8 Annoying Things Some People On A Cruise Ship Do!

Most of the time, people do the right thing, but occasionally you might witness someone breaking an unwritten rule of cruising.

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[kathypreis]

Thanks Matt! 💕 It’s truly amazing how bad elevator behavior is! I witnessed people rushing in front of a wheelchair twice before I became that poor family’s advocate to get them on the next lift. I mean C’MON PEOPLE! Do what’s right! 🛳💕

[frshSwag]

Went on the Symphony a couple of years ago and you won't believe the amount of people that got mad when they were told to wash their hands before entering the buffet

[cherylgorecki]

We travel with my father who is in a wheelchair or a scooter and it is amazing how many people bum rush into the elevator not even giving him a chance to get off or even get on. Most of the time I don’t ride with him during rush times and meet him at the level he is headed. I do however point out and THANK the people that do make room for him in hopes that others take note.

[sarge]

Just to modify the Auto-Gratuities a little. Being able to remove them is NOT just about giving you the option to pay certain crew directly, it is also about being able to remove grats due to poor service. When I first started cruising in 1990, there was no such thing as auto-grats. The last night of every cruise, you would present envelopes to the crew you dealt with directly. We had a cruise where we saw the Maitre'd one time the whole cruise (7 nights) and it was the last night of the cruise when it was tip time. It was unfortunate for the rest of the crew back then that didn't benefit from the self gratuities but if the lines are so concerned about crew pay, let THEM up their pay! Also since the start of Auto-Grats, I have seen a decline in service and this is because in 99% of the cases, the crew know they are getting the tips automatically!

[larry]

The chair hogs and elevator pushers are my pet peeves. Someone told me that if he sees a chair without anyone in it for a couple of hours he will remove their things and place them on another chair, watch other people sit down, and wait for the madness to ensue if and when the chair hogs ever return. A riskier thing to do is to simply remove the items, put them somewhere else, sit down yourself, and play dumb if and when the chair hogs ever return. But that can get nasty.

[KathyL]

Agree with these annoying things 💯! Another one I encountered for the first time is MDR rudeness..like talking VERY loudly about disgusting things you don't want to hear when eating..several nights in a row. We did not cause a scene we quietly asked our waitress if we could be moved and the next day we were at a new table surrounded by wonderful people.

[amandadiehl]

I can't believe elevator etiquette has to be explained 🙈😬 it seems like common sense to let people out before you get in haha

[AW-jwjd]

Missed one: parents who don't educate their children on the 8 Golden Rules (and enforce them) and just let them run rampant.

[philpettit]

Hey Matt, excellent blog! I hope enough cruisers take heed to what you're saying. I'm with you 💯 on all counts. The one that I do is dropping the automatic tip charge from our cruise bill, and I'm sure you'll agree that I do it for good reason. Let me just say that I've been on cruises where we've had terrible service from some of the crew members. That being said....it's rare but I've noticed that it's happening a little more often than before. The service in the early days was impeccable but as of late has suffered a bit and I believe in large part due to the automatic tip charge. I always have a lot of fun with different crew members and do tip those who aren't usually on the tip chart. I've always been a big tipper going beyond the tip guide but I will always give myself the choice of how I tip the crew. The vast majority of the crew are amazingly great and deserve every dime they receive. I just want the option to adjust the tipping at my discretion. Anyway, thanks for letting me bend your ear. Good stuff, I loved it!

[rumjack]

The funniest thing I see on Royal Caribbean ships is the people with Grand suites wearing the complimentary robe to breakfast

[richardhoward]

Chair hogs annoy us but otherwise not much else does. Mostly we love everything much on RCCL we don’t notice a lot of the other stuff. As you get older you can “chill” more 😉😎. Also wanted you to know that I was binge watching your YouTube videos and what an incredible job you have done from beginning to nowadays. Your sound and voice levels have been improved to the next level and beyond. 👍 great job. If I was at RCCL I’d make sure you were paid to put these informative videos out.

[timmills]

during the shopping sales that happen on board people will block out others from getting to the sale items. this has prevented my wife who is in a wheel chair from seeing what is for sale. uSometime it has gotten to the point where I will simple tell her that if someone hits the chair it will hurt them a lot more then hurt the chair.

[susandodd]

My three: 1) filling a plate with more food than you can eat, then wasting it. 2) not using a tissue to sneeze or cough into or, if you did, not putting it into a waste container yourself. 3) interrupting a crew member who is helping another passenger...unless there is an emergency, of course.

[pauletteg]

Please let wheelchairs and scooters into the elevators first. They don’t have the luxury of taking the stairs. Making them wait 15-30 minutes for an elevator is unacceptable.

[brianbooth]

One thing I will add, is not only should you follow crew members instructions, but you should also be kind to them too. Most are far away from their families and probably don’t see them more than once or twice per year (at most). I was on a cruise in Dec 2019 where a crew member was taking pictures of people by one of the Christmas trees in the promenade. This was on Liberty of the Seas so the promenade isn’t the widest to begin with, add in a Christmas tree and it is easy to get stuck there unless you cut through some of the shops. Anyway we were on our way to dinner and were waiting for the photographer to finish taking a few shots of this couple by the tree and an older gentlemen who was walking with a cane lost his patience, stamped his cane and said something to the effect of, “Come on, girl!” The photographer quickly let him and the rest of us who were waiting pass, but it really bothered me how rude that guy was. I mean even she she took 30 more pictures, how much time would it really have taken? 30 seconds maybe? Please be kind to crew and other passengers. Your seat at dinner is saved for you, I promise they won’t run out of food, so there is no need to act without grace and decorum.

[lauraguerrero]

I was on a cruise on crutches. People would push past me to get on the elevator before me. Not like I could have taken the stairs.

[markevans]

1. Grabbing food with your hands. I'd also suggest that the way people put the tongs back on TOP OF THE FOOD is just as unsafe. tongs should have holsters and never have the handles put back on top of the food.

[jasonpeterson]

The lack of elevator etiquette really annoys me including people getting on before others who have been there already waiting. Gotta love the pinnacle snobs who wear their pin the entire cruise.

[TheChoiceofMotherhood]

My previous cruises have just been me and a friend or me and my brother. We often just took the stairs. Future cruises I will now be cruising with my daughter. She has mobility issues and cannot take the stairs. I'm a bit worried that we will spend half our cruise just trying to use elevators.

[bythebeach]

On one of our last cruises a lady was at a show in the theater. A few families came in late and she refused to let them have the seats in her row because she didn’t want to get up or let them climb over her. Really? Very rude.