Do you think guest behavior is linked to a particular ship?

[KarmaCruisers]

IMHO I think these brawls are from people who didn’t pay for their cruise (family member bought the entire clan cruises)

I saw a YouTube video where the girl said their family trip was on a specific cruise (I forgot which) but she said they were “203 strong”!!

if you have 203 LIVING family members who can all go on a cruise at once..believe me there’s going to be problems..

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, KarmaCruisers said:

IMHO I think these brawls are from people who didn’t pay for their cruise (family member bought the entire clan cruises)

I saw a YouTube video where the girl said their family trip was on a specific cruise (I forgot which) but she said they were “203 strong”!!

if you have 203 LIVING family members who can all go on a cruise at once..believe me there’s going to be problems..

That is correct. I see the most disrespectful behavior from the family members who are vacationing on the largess of another family member.  Not only are they unconcerned about cruising again but their personal resentment bubbles.  If the "rich" family member gets a cruise ban, then no one has to hear about a cruise again.    

[CoW mAn]

I sailed on the Venezia and there was none of that

 

In my experience it depends on the time of year and departure port

For example Spring Break is a VERY different crowd from pretty much the entire rest of the year

And sailing out of Texas there seems to be a very different crowd from any other departure port in my experience

[Davechipp74]

Its drunk people, nearly every time. People who drink all day long and simply cant handle it.

[Joebucks]

On 8/13/2023 at 4:43 PM, momof3cruisers said:

That’s the thing—I don’t know what happened to people’s brains during the pandemic but there is so much more misbehaving out that. Look at flights for instance. There are problem passengers weekly it seems. 

 

Why does the pandemic have to be the starting point? How about decades of erasing manners and values, while creating entitled victims? 

[jimbo5544]

36 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

Why does the pandemic have to be the starting point? How about decades of erasing manners and values, while creating entitled victims? 

Easy one, gas on a fire.

[jimbo5544]

5 hours ago, Davechipp74 said:

Its drunk people, nearly every time. People who drink all day long and simply cant handle it.

Nah, they are still complaing that a hard stop on cheers at 15 is unreasonable

[Elaine5715]

6 hours ago, Davechipp74 said:

Its drunk people, nearly every time. People who drink all day long and simply cant handle it.

Actually, it isn't.  The large group melees are family and the quick responses of individual members suggest that this is normal for them.  

[Eli_6]

On 8/13/2023 at 6:31 PM, jimbo5544 said:

I think they are doing more than other lines.  On the other point, the world was locked down for 19 months (more or less depending on anybody’s point of view or state of residence).  They want their lives back and the missed time back.  Same for airlines, apply the screws to passengers and mandate after mandate crunch time and add in testing, eliminate the ability to have a drink, or what you can bring or whether you have to wear or not wear or mask and have military at airports screening people getting on or getting off a plane, mandating follow ups etc. etc.  Is it any wonder people get worked up?

I agree.  However, I genuinely do think Covid has affected people's brains.  They have shown in imaging studies that even people with mild covid Covid have neurological changes after getting Covid and many report anxiety and depression after covid as well as brain fog. Usually clears up as the brain repairs itself, but I think a lot of us have had covid multiple times so...

 

And I know how badly Covid affected my husband who was vaxed and boosted. I would imagine it is even worse for all those non-vaxers out there.  

 

Plus, I think people are under more pressure with the economy being in the state it is and prices being so high.  My husband filled up my gas tank the other day and it was $80. We went through the drive through at Whataburger and it was $50.  Every time I go to the grocery store, it is $400-500 and that lasts us two weeks with two growing boys. I used to spend maybe $200-300 every two weeks on groceries. (Granted, part of this is due to my children being bigger and eating more. They are bottomless pits.)  I feel really sorry for people who didn't buy a house before prices were absurd and the interest rates were high. 

[Eli_6]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

Actually, it isn't.  The large group melees are family and the quick responses of individual members suggest that this is normal for them.  

So the lesson from this is to leave your extended family at home.  Especially if you know they are ratchet. 

[TheMichael]

Everybody is angry, everybody thinks other people are the problem. TV and social media aid and abet this.

 

Covid made it worse in that people had extra time on their hands to soak in their TV and social media.

 

Add in people taking cheap vacations (like short cruises) who have never taken vacations much before ("revenge travel") - the very people who have done nothing but soak in their own worlds (we're talking even pre-Covid), and the typical annoyances of travel - especially a cruise, where there's a lot of lining up and rules and behavioral expectation - become a recipe for problems.

 

The crazy thing is that - and I know I'm a distinct minority thinking this - the world is still a pretty awesome place. Fewer wars, better education, less crime, more and more effective medicine, and the ability to go almost anywhere and do almost anything.

Edited August 15, 2023 by TheMichael

[vacruisin]

11 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

Everybody is angry, everybody thinks other people are the problem. TV and social media aid and abet this.

 

Covid made it worse in that people had extra time on their hands to soak in their TV and social media.

 

Add in people taking cheap vacations (like short cruises) who have never taken vacations much before ("revenge travel") - the very people who have done nothing but soak in their own worlds (we're talking even pre-Covid), and the typical annoyances of travel - especially a cruise, where there's a lot of lining up and rules and behavioral expectation - become a recipe for problems.

 

The crazy thing is that - and I know I'm a distinct minority thinking this - the world is still a pretty awesome place. Fewer wars, better education, less crime, more and more effective medicine, and the ability to go almost anywhere and do almost anything.

Very well stated!  Agree with ever last word of this!

 

 

 

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

So the lesson from this is to leave your extended family at home.  Especially if you know they are ratchet. 

That hasn't failed me, yet.  Also, if you swing on my SIL, I will hold your beer.  

Edited August 15, 2023 by Elaine5715

[2wheelin]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

So the lesson from this is to leave your extended family at home.  Especially if you know they are ratchet. 

The problem is those troublemaking families don't think their behavior is anything but normal. It's normal at home so why not on vacation, and even amp it up a bit.

[Eli_6]

Speaking of this topic, I was watching "Below Deck Down Under" while I was folding clothes and there was a group of friends who started fighting on that show while on their vacation on a mega yacht...literally within about an hour of being on the boat.  The fight started because one lady told the other lady she had food in  her teeth.  I looked into it once, and it about 30k-40k plus tip to charter one of those yachts and the tip runs another 10k-20k depending on the length of the charter. Then you have to consider the cost of flying to Australia. (The people were American.) So one group of about 8 friends/family had enough money to spend 50k+ on a vacation and were fighting on a mega yacht.  The Lead Stew said, "You are on a yacht in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Why are you wasting your time fighting?"    

 

Also, guess it isn't just confined to the people who take inexpensive cruises...

Edited August 15, 2023 by Eli_6

[vacruisin]

5 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Speaking of this topic, I was watching "Below Deck Down Under" while I was folding clothes and there was a group of friends who started fighting on that show while on their vacation on a mega yacht...literally within about an hour of being on the boat.  The fight started because one lady told the other lady she had food in  her teeth.  I looked into it once, and it about 30k-40k plus tip to charter one of those yachts and the tip runs another 10k-20k depending on the length of the charter. Then you have to consider the cost of flying to Australia. (The people were American.) So one group of about 8 friends/family had enough money to spend 50k+ on a vacation and were fighting on a mega yacht.  The Lead Stew said, "You are on a yacht in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Why are you wasting your time fighting?"    

 

Also, guess it isn't just confined to the people who take inexpensive cruises...

Thanks for that.  Yep, contrary to "popular belief" rowdy, unruly behavior transcends social economic status.  Some people need to get out of their social media bubbles/echo chambers more.

[TheMichael]

2 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Speaking of this topic, I was watching "Below Deck Down Under" while I was folding clothes and there was a group of friends who started fighting on that show while on their vacation on a mega yacht...literally within about an hour of being on the boat.  The fight started because one lady told the other lady she had food in  her teeth.  I looked into it once, and it about 30k-40k plus tip to charter one of those yachts and the tip runs another 10k-20k depending on the length of the charter. Then you have to consider the cost of flying to Australia. (The people were American.) So one group of about 8 friends/family had enough money to spend 50k+ on a vacation and were fighting on a mega yacht.  The Lead Stew said, "You are on a yacht in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Why are you wasting your time fighting?"    

 

Also, guess it isn't just confined to the people who take inexpensive cruises...

 

Should be no surprise to anyone who's ever watched a "Real Housewives."

 

And I was going to append this to my post - in a month I'll be in Alaska, watching glaciers calve. It's mind-boggling how difficult it would have been even 50 years ago for an average person to see that. I've seen a mama and baby whale swimming and breaching together off Cabo San Lucas, rode on a small boat with a dolphin pod swimming all around us off Kaua'i, had a secluded beach all to myself on Barbados, and many more, courtesy of the miracle of easy travel.

 

Even just the simple things sometimes seem crazy when I step back and think of them: the fact that I can type for a minute on a keyboard and then go to the airport and a seat is waiting with my name on it to take me somewhere far away is amazing enough that it's worth the occasional inconvenience when it all doesn't work exactly right.

[latebloomer56]

On 8/12/2023 at 11:46 AM, pjhootch said:

 

As a 60 year old with a 70 year old husband, I don't think you need to worry about your 70 year old parents' cruise being a "nightmare".  Even if you smell some weed, or some morons get in a fight- that doesn't make the cruise a nightmare, right?  

 

I have smelled weed now and again on Carnival ships.  The last time I clearly remember was when I was sitting with my feet in the main pool and someone was smoking up on the smoking deck and the scent was being blown toward the pool.  We were outside and there was a breeze and there was no danger of anyone being intoxicated or having a breathing problem from the weed smell.  The ship was moving.   I have smelled it vey strongly randomly walking through the smoking section looking for someone.  Don't do that.  🙂   I have once or twice gotten a whiff on our balcony when the ship was moving.  I have never had my balcony be unusable from any kind of smoke.  

 

I have witnessed fights of varying intensity on my cruises.  I agree this does seem to be more of a problem now than pre-covid.  I am not going to begin to guess why. Too many moving parts.  But I am going to push back strongly that it is because of "lower income" people.  I think that is just silly.  No one "lower income" is on a flipping cruise ship.  I work with impoverished people.  They are not cruising.   If people think that a people earning $100,000 a year are less likely to get into a brawl than someone earning $50,000 a year- go ahead and live with that illusion.  

 

The best advice I can give to people is:

1.Don't book a booze cruise. 

2. If you hear voices raising and yelling escalating, go somewhere else on the ship (if you stay to watch the entertainment you can't complain about a brawl starting)

3. Don't go near the smoking section or sit right below it when the ship is in port.

 

Advice all good and just common sense.

[Elaine5715]

41 minutes ago, vacruisin said:

Thanks for that.  Yep, contrary to "popular belief" rowdy, unruly behavior transcends social economic status.  Some people need to get out of their social media bubbles/echo chambers more.

One of the most memorable families I meet on board was a family group from the Appalachians whose three day cruise was the first time out of their county/state/country.  Their manners were impeccable and the awe rarely left their faces.