Have NCL passengers gotten more rude?

[Sthrngary]

22 hours ago, blackwing said:

Or have they always been, on the whole, like this?  Some of our early cruising experiences were on Carnival.  When we went on our first NCL 10 years ago, I had thought at the time that the Norwegian passenger on the whole was a bit more refined than the stereotype of the Carnival passenger.  There were formal nights, and passengers dressing up in suits and gowns was the norm and not the exception.  I know that NCL bills itself as a cruise line for families.  But I still want to believe that the passengers overall are very classy.

 

And then there were some incidents I witnessed last week on Getaway:

 

At the Mixx bar, an older lady turns to a middle aged man of Asian descent standing next to her.  He is waiting to order his drink.  She says to him very slowly and loudly, "EXCUSE ME".  He says "Yes, hello?"  She says "Oh good, you DO speak English.  I was worried."

 

Man walking in late to an art auction, making a beeline to a waitress at the front of room collecting empty champagne (prosecco) glasses.  Auctioneer is talking but the man just loudly says the the waitress "WHERE IS THE CHAMPAGNE".  I'm assuming he didn't have the bar package!

 

I walked into an elevator, where a man in his early 20s is chatting with a man of about 40 who is wearing a turban.  20 year old says "what country are you from".  40 year old (who did have a thick accent) says without missing a beat "United States of America".  20 year old gives this dumbfounded look and says "oh.  I meant..."  40 year old says "oh you mean originally?  India."  20 year old says "How is it?"  40 year old says "I wouldn't know.  I've only been there 4 times in the past 20 years."  Meanwhile, the 40 year old's 7-ish year old daughter just keeps repeating "it's crazy there, it's crazy".  I left the elevator before hearing the resolution of this conversation.

 

The best was the last night when I thought I was going to witness a fistfight.  There was a long line of people without reservations trying to get into the Tropicana.  The popular piano player Louis Razon was playing there all night.  One man was waiting in line and I think some little kids who were running around all over the crowded space must have bumped him.  He must have said something because the next thing I know, I hear shouting.  A woman is in his face yelling something like "Excuse me?  You do not get to talk to me like that."  There's some back and forth and she says "You are not allowed to tell me how I should parent my children."  Then her husband gets up and gets in the guys face and says to him something like "You need to back away.  You need to leave and sit down".  The parents go and sit on some bench.  The man (who wasn't talking loudly) must have been talking to the people he was in line with because all of a sudden I hear the woman yelling "excuse me!  I can hear you talking."  I went to the bathroom and when I came back, the parents were gone.  I don't know if they got seated or left.

 

I should not be surprised at all by any of these incidents, I think perhaps the answer is that NCL passengers are a slice of America, just like everybody else.

@blackwing Sorry for your experience.  Addressing your topic.  All I can do is give you my perspective.  As you did based on your recent experiences.  

 

• Pre-Covid:  I cruised NCL and Celebrity.  Both in and out of the Haven and Retreat.  I will say the Haven and Retreat was far better then when I was on the rest of the ship.  That said, it was based on over crowding more then anything in my opinion. 
• Just After Cruising Began After Covid:  My first few cruises were outstanding.  Everyone was great from the crew to the guest.  Even when we were told to wear masks, it did not matter.  I notices back then, that the ships were 50% filled so no crowds ever.  This experience was both NCL and Crystal.  
• One Year Ago: The ships were over crowded again and with all due respect, the crazies were in full form. Pushy, rude and nasty.  
• November 2023: I was on NCL sister line, Oceania.  The ship was sold out and I never felt like there was a crowd.  Every was was beyond nice.  Where there Chair Hogs, yes.  Was their rude guest, NO. 

 

Cruising is a group of random people going on vacation. The more you pack them in, the more people tend to be rude.  That might not be a fact.  It is however my opinion.  To eliminate my vacation from being remembered as a bad time.  I take less now, stay in the area's like the Haven, Retreat or Yacht Club.  I cruise lines that cost a little more and have less people.  That is my solution to avoid what happened to you.  Not for everyone but has worked for me.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[CAKEisgood]

5 hours ago, JGmf said:

I'd say yes.  Starting with the advent of social media, turbocharged with the nastiness of 2016-on politics, exacerbated by the Pandemic,

Completely agree 

[CAKEisgood]

Incredible examples of groce and rude behavior, but my opinion is that this behavior is limited to a small number of passengers (from my observations and cruising on multiple lines). I tend to cruise in the off season, stay in areas of the ship that are less crowded (spa, the haven), dine when most aren’t. 
Enjoy your cruising 

[eowyn13]

On 4/1/2024 at 7:36 PM, blackwing said:

No, I was saying 10 years ago, the NCL cruise I was on felt like a more refined group of passengers.  There's something elegant about seeing most passengers in formal attire.  Like the early days when cruising was a means of transportation to get from England to America. 

 

If this is the same cruise I think I am remembering, on the formal-suggested nights I think I remember the dailies saying that if you want to dress casual to eat dinner at the buffet.   For the most part, people complied.  They didn't turn anyone away in the MDR though.  Maybe I am getting my past cruises mixed up?

 

This time around, no mention of any formal or formal-suggested nights.  Since I hadn't cruised in years, I don't know when this change happened.  I wore t-shirts in the dining room, as did many others. 

That sounds like a Celebrity cruise. On their formal/ dress up nights, if you choose not to dress up you aren’t allowed in the MDR and certain areas of the ship. We don’t dress up on cruises so we had to eat at the buffet those nights and didn’t go to any of the shows.

[Wahoowa9904]

Have seen a lot of this on the Joy this week from a physical altercation on the forward stairs the first night to constant sniping over deck chairs and then today two women yelling at each other about how miserable their families are. 

I have a feeling this is partially a comment on society at large but also an effect of Norwegian stretching the bounds of ship capacity. 

[D_And_K_gocruising]

I've gotten to the point where I dont put up with much anymore so I'm sure I'm getting to the point where people consider me rude.. Now, I dont play the "I'm the most important person" type rude.. I play the I dont sugar coat anything anymore game.  I just done put with with idiots anymore lol. 

[9tee2Sea]

I try not to let other passengers rudeness bother me.  They might have had an argument with their traveling partner. Might have had some bad news from back home.  Might be feeling a bit under the weather. Might have some medical issues.  If i come across someone rude, I just smile back at them, tell them "hope you have a nice day", then avoid them if I see them again.    It's my vacay, and I dont want anyone to negatively impact it.  I get enough of that back on land

[Travelling2Some]

11 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

I try not to let other passengers rudeness bother me.  They might have had an argument with their traveling partner. Might have had some bad news from back home.  Might be feeling a bit under the weather. Might have some medical issues.  If i come across someone rude, I just smile back at them, tell them "hope you have a nice day", then avoid them if I see them again.    It's my vacay, and I dont want anyone to negatively impact it.  I get enough of that back on land

That's the best attitude.  Reminds me of the popular saying to "Be kind because everyone you meet is fighting a battle that you know nothing about."  I also tend to thing to myself (a bit less kindly) "Thank you, Lord, that I don't have to live in the same house with that clown!"

[Travelling2Some]

26 minutes ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

I've gotten to the point where I dont put up with much anymore so I'm sure I'm getting to the point where people consider me rude.. Now, I dont play the "I'm the most important person" type rude.. I play the I dont sugar coat anything anymore game.  I just done put with with idiots anymore lol. 

Nothing wrong with calling things what they are but it doesn't make for popularity, lol.

[graphicguy]

Yeah…I tend to either ignore or walk away from anyone who is ride to me.  If I observe someone being rude to someone else, I calmly suggest they take a couple of steps back and take some deep breaths!

 

Best advice ever got was “don’t let your storm interfere with someone else’s sunshine”.

Edited April 5 by graphicguy

[Travelling2Some]

Whenever somebody insults my husband he gives them a big smile and a hearty "Thank You".  He says it confuses the heck out of them.

[D_And_K_gocruising]

42 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

Nothing wrong with calling things what they are but it doesn't make for popularity, lol.

Yea, I guess it used to  bother me if I felt like I hurt someone's feelings by pointing out their rudeness.. Now I grab their feelings, jump all over them, hit them with a hammer, set them on fire, dunk them in the toilet a few times and smile the whole time..   (their feelings of course, I wouldn't actually set a person on fire).. 😄  

[JGmf]

2 hours ago, Wahoowa9904 said:

Have seen a lot of this on the Joy this week from a physical altercation on the forward stairs the first night to constant sniping over deck chairs and then today two women yelling at each other about how miserable their families are. 

 

Easter week with kids out of school sailing out of NYC = hot mess.

 

@Wahoowa9904 Despite this, I hope the cruise has been good.

[Wahoowa9904]

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

 

Easter week with kids out of school sailing out of NYC = hot mess.

 

@Wahoowa9904 Despite this, I hope the cruise has been good.

We're sailing out of Miami - they reposition to NYC afterwards. If we weren't in the Haven, it might have been a long week! But the Haven staff has been great as always. 

[Fogfog]

As the OP notes, plenty of rudeness, lack of civility, ignorance, and entitlement to go around

 

Lack of manners, please, thank you, holding doors etc

Lack of manners in-out of elevators

Lack of table manners

Lack of proper dress code

Using cell phones loudly in public

Using personal music and screens without ear buds

Chair hogs

Gluttons with piles of wasted food

Rudeness to crew and staff

 

and its not isolated to a certain culture, nation, class, economic level..

plenty of it all around.

 

[MSUjohn]

On 4/1/2024 at 5:13 PM, blackwing said:

Or have they always been, on the whole, like this?  Some of our early cruising experiences were on Carnival.  When we went on our first NCL 10 years ago, I had thought at the time that the Norwegian passenger on the whole was a bit more refined than the stereotype of the Carnival passenger.  There were formal nights, and passengers dressing up in suits and gowns was the norm and not the exception.  I know that NCL bills itself as a cruise line for families.  But I still want to believe that the passengers overall are very classy.

 

And then there were some incidents I witnessed last week on Getaway:

 

At the Mixx bar, an older lady turns to a middle aged man of Asian descent standing next to her.  He is waiting to order his drink.  She says to him very slowly and loudly, "EXCUSE ME".  He says "Yes, hello?"  She says "Oh good, you DO speak English.  I was worried."

 

Man walking in late to an art auction, making a beeline to a waitress at the front of room collecting empty champagne (prosecco) glasses.  Auctioneer is talking but the man just loudly says the the waitress "WHERE IS THE CHAMPAGNE".  I'm assuming he didn't have the bar package!

 

I walked into an elevator, where a man in his early 20s is chatting with a man of about 40 who is wearing a turban.  20 year old says "what country are you from".  40 year old (who did have a thick accent) says without missing a beat "United States of America".  20 year old gives this dumbfounded look and says "oh.  I meant..."  40 year old says "oh you mean originally?  India."  20 year old says "How is it?"  40 year old says "I wouldn't know.  I've only been there 4 times in the past 20 years."  Meanwhile, the 40 year old's 7-ish year old daughter just keeps repeating "it's crazy there, it's crazy".  I left the elevator before hearing the resolution of this conversation.

 

The best was the last night when I thought I was going to witness a fistfight.  There was a long line of people without reservations trying to get into the Tropicana.  The popular piano player Louis Razon was playing there all night.  One man was waiting in line and I think some little kids who were running around all over the crowded space must have bumped him.  He must have said something because the next thing I know, I hear shouting.  A woman is in his face yelling something like "Excuse me?  You do not get to talk to me like that."  There's some back and forth and she says "You are not allowed to tell me how I should parent my children."  Then her husband gets up and gets in the guys face and says to him something like "You need to back away.  You need to leave and sit down".  The parents go and sit on some bench.  The man (who wasn't talking loudly) must have been talking to the people he was in line with because all of a sudden I hear the woman yelling "excuse me!  I can hear you talking."  I went to the bathroom and when I came back, the parents were gone.  I don't know if they got seated or left.

 

I should not be surprised at all by any of these incidents, I think perhaps the answer is that NCL passengers are a slice of America, just like everybody else.

that is a whole lot of pearl clutching.....4000 passengers on a boat and you see some impertinent behavior and mild a that. Do you ever unknowingly do abrasive things?

ps the indian guy still was not from the US.

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, Fogfog said:

Lack of manners, please, thank you, holding doors etc

Lack of manners in-out of elevators

Lack of table manners

Lack of proper dress code

Using cell phones loudly in public

Using personal music and screens without ear buds

Chair hogs

Gluttons with piles of wasted food

Rudeness to crew and staff

Hint: it's the one that does absolutely nothing negative to those around them.🤣

 

If you still don't get it, call a friend.

[MyriamS]

I think what you consider rudeness also depends on culture. For example, at the buffet, if there are two food stations, let's say one with bread and one with pastries next to one another, a woman is serving herself some bread but no one is taking any pastry at the moment, I would definitely go and grab a pastry if I wanted one. Some might consider that rude because I "cut in front" of that woman but there's no need to create a line when none is needed. A buffet is not (to me at least, and to most Europeans including Germans with their reputation as sticklers for the rules) like a school canteen where you have to queue up and take the food in strict order. If people did so, buffets would be less chaotic but no less crowded and so slow you would eat nothing but cold food. If I were to visit a country where everyone is meant to wait in line at the buffet, I would of course adapt to the rules. That's the thing when you travel, you adapt to the local ways of life (like going extra early to the buffet if the chaos bothers you). 

 

[graphicguy]

3 hours ago, MyriamS said:

I think what you consider rudeness also depends on culture. For example, at the buffet, if there are two food stations, let's say one with bread and one with pastries next to one another, a woman is serving herself some bread but no one is taking any pastry at the moment, I would definitely go and grab a pastry if I wanted one. Some might consider that rude because I "cut in front" of that woman but there's no need to create a line when none is needed. A buffet is not (to me at least, and to most Europeans including Germans with their reputation as sticklers for the rules) like a school canteen where you have to queue up and take the food in strict order. If people did so, buffets would be less chaotic but no less crowded and so slow you would eat nothing but cold food. If I were to visit a country where everyone is meant to wait in line at the buffet, I would of course adapt to the rules. That's the thing when you travel, you adapt to the local ways of life (like going extra early to the buffet if the chaos bothers you). 

 

 

....if there are two food stations, let's say one with bread and one with pastries next to one another, a woman is serving herself some bread but no one is taking any pastry at the moment, I would definitely go and grab a pastry if I wanted one.

 

You had me right up until the above statement.  If that's the case, there are other stations all over the buffet where you can "justify" that.  What if you're at the coffee station and you want decaf but someone is in front getting regular coffee?  Or, someone is getting scrambled eggs and you only want the bacon right next to it?  This is where you find people 2-3 deep because they just wanted this or that at the station.  IT makes for some pretty testy people, also.

 

Point being, this is what causes shoving in the buffet lines.  How long do you have to wait for your pastry by waiting in line?  A minute, maybe 2 minutes?  Is that such a trial?

 

The rest of your post I agree with, though.

Edited April 6 by graphicguy

[KarenRB]

19 hours ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

Yea, I guess it used to  bother me if I felt like I hurt someone's feelings by pointing out their rudeness.. Now I grab their feelings, jump all over them, hit them with a hammer, set them on fire, dunk them in the toilet a few times and smile the whole time..   (their feelings of course, I wouldn't actually set a person on fire).. 😄  

I hope to sit next to you some day.

[D_And_K_gocruising]

45 minutes ago, KarenRB said:

I hope to sit next to you some day.

Best part IMO is I do it in just a calm relaxed way lol.. Don't yell at them, dont get in their face... That really makes them mad.. I dunno, guess my entertainment has changed over the years. 

[MyriamS]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

....if there are two food stations, let's say one with bread and one with pastries next to one another, a woman is serving herself some bread but no one is taking any pastry at the moment, I would definitely go and grab a pastry if I wanted one.

 

You had me right up until the above statement.  If that's the case, there are other stations all over the buffet where you can "justify" that.  What if you're at the coffee station and you want decaf but someone is in front getting regular coffee?  Or, someone is getting scrambled eggs and you only want the bacon right next to it?  This is where you find people 2-3 deep because they just wanted this or that at the station.  IT makes for some pretty testy people, also.

 

Point being, this is what causes shoving in the buffet lines.  How long do you have to wait for your pastry by waiting in line?  A minute, maybe 2 minutes?  Is that such a trial?

 

The rest of your post I agree with, though.

Well that is how things are everywhere that I've visited in Europe. I get tea, the person next to me will serve themselves coffee. Yes, we are standing pretty close to each other, but that doesn't mean we are testy. It's just normal. I understand this frustrates you and you'd rather it be different, but if it's the custom of the country, why would it be inherently rude?

 

Another example: there are some countries where eating with your hands is considered rude, and others where it is perfectly normal and expected. Would you call it eating with your hands rude in the latter case?

[smilegirl07]

On 4/1/2024 at 8:30 PM, purplecow15 said:

Last week a woman at the dessert station took a piece of pie from behind the glass partition, brought it up to her nose. Gave it a noisy sniff, and then put it back. A man stuck his finger in the potato salad to check temperature. People sat on stairway steps 3 across eating and on their phones. People seem to be in their own little self centered world. 

🤮. That is so disgusting!  

[Mike07]

On 4/1/2024 at 8:30 PM, purplecow15 said:

Last week a woman at the dessert station took a piece of pie from behind the glass partition, brought it up to her nose. Gave it a noisy sniff, and then put it back. A man stuck his finger in the potato salad to check temperature. People sat on stairway steps 3 across eating and on their phones. People seem to be in their own little self centered world. 

 

 

Saw somebody once take the top piece of bread off of a sandwich to see what the inside looked like and then of course put it back and walked away. 😞

 

We cannot have nice things.

[smilegirl07]

2 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Saw somebody once take the top piece of bread off of a sandwich to see what the inside looked like and then of course put it back and walked away. 😞

 

We cannot have nice things.

It is just so sad how some people are lacking such common sense.  It is like...

 

"Hey, I wanted THAT sandwich until your fingers touched them". what a waste....😩