Witnessed one of the rudest/weirdest guest to cast member interactions onboard

[WDW Crawl]

Recently got off a 7 night sailing and witnessed one of the strangest/rudest/most random guest to cast member interactions.

At lunch one day in the dining room, just after we were seated, a guy at a table near us out of the blue asks the server “what do you think about *rump?” The server was clearly uncomfortable and quietly said something that was hard to make out & the guest repeated the question in a different way. The cast member again said something that was hard to make out and walked away as politely as possible.

I’m not naive enough to think people can completely leave their politics at the door on cruises/vacation, yet it’s still really strange to witness these types of random boundary crossing interactions.

I’m going to make the assumption/hope that this wasn’t anyone on this board, but had to share because it was pretty uncomfortable to witness and even more so when it was obvious the cast member just wanted to do their job and not get into a political discussion. Not to mention the guest was seated with just a small child for company, and I doubt the kid would pick “random political talk with server” over literally any other activity onboard if they had the choice.

 

[happily single]

Wow. It definitely sounds like the guest was trying to provoke the server into some sort of argument.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Reminds me of a time I was in Six Flags Great Adventure and this guy would not stop prying about our lives and political standings because he clearly wanted to get a rise out of people.

I hate these kinds of people

 

[revdon64]

Reminds me of a time I was in Six Flags Great Adventure and this guy would not stop prying about our lives and political standings because he clearly wanted to get a rise out of people.

I hate these kinds of people

OH, so you're the one that wouldn't talk to me! J/K, I live like 30mins from SFGA but I'm with you... leave your politics at home when you're in an amusement/theme park or on a cruise ship. It's tiresome, and in that environment nobody cares what you think of... whoever.

 

[Smugpugmug]

This reminds me of people that wear political apparel at theme parks (not just Disney. I've seen it at Hershey Park too). Not only does no one care, but it makes you look foolish as well. It's like they want to get a rise out of people.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

OH, so you're the one that wouldn't talk to me! J/K, I live like 30mins from SFGA but I'm with you... leave your politics at home when you're in an amusement/theme park or on a cruise ship. It's tiresome, and in that environment nobody cares what you think of... whoever.

Lol! I love a good laugh especially when I need it!

It’s so true though. Leave it at home. It’s one thing like my dad and every fellow giants fan and every Washington fan on Sunday in BG Williamsburg going “how did we tie?!?!?” But that was sports. Not politics. Leave the political stuff at home especially when you’re on vacation-who wants to hear or see that.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I have a fairly close interest in politics but one of the many things I love about Disney is to get away from all that.

 

[MomOTwins]

Sounds like the fellow had one two many drinks of the day.

 

[darnheather]

I have a fairly close interest in politics but one of the many things I love about Disney is to get away from all that.

Same. I was once cornered in the adult pool by a guy who wanted to chat about how a certain candidate was "done wrong" by the DNC. Dude, just let me do my exercise.

 

[bcwife76]

Wow, what a real charmer That poor server. Makes you wonder what this guy was like at dinner each night with his dedicated dining staff.

 

[katmigordon]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of dragging this stuff up publicly for no reason anyway, but doing it to someone who is working customer service is heinous because unlike the rest of the pop they can't just flip you off and walk away.

Wow, what a real charmer That poor server. Makes you wonder what this guy was like at dinner each night with his dedicated dining staff.

 

[tvguy]

That's nothing. Our last cruise was on Celebrity and the next cruise was a charter by a group known for their impressive alcohol consumption on board. The staff were all undergoing refresher training on how to diffuse situations, and the proper ways to report abuse by passengers. Our Server and Wine Steward said usually 3 or 4 crew members get fired during these charters for not following procedure. And usually for punching a passenger who way way way way crossed the line of conduct. A few passengers get banned for life too.

 

[dwg]

There are definitely people who just can't help themselves and will talk about issues that are very divisive with anyone including strangers. Unfortunately they have no regard for the fact that they are someplace like on vacation or are talking to someone that they have no idea if they are like minded and just assume (rudely) that the stranger wants to get into that conversation making others around them uncomfortable because they won't stop.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've seen that by both guest and server just out and about at restaurants in general. It does not taking being on a cruise or vacation for that to be the case.

Some people are not rude about it they just don't know that these conversations are best held in a different setting and with people who aren't strangers in other words tact is missing. Other people are actually rude.

Without knowing if anything else was actually said, the tone it was said in, etc I wouldn't call this the rudest interaction more tactless and inappropriate.

 

[lowlight]

I’m gonna be the odd one out for saying this, but I don’t really see anything weird about this. Yes, politics on a cruise is lame, but other than that. People used to be able to talk to other people, even complete strangers, about anything, even from opposite viewpoints. People now don’t strike up random conversations anymore, and it makes me sad when I try to and I can tell the other person is uncomfortable. I sit in waiting rooms and look around and see 70 year olds buried in their phones. The greatest generation were the best to strike up random conversation with, they had so much to pass on. Sure, I guess you don’t have to actually talk to other human beings more than necessary, I just can’t imagine what a sad world this will be when the extent of human interaction is this text you’re reading or passing someone by in a store. Did it bother you that he specifically asked about him, or would it have bothered you if he asked him about what he thought about Ukraine? I guess I wrote a lot of words just to say “we should all talk to each other more”. Yes even waiters.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I’m gonna be the odd one out for saying this, but I don’t really see anything weird about this. Yes, politics on a cruise is lame, but other than that. People used to be able to talk to other people, even complete strangers, about anything, even from opposite viewpoints. People now don’t strike up random conversations anymore, and it makes me sad when I try to and I can tell the other person is uncomfortable. I sit in waiting rooms and look around and see 70 year olds buried in their phones. The greatest generation were the best to strike up random conversation with, they had so much to pass on. Sure, I guess you don’t have to actually talk to other human beings more than necessary, I just can’t imagine what a sad world this will be when the extent of human interaction is this text you’re reading or passing someone by in a store. Did it bother you that he specifically asked about him, or would it have bothered you if he asked him about what he thought about Ukraine? I guess I wrote a lot of words just to say “we should all talk to each other more”. Yes even waiters.

I agree with you but I feel like some topics such as politics and religion should be avoided, especially in a customer service setting where the employee can't talk back to the customer without being reprimanded.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

strike up random conversation with, they had so much to pass on.

Somehow...I know it's going to sound crazy..but I have been able to strike up random conversations with strangers for all my life without politics or religion ever having been brought up. I know some people around me have gone off into those territories but I myself can manage to find conversations with people without them.

If your idea of a sad world is you can't possibly find a million other topics to discuss then I just don't know what to tell you my secret because I've been able to do it.

 

[dwg]

I agree that there are many conversations you can have with strangers without stepping into a divisive topic.

 

[FastPasser.]

Having been in that position many times and sometimes being involved in more awkward situations than being asked a political question, I was able to deal with them in a manner that didn't embarrass the Guest or make me angry. The Crewmember shouldn't have felt uncomfortable if they reacted as trained. Dealing with situations like that is part of the job and you learn how to diffuse them properly very early on. I took situations like that as a challenge to neutralize the awkwardness in such a way that the Guest didn't even realize it.

 

[Freeman867]

Recently got off a 7 night sailing and witnessed one of the strangest/rudest/most random guest to cast member interactions.

At lunch one day in the dining room, just after we were seated, a guy at a table near us out of the blue asks the server “what do you think about *rump?” The server was clearly uncomfortable and quietly said something that was hard to make out & the guest repeated the question in a different way. The cast member again said something that was hard to make out and walked away as politely as possible.

I’m not naive enough to think people can completely leave their politics at the door on cruises/vacation, yet it’s still really strange to witness these types of random boundary crossing interactions.

I’m going to make the assumption/hope that this wasn’t anyone on this board, but had to share because it was pretty uncomfortable to witness and even more so when it was obvious the cast member just wanted to do their job and not get into a political discussion. Not to mention the guest was seated with just a small child for company, and I doubt the kid would pick “random political talk with server” over literally any other activity onboard if they had the choice.

Easy situation to handle. Just say "he's an arrogant, narcissistic criminal who throws more temper tantrums than that small child" and walk away. Nothing more needs to be said.