Carnival Addresses Smelly Issue But It’s Not What You Think
No cruise passenger wants their vacation overwhelmed with unpleasant smells, whether it is sewage backing up into their staterooms, extensive smoke outside of smoking areas, or rotting seaweed on what was supposed to be a pristine beach.
But what about smells in the Main Dining Room? Guests should expect delicious aromas there, from delicate wine bouquets to delicious dinner entrees to decadent desserts.
One recent Carnival Cruise Line guest, however, had a less-than-pleasant dining odor overwhelm their dinner experience. To try and help the situation, the guest reached out to the cruise line’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald, for assistance.
“The woman I am at table [number] with is reeking of perfume. It is overpowering. It makes me feel nauseous,” the guest explained. “I told the head waiter. He said nothing could be done. What? They should be told to not put perfume on. Refuse and they should be moved to another table.”
It is true that someone being a bit too liberal with a perfume bottle can create a powerful odor, and not all travelers enjoy the same perfumes – or indeed, any at all. But what is the correct resolution to this type of situation?
“John it is not my job to be confrontational. [My husband] and I enjoy the table position where all the action is,” the guest continued. “What would your advice be? Just sit there and not taste our food? Move to another table? Just put up with it and spend dinner breathing through my sleeves? Why has the manger not taken care of this?”
Undoubtedly this can be a challenging situation. Heald does sympathize with the guest’s sensitivity, and asks his more than 600,000 Facebook followers for their thoughts on the situation.
“For any manager to walk over to the guest and say you are wearing too much perfume is, well, difficult to say the least. I will be writing to the ship today to see what the options are and to try and help but let me ask you what you think,” he said.
Heald followed up with four options for commenters to discuss – A manager should talk to the over-perfumed guest, the two guests should gently talk with a request not to put on so much perfume, the sensitive guest should move to another table, or the guest allegedly wearing too much perfume should be moved to another table.
Quite overwhelmingly Heald’s fans agree that “the guest who wrote should move to another table and enjoy the rest of the cruise.”
Some travelers also note that they themselves don’t have the keenest sense of smell and they would be unaware if they were wearing too much perfume. In this case, a gentle heads-up would be welcome and permit them to correct the situation.
Another Possible Alternative
There is another option, one that might give crew members better recourse with too-much-perfume situations.
A sign requesting that Carnival guests not wear strong scents – perfume, aftershave, lotions, etc. – could be posted at the entrances to dining areas.
For some guests, strong odors can trigger asthma or other difficulties, or there may be allergic reactions to some perfumes. Furthermore, strong odors can affect the flavors of foods and disrupt the overall dining experience.
Read Also: Carnival’s Dining Shift – Fewer Guests Choosing Shared Tables
If such a sign was posted and used as cruise line policy, the dining teams would have a way to gently let guests know that they should perhaps use a bit less of their aromatic accessories.
Another possible option Heald did not mention could be for the impacted guests to change their dining time. This might permit them to keep the same dining team and even the same general area of the dining room, but to be apart from the overwhelming odors.