Eastern Mediterranean Cruise?

[Floridiana]

vistaman,

Do you mean to say that you have encountered very demanding guests, lecturers, and artists on all the luxury lines you have sailed?  Mostly guests, I assume. 

 

[Travelcat2]

On 6/5/2019 at 8:28 AM, Floridiana said:

vistaman,

Do you mean to say that you have encountered very demanding guests, lecturers, and artists on all the luxury lines you have sailed?  Mostly guests, I assume. 

 

 

Not everyone has the same feelings about demanding, guests, lecturers and artists on luxury cruise lines.  There will always be some demanding guests - even on mainstream cruise lines but we rarely see this on luxury cruise lines.  

 

The entertainers on Regent (for example) are so friendly that passengers invite them to dinner (the only way they can dine in the MDR).  The lecturers have also been open and friendly (if they were not, they would likely no longer be speaking on cruise lines).

 

We have sailed on Silversea and Regent and will sail on Crystal in September and have found fellow guests to be open and friendly.  However, if you sit by yourselves at a table in a lounge, for instance, you will be left alone - no one will try to infringe on what appears to be a time that you wish to be alone with your significant other.  However, when we sit at the bar, the people are extremely friendly and like to chat.  You also become friendly with the bartender(s) and they can recommend drinks for you.

 

While I am not doubting vistaman, his experiences are very different than ours.

 

 

[Texas Tillie]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

 

While I am not doubting vistaman, his experiences are very different than ours.

 

 

 

Don't forget that vistaman is a European whose first language is not English and I often find his opinions very different from the majority of Americans. That's just an observation. Not saying that his opinions aren't valid to him, just different from most Americans.

[Travelcat2]

51 minutes ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

Don't forget that vistaman is a European whose first language is not English and I often find his opinions very different from the majority of Americans. That's just an observation. Not saying that his opinions aren't valid to him, just different from most Americans.

 

Really good point!  

[English Voyager]

1 hour ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

Don't forget that vistaman is a European whose first language is not English and I often find his opinions very different from the majority of Americans. That's just an observation. Not saying that his opinions aren't valid to him, just different from most Americans.

I am intrigued.

How does an opinion of an European differ from that of an American?

 

How does nationality impinge on the interpretation of an incident?

 

Some years ago on a Silversea cruise I found the officers to be aloof to the point of rudeness in not even acknowledging a 'Good Morning'.

Would the interpretation of an American have been different?

[Travelcat2]

44 minutes ago, English Voyager said:

I am intrigued.

How does an opinion of an European differ from that of an American?

 

How does nationality impinge on the interpretation of an incident?

 

Some years ago on a Silversea cruise I found the officers to be aloof to the point of rudeness in not even acknowledging a 'Good Morning'.

Would the interpretation of an American have been different?

 

There are many differences in cultures (Note:  I have been married to a British man for 40 years).  European's, for instance, are more formal than people from the U.S.  If someone calls me Mrs. xxxxxxx, I tell them that I prefer that they use my first name.

 

American's tend to blab everything about their lives - very open (sometimes stupidly so) while Europeans are more reserved.  

 

There are some cultures where it is perfectly okay to cut in front of a person in line at the buffet (for example) or a man may not wait for women to enter the elevators before he does (not specifically speaking of European's here but am aware of at least one European country where this is true).  

 

On top of this, Regent (the luxury line that I know best) has at least 95% English speakers.  This could may people that speak less than perfect English a bit standoffish.  I have seen passengers that do speak English but prefer to speak their own language onboard which could alienate them from passengers that do not speak their language.  I could go on and on (simply based on my life with a man who did not come to the U.S. until after he went to university).  He is now American(ish) - I know - not a real word.  Actually he dual citizen that will always be close to his roots but has learned to accept and embrace a different lifestyle in the U.S.

 

In terms of your last question, most people would find it rude to not acknowledge a "good morning".  And, onboard I find that people people from the U.K. will say good morning or simply greet other passengers in the hallway more than people in the U.S.  

 

Obviously I am using a lot of generalities but if you look up customs in various countries, you will see just how many differences there are.  

Edited June 6, 2019 by Travelcat2

[English Voyager]

Travelcat2,

Your second paragraph reminded me of one occasion in Austria when I walked into the reception/lounge of a five star hotel in which a group of elderly American women were discussing in very loud voices their respective medical, including gynecological, issues.

 

As for Vistaman's observations, I have no reason to doubt that the incidents he observed took place.

I have observed on Regent entertainers acting high and mighty, a passenger tapping on her wine glass with a knife to attract the attention of a sommelier, and on Silversea a passenger taking an item from a dish in the self service buffet, taking a bite of it, not liking it, and putting it back on the dish.

[vistaman]

11 hours ago, English Voyager said:

Travelcat2,

Your second paragraph reminded me of one occasion in Austria when I walked into the reception/lounge of a five star hotel in which a group of elderly American women were discussing in very loud voices their respective medical, including gynecological, issues.

 

As for Vistaman's observations, I have no reason to doubt that the incidents he observed took place.

I have observed on Regent entertainers acting high and mighty, a passenger tapping on her wine glass with a knife to attract the attention of a sommelier, and on Silversea a passenger taking an item from a dish in the self service buffet, taking a bite of it, not liking it, and putting it back on the dish.

I am trying to help myself in 5 languages , no problems to admit that I make quite some language mistakes. Italian is only for making reservations and orders in restaurants , what can be tricky as well ,with one letter difference you do order pork legs  instead of raspberries

There were in my long cruise history quite  some incidents I never can forget … the worsest maybe on the Seabourn Legend by a man ordering a sparkling water with ice , after one sip he took some ice out of the glass with his hands and he threw the cubes back in the ice bucket behind the bar . The bartender was in his pantry - I informed him and he had to rinse all the ice away...

And in the period of assigned tables a rather  overweighted lady , handling during every meal  about all kind of illnesses :

so request for another table made and granted .

Lucky those items are the exceptions . 

 

[Travelcat2]

Have to say that I have the highest respect for those of you that speak more than one language.  Most of us in the U.S. only speak "American" English and, at times, we are not so good at that.  Having been raised in Los Angeles, I do know a tiny bit of Spanish -- enough to order food, drinks and ask where the bathroom is.  Wish that I grew up learning at least two other languages.

 

There is also the issue of hand signals.  When in a very busy pub, I wanted to order two drinks and held up two fingers.  Unfortunately, my hand was facing the wrong way and I was giving him the finger.  How embarrassing!

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 3/30/2019 at 4:04 AM, vistaman said:

I noticed on Crystal and also on Seabourn quite often  some extremely demanding passengers staying in the very high priced level -  ranging from :

specials on a daily base ( nothing to do with diet or health )

 

This is something that Crystal encourages, so why shouldn't guests take advantage of the offer?