If You Joke With A Guest You’re Cruising For A Bruising

Caribbean, Cruise Ship, Liars/Scammers, Pranks, YMMV | Right | April 29, 2025

Anyone who has worked on a cruise for any period of time can tell you that guests look for any and all excuses to complain and find ways to get any little something extra they can. I’m working at the guest services desk, so I get to field a lot of these complaints and questions:

Guest: “Do you all sleep somewhere on the ship or do you stay somewhere else?”

I assume the guest is joking – my mistake.

Me: “Every night all the crew is picked up by helicopters and taken to a hotel and brought back the next day to serve you.”

This guest wakes up in the morning and goes straight to guest services.

Guest: “I couldn’t sleep all night because of the noise from all the helicopters! They kept me awake! What are you going to offer me for it?!”

Me: “Ma’am, there were no helicopters. Yesterday was simply a jest, all the crew live aboard the ship.”

Guest: *Embarrassed but backtracking.* “Well, then… what are you going to offer me for making a joke?!”

That was my first and last time joking with the guests.