Should Cell Phones be Allowed on HAL Ships

[ekerr19]

I've used mine in St. Thomas - turned it on, made a call, checked my work voicemail & turned it off. DH couldn't believe I'd bother - but we had something important going on at work the week I was gone, otherwise I'd never have done so.

 

I get so tired of hearing other people talking (loudly) on their cell phones in public places - it is very annoying. Waiting in line for movie tickets, a guy in front of us was yelling, cursing, threatening, etc. for about 30 minutes. Many people in the line were annoyed, we had our kids with us and didn't think any of us should have been subjected to his yelling & swearing.

 

I can just see it now - lounging by the Lido pool and some idiot starts up....

 

NO THANKS! Cell phones dominate too much of our society already.

[KSCnCA]

The problem is that people think their phone call doesn't bother anyone! Unless you are in an empty room there's a good chance your call is bothering someone - on land or sea! Pretend you are on vacation and leave it behind! Oh for the good old days of not knowing if your boss is having a problem while you are not in the office.

 

NOBODY is indispensible. If you can leave your kids, business, pets, etc. with someone you trust you just have to cut the cord and allow them to figure it out and tell you about it when you get back. It really will be okay! It might not be what you would have done, but there is more than one solution to most situations.

 

If you leave your kids with someone you don't trust to make decisions in your absence then you really should not be on a cruise without them!

[taszmom]

My cell stays off and locked in the safe the duration of the cruise. It doesn't get turned on until the end of the cruise, after we dock and clear customs, to call my ride to meet me outside the pier. I can't imagine free use of cell phones everywhere during the entire cruise...that sounds horrible to me. I also don't like the idea of seeing wireless laptops out at the pool deck. I don't understand this one. If you want to use a computer, go to the Internet Cafe. Better stay away from me with that laptop by the pool...can you say cannonball....SPLASH!!!!

[ekerr19]

My cell stays off and locked in the safe the duration of the cruise. It doesn't get turned on until the end of the cruise, after we dock and clear customs, to call my ride to meet me outside the pier. I can't imagine free use of cell phones everywhere during the entire cruise...that sounds horrible to me. I also don't like the idea of seeing wireless laptops out at the pool deck. I don't understand this one. If you want to use a computer, go to the Internet Cafe. Better stay away from me with that laptop by the pool...can you say cannonball....SPLASH!!!!

 

taszmom-

 

Couldn't agree more about the laptops. People bring them poolside and expect that they may not get wet? Sorry, if you bring something (anything) poolside, be prepared to have it exposed to a bit of water...

[Cracker Ken]

I couldn't agree more with taszmom. Our cell ph stays locked up too, and it is only used if there's some reason while at a port, or when we are back home.

 

I think, by far, the best thing to do is leave the ships phone number with the folks back home. Tell them that if there's an emergency, call you. No news is good news. Go on your cruise and enjoy it. If something happens, they will call. If they don't call, great. If they do call, about all you can do is worry yourself sick while waiting for the next port, or until you get home.

 

Once it starts to be a trendy thing to have the cell phone repeaters installed on cruise ships, this is bound to get out of control and absolutely annoying. It will be just like at home. I truly believe there is an addiction element with cell phones, and I mean that seriously. Some folks would break into a sweat and get the shakes if they had to do without a cell phone for a week or two (or even a day). What did we do before we had these things?

 

As far as the laptops, that's not good. I use computers 5 days a week. On Sat. and Sunday it stays in a place where I don't see it. I hate to see people who cannot stop working, even when on vacation. It's good to take your time off, OFF. Not all, but some people think of a laptop as a status symbol, quite similar to the cell phones when they first came out. It's like, "Look at me, I'm cool, I have a laptop and I'm so dedicated to work that I'm out here at sea pecking away." I'm not impressed. As I said, not all people do this, and some might be fooling with their digital pictures and stuff like that. At least laptops (most of them anyway) don't make noise, and the person using them is most often silent.;) Also, right, if water gets into them at the pool, too bad, sooo sad.

 

Ken

[Joedog]

So where exactly are we expecting cell phones to be a problem? During dinner? During the shows? I go to the theatre occasionally and have never even heard a cell phone ring, same at dinner (at least at nicer restaurants).

 

Would a cell phone be a problem out by the pool? Maybe, but the problem would be not being able to hear the cell phone over the sound of kids playing and music playing and everyone else having conversations at various levels.

 

Lets get real here, it is not a "church like" environment on a cruise ship, at least not the ones I've been on.

 

Yes, I would be unhappy if one of my tablemates at dinner pulled out a cell phone or if the person next to me at a show did the same but I wouldnt expect that to happen any more often than I would expect one of my tablemates to come to dinner drunk and make a fool out of him (or her) self. I am sure it has happened but not often enough to be a problem.

[sail7seas]

I would be very annoyed to have the person next to me at the pool screaming into their cellphone while I was trying to peacefully read my book or lay there and gaze at the ocean. I do not want to listen to someone's conversation on a cell anywhere, anytime on a cruise ship. Bad enough we have to put up with it at grocery stores, department stores, some restaurants, walking on the street....EVERYWHERE!!

[lknick]

Like it or not, cell phones are part of today's life. Soon, interuterine transplants will be made.

 

My club at one time tried to ban them in the dining room. Didn't work.

 

Like everything else, it comes down to consideration. They're here, they'll be used if a circuit is available, and there is little anyone can do about it.

[sail7seas]

Well...they best line up those "undercover security guards" you have told us about because I shall be violating HAL's nothing overboard rule.

 

The question is whether it will be the cellphone or the user that is going over the rail!!! :)

[Joedog]

Who said anything about anyone "screaming" into their cell phones? In my experience most people just talk at a normal conversational level when using their cell phones and what is the difference if someone is talking normally into their cell phones or just sitting next to you talking normally to someone sitting next to them? Is it that you can only hear one side of the conversation that bothers you? Just curious.

 

Oh, and so the reaction to someone talking on a cell phone near you is to throw the cell phone or them into the ocean? What about the band making much more and louder noise? Going to throw them in too? My advice to you is, unless you are a good swimmer, dont throw anything that belongs to anyone else into the ocean.

 

Again, much like the ruined cruises due to people not dining in the proper attire or smuggling alcohol, a problem is being created that doesnt exist.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Well...they best line up those "undercover security guards" you have told us about because I shall be violating HAL's nothing overboard rule.

 

The question is whether it will be the cellphone or the user that is going over the rail!!! :)

Sail7,;) ... me, too:)

 

Joedog, have you been in an airport lately? I'm in them frequently and it is a rare day that people on cellphones speak in a "normal" or "conversational" voice. Many folks, for some reason I can't understand, seem to think people around them are impressed. Beats me as to why.

[dakrewser]

In my experience most people just talk at a normal conversational level when using their cell phones

You're not willing to admit that your experience and someone else's could be different? I don't particularly want to hear, in detail, anyone else's conversation when I'm reading by the pool or on deck. Nor do I want to hear it while dining. Whether or not these conversations bother you doesn't really enter into the equation - they bother me.

 

Perhaps HAL could institute a special area (perhaps a closed room, I'd hope) where cell phones could be used any time, while the rest of us could avoid it.

[Vicar]

I have always found the loudness of the callers voice greatly increases with how grandiose the call is.

 

I have been on trains into NYC where the guy next to me calls his wife and in a hushed tone says " Okay milk , bread, toilet paper, ok Honey I will be home by 6"

 

 

Then a few minutes later he makes a call in a voice loud enough for the whole care to hear.

 

"YEA WELL THEY ARE OFFERING 2 MILLION< BUT I KNOW I CAN GET 2.5 SO I AM HOLDING OUT TIL I GET BACK FROM EUROPE AND TALK TO SO AND SO .

 

:)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Vicar!!! You've outdone yourself. That is soooooooooooooooo true.

[lknick]

Well...they best line up those "undercover security guards" you have told us about because I shall be violating HAL's nothing overboard rule.

How can you miss a point so badly.

 

HAL and other cruise lines will not interfere in any 'freedom of choice' action until it becomes a 'clear and present danger.'

 

Should have included cell phones in my list of grievances.

[Vicar]

Heather

 

 

Don't you just love these people? *LOL*

 

 

My aunt who is one of the most naturally funniest people I ever knew, was standing in line in a bank or wherever behind a young woman who was talking to a girlfriend on her cell phone. She was telling her friend about how she hooked up with this guy at a club last night and got into a "very Personal and descriptive act" that they did. *LOL*

 

Mind you everyone in line can hear this conversation and the looks (according to my aunt) on peoples faces ranged from smirks to disgust.

 

The girl finally finished her conversation and as she was putting her phone back in her purse, my aunt said to her "Boy I hope you brushed your teeth after that" *LOL*

 

Everyone in line died laughing and the girl actually got out of line and left

*LOL*

[Joedog]

If I may add to my other post, I am not saying that people with cell phones can NOT be annoying. I have been annoyed a few times by people with cell phones talking loudly. I have been annoyed by people with cell phones talking while at the cashier in some store while I was in line waiting for them to finish up. BUT that has not been the norm, at least not for me. AND I have been annoyed by plenty of other people talking loudly without cell phones. Maybe someone has even shot you an annoyed look when you were talking a little to loud for their liking.

 

For the most part "I" am generally unaffected by "most" people using cell phones and do not believe that cell phone use in general need be restricted in common places on cruise ships ESPECIALLY around the pool area where there are plenty of other noises, conversation, etc.

 

Yes, there will always be inconsiderate people doing inconsiderate things but they are usually the exception and their rude action should not be an excuse to limit the use of cell phones by the majority of others who use their phones in a respectful, considerate way.

 

I would say, quit looking for problems where they don't exist and if you have a problem with the bad behavior of others, bring it to their attention directly not indirectly by restricting the actions of everyone to get a few to be considerate.

[sail7seas]

lknick....... Lighten up a bit! Joshing, joking, kidding, having some fun!!!!

 

Save the insults.

 

Insults or not, I still hope the cruiselines have a tiny bit of respect for the customers remaining and give a moment's thought, even if it is just in passing, as to how to continue to make our vacations enjoyable.

 

When we stop "liking 'em", we'll stop "buying 'em".

 

Vicar.........:D GREAT and so true!!!

[lknick]

lknick....... Lighten up a bit! Joshing, joking, kidding, having some fun!!!!

 

Save the insults.

No insult intended. Sorry you took it that way.

[sail7seas]

No problem. :)

[RevNeal]

Like everything else, it comes down to consideration. They're here, they'll be used if a circuit is available, and there is little anyone can do about it.

 

Sad but very true.

How ironic. This morning, in the middle of the Great Thanksgiving, a cell-phone began ringing in the choir.

 

Hands still raised, I turned to look. One of my sopranos ducked down, reached into her purse, and turned it off. "Sorry, she said."

 

It caused a chuckle in the sanctuary.

 

But I prefer that over what happened last year, when a (now former) member's cell phone rang, he answered it and began chatting with the person on the other end during the middle of the sermon.

 

NO, I didn't excommunicate him. But he didn't appreciate me pausing my sermon and waiting for him to realize what he was doing and hang up. :D

[ekerr19]

I would be very annoyed to have the person next to me at the pool screaming into their cellphone while I was trying to peacefully read my book or lay there and gaze at the ocean. I do not want to listen to someone's conversation on a cell anywhere, anytime on a cruise ship. Bad enough we have to put up with it at grocery stores, department stores, some restaurants, walking on the street....EVERYWHERE!!

 

Sail-

 

I am with you on this one! It is beyond me how anyone can think others around them are not annoyed by loud cell conversations. Everytime I'm conversing with someone who "must take this call - it's important", I walk away and don't return. I just don't believe in answering a cell phone while conversing with someone else - I don't care if it is important. If it is one of my family members, we use a code and enter 911 after the page number. We then know it is a critical phone call and can excuse ourselves to return it, but will not stop a conversation to answer a cell phone.

[sail7seas]

:) What you have described is "good manners". I also find it rude if I am on the phone with someone and during the conversation their call waiting signals. They have caller ID and know who it is and then say to me to "hold on". Nope.....I'm gone. Unless I know (because they have told me) they are expecting a call that truly is important, I do not think it polite for them to exit our conversation, expect me to hold on while they speak with someone else, and then come back to our conversation assuming I would just sit there and wait.

[ekerr19]

Sail-

 

You are so right! My Mom once told me, if you feel you need to answer your call waiting, fine - do so - but I'm hanging up - call me back when you can give me your undivided attention. :( I realized quickly how right she was!

 

This was a lesson I learned many years ago - one that we have imparted on our own children. If there is an emergency (heaven forbid) we'll know right away - they have the means to communicate this to us - without taking away from our work at hand or any business discussions we may be having.

[HeatherInFlorida]

:) ...I also find it rude if I am on the phone with someone and during the conversation their call waiting signals. They have caller ID and know who it is and then say to me to "hold on". Nope.....I'm gone. Unless I know (because they have told me) they are expecting a call that truly is important, I do not think it polite for them to exit our conversation, expect me to hold on while they speak with someone else, and then come back to our conversation assuming I would just sit there and wait.

With you again on this one!!! I fought even having CallerID for years. Finally, I do have it but with voicemail. So when I get a call while I'm on the phone and I see it isn't an emergency, it goes to my voicemail.

But when people do that to me I want to hang up so badly, but I have to admit I haven't done it. Happy to say most of my friends are polite enough not to even put me in that position