Cruises may be a paradise for the passengers, but they are pure pandemonium for the staff! These passengers witnessed some of the most revolting, disgusting behavior let loose on a cruise ship, as well as poorly these employees were treated. Everyone involved definitely needed a vacation from the vacation. Content has been edited for clarity.
She Set Herself Up For Hysterical Failure
“My friend and I were on our first Norwegian Cruise Line. Little did we know that these cruises seemed to attract the most white trash of patrons. One night, we were waiting patiently at this pop-up sushi stand. Our stomachs were churning in anticipation of the many delights to come. We had eaten sushi regularly for lunch back home, and we really missed having it. We believed that the long wait would be worthwhile. We were beyond sick of these all-you-can-eat buffets. We needed something different! As we watched and admired the chef demonstrating his adept knife skills. We lusted over the myriad of smells. At long last, we were finally next in line to eat! Hooray! Unfortunately, our joy was to be short-lived. The sounds of stilettos stomping on slate ground, interlaced with a stream of colorful obscenities, quickly filled the room. They grew louder and closer until BAM! Out from behind some palm fronds burst a lady, who must have been in her fifties. Let’s call her ‘Foghorn’.
Foghorn had clearly been over by the pool, indulging in the ‘two for one’ drink hour. No doubt she also had some extra chasers from her suspicious Sprite bottle. She wore a white tube dress, but it looked more like a sleeveless sock, with her underwear quite evident through the material. She had a severe tan that screamed ‘melanoma’. Her disheveled blonde bob stuck to her poorly secured eyelashes, as she swung back and forth while blurting out swears. She was definitely all class. She marches straight up to the beginning of the line, towering over the poor, defenseless sushi chef. She barks loudly at him, ‘I AM STARVING! HURRY IT UP!’
The chef, who was visibly shaken at Foghorn’s brazen demands, begins to speed up his preparation. His knife was chopping and slicing so fast that it looked like a frenzied, metallic blur. My friend and I exchange nervous glances, as do everyone else who is in line. None of us suspected what this wretched woman would try next! In a whirl, the chef plates up the dish and sets it down. Like a seagull dive-bombing for a scrap of food, Foghorn swoops in for the kill. She snatches away the plate and sways in her six-inch heels. She picks up a glistening morsel of salmon goodness. She jams it into her mouth with a nasty wide grin. We all stare at the chef in complete shock. Did that just really happen?! Suddenly, Foghorn’s eyes became super round, and her face contorts with disgust. She did not look so good. She violently spits and proceeds to eject all the chewed contents on the polished floor. The chef is now grinning with pride. My friend and I process the scene. Then, just like a tidal wave, the entire line realizes what happened. Laughter ripples throughout the entire line. Foghorn had devoured an entire plate full of fake plastic sushi. Whoops. It was instant karma.”
Nasty Couple Forever Traumatized That Child
“My son has mild Asperger’s. Kids like him can have an extremely high IQ, but they can be extremely awkward socially. They also have strange little quirks, such as textile sensitivities and sensitivities to food texture. Basically, they are picky eaters based on how some foods feel in their mouths. Because of this, we find that buffets can be a true blessing. Our son can pick and choose what he eats, without all the crying and worry over having to buy something off of a menu that has mixtures of food that he will not like. On that note, when we went on our family cruise with Princess Cruises, we made a beeline for the buffet during every meal. It was so wonderful! My son was happy and thoroughly enjoyed his (admittedly strange) selections for several days. As a result, we were having a very great time overall! But then everything changed. my son came over to the table that we were all sitting at, and he slammed his plate on the table with an extreme force that is common in overwhelmed kids with Asperger’s. He threw himself into his seat. He proceeded to cover his eyes with his hands, lower his head, and then begin to cry uncontrollably. He refused to eat anything at all, and he wouldn’t say a word about it. Believe it or not, this was normal for a child with his condition, who had just encountered a social situation that was too much to handle. But what in the world would prompt this sort of response right then?! As his mom, I was worried to death as to what could be going on, but this kid refused to stop.
After about half an hour, my son had calmed down enough to explain things to me. He found some food that was palatable to him, and he was really hungry, so he piled his plate with just that food. He was happily filling up his plate when this nasty couple approached him. They were both adults, and obviously low life ones at that! This couple told my son very rudely to get out of their way. They aggressively asked him why he needed so much of one item to begin with! They then proceeded to push him out of the way, so they could get the rest of the food that my son wanted. I was so livid! Of course, by this time, the couple already disappeared into the crowded dining hall. I couldn’t find them and report them. This one thing destroyed our entire cruise. My son no longer felt safe going up to the buffet. He felt very self-conscious and overwhelmed about trying to get meals for himself.
To this day, I cannot understand why people have to be so disgusting and uncaring towards others like that! Even if he didn’t have Asperger’s, just leave the poor kid alone! He was only eleven at the time! No kid deserves to be pushed aside like garbage, just so a nasty couple can get one bite to eat. Thanks to those pigs for destroying our dream vacation. We will never forget what you did to our son. I truly hope that couple gets just what they deserve from their actions!”
Little Gremlins Run Amok!
“Years ago, on the Disney Cruise Line, we went to the Caribbean over the Christmas vacation. I was a teacher then, and this was really the only time in the year when I could get away on a vacation. There was a family staying near us, with the parents lounging on the balcony and their teenage daughter and her friend in an inside cabin across the hall. There were so many things to do on this cruise. We had to pass all the other cabins in our hall in order to get to ours. On our walks back to our room, we would regularly see the steward dealing with the massive mess in the girls’ cabin. One day, after returning to our cabin after a great tour, we walked by the girls’ cabin. The door was open, and the steward was standing in the middle of the room in devastated disbelief, completely in tears. The girls had spent the day at the beach, and they had brought back seemingly more sand than was left at the beach! Their room was a disaster, and there was sand everywhere. The poor steward was at a true loss for where and how to begin. Somehow, he cleaned it all up though, The girls had no understanding of what they did wrong. Wasn’t it the crew’s job to clean up after them? The cruise staff ended up speaking to the family and chastising them all for the treatment of this cabin. The vacuum they used on the entire room died after that one cleaning session.
On another occasion, we witnessed a total atrocity in the dining hall. We sat near tables where the parents had decided that the young kids (aged eleven and younger) would eat together at a table, away from all the adults. These kids were atrociously behaved, and the waiter became their default babysitter. Because keeping the customer happy was the top priority, the waiter or staff couldn’t say anything negative towards the kids. Never mind how loud these kids were being, they had terrible manners, they threw food around, left food on the floor, and constantly demanded things from the wait staff. The same people were taking care of our dinner too, so preparing our dinner took way too long. The waiter and his assistant, bless their hearts, would try to take care of us first and get our orders in, knowing that once the kids arrived, their attention would be completely consumed. Those parents better have enjoyed their time off from those brats, because the entire rest of the dining hall had to suffer as a result!”
Why Are These Men Such Trash?
“This one memorable guy was at the front desk of the Norwegian Cruise Line, raising a whole commotion about how he had been calling them in his room for the past fifteen minutes, but no one answered. This man was loud, belligerent, and just plain nasty! The person at the front desk explained that for the last half hour or so, the lifeboat drill had been going on. Each and every one of the staff members were quite busy going through that procedure, and all the passengers were also supposed to be participating. Mr. Loudmouth didn’t quite understand that he had just been called out for not participating in the drill, so he just continued on in his rant.
Another time during the cruise, this other nasty guy went up to the pool bar and asked for a particular brand of bubbly. They didn’t carry that, apparently. So the guy told the bartender to go to another bar and pick it up. This dude went on a massive tirade about how he paid SO MUCH money for this cruise, and he refused to be spending a whole week drinking some other terrible bubbly, and he demanded the bubbly that he always drinks. If it wasn’t on the ship at all, then the bartender should just go and get some of it. I have no idea if this man wanted the bartender to swim to the nearest shore on his own or to take a lifeboat. Either way, it was a truly bizarre and entitled rant to witness.”
She Smuggled What On Board?
“Where do I begin? There are the line pushers and the people who get totally wasted by eight in the morning. But I have two recent events that that come to mind. Both of them happened on a Sandals Cruise to Hawaii that happened last December. The first time, we were in a jam-packed elevator, when someone brought their fake service dog onboard. I have nothing against service dogs, but it was clear that this dog wasn’t it. This dog wore a service vest, but she proceeded to lick our hands and jump into our faces. See the problem here? Service dogs are trained against that exact sort of behavior. This person must have purchased a fake service vest online in order to get her dog on board the ship.
Another time, we were on an elevator with two young boys. It wasn’t just kids acting out, this was so much worse. There were primarily older passengers waiting with us in the elevator. The boys stepped off the elevator, and they held the doors open for the other people also stepping out. Instead of thanking them, the older passengers snapped at them for being in the way and being so inconsiderate. No gratitude, nothing. These kids were actually pretty polite, and they didn’t do anything to deserve this response! Nastiness seemed to be the theme of this cruise, even though this happened during the holidays with hundreds of kids on board.”
I Hope She Could Escape In Time!
“I think this was beyond tacky. We were sitting by the pool on the Costa Cruises ship, when the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen walked past us in a tiny bikini. Her legs were a mile long, and her chest defied gravity. She was stunning. The woman I was with stated, ‘Huh, that is unusual!’ I asked her what she meant by that. She explained that normally, that woman was not allowed outside on the deck without her husband. He would boast to anyone who would listen about how much money he had paid for her plastic surgery. He would parade her around the pool with a hand in the middle of her back, proclaiming ownership with that one action. He would get aggressive with any guy who dared to look at her. Apparently, my partner had witnessed this woman enough times to figure out exactly what was going on. From then on, I kept watch on this woman, and sure enough, this exact thing happened. That was the one time I saw her alone. This guy would come outside with this stunning woman every other day. It was like he was her owner, and he was so gross about it. I couldn’t stand the sight of him.”
Shedding Body Hair And Zero Boundaries
“I have truly witnessed some of the most heinous and disturbing behaviors in my past ten years of going on cruises. To start with, there is the informal hairy chest contest, which is always held at the pool. Imagine a group of dudes being judged on who has the most body hair. The guy who usually wins is the one who has so much body hair that he puts the wild primates to shame. He also sheds everywhere. There is also the informal belly flop contest in the pool. For those who may not be familiar with the concept, a belly flop is a diving technique where the person hits the water with their stomach. Everyone who does is always groans in pain. And it gets water all over the place, so be sure to protect your fried snacks, unless you enjoy soggy potato chips. Finally, there are always the people who make out on their stateroom balcony. On a late afternoon, I was sitting on my balcony reading, when all of a sudden I hear the strangest noise. I leaned over the balcony to ask if whoever was below me was okay. That’s when I heard a woman say, ‘Oh we’re fine, thank you,’ and continue to make out with her spouse, giggling over the fact that they were caught. I didn’t understand what was going on until I heard their moaning. Honestly, it didn’t bother me at first, until this woman got louder and louder, so much so that I couldn’t concentrate on my reading. I ended up staying inside for the rest of the day and closing the door.”
Never A Break From The Bickering
“I sailed out of Galveston, Texas on an MSC Cruise. There were a lot of Texans on board, many of whom I got into fun arguments with over our different football teams. I assumed that everyone would be on their best behavior and especially polite, since people I knew from my hometown usually acts this way. Unfortunately, I witnessed so much constant arguing between families. I had not even stepped foot on the ship yet, and I could already hear families digging into each other. The family that. was in the cabin next to mine would argue about what they would do the next day. They would go on and on and on about why Mom didn’t want to do this and why Dad didn’t want to do that. They would shout at their son, asking him why he couldn’t be more involved with the family’s vacation? I mean, these people spent a lot of money to be here on this beautiful ship and witness these amazing sights. Unfortunately, they spent all of their time bickering with one another. It must have been a pretty big bummer for them. I go on cruises by myself for a reason. I mostly just shook my head in disbelief, swore never to bring anyone with me onto one of these things, and then I went back down to the bar, because no one would argue with me otherwise.”
Let’s Treat Them Like They Don’t Exist!
“The Royal Caribbean ship ‘Quantum of the Seas’ has a gorgeous multi-purpose performance venue and lounge in the back of the ship. You have to reserve your spot for the show, but the seating is very casual. It is full of super soft lounge sofas and dining tables around them. My mother and father-in-law arrived in the venue early, and they were seated on a couch with a glass coffee table in front of them for one of the shows. A few minutes before the show started, these two women came over and sat on top of that glass coffee table, completely blocking my family members’ views. My in-laws asked them to please move, because not only were these women blocking their view, it was pretty dangerous to be sitting on the glass. I am surprised that no employee ever came over to tell them both off. I imagine no staff member really wanted to get involved for fear of a bad review. Unfortunately, the women refused to move and completely ignored my poor in-laws, who were forced to find seating elsewhere. Now if I had been there, I would have been much more aggressive towards these weird passengers. What losers people can turn out to be!”
One Action That Went Way Too Far
“We recently took a fourteen-day Norwegian Cruise through Europe. Now cruise lines will ask their passengers to observe certain rules in order to be courteous towards others. But the actual enforcement of these rules is practically nonexistent. This is an honor system through and through. One of these courteous actions? Not saving lots of seats for others at once. There was a passenger on this cruise who would save an entire row of seats during the evening show every night. His friends then then join him whenever they would show up. The shows were quite well attended, and usually every seat would be occupied by thirty minutes before the show began, except for this one particular row. I lost count of the number of people I saw this loser turn away from that row. I am normally a live and let live sort of person, but the rudeness of this action really got to me. I worry about how this person functioned in normal everyday society. I can’t imagine this person would find many friends.”
What Goes On Behind The Luxury
“People would stop at the desk in order to take back their daily tip amount charged upfront. Behavior like this is allowed on a lot of cruise lines. The expectation is that most people will leave it as is when they finally disembark. If you can’t pay the tip, then don’t take the cruise! After all, you are paying portage fees which then go into the cruise’s line of profit. The tips are all for the people who are waiting on you, working the kitchens, cleaning your room every day, as well as keeping all the public areas on the ship nice and tidy. A crew member once told me that the total amount of accrued tips would be divided amongst the crew. He didn’t say if there would be a sliding scale or anything based on the job, but he said that the crew would be delighted to get any share of the gratuity. Apparently, the hourly pay wasn’t very much at all. So cruise liens set a particular gratuity per day, and it is added into your bill, which you pay before you board the ship. Considering that you are going ‘out’ to eat three or four times a day and having a lot of poolside drinks being served to you, fourteen to twenty dollars per day per person would be pretty economical.”
Grubby Adult Toddlers
“So many cruises will have staff members with dispensers full of hand sanitizer at the entrance to some restaurants. On this Carnival Cruise, I was walking into the dining area, and I noticed this grumpy old man berated the staff member who was trying to dole out hand sanitizer. This cranky old man exclaimed, ‘I didn’t need to wash my hands in the bathroom, why would I need this gunk?!’ I turned to him and boldly stated, ‘Well, you would have handled the door to the public restroom, the buttons in the elevator, and the handrails in the passageways getting over here. You spread so many germs. Also, you have no idea what the last person to touch all of those things has done with their hands.’ This man quickly changed his mind.
It gets even worse. I noticed how people would knock over the cutlery onto the floor. People would bend down and pick up the silverware and put it back on the tray, the trays which would soon be used by incoming diners. Because I arrived in the dining hall early, I would quietly pick up this silverware and place them in one of the cleaning carts, just to help the future diners. During breakfast time, all the custom toasted items would be kept warm in a warming tray. Diners would sort through the tray, looking for their order with their grubby hands, blatantly ignoring the tongs readily available. The staff member would wait until the customer turned away, and then they would have to empty the rest of that tray into the trash and remake the toasted items. It was so much extra work that was totally unnecessary! I also noticed how diners would spit whatever food that they did not like onto the floor. My other pet peeve was people who would party until like three in the morning in the casino. Then, they would come back to their cabin right next to mine, and turn on a very loud television. What could there possibly be to watch on a cruise ship television at three in the morning?!”
Father-Daughter Dastardly Duo
“My mom and I took a Princess cruise to the Panama Canal. One morning, we went up topside for breakfast, and as I was waiting on my omelettes to finish up, this girl behind me was beyond disgusting. She must have been seventeen or eighteen, so quite old enough to know better. She was standing behind me, eating grapes and throwing the seeds on the floor, rather than putting them on her plate or in the trash. I turned around and told her what she was doing was extremely rude and unsanitary. I mentioned how it would create a safety hazard for some elderly person who could possibly slip on wet seeds tossed onto the marble floor. It was also in such poor taste that she would expect a cruise line employee to clean up after her, just because she was too lazy to clean up after herself! This girl looked at me, mouth wide open, apparently shocked that a stranger would speak to her in such a manner. I got my food and went over to sit down and eat it. On the way to my table, I pointed out the pile of seeds to one of the dining stewards and told him what had happened.
A few minutes later, I saw the brat again, with what looked liker her dad in tow. She pointed me out to him, and he marched right over to where my mom and I were sitting. He proceeded to scold me for attacking his baby girl. I was supremely ticked off, so I told him about his kid’s deplorable behavior, and the gall she had to think that she could spit junk onto the floor, with the expectation that someone would clean up her mess. I also told him that it was too bad that he didn’t teach his little girl some better manners and consideration for other people. Around this time, the employees had heard our raised voices and came over to see what was going on. One of these employees was the person I had told about the girl’s atrocious behavior. They were able to make this dastardly father-daughter duo leave the dining hall, but not before severely scolding them in front of the entire group of people there for breakfast.”
