Acts of kindness you've experienced while cruising

[sunshine252]

On my first & only cruise so far on the Valor in 2010 I had many passengers volunteer to take pictures of my mom & I together. We wouldn't even be looking for someone to do it, we would just be walking around taking pics of eachother by ourselves and almost everyday someone just volunteered to take us both together.

 

People still do this? :eek: Kidding... on our last cruise I offered to take a group photo for a group that was milling around snapping pics of the different "members" and the matriarch acted as if I'd asked them to jump off the back of the ship. :rolleyes: Lesson learned... LOL

 

I haven't really had any "above & beyond" moments of kindness, though... I just had to share my "Oops!" moment... :)

[LHP]

I have to say the neatest thing we have personally experienced is the kindness of teenagers on these cruises toward our son with Autism.

 

With all the talk of unruly kids etc.....I have to say that our son's experience in Club 02 (almost 20 times) would really give you hope for our future generation.

 

Of course, there is always going to be one or two...but the vast majority of kids in Club O2 took the time to get to know our son....and when they did, found he was a lot of fun to be around.

 

They not only hung out with him in Club O2....but would ask to be partnered with him for scavenger hunts.

 

The guys would "high 5" him if they saw him coming down the Promenade...and the young ladies would see him in the Lobby and yell "HI !!! to him" from several floors up.

 

Sadly he is now 21 and to old for Club O2 (he will never be emotionally older than 12) but he has a ton of wonderful memories for all those years!!

[Waterloomarc]

People still do this? :eek: Kidding... on our last cruise I offered to take a group photo for a group that was milling around snapping pics of the different "members" and the matriarch acted as if I'd asked them to jump off the back of the ship. :rolleyes: Lesson learned... LOL

 

 

This has happened to me before too. What, do they think I'm going to run off with their camera??

 

My wife and I travel by ourselves and have very very few pictures of us together. It's always me at XYZ then one of her at XYZ and the ever popular hold the camera up and take a headshot of ourselves :( So I always really appreciate it when people offer. I still offer to others regardless of people being rude to my offers.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[parrothead74]

I was at the bar by the casino on embarkation day and chatting with pretty much anyone who would listen, there was a guy who appeared to be in his late 60s a couple of seats down who seemed cranky. Ended up we were the only 2 sitting there for about 1/2 hour before muster and he was the greatest guy, but in a lot of back pain. We laughed and did shots and he gave me a bunch of drink tickets because he had plenty left over from previous cruises. Whenever DW and I saw him the rest of the cruise we always stopped to hang out with him and his DW, especially in the casino!

[Navywife1]

On the Liberty back in the summer of 08 we were going on a birthday cruise for me. My mom ,two of my aunts ,my sister and my husband were all ready to get on board. For some reason before we could get on board they were making everyone show their birth certificates for the 4th time. Well it was really windy that day and when my mother took hers out the wind caught it and it blew away into the atlantic ocean. It was sickening. My mom just stood there in shock. We werent sure what was going to happen. My Aunt went and told one of the ships crew members and immediately he came over took my mother by the arm and wisked her inside. We though omg they arent going to let her sail and this and that. We explained what happened and he was the nicest guy. He realized how upset my mother was he got her something to drink and sat her down, made sure all of us were with her. He filled out a form and copied mine and my sisiter birth certificates and stapled them all together for her. We didnt know what was going to happen. He came back over to her and said have a great time on your cruise ma'am. You will need this to get back in the country. That was that. They were so quick and efficient and caring.

On the same cruise, we had docked in Cozumel. My mom and aunt decided not to get off the ship. My mother who was a brittle diabetic woke up and knew her sugar was low. So she decided to go to the lido deck grill and get something to eat. She was fine until she started back to the cabin. Her sugar had started dropping rapidly and she became disoriented. She was wondering the halls looking for her room. She was on a different floor and her cabin steward recognized her and said Ms. Willene can I help you find something? Right away he knew something was wrong with her. She told him she was looking for her room. He escorted her back to her cabin where my Aunt was just waking up from a nap. she had no idea my mom had even left. He refused to leave until he knew my mom was ok. The rest of the week he was always paying special attention to my mom making sure she didnt need anything and that she was ok.

[mclinns04]

One time, in Cozumel, my purse fell off of my scooter (money, passport, etc.). Just about the time that I noticed that it was gone a young man came running up with it. Boy, was I grateful!! Now I go ashore with a small over-the-shoulder bag so I can't lose it.

[photojunkieEMT]

This is such a great thread....

 

I am a photographer and I have often offered to take others' pictures so that everyone can be in the picture. I have had many thank yous for doing it. I just ask them to return the favor if they see others in the same situation.

 

My story of acts of kindness is not Carnival but Southwest Airs. My father had been diagnosed with cancer less than a month before my sister's 21st birthday. She was in the Air Force at the time and we had plans to go visit her. The doctor agreed to him still going on the trip. While in Las Vegas he became worse and was able to do very little walking on his own. When we landed in Baltimore the PILOT and CO-PILOT made sure he got off the airplane safely.

 

I absolutely loved reading the story of the teenagers that got off the elevator for the disabled gentleman.

[PortSideCruzan]

Our first trip to Roatan we brought two suitcases full of supplies for the local school and orphanage. We were bringing them off the ship and were stopped by police saying no luggage off the ship. We went to the customer service desk and found out that the new custom's officials were requiring taxes and POs on all luggage off the ships now...even for DONATIONS to the area poor. What a way to make a buck huh...

 

I was so upset I was in tears. My children were upset as well. My husband suggested we just pack as much in our backpacks as we could and deliver that. When the young lady heard that she said, good idea let me help. She gave us about 6 carnival totes and sent some of her friends that worked on the ship to our cabin that were going to the island. We loaded up about 12 bags and then our family and at least 10 crew members carried off the supplies one bag at a time and dropped them into the waiting trunk of our taxi. The policemen were full of thumbs up for us and while I knew it was breaking a local law, I was thrilled that we were helping those kids and not lining some local officials pockets!

 

 

This is terrific, I love it!

 

 

:)

[beshears]

A very good question to ask.

 

I have nothing in particular to add to this, but to say I have cruised for around 20 years or more, and I have never really seen where people were rude if something had happened, and needed to be taken care of. I believe most people are concerned in their fellow man/woman, and want the best for them if something should go wrong or happen.

 

I know when something bad happens, everyone does not react to the situation in the same way, but for the most part that I have seen down through the years, the majority of people try to help out if they can.

 

I know we wanted to go to a certain island that was to be on the itinerary, BUT because of the trouble that was going on in that area, the cruise was diverted another direction, which we were thankful for. We would rather be SAFE than sorry. We still had a great time. Just have to think "positive!"

[mousey]

What a lovely thread! I love hearing good stories...here's a couple of mine.

 

About three years ago just about three weeks before we were to leave on what was to be my SIL's first cruise, I stepped in a hole and really threw my back out. I was in excruciating pain. Thank goodness it was only a soft tissue injury but I was still in horrific pain. But I still went on the cruise and here are some of the good deeds people did for me:

 

When we first got on the ship there was a really really long line to get into the ship. I knew I couldn't walk all the way to the end of the line and then back again as I had just gotten off a plane and had been sitting for 5 hours. So I told my DH, DS, and SIL to get in line and I would just wait for them at the front of the door until it was our turn to get inside the ship. I asked a crew member who was letting so many people in at a time and asked him if I could just wait by the door until my family caught up with me because I had hurt my back and was in a lot of pain. He asked me where my family was in the line and I pointed out that they were way way in the back of the line. He actually went over to them and brought them to the front of the line and let us in. I thought that was very kind.

 

While I was on an excursion with my SIL I was having trouble getting on the jitney bus and actually screamed out in pain trying to get on. Well this extremely kind gentleman actually half lifted me unto the bus and for the rest of the tour he would help me on and off. Awesome.

 

There were late afternoons before dinner when I would tell my family to go and have fun while I just took a rest in bed because the pain was too much and I would take a pain pill and wasn't able to function very well on it. Well, the room steward came to the door to bring in fresh beach towels and when I went to the door, opened it and then slowly and obviously painfully walked to the bed and got into it he asked me what was wrong. I told him what was wrong with me and he gave me his number and told me to call him if I needed anything. Well one afternoon I ordered lunch from room service and when he came to deliver it I just couldn't get out of bed, our room steward saw the guy standing there with the food and asked me if he could let himself and the delivery guy into the room. I said yes, and when he came in he said that he was going to check up on me everyday and with my permission he would knock and see if it was alright to enter the cabin. Every day he would knock on the door when he knew I might be alone and I'd let him in and he would, believe it or not, fluff up my pillow for me, make sure I had fresh water by my bed, and one day he brought me a magazine that another passenger had given him. Needless to say, he got a humongous tip and my endless gratitude for his kindness. At first he wouldn't take the tip, did you ever?...but then my husband made him take it and said how his helping me everyday made it easier for him and the DS and SIL to leave me by myself for awhile while they did their thing. Lovely, lovely man.

 

And that's just a few of the acts of kindness that were done for me, there were many others, but I've taken enough of your time.

 

Great thread!

[crusinpsychRN]

In Cozumel my son, daughter and I decided to do something that sounded so dumb I couldn't believe we were doing it!

 

We went to play miniature golf when Sally, an expat, still owned it. Just outside the minigolf the sidewalk was in very bad shape and my son tripped scraping his knee badly. I had a few tissues and did what I could, not much.

 

When we got inside Sally cleaned him up, put some antiseptic on his knee and covered it with a bandaid. She was so sweet! She didn't give me the stuff to do do it, she just busied herself cleaning up my 11 y/o.

 

We had so much fun there! Iguanas were everywhere and the place was a garden delight.

 

Sally sold the place which is no longer in operation. She now gives massages and I hear she is wonderful.

[jdvmd]

What wonderful stories! Keep them coming!

[aSiAnRiCk]

Yes please keep them coming. Only been on one cruise and never really encountered negative people. In general, everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I absolutely love this thread! Thank you for starting it! The stories are wonderful. I've been feeling a bit nervous about our upcoming B2B since it's summer and two short cruises on a smaller ship. This has taken away my jitters!

 

It's lovely to hear the stories of teens who are so polite. My DD is 17 and consistently opens doors for people and would be one of those kids getting off the elevator. :o I'm so proud of her!

 

Several years ago when we were on a cruise with both of our DDs, they went to the theater early to get seats up front. I wasn't going to the show, but sat and chatted with them while they waited. As I left the theatre the ship listed and I went down, spraining my ankle in the process. I looked up to see people all around just standing there staring at me and one young man (probably in his early 20s) came rushing over and helped me up and to the elevator. I'll always remember his kindness.

[Nickymjw1]

I will have to finish reading this thread tonight at home because I am at work and some of these stories have me almost in tears because they are so touching....

[Mrs.C05]

Of all cruises, our formalwear was left behind at home, because DH was pre-occupied with wedding stuff, that he forgot to bring it to the hotel the day of our wedding. The next day we were leaving to drive down to Ft. Lauderdale for our honeymoon aboard Princess Star. Neither of us realized it until halfway down to Ft. Lauderdale. We could've driven home to get it, but it was too big of a chance to take.

 

Once onboard, we rented my husband a tux and went off to find me a dress in their shop. Ummm, no luck there, so I went to the purser's desk and and asked if they had any other shops on board (it was our 2nd cruise and first time on Princess). I told the girl what happened and she said "you look about my size, I'll have someone send my dress down for you. What room are you in?" So I told her what room, and shortly there after, a beautiful red dress was delivered to our room! It fit perfectly! Oddly enough, I packed my wedding heels, thinking my husband had our formalwear. I couldn't thank her enough! And DH bought me a swarovski gold dipped rose from one of the shops. He knew he messed up, but I'm still married to him 7.5 years later.:D

[UFQ202]

My store is about American Airlines. I was home on leave from the Navy and had to report back to my command. I got to the airport only to be told that Jet America was no longer flying. I went to the ticket agent at American Airlines and she took my ticket and got me a seat back to Ca and my command. I even got to fly in business class!:D

[LHP]

My store is about American Airlines. I was home on leave from the Navy and had to report back to my command. I got to the airport only to be told that Jet America was no longer flying. I went to the ticket agent at American Airlines and she took my ticket and got me a seat back to Ca and my command. I even got to fly in business class!:D

 

Our oldest son was just sworn in today in Washington DC for NUPOC.

 

He is thrilled.....

[Waitingforretirement]

Thank you so much for starting this thread. I am so tired of all the negative posts. Glad to see there are so many happy and helpful people still sailing. Would love to cruise with all of you!

[pinkmaija]

Lovely thread!

 

My husband and I cruised a number of times while he was battling cancer. After he died' date=' two couples we'd met on cruises attended his funeral and many sent gifts when our twins were born after his death. But the best was a couple we met on our last cruise. My husband and the other husband, from Ireland, bonded quickly and we spent most evenings with them. My husband was jovial, but not well and clearly this would be his last cruise. On the final night, the man took off his silver Claddagh ring and gave it to my husband for good luck. I've kept it to give to my girls someday to show them how quickly their dad made friends.

 

Best,

Mia[/quote']

 

Love that. What an awesome story.

[momof4boys]

On our most recent cruise on the Freedom on July 14, , DS#3 found out on the morning of our embarkation that someone compromised his debit card (issued by a large bank company in the USA) to the tune of $800 to Weight Watchers. (Yes, he had called the company a head of time to tell them he would be out of the country....!!)

 

He called them before we left port, and they supposedly marked the card closed. We purchased internet time so he could monitor the situation and by the next evening almost $4,000 had been "spent" on ridiculous charges......including $1,000 in 5 cent charges to a company overseas and numerous other charges. He did not need the card for the cruise as DH and I were treating our kids to our 35th anniversay cruise, but it was still quite upsetting!!!

 

He and his DW were besides themselves. He tried calling the bank several times from our room phone but kept having trouble. I called the service desk to ask how to call collect. The lovely lady asked me why and I explained the reason saying it had nothing to do with Carnival or trouble paying the CCL bill, but he did need to call the bank collect. They insisted that he come down, and they called on their phone with no charge to us. They deleted the three other calls we attempted from our room and even gave them the banks "special number" that CCL uses to expediate the calls.

 

They allowed him to call several times and were very kind to him! They easily could have charged us for these "long conversations" but put customer service a head of the almighty buck.

 

What a kind experience we had with CCL!

[rotting_hell]

Great Thread!!!! :D

[Webecruzen]

Great thread that is a well needed balance to all the negativity of that past few days.

Thank's OP for starting this!

[cruisinmeme]

So we have a thread about pet peeves. What about acts of kindness you've seen?

 

We were in Belize when a girl named Kelly was severely injured by a pet monkey. She was bleeding all over her arms, legs and head and couldn't walk. (Found out later a tendon was torn.) She was covered crudely in bloody bandages.

 

She was lifted onto the tender and the tender then loaded. When we arrived at the ship, without any request, EVERYONE sat quietly in their seats waiting for staff to get her onto the ship in the rough water. It took quite a while. When she was safely aboard only then did others get up to go on the ship.

 

There was no line of immediate jumping-up-and-rushing-to-get-off cruisers. A lot of people commented on how polite everyone had been.

 

 

 

This is so awesome that everyone was so kind.

Any word on why the monkey attacked her? We planned to take 3 grandkids to the reserve with monkeys in November but would freak out if something like this story happened to one of them while in my care.

[richstowe]

Great thread idea!:)

 

We went on our kids first cruise knowing that the Nassau port day was the day my son had to register for his courses

at Junior College (CEGEP).

We brought our lap top and tried to use the WiFi in the port. Horrible. We went looking for other hot spots but

they were very slow. Family was starting to get very nervous. On the way to Senor Frogs we see this small restaurant that

advertised free WiFi. It was called "Little Philippines Restaurant. We were warmly welcomed.

It was us and about 20 Filipinos all on the internet to their home.The owner (?) Lorna was so nice.

My son registered for his classes as we had the best chicken wings and the coldest beer.

 

The on-line registration took forever. After an hour we were starting to feel bad about taking up a table.

She told us not to worry. Then we found an empty room upstairs. We left my son there to finish registering.

This took him another hour and a half and when we came back for him she was so concerned that everything had worked out.

It had. We thanked her again.

 

What had started as a very stressful situation became a highlight of our cruise because of Lorna's kindness.