Virtual Cruise Entry - Moderators!

[Jana]

Hi Laura.

 

I am following the Oceania Trip report by Jana and there is a statement on there that can be considered politically insensitive.

 

In the report for Warnemunde, the author, Jana Jones, talks about the buffet and singles out Jewish passengers for their disapproval of the Chinese buffet serving Suckling Pig. How does she know they are Jewish? Why does she feel a need to single out the ethnicity of those passengers? What if they were Black or Hispanic or Hindu?

 

I kindly request that the entry be edited to not single out any ethnic group. and particularly where she is in a country - Germany, where so many Jews have been persecuted. I find the entry offensive and in bad taste.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

 

PS: Here is the text that is unnecessary:

 

Lunch today at the Terrace Cafe is Oriental. People line up with their cameras to take photos of the whole suckling pig; the counterman is carving only the side away from us, so the poor piglet looks whole and happy from our side. It's a Saturday and I hear some Jewish people making comments about the insensitivity of this choice, but on the whole, most of the guests enjoy the feast. It includes both beef and chicken sate sticks with peanut sauce, Chinese chicken salad and my favorite, the sushi and sashimi that I had at dinner the other night. I meet up with some folks from the Cruise Critic roll call and we have a wonderful lunch together, before separating to go take naps. That's our idea of detoxing; who needs a class?

 

OH! I just saw this! My first reaction was to feel like I'd been whacked in the gut. Then I read some of the more moderate responses and the comments from my editor and felt better.

 

Kathy, they said they were Jewish. They said that they thought it was insensitive because it was a Saturday. It was not a big deal, they were commenting. For all I know, they had some carved pork, for all I know they also had some of the shrimp salad. I don't know. I found it worth repeating because I would never have thought of the Saturday/insensitive angle. Your reaction is just ... amazing.

 

Furthermore, many of the people serving the meal from behind the counter are Indonesian. I just didn't even think about including them in the realm of insensitivity. Maybe because they didn't comment on how Oceania forced them to carve and serve pork in defiance of their religious beliefs?

 

Moveover I don't find the serving of the pig, to be offensive either. Oceania does not represent itself as being a Kosher cruiseline and one should not expect it to follow any particular dietary rules. I'm sure there were other dining options available to those who weren't happy with the selection at the Terrace Cafe.

 

Assuming that Jana's reporting is accurate, the only comment I would make is that the people on board who commented that the choice was insensitive maybe need to lighten up a bit. Had the buffet featured shrimp and lobster instead of the pig, I doubt there would have been any such comments, yet one is just as bad as the other.

 

I'm not sure any of the people who commented thought it was "offensive." They were commenting that it was "insensitive" to serve it on a Saturday. I thought it was a very interesting observation, one I never would have thought of on my own, so I reported it... and my reporting of it was not meant to cause...

 

To ikelmay - You said this was a "tempest in a teapot". Are you sure you didn't mean that this was a "temple in a traif spot'?

 

(FYI - traif = not kosher)

 

Thank you for the belly-laugh, HB. Thanks so much for the light note.

that's one of the funniest things I've ever read.

 

I had a friend who taught his dog to growl at his food dish when my friend said "Traif!" and then run to eat the food when my friend said "It's ok, it's Kosher." That was one of the best parlor tricks I'd ever seen a dog perform.

 

Jana

[cruzmaven]

Jana,

 

I wouldn't take any of the comments on the board to heart.

 

I want to thank you for your wonderful reporting. I enjoyed and looked forward to every installment. Thank you for sharing your birthday cruise with us.

[DOJO466]

Jana

I too enjoyed your trip report. We are hoping to do this itinerary 2010. Happy Birthday belatedly:p

[Decebal]

OH! I found it worth repeating because I would never have thought of the Saturday/insensitive angle. Your reaction is just ... amazing.

 

Jana

 

You tell it Jana. When you mentioned it in your virtual blog, I had the same reaction as you. "Hmm, good point, I never would have thought of that". I didn't think it was a rude remark/observation on your part.

Thank you for a wonderful virtual tour, I read it daily and can't wait to have a go in the part of the world. Keep up the great work and Happy Birthday :D .(belated of course)

[Jana]

I'd like to say thank you to the three members who posted after I did.

 

Maven, thank you for your calming words, but a Cruise Critic virtual is, more than any other writing I do, for any outlet on any subject, a personal and expository writing journey. It's very much from the heart, so I took this misinterpretation very personally.

 

And to Decebal too, thank you soooo much for your support.

 

As Carolyn said above, it's also excruciatingly intense. I am not a fast writer, I ponder every word and sentence construction and usually every nuance and angle. It's not only getting up at 5:00 a.m. to write about the day before, it's rushing in from excursions, grabbing coffee and slamming out thoughts on the keyboard, it's midnight room service coffee and pacing back and forth, it's trying to interpret notes I took while sitting in the back of a jittery bus trying desperately to hear the guide. It's trying to juggle the context so that the whole thing doesn't come out as "and then I," "and then I," "and then I," "and then I..." Internet connectivity and time matters are front and center. Get the day's report to Melissa so she can send back questions which I have to answer while the Cruise Critic office is still open and before my dinner reservation.

 

Like that.

 

So, being completely (blissfully, I might add) unaware that I had caused anyone a moment's anguish, unintentionally, I assure you, I was shocked and yes, hurt, when I read this today.

 

DOJO, the new Marina might be doing that route by then! If not, enjoy Regatta, it's a wonderful ship.

 

Thanks again, all of you.

 

Jana