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Cruise Etiquette

A cruise is unlike any other vacation and you have worked towards it for a number of months or even years. A cruise will provide you with relief from the riggers of daily life, a sense of freedom from daily commitments, schedules, places that one has to be at appointed times and mandatory events that one must attend. Nothing can put a damper on a cruise vacations quicker than thoughtless passengers who have left their manners at home. It is proper to have a sense of shipboard etiquette, good manners and common courtesies toward fellow passengers while aboard a cruise. The following are some suggestions on how one can become a good neighbour while enjoying you freedom from your normal daily routine.

During your process of selecting a cruise vacation one should noticed what type of dress atmosphere the cruise line is offering in their brochure, cruise documents or on their internet site, so you shouldn’t have any surprises when you arrive onboard. Most cruise lines are resort casual by day and more formal by night. The cruise staff will advise you via the daily onboard newsletter and other means as to what the dress code will be for the main restaurant on any given day. Many cruise lines now have alternate dining facilities that are usually casual attire. Dress accordingly to what has been published and at the appropriate times. If it’s a formal night, ladies should wear a cocktail dress or a gown, gentlemen should wear a tuxedo or dark suit. If it’s informal, ladies should wear cocktail dress or dressy pantsuit or similar, gentlemen should wear a jacket and tie. If it’s casual, ladies should wear skirt or slacks with a blouse or sweater, gentlemen should wear slacks and a shirt and/or a sweater. Casual does not mean showing up in your warm-ups, cut off shorts or a tatty pair of old jeans for the evening. Recently some cruisers have taken to changing back in to casual clothes after a formal or informal diner. This does not create a good atmosphere, nor is it pleasant to many people who cruise and look forward to and enjoy the formal and informal evenings aboard ship.

Today, there are a number of ships that offer open seating or alternative dining facilities, whilst there a large number of cruise lines and ships still maintain a traditional style of dining, either first or second seating at an assigned table. Be sure to arrive at your designated table promptly on time, your fellow table mates will not take too kindly to your late arrival and the service staff will not be appreciative of your late arrival as it will delay them in serving other passengers and interfere with other duties that they have. Good advice is, once you arrive onboard you the ship is find your designated dining room and table.

If you have any problems with your dining arrangements, you should see the Maitre d’Hotel or the Restaurant Manager as soon as possible.

If you are sailing on a ship that has a traditional style dining arrangements, you will be assigned a table and will not have control over who will be your tablemates. Some times it works out to be a wonderful experience and you make new friends. However, sometimes it doesn’t work out for one reason or another and some times could turn out to be a total disaster. If this is the case, do not suffer in silence or make a big scene, quietly see the Maitre d’Hotel or the Restaurant Manager as soon as possible and asked to be moved to another table. This happens all the time and you should not fell embarrassed about making such a request.

A large number of cruise lines have special facilities and cater to children and teenagers, in fact a number of cruise lines go out of their way to attract families. A cruise will offer the whole family an excellent vacation, but that does not mean that parents should say good-bye to their children at embarkation and pick them up at disembarkation. Parents should know and have full control where their children are at all times, while on board the ship. We all know that children like to have fun, but they should be aware and respect other adults who want to enjoy a swim or lounge around in the pool. All to often-fellow passengers have been clobbered with some object, jumped upon, kicked or splashed by an un-controlled child, this applies especially to pool areas onboard. Parents should keep their children out of the casinos and other adult areas where they are not allowed. Parents are expected to be responsible for the discipline of their children at all times.

If you attend any of the many entertainment venues or shows and plan to leave before it finishes it is best to sit at the rear of the venue. This way you will not create a disturbance or distractions when you leave.

Three rules one should observe, for the enjoyment of fellow passengers.

• Do not fall asleep and snore
• Do not talk loudly during the performance
• Do not walk out before the show is over

If you are prone to any of these sit at the rear, so you will not create a disturbance or any distractions.

If you decide to take in a shipboard activity or a shore excursion, make a reasonable effort to arrive on time at the designated location. Cruise staff, lecturers, fitness instructor and other crewmembers have their own commitments and are obliged to start and finish on time. Should you arrive late, do not create distraction and be sure to sit at the rear of the event.

During a cruise you may receive a number of invitations from a cocktail party to a social event, to diner with the captain or a senior officer. RSVP (respondez s’il vous plait) please answer. Remember it is correct and polite to respond as quickly as possible either way. If you do not RSVP do not show up, especially at an officers table as there will not be a place set for you.

Keep Noise and Music In Your Cabin or Suite to a Minimum

Be a good neighbour, do not turn up the volume on your TV, DVD, Stereo or piped in music as the walls between cabins or suites on some ships are so thin you can hear a conversation in the next cabin.

When shutting your door to your cabin, please remember to shut it gently and not with a bang because the noise reverberates in to your neighbouring cabins. When shutting the door from the inside, just hold down the handle while gently pushing it closed. The trick from the outside is to put your keycard in the slot and then hold down the handle while closing the door, then removing the keycard.

Your neighbours will thank you!!!

For the comfort and safety of all passengers, please observe the smoking rules, which vary from cruise line to cruise line and will even vary between ships within a cruise line.

Many cruise lines request that passengers do not smoke in elevators, portions of public rooms that have been designated as non-smoking area. On some cruise ships smoking is not allowed in the cabins, staterooms and suites or in any public areas. If you happen to be a smoker please refrain from smoking in non-smoking areas onboard.

Never throw the end of a cigarette overboard, as it could blow back onto the ship and cause a fire. Please use the ashtrays that are provide in designated areas.

It is ok to save a seat or two at shows or on shore excursions for family members or your travelling companion, but is not ok to reserve a whole row of seats. Cruise lines usually operate of first come first seated policy.

Although cruise lines do not charge deck chairs or chaises lounges, they request that you do not try to reserve them by placing personal items on the deck chairs such as suntan lotion, books or what ever on them. However, you will always find a number of passengers that do not have common courtesy to fellow passengers and will race up on deck first thing in the morning to reserve a deck chair by placing personal items on it. There the chair will sit be for many hours without being used and it could have been used by another passenger. Please remember to observe the rules, first come, first serve basis and they can not be reserved, you must be present to reserve your place in the sun.

Observe the Rules of the Gym or Spa

The rules and courtesies for use of the gym or spa aboard ship will almost be the same if you were at your gym at home. Limit your time on the equipment to a maximum of 30 minutes when others are waiting and remember to wipe the equipment off with a clean towel after use. It is also important to wear proper attire in the gym.

Most ships allow jogging on a designated deck or area at selected times which will be posted. Please adhere to the times posted because cabins are usually located directly below the designated deck and you may disturb fellow passengers who are sleeping.

A number of ships today carry between 2000 and 3000 passengers, so it is inevitable that you are going to run into lines and have to queue. You will likely find queues at embarkation, disembarkation, buffets, tenders to go a shore when the ship is at anchor and the shore excursion office. There will be times when you will have to wait your turn, Cruise ships crew are excellent at handling large crowds and ensuring that individuals are moved in an orderly and timely fashion. Remember not to jump the line, or try to pull rank because you have a stateroom on the upper deck. Good advice is if you want to avoid queues find a smaller ship that has a low passenger to crew ratio.

Don’t throw cigarettes, matches, cigars, plastic cups, pop cans or any object overboard or up in the air, because these items could blow back onto a deck and cause a fire or injure a fellow passenger. Please dispose of items in an orderly fashion in the container provided.

If you have a complaint about something, please take your complaint to a senior member of the crew, such as the Cruise Director, Hotel Manager, Maitre d’Hotel, Housekeeper, or the shore excursion manager. Please spare your fellow passengers all the details of your complaint. On any given cruise you will run into individuals who are chronic complainers and will share any and all their grievances, to who ever will listen to them. Politely point them in the correct direction of a senior crewmember.

Be open to using and learning the correct nautical terms. Please remember to call a ship a ship and not a boat, one should know the difference between starboard (right), port (left), bow (front of the ship), Aft (rear of the ship). You will find that most crewmembers are willing to help you learn the correct nautical terms. Please see the reference pages for a full glossary of cruise and nautical terms.

 

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Last Modified: 11/25/05