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Cruise ships often carry thousands of passengers so there’s always a chance that one of them might be irritating. But one guest was horrified to see another passenger getting a little too comfortable in the ship’s swimming pool.
They said there was a 71-year-old woman on their last cruise holiday who got on the other guests’ nerves.
They wrote: “[She got] in the hot tub or pool naked and staff would have to get her out. Happened several times.”
Cruise passengers are required to wear swimming costumes in the pool facilities unless they’re on a nudist cruise.
The passenger added: “She stole things that she thought she liked. She claimed to be borrowing.
“Tried stealing an item from a guest, which led to an incident with security. She did not get in trouble.
“On excursions, she’d wander off, take cuttings of flowers and plants from people’s gardens and bring them back on board.
“Ship announced at every port that transporting plants, flowers etc. was prohibited, she did it anyway.
“Many people complained and didn’t want to be on the same tour as her. Several tours ran overtime and had to cut stops.”
Many countries have laws about carrying plants over the border as they could upset an ecosystem.
Taking cuttings from people’s gardens is also normally against the law and could irritate the owners.
The passenger said: “She’d always be carrying around large bags and sometimes would just dump them out on the floor of the elevator looking for things.
“She’d play the sweet grandmother card lots to get by with things and act a little more frail than she was.”
Ships’ elevators are normally really small and not the most convenient places to start unpacking bags.
They added: “She’d reserve the front centre row for most shows and then if the entertainer engaged the audience, she’d attempt to monopolise the conversation and make it about herself.
“Most of the entertainers had to just start ignoring her. On the seats, she’d tell people already in the chairs that they were taken and get them to move.”
Some cruise ship entertainers will engage the audience and guests in the front rows are most likely to be included.
The passenger claimed: “There are probably more stories I’ve forgotten, but the ship never restrained her or interfered.
“She was in a regular cabin, nothing fancy. The rumour was that she was dumping thousands in the spa.”
They said that by the end of the week, most of the other passengers were “actively ignoring” the woman.
Cruise crew might sometimes privately speak to a passenger if their behaviour is upsetting other guests.