A Little Story about the Majesty of the Seas

Hello everyone,

First off I'd like to thank you all for posting such great information on this site. My family went on our first cruise ever on the Majesty of the Seas June 14th sailing. It was incredible and we are now hooked on cruising. The staff were exceptional and really helped make our cruise memorable especially Dos our assistant waiter and Jimmy our cabin steward. We at in the Mikado dining room, late seating. There was one horrific event that occured that I thought I should share.

One night at dinner (i'm not sure which one) a teenage boy at the table behind us began to choke. His grandfather who is a doctor administered the heimlich manuever. These drunk trashy ladies at a table near ours began taking pictures of the boy and laughing as he was choking and puking. It was the most classless, horrible thing I've ever witnessed. People around our table (including ours) began to chastize the ladies for their behavior to no avail. The boy was fine (but embarressed) and the crew responded to the emergency accordingly. My question is, why didn't the head waiter kick these ladies out of the dining room??? I know they have a right to their meal but they had upset and disturbed the boy, his family (who were a huge party), and all the tables around them (including mine). After the boy left his family was in tears, my family was in tears, and we had all lost our appetites. This experience by no means spoiled our cruise but it certainley could have if we let it. What is (or what should be) the appropriate response of the staff to these obnoxious dinner patrons?

They took pictures of a choking victim? Not only is that classless but so incredibly rude and useless. At the very least, someone like the Maitre 'D should have escorted them back to their seats. There is just no explaining some people's lack of tact or manners. Geesh!

Some people don't know how to show any kindness or sympathy toward fellow man. Perhaps this incident was recorded and they will be remembered when the "great book is opened" and they stand before the King.

I can't even imagine how drunk you would have to be to behave that way. I've had too much to drink quite a few times but I would never behave in such an apalling manner. The minute the boy started to choke my heart stopped. I hate to see anyone in trouble, especially kids. And to top it off he was a teenage boy so it was really really embarrassing for him. And I think his whole family was present (it was an anniversary cruise or something). I felt bad for his sisters and brothers who were really very upset by this. I just wish that the head waiter would have done something about those insanely rude people.

It's a sad, sad thing, but some people are completely unable to feel empathy for others who are suffering. Even worse, some people derive perverse entertainment from it. My brother's former mother-in-law used to carry a police scanner with her everywhere she went, even to family parties. The reason: she listened for car accidents and then raced to the scene. One time at a summer birthday party (scanner beside her) my sister was describing the aftermath of an accident she had driven by, clearly disturbed by the scene. This woman's face lit up and she said, "Oh, yeah, that was a good one." Sick, sick.

You said that people chastized these women for their behavior. What form did that take. I don't know how much the waiters could have done (it's tough to find a policy or rule they were breaking) but sometimes being ostracized by society is the worst punishment. I wish I had said something to my brother's mother-in-law, or at least made some noise of disgust, but didn't in the interest of family peace. My brother has since divorced her daughter, thank God.

I was recently on the NCL Sun and a similar event happened. As everyone was on deck for the sailaway party, some commotion started around the pool. We looked down to see a lifeless young girl receiving CPR. It was not a pretty scene. Well, several people thought this was a good time to break out the video cameras. I thought this was totally tasteless so much so that I approached one of the people filming to tell him to stop. It took a little while but once the conversation was over he realized that it would be better to put the camera down. Some people have no idea of what is appropriate and what isn't.