Whats Your Bug Bear? (And How To Fix It)

As much as we all love cruising we all have a few grumbles and gripes about certain aspects on board whereas some passengers just love to complain about everything from from broken fixtures and fittings, bad entertainment, long queues, waiting times for lifts, luke warm food, surly waiters, too many English / too many Americans/ too many tattoos, slow internet, rude fellow passengers and staff pushing too many packages on board – I have heard it all!!

When I call my passengers after their cruise to ask how their cruise was it is always interesting to hear what drives them mad

Number 1 has to be gratuities, you are either all in or all out when it comes to the topic of paying tips – this is a topic that could be ranted forever – my answer is pay upfront before you go and never give it a second thought!

Secondly has to be overpriced drinks prices and the extra % added to the bar prices – the best solution is to book a drinks package or choose a cruise that is All Inclusive – that way you can sip your Mojitos into the Sunset without ever having to worry about the size of your bar bill

Smoking!!! Smokers hate that there is nowhere they can smoke – non smokers hate that there are smokers on board. This is never going to be resolved – make sure you are aware of the smoking and non smoking areas of the ship and just avoid if necessary, if you are anti smoking try to book your cabin on the non smoking side of the ship.

Everyone hates Sunbed Wars!! Whilst most ships claim to enforce the rules that if a sunbed is unoccupied for 30 minutes the pool steward will remove any towels it is not always the case, if this drives you mad and (if like me) you wouldn’t dare remove the towels yourself – just ask the steward and they should enforce the rule

Do badly behaved noisy children drive you mad? I have a 4 year old and I can understand why this would rub some passengers up the wrong way – kids seem to be everywhere – the solution is easy – head to to the adult areas of the ship such as the spa, gym, adults-only sun decks or solarium or just simply book an adult only ship or avoid school holidays at all costs!

What No To Wear! This is 50/50 for and against – DJ or Jeans? – whichever you want to wear on board make sure you book the right cruise – Formal or Casual that is the question!!

The biggest Bug Bear of all has to be THE WEATHER but with all the complaining in the world there is not a thing that can be done except head for the bar with a good book or some good company and a Gin and Tonic and just remember that you are on holiday – what is there really to complain about!!