Nagorak

Once when traveling abroad with a university group, one participant complained loudly and regularly about every meal. I finally asked her where she ate at home. She mentioned a series of American chain restaurants that weren't to my taste but explained why she wasn't happy at the local restaurants we were dining at. Food is so often about preferences and comfort. Since then when confronted by people unhappy with their meals or hotel rooms and such, I ask where they usually dine or stay and it gives me great insights to their expectations.

 

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My personal experience is usually that when someone is constantly complaining it often reflects more on them than on whatever they're complaining about. There are some people who are dissatisfied with basically everything, either because they have an overly high opinion of themselves (spoiled), or because they get off making other people miserable (mean). It doesn't matter what food they normally eat or where they normally stay. They probably complain at those places too and expect the staff to just grin and bear it for their tip.

Life is imperfect. Many of us simply learn to make do with it and to try to look at the positive side. Having an occasional complaint is understandable, but if someone finds themselves complaining constantly it may be necessary for them to spend some time looking in the mirror (unfortunately, they don't).

If we're talking about something like a cold, you can get a cold going to the grocery store. You can catch a cold while out on a shore excursion. The incubation period for a virus can be as long as 7-10 days, so you can easily get on the ship with no symptoms, not even knowing you have a cold. As a matter of fact, I have developed a cold well into a cruise. Where I got it, I don't know? But there is no way to be certain it originated onboard. A crew member could also easily have a cold and I don't really believe they will be denied boarding, although we can hope they will be isolated or something if the symptoms are really bad.

So, from that standpoint someone who has a cold and boards the ship anyway, I don't think is doing anything particularly wrong (and as pointed out, the questionnaire doesn't even really target colds). It's safe to say that on a ship with a couple thousand people on board, at least a few innocuous viruses will be circulating, especially once shore excursions are brought into the mix. I really don't think you can get multiple hundreds of people together without a few viruses also joining the party.

Now, for something more serious, like a flu, that's a different story. But if you're really sick and it's a short cruise, one has to ask why you are subjecting yourself to the misery in the first place? If you're really too sick to enjoy it, then what is the point? While a cold doesn't mostly prevent you from enjoying yourself, a flu certainly does.

As for a world cruise... Barring a life threatening problem, I think almost everyone is going to do whatever is necessary to get on board, *regardless of what they may claim*. And I am not sure I exactly blame them either. Hopefully someone who is sick will at least isolate themselves. But yet again, you can pick up a virus at your very first port of call, so it is what it is. That is why we have an immune system, after all.