Rude incident on DCL (only once)--but, please don't do this.

[nearlyfallinstar]

Peeping Tom? That seems a little extreme. What were you afraid she was going to do? I would have just said hello and had fun with it.

Hello! Are you here for the show?

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

Now if she had pulled out a camera, I may have had an issue with that! lol

 

[StageTek]

I feel for the woman who innocently looked around the partition. I bet she felt embarrassed which is why she jumped back quickly.

And never looked around the partition again.

 

[squirk]

On our last cruise, my husband and I were sitting on the veranda with cocktails enjoying the peace and quiet when this weird, rude woman next to our stateroom stuck her head around the partition and gawked at us. I think we startled her because she was not expecting to see us out there then jumped back quickly. We were not talking loud, we were not laughing loud and she startled me putting a damper on the rest of the cruise whenever I thought of spending time on our veranda. I felt uncomfortable sitting out there, because I never knew when this family would appear craning their heads around the partition. I can forgive children, they are naturally curious, but grown adults? Please, don't do this--especially if you know you have neighbors next to you. If you choose a balcony that ppl can look down into, then that's different, but we did not--and the partition is there for a reason.
I want to repeat, this only happened on this most recent cruise, but once was enough for me.

As others have noted, she could have been looking over for any number of innocuous reasons.

Maybe she is a new cruiser and didn’t understand the layout. Maybe she didn’t realize you were there and was wondering if your veranda was the same as hers. Maybe she was missing something on her veranda (like a sandal) and was wondering if it slid under the partition over to yours. Maybe she smelled cigarette smoke or was hearing a weird noise, and was trying to locate the source of it.

You noted she seemed surprised and embarrassed when she saw you, so it seems like she realized it was a gaffe and instantly withdrew. Not sure why you were so spooked that “this family” (the whole family now?) would be “craning their necks around the partition” again.

 

[magsnwonderland]

Even if the OP was ‘au naturel’ , the neighbors’s response was natural.

if I walk out on to my verandah, I can look, right, left, up, Down just like they can. How did op know they were looking unless op was looking ?

Oh I agree that the neighbor was not doing anything wrong, didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I’m just saying that this is the only reason I could think of that would make OP react so strongly to being observed. It still doesn’t make the neighbor rude.

 

[Allison]

I don't get the issue. This would have been a non-event to me.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We were standing at our balcony railing and the people next to us were also. They said hello, even though we were looking straight out at the time. The audacity! Hehe.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Having looked at a decent amount of cruise ships in our recent search for a greek cruise a lot of the balconies either have low partitions (meaning it doesn't go up high), it juts out so someone above can see you if you're closer towards the edge, if everyone is near the edge you stand the chance of seeing someone's arm, hearing their conversation (which you can anyways), etc

My husband is over 6ft 5, you're likely going to see him if he's by the edge.

The person was more than likely just naturally curious, not at you, not at trying to gawk at someone, just naturally curious. I realize you feel your privacy was violated but there's not as much privacy as you might think on ships anyhow. Your reaction respectfully was an overreaction to the actual situation presented. It wasn't rude and most people who did what that woman did would probably have been embarrassed themselves.

I would have either said "oh hi!" or had a brief "well that was interesting" comment to my husband and moved on.

Adults get just as curious as children especially in an excited vacation-mode. I would have seen it as genuine curiosity without ill intent. No reason to make it immediately out like the woman had some nefarious thoughts going on.

I very much like my privacy on vacation and can relate to that but I always know when going out on a balcony or terrace on vacations where we have that my expectation of privacy is adjusted. Since a balcony or terrace is extremely important to my husband and I when we vacation we understand what that means when we go outside on it. In the instance of a cruise ship we would just know that there's a chance someone or more than one someone can see us at some point or may accidentally see us. It goes with the territory here.

 

[shh]

Like many others, I think OP's reaction was way overblown. I would have been a bit startled if I was lost in thought, but would have just smiled and waved.

You do realize on many ships, the captain/crew can view your balcony as well? You do not have 100% privacy.

 

[karen4546]

Agree

Oh I agree that the neighbor was not doing anything wrong, didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I’m just saying that this is the only reason I could think of that would make OP react so strongly to being observed. It still doesn’t make the neighbor rude.

eee

 

[TestingH2O]

You do realize on many ships, the captain/crew can view your balcony as well? You do not have 100% privacy.

Our last balcony looked right in to the wing of the bridge. It was fun to watch the crew work, but I did refrain from going outside in my pajamas.

 

[bcwife76]

Wow, your reaction seems way over the top. Sounds like an innocent mistake to me.

 

[Cheburashka]

On our last cruise, my husband and I were sitting on the veranda with cocktails enjoying the peace and quiet when this weird, rude woman next to our stateroom stuck her head around the partition and gawked at us. I think we startled her because she was not expecting to see us out there then jumped back quickly. We were not talking loud, we were not laughing loud and she startled me putting a damper on the rest of the cruise whenever I thought of spending time on our veranda. I felt uncomfortable sitting out there, because I never knew when this family would appear craning their heads around the partition. I can forgive children, they are naturally curious, but grown adults? Please, don't do this--especially if you know you have neighbors next to you. If you choose a balcony that ppl can look down into, then that's different, but we did not--and the partition is there for a reason.
I want to repeat, this only happened on this most recent cruise, but once was enough for me.

Yes, that was rude of your neighbor. You wouldn't expect an adult to do that. Fortunately, that isn't something that typically happens.

 

[pahoben]

A good blast of pepper spray in the mug will solve that issue!

 

[DCLMP]

Like many others, I think OP's reaction was way overblown. I would have been a bit startled if I was lost in thought, but would have just smiled and waved.

You do realize on many ships, the captain/crew can view your balcony as well? You do not have 100% privacy.

On Royal if you have a Central Park or boardwalk balcony you can see straight across into other peoples rooms. I saw some things I really didn’t need to see.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

On Royal if you have a Central Park or boardwalk balcony you can see straight across into other peoples rooms. I saw some things I really didn’t need to see.

Beat me to it.

For anyone that hasn't been on an Oasis class ship:

 

[MouseinMelbourne]

When they 1) smoke pot, 2) have a party until 3am, and 4) actually have sex on their balcony, then you can complain. All 3 happened with our neighbors during our Christmas cruise.

Edit to add: and regular smoking. Every night. Cigarette butts flicked into the ocean. And, no it wasn’t DCL. It was our first time on RCCL.

 

[Trisaratops]

Our last balcony looked right in to the wing of the bridge. It was fun to watch the crew work, but I did refrain from going outside in my pajamas.

View attachment 683023

That's so cool! Which room on which ship???

 

[Sherrilatte]

Having looked at a decent amount of cruise ships in our recent search for a greek cruise a lot of the balconies either have low partitions (meaning it doesn't go up high), it juts out so someone above can see you if you're closer towards the edge, if everyone is near the edge you stand the chance of seeing someone's arm, hearing their conversation (which you can anyways), etc

My husband is over 6ft 5, you're likely going to see him if he's by the edge.

The person was more than likely just naturally curious, not at you, not at trying to gawk at someone, just naturally curious. I realize you feel your privacy was violated but there's not as much privacy as you might think on ships anyhow. Your reaction respectfully was an overreaction to the actual situation presented. It wasn't rude and most people who did what that woman did would probably have been embarrassed themselves.

I would have either said "oh hi!" or had a brief "well that was interesting" comment to my husband and moved on.

Adults get just as curious as children especially in an excited vacation-mode. I would have seen it as genuine curiosity without ill intent. No reason to make it immediately out like the woman had some nefarious thoughts going on.

I very much like my privacy on vacation and can relate to that but I always know when going out on a balcony or terrace on vacations where we have that my expectation of privacy is adjusted. Since a balcony or terrace is extremely important to my husband and I when we vacation we understand what that means when we go outside on it. In the instance of a cruise ship we would just know that there's a chance someone or more than one someone can see us at some point or may accidentally see us. It goes with the territory here.

I like your comment and it is definitely food for thought.

Hello! Are you here for the show?

but she ran inside, I heard the door close.

Peeping Tom? That seems a little extreme. What were you afraid she was going to do? I would have just said hello and had fun with it.

She did not stick around to say "hello".

 

[TestingH2O]

That's so cool! Which room on which ship???

It was room 11000 on the Dream.