Top 5 Crazy Questions People Ask on Cruise Ships

Having worked on cruise ships for many years and having friends that worked on them for many more, the crazy questions people ask are not exclusive. The stories that come from people who are on holiday are always my favourite. I believe when people go on a cruise you tend to leave your brain at home, so they can turn off and just relax. Here are my top 5 crazy questions people ask on cruise ships. 

What time is the whale show? 

This one is my absolute favourite! Haha.  While doing the Alaska cruise this one was not a one-off question, this was asked a number of times. I was never sure what they were expecting, but myself and other crew wanted to make it seem that this cruise had everything they wanted.

Some crew would let them know that the whales are on sonar and that we have them booked for noon today. You will be able to see them on the port side of the ship. They leave excited and sure enough the “whale experience” would get around to the other passengers and when we would go up to top deck at noon on port side there would be a hefty amount of people waiting to see the show. 

Do the crew sleep on board the cruise ship? 

I am not sure where they actually think we would all go. Since most cruise ships carry between 300-1700 crew that would be quiet a production for all of us to sleep somewhere else every night. But I have heard many different stories told to passengers when answering this question… 

“No, we don’t sleep on board. There is a small boat we pull behind us with a zipline that we go to.” 

“No, we don’t sleep on board. We have a helipad on the top deck and we fly back and forth to land to sleeping quarters there.”

Do these stairs go up? 

This question would get asked all the time on embarkation day. I am not sure if they were just overwhelmed with the day, but we could not understand how someone would ask that question. Some crew would be very helpful and let them know that these stairs were only down stairs, and that they need to go all the way forward to find the up stairs. 😉

What time is the midnight buffet? 

Now granted it usually starts around 11:30 pm, but everything happens at midnight, people should be able to figure this one out. We were never sure how this could be a confusing event.  

How do I find my photos? 

Since I worked in the photography department, this one was asked a lot. I am sure they thought they were displayed in some sort of order, but it came across very funny. I’ve heard others answer them by saying: “first you’ll need to go to the bathroom around the corner, look in the mirror and study what your face looks like. Then you can come back to the photos and try and find your face looking back at you.” 

There is never a dull day when working in customer service. Have you been on a cruise and heard any crazy questions other passengers ask? What are the favourites you have heard? 

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