After 15 Years at Sea – The Nicest and the Worst Things Cruise Guests Have Done

Having been in the cruising industry for over 15 years, there are a large number of interactions with guests that have stuck in my head as the most incredible things I have witnessed. Unbelievable acts of kindness and, on the flip side, vicious attacks for no apparent (or justifiable) reasons.

In one instance, I had been suffering from a severe ear congestion due to flying while I had a flu (enough details). After almost 2 months fearing I would never get my hearing back, I found a device which was the perfect solution to my problem. My only issue: Getting hold of it. Getting things delivered to the ship can be a challenge, especially with urgent things like this. A lovely couple who I, for some reason, shared the issue with, offered to have the item delivered to their house and bring it back to me on debark morning. It wasn’t until they handed the item to me (called Eutachi, a miracle worker) that I found out they lived 2 hours away from the pier!!! They drove for 6 hours just to get me the item I so urgently needed, and I was left speechless.

Another treasured time, I was invited to meet with another couple, who I had met on a previous voyage. They had made arrangements at one of their favorite restaurants in Barcelona, as a pre-cruise celebration of another voyage sailing together. The dinner event could only be described with one word: LOVELY. Food was amazing, the wine was, well, Spanish, so saying it was great would be redundant. Conversation was as fluid, friendly and fulfilling as the first time we met. To sum up, a greatly memorable evening. The only downer was the announcement that I would, in fact, not be joining them on the ship on the following day, as I had just been informed of a change in my assignment.

I also met a lovely family who cruised with me for a week, and the father spent a great deal of it chatting with me. We became so friendly that he invited me to come over to their home for my upcoming vacation! I was beyond excited! As soon as I went home, I booked my flights and called him to let him know of my dates, only to find out they would be leaving for another cruise just 2 days after my arrival! To my surprise, he told me I was welcome to stay in their house for the rest of my stay! I mean, aside from chatting often, they didn’t know me from Adam, and the fact that they trusted me that way was simply overwhelming.

Then there’s been occasions of incredible generosity that brighten up not just my day but my whole cruise or even my whole contract. Simple things like a follow up question to a previous conversation, a warm greeting when running into each other in port and things like that. It’s people like these who make working on board worth the efforts.

And of course, there’s all kinds of people, like anywhere, who are willing to do anything against others in order to get their way. I’ve had a few instances when people created complaints about my service in order to skip tipping or simply didn’t like my response regarding the limits of the different services on board, turning it into a personal issue. Thankfully these situations are far from frequent, and running into caring, personable and respectful people is a lot more likely. It’s on this note I end this article, thanking life for the wonderful people who have come into my world thanks to my cruise career. – ThatGuy (onboard)