AIBU to dread sharing my cruise with a clingy colleague?

Oh just a thought, will you be on the same flight as her too?

When you bump into her, show surprise, make a few comments, then say "Oh best get off. Enjoy the rest of your holiday" then continue with similar every time she approaches. Don't agree to eat with her, to go on a trip with her or meet her for drinks. If pressed tell her "sorry I'm not very sociable on holiday".

This happened to me with an AI holiday in Turkey. We never bumped into each other until the day before we were due to go home thankfully.

I would pop on a sunhat and large sunglasses and hope for the best. If you do bump into her try and get away ASAP and never let on which restaurant you dine in or which bar is your favourite. Give her dumb info - "oh, we're thinking about joining the bingo later might see you there..."

If she starts to cling to you tell her your husband can be very difficult and therefore you need to spend time alone with him as that’s the purpose of the cruise. Tell her you know she will understand because she’s so kind and empathetic.

Then just nod and give a small smile if you meet her.

It’s hard enough to bump into people you are trying to find on cruises! So hopefully you won’t see her at all

You probably won't even see her. I've bumped into people at tiny hotels abroad before and we only saw each other when we pre-arranged it.

I'd have to deal with this now as I wouldn't want it hanging over me ruining the holiday.
Just have a quiet word and say you've realised you're on the same cruise but to forgive you in advance as you and your husband have booked it to spend time together as you've had a difficult year (look sad/be vague) and won't really be socialising.
As it stands it will just look really odd if she does spot you and you've said nothing.

Ok - 3000 people is a lot and she won’t be expecting you so won’t be looking out for you. Can you change your hair at all so you look a bit different too.

If she still finds you then I wonder if the best thing you can do is be all embarrassed and act all worried that she will think you are a stalker. And so say “don’t worry Susie - we won’t make you hang out with us - I know this is your holiday. No - it isn’t fine. I feel so guilty that we ended up here. I am not going to cramp your style - we shall just wave from a distance. If that’s ok? Would you rather I didn’t wave? Stop saying it’s fine Susie - I know you - you are too kind for your own good.”

It doesn't matter if there are 9,000 people on the ship, you will see her the first night because it's how these things work. When she approaches you, pretend you don't know her at all and you've no idea what she's talking about. Then deny it when you're back at work.

Oh god, this happened to me. It wasn’t a cruise but an island in the Maldives (a teeny tiny place with one dining room and a few hundred guests). As we walked up the dock after an 18 hour journey, gagging for a swim and a glass of wine and some peace and quiet, I heard a shriek of ‘oh my god!’.

It was someone from work - a really sweet girl, but not a close mate or anything. She was absolutely thrilled, bless her, and immediately launched into chattering about how she and her husband had been trying to make ‘holiday friends’ but obviously now we were here they wouldn’t need to bother … I imagine DH and I looked like Wallace & Gromit, blinking in shock, with rictus grins pasted on to hide our total horror 😂

We’re pretty sociable usually, but for us that trip was intended for much-needed decompression - reading, relaxing, sleeping, minimal chat - and we were definitely not in the market for holiday friends. We ended up having drinks with them one night, but otherwise just doing a kind of ‘smile and wave’ thing from a distance in order not to end up having to socialise with them every day. It was really stressful and I felt quite shitty and guilty at her crestfallen face every time we shuttled past, but I honestly couldn’t justify compromising our whole holiday just to be kind/polite to a work colleague. I’m sure she thought I was a complete cow after that, and it was slightly awkward at work, but hey ho.

Oh no I feel your pain! I'm going on an overseas week long trip for work later this year and I had to pick a colleague to come with me. I'll be totally honest that one of my main criteria was picking someone who wouldn't want to be by my side 24/7. I need my downtime! 😂

I think there are usually two sittings for dinner each night? Try and find out whether she prefers the early or late sitting, then you do the opposite.

That’s what I was thinking. Especially as people do look a bit different on holiday and at work.

Some of these cruise ships are huge. Its entirely possible you wont even bump into her

I was overhearing a hairdresser chat to a client the other day and he was telling her how much he and his wife loved cruising. The lady said she'd always been wary because of the shared tables at dinner and the enforced company.

He said 'We've generally been quite lucky and mostly met really great people, but any cruise is only as good as the other passengers on it. It can be a bit of a lottery, it's true.'

Reminds me of the Keeping Up Appearances episode when Hyacinth found out Onslow was on the same cruise! No help, sorry, but hope you manage to avoid her.

She might not recognise you because you are in a different environment. Try to avoid looking at her if she sees you - she might think that you are a lookalike and not approach you.

Colleague? What colleague?!

If you do bump into her be firm from the outset.

No thanks, I prefer not to
Off to do something, bye, enjoy your holiday
I don't want to spend holiday time with colleagues from work.
I'm going to be blunt since my polite No Thank You is being g disregarded - I don't enjoy your company at work never mind on holiday.
Go away you're really annoying.

We booked a cruise with some friends and afterwards she found out loads of her extended family were going. We bumped into them once in the entire week and that was visiting some really small ports, there’s so many people on board and the ships are massive so you may be ok.

Cruise ships are generally not tiny. Surely there's a strong chance that you won't even see her during the trip!

Is there a part of the ship you could upgrade to? Less likely to see them then?

Have a plan to just be totally indifferent and rude. Walk away if you see her. Tell her your dh “has plans” that don’t include her”no we can’t meet for drinks thos is a second honey moon for us.” Etc..etc…etc…

You can easily get lost among 3000. But, she might come looking for you! Is her husband ok?