How rude can passengers be?

[DarrenT]

I have just returned from a great week on Diamond Princess, on the southbound Alaska trip.

 

However, I was absolutely astounded by how rude the majority of passengers are to the crew, and to fellow passengers.

 

Some examples -

 

People would get into a lift, and just say 'twelve', no thank you, or please. They would force themselves into the lift before you had a chance to get out. Noone would say thank you if you held a door open for them.

 

And whilst at the Pursers Desk, people would just but into your conversation, and say 'pen'. The way waiters were spoken to was also quite unreal. They are not slaves!

 

Also, what is it with people not being able to use a handkerchief/tissue - the sound of someone honking like a pig whilst you are trying to eat is repulsive.

 

It really is no wonder that service can be so patchy when passengers are such rude, obnoxious, dirty creatures.

 

If anyone wants good service or respect... try giving some out in the first place!!

[Leslieswiger]

I have alway's said that "courtesy is contagious". :D Very sorry to hear about ill manners. Happy Sailings...Leslie Swiger:)

[captbill]

However, I was absolutely astounded by how rude the majority of passengers are to the crew, and to fellow passengers.

 

I'm sure we've all encountered our share of rude people, but I've never considered them to be in the "majority".

[cjh]

They would force themselves into the lift before you had a chance to get out.

 

I have 2 kids in wheelchairs and there have been times when people have run them over trying to get in the elevator before them and many times we have had to just wait because they were full and no one offered to take the stairs.

[jennew]

My 7 year old will point and say loudly "That lady did not say thank you Mommy" to which I can always respond "maybe her Mommy did not teach her to be nice"

 

seems to get the point accross...and serves to make other people within earshot chuckle...:D

[daybreakbds]

have to put in my two cents- just because you are on vacation does not mean you leave your manner's at home. people in general i think have become very rude. i try to just let it go, but it is hard sometimes. i was taught to treat others the way you want to be treated. maybe they want people to treat them like that :)

[LMCAT123]

It is just not cruise passengers who are rude, unfortunately it's about 75% of the general population ... and no one thinks it is them either :-) Just look around you and see the rudeness in grocery stores, on the freeway (and that kind can get you killed quickly), on planes, in parking lots ... and on and on. And my own personal favorite: the use of cell phones in restrooms, "hold on I need to flush", has got to be the worst.

 

If you treat others nicely you will, in turn, be treated well, and that goes for ship's crews, hotel maids, grocery clerks, etc. We all know this so I am not sure why it is no longer a priority. A smile and a thank you can go a long way.

 

Rude comes in all ages (as does polite). A few weeks ago we were at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas on a Non-Smoking Floor that had signs near the elevators saying it was a non-smoking floor. We were going out one morning and there was this 75-ish looking man puffing away right under the non-smoking sign. I politely (and it was hard) told him that it was a non-smoking floor. He growled at me and said "yeah, I know that". Huh ??? Of course he knew it, he just did not think it applied to him - after all he was "special" ... (sure !!!). I called down to report it but he was gone when Security came.

[Leslieswiger]

Jennew, It is the childern that must learn good manners. Will also help them get through life better.:o Trust your exams for the Masters Degree are over and you had good luck.:D Happy Sailings...Leslie Swiger:)

[Coolmama_1]

My 7 year old will point and say loudly "That lady did not say thank you Mommy" to which I can always respond "maybe her Mommy did not teach her to be nice"

 

seems to get the point accross...and serves to make other people within earshot chuckle...:D

 

My 7 yr old would always say "what's the magic word?":)

[stoneharborlady]

They can be VERY RUDE!!! I heard a couple of elderly passengers complaining very loudly to staff members trying to find them a seat in the Theater, because small children were taking up many seats with their families. Mind you, these children were not in any way misbehaving, they were just there. And the elderly passengers felt they shouldnt be!! They were not my children, or grandchildren, but had every right, as much as anyone else, to be there. I really had to bite my tongue that time. Karen

 

 

 

 

 

 

quote=DarrenT]I have just returned from a great week on Diamond Princess, on the southbound Alaska trip.

 

However, I was absolutely astounded by how rude the majority of passengers are to the crew, and to fellow passengers.

 

Some examples -

 

People would get into a lift, and just say 'twelve', no thank you, or please. They would force themselves into the lift before you had a chance to get out. Noone would say thank you if you held a door open for them.

 

And whilst at the Pursers Desk, people would just but into your conversation, and say 'pen'. The way waiters were spoken to was also quite unreal. They are not slaves!

 

Also, what is it with people not being able to use a handkerchief/tissue - the sound of someone honking like a pig whilst you are trying to eat is repulsive.

 

It really is no wonder that service can be so patchy when passengers are such rude, obnoxious, dirty creatures.

 

If anyone wants good service or respect... try giving some out in the first place!!

[derf5585]

"what's the magic word?":)

 

Abracadabra

Al La Peanut Butter Sandwitches

[Druke I]

Although I agree that there are some rude people out there, I don't really believe they constitute a majority.

[ladikara]

They would force themselves into the lift before you had a chance to get out. Noone would say thank you if you held a door open for them.

 

The lift was probably one of my most frusterating things. I noticed time and time again you would be standing there and be the first person to push the call button. By the time the lift arrived, people after you would shove their way on to the lift and there wouldn't be space for you. When you were the first person there pushing the button. I remember once having to push the button 3 times. 2 lifts came and people after my shoved their way past me on it. The 3rd time the lift came, I just plowed everybody over because I refused to wait for yet another lift to come.

[DarrenT]

Although I agree that there are some rude people out there, I don't really believe they constitute a majority.

Sadly, on this cruise they did! Thus why I made comment on it.

[Pam in CA]

I have 2 kids in wheelchairs and there have been times when people have run them over trying to get in the elevator before them and many times we have had to just wait because they were full and no one offered to take the stairs.

On our Sapphire cruise, my daughter was in a "boot" (a cast like a very high ski boot) and in some discomfort from having broken both bones in her right leg at the ankle last year and the metal was shifting on its own. (She literally had a screw loose. If you saw the X-ray for Barbaro, that's what her X-ray looked like. She's since had the metal removed but couldn't by the time of the cruise.) People would bang into her, step on her boot, and literally shove her around. I couldn't believe it!

 

I've found that people aren't generally rude on purpose since many stopped to apologize, but they're so concerned or concentrating on themselves and where they're going, they don't look or aren't observant about how their behavior affects others.

 

On the other hand, I know some people who are rude on purpose since in their minds, it has rewarded them with getting them what they want so they think it's normal behavior. For instance, I had one business acquaintance who has three cats. He took them all to the vet one day and was very proud of himself when he told me that he'd yelled at the vet and demanded a discount because he was bringing in more than one cat. He got the discount. :( He's also on his 3rd wife in 6 years.

[Ethel5]

Although I agree that there are some rude people out there, I don't really believe they constitute a majority.

 

It may not be the majority yet, but it's getting there. :(

 

I think the elevators are the worst places for rudness. it seems that the "me" gereration has grown up and gone cruising.

[custompcsys]

Unfortunately there seem to be people that tend to treat service personnel like they were less than human and were put on this earth to service them. It seems to be more prevalent among the affluent, of which there is usually a significant percentage on a cruise. That said, it does happen everywhere, not just on a cruise ship, and not to say that people with money automatically treat service people like crap. It just galls me to no end when people think they are automatically better because they happen to be in a different socio-economic situation than the people around them. They seem to forget that that could change in a heartbeat.

 

I have met some of the most rude people imaginable on a cruise...I have also met some of the nicest. 3,000 people compressed into a relatively limited area often produces interesting results.

[CruisinCoach]

Unfortunately, rude behavior is becoming more and more prevalent in our society. Being a high school teacher, I see the lack of manners in today's youth. Thankfully, I do not see it as the majority yet and hope my smile at the door at the beginning and "have a great day" at the end will rub off on some of them. That said, however, I have seen rude behavior on these boards, so why does it surprise some of you that you see it on the cruises? Being rude is one thing, but what bugs me the most is the way people go out of their way to post a rude message to the OP, who is just seeking an answer to a question. Who cares if its been asked before or can be found on Princess' website.

[MichTraveler]

I travel 42-45 weeks/year for my job. I see rude everyday. One of the things I love about cruising is this percentage of rude seems to be much lower. During my work, most people at the hotels are also on business. They have goals and need to get their way. On the cruise, everyone is on vacation. So while I see a few rude people on the ship, not nearly as many as in the general population that I travel with week after week.

[jlp20]

Has anyone else observed that as a group, Alaska passengers are a little different from other itineraries?

 

I have seen hundreds of people stand in the sun for hours in line, rather than give a porter $5-10 and by-pass the long line outside the cruise center building.

 

At the Horizon Court, on five occasions I have seen pax squirreling away large amounts of food into bags and purses.

 

Rude, gruff, inconsiderate behavior was common not rare.

 

My own theory is that a lot of fixed income folk scrimp and save to do this cruise. When they finally make it onto the ship, their learned behavior of penny pinching cannot be forgotten.

[Mrsdigi]

My 7 year old will point and say loudly "That lady did not say thank you Mommy" to which I can always respond "maybe her Mommy did not teach her to be nice"

 

seems to get the point accross...and serves to make other people within earshot chuckle...:D

 

That's brilliant! from the mouths of babes.... It only takes a moment to say please and thank you. And it's great when all you've drummed into your kid's head actually comes out.:)

[bdjam]

And whilst at the Pursers Desk, people would just but into your conversation, and say 'pen'. The way waiters were spoken to was also quite unreal. They are not slaves!

 

It really is no wonder that service can be so patchy when passengers are such rude, obnoxious, dirty creatures.

 

If anyone wants good service or respect... try giving some out in the first place!!

I’ve cut out some of your post for brevity, but I did want to comment.

 

I’ve been accused of blindly supporting the crew on cruise ships, but this is exactly the reason. You are absolutely correct. Every crew member on board a ship is trained to provide the utmost in service, but then they are beaten down day after day by rude, demanding and ill mannered passengers. I’ve seen crew members reduced to tears by passengers who choose to berate them because they can. The horrible part of it is that the passengers seem to take delight in what they’ve done. Some passengers think because they’ve paid for their vacation, they deserve everything immediately upon demand. They don’t seem to realize there are on average 2500 other passengers on board who have also paid for their vacation.

 

On a recent thread about an “arrogant” (the poster’s word, not mine) Matre’d, I was pounced on because I suggested that he might have had a difficult day dealing with demanding passengers. I stick to that supposition – no one on a Princess ship who has front-line interaction with passengers is there because they’ve demonstrated they can only be rude.

 

And just for the record, I do think there are as many non-rude passengers as there are rude…it’s just the rude ones are much more obvious. Some of them carry it around like a trophy.

[WoodsKeeper]

I truly dislike how I'm often assumed to be rude just because I'm a teenager. I'm very polite to my teachers, and I often keep company with adults because I can't stand the maturity levels of people my age. My friends and I were at Perkins this week and had laughed (yes, a little louder than usual) at a funny joke one of my friends had told. Well there was this lady who said very loud and very rudely to our waiter "Do something! I can't hear a word!" This lady was on the cell phone and continued to argue to the waiter that we were acting like kindergarteners (just for laughing). I quickly apologized, but she wouldn't hear it, talked over me, and then went back to her own cell phone conversation in a public restaurant. I might be a bit biased, but her 15 minute loud conversation was much more disturbing than our 15 seconds of laughter.

[ronl]

those people are the same that shop in a Grocery store and make a mess of everything they just dont care about the next person and in a store that sell shirts and towels (just to mention a few items) they just mess up everything they fell that they are paying for those items that the cleark can fix the items up they think they are the only ones in the world and they just don't give a D---.

[partybarbie]

It may not be the majority yet, but it's getting there. :(

 

I think the elevators are the worst places for rudness. it seems that the "me" gereration has grown up and gone cruising.

 

The worst I have seen is on the holiday cruises where parents think nothing of letting their kids run wild and use the elevator like it was a ride at Disneyland. I rarely use the elevator myself (unless I have high heels on at dinner time) so my feeling is to save the elevator for those that need to use. These same parents probably wonder why their children are overweight. Stairs are how I get my exercise, oh, and lifting martini glasses.:)

 

P.S. Look forward to meeting you on the "'tini cruise".