If you've ever wondered whether other cruise passengers lose all sense of normalcy once they board a ship, a recent Reddit thread suggests the answer is a resounding yes. A post asking cruisers to share their most outrageous onboard stories drew more than 220 responses, and the results range from clueless to genuinely baffling.
Some of the most head-scratching moments involved basic trip planning. One couple on a one-way Miami-to-San Juan sailing were shocked to find themselves in Puerto Rico with flights home booked out of Miami. Another passenger apparently parked a rental car in Miami before boarding a transatlantic repositioning cruise to Barcelona — a car that was presumably still sitting in that garage. On the other end of disembarkation chaos, one guest reportedly went to Guest Services to complain that Royal Caribbean wouldn't let him stay aboard until his 8 p.m. flight, long after the ship needed to turn around for its next sailing.
Buffet behavior generated some of the more stomach-turning tales. One witness described a fellow passenger grabbing the communal whipped cream scoop, licking their fingers, dipping them into the scoop, and returning it to the bowl. Another saw a woman lick food off her fingers repeatedly while working her way down the buffet line, serving herself with bare hands. On the more harmless — and arguably admirable — end of the food spectrum, one child was spotted eating a soft-serve cone while standing in line for soft serve, then immediately getting back in line to repeat the process.
Other highlights include a guest on Ovation of the Seas who witnessed a rather adult encounter in the Solarium (with an unexpected third participant), a woman who loudly complained about missing Grand Cayman even as fellow passengers were mourning a man who had died aboard and prompted the ship's detour, and a motorized scooter rider who plowed directly into a towering display of mimosa glasses and simply backed up and rolled away without a word while crew rushed to clean the wreckage.
Royal Caribbean Blog compiled the full list of 12 stories, which also includes a resourceful sports fan who pulled up an illegal Stanley Cup Finals stream in the ship's business center back in 2015, years before onboard sports bars became a standard feature at sea.
