Crew Courtesy

[qldtraveller]

First of all, what I want to say does not apply to everyone who cruises on Oceania.

Secondly, I am an Oceania fan(7 cruises and 2 booked and 1 more to be booked) and I realise the following may upset a few people.

 

We have just completed a 30 day cruise from CPT - SIN.

The crew were great. They are human beings just like we are doing a job to improve their family life in some other part of the world.

 

Yet, they may have to work 7 days a week up to 10 - 12 hours a day depending on their roster for the day(some on any would be seen in the Terrace for b/fast & lunch, then hi-tea and then GDR). They have be at all times tidy, pleasant, smile, nice and meet the demands/request of us passengers every day and hold conversations with you if you want to talk to them. And they have to do this for their 6 - 8 month contract.

Okay they may occasionally get a few hours off in a port once every few ports.

 

For this particular cruise and some past cruises we have taken I noticed that many of the passengers have forgotten the simple words such as "please" or "thanks" or "thank you very much" or "may I" or "excuse me" etc. This was to destination services, dining areas and other areas.

 

In many cases people would wave their hands and ask for a server to come an clean the table or get a fork or napkin etc. but never using the words mentioned above. In one case a "gentleman" would not accept water from a waiter. Only from the white shirt maitre de. One guy even had the waiter bring his 4 rashers of bacon to his table on the terrace every morning as he had a plate of oats in his hand. One day we did not have strawberries available for breakfast so a woman demanded the waiter go and find some somewhere. There were many other incidents of rudeness like a group moving tables together and locking a gentleman's walker so he could not get out.

 

Come on, we are on a boat for 30 days which is totally self sufficient.

 

In a many cases people would walk into the GDR at say 7:30pm and ask for the dinners to be served quickly or have desserts and coffees rushed as they were running late for 8:30 Trivia or the show or something else so everyone else in that station area had to wait for these people who could not organise themselves to be there earlier knowing that between 7:00pm - 8:00pm was the most hectic every night.

 

The demands made on the crew by people without saying the simple above mentioned words was amazing and the crew had to take all in their stride and continue smiling.

 

Whether one is a level 8 to a level 4 cabin manners are still the same.

 

These crew are human beings also and many do it to assist their families build a home and have their children educated. Yes, they volunteered to do it but some for respect would not go astray to those this concerns.

 

Just think of yourself and if you could awake at say 6:00am every morning and work till say 10:00pm, eat at odd times etc. and smile and be nice at all times for 7 days a week for six months on a boat

 

As I said this only to those who have forgotten some simple words to use.

I am so grateful my mother taught me to be polite to people because the other side is ugly and so disrespectful.

[Mura]

+1 - excellent comments.

 

When I saw the title of the thread I assumed you were talking about courtesy BY the crew, not courtesy TO the crew. But it behooves all of us to remember how hard these people work for our benefit.

 

I've noticed in the past comments about how other lines' crew are "friendlier" to passengers. DH and I have agreed between ourselves that we like the crew to passenger reactions just fine on Oceania. We can't walk down the hallway without a crew member giving us a smile and a greeting. That's enough for us!

 

(And of course the in cabin help has always been extraordinary.)

 

Mura

[ceba]

You won't get any argument from me! We were on the Marina over the holidays and were appalled by the manners of some passengers. We've always enjoyed our associations with the crew.

[Paulchili]

I agree with you. This, I am afraid , is a sad sign of times and I don't see it getting any better with the generation X (or whatever comes after them).

They'll be excellent in texting though. However, they may never even look you in the face or actually have a conversation with each other or anyone else (as that would make them look away from their smartphones for more than 10 seconds) - never mind "thank you" or "please" :D

Edited February 14, 2015 by Paulchili

[hypercafe]

People are people, some respectful to others, some not. Many are full of themselves, many not. I think the crew takes little notice of it and probably makes fun of some folks when in their quarters. You make good points but little could be done

 

 

Sent from my XT1032 using Forums mobile app

[LHT28]

AMEN

 

Some people forget to pack their manners or maybe they did not have any to begin with

 

Some act "entitled" just because it cost them XXX amount of $$$ so they think they deserve everything

 

Some crew work more like 10 + hrs a day

[DOJO466]

AMEN

 

Some people forget to pack their manners or maybe they did not have any to begin with

 

Some act "entitled" just because it cost them XXX amount of $$$ so they think they deserve everything

 

Some crew work more like 10 + hrs a day

 

So true Lyn. these same people pay extra for their baggage. I for one never hesitate to stop and give these worker bees kudos. They have always been so pleasant to us, always with a smile and a kind word. It does nor hurt any of us to just "stop and smell the roses". I'd sit with one of these workers polishing the stairwells before sitting in Martinis with one of the "entitled", and they DO know who they are. My rant is done:D

[Paulchili]

So true Lyn. I for one never hesitate to stop and give these worker bees kudos. They have always been so pleasant to us, always with a smile and a kind word. It does nor hurt any of us to just "stop and smell the roses". I'd sit with one of these workers polishing the stairwells before sitting in Martinis with one of the "entitled", and they DO know who they are. My rant is done:D

 

Deb,

funny you should say this.

We befriended a crew member from Myanmar whom we saw almost daily polishing the rails in the stairwell and he was so thankful that we always stopped and talked for a while. I suspect he discovered our eating patterns and tried to be there when we were passing through to practice his English a little (at least I'd like to think so :)) BTW, he had a PhD from home but could find no work there; because of his lack of language skills all he could do was polishing rails on the ship. He was eager to teach us a few words in his language and talk to us about his country. Had we not taken the time to talk to him, we would have never known any of this. I bet others have similar stories to tell if we take the time to find out a little more about them.

It is now 4 years later and he is no longer with Oceania but we correspond frequently with him and he keeps inviting us to visit him in Myanmar.

Like you said - how hard is it to be nice (and it costs nothing) to acknowledge them as people and thus show appreciation for their hard work.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Paulchili

[hondorner]

I try to follow the old country rule -- you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Every time I read about someone having a bad time on Oceania, I suspect they bring it on themselves -- especially the ones who demonstrate so much invective in their post, it's almost axiomatic they acted like that on the ship.

[kimanjo]

Unfortunately, those who are lacking in basic manners, will not recognize themselves in this thread.

[Paulchili]

Unfortunately, those who are lacking in basic manners, will not recognize themselves in this thread.

 

The old idiom - "You are preaching to the choir" comes to mind :)

[canuck.qc]

+1 I mentioned similar bad behavior in a review I posted a few years ago & it has happened on every O cruise I've been on before & since. I am always astonished when I see this type of behavior especially coming from folks of a certain 'fortunate status'. I sometimes wonder if upscale cruises attract this type of behavior:confused:

[Mura]

Perhaps, but I'm not at all sure. It's certainly possible that people on the mass market lines feel just as superior to the "workers". I'm not accusing them because I have no way of knowing ... But I just don't think this behavior is necessarily reserved for the "upper class".

 

It's really how you were raised, no matter what your economic level. If you were taught to appreciate other people, you just do.

 

Or at least I like to think so.

 

Mura

[Paulchili]

But I just don't think this behavior is necessarily reserved for the "upper class"

 

Mura

 

Certainly not reserved - just more likely:

http://www.livescience.com/18683-rich-people-lie-cheat-study.html

I read a similar study in our local paper (SF Chronicle) very recently but do not have the link.

[ORV]

+1 I mentioned similar bad behavior in a review I posted a few years ago & it has happened on every O cruise I've been on before & since. I am always astonished when I see this type of behavior especially coming from folks of a certain 'fortunate status'. I sometimes wonder if upscale cruises attract this type of behavior:confused:

 

When I cruised on Silversea it appeared that some passengers tended to think of the workers as "the help". That pretty much turned me off on that experience, although I really liked the cruise line. I see that occasionally on O but not to the extent that I did on SS.

[Tarpeian Rock]

First of all, what I want to say does not apply to everyone who cruises on Oceania.

Secondly, I am an Oceania fan(7 cruises and 2 booked and 1 more to be booked) and I realise the following may upset a few people.

 

We have just completed a 30 day cruise from CPT - SIN.

The crew were great. They are human beings just like we are doing a job to improve their family life in some other part of the world.

 

Yet, they may have to work 7 days a week up to 10 - 12 hours a day depending on their roster for the day(some on any would be seen in the Terrace for b/fast & lunch, then hi-tea and then GDR). They have be at all times tidy, pleasant, smile, nice and meet the demands/request of us passengers every day and hold conversations with you if you want to talk to them. And they have to do this for their 6 - 8 month contract.

Okay they may occasionally get a few hours off in a port once every few ports.

 

For this particular cruise and some past cruises we have taken I noticed that many of the passengers have forgotten the simple words such as "please" or "thanks" or "thank you very much" or "may I" or "excuse me" etc. This was to destination services, dining areas and other areas.

 

In many cases people would wave their hands and ask for a server to come an clean the table or get a fork or napkin etc. but never using the words mentioned above. In one case a "gentleman" would not accept water from a waiter. Only from the white shirt maitre de. One guy even had the waiter bring his 4 rashers of bacon to his table on the terrace every morning as he had a plate of oats in his hand. One day we did not have strawberries available for breakfast so a woman demanded the waiter go and find some somewhere. There were many other incidents of rudeness like a group moving tables together and locking a gentleman's walker so he could not get out.

 

Come on, we are on a boat for 30 days which is totally self sufficient.

 

In a many cases people would walk into the GDR at say 7:30pm and ask for the dinners to be served quickly or have desserts and coffees rushed as they were running late for 8:30 Trivia or the show or something else so everyone else in that station area had to wait for these people who could not organise themselves to be there earlier knowing that between 7:00pm - 8:00pm was the most hectic every night.

 

The demands made on the crew by people without saying the simple above mentioned words was amazing and the crew had to take all in their stride and continue smiling.

 

Whether one is a level 8 to a level 4 cabin manners are still the same.

 

These crew are human beings also and many do it to assist their families build a home and have their children educated. Yes, they volunteered to do it but some for respect would not go astray to those this concerns.

 

Just think of yourself and if you could awake at say 6:00am every morning and work till say 10:00pm, eat at odd times etc. and smile and be nice at all times for 7 days a week for six months on a boat

 

As I said this only to those who have forgotten some simple words to use.

I am so grateful my mother taught me to be polite to people because the other side is ugly and so disrespectful.

 

 

Such great points. I wonder if what's going on is the "Downton Abbey effect." With O clearly a cut above, people start developing a very entitled mentality regarding servers.

[Caroldoll]

We have always been friendly, very friendly with all of them. We will continue to be that way. I fear some of the passengers feel that they have paid a lot of money and they can have their day lording it over anyone. We certainly feel that these people work harder than the average bear and deserve thanks in many ways from us.

[qldtraveller]

Deb,

funny you should say this.

We befriended a crew member from Myanmar whom we saw almost daily polishing the rails in the stairwell and he was so thankful that we always stopped and talked for a while. I suspect he discovered our eating patterns and tried to be there when we were passing through to practice his English a little (at least I'd like to think so :)) BTW, he had a PhD from home but could find no work there; because of his lack of language skills all he could do was polishing rails on the ship. He was eager to teach us a few words in his language and talk to us about his country. Had we not taken the time to talk to him, we would have never known any of this. I bet others have similar stories to tell if we take the time to find out a little more about them.

It is now 4 years later and he is no longer with Oceania but we correspond frequently with him and he keeps inviting us to visit him in Myanmar.

Like you said - how hard is it to be nice (and it costs nothing) to

them as people and thus show appreciation for their hard work.

Hi

Just like you we befriended a Indian Chap who every day cleaned the rails, did the word work at entrance to GDR and at 7:30pm started the rubbish bin clearing fron Deck 10 down to 4 in all foyers etc.

We seemed to be the only ones who said hello as every day we would have a smile for him and vice versa.

I had a great chat to him and his backup when cleaning the rubber on the stairs with toothe brushes.

Thank you for your support on this. Guess based on the responses I am preaching to the converted as they say.

[bitob]

I agree with you. This, I am afraid , is a sad sign of times and I don't see it getting any better with the generation X (or whatever comes after them).

They'll be excellent in texting though. However, they may never even look you in the face or actually have a conversation with each other or anyone else (as that would make them look away from their smartphones for more than 10 seconds) - never mind "thank you" or "please" :D

 

 

They are not saving any money. They won't be cruising anywhere in their old age so won't be a problem. Lol

[wally_bushy]

Great thread

We learnt many years ago how hard they work for their wages.

We make a point of trying to be the best passengers they have been associated with.

The staff realise this and in a strange way we end up with better service by demanding less service.

We have almost had startled looks when saying 'thank you' and 'please' to the buffet staff.

 

Amusingly my DSIL had never been on a cruise until last year and was amazed at the service on ships.

She made the bathroom attendants day when she gave her a hug for opening the door for her. I am sure that made the dinner table conversation for staff that night

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

I believe that the more you put in the more you get back......always had genuine customer service on 'O'.

 

Funny that someone mentioned Silversea.....l actually find that passenger attitude towards crew is generally better, possibly due to lower pax numbers, and higher crew/pax ratio.

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

Duplicate post... Please remove.

Edited February 15, 2015 by LaCroisiereS'amuse

[Hambagahle]

When I cruised on Silversea it appeared that some passengers tended to think of the workers as "the help". That pretty much turned me off on that experience, although I really liked the cruise line. I see that occasionally on O but not to the extent that I did on SS.

 

I grew up in Africa with a lot of "help". My parents told me that I had to be very grateful to our staff because they made my life more pleasant. And my parents would not tolerate any bad manners - at all - but especially to our domestic staff. I learnt at a very early age that it costs nothing to say "please" and "thank you".

 

I, like the OP on this thread, am constantly appalled at some peoples' manners. "I want..." "I'll take ..." "Gimme..." I have - once - snapped! And I told the person in question that he should perhaps think about saying please or thank you. He looked at me. And then said "I paid for this cruise". Which about sums up the attitude. I do not like it. And the next time I hear the same I shall speak out even more... at the end of the day my comment might - might? - be heard and do someone some good...

[SellaVee]

Such great points. I wonder if what's going on is the "Downton Abbey effect." With O clearly a cut above, people start developing a very entitled mentality regarding servers.

 

If you watch Downton Abbey you will see that there is a great deal of mutual respect going on. I would say that genuinely upper class people treat others with respect and are very mindful of their manners. They have a sense of noblesse oblige.

 

I agree that that is often missing - people do seem to have forgotten to pack their manners - but I think it's more likely that people on cruises just become too self absorbed. I was almost knocked over by a chap at the buffet on Riviera who was quite determined to fill his plate. He wasn't tall so he was down at my level but he simply barged into me and pushed me out of the way without a word. I hope he didn't mean to and simply didn't notice me.

 

I think we've all seen cruisers treating staff thoughtlessly, but one thing that also does concern me is the way that some supervisors talk to the wait staff at The Terrace. We found it uncomfortable to watch. We couldn't hear what was being said but we could tell a lot from the body language. I've wondered in the past that if I stop and talk to someone while they are working I might get them into trouble so usually I just compliment them on the job they're doing and walk on.

[MVPinBoynton]

It always upsets us to see people abusing people who are performing their jobs. It does seem to be especially bad on cruise ships for some reason; but we see it in local restaurants and stores too frequently. Some people actually seem to be proud that they are able to push the staff around. I just don't understand it and hope I never do.