Horrible experience onboard Marina

[avalong]

My first thought upon reading OP's post was that he/she was lucky to get a seat in Martini's at all. Our timing was always wrong. Never did get to enjoy that venue.

However, by no means do I discount how upsetting it must have been to be threatened by a belligerent drunk.

[AMHuntFerry]

44 minutes ago, ldtr said:

 

 

1. is there a reasonable expectation of quiet in a bar/lounge? While certainly one can have those expectations in a theater or a concert. This location was neither. It was a lounge, a location at which socializing is not uncommon.

 

 

I was curious so looked at how O describes Martinis on the website, "Martinis serves numerous incarnations of this famous cocktail in a sophisticated yet affable atmosphere reminiscent of an exclusive New York members’ club, featuring live piano music." The behavior described by the OP seems neither sophisticated nor affable. Also, the "featuring live piano music" may indicate that the piano is closer to a show/concert than to background music.

As for a loud, party atmosphere, the descriptions on O's website leave that to the Horizons after-show dancing. On some occasions there are late-night pool parties where loudness would be fine. It is just really far from the norm...how far is OK is subjective.

[GeezerCouple]

10 hours ago, firsttimers68 said:

Each night we sit in Martinis after the show and enjoy listening to the pianist whilst enjoying a nightcap. Last night was a horrible exception. There were a group of 4 people who were incredibly loud. We managed to move seats to get further away but it was still noisy. I asked them to quieten down a bit as we were trying to enjoy the music. The response was to shout at me and threaten to “ take my face off”. I was pretty shocked. Bar staff had to intervene. I did report it to reception last night and again this morning. So far no response. It saddens me that it happened onboard and has soured my enjoyment, sadly. 

 

It doesn't matter how "loud" or whatever a person or group is, what the venue is, or whatever else is happening there...   To have someone make a threat to "take my face off" is so far beyond any possible understanding of appropriate behavior...!??   😡

 

GC

[Guest ldtr]

31 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

It doesn't matter how "loud" or whatever a person or group is, what the venue is, or whatever else is happening there...   To have someone make a threat to "take my face off" is so far beyond any possible understanding of appropriate behavior...!??   😡

 

GC

Certainly.  How about if they simply ignored the request or if they responded that they had a different view to the situation?

 

 

[firsttimers68]

9 hours ago, avalong said:

My first thought upon reading OP's post was that he/she was lucky to get a seat in Martini's at all. Our timing was always wrong. Never did get to enjoy that venue.

However, by no means do I discount how upsetting it must have been to be threatened by a belligerent drunk.

It has been very busy on this trip. However this was around 10.30 pm and fairly empty. It was very upsetting and a shock. We’ve always loved our time onboard. 

[DrKoob]

20 hours ago, hmorrow said:

We were recently on the Regatta, and always had drinks in Martini's before dinner.  Many nights there were loud and obnoxious people, making a LOT of noise, ruining it for others. They were part of the staff/enternmaint!  They all had name tags on.  We wrote about it on our ship review, before disembarking. Very disturbing that this was ok.

When that happens...on any ship, any line...that's when you ask to see the Hotel Director. That would have been the end of that...if they were good at their job. Most are.

[hmorrow]

On 5/28/2023 at 9:37 AM, Woofa said:

So sorry to hear this and I apologize to have to ask but are you sure they were O employees?  Reason I ask I of course it does not sound like O to allow this but more importantly, we often saw O employees throughout the venues (it was clear they were much younger and we even recognized some,) and they did not wear name tags as they were obviously off duty.  Could this have been a group which met on board and just had name tags to let them know

Wore name tags to let them know each other?

Either way letting management know is a great idea.

no

they were definetly part of the entertainment crew, and some times had officers with them. They were gold plated name tags, not paper.....

[hmorrow]

23 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Unusual  for the staff  to be acting like that in the public areas

 

Are you sure they were  not an alumni group   ..we have had some  onboard that were  pretty bad some nights

I'm sure. Sometimes they had officers with them...

[SonuvaBeach]

18 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

 

18 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

It doesn't matter how "loud" or whatever a person or group is, what the venue is, or whatever else is happening there...   To have someone make a threat to "take my face off" is so far beyond any possible understanding of appropriate behavior...!??   😡

 

GC

Agreed...For most cruise lines,  there is a section in the cruise contract that states  obnoxious behavior, the use of foul language, and threatening another passenger are grounds for being thrown off the ship at the next port. Does O have this in the contract?

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by SonuvaBeach

[Momsareader]

On 5/28/2023 at 11:44 AM, SueMo said:

We enjoyed happy hour drinks in the Casino Bar on the Marina in March for several days until a man came in and sat at the bar and loudly started making political statements that were entirely offensive to my husband and me.  The couple sitting next to him at the bar politely finished their drinks and walked away.  We did the same.  We checked Casino Bar out a few days later and found the same man in the now deserted bar pretty much making life miserable for the bartender and two servers working that venue.

This also happened upstairs at lunch in Waves Grill with a different man.  

My mother told me, growing up, to never talk religion or politics. As much as some want to think that O passengers are more refined than those on other cruise lines, it was not entirely our experience.

There are 6 of us going on a cruise together and 5 of us are similar minded with the one of differing opinions. Our rule is NO politics and little religion. 4 of us traveled for 3 weeks on a cruise last summer and had no issues. It's a choice to avoid those conversations and NOT annoy those around you.  Too bad not everyone agrees! You'd think he would be self aware enough to notice everyone left and that he was obviously alone much of the time in the Casino bar!!! 

[AMHuntFerry]

48 minutes ago, SonuvaBeach said:

 

Agreed...For most cruise lines,  there is a section in the cruise contract that states  obnoxious behavior, the use of foul language, and threatening another passenger are grounds for being thrown off the ship at the next port. Does O have this in the contract?

 

The ticket contract has all sorts of goodies (e.g., did you know that you can be held responsible fiscally if you cause the ship to leave a port late?). Here (underlined) is what I believe may be the relevant part:

"14. DANGEROUS ITEMS AND CARRIER’S RIGHT TO REFUSE OR REVOKE PASSAGE
Only such personal wearing apparel, effects and gifts as are necessary and appropriate for the voyage
may be brought on board by You. Any piece of baggage must be distinctly labeled with Your name,
Ship’s name, suite number and sailing date. You are allowed without extra charge one (1) cubic meter
(cbm) of baggage. You may not possess firearms, explosives, flammable materials or other hazardous
goods or controlled or prohibited substances, or any other item prohibited by applicable law or that
Carrier or the Ship’s Master deem in their sole discretion to be detrimental to the safety or comfort of
any person. Such goods shall be surrendered to the Master at embarkation, and in Our discretion may be confiscated, destroyed or surrendered to authorities. You shall have no claim for loss or
inconvenience thereby incurred. We assume no responsibility for any loss of or damage to Your
perishable items, medicines, valuables, financial instruments, electronic equipment and the like, except
as specifically provided in this Ticket Contract. Carrier further reserves the right to refuse to transport a
Guest and/or remove a Guest from any property, facility and/or vessel operated by Carrier if the Guest
refuses to comply with any law, government order or regulation, possesses illegal drugs, possesses
weapons of any kind, exhibits inappropriate behavior in the sole discretion of Carrier, appears on any
sex offender list, fails to comply with Carrier’s Guest Ticket Contract, and/or fails to abide by any of
Carrier’s policies, including but not limited to the Ship’s rules and/or Carrier’s Code of Conduct."

To be complete, we'd need to look at the Ship's rules and Carrier's Code of Conduct, but I'll leave that to someone else who is avoiding yard work 😉

Oops...actually to be complete we would need ALL of O's policies.

Edited May 29, 2023 by AMHuntFerry
sorry for formatted...cut-paste out of pdf messy

[DOJO466]

While sitting at the bar in Martini’s one evening a gentleman seated at the bar asked that my husband stop talking. He said “it is not that you are loud, I just don’t like the timbre of your voice”. Hmm..okay

[SonuvaBeach]

3 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

(e.g., did you know that you can be held responsible fiscally if you cause the ship to leave a port late?)

I did know this🙂

[SonuvaBeach]

2 hours ago, DOJO466 said:

While sitting at the bar in Martini’s one evening a gentleman seated at the bar asked that my husband stop talking. He said “it is not that you are loud, I just don’t like the timbre of your voice”. Hmm..okay

wow

[ShopperfiendTO]

3 hours ago, DOJO466 said:

While sitting at the bar in Martini’s one evening a gentleman seated at the bar asked that my husband stop talking. He said “it is not that you are loud, I just don’t like the timbre of your voice”. Hmm..okay

 

At least he didn't shout at your husband and threaten to “take [his] face off".

[ORV]

6 hours ago, DOJO466 said:

While sitting at the bar in Martini’s one evening a gentleman seated at the bar asked that my husband stop talking. He said “it is not that you are loud, I just don’t like the timbre of your voice”. Hmm..okay

I’m a little something, don’t know what the medical term might be, but I could myself saying that. 

[jaywoods678]

On 5/28/2023 at 9:14 AM, grifdoglover said:

In this day and age I would recommend asking the staff to request the people quiet down rather than a direct request.  (Especially where alcohol consumption is involved) Sorry you had that experience!

I absolutely agree. Never approach them directly. If they are rude enough to be that loud and inconsiderate, then they are also rude enough to tell you to f*** off and try to fight you if you approach them.

[Sebbiesgrammy]

I'm often surprised at how many people are willing to pay a lot of money to share an experience with a thousand or more strangers and still expect to be able to enjoy their individualized experience.  Most of the time there is another place to sit, even near Martinis. Just move if it bothers you. 

 

We had a former friend who we traveled with frequently. She was very loud and occasionally vulgar. Many times she was approached by staff or by others to pipe down so others could enjoy. It never worked. She continued except after the reproach, she had somewhere to direct her annoyance. Needless to say, we're not friends any more, but my point is, she paid her money too and being obnoxious is just part of her experience. Not gonna change, so we changed. Just sayin.....

[Harters]

17 hours ago, Momsareader said:

Our rule is NO politic

A good rule. We generally adopt that unofficially even for any family gatherings (let alone a wider circle). But, from time to time, issues get mentioned. There are family members who have a very conservative political outlook and others have a very progressive outlook. It never ends well.

[pinotlover]

No Politics becomes too overarching. Is a discussion about global warming political? We had the Dean of A&S at one of our most prestigious universities on board one of our cruises. The topic of tenure came up, and he gave an amazing breakdown of the current issues the University was facing because of tenure. Great discussion. Was that political? How about any discussion on education at all? Political? Is the price of gasoline or the scarcity of toilet paper politics? Depends upon whom you ask.

 

Lots of topics people are very passionate about. 

[cruisemom42]

18 hours ago, DOJO466 said:

While sitting at the bar in Martini’s one evening a gentleman seated at the bar asked that my husband stop talking. He said “it is not that you are loud, I just don’t like the timbre of your voice”. Hmm..okay

 

I would be nonplussed if that ever happened. 

 

A bar, by the very nature of its purpose, is going to involve people drinking and conversing. If you don't like the timbre of someone's voice...?  Perhaps there is a better place for that person to be.

 

[Harters]

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Is a discussion about global warming political?

Yes. I say that based on the argument that developed at a family gathering only last week. There were the proponents of the " protest now urging something must be done" point of view, and others of the "protest is not legitimate about this" view. It got heated.

[pinotlover]

3 hours ago, Harters said:

Yes. I say that based on the argument that developed at a family gathering only last week. There were the proponents of the " protest now urging something must be done" point of view, and others of the "protest is not legitimate about this" view. It got heated.

Yeah! Could you imagine how heated it could have been with the wrong people when he talked about essentially no longer offering tenure! 🤪. 
 

I found the discussion both informative and engaging. It might have launched others into uncontrollable tantrums! 
 

If an adult is incapable of participating in a reasoned conversation, the problem isn’t the issue discussed. While I like wise avoid politics and religion, I cringe when people start unrolling the scrolls with the long lists of forbidden topics. Obviously O has other than sophisticated cruisers !

[Ride-The-Waves]

On 5/28/2023 at 6:22 PM, grifdoglover said:

Pinotlover “assisted living facility” 😂

I don't get it.  Why mock seniors?

 

Our one cruise on Marina resulted in "never again" on Oceania.  Too many people who believe they are "entitled" to do what ever they want anywhere on the ship.  This is  not "refined" cruising.  The alcohol policy provides for too much "lubrication" for enjoying dinner in a specialty restaurant.  One group of 2 couples came to dinner carrying three drinks each.  Not enjoyable sitting next to them.  Found many fellow passengers very critical of others.  Not a welcoming cruise line.

 

[grifdoglover]

@Ride-The-Waves  I am a senior and I was just responding to a joke.  I apologize if I offended you.  Unfortunately there is excessive alcohol consumption on cruises but there are also walkers and scooters.  As Forrest Gump said “life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you’re gonna get”…My husband and I generally keep to ourselves on cruises.  We have cruised on many lines and have had good and not so good experiences with the all of the lines.  We have found wonderful people and rude/obnoxious people on all trips.  You said you found O passengers critical of other passengers but weren’t you making a criticism of the passengers with the drinks?  I would just encourage you to keep an open mind and ask to be moved to another table next time.  Keep reading the forums as I think you will find most experiences are never perfect but enjoyable non the less.