Rude Cruise Passengers: Shocking Onboard Stories You Won’t Believe

Cruises are meant to be all sunshine, sea breezes, and smooth sailing… until someone with zero manners crashes the vibe.

Most people you meet onboard are absolute gems, but there’s always that one guest who seems determined to test everyone’s patience. Entitled, clueless, or just downright rude – we’ve all seen them.

And it turns out I’m not alone. I asked my Facebook community to share the worst behaviour they’ve ever witnessed at sea, and wow… they did not hold back. Here are the stories that topped the list.

1. Unruly Children in the Dining Room

Cruises are a lot more family-friendly than they used to be, and most people are fine with that, so long as the children are well-behaved.

People have told stories of children throwing food and cutlery around dining rooms, and even climbing on tables! It’s not so much the kids, but the parents who allow the behaviour, or don’t do enough to discourage it.

If you’re taking your kids on a cruise, absolutely let them have fun. But letting that fun spoil the cruise for everyone else is not okay.

2. Disrespecting Staff

The crew on cruise ships work really hard to make sure you have the best holiday possible, and while it’s possible for them to have an off day, I’m sure that 99.9% of the time, the staff on the ships are friendly and enthusiastic.

Despite that, there are plenty of stories of passengers showing bad manners by basically disrespecting crew, either in the way that they speak to them or the expectations they put on them.

What’s really upsetting is hearing from past guests who’ve seen passengers be rude to crew because of their race. There’s absolutely no excuse for that – racism has no place anywhere, especially towards people who work so hard to look after us.

I do hope that if you ever witness someone being rude to a member of the crew, especially if it’s racist in any way, you’ll report it to Guest Services so that the security staff onboard can have a word.

Suggested read: Toilet Mishaps, Racism & Broken Fingers – Carnival Cruise Guests Share Their Worst Cruises Ever

3. Styling Hair at the Dinner Table

A cruise passenger spoke about how they didn’t enjoy seeing another passenger styling their hair at the dining table.

To be fair, it could pose hygiene concerns, but also, some people view dinner as an event, and really, you should be ready to eat when you enter the dining room, not getting ready halfway through.

Do you think this one is bad manners?

4. Inappropriate Buffet Etiquette

Cruise lines put a lot of effort into ensuring that the buffet restaurants, in particular, are hygienic. You don’t want to get a sickness bug on a cruise ship, as it’ll spread like wildfire, and the buffet is a breeding ground for cross-contamination if you aren’t careful.

That’s why you get members of the crew whose job is to stand outside the buffet telling people (or singing to them) to wash their hands.

Despite that, people still show bad manners through a basic disregard for rules. This includes returning used plates to the buffet instead of stacking them on your table, and even worse, someone reported seeing someone pick up food, lick it, decide they didn’t want it and put it back on the buffet!

Of course, the passenger telling the story alerted the crew, who removed it and cleaned up, but seriously…

5. Elevator Misbehaviour

So many of the stories of bad manners on a cruise ship are related to the elevators. It’s such a basic part of life on a cruise ship – using an elevator to move between floors – but it causes problems for so many people!

Sometimes it’s kids who are pressing all the buttons for fun and making other passengers wait for the elevator to visit every floor. Even if there isn’t anyone else in the elevator at the time, it slows things down for others waiting.

Then there are the people who force their way onto an elevator before others have had the chance to get off. It happens so frequently – just wait and make sure nobody is exiting! 

6. Floral Theft

Cruise ships are often decorated, sometimes with fresh flowers but often with plastic ones too, just to add to the general ambience and make the ship seem more pleasant.

Some cruise passengers reported people stealing these flowers, either just as a souvenir or to use as an accessory in their hair.

That’s not what they’re there for – they are for everyone’s enjoyment, and it’s awful manners to assume that the ship exists purely for your own personal benefit.

7. Fighting and Drunkenness

We’re almost moving away from ‘bad manners’ with this one into more serious territory, but some people mentioned it, so I’ll include it here. People have often seen others having physical fights on a cruise or becoming so drunk that they’re acting inappropriately.

One passenger told of others who were pulling up the kilts of men on the ship, laughing at them for wearing ‘skirts’, because they were drunk. Imagine pulling down the top of a woman in the same way! Crazy.

Often it’s not just physical but verbal fighting too, having huge arguments over anything from sunbeds to places in the queues. Just relax, and if someone is misbehaving, speak to the crew rather than trying to resolve it yourself.

Suggested read: Another Fight On A Cruise Ship – This Time Royal Caribbean

8. Ignoring Disabled Passengers

Cruises are great for disabled passengers, since they’re relatively easy (in most cases) to navigate in wheelchairs or on motorised scooters.

But then there are those who just don’t care about helping disabled passengers out and who will often ignore them.

Really, you should give people with disabilities priority for elevators if you can, since it’s harder for them to find space if other elevators are busy. And just make sure to give people plenty of space, especially when they need to turn a scooter around.

Having said that, I’ve seen other Facebook posts in the past with people complaining about those using a scooter who have no regard for other passengers, running over their toes. So it does go both ways – be kind to anyone with mobility issues, but if you’re using a scooter, be aware of others onboard too.

9. Lack of Personal Hygiene

I was not surprised to see that people complained about the lack of personal hygiene on cruises when it comes to hand-washing. I know that some people try to avoid washing before eating at the buffet because they’re lazy, and I’ve seen people not even know how to sneeze right (into your elbow – it isn’t hard, my kids know!).

One passenger even talked about the basic hygiene of people, specifically women, not flushing the public toilets. It’s not hard to follow simple standards; somebody else shouldn’t have to deal with that for you.

10. Inappropriate Dress Codes

Formal dress codes are becoming less important on cruises – you don’t have to worry too much about packing suits and dresses if you don’t want to.

But there are also basic dress codes that you need to adhere to, including not wearing wet bathing suits (or indeed any bathing suit) in a restaurant, or showing up in thong bikinis and nothing else.

Be considerate. You’re fine to wear bikinis and bathing suits by the pool, but put some clothes on when you go to eat.

Suggested read: 9 Things You Should Never Wear On A Cruise

11. Line-Cutting and Aggressive Behaviour

It’s important to show simple good manners by using the lines in the buffets or for other services around the ship properly.

Don’t cut in line, it’s rude and it’s not like you ever need to wait too long anyway. Plenty of people have mentioned seeing others try to sneak ahead and even get aggressive when challenged on it.

12. Misuse of Drinks Packages

A drinks package can be a great way to save money on the beverages you buy, but you need to use it appropriately.

Don’t be greedy and don’t cheat the system. This means, don’t try to hoard drinks to enjoy later on, and don’t use your package to get drinks for someone else.

If you’re caught abusing the system, then you might have your package cancelled without a refund. And it’s not fair to others if you’re trying to cheat things.

13. Public Flossing

I’m not talking about the dance here, just to be clear. This is about dental flossing.

Look, I know that when you’re enjoying your dinner on a cruise, but if you get a chunk of food stuck in your teeth, it might be a little frustrating.

Still, if you absolutely have to floss, excuse yourself to the bathroom or something. People have talked about seeing others floss at the table or even when in line for the buffet, and that’s gross – have some respect for others.

Final Word

These are some of the recurring issues with bad manners that people have seen on cruises, and I’m sure there are more – feel free to add your own story in the comments.

Basic manners should be easy, but there are some specific cruise ship etiquette rules you might want to brush up on before you sail.

They are basic, and they do cover some of these manner faux pas, but there are some other tips too that you should make sure you know for your next cruise.

Related Posts:

• Overheard: The Worst Complaints At Guest Services
• Banned For LIFE! Real Stories Of Cruise Guests Who Are No Longer Welcome
• The One Cruise Etiquette Tip EVERYONE Should Know!
• Cruising’s 7 Deadly Sins – Find Out If You’re A Sinner!