You're listening to the Cruise Tips TV Unplugged podcast.
Today we're getting a little bit edgy
and I have a special guest here on the show
to help me out.
Don Buckello from Eat Sleep Cruise
is here to talk with me about the most annoying
and rude cruise behavior on the high seas.
Welcome to Cruise Tips TV Unplugged.
I'm your host, Sherry and we invite you
to join our Cruise Loving Family
as we travel the world creating cruise videos and vlogs.
In this podcast, we talk tips, tactics,
and strategies to help you make every cruise your dream cruise.
Hey Don, welcome to the podcast.
It's so good to have you back.
How's it going?
Thanks Sherry.
Things are going well.
Things for me back.
I'm excited to talk about this with you today.
Yeah, I'm really excited too.
How is everything going at eatSleepCruise.com?
You guys just got off a cruise recently?
We did.
Yeah, that was a little bit of the inspiration behind this.
So we just got off a cruise about a week ago
and saw some naughty behavior on there
that wanted to talk to you about.
But we're doing well excited and things.
I'm glad cruising is back and everything.
So I'm excited to talk to you today.
Cruising is back and notier than ever.
Apparently, it's too fun here.
Oh my gosh.
Well, I know in it, you know, I think it's,
I feel like we were talking about this
before we hit the record.
But sometimes you go on a cruise
and people are particularly mellow, quiet,
you know, on their best behavior.
And then other times you hit a cruise
where people are just a little bit in that mode, right?
Maybe it's the middle of summer,
which is where we are right now.
We're recording this in July 2023.
You got fully booked ships these days
and people who are just out to party have fun.
And maybe they're not thinking so much about like other people.
So maybe that's kind of where this cruise fell for you, right?
A little perfect storm of all that.
Yeah, time of year.
The ship was packed and it was a Bermuda sailing.
So it's kind of the one destination.
You go there, you're there for a few days.
And so all of that just combines to then have
some of them, you know, out and full force
with some of these things that even we felt once a while
like, I don't want to, I don't want to be one of those people
and succumb to some of the, some of the things
to just get things done.
But luckily we were able to, I think, behave
and still get everything done and stuff a great time.
Yes, okay, good.
But I'm glad you still had fun.
And Bermuda sounds like an amazing destination.
I feel like one of these days you and I could probably
talk about Bermuda for an hour because I feel like it's
a destination that a lot of people just, you know,
they haven't been there.
They don't know what to do, me included.
I wouldn't know the first thing to do
other than going to like horseshoe Bay, right?
So maybe you could come back sometime
and you could share some tips about Bermuda.
That'd be fun.
Yeah, I would love that.
I think it is because it is a seasonal port
and not a lot of ships from Florida go there, right?
We're from the Boston area for folks who don't know us.
So a lot of ships lead from New York to Boston.
So it's a little bit easier for these coasters to get there.
Very interesting point.
I forgot about that.
That's true.
So I forgot to introduce you formally, Don.
I'm sorry.
You know, I just assume everybody knows you.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Don from Eat Sleep Cruise.
He's one half of the amazing duo.
Don and Heidi run EatSleepCruise.com,
which is a phenomenal website.
They also have a very amazing and successful YouTube channel.
Also Eat Sleep Cruise, right?
Everywhere pretty much Eat Sleep Cruise.
And one of the things I love about Don and Heidi's content
is they have some cool formulas for things that they do.
So they do like a Signature Cruise review
when they come off of a ship
and they do dining and bar guides.
And it's just so information rich.
Did I miss anything, Don?
Anything else people should know about you
or where to find you?
No, I think, first of all, I appreciate that.
It was very, you've got a little formal voice there for a sec.
I like that.
It's a little formal on you.
No, I appreciate it.
I love the everything you guys do at Cruise 50.
But yeah, just I always like to remind people,
I am only one half, as you already mentioned.
And by lovely wife, Heidi,
there's a lot of the other stuff behind the scenes.
But people always get stuck.
She doesn't just like her voice.
So when we do these type of, which is crazy,
because I think we agree together.
But I am only one half.
So hopefully I do represent the Eat Sleep Cruise brand well.
You do, you do.
And I've had the pleasure of meeting Heidi
and she is amazing.
And I think she's a beautiful voice.
So we're telling you right now, Heidi, we love your voice.
She's probably somewhere like just winsing.
Like no.
Oh my gosh, well, you guys are a great team.
I love it when content creators can do things as a team too,
where you have one person who's maybe more on the social media
side, and then you have someone who's a stronger editor.
And then you have the person who's the face of the business,
the website, whatever it may be.
And I think that's a wonderful synergy.
And you guys are terrific.
And you do a great job.
Oh, well, appreciate that.
We do our best.
We love cruising, obviously, first and foremost.
So even though we have this topic today,
we always tell people, we got into this
because we love cruising.
And we're going to keep doing this until we're not having fun.
And I think we've had more fun than ever.
We've been doing it now.
Like seven-ish.
Wow.
Yeah, it's got time goes by fast, right?
But yeah, seven, seven, eight years now,
that we've been running Eat Sleep Cruise
and kind of criminally website, then social media.
And then as you mentioned, YouTube, the last few years.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
And you guys have some killer Alaska content, too.
I have to tell you, those of you who are still going
on those late-season Alaska cruises,
be sure to check out Don and Heidi's YouTube channel.
And also, anytime you just need to find something,
they've been on so many different cruisers
and so many different ships.
You could literally use the search bar at EatSleepCruise.com
and find some great stuff.
I've done it.
I've done it many times.
I'm like, I wonder if Don and Heidi have bar menus
for this ship and I go and type it in
and sure enough, it's there.
Oh, thank you.
Appreciate it.
I wish that search function worked a little bit better.
But I mean, if you put it in this specific, it kind of finds it.
No Google for sure.
Yeah, it does.
It does.
Okay, so here we go, folks.
We are going to, Don and I are going to talk about
the 15 most rude and annoying passenger behaviors.
And we're not going to say it's passengers that are rude.
We're just going to say it's the behavior, right?
Because underneath it all, everybody has good intentions, right?
But Don, tell me about number one here.
What is a deck chair hog?
What is the behavior that they exhibit?
What is it that drives us so crazy about the deck chair hog?
Oh, God, the deck chair.
Gino is fun fact.
That was one of the original blog titles
we were thinking of having way back when
like eight plus years when we were doing this,
but someone already had it.
You were going to call yourself like deckchairhog.com?
Not a deck chair hog.
So not.
But there are others that are similar.
So luckily, again, all kudos to Heidi.
She's, she's, she always runs those in my face.
She came up with deep sleep proof.
So she, which is much better than not a deck chair hog.
But, but deck chair.
So sorry, deck chair hogs, those people who wake up early,
they don't go to the gym.
They don't even go get morning coffee.
They rush out while the staff are still putting the chairs
out from night before, throw their towels
and their beach bags down, claiming like those prize
lounge share spots on the pool deck or the sun deck above.
And they don't come back.
Like, oh, man, right?
They just, they just take over the,
take over those chairs and don't come back,
leaving the poor people who get up and are ready
to enjoy the day, searching aimlessly sometimes
for deck chairs.
And this goes for both mega ships,
which we sell on and smaller ships.
So, yeah, those are the people here that just hog
those chairs and don't let other people access them.
And what time did you say they were out in the morning
on your last cruise?
So on the, and this might vary from cruise line,
but the way the cruise ship we were on last time was,
they started putting the poles in and officially
up until seven.
So they didn't take the nets off.
So they had the family pool and the adults only pool.
So, seven a.m. is when those chairs were kind of
being untied and taken down.
And people were literally grabbing chairs
while the staff was trying to set them up in rows
and like claiming them.
And this happened on both the main pool deck
as well as the deck above that sun deck.
So it's like seven a.m.
I got out there to film, you know, we take photos,
yeah, film early in the morning,
like I'm sure you do where less people are out and about.
By like seven, so seven issues when they open,
by seven, 30 on like that last day,
because that's the thing.
People learned about this behavior.
By that last day, I was, I texted out,
I'm like, it's seven, 30.
There wasn't a lounge here.
Wow.
And there was nobody sitting on them either, really,
like nobody's sitting on them.
And maybe a few people in there.
Got enough.
A few people in there.
Listen, if you wake up and you're out there
and you're, your son being there at seven, 10
and you're out there, great.
Or you're already in the pool, fine.
It's some folks who like dumped their stuff
and then two hours later come back, right?
But no, there were, there were plenty of people
who had done that, but a few were still out.
Yeah.
OK, so did you see, on this particular cruise,
did you see the staff trying to kind of manage it
or not, not as much?
Or is it just, there's just too many people
for them to manage?
Like, what did you have to do?
Did you have signs, like, near the hollow stations
and things that if you leave on the tentative items,
I think, for 30 minutes or whatever,
they will be collected.
I didn't visit, because this is early in the morning,
they'll be back later.
I didn't physically see, but I did hear people,
we talked to other passengers that did have stuff,
either their stuff was moved or someone
came back to the chair and was like, well,
you're sending my chair like, no, the chair was open.
Like, I don't have to tell you there was nothing here ago.
So it's kind of hearsay.
But I think the cruise lines tried to do their best,
but you want to make everyone happy, of course.
And it's really tough to monitor that this is one
of the mega ships that you have thousands of people, right?
You're not going to catch it, everyone.
Yeah, exactly.
And you have to, the staff has to make the choice.
And the other, you know, the fellow guests
have to make the choice too.
Am I really going to confront someone about this?
Or am I just going to be annoyed and walk away?
Yeah.
OK, so this one, this one ranks pretty
high on your list of annoyances, right?
I would think so.
I didn't know if we were going to go David Letterman style,
10 down and one up.
I would say they all kind of annoying.
Yes.
But I would think this ranks up kind of high on the list.
The first couple, I would say, are pretty close to tied.
OK.
But then they get a little less annoying.
It's still annoying enough, right?
Yes, absolutely.
OK, I love it.
All right, what about number two, the rusher?
What's the rusher?
Oh, we've all seen this person.
OK, so this, again, dead care hogs are annoying.
And it's just unfair.
Like, we find spaces later in the day.
But so the rusher.
So you're waiting in front of the elevator,
just come back or store, or the theater show just get out.
And everyone wants to go the same way.
They want to go back to the room, or they're going up
from the embarkation.
So everyone's waiting.
And then the elevator door's open.
And people just walk up without waiting for the other people
on that clearly on the elevator to get out, right?
I think we've all been in elevators.
You hit the people on the elevator first
get off before you try to get on.
Yes.
So that's the end of it.
That's how I should worry about rushing.
I see this happen on land, too.
I was at a shopping mall last week.
And I, this happened time after time after time.
I was there for like a week.
And I was going to a business meeting repeatedly
in the same elevator.
And every time it would happen, people, they would rush on,
and not allow people to get off.
But the people who were rushing on looked at everyone else
like, what?
Of course, I'm supposed to get on the elevator.
It's just, to me, it's the weirdest thing.
It just doesn't make sense.
I don't know.
OK, well, I'm going to have to move on
because that one just gets me.
I got to tell you, though, number three
is my biggest pet peeve, Don.
So I tell you, yeah, I'm going to tell you,
Don calls this person the complainer.
And this is the one that gets me so mad.
These are the people who are rude to the staff.
They might raise their voice at guest services.
I've even seen in the past.
I actually saw a guest who was sitting in a theater
be raiding a cocktail server for the quality of the show.
And we're talking like top of their raising their voice
and saying, you need to know that this show was subpar.
And I'm just thinking, first of all,
wrong person to complain to.
Second of all, how could you be so miserable?
To have to complain in a public capacity like that.
So that one really, oh, that really chaps my hide.
I got to tell you, I just can't stand it.
Especially when it's someone who has no power,
that the employee that they're complaining to
can do absolutely nothing.
It's one thing to go to guest services and get things
off your chest, but it's the tone of voice
and the intensity that really get me.
And so definitely tone of voice and the language they use.
So obviously, if something's majorly wrong,
but the folks know, if you ordered a drink and they serve
you the wrong drink, you say, oh, excuse me,
I ordered whatever cocktail and you brought me the wrong one.
Because we all make mistakes, we're all human.
But it's like you said, it's a tone or the language
the way folks talk to it.
And unfortunately, you hear it on every ship
and we try never to be that person.
I am complaining about anything,
but occasionally things do go wrong.
And that's fine.
You just, you can be nice and polite.
Just like you would be, I think anywhere else
and just say, look, excuse me, this is wrong.
And that's wrong.
I ordered this on tray, you brought me the wrong thing
and already wanted this way.
But so many people, I don't know if it's because they're,
because they paid a lot or they were expecting
a certain experience, but so many times,
they're just so rude.
And I'm just like, that's what do you,
what are you accomplishing with this?
To your point, this person you're complaining to,
they don't own the company.
They're just, they're working 10, 12 hours,
you know, hard the crew work.
So I'm not saying don't raise things when things go wrong.
Definitely go to guest services or if you want something
from your state room attendant, just let him or her know.
But you don't have to be, yeah, you don't have to be rude
or obnoxious about it.
Totally, exactly.
Oh man, I, we're gonna have to move on
because it just makes me do that.
Okay, let's talk about number one.
That's what I said, do you want to keep me in line?
Because I started doing my things.
No, it hurts me because you're sitting around
or you're on the ship and you just,
you see these things occurring and just like,
oh, why are you doing that?
And then you want to like rush over to the person
who was just attacked and like say,
I'm so sorry that happened to you.
I think that I've actually done that before
where something happened, someone was chewing out the guy
who was manning the coffee and the buffet
and you know, they encountered a guest
who was just having a bad day
and you just feel like you want to go give him a hug
and be like, it's okay, I'm sorry.
Maybe that's the mom and me, I don't know, Don.
Oh man.
You're just a nicer person.
I don't know if you go,
I always conscious to be super polite
and very gracious for things are doing as,
please and thank you.
Just remember that, right?
Well, great school.
So, but that is probably the mom you I could,
I could definitely see you doing it.
Yeah, a little protective there.
It's so funny.
All right, let's talk about number four.
This is hilarious to me.
I love that this made the list, the sneaker.
What is the sneaker famous for doing?
Right, and I'll have to, again, I call things,
we have attempted or have successfully snuck things on.
So in the past, we don't do anymore.
I mean, we've been on, we've been cruising together
since 2007.
So cruising was like our first vacation.
So I have to say some of these,
we've probably are guilty of doing ourself.
So I'm totally transparent.
So the sneaker is someone who's trying
to bring something on board that they know
they're not supposed to bring on board.
So I'm sure you have post videos.
We have it on our site too of like the typical items
almost every cruise line bands.
Like you can't bring an iron on board.
For example, almost almost every cruise line.
Or you can't bring on your own bottles of liquor
in your bags, maybe you can bring wine
in your check baggage when you go through.
So the sneaker are people who try to purposely
and almost brag about like sneaking things in
and occasionally you get through.
But I just love that table, like when you get off the ship
at the end, or I think this ship actually had it on,
like one of the dining rooms last morning,
where you see all the prohibited items.
Everything that the cruise line caught,
all those irons or even the power outlets that are.
Oh, this is a cruise approved on Amazon.
Double check, there was a lot of them aren't.
They're not.
It's a cruise approved.
Yeah, so I'm sure you're getting confiscated.
Yeah, I mean, we're hearing that more and more.
I feel like a USB hub has a better chance
of making it through that process,
but the power strip, non-surge, surge, any kind,
cruise approved, yeah, they're getting taken away.
Yeah, well, I don't think the cruise approved.
I think that's the thing that's on Google.
Key word, crammy, so be careful,
and I'm sure you have this too on some of the posts you have
and some of us, I make sure and look when I go
and put some of the things in our articles,
because some of them say they aren't,
you look at them like that's not.
That's not, oh.
That's not gonna make it.
So I think people, just the brands on Amazon,
they're just shoving that word in there.
Like that's a cruise approved.
Yes.
And even if it's top-ranked on Amazon,
doesn't mean it is really approved, right?
But yeah, I mean, I just always, always surprises me.
And we, I'll have to admit, we even the past have,
I have been part of parties that have snuck on
prohibited items we don't do it anymore.
We buy a drink package or we bring our one-allotment
of wine in our checked or whatever the case may be,
but yeah, don't try to sneak things on
because you're just making more work for the people
on the ship, then you have to go to security.
We had a colleague tell us that they had someone come
to their room because they got it through
and then their state room attended SOAR and their room
and they came in and she was like,
it was almost like I was being quizzed by the FBI
or something they were like, do you have?
There was a hot end up being a hot plate.
Like, yeah, you can't have that, we need to take it.
Now I took it from the individual's room.
So don't, just make sure you know what your
business policies are, check their website or our site
or I'm sure you have stuff on this.
They're very typical items, you're not a lot of friends.
So don't be this, don't be the sneaker.
Don't be the sneaker.
And sometimes people I think do it unintentionally too.
I know when we first started cruising,
I didn't know you weren't allowed to take candles
on a cruise ship.
Now I think about, that's like the most dangerous
and horrible thing to like introduce a flame.
And I thought it was like romantic.
It was like before my husband and I had children
and I was like, I'm gonna pack a travel candle.
And my state room's tour did.
He called us out, he's like, I'm so sorry, man,
but you cannot have a candle in your room.
Burning, like that is a big huge no-no.
But I appreciated that he told me
because I just didn't know, I didn't think about it.
Now I look back and go, my gosh,
I should have read that prohibited items list.
So we used to bring a steamer, which,
which, you know, Heidi wants to look her best.
And we actually went on a cruise ship,
I'm called my brother, no cruise ship is podcast,
but they brought a steamer too,
even though they knew they weren't supposed to
and it got taken off them, like.
And that's I think sometimes,
even though folks know when they're back in mind,
like, well, I brought it one time.
And I got through and sometimes it does,
but it just makes more work for everybody.
And I'm thinking also too,
we're not even talking about other items
that we all know were banned.
Just remember the cruise lines go by federal regulations,
not whatever your state regulations are
with certain things as well too.
So don't try to sneak some of that stuff off.
Yeah, leave your drugs at home folks.
Yeah, it's, I mean, it's important too.
And there have been certain cruises I've been on
where I know somehow that they didn't follow that rule
because I could smell it.
Like you know that that rule is being broken
and I still don't know how they do it.
I've heard that there's going to be more drug sniffing dogs
being brought into that situation,
which I think in some cases is probably,
is probably necessary because people
are getting it on the ship.
I mean, we live in Massachusetts
where it is legal now for recreation
and I think more and more states have it.
So depending on your driving to a port,
again, I wouldn't do that when I'm tonight,
but I'm never judging people
whether you just remember the cruise line has their regulations.
So whatever you do on land,
doesn't necessarily go over to see
regardless of the state laws or the state laws.
Exactly, exactly.
I was going to say,
oh, I was going to say something about the steamers.
Now this is one where I get it.
I understand more than anything why people take the steamers
because a lot of times you don't have access to an iron.
It's unlike a hotel, there's no iron in the room.
So that's frustrating for people.
Like you said, like your wife Heidi,
she loves to look her best is really frustrating
to try to get the wrinkles out of your clothes
and to sometimes feel like you're being forced
if there's no self-serve laundry or irons being forced
to pay for that.
So I get it.
I think I understand.
I wish there was some work around with this one
where maybe the cruise lines could like
rent out little steamers in like a room that had metal walls
where there was no risk.
You know, it's like steamer hour
and you can go and steam your clothes.
That's it's a popular one.
I hope the cruise lines are listening, maybe.
I mean, some cruise lines you do have,
like print a lot of princess ships
do have self-service laundry that have ironing.
I know Viking does.
I think some carnival ships maybe do,
but most of them don't.
And yeah, I'm not paying.
I mean, I know she likes formal night
and she doesn't want my suit to be wrinkled,
but I don't know if it's worth like the $8 of pair of pants
or whatever they charge you.
And then everyone, I always say
everyone's gonna be wrinkled,
but no, I do get it.
I think they're trying to create,
I always tell somebody on the Amazon.
I think they are trying to create other kinds of mechanisms
that you can use that would be cruise-approved.
But right now, I'm pretty sure they know anything.
It really like forms a hot plate like a candle
or steam or anything like that aren't necessarily allowed.
I know people have done
and new ladies would know better than me.
For straightener, have you a little bit tried
using their straightener to try ironing clothes?
I've seen someone do that before.
I think for me, I'd be really afraid to burn my clothing.
I'd be like, I don't know what the temperature is,
but yeah, I think you could do it.
I just steam up the shower and hang stuff in there
for a really long time.
You know, like let it get steamy,
then turn off the water, then shut the door
and hope that the clothes get d-ringled.
That kind of works for us the most.
You can do the same thing or like downy, wrinkly release
on certain fabrics.
Doesn't work too bad.
Like we'll use that or the same method you said.
Just spray a little of that on there.
And then turn the water real hot
as soon as it gets hot, shut it off
and leave it there for 15, 20 minutes
and looks better.
But I think it's much better than, again,
sneaking stuff on or any other things
and then getting called out
and having going to go to the noughty room.
I mean, that's kind of the most embarrassing things
or just having your stuff at that table
and you have to walk over and grab it for you to get home.
The steamers are always very popular on the noughty table, though.
You always see just tons of different varieties of steamers.
I've seen a few hookas on there like a big old hooka.
Somebody who's like brought a good old smoking pipe on there.
I've seen blenders.
Oh, I mean, like pretty full-size too.
Not like, you know, like a nishancy full-size
but like, you know, one of the ninjas
that's got a pretty decent size base
and someone really wanted to make their morning smoothies.
But yeah, you gotta leave all that stuff at home.
Okay, Don, so let's move on to number five,
the cheap skate.
What is the cheap skate all about?
Well, I don't want to be rude to folks,
but we all know that the crew staff,
the crew work really hard.
And most cruise lines now, it's suggested,
I don't want to use the word mandatory,
but they have a service charge.
And one thing I can't stand is when folks at the end of the cruise
go wait in that line against services
to remove the service charge.
We always tell folks, just treat that as almost part
of the cruise fair and then if you want to tip additional
above that, that's a cost up to you.
But I mean, I just feel it's so important to go
and actually remove those service charges.
And then the people we say, well, I tip who I want to tip.
I feel like if you're removing the service charges,
you're probably not tipping many people, right?
Yes.
Yeah, you're not tipping everybody.
I agree with you.
It's just the way the industry is
and no matter how we feel about it,
I think a lot of us feel like it would be better
if it was included right in the fair.
So you guarantee that people were getting their wages.
But for now, it's just the way the industry works.
And we just all have to adapt and deal with it.
Right, I just say this figuring that extra $15 or $20
is part of your cruise fair.
And then we always bring extra to tip,
our state room 10 air folks at dinner.
So just kind of budget that in accordingly.
I love it, awesome, awesome, awesome.
Okay, number six, the peer runner.
This is fun.
Now this is a really cruise specific type of thing.
So the peer runner, I'll take this one, Don.
These are the people who they are just not familiar
with embarkation and disembarkation times.
But mostly getting back to the ship on time.
So they're the ones who you're a NASA.
The ship is removing the lines from the dock.
They're getting ready to pull away.
And lo and behold, you turn your neck down the,
look down the dock and then there's some people
running down the pier trying to catch the ship
because they didn't pay attention to the time
in the newsletter or maybe they just disregarded it
and they were out partying.
Whatever it was, you don't be the peer runner.
So funny.
Exactly, exactly.
And the main thing we'd say for this too is,
especially if you're changing time zones.
So pay attention to the daily or your app for the cruise line.
Because even on the last trip,
I didn't realize this Bermuda is now
our head of East Coast time.
And so many people that first day had the wrong time
because we all just rely on our watches or phones
and they don't always update depending on satellites.
So this is especially true if you're changing time zones
and the ship's on ship time, which might be different
than the time on whatever port of call you're at.
So yeah, pay attention to that.
You definitely don't want to be someone holding up the ship
because you weren't paying attention to what time it was
and when you need to be back.
Absolutely.
Okay, love it.
And very good point about the time zones.
Excellent.
Okay, what is the unsanitizer, Dawn?
Well, especially after the last few years, right?
Where he unsanitizer was everywhere.
Cruisers know, washy, washy, right?
We all heard that.
Yeah, of course, right?
You should be washing your hands before you go into the restaurants
or now they have a lot of hands sanitizing machines
kind of strategically placed out.
And just to use them, just like wash your hands,
even fake it for me.
I mean, how many of you wait to go into the buffet
or the main dining room and they ask you
politely, please wash your hands
or they're singing the washy song
or whatever it is in front of the buffet.
And people just walk right by and like walk straight by
like they don't even see the individuals.
And after all we've been through the last few years,
it can't hurt you just use his hand sanitizing machine
or the sink.
Just wash your hands before you.
I mean, I overwashed my hands now, maybe a little OCD,
but I haven't seen folks like not even in the men's room,
I can't speak for the ladies room,
but not even washing their hands.
And that's like rule number one anywhere you are, right?
Yeah, have we learned nothing?
I love it, I love it.
Say fake it for me.
It was classic.
Oh, you're right.
Okay, yes.
So don't just walk right by the hand sanitizing machine
or the sink, use it.
All right, this next one is a great one.
And Don calls this one the grabber.
And the grabber is someone who grabs food from the buffet.
So they're like walking through the line, right, Don?
And they've got their plate in one hand
and then with the other hand they reach down
and they grab like a fry out of the public fry bin, right?
How gross?
Let's not be a grabber.
No, that's a deadly duo, right?
Grabbing, not washing your hands and then grabbing something.
And this works to it like,
if even if there's something like cookies
or even something else, like there's tongs,
grab a fork from somewhere else,
but just don't reach in bare handed.
Yeah, right.
And then one thing we always like to mention too
is remember to teach your kids the same thing, right?
Remind them from the times they're very, very little
that when they go through a buffet line
or a cafeteria line wherever it may be on land
or at sea that they need to use the tongs too, so funny.
It's not really funny, it's quite gross,
but when you see a kid do it,
you always feel kind of bad.
You're like, oh, you want, you know,
you want to just tell him,
hey, didn't your mama teach you how to pick up a cookie
with the tongs?
So funny.
All right.
This is interesting one.
Oh, go ahead.
No, see, that's the mom and you.
We don't have any kids, folks, you know?
So we're more than like, these darn kids nowadays
don't have any manners.
Don, all cranky in his rocking chair.
These kids these days.
So funny.
Get off my lawn.
Get off my lawn.
That wasn't a very good,
that wasn't a very good Massachusetts accent.
I did right there, but I tried.
I tried my best Donnex.
Well, I have an accent.
Yeah, you do.
I'm sure I do too.
I'm sure I have a West Coast accent too.
I think it's embedded in me forever.
Yeah.
You have a little accent.
I like your accent though.
I love it.
It's the Donne accent.
Okay, I'll move us on.
We talked about the unsanitizer.
We talked about the graver.
And now we're going to move into the theater
and talk about the saver.
Who is the saver?
Yeah, and this is a tough one
because I think we've all been there.
But the saver is the person who get,
whether your cruise line requires reservations or not,
they get to the theater early,
which we always recommend, right?
20 to 30 minutes before.
And then they get their seat.
And then they take upon themselves to save like
five other seats around them for the rest of their family.
And people have to keep coming up to them saying,
are those seats taken?
And they're like, oh yeah,
and my family's coming.
And then they hold these seats,
literally the cruise we just on.
He thought the dude in front of us,
we got there half hour early
because we knew it was going to be packed show
because they had a cancel show.
We got our seats, we sat there,
bathroom runs, whatever.
And the gentleman in front of us tried his best
to save six seats.
It's early that he had a cave
because the theater was getting packed
and his family was standing there
and being late, at least they showed up at some point.
But the saver's people who like obnoxiously try
to save whole rows for 15, 20 minutes,
save a seat for five minutes.
I get it.
Restrooms, whatever there's a line.
But the saver's that person who runs the theater first thing
and then tries to save seats for everyone
and their whole family.
Yeah, uncool, uncool.
Yeah.
All right, who, this is a good one too.
This one, we're going back up to potentially the buffet,
but it could be other places here.
We're going to talk about the cutter.
So the cutter, is this the one that cuts in line, Don?
Is this like the standard person
who just pretends like they don't see the line
and then suddenly they're standing right in front of you?
Exactly.
Yeah, that's annoying.
Don't be the cutter.
And it's everywhere.
It's everywhere for, you mentioned the buffet,
but elevators or the show.
I love when people show up, they see a line.
And then they're like, oh, is this the line for the show?
No, we're just standing here.
Like you said, they pretend like they don't see it.
And magically, they kind of just filter
into the rest of the crowd when the doors open or where
it happens.
Yeah, so embarkation, this is tough too, right?
If they give you an embarkation time, a disembarkation time,
people see the line.
Based on that, then they pretend they don't
and they just kind of get right in front of you.
So listen, we all, we're all stressed out.
We all want to see the show.
We all want to get something to eat.
If there's a queue or a line, whether you think it's justified
or not, if other folks are obviously waiting,
I mean, sometimes I've accidentally done it in a buffet
where I went to get something like, oh, there's a line.
And I look, I'm like, oh, wow, people
are waiting in line for a hotdog, whatever.
But don't purposely, you see the line to pretend like you
don't.
So there's nothing that annoys us more
because where those people get there early,
or we're trying to be respectful at the elevator.
And everyone's waiting for that elevator.
And then people walk right from behind.
You just walk past you into the doors,
especially if there's someone like accessibility issues
or something, they pretend like they don't see us.
Don't do that.
Just wait your turn.
Wait your turn.
You always notice the cutter, too,
that then after they do it, they
avoid eye contact with you the whole time.
They're like, you know, they like avert their eyes
so that they can avert the guilt.
That's so funny.
All right.
Well, if you know what's wrong, don't do it.
If you make an honest mistake on any of these,
everyone makes out it's a mistake.
But if you know what you're doing is wrong, right?
They just pretend like you're not there.
Yeah, exactly.
All right.
Well, this next one, when I say the name of it,
you guys are going to know already what it is with the drunk.
Ooh, something tells me you came across
a few of these on your last voyage, Don.
I mean, I have to admit, maybe I have
in the past been one myself, but on this particular voyage,
I try to behave.
But yes, folks who have way too much fun,
whether they come back from Carlson Charlie's
during the day or whatever it is with the drink package
at night, they just have a lot
not one too many, like a lot too many, right?
Yeah, you're talking like blackout drunk.
Like really bad.
Yeah, not like drinking package good times,
like just like slurring, falling,
and being a burden to society kind of drunk.
Exactly, I'm all for having a good time,
having a couple of drinks, let loose.
I'm talking about, yeah, like we need to help
the room or the staff of concern for your welfare,
or your wife tends to be guys,
but then we can have one too many.
Or yeah, people are obviously concerned for you.
So definitely enjoy yourself, for sure.
I have a couple of drinks.
Everyone's tolerance is different.
I've been on trips where I see people,
my brother and his wife, big drinkers,
I've seen other people, and I'm like,
I wouldn't be standing right now,
and they're like perfectly fine.
So everyone knows they have their own limits,
but yeah, just don't get sick
because you're not only going to use it awful for night,
but odds are the next day,
you are not going to feel the greatest,
and then you paid all this money going to screws,
and we've definitely, especially night one, right?
You've seen it too, like cell way,
and then people go out and they're at the clubs
or the live music, and then the next morning they're hurt,
and it's like, that's not a good way to start your vacation.
Yeah, and then you just lose the next day,
almost entirely sometimes.
Pace yourself, friends, pace yourself.
All right, this next one's, this is a crack up.
The caller, I'm going to take this one.
This is hilarious, Dawn.
These are the people who loudly talk on their cell phone,
and what really gets me, it's not even so much
that they're talking loudly on their cell phone,
but a lot of times, they put the phone on speaker.
Like, why do you do that?
Why wouldn't you just use headphones?
I don't need to hear the person on the other side.
You can put that phone up to your ear.
Let's not walk around having a two-way conversation with someone.
I think that is so rude, man.
It is, first of all, I get mad,
because I'm like, how do they have cell service,
and I don't, but they're doing like,
why, why, why, why call it?
So they're walking around the ship yelling,
like, look at the ship, and they're like pointing their phone
to see the different things, and I'm like,
I can't even get my email to load,
and they're doing like a why, why, why,
why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why,
why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why,
I see more and more people doing that,
because maybe because the internet package is whatever,
but these people have in full-blown loud conversations,
like in the theater or the atrium before an event,
and it's, I can see if you're talking to someone there,
but they're literally on their phones doing it.
It's just, yeah, if you need to have that
important conversation, like I said, earbuds,
or go, not in the middle of everybody, never bow.
Go some more private.
They're uncle and you're on, or whatever you're doing at home.
Oh my God.
So true.
All right, number 13, the heckler.
This one drives me crazy too,
because we travel with our kid.
So what is the heckler, and why does it drive you crazy?
Well, I mean, I get this kind of a catch-all.
So some people think heckler, they think like a comedy show,
and so it may not, it could be that,
but it's just, there's just some people on those ships
everywhere you go.
They're always yelling, screaming, and hooting, and hollering,
and sometimes maybe swearing, like they're just always,
like you can see them and hear them all the time.
And I'm all about going to the,
we always go to the parties or go to the shows.
Like, if people are going to get off this like this,
not done in hiding that, they are just no fun.
They're just offering people.
But I think it's more just like,
there's just the people who's overly loud
and obnoxious and doing things.
And I mean, we definitely had someone down on this trip
on another trip where, the cruise director staff
like had a guy this woman, she was just like,
I think it was a little bit combination,
she might have had too many to drink,
but she was just hooting and hollering,
and finally, they had to get her off the stage.
She was like disrupting the show,
and then we ended up referencing her
the rest of the cruise is like, what not to do?
What not to do?
That's so funny.
Yeah, it's not cool.
You got to have a little situational awareness.
Yeah, exactly.
So if people know your name at the end of the cruise,
usually it's not in the best term.
Sometimes it's like that guy Joe's always at,
sometimes if people know that they're like,
here comes so and so, let's see what they're gonna do.
It's usually not in the best light.
Not usually a good thing.
We were on a cruise, it was one of the first cruises
we went back on post pandemic,
and it was a real rowdy cruise.
We had a lot of grown adults who were swearing.
They were also wearing t-shirts that had like F-bombs on them
and stuff like really vulgar clothing.
And it's like, you guys, this is a family cruise line.
It was even to the point where we would sit down at dinner
and you'd start seeing these same dozen people
who were kind of rowdy, kind of like you said,
yelling, the swearing, they're just really loud obnoxious,
but we would end up next to them at dinner
and they'd be doing the same thing right across from us
at the table.
We weren't at the same table,
but the tables these days are kind of close together
and they would be just dropping F-bombs
that had kids and strollers,
and we're like, you know, guys, maybe dial it back a little bit.
It's a family cruise line.
All right, this next one is funny.
And I always feel a little bit bad.
I've mentioned this one before too as a pet peeve of mine,
but what is the shuffler, Dawn?
All right.
I have to say Heidi was like, don't talk about this.
So we'll be brief and be there,
especially because she worked in the medical field.
But the shuffler are the people who,
we all walk at different paces.
Heidi has to say I walk really fast,
but you've come up to like the promenade or something
and then there's a line of a family of four or five people
who are just crawling by and I call it like a front line
of a football team.
You can't get around them
and they're just kind of shuffling around, walking,
almost aimlessly like they don't know where they're going.
And I'm always like, we're five,
we're always like chronically like Heidi and I,
so I'm like, I gotta get to dinner.
We gotta get to the show.
And I just can't get around them
and I almost want to be like,
can you guys get off to at least one side
and they're just moping around,
pretend like they don't even,
the first time they've been on the ship,
it's day six and they're like,
oh, that's where the main guy was like,
yeah, so that's one of our pet peeves.
Sounds like you have one, two,
it's like people are solely moping around,
not knowing where they're going where it's like,
I got this place to be and I gotta go and I feel bad,
but it's like, you gotta kind of pass you and move on.
Yeah, yeah, it's weird.
It's like, I always feel bad saying it too,
because we're not criticizing people
who are walking slow, absolutely not.
Just what you don't want to do is like Don was saying,
don't stand side by side and take up
an entire area or hallway, go single file
and then take all the time you need.
Just single file, that's all it is.
Another thing too that kind of,
it can be a little bit annoying too,
is when people will stop and have a conversation
in a small area, so they might be in a hallway
and there's like four of them,
but it's hard to get passed them
because they're like completely stopped in the hallway
and that's fine, but you can have to part the sea
a bit when people come, part the sea,
look at the past, you know,
situational awareness is what it's all about, I think.
That's a great point because the other thing too
is like sometimes you'll be walking behind someone
and then you just stop and not for any reason,
instead of stopping like, start looking around,
it's like something happening,
like what, I thought we were fine here
and then we've been to them where we have to sidestep them
and then you look around like,
I think that person just stopped for absolutely no reason,
it wasn't even like something cool
or interesting or anywhere, so yeah, just make sure,
yeah, get off to one side, like the highway,
just get off to one side if you wanna go slower.
Yeah, it's exactly just like you would do on an escalator,
right, like you always move over to the right,
it's just a known thing.
Okay, this last one is hilarious,
Dawn and I are saving number,
we're saving the best for last
because we're really kind of, like Dawn was saying,
we're kind of poking fun at ourselves on this one here,
but number 15, we're gonna call the influencer,
Dawn, what is the influencer,
and why are they annoying?
So, and I'm sure you'll, I would poke, yeah,
as Sherry said, we're poking fun at herself,
but I mean, I think we do,
because I'm gonna say that we and you, of course,
are very respectful when we do this,
but you know, the definitely times
are those people who got the selfie sticks
or the gimbals and the cameras and the phones,
might get a little obnoxious
because they gotta get to the front of the line,
take photos or try to take a video
where you see them walking around
to get different angles of the same event,
and that really enjoying having fun,
grabbing that camera at dinner,
taking some videos and photos of a Caesar salad,
that's just a Caesar salad,
but somehow it takes five minutes
to get a photo in the correct lighting,
those are the influencers,
and of course we've done that,
those behaviors and we try to be
as nonchalant, right?
And try not to disrupt other people's events,
but I've definitely been on some of these trips,
I'm sure you have to,
where people just go balls to the wall
and just like, I don't care about other people,
it's all about me, baby,
and I'm gonna go crazy taking video and photos.
We try not to do that.
Yeah, we try to be subtle too.
It's one of the reasons why we don't do a whole lot
of vlogging anymore, either,
because it's so uncomfortable to pull out a camera
and just start talking and have people in the background
who are trying to enjoy their vacation.
It's a delicate balance,
but I'd have to tell you,
I'm gonna now go to my phone,
I'm gonna go to my camera roll,
and I'm gonna do a count of how many
Caesar salad photos I have,
because I can guarantee you it is over a dozen.
Oh no, we're the same way.
Hi, hi, I got mad.
We, I, she's like, you're taking a video with the bread.
I'm like, this is good bread.
It's like, what?
It's a fine looking bread.
This is fresh bread.
This is fake, this is freshly baked.
So, exactly.
So again, we try to do that.
I try not to be distracted,
but I get it sometimes people,
I've definitely gotten looks,
even though I think I'm being,
as I said, nonchalant,
and as in case pictures is possible,
but it doesn't always happen that way.
I don't purposely try to do that.
I know everyone else is enjoying the vacation,
I have fun, but it is annoying to some people,
and I get it, so I am willing to poke fun at myself
and be honest and be like, yeah,
I mean, the influencer sometimes can be an annoying
and rude looking person.
I walk, I wait in line in the buffet,
to take video with food,
and people look at me like I'm a crazy person.
Like, I don't even have a plate.
I'm just bummed, I need to video this on my food.
This on my station, or this thing of ribs.
I need to do it.
And they do, they look at you like,
what on God's green earth are you doing?
Well, I do refuses to, yeah,
some of the things I think I'm not gonna go with you
when you go film them.
Like, I know you're not,
but yeah, definitely, I get, I would get in line for you.
So, if you see me in line, say hi.
I will get in line, and I will film,
or I'll film my coffee,
a Starbucks, so you get Starbucks anywhere.
I need a quick video of the Starbucks.
I just done on my trip, whatever.
So, yes, I get it, folks look at me like we're crazy,
but it is number 15.
It is number 15.
It's the only thing.
Yep, had to, had to poke a little fun at ourselves.
Don, this was so fun.
Thank you so very, very much for sharing this great idea
with us for a podcast.
I love this topic.
I hope that everyone was able to keep a lighthearted,
kind of approach to this, not take it too seriously.
We certainly don't take it too seriously.
I'm sure that everyone has their different sort of ideas
of what they consider rude behavior,
but this is all just in good fun.
We all love to cruise,
and we all just want cruisers to have fun and be nice,
and be nice to each other, right?
It's what's all about at the end of the day.
Exactly, we love cruisers,
we love being part of this community,
and like I said, we've been offenders at some time
to some of these, and we're just talking about a little fun.
It just may be next time you're on a trip,
you might think, after hearing this,
you might think twice about doing some of the things
you were thinking of doing.
Exactly, like Don, you might think twice
about smuggling your hookah on,
because I know you were thinking about it.
My hookah.
Now I'm gonna, no more Caesar salad photos.
No more salad photos.
I love it, I love it.
All right, friends,
be sure to go check out Don and Heidi's amazing cruise coverage
at eatsleepcruis.com, and Don,
I will see you again very, very soon.
And until next time, friends, we'll see you on the high seas.
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