Why to do when Gothenburg person at the next table has a FaceTime call in a Specialty Restaurant

[Ipeeinthepools]

What do you do when the person in the specialty restaurant has a FaceTime call?

 

Last night in Canelletos  a guest had a FaceTime call with a friend during your dinner.  What should you do?  It was really annoying.

 

AiTAH?

[Navybikermom]

I would have tapped my spoon on their table to get their attention and told them to knock it off. I am really sick of people who have no consideration of others. When I was younger I always wondered why old people were so cranky - now I am that cranky old person. We are tired of putting up with inconsiderate boors. 

[cccole]

I liked the response someone had on another thread.  They leaned over and participated in the call.  An alternative would be to ask the staff to ask them to take the call outside the restaurant.  I think another suggestion was to stand and sing loudly by their table, and when everyone else applauds you stop singing.  It is an annoying occurrence everywhere, not just on cruise ships.  Cherie

 

p.s.  My complaint in the Pinnacle in January was individuals blowing their nose at their table.  I was brought up that this was never done.  You excuse yourself, exit the restaurant, and blow you nose so as not to gross other diners out.  

[cruisemom42]

Step over to the table of the offending party, adopt your best cheesy Italian accent, and say loudly: 

 

"Im-a so sorry, but I canna letto you do that here."

[cbr663]

Speak discreetly with the Restaurant Manager that the passenger's behaviour is disruptive and ask them to speak with the passenger.

 

You want to be very careful speaking with a passenger yourself.  HAL, like every cruise line, has a guest code of conduct and obnoxious behaviour toward another guest is a no-no.  I realize that many will find the passenger having the FaceTime call as obnoxious, and it is.  I think though that the best course of action is to let HAL handle it, as it is quite possible that the passenger having the FaceTime call may find your approaching them as obnoxious.

 

With high speed internet now available on every ship the onboard experience is and has changed.  I think that we can all expect much more of this type of behaviour and while I do believe that this is something that HAL must address, based on recent experiences shared on this platform, I am not confident that it will.  

[RuthC]

23 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

 I think though that the best course of action is to let HAL handle it, as it is quite possible that the passenger having the FaceTime call may find your approaching them as obnoxious.

Since HAL doesn't 'handle it' with so many other egregious actions of passengers, what next when they say they can't do anything about this?  

[cccole]

Possibly HAL can post etiquette and rules of the dining room at the entrance to the dining venue, or on the menus.  I know not everyone reads or chooses to follow common etiquette.  The rules could be followed by stating the consequence that you will be asked to shut your device off or leave the dining venue.  Of course, this assumes that HAL will take responsibility for everyone's enjoyment of their meal.  Cherie    

[Ipeeinthepools]

38 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

Speak discreetly with the Restaurant Manager that the passenger's behaviour is disruptive and ask them to speak with the passenger.

 

You want to be very careful speaking with a passenger yourself.  HAL, like every cruise line, has a guest code of conduct and obnoxious behaviour toward another guest is a no-no.  I realize that many will find the passenger having the FaceTime call as obnoxious, and it is.  I think though that the best course of action is to let HAL handle it, as it is quite possible that the passenger having the FaceTime call may find your approaching them as obnoxious.

 

With high speed internet now available on every ship the onboard experience is and has changed.  I think that we can all expect much more of this type of behaviour and while I do believe that this is something that HAL must address, based on recent experiences shared on this platform, I am not confident that it will.  

The greeter said there was nothing she could do.  So I had to join the call by standing behind the person and talking to the other person until he hung up.  It’s outrageous that it had came to this.  His name was Carl and he was from Germany.  Are there no standards for decent behavior?

[Ipeeinthepools]

47 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

Speak discreetly with the Restaurant Manager that the passenger's behaviour is disruptive and ask them to speak with the passenger.

 

You want to be very careful speaking with a passenger yourself.  HAL, like every cruise line, has a guest code of conduct and obnoxious behaviour toward another guest is a no-no.  I realize that many will find the passenger having the FaceTime call as obnoxious, and it is.  I think though that the best course of action is to let HAL handle it, as it is quite possible that the passenger having the FaceTime call may find your approaching them as obnoxious.

 

With high speed internet now available on every ship the onboard experience is and has changed.  I think that we can all expect much more of this type of behaviour and while I do believe that this is something that HAL must address, based on recent experiences shared on this platform, I am not confident that it will.  

Would you care to offer your thoughts on why this is a problem on cruise ships and isn’t something that we experience in every day life?

[cccole]

5 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Would you care to offer your thoughts on why this is a problem on cruise ships and isn’t something that we experience in every day life?

It does happen "in every day life" but most restaurants/cafes/coffee venues have a posted policy regarding the type of situation you describe.  It just is not tolerated, even on air planes.  Cherie

[kochleffel]

Gothenburg person?

 

[julia]

NTA!

This should not be tolerated in ANY public venue, period.  Not in a restaurant, not the Crow's Nest, not in a pool area, not in a bar, not on the promenade, not in the Lido, absolutely nowhere! Shut it down!  Every single passenger has a PRIVATE CABIN to have a FaceTime conversation in... enough of this inconsiderate nonsense!

[TRLD]

Just now, Ipeeinthepools said:

Would you care to offer your thoughts on why this is a problem on cruise ships and isn’t something that we experience in every day life?

Actually it is pretty common place on land as well as on cruise ships. The norm is rapidly becoming to treat the person on the other end of the call the same as if they were there in the same room and having a conversation. The problem is that the phone conversations tend to involve speakers and occur at a louder volume.

 

Have witnessed this in everyplace from coffee shops, to high end restaurants in the US and other countries.

 

The biggest difference is in the other venues it is 20 to 40 somethings, on cruise ships the offenders tend to be older with poorer hearing making the conversation louder.

Edited March 29 by TRLD

[kluv2cruz]

Ach, had someone in the Cruiseship gym on a treadmill do a full loud FaceTime discussing the care of Grandpa with multiple family members at loud volume for about 20 minutes. I was embarrassed on behalf of poor grandpa.

[ghstudio]

Be grateful that the the FAA continues to ban the use of 'voice over data' calls on airplanes.....

[HamOp]

If, and that's a big IF, HAL really wanted to address this problem, there is a simple way to stop all cell traffic in a given area.  A sign won't stop it, but a 

"Blocker" will.

A cell blocker is an electronic device that does just that.  It blocks all cell signals in a given area.  While this would not be allowed under FCC (Federal Communications Commission) rules in shoreside restaurants, a foreign flagged ship in international waters would not fall under FCC regulations.

Problem solved. 

[Fouremco]

23 minutes ago, HamOp said:

If, and that's a big IF, HAL really wanted to address this problem, there is a simple way to stop all cell traffic in a given area.  A sign won't stop it, but a 

"Blocker" will.

A cell blocker is an electronic device that does just that.  It blocks all cell signals in a given area.  While this would not be allowed under FCC (Federal Communications Commission) rules in shoreside restaurants, a foreign flagged ship in international waters would not fall under FCC regulations.

Problem solved. 

The problem with a blocker is that those who use their cell phones quietly to send email or read the daily news are no longer able to do so. Deal with the 1%  who are abusers and leave the 99% courteous users alone.

[terrydtx]

Last year on the Celebrity Apex one night in the Fine Cuts Steak house, the table next to us, one of those so called "Influencers" had set up the table with all of her streaming equipment so she could have dinner with her "followers".  I complained first to her about the noise and distraction, to which she told me it was her "right" to do this. I then asked the manager to be moved to another table, but none were available, and the manager told me the woman had pre-cleared her direct streaming. We got up and left demanding we not be charged for our dinner we did not eat, we did get the credit back. I saw this same woman doing her streaming all over the ship but Celebrity would do nothing to stop her. Thankfully this woman was not in the Retreat so we did not have to put up with her in Luminae and the Retreat Lounge. I would hope HAL would not allow this same very annoying and distracting activities by these "Influencers"

Edited March 29 by terrydtx

[cbr663]

8 hours ago, TRLD said:

Actually it is pretty common place on land as well as on cruise ships. The norm is rapidly becoming to treat the person on the other end of the call the same as if they were there in the same room and having a conversation. The problem is that the phone conversations tend to involve speakers and occur at a louder volume.

 

Have witnessed this in everyplace from coffee shops, to high end restaurants in the US and other countries.

 

The biggest difference is in the other venues it is 20 to 40 somethings, on cruise ships the offenders tend to be older with poorer hearing making the conversation louder.

 

I also experience this behaviour and other examples of people not being situational aware on an almost daily basis.  My DW and I are walkers and we walk in our neighbourhood every day and every day that we meet someone else on the sidewalk it is without fail me who falls back behind my wife to pass as the other people will not move out of the way.  I have simply come to expect it now and adapt my behaviour. (And I have to do this when walking the promenade deck on a ship also).

 

I have also come to accept that for many people their phones are simply an extension of their hands.  They always have their devices.  HAL has brought in high speed internet for one reason only - as a revenue generator.  Passengers are paying a lot for high speed internet onboard and they plan to use it.  They will use it the same as they use it on land.  I fully expect the same land based experiences that we see - people walking and seemingly talking to themselves but are actually on the phone, people using their external speakers on their phone, people FaceTime their every experience (I am still astounded how many people have to video call their Costco trips) and people sitting themselves up in a cafe for hours upon end to avail of the internet and work in public will all transfer to cruise ships.  

[cbr663]

22 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Last year on the Celebrity Apex one night in the Fine Cuts Steak house, the table next to us, one of those so called "Influencers" had set up the table with all of her streaming equipment so she could have dinner with her "followers".  I complained first to her about the noise and distraction, to which she told me it was her "right" to do this. I then asked the manager to be moved to another table, but none were available, and the manager told me the woman had pre-cleared her direct streaming. We got up and left demanding we not be charged for our dinner we did not eat, we did get the credit back. I saw this same woman doing her streaming all over the ship but Celebrity would do nothing to stop her. Thankfully this woman was not in the Retreat so we did not have to put up with her in Luminae and the Retreat Lounge. I would hope HAL would not allow this same very annoying and distracting activities by these "Influencers"

 

Not at all surprising.

 

If someone hasn't done it yet, it is only a matter of time before passengers are live streaming throughout the ship.  That is what high speed internet allows them to do and they will do it.

[cbr663]

11 hours ago, RuthC said:

Since HAL doesn't 'handle it' with so many other egregious actions of passengers, what next when they say they can't do anything about this?  

 

There aren't really a lot of good choices.

 

For me, prior to even stepping on the ship I accept that some people may be obnoxious and rude.  I try not to let it surprise me when I encounter it as when I do encounter it I have to work to not let it affect me.  Sometimes I am successful, sometimes I am not.

 

There does though come a point in which if other passengers are having a negative impact on my cruise and HAL won't do anything about it that I have to ask myself if HAL is the cruise line for me.  After all, we all cruise to have fun and a great time and not to pay to endure the bad behaviour of other people.

[Niagarawine]

Had it on Rotterdam the bar area where some lady was on a angry call with her son, thought mus be som emergency because she looked pretty upset so we moved away

[Niagarawine]

1 hour ago, cbr663 said:

 

Not at all surprising.

 

If someone hasn't done it yet, it is only a matter of time before passengers are live streaming throughout the ship.  That is what high speed internet allows them to do and they will do it.

I fondly remember the pre internet days when  cruising was relaxing although I did need it to book a flight home on Air Canada for seat selection otherwise we would have been bumped. 

[Niagarawine]

Lack of social awareness of others comes with the new territory, not greeting others, letting ladies go first, smiling at the crew and generally being nice to b around.

[RedIguana]

3 hours ago, HamOp said:

If, and that's a big IF, HAL really wanted to address this problem, there is a simple way to stop all cell traffic in a given area.  A sign won't stop it, but a 

"Blocker" will.

A cell blocker is an electronic device that does just that.  It blocks all cell signals in a given area.  While this would not be allowed under FCC (Federal Communications Commission) rules in shoreside restaurants, a foreign flagged ship in international waters would not fall under FCC regulations.

Problem solved. 

A cell blocker would have no effect, as these calls and FaceTime are being made via wifi, not the cell phone radio bands, unless you are jamming the complete spectrum. In which case WiFi and radio would not work for anyone, which you could solve by just not having useable WiFi access points in those areas, which would negate the need of a blocker......