Discuss. :dubious:
I’ve taken 5 cruises on 3 different cruise lines, none of which were Carnival. Apart from one particularly bitchy woman at dinner one evening, I don’t recall ever encountering “white trash”, or any other trash for that matter. Stories I’ve heard about Carnival suggest it’s not the classiest of lines, which is why I voted “Depends…”
For me, a cruise is a wonderful vacation. I unpack once, I don’t have to clean or cook, I can visit new places or just veg on board. Does that make me white trash? Not that your opinion will change mine. I’m shopping for my next cruise.
It really depends on the cruise line and cruise itinerary. Cruises aren’t cheap (mostly) so you’re automatically selecting out the folks who don’t have the money to go.
The ones I’ve been on are peopled by professionals and up, people with a little bit to a lot of money.
So, I’m not quite sure where you get the “white trash” from? I am aware of short 3-day weekend party cruises that are all about the drinking and hooking up. Maybe that’s what you are referencing?
I took a cruise once (my only one to date) on Carnival. The food, accommodations, and entertainment were…OK. I enjoyed the novelty of experiencing all of that while at sea, but that novelty would be lost on any future cruise. I suspect that you could have a really outstanding cruise experience if you chose a different line and shelled out big money for deluxe accommodations.
It does seem that at least this particular Carnival cruise was a white-trash vacation.
I remember the shocked reaction I once received after casually using “white trash” in reference to a person whom I believed was accurately described by the phrase. Only then did I realize that it was as much a slur as others that referred to other ethnicities. Therefore, in order to redeem myself, I voted “You’re racist.”
I’ve done Carnival with the wife and a big group of friends, Carnival with just the wife, and Royal Caribbean with the wife and kids. Doing Carnival with the wife and kids this summer.
I never sensed a “white trash” atmosphere. The passengers aren’t noticeably whiter or trashier than any other vacations I’ve been on.
Royal Caribbean was supposed to be much classier than Carnival, but I couldn’t tell the difference. Same dining, same ports, same rooms, same activities. The staff at the kids’ activity area clearly didn’t like kids. This year the brats are hopefully old enough to take care of themselves if the kids’ program sucks.
Nah, just Aussies.
I’ve been on several cruises on several lines. I confess, I was surprised how relaxing it was. I got to see several places over the course of a week or so and didn’t have to worry about the who what where when why of getting from place to place. That sort of stress is simply removed from the equation.
As for being downscale? Not in my experience. But you do see a decent cross section of Americans there. Some of those people may be ettiquette challenged, I suppose, just as you’d find anywhere. Best to live your own vacation and allow others theirs.
You were surprised that someone took the word “trash” as derogatory?
My general experience has been that shorter, cheaper cruises have a heavy over-sampling of trash from all races, and that longer, more expensive cruises generally have a more well-mannered clientele (again, of all races).
I don’t know if I’d say “white trash” per-se, but they’re definitely a sort of… unsophisticated/lowest common denominator sort of travel. It’s not about the destinations, it’s not about the journey itself, but about basically being on a big floating resort the majority of the time, where you have nothing else to do but eat, drink and avail yourself of the entertainments.
I’ve often wondered what the attraction is; there’s not really anything on teh cruise ships that you can’t do at home, AFAIK it’s not actually cheaper, and you don’t get much time at your destinations. OTOH, it takes the oppression of choice out of the equation- you’re along for the ride, and there’s not anything else to do but have fun.
Personally, if I’m traveling, unless the actual travel is notable in some way, I’d rather get that part over with and spend more time at the destination.
Disagree. Certainly some people treat it like a resort, while many others are very much focused on the destinations. I myself am looking forward to a cruise that will take me to some countries I don’t feel comfortable navigating on my own as a woman.
♫ *A victim of collision on the open sea
Nobody ever said that life was free
Sink, swam, go down with the ship
But use your freedom of choice
…
Freedom of choice
Is what you got
Freedom from choice
Is what you want* ♫
I’ve been on six cruises and have never met anyone who I’d consider white trash. None have been Northern Caribbean cruises, so maybe that gets a lower class of cruiser.
We did get lots of Aussies in the Mediterranean, none whom I’d call white trash.
On my first cruise, on the QE2, we had an opera singer at our table, so kind of the opposite.
Cruises are like samplers. You can see which destinations you want to go back to, but you certainly don’t see the complete place.
The big advantage is not having to shlep your bags all over the place. Another advantage is being out of touch with your work. That’s something we don’t get much anymore.
I mean, it’s not like you are rubbing shoulders with the Astors and the Guggenheims on most cruises.
Cruises are a “middle class” excursion for people wealthy enough to afford them, but too poor to afford to own or charter a yacht.
They aren’t really expensive either, or at least don’t have to be (the cruise lines are experts at upselling). Remember they’re all-inclusive. Add up the cost of a decent hotel, meals, and transportation if you do it yourself, control yourself otherwise, and a cruise can be a bargain.
Most of the time no and some ships definitely are classy. For example I did NYC to Southhampton with Cunard. Fantastic experience and very nice when you go with a Queen’s suite.
I don’t think there is necessarily any sympathy for the person being called trash, so much as the implication there is a standard for acceptable whiteness which has no correlation to other skin tones. Black is Black, Brown is Brown, Yellow is Yellow, but White…well there’s White, and then there’s white-colored people. But we take offense where we want to, and I think when it comes to insults the hurler is more interested in offending the target than worrying about the broader implications of the insult.
As for the OP’s question, I didn’t see much in the way of the Honey Boo Boo family, but plenty of common Ugly Americans who were unconvinced Panama, for instance, wasn’t just a convincingly-decorated Disneyland and totally safe for late night urban strolls. I’ve done two Cruises. One Caribbean and one Alaska inside passage. I greatly enjoyed the Caribbean because I was newly married and we both kind of liked watching the flying fish play in the bow wake. Turns out, neither of us were smart enough to get bored. Only did a playing with dolphins excursion because anything else on offer that interested us could be done better and cheaper at home. The rest of it was all about being out of touch with work and watching The Missus win at roulette. Afterward I remember thinking, “Well it’s not really my cuppa tea, but everyone should do that at least once.” When I got roped into the Alaska trip I remember thinking, “Well, Alaska was nice, but I could have done without the cruise.”
Most infuriating is the 24 hour buffet. Specifically, the huge HUGE tray of bacon that just didn’t taste right so you don’t want to have any.
Obviously, I knew it was an insult, but hadn’t considered it to be any more offensive than calling someone a “redneck.” I had said it when relating an encounter with an unpleasant customer to co-workers (none of whom would I have ever described that way), and it was only when they reacted as if I had used the N-word that I realized that term could be considered as much of a racial slur as derogatory terms for other ethnicities.
This was nearly two decades ago, and my lesson was learned. However, this is the first time I have had the opportunity to react in the same way to someone else, so I’m not about to pass that up. 
One thing I’ve found on the cruises I’ve taken is that the composition of my fellow travelers varies depending on the itinerary and port of departure.
When I took Caribbean cruises that departed from New York, I felt like most of the passengers were from New York and New Jersey. And they seemed to have a different philosophy towards the “extras” on an inclusive vacation. They spent money. The specialty restaurants were booked solid early on. The bars were packed. The shops were crowded. The art auctions were jamming, with multiple bidders on each item. The cruise line must’ve loved it. Me, not so much. But taking a slightly longer and slightly more expensive cruise instead of having to deal with flying to Florida and staying overnight was a huge attraction.
When I took Caribbean cruises that departed from Florida, the passengers seemed to represent a cross section of Americans. All in all, it made for a calmer and more relaxed atmosphere.
I was pleasantly surprised when I booked an early fall Canada/New England cruise leaving from New York. Most of the passengers I met were from other countries, mainly European. The one week cruise was generally part of a longer vacation for them, typically a week or two in New York followed by a the one week cruise. They probably tended to be more affluent that the typical cruise passenger. And definitely more interesting. This was my all time favorite cruise and why it felt strange as a Northeasterner to tale a cruise to Boston, Rhode Island, and Maine, it was really fun.
Just my impressions and they aren’t based on a large number of trips, YMMV.