Top 10 Things Cruisers Like to Brag About

Step foot on a cruise ship or stand in line at a land-based store, and you will meet someone who loves cruising. While some encounters can be fun and an opportunity to learn, others leave people scratching their heads and making sure to avoid that person in the future. The dreaded encounter with a ‘cruise bragger’ is enough to send some folks running to the closest bar to numb the pain. Perhaps this is why the drink “painkiller” is so popular on cruises! LOL

We’ve heard it all from cruisers, some funny, some shocking. The following are the Top 10 Things Cruisers Like to Brag About. Enjoy!

1. Past Passenger Status

The cruise bragger loves to tell everyone within earshot how many cruises they have been on and their status on their current cruise line and any other lines. Witnessed many times on social media groups, the cruise bragger leads with “my status is _____” as if that is more important than whatever nugget of information they post following that statement. If you have to include your past passenger status in any social media post or offer up to a fellow cruiser without being asked, you might be a cruise bragger.

2. Buying Art Onboard

Insert eye-roll immediately after hearing a fellow passenger brag about how much money they spent at the onboard art auction or how many pieces of art they have purchased on past cruisers. Serious art collectors aren’t buying art onboard a cruise ship. That’s not to say you won’t find a piece that is perfect for your house and will enjoy at home but leave the pretentious art snob routine for your friends and family at home. Trust us, they will be equally unimpressed, but at least they are a friendly audience. If you have boasted about purchasing art onboard a cruise, you are a cruise bragger.

3. Type of Cabin Booked

Particularly suite guests, especially when talking to someone in a lesser category stateroom bragging about going to The Retreat, Yacht Club, The Haven, or other private areas of the ship reserved for suite guests. This can also happen with balcony cabin guests talking to those in an inside or ocean-view stateroom. There is just something that some cruisers need to say about the type of cabin they booked to make themselves feel superior to other cruisers. If you’ve mentioned your suite (or superior cabin) without being asked what type of cabin you have, you might be a cruise bragger.

4. Number of Cruise Lines Sailed On

The avid cruiser has likely sailed on their favorite cruise line many times. Most well-traveled people will branch out to experience other lines as well. The cruise bragger loves to rattle off all the cruise lines they’ve sailed on, and if they include the type of cabin and/or destinations, you’ve just hit the cruise bragger jackpot. If you’ve mentioned all the cruise lines you’ve sailed (unprovoked), you might be a cruise bragger.

5. The Number of Future Cruises Booked

The true hallmark of a dedicated cruiser is how many future cruisers they have booked. Whether it is one or one hundred, a cruise bragger will let you know how many they have booked or when they are making a trip to the cruise desk to inquire about future cruises. If you’ve ever done this, you might be a cruise bragger.

6. Exotic Destinations

Meeting someone well-traveled can be incredibly insightful and interesting for those with a long bucket list of places to go. Where things turn is when fellow cruisers boast about how many places they’ve been to or are planning in the future. There is definitely a line between providing interesting tips and insights into things to do in aspirational destinations to boasting about having been there. If you offer up destination information without being asked, you might be a cruise bragger.

7. Cost of the Cruise

Everyone loves a good deal, but boasting to fellow passengers that you only paid $X for your cruise is purely to invoke jealousy or ensure they received the typical response of “how did you get that” or “where did you book.” These questions feed the cruise bragger's ego and reinforce the bad behavior. The passengers openly talking about how much they paid for their cruise should never be trusted and is definitely a cruise bragger. 

8. Shipboard Credit

This brag is sure to confuse new cruisers and is the pinnacle of the “mine is bigger than yours” contest. Shipboard credit (aka OBC, onboard credit) is an amount of money on your account given by the cruise line, travel agency (or both) at the time of booking. Many times people don’t even know they have this and only find out when they get their account statement and see the credit applied. Avid cruisers know to watch for this added-value amenity. If you’ve ever told a fellow cruiser about your shipboard credit, you might be a cruise bragger.

9. Grandchildren

Proud grandparents everywhere love to brag about their grandchildren, which is fine amongst a friend group in your hometown. However, taking the braggadocious routine on the road (er, cruise) is a quick way to repel people. No one on a cruise cares about your grandkids, what sports they play or how well they are doing in school. Best to stick to more general common interest topics on a cruise, like politics, to really separate the crowd quickly. Joking! If you’ve ever told other cruisers how great your grandkids are, you might be a cruise bragger. 

10. Jewelry

Cruisers love the duty-free shopping onboard and in various ports of call, most notably the Caribbean. Commemorating a milestone birthday or anniversary may send passengers to jewelry stores to purchase a special piece. Thinking of getting engaged or upcoming wedding date? You won’t find a better collection of rings to choose from than stores in the Caribbean. Remember, your fellow passengers likely don’t care what you’ve purchased nor what a great deal you got. If someone compliments your jewelry, a polite “thank you” is the perfect response, not a verbal diatribe on where you got it or how much it cost. You might be a cruise bragger if you’ve ever overshared about a jewelry purchase. 

Honorable Mentions

Inaugural Sailors

You know the inaugural sailor as soon as you meet them as they are the first to tell you they sailed on the first sailing of the current ship or are already booked on the first sailing of the next new ship. Everyone loves the new ship smell, but some cruisers consider being first on board bragging rights for life and have to be the first one on board. They fail to realize that most new ships have already had media, industry personnel, travel agents, and corporate employees onboard, sometimes for weeks before the first revenue sailing. Some book the first revenue sailing of a new ship in hopes of delays and potential compensation for having to move to a later sailing. If you’ve ever boasted about being on an inaugural cruise, you might be a cruise bragger.

Speciality Restaurant Only

Similar to some of the identifying activities above, the cruiser, who prides itself on only eating in specialty restaurants and letting everyone know the main dining room is for commoners, surely doesn’t know what they are missing. While specialty restaurants can be an amazing dining experience and ships are adding more and more of these extra-cost venues, many times, the main dining room can be an equally excellent experience. The braggart who looks down their nose at main dining room cruisers is a turn-off to everyone in earshot. If you’ve ever revealed that you only eat at specialty restaurants, you might be a cruise bragger.
 

To find a great cruise deal, click here. Just remember you can’t brag about it onboard! 

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