Bad manners and wasting food on a cruise ship, what do you think?

[peteukmcr]

Having discussed with someone who has recently sailed on Liberty of the Seas as we did in May, I thought I’d check out other people’s views on a couple of incidents I have noticed on all cruises.

 

1) is the amount of food that is being thrown away;

And

2) the behaviour and bad manners of some children (and adults).

 

On so many occasions I have seen children ordering food and then just playing with it and letting it go to waste. Sometimes, and this is even worse, the parents are present and they are doing exactly the same thing.

 

One example was in Sorrento’s; three kids came along, aged somewhere between 9 and 12, with no parents in sight. All three of them ordered 2 slices of pizza and some extra side orders, plus drinks. Once seated they used the side orders as food to throw at each other, took a few sips of their drinks, and two of them ate one bite of the pizza, then just left!

Everybody there just looked at each other in utter disbelief, there was a full table of food just lying there, and the floor was dirty. The staff even asked if people thought they would come back.

 

Another example, in Olive or Twist there was a family with small children (aged around 5 or 6), and it would appear a nanny was present. The oldest boy in the family had a disagreement with the parents. The nanny made a remark to the boy and he just started hitting her with his hands and kicking her with his feet! Nobody said anything until he started shouting and the entire bar was looking at them, and then and only then did the father take action.

 

Now this is one thing I detest and I am seeing more of this every single day, whether on a cruise ship or not and it all relates to the manners shown by adults and the behaviour of children. It would appear to me that in a lot of cases (not all cases, before you flame me) that parental control is somewhat non-existent especially when they are on holiday. It would appear that because the parents are on holiday they think they don't have to do anything as it would spoil their fun (both the parents and child).

 

Sorry, my opinion and this is only my opinion is that you are raising the children, and so it is your responsibility to care for them and control them, not someone else. Even if you are paying someone to look after them and you are on holiday, so are we. Nobody should be subject to abuse from a child. And others around them should not be subjected to their appalling bad manners.

 

If I had behaved like this in private, never mind in public, I would have been severely punished, but I was taught that this behaviour was unacceptable.

 

As for food waste, I cannot abide it, but to be fair, the children will have learnt from their parents. On a cruise the food is 'free' so it would appear that people see no harm in wasting it. I see it all the time in the Windjammer and it offends me, and it is the adult population who are the main culprits and so their children learn from them.

 

I cannot understand why people have to load a plate with so much food that they will not eat, only to have it thrown away. Is it greed? Do they not realise that if there was less food waste for the cruise line to deal with, then cruise prices may be lower or food quality improved?

 

This is down to the 'fast food' culture and the ‘Me, Me, Me’ syndrome IMHO.

 

And yes, if I could I would holiday on an adult only cruise ship, but there aren’t many about, but why should I change just because of the few children who misbehave?

 

For land based holidays, a resort that is adults only is always at the top of my list, but then again the behaviour of some adults is shameful.

 

OK off to put the fire proof coat on. :D

[bayonnebubba]

Times haven't changed. On Vision to Alaska in '05 was amazed at the size of the plates of food taken at the buffet and then barely eaten, left sitting on the tables. However it was almost always adults, which was the sad commentary.

[reallyitsmema]

This whole story is from another thread. Now two threads talking about the same thing?:confused:

[MikeNJ1109]

Times haven't changed. On Vision to Alaska in '05 was amazed at the size of the plates of food taken at the buffet and then barely eaten, left sitting on the tables. However it was almost always adults, which was the sad commentary.

 

Our experience on cruises have been that while there are definitely kids who don't behave well, the primary offenders in the bad manners and food waste departments have been adults.

 

Michael and Silke

[jlrn366419]

The food wasting probably has to do with an attitude of entitlement. People think because they paid an essentially all inclusive price for the cruise they can order and waste as much as they want to. I don't agree with this because in the long run it probably contributes to prices increasing. I also don't agree with it from a green/social standpoint. If you want to sample everything then go to the windjammer and sample a spoonful of everything. If you want to try different things in the dining room, tell your waiter you want to try a certain item but don't want the entire entree, they can probably accomodate you. Most cruisers probably don't know this and the staff can't exactly lecture them.

 

As for the children, its a very permissive society and there are unfortunately some changes for the worse in child rearing practices. I have a little one and live in a very conservative area, we run a tight ship. Here's to hoping he doesn't act like he was raised in a barn later in life, lol.

[mamapan]

Having discussed with someone who has recently sailed on Liberty of the Seas as we did in May, I thought I’d check out other people’s views on a couple of incidents I have noticed on all cruises.

 

1) is the amount of food that is being thrown away;

And

2) the behaviour and bad manners of some children (and adults).

 

On so many occasions I have seen children ordering food and then just playing with it and letting it go to waste. Sometimes, and this is even worse, the parents are present and they are doing exactly the same thing.

 

One example was in Sorrento’s; three kids came along, aged somewhere between 9 and 12, with no parents in sight. All three of them ordered 2 slices of pizza and some extra side orders, plus drinks. Once seated they used the side orders as food to throw at each other, took a few sips of their drinks, and two of them ate one bite of the pizza, then just left!

Everybody there just looked at each other in utter disbelief, there was a full table of food just lying there, and the floor was dirty. The staff even asked if people thought they would come back.

 

Another example, in Olive or Twist there was a family with small children (aged around 5 or 6), and it would appear a nanny was present. The oldest boy in the family had a disagreement with the parents. The nanny made a remark to the boy and he just started hitting her with his hands and kicking her with his feet! Nobody said anything until he started shouting and the entire bar was looking at them, and then and only then did the father take action.

 

Now this is one thing I detest and I am seeing more of this every single day, whether on a cruise ship or not and it all relates to the manners shown by adults and the behaviour of children. It would appear to me that in a lot of cases (not all cases, before you flame me) that parental control is somewhat non-existent especially when they are on holiday. It would appear that because the parents are on holiday they think they don't have to do anything as it would spoil their fun (both the parents and child).

 

Sorry, my opinion and this is only my opinion is that you are raising the children, and so it is your responsibility to care for them and control them, not someone else. Even if you are paying someone to look after them and you are on holiday, so are we. Nobody should be subject to abuse from a child. And others around them should not be subjected to their appalling bad manners.

 

If I had behaved like this in private, never mind in public, I would have been severely punished, but I was taught that this behaviour was unacceptable.

 

As for food waste, I cannot abide it, but to be fair, the children will have learnt from their parents. On a cruise the food is 'free' so it would appear that people see no harm in wasting it. I see it all the time in the Windjammer and it offends me, and it is the adult population who are the main culprits and so their children learn from them.

 

I cannot understand why people have to load a plate with so much food that they will not eat, only to have it thrown away. Is it greed? Do they not realise that if there was less food waste for the cruise line to deal with, then cruise prices may be lower or food quality improved?

 

This is down to the 'fast food' culture and the ‘Me, Me, Me’ syndrome IMHO.

 

And yes, if I could I would holiday on an adult only cruise ship, but there aren’t many about, but why should I change just because of the few children who misbehave?

 

For land based holidays, a resort that is adults only is always at the top of my list, but then again the behaviour of some adults is shameful.

 

OK off to put the fire proof coat on. :D

 

 

Well at least you're prepared for the flaming...

 

As one of the "responsible" parents, I can tell you that my kids (now age 8 & 15) are very well mannered. There isn't a person on this earth who hasn't misbehaved - myself included - but in cases when kids run rampant, behave wastefully and have problems keeping their hands to themselves, look to the adults in their party for the reason why.

 

My kids learned very early that if they were not behaving appropriately for the situation, they got taken OUT of that situation. We left a restaurant once before our meals came to the table to prove our point. We NEVER had to give more than one "manners check reminder" since.

 

It is frustrating to me that parents take a break from parenting when they're traveling away from home. If you don't want to parent on vacation, don't bring your children.

 

I'm not going to pretend I'm the perfect parent, or that my kids are the perfect children, but I work hard at doing a good job and receive compliments frequently on their behavior. I pass the compliments along to them and I let them know when they need to shape up.

 

Kids will live up to - or down to - our expectations.

[peteukmcr]

This whole story is from another thread. Now two threads talking about the same thing?:confused:

No actually the other thread is about a cruise review and this is only one of the topcs being discussed by 2 people (me and another person) on that thread. Are you confused or annoyed that I have opened it up to get more feedback?

[kltc]

Sorry to say that this is not just happening on a vacation. It is even worse when you see this at a school. Kids are misbehaving and parents are not doing a thing to help out the teachers. I'm sorry but I have to use that phrase...when I was a kid my parents would not let me off the hook. Some people just needs parenting classes and kids are reflecting the lack of...:eek: scary what our world will turn into.

[welshrich]

Unfortuately you do see unruly children on vacation, but they've only learned from others, conversely, there are a higher number of kids who are well behaved, I like the larger ships as they have the adults only solarium so you don't see a lot of it. As for the food, I've been known on occasion to come away from the buffet with enough to feed and army but i always live with the motto "take all you want, but eat all you take" I always like to try new things and if something does not appeal to my palate I will try a sample so its not a huge amount left, and lesson learned. now then, where did I put that Halo ;)

[bplazo]

It is unbelievable what some people allow their children to do. I see it every day where I work. However, there are still some great parents out there.

[Verfai]

No actually the other thread is about a cruise review and this is only one of the topcs being discussed by 2 people (me and another person) on that thread. Are you confused or annoyed that I have opened it up to get more feedback?

 

I don’t mind, as I am that other person :D

 

I added this content to the review as we saw numerous occasions where situations like these happened…This all in the time span of just one week.

 

I know of people who would have intervened in these situations because they just can’t stand it (given that is breaking another unwritten law, don’t interfere with others children)…But still, its uncalled for.

 

You want a adult example, also from that same cruise? Here it is:

 

Second formal night, after the pool party (dancing under the starts) we ended up in the Solarium hot tub (me and two girls), at 3am, we were just having fun, not even making noise or doing anything shocking as most of you would think by now ;)…The pool manager even passed by asking if we were having a lot of fun…After about 20min we see some guy, standing in the dark holding out his mobile in our direction, we moved a bit, the mobile was following us, so we directly concluded = filming! We confronted the guy, he even dared to go in conversations with us, asking if we had reception on the ship!? At 3am!?

Anyhow after some rude Dutch words :D he disappeared…

 

You get why I added this to he review, if this is the behavior of some (rotten) apples these days…Help us all!

[Sugar*Magnolia]

To the OP - NO flaming here. I totally agree with your post. I find piling a plate sky high with food totally offensive. You can always go back and get more. It is nauseating to witness. Last cruise many mornings in the WJ we would see folks with a cereal bowl over flowing with cottage cheese. (I still think about the sight and wonder who would eat all that??) Not only one folk, lol but you could see it was a husband and wife, both with the same over flowing bowls of cottage cheese. Can you not get this in another country or state? It was one of thee most horrible over flowing piled high food plate I have ever seen in WJ. I would love to hear from the folks who do do this and why? lol

 

As for bad behavior from kids, they most likely behave the same way at home!

[MOSusan]

I'm a Mean Mom and wear that badge proudly. We make sure that our children know that mom and dad work hard to provide this cruise experience for them and that we expect a certain level of behavior - which we also expect on land.

 

I would bet that the child you saw throwing the fit had done it many times before. I would agree with a statement made above that the majority of the kids on the ship do behave - but you saw this child in a bar - how late was it? Makes me wonder if the child really just needed to be in bed and not at a bar ( but I guess that proves your point about bad parenting).

 

As for wasting food - Guilty. I can't tell you how many times I have taken something from the buffet that looked wonderful, only to find that the taste did not match the appearance - YUK!

 

I will continue to try and make my fellow cruisers experience pleasant with well behaved children - you have my word on that one.

 

What this world needs is more Mean Moms!

[island lady]

It is not just the cruise vacations or just the kids.

 

We just got back from a "land based" vacation to Hawaii. Sat across the table from a couple aged about late 20's at a luau. The woman (and a small thin one at that) piled up 2 platters overflowing with food, as her mate had two of his own. She ate a few bites off of each and then left the rest sit there. The poor bussers did not know if they should pick it up or not. It sat there till they both left, and then it was dumped.

 

You see this way too many times at those "stuff your plate" buffets....I wish they would do away with them. :(

[2 wheeling]

Parental influence is the number one factor in developing children's behavior.

 

BUT, the minute you send them off to (public) school, they are exposed to many other influences ( some good, many bad ). For instance, my DW and I raised our children so that they would not hear any swearing ( f-bombs, $h!t, etc). So we send our 6 year old DD off to her first full-day of school knowing she was pure as the white driven snow ;). She comes home from school and we ask her what she learned today. She dead pans: "$h!t, f&@k, g-dam, etc."

 

As for wasting food, once the food is brought on board AND cooked it must be served or thrown away. Besides, if they throw food away on vacation, they probably throw food away at home. Just sayin'.

 

If you really want to see a pile of uneaten food be thrown away, go check out your local high school cafeteria dumpsters. The state-mandated "health" food they must serve is unedible and discarded (I teach HS, so I see it)

[bus man]

I agree that wasting food is wrong, but I can sort of understand it in the cruise context. Given that the buffet food is included in your fare, it's only natural that some people might want to experiment with food they normally don't eat. After all, if they don't like it, it's not like they're out extra money, like they would be if they tried it in a regular restaurant. (I agree that the solution here is to try small portions, then go back for more if you like it.)

 

And also, sometimes you see food that you know you like, so you get a lot of it -- only to find out that it was not cooked to your taste. Do you force yourself to eat food that you don't like, or abandon it and try something else? Given that you are in a place where you're surrounded by great quantities of food, all "free" for the taking, your answer to that question is likely to be different than if you were starving in a prison camp.

 

As for the kid hitting their parent or nanny, that is UNACCEPTABLE. Period. If it had been my kid, he would have been immediately removed from the situation, forcibly restrained if necessary, then disciplined appropriately once we were alone. The form that the discipline would take would depend on the circumstances (i.e. was the kid just plain exhausted and beyond reasoning with at the end of a full, overstimulating day? or was he just being a brat?) But under no circumstances would this behavior be tolerated.

[jdjaguar]

another consideration..the food is already prepared..so either the gluttons or the crew will toss it if not eaten.

 

It doesn't bother me to see people w/ plates stacked high..not one bit.

[mamapan]

I'm a Mean Mom and wear that badge proudly. As for wasting food - Guilty. I can't tell you how many times I have taken something from the buffet that looked wonderful, only to find that the taste did not match the appearance - YUK!

 

What this world needs is more Mean Moms!

 

I just LOVE it when my kids say I'm being a Mean Mom. It means I'm doing my job. I love them enough to take the heat!

 

Good point about food appearance vs. taste. I try to take small tastes of things that look interesting, but sometimes I've taken a full serving of something I "know" I love - only to find out it's awful. And I'll admit that I've also taken more than I could eat on those days that my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

[Verfai]

I'm a Mean Mom and wear that badge proudly. We make sure that our children know that mom and dad work hard to provide this cruise experience for them and that we expect a certain level of behavior - which we also expect on land.

 

I would bet that the child you saw throwing the fit had done it many times before. I would agree with a statement made above that the majority of the kids on the ship do behave - but you saw this child in a bar - how late was it? Makes me wonder if the child really just needed to be in bed and not at a bar ( but I guess that proves your point about bad parenting).

 

As for wasting food - Guilty. I can't tell you how many times I have taken something from the buffet that looked wonderful, only to find that the taste did not match the appearance - YUK!

 

I will continue to try and make my fellow cruisers experience pleasant with well behaved children - you have my word on that one.

 

What this world needs is more Mean Moms!

 

It was about 4:30pm…My Indian is not that good, so I didn’t really get what started the discussion :D. But it was the hitting of the nanny that bothered me, and that the family didn’t react until the entire bar was watching them…Could be the child was tiered, they did disappear never to comeback.

[island lady]

One of the biggest reasons cruise prices are going up is listed in our newspaper this morning. Fuel is only one thing, but food prices are another big one.

 

If everyone just selected small bite sized amounts of food they are not sure if they would like or not, then they could always go back for more of the things they do like. It is fun to experiement, but wasteful to take a full portion of things they may not enjoy.

 

The cruise lines base inventory for restock on average consumption. If average consumption goes down, so does the restock, and thus so does the cost....and eventually so does the cost of your cruise ticket. Just ask any restaurant about their menu pricing.

[jdjaguar]

One of the biggest reasons cruise prices are going up is listed in our newspaper this morning. Fuel is only one thing, but food prices are another big one.

 

If everyone just selected small bite sized amounts of food they are not sure if they would like or not, then they could always go back for more of the things they do like. It is fun to experiement, but wasteful to take a full portion of things they may not enjoy.

 

The cruise lines base inventory for restock on average consumption. If average consumption goes down, so does the restock, and thus so does the cost....and eventually so does the cost of your cruise ticket. Just ask any restaurant about their menu pricing.

agree...myself am not a glutton..but i do order 2 entrees in the MDR :D

[KansCocoa]

I'm a Mean Mom, and proud of it...I've always told my kids that it's not my job to be their friends...but it IS my job to parent, and I take that job seriously.

 

We've always had a rule in our house when we serve ourselves food:

 

"Take what you'll eat; eat what you take."

 

Period.

[Mark_K]

One of the biggest reasons cruise prices are going up is listed in our newspaper this morning. Fuel is only one thing, but food prices are another big one.

RCI spends $12 per person a day for food (less actually since that includes crew food), having some portion of it wasted is not going to change cruise prices much.

[mommabean]

another consideration..the food is already prepared..so either the gluttons or the crew will toss it if not eaten.

 

It doesn't bother me to see people w/ plates stacked high..not one bit.

 

I was about to say the same thing. If it's not thrown away off of the plate, it's going to be thrown away at the end of that meal directly from the serving dish. They make way more than anyone will ever eat and they sure can't save it until the next meal.

 

But...it still bothers me to see people pile their plates that high. And what's worse than not eating it all....is watching them eat it all and go back for more and do it again. :eek: Sorry, but eating like this is not normal or healthy. I'm the one who better be prepared for the flames now.

 

Gina

[mommabean]

One of the biggest reasons cruise prices are going up is listed in our newspaper this morning. Fuel is only one thing, but food prices are another big one.

 

If everyone just selected small bite sized amounts of food they are not sure if they would like or not, then they could always go back for more of the things they do like. It is fun to experiement, but wasteful to take a full portion of things they may not enjoy.

 

The cruise lines base inventory for restock on average consumption. If average consumption goes down, so does the restock, and thus so does the cost....and eventually so does the cost of your cruise ticket. Just ask any restaurant about their menu pricing.

 

VERY good points. I like this way of looking at it.

 

Gina