April 12 - Independence of the Seas: Where manners went to die

[kicker]

Oh come on.....People digging into the buffet trays with bare hands....I'm sorry and I don't care cause I don't believe this. If it would have been one person that you saw..ok, but you saw a lot of people doing it......I don't buy it and adults at that! I have seen kids do it a couple of times and I told the Windjammer staff and they removed the trays immediately. And if you did see it did you bring it to anybodies attention or did you just look disgusted and let other people get food from there???? You make it seem like you were on a cruise with a ship full of cavmen! So what else happened good on the cruise??

 

I see you're from NC. The nicest people I ever cruised with were on a cruise out of Norfolk - real Southern hospitality and friendliness. Worst: a cruise out of NYC with people whose main interests seemed to be getting drunk and using four letter words, even at Karaoke. I've seen bare hands at buffets, and no respect for lines. As someone mentioned earlier, the time of year and fellow cruisers can have a lot to do (either positive or negative) with your cruise experience.

 

The OP has no axe to grind here and I find the comments totally believable.

[nbsjcruiser]

As far as the Windjammer goes, more and more we eat less in the WJ. Breakfast is almost always in the MDR and lunch too at sea days. The food is better in the MDR I find.

 

Chair hogs - said it before - the easiest way to handle that is remove their towel, set it down on the floor and take the chair. Move it somewhere nearby. If the hogger returns you can sit and smile and watch the confusion.

 

On the Indy - smoking is on one side on the pool deck, nonsmoking on the other. You don't need to wander through the smoking area unless you force yourself to.

Edited April 21, 2014 by nbsjcruiser

[Darkwolfe]

All of this reminds me of why I've been liking the smaller ships more. :D

[dave2step]

Oh come on.....People digging into the buffet trays with bare hands....I'm sorry and I don't care cause I don't believe this. If it would have been one person that you saw..ok, but you saw a lot of people doing it......I don't buy it and adults at that! I have seen kids do it a couple of times and I told the Windjammer staff and they removed the trays immediately. And if you did see it did you bring it to anybodies attention or did you just look disgusted and let other people get food from there???? You make it seem like you were on a cruise with a ship full of cavmen! So what else happened good on the cruise??

 

I don't blame you for being skeptical. Like I said earlier, I wouldn't have believed it either had I not seen it with my own 2 eyes, on a daily basis for the first half of the cruise. It wasn't until RC stepped in, ended the self-serve, and took control of dishing out the food in the Windjammer that things started to improve. By and far most of the people on the cruise were fine and knew how to behave, but yes, there were those few "cavemen" that appear to have been raised as farm animals. Those are the people I take issue with, and by the luck of the draw, there seemed to be more than usual on this cruise.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the cruise, and had a great time. I've been loyal to RC for a long time, and will continue to be, which is why I raise these negative comments (and yes I have commented directly to RC), as I hope they can try to do something about them, if possible, as surely I'm not the first to raise these concerns.

[dave2step]

All of this reminds me of why I've been liking the smaller ships more. :D

 

I've come to the same conclusion. Bigger isn't always better :)

[dln929]

I don't blame you for being skeptical. Like I said earlier, I wouldn't have believed it either had I not seen it with my own 2 eyes, on a daily basis for the first half of the cruise. It wasn't until RC stepped in, ended the self-serve, and took control of dishing out the food in the Windjammer that things started to improve. By and far most of the people on the cruise were fine and knew how to behave, but yes, there were those few "cavemen" that appear to have been raised as farm animals. Those are the people I take issue with, and by the luck of the draw, there seemed to be more than usual on this cruise.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the cruise, and had a great time. I've been loyal to RC for a long time, and will continue to be, which is why I raise these negative comments (and yes I have commented directly to RC), as I hope they can try to do something about them, if possible, as surely I'm not the first to raise these concerns.

 

I think you did the right thing by relaying your experience to RCI. It always amazes me the number of people who come on the forum and comment and/or complain...and let it go at that. Sure, RCI reads this forum but they can't read every post! Writing to the source is smart.

[marci22]

I like your thread title.

[cruisegirl1]

I've seen plenty of bad manners, but honestly have never seen anyone in any dining establishment, land or sea, scoop up food out of a buffet pan with their bare hands. Never! If this is the case, seems RCI would have to remove and discard the entire tray of food. OP - I hope you reported the incident.

 

 

M

[cruisegirl1]

All of this reminds me of why I've been liking the smaller ships more. :D

 

Unfortunately, seems the same issues the OP noted could happen on any size ship, large or small. Perhaps it speaks to the new clientele RCI and other mass market lines are courting.

 

M

[Marie51]

I was on this cruise and I did not personally see any of the grabbing of food with bare hands.

I was amazed so many people got sick because the staff made sure everyone sanitized before entering windjammer.

 

Chair hogs....another issue....haven't been on a cruise line when that didn't exist....

I think it might be worse on RCCL than Carnival because you have to check out your towel and people didn't want to have to pay for the towel if lost.

While I liked just getting towels on RCCL I think it allowed people to leave their towel and not even be polite to come back when they were done

Kerri

 

On my recent Independence cruise we no longer had to sign out towels.

[critterchick]

The OP has no axe to grind here and I find the comments totally believable.

 

As do I. I once witnessed a man lift a ladle of gravy, stick his finger in to taste it and then put the ladle back.:eek: My reaction was the same as Empress of Purple's (EWWWWWWWW), which his wife and the guy behind the counter both heard. The crewmember promptly removed the gravy and the wife promptly started chewing him out - I don't guess that I was his new best friend. I also saw a man fruit on the floor, pick it up with his hands and toss it back into to the tray - a manager was nearby to take the entire tray and toss it. Some people just don't get that the 5-second rule doesn't apply...

 

OP, I'm not sure that thanks are in order, lol.

[luv2gonow]

On my recent Independence cruise we no longer had to sign out towels.

 

I meant that on Carnival you had to check out towels.

[MerriWthr]

Just a quick question - I've read a lot about this lack of manners at the WJ - but nothing about Jade. Isn't that a buffet also? Anyone have experience there?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Clarea]

Just a quick question - I've read a lot about this lack of manners at the WJ - but nothing about Jade. Isn't that a buffet also? Anyone have experience there?

Yes, Jade is part of the Windjammer buffet. Haven't seen anyone grabbing a handful of rice ... yet.

[cindyscruise]

I was on this sailing and thankfully never witnessed people grabbing food with their hands. their were a lot of children and were the best behaved that I have witnessed with the exception of a few. The chair hogs were the worst I have seen. But I did see security remove a few towels. While I hated having towels signed out to me it really does solve a lot of problems. At the end of the day there were still a lot of towels on chairs. If they were signed out to the person then they would have had to return them for credit. The solarium lounges were completely covered by 8AM. I found 2 lounges and was almost completely alone in the solarium. There was 1 other lady in the pool. It was a great cruise

[joandian]

For all you skeptics, I'll add my two cents. You either aren't looking or are fortunate enough not to be in the buffet at a time the 'people with no manners' are there.

 

I've seen people picking stuff up with their hands on quite a few cruises. We take a lot of notice now after I was unfortunate enough to catch noro virus a few years back. On that particular cruise my husband witnessed people lifting the tops off all the sandwiches to check what was in them, among other things. On other cruises we have seen people picking up bread, pastries and pizza with their hands and even putting food back after having it on their plates.

 

So, just think yourself lucky you haven't yet been freaked out by instances like this.

[Darkwolfe]

Unfortunately, seems the same issues the OP noted could happen on any size ship, large or small. Perhaps it speaks to the new clientele RCI and other mass market lines are courting.

 

M

 

Entirely possible. Perhaps I've been lucky as some have said. I've seen plenty of crowding and my GF isn't all that fond of the WJ on the larger ships. She's fairly short and has felt like a speed bump a few times.

 

I can guarantee a public shaming if someone does one of these nasty moves in front of me. I'm not inclined to be quiet if I see someone put everyone else's health at risk like that. Not for an instant.

[jayblue]

Wow! Just...wow!!!

 

I've been to many buffets, and have never seen the likes of this!

I'm a little OCD about stuff like this, so I will be on the lookout. No sense getting sick because of someone else's lack of manners and common sense.

 

:eek:

 

jayblue RCCL cruiser

[kuddles14]

I was on the same cruise and did not witness any of the hands in the food. The chair hogs are on every cruise but did witness the pool attendants removing towels and even witnessed them on Saturday putting 30 minute cards on the chairs with only towels on them. They did remove the towels 30 minutes later. That was the firs time I have ever seen that happen.

 

Yes, there were a lot of children but that happens on spring break. The only thing that bothered me was that there was a little boy about 6 jumping off the side of the hot tub into the pool. Very dangerous and yes, I did say something to him since his parents were not around. Sorry, it's the teacher in me looking to keep a child safe.

[Panda3]

Sorry you witnessed that. I just want to point out that it's not the cruiseline, or the ship, but society. I actually feel bad for the staff that has to clean up and serve slobs like the one you described who picked up buffet food with his bare hands, ick.

 

I do hope RCCL continues to address bad behavior. Like moving towels from the chairs, and even proper attire. One person was on here bragging that he wore jeans and a polo to the MDR on formal night? Why? just why? Will it ruin my cruise? No. But, why not follow the rules?

 

My carnival cruise in 2010 (The Dream) was pretty bad...people not moving out of the way in the hallways....parents letting kids run wile and throw Ice cream cones in the pool. One man wanted his pizza and pounded his hand saying "Pizza" to the poor guy in sorrentos. The rudeness at the windjammer.

 

DH and I are going to see if we can avoid any buffets on our cruise in two weeks...for the reason you mentioned!

[desamparaditos]

As do I. I once witnessed a man lift a ladle of gravy, stick his finger in to taste it and then put the ladle back.:eek: My reaction was the same as Empress of Purple's (EWWWWWWWW), which his wife and the guy behind the counter both heard. The crewmember promptly removed the gravy and the wife promptly started chewing him out - I don't guess that I was his new best friend. I also saw a man fruit on the floor, pick it up with his hands and toss it back into to the tray - a manager was nearby to take the entire tray and toss it. Some people just don't get that the 5-second rule doesn't apply...

 

OP, I'm not sure that thanks are in order, lol.

 

What is a "man fruit"? I'm almost afraid to ask.

[Silverman]

Those people grabbing food with their hands never had any manners to start with. Think about it. That is never acceptable anywhere! If I saw that happening. I would have said something too.

[critterchick]

What is a "man fruit"? I'm almost afraid to ask.

 

LOL, somehow "drop a piece of" didn't make it into my post. Kind of anticlimactic, isn't it?;)

[prince1099]

I heard, and just read about that epidemic, on that ship. They have had over 100 cases of the noro virus and had to restrict people to their cabins in quarantine. I read about the red biohazard bags outside of these cabins. Poor people. Probably got the virus after some inconsiderate people were scooping food out with their hands, as you report, and not using any utensils and tongs. There should be a new rule to prevent these outbreaks, that people who use their hands will be "disqualified" from the buffet, and must order room service., lol.

[hairymelon]

I have to say I usually avoid the WJ when on a cruise as I find it hard to negotiate with crutches etc. However, I am on Indy next month and will take photos of any one doing that and post them on here as I think they should be shamed. It is dreadful to think of what sort of home they live in if they act like that on holiday :(