their culture in the bubble of a cruise ship.  I would not expect much compassion on CC about how other cultures might feel slighted by being portrayed in an inappropriate way by crew or others....it just comes as part of the territory of cruising Princess....IMHO....

I have noticed that these 'offended cultures' don't close their shops when the ship comes into port.  The reality is that the cultures as a whole are not as easily offended as the vocal extremes make it sound.  What is interesting to me is people who are not even a part of the culture determining what is 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate' when dealing with other cultures.  Please start a thread so that we all may be properly educated as to how we should conduct ourselves when dealing with other cultures.  This way other cultures won't be so offended by our culture.  Or are we not allowed anymore to have our own culture too?

 

 

1 hour ago, losfp said:

I guess we still have a ways to go with addressing cultural appropriation and sensitivity in showcasing various cultures in the places we visit. 

I guess we do.  Who is allowed to wear a three piece suit or a tuxedo without appropriating the Anglo/American culture?  We are all God's children, can't we all get along? 

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, losfp said:

I saw this posted as well on an Australian facebook group for princess cruises and the mixture of opinions on both has been interesting.

 

I guess we still have a ways to go with addressing cultural appropriation and sensitivity in showcasing various cultures in the places we visit.  It honestly baffles me that for many people, their first reaction is defensiveness and lamenting that people are too easily offended and that we're too politically correct nowadays and that this is a blatant cash grab by locals... instead of saying "oh, I wasn't aware that this was considered offensive" and then striving to better understand other cultures.

 

This was definitely a misstep from Princess, though I believe it's more ignorance than malice.  They made the right noises once the issue was made public - so we'll see how it goes.

The only offense taken by the locals was the fact that Princess didn't hire them.

[Firepath]

It more than likely wasn't the locals who were offended - they probably just laughed at the foolishness. It was probably some passengers on the ship who were "offended" for them. 

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

We are all God's children, can't we all get along? 

 

Another assumption about how people are....many people  in the world do not believe this way.

Edited December 3, 2019 by PrincessLuver

[Brisbane41]

I am going to be 100% honest here.

 

I have never been a fan of this cheap and tacky way to get childish and mindless photos with passengers who are purportedly adults with crew members forced into indignity and disgrace themselves by dressing up in childish costumes. It really is disgraceful that the crew are forced to do this. If it is not stupid furry animals then it is some sort of gnarly pirate or some character you would expect to find at a 2 year old's birthday party, yet Princess sees fit to demand their crew gets dressed up as these silly things to pose for photos with adults, middle aged adults and retirees. It is nothing short of disgraceful.

 

I have to agree with New Zealand here. It is racist and it is a slap in the face to their culture and historic background.

[Daniel A]

20 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

Another assumption about how people are....many people  in the world do not believe this way.

Obviously that is how you believe, however there are many more people who do want to get along. 

[icat2000]

I agree with Brisbane41.

 

I'm from New Zealand, mum phoned me today, saying Princess was in trouble with the Maoris. 

 

I believe that Princess were ignorant like a lot of the comments in this thread. However, Princess are now aware  it was offensive and  will be more aware, and show more respect in the future regarding their culture. Princess is a visitor to the Country. 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by icat2000

[By The Bay]

11 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

I agree with Brisbane41.

 

I'm from New Zealand, mum phoned me today, saying Princess was in trouble with the Maoris. 

 

I believe that Princess were ignorant like a lot of the comments in this thread. However, Princess are now aware  it was offensive and  will be more aware, and show more respect in the future regarding their culture. Princess is a visitor to the Country. 

 

 

Well said.

[Ombud]

I just got off the Golden and appreciated the Maori lectures. Not sure if you were on the same Melbourne to Auckland cruise? I learned so much from the Maori onboard and ship lectures 

Edited December 3, 2019 by Ombud