Cruise Behavior - declining ?

[PhotoPete]

Went on my first cruise in 1994 on the Empress of the Seas. One couple at our table showed up trashed at dinner every night. More F bombs than I can remember. Last year we went on the Carnival Liberty during spring break. Don't recall any outrageous behavior, and the yonger adults were real nice to us old farts.

[stobe1]

Keep in mind that nobody is going to post a You Tube video of someone sitting in a hammock reading a book...

 

[mousey]

this I somewhat subjective though. what do you consider poorly? some of this stuff is just kids being kids. my example was a night on the sensation. my wife was in the casino for a bit and I was sitting out on the promenade with my two boys. the magician was doing magic tricks for them. we were sitting close to the glass elevators. There were four kids in the 10-13 age group sitting on the floor in one of the elevators. riding it up and down. just appeared to be sitting and talking as the elevator went up and down. if anyone got on they moved their feet so the others could ride. one couple got in on the deck we were sitting on and got mad. the lady yelled don't you kids have something better to do at them. one of the kids replied that they didn't and that they were waiting for mom & dad to be done in the casino. they were not being rude or disrespectful to anyone that I could see but they caught hell from the one lady because they shouldn't have been sitting in the elevator. this lady probably told everyone she knew that these kids were misbehaving and to me they were not. they were just four kids hanging out on the elevator having a fun time. I have seen the kids in the hot tubs. I have seen kids running up and down the halls, I have seen the kids ride the glass elevators up and down over and over. I wouldn't say any of these kids were being naughty, rude, or disrespectful to anyone. They were just kids being kids.

 

 

Totally agree!:D I've been cruising with my DS since he was 9. We took a cruise almost every spring break until last year when he graduated from high school and chose to take 3 friends with us to Cabo and asked that they be able to have their own room on the other side of the SIL's timeshare condo. Wish was granted and there was not one single problem. In all the years that we've cruised I haven't seen kids do anything other than be kids. Just because their parents aren't with them, doesn't mean they're running "wild". It just means their parents trust them to behave on their own. It's what my kid did. I've seen adults misbehave when drunk on "pub crawls" more than I've ever seen kids misbehaving.

 

No, I do not think that people are any worse behaved than they've ever been. I've always met lots of nice people on our cruises and some are friends to this day. I've never had any bad incidents on a cruise that has ruined any of them. I've had a few incidents I may not have been happy with but nothing and no one has ever ruined any of my cruises. Maybe I too am just lucky but I've never had a bad cruise and I've been cruising pretty steadily since 1965, when I was 19. Maybe it's because I don't expect perfection or that everything has to be my way that I've not had a bad cruise. Some people just never can be satisfied no matter what and some people just like to complain about every little thing. How can 4 kids sitting on an elevator cause you to be such a cranky, nasty person!:( Also, some people just don't like kids...period!

 

I love to cruise and think it's the best value for your money than other types of vacations. We still do land vacations but cruising is our first choice.:D

Edited March 28, 2014 by mousey

[Julia1969]

I think that this would make a good research question and I should sacrifice myself and go on multiple cruises over the next few years to test the hypothesis. :D Do you think I could get the government to fund the project? lol

[RuthlessBoss]

I think behavior by people in general has continuously gotten worse in all aspects of life and therefore expect no difference on a cruise ship.

 

Definitely true. Even shopping for food is sometimes a challenge. Yesterday, a mom let each of 4 children browse the ice cream section, each had a door open allowing the doors to frost up, then they drew pictures in the frost!

[PortSideCruzan]

 

Keep in mind that nobody is going to post a You Tube video of someone sitting in a hammock reading a book...

 

 

I could not locate one with a book, however this one is pretty darn close :)

 

Aboard the Carnival Magic:

 

 

 

 

:)

[Tapi]

A LOT has changed since I took my first cruise more than 30 years ago. But IMHO, the changes are not exclusive to the cruise line industry, but to society in general. The things that have become acceptable on cruise ships within the last decade would've never even been fathomable when I started cruising.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Tapi

[welldone60]

We sailed on Miracle back when she was new and sailing out of Baltimore, but haven't sailed on a Carnival ship since. I enjoyed that cruise probably more than any I have been on since, in spite of paying for fancy suites and all kinds of upgrades - Miracle was the best, and the passengers who sailed with us were really nice people, quiet and well behaved.

 

In the years that have passed all I ever seem to hear about is bad behavior on Carnival ships (low prices maybe ?) and YouTube seems to be littered with nasty Carnival fight videos.

 

So is this all being exaggerated, or have any regular cruisers noticed a change over recent years?

 

You liked Carnival when you cruised on their ship. Then you cruise other lines and hear comments from people who probably have never cruised on Carnival.

Maybe you should cruise on another Carnival cruise and decide for yourself.

[jimbo5544]

Actually pretty funny. Just goes to show you people will post to youtube just about anything.

[Boozebabe]

Unruly kids have gotten progressively worse. But I also see that in society as a whole so no big surprise about that. I saw a kid running like he was in the Olympics around the Lido deck, slipped around a corner, cracked his head open on a deck chair and bled all over the place. When they finally located his mother about 10 minutes later she threatened to sue the pants off Carnival for not keeping the deck DRY. ***??? Around the pool?? Right! We saw her the rest of the cruise bending everyones ear who would listen to her about how neglegent Carnival was.

 

Thats the worst example I've seen. But kids run amock in the buffet and near the ice cream machines etc. Running seems to be the cause of most disruptions. I dont mind the kids having a good time but parents need to control them better on cruises.

 

NOW on to the unruly adults. Usually just being inconsiderate and oblivious to everyone else around them due to too much alcohol consumption. I have observed some extra heavy "petting", also due to excessive alcohol. I can look the other way and usually its humorous but I think its still uncalled for in public.

 

Since I haven't cruised on Royal Caribbean or Princess for several years I don't have a comparison but I'l bet unruly has no barriers regarding cruise lines.

[PROCRUISE]

Never really seen "bad" behavior on any cruise we've taken. Perhaps this is is due to the fact that we'd never consider any cruise under seven days and lately we're more directed to much longer cruises, thanks to semi-retirement. On any ship we've seen some rudeness, but very little. Naturally, there is going to be a slightly different clientele on a 7 days CCL cruise as opposed to our up coming 14 day land/sea cruise with HAL. However, generally we've found pleasant, generally polite, and interesting fellow passengers on every cruise we've taken since 2002. :)

[RWolver672]

The whole world is changing to the attitude of "I paid for it and I'm going to do what I want to do!" How many times have we seen these exact words posted on here. Now it's "All about me."

 

Smuggling booze, buying one FTTF and trying to get three more cabins on with you, going to your cabin before they are ready to drop off your luggage, the list goes on and on. I have always thought that people can't respect others if they don't respect themselves first.

[tkportersat]

I think people's behavior in general EVERYWHERE is declining. On the roads, in the stores, in crowds....A lot of self entitlement and basic lack of manners. It has gotten so bad I pretty much do all my shopping online now to keep my annoyance level down. I think all the technological gadgets in life has made people forget how to act.

 

As far as cruises go though, my last couple have been pretty pleasant. The only real issue that really bothered me the last cruise was all the moms taking their babies and toddlers in the hot tub. Other than that people were pretty well behaved. I think it is kind of luck of the draw though, you never know what you are going to get.

 

We sailed on Miracle back when she was new and sailing out of Baltimore, but haven't sailed on a Carnival ship since. I enjoyed that cruise probably more than any I have been on since, in spite of paying for fancy suites and all kinds of upgrades - Miracle was the best, and the passengers who sailed with us were really nice people, quiet and well behaved.

 

In the years that have passed all I ever seem to hear about is bad behavior on Carnival ships (low prices maybe ?) and YouTube seems to be littered with nasty Carnival fight videos.

 

So is this all being exaggerated, or have any regular cruisers noticed a change over recent years?

[LaurieHoffman]

I agree with all of the above posters saying parents are at faulted for the most part but why isn't Carnival enforcing their posted rules. When I approached the crew member on the Serenity Deck the past two cruises he was almost afraid to do anything about the unruly situation. Even after that he still needed to call someone who didn't seem to ever come. I think they need to hold their guests responsible as well. If the hot tub says no one under the age of X they need to help guests understand that is what it means and ask them to leave if they are not meeting that age. Same for running kids in the hallways - this has happened on at least the last 4 or 5 cruises we have been on. Employees just look at them doing nothing.

[catngat]

Carnival offers a price point which I can afford. I have read in several threads that this could be the decline of the Carnival empire. Hmmm, maybe the lower class should be locked on the lower decks after delousing.

[jimbo5544]

The whole world is changing to the attitude of "I paid for it and I'm going to do what I want to do!" How many times have we seen these exact words posted on here. Now it's "All about me."

 

Smuggling booze, buying one FTTF and trying to get three more cabins on with you, going to your cabin before they are ready to drop off your luggage, the list goes on and on. I have always thought that people can't respect others if they don't respect themselves first.

100% agree.

[Tgianco]

100% agree.

Common sense and common decency aren't very common anymore.

 

That being said, there are many that are TOO uptight. Have some fun, relax and laugh at life (need to take my own advice here...:)). It's a cruise... sit back, relax and enjoy.

[Thebosn1]

I think things have gotten worse because parents expect the 'cruise ship' to babysit their kids vs. them doing it themselves. I have noticed kids behaving very poorly on the last 3 cruises we have taken. Kids run the hallways. Kids and adults talk very loudly in the hallways late in the evening. Kids are in the jaccuzi when then are not supposed to be. The Serenity Deck is not as relaxing as it used to be. I think mostly it is a parenting issue however Carnival doesn't want to do anything about it.

 

Unfortunately I have to agree with you. On all cruises I think the younger kids are less well behaved overall. Also agree with others that the shorter the cruise the higher the knucklehead factor. I also avoid spring break time AT ALL COSTS.

 

I also sort of take offense to so many people drawing a direct connection between cost and behavior. I could cruise any line. I like Carnival. There are losers everywhere.

 

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[jimbo5544]

Common sense and common decency aren't very common anymore.

 

That being said, there are many that are TOO uptight. Have some fun, relax and laugh at life (need to take my own advice here...:)). It's a cruise... sit back, relax and enjoy.

also true

[Thebosn1]

I agree with all of the above posters saying parents are at faulted for the most part but why isn't Carnival enforcing their posted rules. When I approached the crew member on the Serenity Deck the past two cruises he was almost afraid to do anything about the unruly situation. Even after that he still needed to call someone who didn't seem to ever come. I think they need to hold their guests responsible as well. If the hot tub says no one under the age of X they need to help guests understand that is what it means and ask them to leave if they are not meeting that age. Same for running kids in the hallways - this has happened on at least the last 4 or 5 cruises we have been on. Employees just look at them doing nothing.

 

Yep I agree with that too. My wife didn't make it ten feet onto serenity on the Freedom before they came and told her no smoking. Yet at the same moment there were probably 10 young kids up there for sail away.

I think people, crew included are affraid to say anything to unruly kids because their's are usually the very parents that get the most indignant about it. The kids that are running people over in the passageways at two in the morning have the parents who swear their kids are little angels.

 

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[Drew's Wife]

Sad to say, but it isn't just cruising. Bad behaviour is everywhere from the grocery store, the movies, the park..driving down the highway. Not sure what causes it...could be stress, financial problems or they just might not have been raised with any manners. It's all about the "ME ME ME" syndrom. Seems that society in general is on a downward spiral when it comes to good manners.

[jimbo5544]

Yep I agree with that too. My wife didn't make it ten feet onto serenity on the Freedom before they came and told her no smoking. Yet at the same moment there were probably 10 young kids up there for sail away.

I think people, crew included are affraid to say anything to unruly kids because their's are usually the very parents that get the most indignant about it. The kids that are running people over in the passageways at two in the morning have the parents who swear their kids are little angels.

 

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Oh no.....please don't bring smoking into it or let's make it totally complete and talk about tipping to make it a complete thread.;)

[FloridaMomma]

We just went on our first Carnival cruise this month. I was nervous about the "behavior" talked about on Cruise Critic. We had a FANTASTIC time. I didn't see anything inappropriate at all. I can't wait until next March!

[tkportersat]

Yes, similar to what my response was. Sad but true....and you know, almost immediately after posting I left for lunch. Got on an elevator, rode it down to the 1st floor, the nano second the door opened a girl rushed and jumped in front of us to get off and a guy jumps on and there are still three of us trying to get out of the dang thing. :mad: So there you go! I think next time I will just walk the stairs...lol

 

Sad to say' date=' but it isn't just cruising. Bad behaviour is everywhere from the grocery store, the movies, the park..driving down the highway. Not sure what causes it...could be stress, financial problems or they just might not have been raised with any manners. It's all about the "ME ME ME" syndrom. Seems that society in general is on a downward spiral when it comes to good manners.[/quote']

[photogineer]

We just went on our first Carnival cruise this month. I was nervous about the "behavior" talked about on Cruise Critic. We had a FANTASTIC time. I didn't see anything inappropriate at all. I can't wait until next March!

 

We were actually on your cruise I think, I saw you in the roll call, the Dream 3/15 right?

 

It was a pretty good cruise, we only encountered one overly drunken person and he was seated at our dinner table unfortunately. On the upside, he was so overly indulgent he usually missed dinner :)

 

Other than that, we never really had a problem, just that one guy... Occasional splashing issues in the pool, but that was mostly a personal problem because I had contacts in and didn't want to lose them, I just left the pool area.

 

Matt