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

[Folk Singer]

I don't blame you for thinking that, I wouldn't have believed it either had I not seen it with my own 2 eyes. Seriously, who does that??!!

:(:(:confused:

[desamparaditos]

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

 

At least no one picked it up with their bare hands.:

[Rala]

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

 

This post made me laugh out loud as did critterchick's reply. Thanks for the good chuckle!!!:D

[dleafy]

I think most of these problems could be sorted quite easily. The windjammer buffet is nicely set out for absolute chaos and confusion. There should be one way in and one way out of every station. If you forget something, you join the back of the queue.

Food should be handled by the crew only, using tongs

Cameras should be recording at all times and anyone touching food with bare hands should have the footage shown on TV before being dropped at the next port.

Chair hoggers....doesn't bother me. If your chairs' been vacant for more than 30 minutes, your towels off and mine's on. End of!

Mandatory hand sanitizers should be placed outside every rest room and none compliers flogged.

 

Cruising's fun :D

 

Cheers

 

Davy !!!

[Gigsjp]

I was on this sailing as well. Now I did not see anyone scooping out food with their bare hands but I did witness one fairly gross thing. I was helping my kids make sundaes one night at the Windjammer and there was what looked like granola or chopped nuts. An older lady asked me what it was and did not know. She proceeded to take the serving spoon, fill it with the granola and raise it up to literally centimeters from her nose to smell it and then returned it to the bowl. I could not believe it. My 7 year old even said - that's gross.

 

I don't know where these people come from but they're out there.

[dave2step]

I think most of these problems could be sorted quite easily. The windjammer buffet is nicely set out for absolute chaos and confusion. There should be one way in and one way out of every station. If you forget something, you join the back of the queue.

Food should be handled by the crew only, using tongs

Cameras should be recording at all times and anyone touching food with bare hands should have the footage shown on TV before being dropped at the next port.

Chair hoggers....doesn't bother me. If your chairs' been vacant for more than 30 minutes, your towels off and mine's on. End of!

Mandatory hand sanitizers should be placed outside every rest room and none compliers flogged.

 

Cruising's fun :D

 

Cheers

 

Davy !!!

 

Haha, cruising IS fun! And let's be honest, a party isn't really a party until the flogging begins... :)

[Russ Lomas]

As I said, we thoroughly enjoyed the actual cruise, it's just a shame that when some people go on vacation, they leave their manners at home. Sadly, this is a reality with cruising, but it seems this cruise was worse for this than we'd previously experienced. Hopefully the next one will be better.

 

On our cruise in March on the Independence, I felt that people's manners were quite good overall. Granted it was Ontario's spring break week and there were over 2,000 Canadians on board, so the ratio of polite to impolite people was bound to be raised that week;)

 

I also always avoid the Windjammer like the plague. Partially due to the chaotic nature of the place, but also to lower the chances of catching noro (I got it once from a buffet at a hotel in Niagara Falls once and never want to get it again). Besides, I like the dining room when it is available since I like the added service of the waiters there.

[Thetrail]

"it was pretty easy to avoid the situation by walking on the pool deck side where smoking was not permitted"

 

BUT...BUT....I paid to walk in both areas!

Was wondering the same thing? Let's see I'll walk on the no smoking side of the pool deck to avoid the smoke....duh!!!.....:rolleyes:

[Thetrail]

We just returned from the 8 night Independence of the Seas cruise, and while the cruise itself was fantastic, the ship was in great shape, and we had an amazing time, we couldn't help but notice a few things that were concerning. Over the 15+ cruises we've done with Royal Caribbean, these issues were the worst we've ever experienced on a cruise.

 

1) Windjammer Café: By far, the area where we experienced the greatest examples of complete lack of manners. People pushing, butting in front of lines, and generally doing whatever they could to ensure they were first at the trough. People grabbing food with their bare hands was a common event, and I don't know about you, but I lose my appetite in a hurry when I watch people scooping out handfuls of pineapple, salad, hashbrowns, etc... rather than using the available tongs, or waiting a few seconds until the tongs were available. Nope, they'd just reach around the person in front of them, dig their hand in, and scoop out what they wanted. It was disgusting! It's no wonder there were cases of GI illness with behaviour like this. By the second half of the cruise, RC finally stepped in and the Windjammer was no longer a self-serve buffet. RC staff were given the responsibility of dishing out the food. This was good in one aspect, but created a whole other level of chaos as it slowed service down, a mass of people would form waiting for food, resulting in people pushing their way in front of others to make sure they got their food first. It was survival of the fittest, and not at all a relaxing experience having to deal with that. Thank goodness there are other options for food on the ship.

 

2) Deck chair hogs: Common problem, I know, but I can't stand watching the prime deck chairs sitting vacant for the entire day with nothing but a towel placed on them, where someone had claimed the chair early in the morning, then never bothered to return. The "half-hour rule" is non-existent. Not once did I ever see RC staff remove towels to free up these chairs. Perhaps I'm just too polite, and I should have just done it myself, and grabbed whatever seat I felt like, whenever I felt like it. That's just not my style. Similar to my experience in the Windjammer, I believe manners and proper etiquette are important. Sadly, I seem to be in the minority nowadays.

 

3) Smokers: This one isn't entirely their fault, as RC only has certain designated smoking areas. Just once though, it would be nice to walk through the high-traffic areas on the pool deck and not be subjected to walking through a cloud of cigarette and cigar smoke. Great example they're setting for the children swimming nearby. RC really needs to find them a better location to smoke.

 

As I said, we thoroughly enjoyed the actual cruise, it's just a shame that when some people go on vacation, they leave their manners at home. Sadly, this is a reality with cruising, but it seems this cruise was worse for this than we'd previously experienced. Hopefully the next one will be better.

Let's see "people scooping out salad, pineapple and hash browns with their hands", I'm sorry to say this but I don't believe one word of what your saying.....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:...K.O.

[luv2cruz_74]

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.

 

 

I was on this cruise too and agreed with you. I never saw anyone grab anything with their hands. In fact, the second half of the cruise, we weren't even allowed to touch the utensils (which I prefer!)

 

They were enforcing the pool chairs - to an extent. I saw them removing stuff from empty chairs (mostly in the morning though)

 

 

 

 

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[luv2cruz_74]

Was wondering the same thing? Let's see I'll walk on the no smoking side of the pool deck to avoid the smoke....duh!!!.....:rolleyes:

 

 

Also - yes, if you walked on the smoking side of the ship, it was smoky. If you walked on the opposite side, it wasn't. Didn't

see any smokers on the non-smoking side (except one e-cigarette which is fine with me. Just vapor so who cares ?)

 

 

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[slk230red]

I think most of these problems could be sorted quite easily. The windjammer buffet is nicely set out for absolute chaos and confusion. There should be one way in and one way out of every station. If you forget something, you join the back of the queue.

 

Food should be handled by the crew only, using tongs. Agree!

 

Cameras should be recording at all times and anyone touching food with bare hands should have the footage shown on TV before being dropped at the next port. Agree!

Chair hoggers....doesn't bother me. If your chairs' been vacant for more than 30 minutes, your towels off and mine's on. End of! Agree!

Mandatory hand sanitizers should be placed outside every rest room and none compliers flogged. Agree!

 

Cruising's fun :D

 

Cheers

 

Davy !!!

 

I very seldom ever go into the Windjammer, but the few times I did I was grossed out by people putting food on their plate, tasting a sample, lick their fingers, then grab the tongs and put more on their plate.

 

Also, small children putting salt and pepper shakers in their mouths and parents doing nothing.

 

No Windjammer, no shrimp cocktail, and I never go into the pool or hot tub.

[mike45orlando]

You seldom go in the windjammer but all the times yiu have?

 

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[mike45orlando]

We have been on 8 royal cruises and never eat in the main dining room. Solely windjammer. We have never seen people dip their hands in to grab a bunch of fries or into the chicken curry and then lick the juices off their fingers All these horror stories.

 

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[markeb]

I have to confess I'm amazed at the number of people who haven't seen bare hands in the buffet! While I've not seen it to the extent the OP reports, I've seen it to some extent on every cruise I've been on (and frankly, most buffet type self-service anywhere). Grabbing bread and grabbing pizza are common. I've just never felt like writing it up on Cruise Critic.

 

And, no, I don't know how to make it better, but the near random design of the WJ does lead to a lot of line cutting. However, having lived in Europe for a number of years, I kind of got used to that, not counting the UK, of course, where they'll que up just because someone looks like they started a que :) .

[mike45orlando]

If you can't get over it, the only answer is to not cruise. It is what it is. Breaking news. Windjammer supervisor cuffs lady for touching slices of salami with her hands.

 

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[Tommyg74]

I hope you reported them to guest services! We were on FOS the same week as OP and I honestly don't remember seeing or smelling any smoke other than during a few quick trips to or through the casino on our ship.

 

I did see someone using one of those E-cigs at the Bull & Bear one night.

 

This was by far the least smoky cruise i have ever been on.

 

Love it, the rats always wanna go to cry to guest service. If you can say that you follow every rule, every law, I won't call you a rat.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Tommyg74

[Tommyg74]

 

3) Smokers: This one isn't entirely their fault, as RC only has certain designated smoking areas. Just once though, it would be nice to walk through the high-traffic areas on the pool deck and not be subjected to walking through a cloud of cigarette and cigar smoke. Great example they're setting for the children swimming nearby. RC really needs to find them a better location to .

 

Ah yeah, you have WHOLE separate side to walk in, but of course it's the usual story, walk through the smoking section, and then complain about the smoke.

 

And really, your going to worry about people smoking being a bad example for the kids? I guess the people sitting out there all day having drinks, more drinks, and more drinks, are a better example for the kids, especially the one that get more annoying the more they drink.

[waterrats]

We just returned from the 8 night Independence of the Seas cruise, and while the cruise itself was fantastic, the ship was in great shape, and we had an amazing time, we couldn't help but notice a few things that were concerning. Over the 15+ cruises we've done with Royal Caribbean, these issues were the worst we've ever experienced on a cruise.

 

1) Windjammer Café: By far, the area where we experienced the greatest examples of complete lack of manners. People pushing, butting in front of lines, and generally doing whatever they could to ensure they were first at the trough. People grabbing food with their bare hands was a common event, and I don't know about you, but I lose my appetite in a hurry when I watch people scooping out handfuls of pineapple, salad, hashbrowns, etc... rather than using the available tongs, or waiting a few seconds until the tongs were available. Nope, they'd just reach around the person in front of them, dig their hand in, and scoop out what they wanted. It was disgusting! It's no wonder there were cases of GI illness with behaviour like this. By the second half of the cruise, RC finally stepped in and the Windjammer was no longer a self-serve buffet. RC staff were given the responsibility of dishing out the food. This was good in one aspect, but created a whole other level of chaos as it slowed service down, a mass of people would form waiting for food, resulting in people pushing their way in front of others to make sure they got their food first. It was survival of the fittest, and not at all a relaxing experience having to deal with that. Thank goodness there are other options for food on the ship.

 

2) Deck chair hogs: Common problem, I know, but I can't stand watching the prime deck chairs sitting vacant for the entire day with nothing but a towel placed on them, where someone had claimed the chair early in the morning, then never bothered to return. The "half-hour rule" is non-existent. Not once did I ever see RC staff remove towels to free up these chairs. Perhaps I'm just too polite, and I should have just done it myself, and grabbed whatever seat I felt like, whenever I felt like it. That's just not my style. Similar to my experience in the Windjammer, I believe manners and proper etiquette are important. Sadly, I seem to be in the minority nowadays.

 

3) Smokers: This one isn't entirely their fault, as RC only has certain designated smoking areas. Just once though, it would be nice to walk through the high-traffic areas on the pool deck and not be subjected to walking through a cloud of cigarette and cigar smoke. Great example they're setting for the children swimming nearby. RC really needs to find them a better location to smoke.

 

As I said, we thoroughly enjoyed the actual cruise, it's just a shame that when some people go on vacation, they leave their manners at home. Sadly, this is a reality with cruising, but it seems this cruise was worse for this than we'd previously experienced. Hopefully the next one will be better.

 

I too was on this cruise and as is evident everyone spends their days differently and experience different situations.

 

1. Windjammer - no issues other than when they implemented no food to leave the room. I then had to eat in Windjammer which I never do. I always eat on deck. Thankfully there were always empty tables and there were never any buffet lines while I was there.

 

2. Chair Hogs - same old. They were marking chairs and removing towels regularly on busy sea days. I was up on deck by 7:30 on sea days and there were a limited number of available chairs except in the h2o zone. A good number of people were actually staying up on deck with their towels which is uncommon.

 

3. Keep starboard. The port side of the ship is the smoking side and you can definitely smell the smoke when on that side of the ship. Even on deck 4 when walking between elevators on deck. smaller smoking sections further back on the ship would be a good solution.

 

Joe

[wassup4565]

 

3. Keep starboard. The port side of the ship is the smoking side and you can definitely smell the smoke when on that side of the ship. Even on deck 4 when walking between elevators on deck. smaller smoking sections further back on the ship would be a good solution.

Joe

You bet, Joe, having forced the 20% of the population who smoke onto very limited areas on Deck 4 and the pool deck on the port side, let's herd them into even smaller areas at the back of the ship. Maybe throw a Zodiac off the stern and make them jump on and off it.

 

Meanwhile, in your crackdown on smells aboard the ship, please think about where you will consign the perfumed and the halitosis-challenged.

[silvermcs]

We just returned from the 8 night Independence of the Seas cruise, and while the cruise itself was fantastic, the ship was in great shape, and we had an amazing time, we couldn't help but notice a few things that were concerning. Over the 15+ cruises we've done with Royal Caribbean, these issues were the worst we've ever experienced on a cruise.

 

1) Windjammer Café: By far, the area where we experienced the greatest examples of complete lack of manners. People pushing, butting in front of lines, and generally doing whatever they could to ensure they were first at the trough. People grabbing food with their bare hands was a common event, and I don't know about you, but I lose my appetite in a hurry when I watch people scooping out handfuls of pineapple, salad, hashbrowns, etc... rather than using the available tongs, or waiting a few seconds until the tongs were available. Nope, they'd just reach around the person in front of them, dig their hand in, and scoop out what they wanted. It was disgusting! It's no wonder there were cases of GI illness with behaviour like this. By the second half of the cruise, RC finally stepped in and the Windjammer was no longer a self-serve buffet. RC staff were given the responsibility of dishing out the food. This was good in one aspect, but created a whole other level of chaos as it slowed service down, a mass of people would form waiting for food, resulting in people pushing their way in front of others to make sure they got their food first. It was survival of the fittest, and not at all a relaxing experience having to deal with that. Thank goodness there are other options for food on the ship.

 

2) Deck chair hogs: Common problem, I know, but I can't stand watching the prime deck chairs sitting vacant for the entire day with nothing but a towel placed on them, where someone had claimed the chair early in the morning, then never bothered to return. The "half-hour rule" is non-existent. Not once did I ever see RC staff remove towels to free up these chairs. Perhaps I'm just too polite, and I should have just done it myself, and grabbed whatever seat I felt like, whenever I felt like it. That's just not my style. Similar to my experience in the Windjammer, I believe manners and proper etiquette are important. Sadly, I seem to be in the minority nowadays.

 

3) Smokers: This one isn't entirely their fault, as RC only has certain designated smoking areas. Just once though, it would be nice to walk through the high-traffic areas on the pool deck and not be subjected to walking through a cloud of cigarette and cigar smoke. Great example they're setting for the children swimming nearby. RC really needs to find them a better location to smoke.

 

As I said, we thoroughly enjoyed the actual cruise, it's just a shame that when some people go on vacation, they leave their manners at home. Sadly, this is a reality with cruising, but it seems this cruise was worse for this than we'd previously experienced. Hopefully the next one will be better.

The buffet problems are pretty gross and very sorry you had to experience that. I don't go to buffets on land so no reason to go to one at sea.

[WestfieldTraveler]

Not that I don't believe the reports, but one way to deal with it is just to take our your phone camera (or real one) and snap a picture with your flash on - you don't even have to get a picture of the face. Maybe then the folks with the hands will wonder why their actions are picture-worthy...at least, it will make for interesting slide shows at home! (or at least on cruise critic!)

[KreiderCarter]

I honestly don't see why people are doubting what the OP wrote. I've seen the same thing, people picking through the bread with their bare hands to find the "right one" or doing the same thing with grapes. People just shoving their way in front of you in line--not always children either. Saw a guy grab a burger out of the tray bare handed because he didn't want to reach for the tongs...it happens. Public shaming will do nothing to most of them so why even bother?

 

The chair hog thing is ridiculous--but it doesn't bother me as much because we rarely lay around by the pool anyway. Last cruise we had this leather skinned family pushing their way through the crowd after muster drill and I could hear the father saying something about getting the "prime" loungers (wherever those are).

 

Doesn't stop me from cruising though--doesn't ruin my cruise experience, although it may make my dining experience less enjoyable.

[MrCruzeaddict]

We just returned from the 8 night Independence of the Seas cruise, and while the cruise itself was fantastic, the ship was in great shape, and we had an amazing time, we couldn't help but notice a few things that were concerning. Over the 15+ cruises we've done with Royal Caribbean, these issues were the worst we've ever experienced on a cruise.

 

1) Windjammer Café: By far, the area where we experienced the greatest examples of complete lack of manners. People pushing, butting in front of lines, and generally doing whatever they could to ensure they were first at the trough. People grabbing food with their bare hands was a common event, and I don't know about you, but I lose my appetite in a hurry when I watch people scooping out handfuls of pineapple, salad, hashbrowns, etc... rather than using the available tongs, or waiting a few seconds until the tongs were available. Nope, they'd just reach around the person in front of them, dig their hand in, and scoop out what they wanted. It was disgusting! It's no wonder there were cases of GI illness with behaviour like this. By the second half of the cruise, RC finally stepped in and the Windjammer was no longer a self-serve buffet. RC staff were given the responsibility of dishing out the food. This was good in one aspect, but created a whole other level of chaos as it slowed service down, a mass of people would form waiting for food, resulting in people pushing their way in front of others to make sure they got their food first. It was survival of the fittest, and not at all a relaxing experience having to deal with that. Thank goodness there are other options for food on the ship.

 

2) Deck chair hogs: Common problem, I know, but I can't stand watching the prime deck chairs sitting vacant for the entire day with nothing but a towel placed on them, where someone had claimed the chair early in the morning, then never bothered to return. The "half-hour rule" is non-existent. Not once did I ever see RC staff remove towels to free up these chairs. Perhaps I'm just too polite, and I should have just done it myself, and grabbed whatever seat I felt like, whenever I felt like it. That's just not my style. Similar to my experience in the Windjammer, I believe manners and proper etiquette are important. Sadly, I seem to be in the minority nowadays.

 

3) Smokers: This one isn't entirely their fault, as RC only has certain designated smoking areas. Just once though, it would be nice to walk through the high-traffic areas on the pool deck and not be subjected to walking through a cloud of cigarette and cigar smoke. Great example they're setting for the children swimming nearby. RC really needs to find them a better location to smoke.

 

As I said, we thoroughly enjoyed the actual cruise, it's just a shame that when some people go on vacation, they leave their manners at home. Sadly, this is a reality with cruising, but it seems this cruise was worse for this than we'd previously experienced. Hopefully the next one will be better.

 

Here..Here... My observations EXACTLY. I just can't believe that people can act like such PIGS! I don't claim to have the best social graces, but come on people! I heard that there were over 400 sick passengers on this sailing and would have expected more the way that these people acted.

 

Chair Hogs. This is the thing that irks me the most. Do these people think that they are so entitled to be able to do this or are they just STUPID. It was impossible to get a chair in the Solarium. We did get some revenge on the first sea day. We just got out of the hot tub and headed to the pool when it started raining HARD for about 10 minutes. All of the hog's stuff, towels, bags, books etc got SOAKED! After it stopped, I removed stuff off off a couple of chairs and put their stuff against the rail, and they NEVER came back for the stuff. I continued to do this for the remainder of the cruise. This was some of the worst hogging that I've seen in quite a while. There is a way to stop this somewhat. They had an "open" towel policy on this ship. If they would make people check them out with their S&S card like in the past, the user would be responsible for the towels. This would hurt them in the pocketbook, so they might think twice.

 

I also saw a group of folks in their '70s that were smoking on deck 4 (in their spot) WHILE the ship was being refueled. There were signs posted that there was to be no smoking in this area. When asked if they saw the signs, they told me that they did and then swore at me... UNBELIEVABLE!

 

Thanks for letting me rant!

 

Joe

Edited April 23, 2014 by MrCruzeaddict

[bigque]

I am sure we have all seen people grab a slice of pizza or bread etc without using the tongs provided, which I don't condone but they are basically touching what they are getting and nothing else although there are some exceptions that people have pointed out in this thread. I use the Windjammer for lunch and most breakfast on every cruise and I also occasionally eat at buffet restaurants on land and so what I will not buy into is the OP saying "people scooping out salad, pineapple and hash browns with their hands". I have never seen this on land or sea. I would have seriously asked the person "What the hell are you doing"? I would have then went to one of the officers who work the Windjammer and reported it and pointed out the person! Come on what did they do wipe the juice from their hand full of pineapples on their clothes or went all the way back to the table dripping juice....really!? Call me a skeptic or whatever but if somebody was actually doing that, they must have just stepped out of the stone age!