Carnival Cruise Line shares blunt words on controversial practice
Carnival’s brand ambassador made his thoughts on one common, intrusive behavior very clear.
Plenty of common cruise passenger behaviors irk fellow vacationers — from hogging pool chairs to cutting in lines, being rude to crew members, and letting kids run wild.
Although irritating, these situations aren’t going to ruin your cruise and you shouldn’t let them overshadow the many positive aspects of your vacation.
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But in the rare case that you’re involved in an accident, experience a medical episode, or just suffer an embarrassing moment in a public space on a cruise ship, some passengers’ tactless reactions can make the situation much worse.
Recently, one Carnival cruiser turned to the cruise line’s brand ambassador, John Heald, for his thoughts on an intrusive type of reaction to passenger distress that’s becoming disturbingly common, both at sea and on land.
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Cruise passenger sounds alarm on ‘disrespectful’ public filming
“I was recently on a cruise where a woman slipped on stairs near the hot tub on the Lido deck. Medical team was called and arrived quickly to assist her. Some crew were shielding the woman from view with beach towels while medics tended to her,” the unidentified passenger explained in a message posted to Heald's popular Facebook page.
“This is my question, is it okay for another guest to be filming the incident? It upset me when I saw a young girl holding her phone high in the air to capture the incident,” the passenger continued. “I asked her why would she think it’s ok to film this and it was disrespectful. I know that cellphones with cameras are everywhere and you can’t assume privacy in public places, but to film an incident like this in my opinion is very disrespectful.”
The passenger asked the brand ambassador for his thoughts on the matter, which he shared in a corresponding video posted on his page.
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“Would I do it? Not in a million years. Do I think it's awful? Yes,” Heald confirmed in the video. “Do I think that people don't think: what if that was me laying at the bottom of the steps of the hot tub if I just slipped over? Would I want someone filming me? Now, of course you wouldn't, but there's nothing we can do.”
Although crew members will try to shield a passenger receiving medical care from prying eyes and phones, the cruise line can’t completely stop it in public areas of the ship.
Along with sharing his thoughts on what he agreed is disrespectful behavior, Heald asked Carnival cruisers who follow his Facebook page to share their own opinions on this kind of public filming.
Carnival cruisers weigh in on filming other passengers
In comments on the post, many passengers agreed that filming strangers in public is inappropriate, especially in sensitive situations like this.
“It is indisputably wrong to video a stranger’s medical episode,” Jessica Lepp insisted.
“Very disrespectful and a huge invasion of the person's privacy,” Jenny Colquhoun agreed.
Passengers acknowledged that the practice has become alarmingly commonplace too.
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“I definitely think it’s completely wrong and rude to do but unfortunately this sadly is the world we live in now,” Tamar Robbins wrote. “People care more about views and likes than being a decent person.”
Many people think the reflex to record dramatic moments in public needs to stop in all kinds of situations, whether at sea or on land.
“Very disrespectful! The same person wouldn’t want someone filming her. Too many people think: Oh, let’s video this,” Susan R. Morehouse wrote. “People, unless it has to do with you don’t record this whether it’s a police arrest, fire, ambulance, people fighting, kids acting out, etc., all this is just wrong on so many levels.”
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