Many regular cruise passengers form relationships with crew members: a favorite bartender, waiter, or even a waiter.
Many of these friendships develop over multiple cruises, during which small conversations grow into deeper friendships. It's easy for that to happen with team members you see multiple times a day.
On the Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) and Royal Caribbean, passengers typically see their room hostesses several times a day. Although both cruise lines service non-suite rooms only once a day, the workers who clean those rooms are ubiquitous.
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Many passengers stop to chat with the cruise ship staff. Over the course of a cruise, bonds can be formed and some of these relationships lead to exchanges of contact information and keeping in touch in the real world.
The situation is not exclusive to room managers either; It happens all over the ship. In many cases, passengers who have favorite crew members who they know will be on their voyages bring them small gifts: anything from things the crew members might need to food, clothing, and handmade items.
In other cases, passengers bring gifts and gifts for crew members, usually their cabin stewards, even if they do not know them.
It's a preventative kindness that crew members appreciate, but some rules that come with these gifts may surprise you.
Image Source: Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival prohibits a type of gift
Carnival brand ambassador John Heald spends most days answering questions on his popular Facebook page. On February 6 he answered a question from an angry passenger who apparently meant well.
“John Heald I always bring my cabin steward my funnel cake and cowboy cookies. They have always thanked me profusely. This time I'm at the Jubilee. I offered them to him ——-, I even gave him the tupperware with them in , and he said I could keep it. He refused. He said it wasn't allowed. Carnival already works the team too much and now this! —– he seemed very embarrassed when he said no. I asked him why and he “He said it was the rule. This is faulty management. I specially prepared these delicacies,” shares the cruise passenger.
Heald explained why Carnival has rules about what types of gifts cabin attendants and other crew members can accept.
“Thank you “F” and thank you for your kindness, I really mean it. Your cabin attendant was really listening and following the rules we have,” he posted.
It is not an arbitrary rule, Heald wrote. There is a specific reason for this.
“There have been times when some totally disgusting people thought it would be funny to put something in brownies and other cakes and cookies that, well, made the team who ate them quite sick and prevented them from working. Because of these despicable morons we've instructed “Crew should not carry any home-baked goods or anything that is not in its original, sealed packaging,” he wrote.
Most Carnival passengers support policy
While most cruise passengers have the best of intentions, there is a risk with home-baked goods even when the intentions behind them are not nefarious. Most of the comments on Heald's post seemed to understand why the rule was in place.
“I don't even eat homemade products from some people I know, let alone from a stranger. This policy makes a lot of sense,” wrote Justine Simone.
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Many of the responses commended the cruise line for protecting its crew.
“The passenger said, 'This is bad management.' No, genius, it's fantastic management taking care of the crew you love so much. John, I'm glad Carnival has this rule,” said Susan A. Pitman.
Carnival allows passengers to gift packaged food to crew members. However, in most cases, unless a passenger has a pre-existing relationship with the crew member and brings them something they requested, crew members generally prefer cash tips.
This is not a disdain for the gift a passenger may bring, but most crew members have very little space in their cabins. Waiters and stewards share cabins with at least one other crew member and don't have much space to store gifts.
Many passengers understand this and find other ways to show their appreciation.
“I personally agree with this policy. It's a shame that malicious people treat the crew in such a horrible way. I used to bring things but now I just give them more money,” Keri Renwick wrote.
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