The “entitled” vs the crew

[Wendy The Wanderer]

4 minutes ago, RachelG said:

oh, the stories I could tell.  Worst was a sharing table with another couple in P7.  And the reason we no longer share tables with people we don't know.  ...

We stopped sharing a table for four years ago for this type of reason. Still like tables for 6.

[GMIAC]

7 minutes ago, RachelG said:

oh, the stories I could tell.  Worst was a sharing table with another couple in P7.  And the reason we no longer share tables with people we don't know.  The lady of the couple wanted balsamic vinegar for her salad.  The waitress brought it in a little carafe.  The lady started shouting that "that is NOT balsamic vinegar, you are an idiot, etc etc".  Waitress was in tears.  I tasted the vinegar as did my husband, and it was definitely balsamic.  Waitress went to get the manager who brought out the bottle the vinegar was poured from--it was balsamic vinegar.  The lady yelled at him as well, saying he was lying to her then stomped out with her husband in tow.  I suspect she didn't know the difference between balsamic glaze and vinegar, but she was out of control. 

Oh man, that's horrible. If they didn't leave, I'd have asked the manager to move us. And I'm sure the manager would do that for us.

[TheRampantSnail]

Entitlement, apart from being rude and objectionable, can also have serious consequences. Two years ago, on a round Britain Splendor cruise, we were docked in Orkney. It was a wet day and in the afternoon we were returning to the ship. Because the gangway was slippery, crew were direct offgoings and ongoings. We waited until we were directed to board with the crew stopping offgoings. One "lady" decided she wouldn't wait and pushed past the crew. On her way down she knocked into my wife who fell and damaged her knee. Despite good onboard medical care, and back home, her knee has not been right since.

[caviargal]

On 8/31/2024 at 3:37 PM, exlandlubber said:

Hello Everyone!
We are coming up on the final days of our 14 day London to Oslo cruise on the Splendor and if the board audience will forgive me, I’d like to vent about some of my fellow passengers. I understand that Regent cruises are pricey and that certain expectations exist. This is our 4th Regent, third on the Splendor and all of these cruises have had one thing in common - the crew work their asses off! Perhaps because we’ve had more time on this cruise to interact with the crew and to see some of the passengers demonstrate incredibly boorish behaviour, I just felt it necessary to say, “who the heck do you think you are?” Believe me, I’m couching my language for the benefit of the forum, but geez, what’s wrong with these people? We are met with nothing but smiles and graciousness throughout our day despite the fact that these people are away from home, working long shifts with tough jobs, and are nothing but lovely. I can’t stand seeing fellow passengers treat the crew as underlings when we should do everything in our power to make their jobs more pleasant. The crew never responds inappropriately but boy, there have been a couple of times when I just wanted to slam a couple of passengers for their rude behaviour (I did with one “lady”) Thank you for allowing me my soapbox moment.

Kim

We were on this cruise and felt the same way. The crew and staff were outstanding and in no way deserved the condescending and rude treatment dealt out by some of the passengers we observed.

[rcandkc]

We just got off a 10 day London to London cruise with lots of time in Normandy region.  I’m happy to report we did not see a single entitled incident. 😀

[caviargal]

On 9/3/2024 at 5:27 AM, exlandlubber said:

Hello shuguley! 
We just got off from that cruise and I can assure the crew is phenomenal. I do have to add a small criticism about debarking. While I completely understand the need to get the previous cruisers off the ship, standing in line, in the rain was pretty uncomfortable. Passengers had to pass through a tent where the luggage was but off loading folks onto a very slow moving line in the rain could have probably been avoided. Perhaps announcing the baggage Colors/numbers a bit more slowly would have prevented people from getting soaked. Great cruise, all in all but a rather soggy ending.

I agree and felt it could have handled better.  And Regent should have had someone to assist with luggage as some were struggling to get their bags to the buses.

[Gretchendz]

On 9/1/2024 at 12:32 PM, Jim Avery said:

  Same thing for Drivers Ed classes.....😱

 

Great line. I really did LOL

[Dolebludger]

I don’t know about others, but we have always been friendly with the crew. We walk down the hall, they smile and greet me, and I smile and greet them. Maybe it is the environment we come from, but here in the Rocky Mountains, almost everybody deals with all others as equals. I go to our Elks Lodge and multi millionaires treat minimum wage people with respect — usually they were once one of them. And it goes both ways. Last month on the Splendor I accidentally sent some slacks to the laundry, with my wallet still in the back pocket! Got a call from our stewardess. She told me what happened and brought me the wallet — and all the contents were intact — even the $200 in cash. Enough said.

[parallax]

We did a Christmas cruise on Explora last year.  The day before we did a tour of the Grandeur which was amazing.  On the first day at sea, we were eating outide for lunch when a passenger started berating a staff member.  He wanted a glass off wine he had the night before at the Asian restaurant.  The waitress had to go down 5 levels to get the wine.  I guess 10 minutes was too long of a wait and hence the eruption.  The staff member was close to crying.

 

Since it was a holiday cruise, we had brought  around 20 little boxes of chocolates.  After seeing this display of horrendous behavior, we gave her a box of chocolates.  It resulted in a big smile.  I said out loud that it shame that some people can be complete jerks.  

[GMIAC]

Here's an idea. Let's all carry a couple of $20 bills with us, and when we see someone being a jerk to a crew member, send a little love their way. I know I'm going to.

[Pcardad]

23 minutes ago, GMIAC said:

Here's an idea. Let's all carry a couple of $20 bills with us, and when we see someone being a jerk to a crew member, send a little love their way. I know I'm going to.

It doesn't happen very often thankfully. You can report the guest's behavior to the GM and they will track it.

[GMIAC]

5 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

It doesn't happen very often thankfully. You can report the guest's behavior to the GM and they will track it.

I will definitely do that too.

[kevingastreich]

It seems to me that all the "free" booze only contributes to the problem.  Some people turn nasty when they drink alcohol.

[Dolebludger]

That’s strange but true. When I drink I become more jolly and friendly. 

[irishwitchy]

45 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

That’s strange but true. When I drink I become more jolly and friendly. 

In that case,  I hope to meet you on a cruise, because you don’t seem so jolly on this site, sometimes. lol.  😉

[bissel]

I last cruised Regent in 2020 after sailing on her very frequently since 2005.

i believe I am an observant person but I cannot recall any instance of rudeness toward a crew member and only one blow out brawl between cruisers where the antagonists were left at the port at Sri Lanka.  😳😤

is this incivility really so rampant now?

[Dolebludger]

1 hour ago, irishwitchy said:

In that case,  I hope to meet you on a cruise, because you don’t seem so jolly on this site, sometimes. lol.  😉

Well, if Regent or any other entity comes up with something I don’t like, I am not silent about it. But Regent’s service crew have never done any such thing. In fact, we would like to take some of them home with us to do some well paid work for us. This thread is about people who treat others in a lower economic status (real or presumed) like they are inferior. I don’t do that! I used to have a much lower economic status and remember.

Edited September 7 by Dolebludger

[Eno-Bob]

Agree with Zqueeze1 - We've seen examples of poor behavior, but for the most part we've found Regent Cruisers are great and very appreciative of the wonderful crew and staff.

[Dolebludger]

Right, I have never seen this behavior, and certainly have never done it.

[rcandkc]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

Right, I have never seen this behavior, and certainly have never done it.

I’ve only seen it once and it was on Paul Gaugin. I just got off Navigator and no such behavior observed.   I think it is more by people who come onboard with misconceptions about realistic service. 

[Pcardad]

16 hours ago, bissel said:

I last cruised Regent in 2020 after sailing on her very frequently since 2005.

i believe I am an observant person but I cannot recall any instance of rudeness toward a crew member and only one blow out brawl between cruisers where the antagonists were left at the port at Sri Lanka.  😳😤

is this incivility really so rampant now?

No - it is not. I have pulled 500 nights in the last 8 years and only seen a few incidents. I've booked ten times that number and hardly ever hear a story. You will see people with noses in the air but others just ignore them.

[bissel]

I am glad to hear that. So many postings on rude behavior made me wonder if Regent were succumbing to the coarsening of behavior that is seen in other public places.

Yeah for good manners! 😁

[GMIAC]

One of the reasons we swore off cruising for 22 years was the nastiness of the passengers on our 1999 Windstar Mediterranean cruise, and it was rampant, relatively speaking. We even stayed on the ship during our St. Tropez stop just so we could have some ship time to ourselves without all those toxic people aboard. But we were 34 and 38 then, and there was a whole world to see. We sheepishly tried a "test cruise" last December (Grandeur's  first US cruise), and got hooked. The passengers were great, though we did see a couple of incidents. 99.9% of passengers are completely delightful, but it's the nasty ones that stick out sometimes. 

[doc47]

We were on that same cruise, and we found the entire crew to be outstanding in every way. We cited so many by name on our mid and final surveys.

[labonnevie]

In part due to this thread, on our current Splendor cruise, I am trying to be extra appreciative of the excellent service we are receiving. It’s simple to say “thank you very much” and “I appreciate that “ versus just continuing on. 
The response we receive from the staff is always an extra smile and a “My pleasure “.