15 Things Cruise Passengers Secretly Hate (According to Reddit)
Cruising is supposed to be the most relaxed vacation on earth: someone else cooks, someone else cleans, and your biggest decision is whether to get the second dessert (you should). But spend five minutes in any cruise forum and you'll discover that a few thousand strangers sharing a floating city brings out a very specific set of irritations. The towel wars. The elevator that stops at every single deck. The guy on speakerphone at the buffet.
So what do cruisers secretly hate the most? Overwhelmingly, it's chair hogging at the pool, saving seats at shows and the buffet, being rude to crew, and treating shared spaces like a private living room. Cruisers on forums say almost every pet peeve boils down to one thing: forgetting that a couple thousand other people paid for the exact same vacation you did. Below are 15 of the biggest offenders, the actual etiquette norm behind each, and why it drives everyone quietly bananas. Consider this a friendly debate starter for your next sailing.
1. Chair hogging at the pool
This is the undisputed heavyweight champion of cruise pet peeves. You know the move: someone drapes a towel over four loungers at 7 a.m., then vanishes to breakfast, the spa, or back to bed for three hours. Cruisers on forums say it's the single most-complained-about behavior at sea, precisely because it's so easily avoided. The widely accepted norm is simple: a lounger left unattended for more than about 30 minutes is fair game. Many lines now have crew remove unused towels and belongings. The reason it stings so much is the math: prime deck chairs are finite, and one inconsiderate person quietly taxes everyone else's day.
2. Saving seats at the theater
The pool deck's evil twin. One person arrives at the show 45 minutes early, then spreads coats and programs across an entire row to hold it for a group that strolls in as the lights dim. Cruisers say briefly holding a seat or two for someone in the bathroom line is universally fine. Staking out ten seats with a sweater while your party finishes dinner is not. The unwritten rule: if you're not there, you're not holding it.
3. Treating the crew like servants
Few things turn a forum thread sour faster than stories of passengers snapping at crew, refusing to make eye contact, or barking orders. Cruisers say the crew are the reason the whole experience works, often working long contracts far from home, and that basic politeness, a "please," a "thank you," and learning a server's name goes a shockingly long way. The norm here isn't complicated: treat the people serving you like people. The folks who don't are widely considered the worst archetype on any ship.
4. The one-floor elevator rider
You're on deck 3, the elevator is packed, and someone squeezes in only to step off at deck 4. Cruisers point out that elevators on a busy ship are a genuine bottleneck, and that anyone physically able to take the stairs for one or two floors is doing the whole boat a favor. The flip side, raised often by wheelchair users on forums, is darker: some passengers shove into a crowded elevator and take up just enough room that someone who actually needs it gets left behind. Stairs are good for you and good for your neighbors.
5. Cutting the buffet line
The buffet is a low-key etiquette minefield, and line-cutting tops the list. Cruisers say nudging ahead because you "only need one thing" still cuts in front of everyone who waited. Related crimes mentioned constantly: tasting food straight off the serving spoon, dropping the tongs and putting them right back, and reaching across three people instead of waiting your turn. The norm is the one your grandmother taught you, just enforced by 3,000 hungry witnesses.
6. Letting kids run wild
This one sparks the liveliest debate, because nobody actually hates kids on cruises, cruisers are quick to clarify. What they hate is unsupervised kids: running through the buffet, monopolizing the hot tub, pressing every elevator button, or roaming the halls at midnight. Forum consensus is fair to parents: cruises are fantastic family vacations, and most kids are great. The norm is simply that "the ship is supervising my children" is not, in fact, a real cruise feature.
7. The buffet plate pile-up (then the abandon)
A close cousin of line-cutting. Cruisers get genuinely worked up about people who load a mountain of food, take two bites, and walk away. The frustration isn't just waste, it's the disrespect to the crew who prepared it and the people behind them eyeing the same dish. The norm: take what you'll eat, come back as many times as you like. It's a buffet, not your last meal.
8. Loud phone calls and speakerphone everything
FaceTiming at dinner. A speakerphone conversation on the pool deck. A work call broadcast across the quiet lounge. Cruisers say shared space comes with a shared volume budget, and some people blow the entire thing solo. The norm is just discretion: keep calls brief, step somewhere private, and remember the whole point of a cruise is that most people are trying to escape exactly the noise you're generating.
9. The hallway luggage and door-clutter crew
Stateroom hallways are narrow, and cruisers say leaving shoes, room-service trays, or luggage parked outside your door turns them into an obstacle course, especially for crew and anyone with mobility issues. The norm is to keep the hallway clear and, when room service is done, to call for tray pickup rather than launching a tray buffet down the corridor.
10. Booming through the halls at midnight
Sound carries shockingly well in stateroom corridors, cruisers note, and a "normal" conversation outside a cabin door at 1 a.m. lands like a marching band inside it. The unwritten rule is to move through residential hallways quietly, especially early mornings and late nights, and to take the rowdy after-party celebration to a venue actually built for it. Your neighbors with a 7 a.m. shore excursion thank you.
11. Ignoring the dress code
This is one of the friendlier debates, cruisers are split on how much formality still matters, but there's broad agreement that turning up to a posted formal night in a tank top and flip-flops reads as "I didn't bother." The norm isn't about owning a tuxedo; it's about respecting the room and the occasion the line set up. If you hate dressing up, the buffet is always there in shorts, no judgment.
12. Smoking on the balcony
Few things ignite a forum thread like balcony smoking. Cruisers point out that balconies are open-air and adjacent, so your cigarette becomes your neighbor's cigarette, and that it's a fire-safety issue serious enough that most lines explicitly ban it with hefty fines. The norm is settled by policy here: balconies are almost universally non-smoking, and designated areas exist for a reason.
13. Being late to the muster drill
The muster drill is the one mandatory, genuinely-about-your-safety ritual of embarkation day. Cruisers have little patience for the stragglers who wander in late or try to skip it, because the whole ship can be held up until everyone's checked in. Modern "e-muster" has made it nearly painless, scan in, watch a short video, briefly visit your station. The norm: just do it promptly so 4,000 people aren't waiting on you to start their vacation.
14. Blocking the buffet (and the hallway, and the gangway)
Beyond cutting, cruisers hate the standing-still-in-the-worst-possible-spot move: parking in front of the omelet station to decide, stopping dead at the top of a stairway, or clustering in a doorway for a group chat. The norm borrows from highway driving, if you need to stop, pull over to the side so the flow keeps moving. Decision-making is a "merge right" activity.
15. Oversharing and bringing the drama onboard
Last but loud: the family argument aired across the dinner table, the very personal phone call on the lido deck, the relentless complaints delivered at full volume. Cruisers say a ship is an intimate space, and emotional spillover travels just as far as a speakerphone. The norm is gentle but real: a cruise is a shared escape. Leave the drama at the pier, and everyone, including you, has a better week.
The thread that ties all 15 together, cruisers agree, is consideration. None of these require a rulebook, just the reminder that the person in the next lounger, the next cabin, or the next elevator paid for the same vacation you did. Master that, and you're already a better shipmate than half the internet.
Want to make sure you're on the right side of every one of these? Our guide to cruise mistakes to avoid goes deeper on the rookie missteps, and if you're sailing for the first time, start with our first cruise tips.
FAQ
What is the most common complaint on cruise ships?
Chair hogging at the pool is consistently the number-one pet peeve cruisers raise on forums, people draping towels over loungers and then disappearing for hours. The widely accepted etiquette is that an unattended lounger is fair game after about 30 minutes, and many cruise lines now have crew clear unused chairs.
Is it rude to save seats at a cruise show?
Cruisers say briefly holding a seat or two for someone who stepped away is fine, but spreading belongings across a whole row to reserve it for a group that hasn't arrived is widely considered rude. The general rule is simple: if your party isn't there, you're not holding the seats.
Can you smoke on a cruise ship balcony?
Almost never. Most cruise lines explicitly ban balcony smoking as a fire-safety hazard, often with significant fines, and cruisers note that open-air balconies mean your smoke drifts straight to your neighbors. Designated smoking areas are provided elsewhere on the ship.
Do I have to attend the muster drill?
Yes. The muster drill is a mandatory safety briefing on embarkation day, and cruisers have little patience for people who skip or delay it since the ship can be held up until everyone checks in. Most lines now use a quick "e-muster" process you can largely complete from your phone before a brief visit to your station.
How should you treat cruise crew?
With basic courtesy, the same way you'd treat anyone serving you. Cruisers consistently say a "please," a "thank you," and learning your server's name make a huge difference, and that crew, often on long contracts far from home, are the reason the whole experience runs smoothly. For a peek behind the scenes, see our look at cruise ship crew secrets, and if tipping confuses you, our cruise tipping debate breaks it down.
