Is it just me?

[NJcruisenewbie]

I know some people like to keep to themselves my bf included but this IS part of the whole cruise experience I am surprised you aren't familiar with that. A lot of people enjoy that it makes them feel like they are actually a person vs. a walking mound of money. Would you be upset if they walked by you every time without saying hi or smiling? You asked if it was just you in this case.. I am going to say yes... sorry! Nothing against you but most people enjoy this. Just smile and nod say hello and keep walking usually they will get the point you aren't the social butterfly that others may be.

 

There's a happy medium between trying to be my best friend and being rude. A quick hello, can I do anything for you, how is your trip going etc is fine. I'm with the OP in that I don't want to make friends with the people that work on a ship. It isn't a snob thing but rather just seems pointless. I actually crack up when I read about people facebooking with ship employees and considering them part of the family.

[WWbytheSEA]

Hi JosieCat;

I was just wondering if you were cruising solo? Reason I ask is maybe somehow the cabin attendant and/or waiters in the Windjammer knew this and were doing their customer service bit. Its part of their customer service policies to especially interact when possible with Solo cruisers. Big piece of their market.

[dreadpirate3]

Being social is part the whole cruising experience, IMHO.

 

For the OP, maybe you could just say you aren't interested in talking at that time.

[mark290]

Wow! Cruise line employees being TOO friendly! That may be a first time complaint here at Cruise Critic LOL! I will have to go search I guess.

 

If it bothered me that much, Id probably choose a different vacation.;)

 

Sounds like the OP thought they were too intrusive, not too friendly. Big difference in my opinion.

[mom says]

I think that I can understand the OPs point of view, and to a great extent I agree with her. Perhaps the crews are trained differently on different lines. To me there is a fine line between friendly and courteous service by crew members, and being overly familiar and intrusive. I have no interest in being their new bestie. A short exchange of pleasantries is one thing. Having to stop what I am doing and sharing my personal details is quite another. A properly trained crew knows how to read their guests and conduct a conversation without going too far.

 

I don't consider myself an anti-social person by any means, and my DH and I have formed some lovely friendships with people we have met on some of our cruises. It is quite possible to both enjoy the group social scene aboard ship and still expect a certain level of personal restraint from the crew.

[BlondieB]

i would continue to eat and answer with my mouth full...."yeth, i dethided to head to the thrtaw markeths to find thome thouveneerths..."

.[/quote

 

:D:D:D

[JosieCat-MN]

Hi JosieCat;

I was just wondering if you were cruising solo? Reason I ask is maybe somehow the cabin attendant and/or waiters in the Windjammer knew this and were doing their customer service bit. Its part of their customer service policies to especially interact when possible with Solo cruisers. Big piece of their market.

 

Yes, I was solo - and yes, that could explain the difference between this cruise and my last cruise with my sister. We mostly ate at the Windjammer and I think someone stopped by our table maybe twice in all of the meals we had there.

[Margy23]

I might have been among those who don't become friendly with staff until the beginning of our second cruise on Jewel. In the Tampa terminal our MDR wait staff from the first cruise, Suzette and Catalina, came running up to us with hugs calling, "Margaret, Richard, so good to see you."

 

They were in the terminal to push wheelchairs and their friendliness made us feel really good as we embarked. I'm not sure whether this had anything to do with it, but we have now been on Jewel five times and were sorry to see her go from Tampa to San Juan.

 

I don't think I'd like Windjammer crew visiting with me uninvited while my food got cold, but I do enjoy chatting briefly with the people who go out of their way to enhance our experience.

 

Their training probably should include watching for cues from passengers as to their preference.

[marielco]

Personally I'm quite happy as long as our cabin attendant does his/her job well. No interest in becoming friends or being bombarded with questions etc. a friendly hello, a nod, a smile either way is fine. Cannot see the need for any more. Likewise with wait staff etc. I certainly will not be rude or abrupt but no interest in long chats. So the OP is definitely not alone in her view on this.

[SRV FAN]

We are extremely friendly (Texan btw) & enjoy engaging with the staff. We joke & laugh & they LOVE us (have been told that on every cruise we've been on)...... we ask about their families & they love that. We remember the names of the ones that were friendly in return. They have all been to the same ports you're going to & have valuable insider info to offer, if you ask. We usually get extra perks by being nice to our attending staff. We once had a stateroom attendant that was not friendly. She did her job & we hardly ever saw her..... I thought it was odd that she didn't hardly speak to us. We tried...but she was just too shy, too quiet, too busy, too overwhelmed...IDK. But we love to chat with our attendants & wait staff..... it's part of the fun for us!

[nikki303]

 

Oh, and another thing, while I am eating in the Main Dining Room, I just want to be served a good meal and focus on that, I don't want to hear the entire wait staff singing some tired rendition of a song and have all the other guests swinging their napkins around. But, maybe that's just me!

 

Pete

 

Not just you!!

I am SO over that dining room singing!

[reallyitsmema]

Yes, I was solo - and yes, that could explain the difference between this cruise and my last cruise with my sister. We mostly ate at the Windjammer and I think someone stopped by our table maybe twice in all of the meals we had there.

It could have been because you were solo so they talked to you for longer than they typically would but I also think some of the waiters just haven't figured out the balance. Our assistant waiter on our recent Freedom cruise was very young and it was only his second week on the ship. He tried but he just wasn't polished like our waiter who had been sailing for 10 years. The assistant waiter came over to check that our meals came out ok, we told him everything was fine. He then proceeded to tell us that he had already had his dinner, he had chicken and rice, he had to eat early because he had to work. He said he likes chicken and rice a lot and ate it often. He was on the ship to make money like his brother does on other ships so he can send it all home to support his family because he has so many brothers and sisters. At that point, the waiter came by because he thought there was a problem and pretty much told the assistant waiter to move along. The kid was nice but was lacking in social skills. We didn't want to be rude but I really didn't need to know what he has for dinner every night.

[cruzin lady]

We hate the evenings of singing. In fact, if we know they will be singing,

We try to escape pro o r to the singing!

 

Hello, Pete and Gina. It's good to see your posts. Hope all is well with you.

 

Cruzin Lady Carolynn

[Zigggypup]

I’m not trying to start anything – I’m just curious if I’m the only one who feels this way. I just took a 3 night cruise on Enchantment this past weekend, and had a few uncomfortable and awkward situations. Maybe I’m just used to being anonymous in Las Vegas, and quite frankly prefer it.

 

My stateroom attendant stopped by to introduce himself, gave me his card, asked the story of my life, etc. From then on – EVERY time he saw me, it would be “Joooosssssssiiiiieeeee, how are you doing. How is your day going, etc., etc.”, and then seemed to expect me to stop and chat. When I would just say “great, thanks” and keep going, I’d get the “Josie, always so much in a hurry”, like I was being rude. What exactly is the normal relationship between a passenger and a stateroom attendant? I appreciate what they do, and tip accordingly, but don’t want to chat with them every time I see them – or develop a personal relationship with them. It got to the point that I start peeking around corners and outside my door to avoid this.

 

I encountered a similar situation at the Windjammer. I got in from Atlantis at 3:00, and was starving. I grabbed some food and sat down, and proceeded to get bombarded with the staff stopping by to chat. 3 of them, no less, and one of them came back twice. It’s very awkward. Do I keep eating, should I stop eating? It’s pretty hard to eat and answer questions at the same time (where are you from, how is the cruise going). I know they are trying to offer good customer service, but they seem to be going a little overboard, IMO. I took to eating at the Park Café after that and if I ate at the Windjammer, I choose the counters overlooking the water.

 

Again, I’m not trying to start something – just curious if I’m the only one who doesn’t need or want this kind of personal attention – and how to politely discourage it.

 

Maybe you are just so damn irresistible !!!! LOL

[Clarea]

Come on, fess up, your real name is Angelina, right?

[Big_G]

We had a steward that thought he should explain the inner workings of the tipping system on board and how the system wasn't fair to the cabin stewards. No problem but after the third time he brought it up, it sounded like pandering. :rolleyes: Of course I was the bad guy because my DW thought my expressions during the third conversation were of total indifference. He must have caught on because he confined himself to just whining to my wife who finally started avoiding him.

 

He did a great job with the cabin so we still tipped him a little extra. Just not as much as usual. It was the only time we ever had a problem and I probably should have reported him.

[Barbiegator]

Not just you!!

I am SO over that dining room singing!

 

 

Me too. Maybe because we have enjoyed so many cruises. Sometimes we leave before all that starts saying we are running late. Don't mean to be rude.

[Wilda]

I think "hello", "good morning", etc are fine, but beyond that is a reach. I'm pretty good at shutting down further chit chat by responding "I'm great thanks, have a fabulous day!"

 

I also wonder if they were over compensating because you were a solo traveler (that could explain the cabin steward but not WJ staff). I look at it this way; pleasant and friendly are way better than surly and rude;)

[lbw]

Not just you!!

I am SO over that dining room singing!

 

It's not just the singing. I don't mind one evening with a short song or a brief parade of waiters, but on our Freedom cruise last month, on 3 different nights of the cruise, there was an extended period of loud announcements in the dining room during our dinner, as the head of food service recognized various staff personnel, and solicited our applause, then they followed with singing, dancing or a parade. We were not on the main level and could not see much of the activity, nor could we hold a conversation with our tablemates due to the noise. Since the waiters were otherwise occupied, we weren't getting any desserts or drinks. We were relegated to just sitting for what seemed like 10 minutes while we listened to the unseen speaker and the music on the lower level. I have always liked a short recognition parade once during the cruise, but three nights of this was very annoying.

[thegima]

We just got off FOS the other day and it was a mixed bunch.

 

Our cabin attendant (Santiago) was great. He introduced himself on day 1 and asked if we needed anything to which I replied ICE. Our ice bucket was full the entire cruise, room was spotless, simple hello, have a good day, good morning, evening etc, how was your day, and nothing that lasted more than about 30 seconds. Perfect for me.

 

All the waiters seemed to ignore us for the most part, we only did the MDR one night and they seemed offended that we had been going to the windjammer. The windjammer waiters were nice enough, asked if we needed drinks and took plates but never a conversation.

 

It was sort of a running joke by the end of the cruise that we must look unfriendly and not want to talk to anyone. The same waiters that were taking care of us were at tables next to us having 5 minute conversations about where they were from and exchanging information and even taking pictures. Meanwhile we sat there wondering if it was us or those other people were just really chatty. It happened a few other times and got to be quite funny.

 

Personally, I don't need the conversations. I'm not going to start into a never ending personal conversation with someone I'll likely never see again just to pass the time. However if someone starts one with me I'll play along and see what happens. Not that I'm opposed to meeting new people but I don't find 90% of others "stories" interesting and most are likely exaggerated or untrue in order to make the person look better.

 

It's not just you. I'm an introvert and would much rather be left alone most of the time. I too struggle with ways to politely convey this message and most of the time it just comes off as being arrogant.

[bcarney]

Try cruising with your angelic 3 year old daughter and 5 year old son. You'll get more attention from the staff than one could need in a lifetime! :). Many of them mentioned children or nieces/nephews at home...it was clear my kids reminded them of their own young ones, so I endured the attention. ;)

 

 

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[cruzincurt]

We had a steward that thought he should explain the inner workings of the tipping system on board and how the system wasn't fair to the cabin stewards. No problem but after the third time he brought it up, it sounded like pandering. :rolleyes: Of course I was the bad guy because my DW thought my expressions during the third conversation were of total indifference. He must have caught on because he confined himself to just whining to my wife who finally started avoiding him.

 

He did a great job with the cabin so we still tipped him a little extra. Just not as much as usual. It was the only time we ever had a problem and I probably should have reported him.

He probably found out you frequented Cruise Critic and would champion the cause for underpaid and undertipped stewards.

[Big_G]

He probably found out you frequented Cruise Critic and would champion the cause for underpaid and undertipped stewards.

LOL! When I say we've never experienced anything like that I truly mean that. :eek:

 

 

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[Meaglesjb]

#firstworldproblems :-)

 

 

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[Robinola]

I see that many women don't have a clue what you are talking about.

Well, I do!

It is extremely annoying, and uncalled for.

It's really hard to say just leave me alone. That's so harsh.

Really difficult situation. I hate it.

Would love some advise from others who have had to deal with this in the past. Got any great lines?