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

[Gone Fishing]

Does that mean I have to eat all of my scrambled eggs with questionable salad shrimp and some kind of weird fishy broth secretly mixed in?

It looked OK but . . . :eek:

[lalalisa]

This kid doing the kicking and hitting- I know the type. Probably gets a time-out instead of a spank on the butt. Just sayin.

[travelpeon]

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.

 

It is my understanding from a galley tour on Celebrity that the head chef works with provision manager to look at demographics and head count when planning to purchase food and what to serve on upcoming cruises. Portion size is 30% larger (for a single portion in MDR) on a Caribbean cruise than a European one, if the typical large cruise liner demographics are the majority of guests come from the surrounding nations.

 

In a way, the waiters and dining staff work very hard to make sure you exit the dining venue full. Even if you tell them you dislike wasting food, they encourage you to try everything you might want and don't exactly bring out sampling sizes. Sometimes I wish it wasn't declasse to ask for a takeaway bag from the MDR, especially desserts since I'm usually full by then but could eat it as a late night snack :) . Can you even order a half portion of something? Or ask for no sides? I know that requires extra work to cook something fresh in the MDR when each dish is pre-plated and sitting in the warmer to speed up the dining process.

[MOSusan]

Sometimes I wish it wasn't declasse to ask for a takeaway bag from the MDR, especially desserts since I'm usually full by then but could eat it as a late night snack :) .

 

Our children have often left before dessert, it used to be to go to AO and as they have gotten older we sometimes let them go early - I figure an hour and a half of adult conversation is plenty to endure. Our servers have on many occassions asked if we wanted to take dessert to the children. Even when they ask to leave because they are full, a dessert plate in the room is always a welcome site.

[Anubi]

Unfortunately our cabin has a door bell,

every night kids would ring the bell and run.

The third night I sprang out of bed, ran to the door,

and noticed which cabin they went in to.

When I knocked on the door the father answered.

I said your kids keep ringing my door bell.

he said " No speak English " and started to shut the door.

I put my foot to stop him, and he said " Hey Move your foot "

I said, damn that was good English, tell you kids to stop.

He said Kids will be kids, no harm done.

So at 4 in the morning went and knocked on his door and stood back so he could not see me.

Then I knocked again and again till he opened the door,

I said " No harm done "

Kids never rang my door bell again.

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

Bigtex....you rock!!! :D:D:D

[geoblond]

Ha ha! This thread is great. I've always told people I was the "Mean Mom" and I thought I was the only one! We told our kids "We will always be on the teacher's side" and the kids were limited to 1 and 1/2 hours tube time per day (TV, computor, video games) Those few years of being "mean" paid off well-very proud of our 'kids'.

[JudeeJim]

When my daughter had children she told me she wasn't going to be a general like me and she wasn't. You reap what you sow.

[Tucker in Texas]

Why do you think they no longer have TRAYS at the Windjammer??

 

The "Free" food light goes on and people just lose their minds!! :D :D

 

I was wondering when someone would bring this up. I have seen the Lidos on the ship lines go from having trays to large plates to smaller plates. No doubt it is to cut down on waste and I don't blame them. While it is a good cost containing measure for the ships, it is a PIA for the passengers having to get a salad, then food, then go get a drink, then go get a dessert because you can't juggle everything in one trip. In the meantime, someone usually has to "guard" the table while the other gets what they need. If you are by yourself, it is really difficult because if you leave the table to, say, go get another drink or dessert, 90% of the time your table will be bused before you get back.

 

On our last cruise, the Constellation, they had trays. I was so excited. First time I have seen trays in probably two or three years. The Eclipse in February did not have trays.

 

Tucker in Texas

[mommabean]

Ha ha! This thread is great. I've always told people I was the "Mean Mom" and I thought I was the only one! We told our kids "We will always be on the teacher's side" and the kids were limited to 1 and 1/2 hours tube time per day (TV, computor, video games) Those few years of being "mean" paid off well-very proud of our 'kids'.

 

 

A day? :eek:

 

I win the mean mom award. LOL Mine were lucky to get that much time a week and they never owned a video game machine...until a boy's mom in middle school gave us their nintendo when their son got the super duper nintendo - whatever it was called was it a nintendo64 maybe? She thought we were too poor to buy one. I thanked her politely and put it in the closet never to be used.

 

They all grew up, moved out of the house to go to college, got educated and have real careers. They never suggested moving home after college I assume because I have rules. :eek: :D

 

OK, the baby one is beginning year 4 of college so the jury is out on her. But she has a job, too. She does own a computer and brings it home sometimes to do projects. Where did I go wrong? :rolleyes:

 

I did own an Atari when I was 18, and I still have it. :p I let them use it once a year or less because it was so silly....PONG!

 

Gina

[Dorie7]

Tucker in Texas! Someone needs to point out the difficulties sometimes associated with going back for seconds.

 

Yes, when you are alone, it is nearly impossible to get up to get seconds of something, because someone will take away whatever you leave on the table. Plus you will lose that seat that you spent a 1/2 hour trying to find.Trying to get a drink, cutlery and a meal means filling your plate once and doing a fair bit of fancy juggling.

 

You never know the circumstances behind that full plate. Just concentrate on your own meal and forget about the other person's.

 

I find it difficult to believe that there are people so concerned and disgusted by other people's food choices at a buffet on a cruise ship. Good grief!!

 

Now I'm wondering why I spent the time reading all this. I guess that I am just as bad. Think it's time to go to bed.:rolleyes:

 

Dorie

[Donut23]

Funny, there is a very similar thread on a Disney board. Of course some of the Disney people (who believe perfection lives at WDW) took offense and I have not seen it lately.

 

Sadly, I agree with others. It's not exclusive to cruise ships.

 

People can be rude anywhere....driving on roads around home, standing in line at KMart, gosh knows there are enough of the "entitled" and "me firsts" at Disney World.

 

(I'm going to add a note of hope. We spent the day today at Gettysburg. The Visitor Center was FILLED with children today. It was hot outside, a little stressful getting here and there and sometimes the children seemed to be a little bored. We did not, however, see a moment of rude attitudes from anyone. Hopeful???)

 

anyway....

 

Jim and I see so little of each other living in NYC and Maryland that we tend to just hang out together and leave when people are rude. We did have an exception recently.

 

We were waiting at our favorite bakery at Disney when one of the "entitled" began to scream at the cashier......"is this the service $40,000 gets now?" (timeshare folks) Happily, after she embarassed herself enough, my wonderful husband stepped in with his gentle (NOT) New York manner and offered to give her $40,000 if she would shut up and just move along.

 

Perhaps we have been lucky on our cruises and missed the rude guests....because we have always thought our cruise time was filled with better behaved guests.

 

Sigh.......how things change.

[amybear912]

I've seen my share of "Children Behaving Badly"... couple of real horror stories...

 

In general, I feel sorry for those kids whose parents obviously dont care enough about them to teach them how to behave properly in public...

 

Mostly it upsets me to know that some folks in this world are so selfish that they would unleash a monster upon society without any regard for how their lack of parenting affects the whole of society...

 

You see, I believe that when you bring a child into this world you have a debt to pay society...

 

That debt is to pay the world back with a responsible and considerate citizen...You owe it to the world to do this to the best of your ability....

 

Its a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year committment... And you are committed to this job for approximately 18-20 years... Theres no paid time off... no vacations from this job...

 

Your failure affects the world... Your success could change the world....

 

Please take the job seriously as the fate of the world truly does depend on it...

 

And if you aren't doing the job, please don't act offended when I point it out...particularly if your childs actions could cause harm to themselves or others...

[babyher]

Ha ha! This thread is great. I've always told people I was the "Mean Mom" and I thought I was the only one! We told our kids "We will always be on the teacher's side" and the kids were limited to 1 and 1/2 hours tube time per day (TV, computor, video games) Those few years of being "mean" paid off well-very proud of our 'kids'.

 

 

With that "We will always be on the teachers side " attitude . Thank God for your kids they didn't have the little coke head my daughter had for an 8th grade teacher.

 

By no means do I think my kids are perfect and do no wrong, but I listen to both sides of a story first.

[mjldvlks]

When my daughter had children she told me she wasn't going to be a general like me and she wasn't. You reap what you sow.

Sometimes when make suggestions or share stories, my daughter and son-in-law give us "that we're smarter than you are" look as in "we aren't going to screw up with your grandson like you did with us." The last time that happened, I told DW "Oh that's OK, we also thought we were smarter than our parents -- the difference is, in our case, we were right."

[pltag]

I've seen my share of "Children Behaving Badly"... couple of real horror stories...

 

In general, I feel sorry for those kids whose parents obviously dont care enough about them to teach them how to behave properly in public...

 

Mostly it upsets me to know that some folks in this world are so selfish that they would unleash a monster upon society without any regard for how their lack of parenting affects the whole of society...

 

You see, I believe that when you bring a child into this world you have a debt to pay society...

 

That debt is to pay the world back with a responsible and considerate citizen...You owe it to the world to do this to the best of your ability....

 

Its a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year committment... And you are committed to this job for approximately 18-20 years... Theres no paid time off... no vacations from this job...

 

Your failure affects the world... Your success could change the world....

 

Please take the job seriously as the fate of the world truly does depend on it...

 

And if you aren't doing the job, please don't act offended when I point it out...particularly if your childs actions could cause harm to themselves or others...

Wow ...... how's the view from up there?? :D :D

 

I'd like to think that the future of the planet does NOT hang in the balance based on whether little Johnny does a little running in the halls on the _______ of the Seas.

 

By the way ...... do you have children? I actually agree with the premise (albeit not the theatrics) of most of what you said ...... BUT, if you don't have children, your comments have NO RELEVANCE to this conversation.

 

Side Note - In case one might think that based on my comments that I allow my kids to run wild ...... I DON'T cruise with my kids.

[bus man]

Wow ...... how's the view from up there?? :D :D

 

I'd like to think that the future of the planet does NOT hang in the balance based on whether little Johnny does a little running in the halls on the _______ of the Seas.

 

By the way ...... do you have children? I actually agree with the premise (albeit not the theatrics) of most of what you said ...... BUT, if you don't have children, your comments have NO RELEVANCE to this conversation.

 

Side Note - In case one might think that based on my comments that I allow my kids to run wild ...... I DON'T cruise with my kids.

 

I did not see anywhere in amybear's post that she felt the fate of the world hung on one's kid misbehaving on a cruise. I believe her point was that it's up to those of us who are parents to raise our children right, so that they will become useful, productive members of society instead of the self-centered, "me! me! me!" entitlement-mentality types that are, in fact, one of the topics of this thread.

 

The way she phrased her comments suggests to me that she does indeed have children. But whether she does or not, she's still entitled to have an opinion on how ill-bred kids (and their doltish parents) negatively impact her cruise experience.

 

Oh, and in case you're wondering -- yes, I do have kids.

[graciekelli]

First of all, I agree with many of the posters, children are not the only ones who behave as beligerent little twits. More often then not, its the adults (who in my mind should know better.) But if kids really bother a cruiser...take your cruise during "off season" (that is when the kids are usually in school). You will only see homeschooled kids, who are usually being raised in a very strict and disciplined home. I am a mom of 5 kids and that's what we do. In fact we just came back from a 15 day transatlantic cruise. I think there were 18 kids on the entire ship. 3 of my kids are tweens and 4 of them are boys. They have lectured them constantly on "not getting on peoples nerves." We reared them to behave appropriately when around others (i.e. no body noises...etc.) From time to time kids get carried away and slip up...and they are disciplined. But I can honestly say, I have not ever seen a kid act disrespectfully on a cruise vacation. I have seen adults act very disrespectfully, in fact, during our last cruise, a whole table of adults took it upon themselves to get into a verbal altercation with a family in the MDR whose 2 year old was laughing too loud....really.... thank goodness the head waiter removed the adults from this table to another dining room for the rest of the cruise.

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

These despicable people have paid for their trip and they will take and waste as much food as they like and behave like boors.

 

They remind me of the fools who don't walk just a few feet to place their supermarket shopping carts in the cart parking areas provided. They paid for their groceries and they can put their carts anywhere, blocking parking spaces.

 

It's a sense of entitlement, because they paid for it.

[Ksma23]

I would like to see more well mannered kids and adults these days, but I try not to give too much time or consideration to the matter because you certainly can't control other people's behavior. All we can do is put our best foot forward to be an example to our own children and try not to let the occasional crap head ruin your day or vacation for that matter.

 

I'm trying not to get on my soapbox about parenting as we are getting ready to set sail with our 3 and 5 year old in just a couple of weeks. All I can say is being a toddler mom can be rough some days. While my little ones are pretty good 95% of the time they do have their moments. I am hoping those moments are kept to a minimum on our upcoming trip...pray for me :).

 

Lastly, while I won't flame the OP for the thoughts re: food wasting I do differ

a little in my opinion on the subject. I am not one who loads my plate at the windjammer but if there is a night where I find several menu items that sound good I will order more than one appetizer or desert in the MDR at dinner.

That being said I am always watching my weight so rarely will I eat everything

in front of me. So, technically I guess I could be considered a food waster at

times but I'm okay with that. I think if you have enough time to notice what

your fellow passengers are eating/wasting you should get some better

company at your own table. ;)

[peteukmcr]

I would like to see more well mannered kids and adults these days, but I try not to give too much time or consideration to the matter because you certainly can't control other people's behavior. All we can do is put our best foot forward to be an example to our own children and try not to let the occasional crap head ruin your day or vacation for that matter.

 

I'm trying not to get on my soapbox about parenting as we are getting ready to set sail with our 3 and 5 year old in just a couple of weeks. All I can say is being a toddler mom can be rough some days. While my little ones are pretty good 95% of the time they do have their moments. I am hoping those moments are kept to a minimum on our upcoming trip...pray for me :).

 

Lastly, while I won't flame the OP for the thoughts re: food wasting I do differ

a little in my opinion on the subject. I am not one who loads my plate at the windjammer but if there is a night where I find several menu items that sound good I will order more than one appetizer or desert in the MDR at dinner.

That being said I am always watching my weight so rarely will I eat everything

in front of me. So, technically I guess I could be considered a food waster at

times but I'm okay with that. I think if you have enough time to notice what

your fellow passengers are eating/wasting you should get some better

company at your own table. ;)

Hi hope you have a great cruise and I appreciate that it is not perfect 24 hours per day.

 

However, I take great offence with your suggestion that I should get some better company at my own table other than my partner. Having enough time to notice what my fellow passengers are wasting is totally irrelevant when the table next to you has been vacated and the remnants are being cleared by the wait staff who are being, as ever, very sociable and engaging you in conversation, it's hard to miss. Also due to the proximity of the tables in some cases, again it's hard to miss the balancing plates act of some who try and squeeze past you (and invariable bump into you) on their way to their personal seat (roll eyes) in the dining area which is also another selfish trait IMHO.

[peteukmcr]

Having caught up with all your feedback posted whilst I have been sleeping, once again thanks for your comments and I'm glad some have found this thread useful and I have found it very illuminating.

 

My response to those who have suggested that if the subject of food waste offends me too much, that I should eat in other venues, trust me I do, and I do take room service. However, the purpose of a buffet restaurant like the Windjammer IMHO, is there to cater for the times when you want to serve yourself for whatever reason, and I am entitled to use it (there's the me, me, me attitude) as I am on holiday. But saying that, I am also entitled to comment on what I consider bad manners (including the wasting of food) but realise the world is not perfect, but it could improve. I would like to think that we all strive to improve the environment we live in.

[chloe kitty]

I would just like to put my 2 cents in here. I agree with the fact that not all children are have bad manners. That being said, I would also prefer an adults only ship.

When I grew up, spanking was not a bad thing..it helped us know who was the boss, and it was something to fear. I think society has a lot of the problem today, as people are afraid to disipline their children in public. Many kids have their parents wrapped around their fingers.

As for putting too much food on a plate, I agree with what someone previously said that you think you might like something, but soon find out that you don't, or it wasn't prepared to your taste. In cases like these, I have and will continue to try new things, and if I don't like it, I'm not going to eat it.

Yes, there are "Pigs" on some ships, but nothing we say will change that.

[Addict]

No offense taken at all! You are right - the few misbehaving kids are the ones that spoil the reputation for the good kids. You don't see the good kids because they aren't drawing attention to themselves like the ones being naughty!

 

How about "Dastardly Dads?" :D

 

What about "Mean Moms" and "Bad Dads"?

 

Pete, thank you for raising this subject - it's about time someone did!

 

Talk about shameful waste, on our recent cruise, the food in the CL was going to waste night after night - whole platters of cold foods (although the hot stuff was eaten). A fellow cruiser mentioned this to one of the officers and suggested they didn't bring quite so much but for the rest of the cruise they didn't appear to reduce the amount and every night it went straight in the bin.

 

And rude kids? Our kids are now 40, 37 and 28 but they are still respectful to us. I think we only had cause to slap each one of them, once or twice in their lives - but they then knew the rules and very rarely challenged us. After that, all it took was "the look". :D

[foxesden1]

Having sailed one time with RCL - with a small child who was removed if she miss behaved. (Ask Karen who was thoughtful and kind enough to bring my daughter a gift, and was told she could not give it to her when she came to the door as she had been misbehaving..

 

I never saw kids roaming the halls, playing in the lifts, yelling or screaming..

 

BUT two adults who were well plast 65 did force my child and I not to eat in the WJ when we were not escorted by my husband. And their bad behavior was rewarded by RCL by sending them a gift to their room!

 

So I think we say, PEOPLE regardless of their age are apt to incorrect behavior at all times in their life.

 

T

[Mgetta1]

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.

 

Our grandson moved in to live with us at the age of 16. He objected to our strict discipline, but knew that was going to be the case when he moved in with us. He told us "Grandparents are stricter than parents." I said that good parents were just as strict as we were. However, I began to actually witness how little discipline there was in so very many parents of his friends. It's hard work to be a "Mean Parent" and too many parents aren't willing to do it.