Dining Room Table Anxiety

I'm reading CC while I'm stopped at the red light and I know I won't have that much time to give you the exact email address, but there is an email from royal that you can make the request for a table of 2. Or just search "!table for 2" in cruise critics

That's what I always do and I always get a table size of my preference

Thank you so much, and to Bob (clarea), too, for the email address. Fingers crossed this works for us.

Best wishes!

We've never had any problem with tablemates. When asked what my occupation is and I say "police officer" it usually becomes a conversation starter. I love to talk about my job! I've seen everything and I'll tell any one that wants to listen about it. What I like most is when someone inevitably asks if I've ever shot anyone. I always tell them "No, but the night's not over yet!" And PositiveLad, you are going to run into a lot of people that will judge you. I say, "F*** them!" My brother was gay and he and his partner were married 4 years ago. Me, Sammy Straight, was their best man! Sadly I lost my brother 2 years ago to cancer. The best thing he left me was a new brother! And if you and your partner ever decide to tie the knot I'm available for best man duties! Good luck! You guys can share my table any time!!!

Elvis

5 No No's for me. Dont talk about your kids, how many cruises you have been on and that your Gold , Diamond or Emerald or whatever color, gem stone or anything like that. Politics and Religion. Other than that anything is a Topic. I get along with everyone. Till one of these is mentioned. I just dont like snooty people. Mo matter how much money you make or your job. You will never be better than anyone else. Some people really need to remember this!

What else is left?

:)

Tom

5 No No's for me. Dont talk about your kids, how many cruises you have been on and that your Gold , Diamond or Emerald or whatever color, gem stone or anything like that. Politics and Religion. Other than that anything is a Topic. I get along with everyone. Till one of these is mentioned. I just dont like snooty people. Mo matter how much money you make or your job. You will never be better than anyone else. Some people really need to remember this!

Here's my 2cents (OK might be more)!

Cruise as a single; have TA or myself select Large Table, Late Dining. Pretty much worked out well - got large tables, mix of people, singles, couples but we all got along and no one left. Enter the equation where the Maite D no longer selects table assignments but a computer does it.

I've had the worse tables ever since. Request Large Table gets unnoticed, continually being assigned a table for 4 - so have to waste time on embarkation to get it changed.

Think that is why more and more people are lining up embarkation day to get table assignments fixed. Why allow the option to say you want a large table/age bracket when it doesn't make a difference!

Surprise, Surprise though, my last Liberty cruise was a large table but it totally sucked and it ended up as a table for 4. It was a 5 night and I was at Portofino's one night and Chops one night - but it wasn't a factor - it was just a bad mix.

I do have say that on my Oasis 2013 cruise, it too was a table of 4, I had Giovanni's, Chops, Surf's Up Party, and Chef's Table so decided to give it a go and stick with the table. Sure enough, 2 singles traveling together, one other single alone and me. First night me, and other other single. Second night -same. The other two never came to the table. The nights I was in the dining room -- waiter was terrific and myself and the other lady had a great time.

Yes, I'm one of those that head to the dining room on embarkation day to see what table I'm at and it's location.

If you and your partner ever decide to tie the knot I'm available for best man duties! Good luck! You guys can share my table any time!!!

Aww, I've just woken up and that has really made my morning. Thank you Elvis. What a gent! :D

Our honeymoon...seated with much older couple....only them oo

All our other cruises, we had fantastic tablemates. This time we are with our kids and inlaws

We've always enjoyed being at a large table, for some reason that just seems like part of the cruise experience!:D For the most part, we have had good experiences but even the not so good have given us some entertaining moments.

One of the most entertaining "stinkers" occurred on a TA, we had a table of 8 consisting of 3 couples in their late 40's & 50's and one older couple, probably late 70's or so. The first night, everything was fine but as the cruise progressed, the older couple became increasingly grumpy, lots of complaints about the ship, food, etc., you name it, they had a complaint. The next to last night, the husband completely blew up over how his prime rib was cooked, so much so that even Mrs. Grumpy seemed embarrassed. The waiter brought out several replacement meals doing his best to try to satisfy him, at one point, Mr. Grumpy actually threw his fork across the table but fortunately, did not hit anyone. After they both stormed out, the rest of us apologized to our waiters, we all agreed we had been happy with food & service. I truly thought our waiter was going to cry. The Grumpys did not come back on the last night, we all wondered if it was due to embarrassment or due to tip night?:eek:

Mr. Grumpy's real name has become our code word for any grumpy person we encounter!:D

Sherri:)

In 19 cruises, we've never had bad tablemates. Twice we were seated at a table for two, so no problems there!

I have to admit, RCI has done a great job with tablemates for us on three of our four cruises (the fourth we had MTD, and ate at the Windjammer all four nights, and loved it!). Our first RCI cruise was a transatlantic, and we were seated with three other couples, two younger than we are by 20 years, and one older than we are by 10 years. Two couples from England, one from Northern Ireland, and the two of us from New Jersey. We had 14 great nights of dinner, and often lunches or breakfasts together. On our last transatlantic we were seated with two couples, again much younger than we are, one from Canada and one from England, and again we had a great time, and often ate other meals together too.

On the third cruise, we were traveling with a friend of mine from grammar school. We hadn't seen each other in 45 years, and recently reconnected and discovered that we live about three miles apart, and know all the same people but had never seen each other. We were seated at a table for 10. The other six people were a large family traveling together, three generations, and all of us were from New Jersey. It was a bit awkward at first, but as we went around the table and introduced ourselves, one of the women from the other group kept staring at me. Finally she told me that my voice sounded very familiar. We had never met, but I do have a rather distinct voice. As the evening wore on and we started talking about work, she suddenly grinned and told me she knew exactly who I was. She is the person who answers the phone for a field rep that I call several times a month! After that, our dinners were very pleasant. We never saw them out and about on the ship, but we did enjoy our dinners.

I can't wait to see what tablemates we get next month!

An interesting note--not one of our tablemates had ever even heard of Cruise Critic!

Beth

Getting to meet other folks can be interesting and fun. Though, on past cruises we have traveled with friends and family which was great fun but left me missing the conversation and the sharing our experiences each day with new friends. The upcoming cruise is slightly different as a couple of twenty-something couples will be joining us and each couple has a partner who will experience their first cruise. Should be fun to hear about their escapades each day.

Although I appreciate that many people enjoy meeting new people, we have to respect cultural differences.

Many people from Europe are not as outgoing as some other cultures.

Many from the Mediterranean regions are only interested in the family unit and will only dine at a time that suits them (which is more often than not late evening) and with close relations which results in very large groups which appear to take over venues and so it appears do not welcome 'outsiders'.

In some cultures there are topics that are not discussed over dinner, and so some find it difficult and uncomfortable when asked about politics, careers, social standing and wealth.

So all I'm saying is, that the flexibility of dining options now available hopefully provides the ability of a range of cultures to dine in comfort without feeling anxious.

We have had amazing times with our table mates. Once, it was all coordinated through CruiseCritic that four couples would share a table as we had enjoyed the "planning and chatting" sessions so much on CC that we chose to share the evening meals together. We are still in touch with the other six people. It truly enhanced the cruise to the point that I have even forgotten where we went!!

HOWEVER, on the flip side: On our second cruise, we were seated with 3 straight couples who were traveling together. We, as a non-straight couple were very cordial and tried to engage into the conversations as appropriate. Someone asked if we were "brothers" and I said "No, we have been a couple for 15 years"...(now it's more than 25 years). Upon hearing that, the main character of the group picked up his chair and turned his back to us literally, and faced his wife for the rest of the meal. It was awkward, but the next day we asked to be moved to a different table and our wish was granted. Lovely accepting people, as are most. THEN.......a bottle of White Zinfandel (?!!!) arrived at our table from the "Colonel", with a note that said "so glad you left". 😔. As the days moved on, several of the people traveling with said "colonel" approached us to apologize for his behavior. One of them said "we should have sent HIM away with his cheap assed bottle of wine, because you guys are a lot more fun than HE is"! At least we could laugh about it at the end of the cruise.

I'd have sent a bottle to him telling him I have standards in my dining arrangements so I was compelled to leave.

I've had great and awful MDR experiences. The bad was on HAL a few years back with my DW. We were on our Baltic/Russia cruise. She was in her late 20's and I in my early 30's. We were the youngest couple BY FAR on the ship and it was a pricey cruise. The ship was 95% silver foxes which I expected and it didn't bother me. First night in the dining room at a table of ten with 8 older people. The minute we sat down the pretentious eye rolling began, the snaring. We knew we youngsters weren't welcome at "their table". I tried so strike up conversation about the cruise and past experiences and all I got was one word replies. By night 2 my DW and I were alone at the same table. We didn't mind and found it comical in a way that they were all at different tables. We paid our money just like they did and are by no means crazy cruise goers. They felt we must have belonged on Carnival on not "their' Holland line. Oh well ...... There's more to the story if anyone wants to hear about an old lady geting a scary earful on the same ship from myself ........

Yea ... love to hear about that !!!

My only story of this nature was years ago when my partner and I were on the SS Seabreeze .. a small ship owned by the long deceased Premier Cruise Line. We were taken to our 8-top the first night and before we even sat, the first thing I hear was "Holy Sh*t, Vin .. a gay couple ...." and my Italian blood immediately began to boil ... I wanted to just bolt outta there ..... until I looked over and saw two big beaming smiles .... and they said "I know this'll be a fun table now!" .. and you know what? It was ... we had a great time each night, ended up hanging out with them by the pool each day, laughing and even got the other 4 at table joining in the fun in no time !

We've never had any problem with tablemates. When asked what my occupation is and I say "police officer" it usually becomes a conversation starter. I love to talk about my job! I've seen everything and I'll tell any one that wants to listen about it. What I like most is when someone inevitably asks if I've ever shot anyone. I always tell them "No, but the night's not over yet!" And PositiveLad, you are going to run into a lot of people that will judge you. I say, "F*** them!" My brother was gay and he and his partner were married 4 years ago. Me, Sammy Straight, was their best man! Sadly I lost my brother 2 years ago to cancer. The best thing he left me was a new brother! And if you and your partner ever decide to tie the knot I'm available for best man duties! Good luck! You guys can share my table any time!!!

 

Elvis

Elvis .. you are now (in my book) THE coolest, sweetest guy here on CC ... wow what a touching post that was. I hope you know what your support meant to your brother and his partner. Your are one hell of a man. And needless to say, my heartfelt sympathy for your loss.

I'd have sent a bottle to him telling him I have standards in my dining arrangements so I was compelled to leave.

Lol. There are a million responses that come to mind. You just can't fix stupid. 😱

Great thread! I love hearing all your stories :)

DH and I have had a bit of a mixed bag. We usually request late seating, large table. Our first RCI cruise (which was DH's first cruise altogether) we were placed on a 6 top and no one else ever turned up! It was on Oasis, so there are a lot of other options. It was our honeymoon so we didn't mind too much.

Next cruise was a 14 night repo and we were close to the youngest on the ship (early 30s). We were placed on an 8 top with 2 other couples and 2 solo cruisers. The next youngest after us was in their 60s and oldest in 70s. We had some trepidation but it turned out pretty great, they were lovely and very interesting people and we were often the last group to leave. We dined together one night in Portofino and another night attended the white party together on deck.

Last cruise we took my MIL and SIL so selected early dining and were seated with a couple and their 2 young children. I'm not very experienced with kids but they were lovely and well behaved. The father was a Dr and my SIL also works in the medical field so that helped break the ice a little.

I'm bummed that we won't have "new" tablemates when we cruise next week. My husband and I will be cruising with our teen daughters and decided it is best to have our own table for four. I have only cruised once before, with a girlfriend, and we had the best time with our table mates. We were all very different, but had a lot of fun. I told my girls I would let them have a formal night "off" if they wanted to (dinner in the room or windjammer without us) and I wish we could crash another group on that night. Oh well. Meeting new table mates is not for every one, but it was a huge part of my last cruise and I will miss it, even though I will be dining with my awesome family. :)

My husband and I have only been on two cruises; both as a result of our hobbies and our dining experiences couldn't have been more different.

Our first cruise was to be an EMT Education cruise (dh and I are both volunteer EMTs and thought a cruise would be a fun way to get some continuing education). Right at final payment time it was determined there weren't enough participants to have the education. We chose to keep the cruise booked (as did at least six other folks). So our dinner table consisted of dh and I, an emergency medicine physician and his wife, two paramedics from Oklahoma (a guy and girl "just friends"), and a paramedic from Denver and her friend, a dispatcher. A mixed bag, but we had "the business" in common. We had a great time talking "shop" and other stuff and drinking way to excess.

So, our second cruise was a follow-on to a National Square Dance Convention. Not only were we cruising to Alaska, we were able to dance some on the ship, AND dance in Juneau on the Fourth of July! Anyway, our large table for late dining was made up of fellow square dancers. OMG. Can you say duds? There was nothing inherently wrong or bad with our dining partners, but none of them would converse. We tried, but couldn't get any conversation going. I'm not the best with small talk, but I usually can do okay. These other three couples were just duds. (I mean, we had square dancing in common so that should have been something to talk about... and we all were at the same convention which was really fun... and had all experienced being in Spokane during the craziness that was Hoopfest. (Maybe there wasn't any convo because we were the only ones to have any drinks at dinner [square dancers tend to not drink much].)

Anyway, we've signed up for MTD for our next cruise but are hoping that either we hit it off with some folks from our roll call or we'll ask for a bigger table for MTD or hope that we can chat cross-tables if we have two-tops for dinner.

Elvis .. you are now (in my book) THE coolest, sweetest guy here on CC ... wow what a touching post that was. I hope you know what your support meant to your brother and his partner. Your are one hell of a man. And needless to say, my heartfelt sympathy for your loss.

Thank you very much. You know, I've been thinking back on past cruises and I think the most interesting people we've ever met on a cruise was a couple from Los Angeles. They were gay and we ran into them every night in the Champagne Bar on Allure. We didn't plan on meeting there but we always saw each other and had a drink together. When they found out about my brother being gay and me being his best man they just thought I was great! I'm not! I just love my brother. So, like I told PositiveLad, you guys can share our table any time!

Wow, you've had a couple of "winners." We only sat with people we don't know on 3 cruises. Enjoyed them all. Generally we cruise with a group from 4 to 12 of us so we always get an appropriate size table.

My wife and I have done 3 or 4 cruises by ourselves and get a table for 2. It's our time to be together. But the tables for 2 are always so close to other tables that we end up making friends with others. Advantage is that if the other people are like some of the ones you describe, we can just stick with the 2 of us.

We NEVER get a big table anymore. A table for two is almost like a big table but you are not setting on top of one and other. Some people are chatty and some are not, just like a big table.

The best times we've had with tablemates at dinner has been when we've only had 1 other couple. On the Majesty, we had a couple who were moving to the Middle East for a year for work. On the next cruise, we had a young couple from Sweden who were also very interesting.

On a cruise to New England and Canada, we had a great retired couple who happened to live near where my in-laws were spending their winters.

My wife and I (also a woman) are going on our first cruise in December and we have been discussing MDR options. I guess we might give it a go once and see what we think. The people I socialize with are all straight and range from 25 to 69 so we should be alright in the MDR. :)

Hi Dr. A,

What a surprise to find you here!

I stumbled into here because of a “slight problem” we had our last cruise with dinner table seating arrangements. It definitely was not the fault of RCCL, nor was it our fault. It was the fault of the two people who decided they wanted to sit at our table on the nights they wanted to and at the time they wanted to. They gave a whole new meaning to “my time dining”, LoL. I don’t think it matters if you are at a 2-top table or a 10-top table…if you have 1 bad apple, it can spoil the whole basket.

Anyway, You and your wife are more then welcome to join us at our table for dinner. We are booked for the early seating (5:30). I know many people normally do not like the early diner seating because of sight-seeing on the islands and other shore excursions, but in December it’s almost dark by 5:00 p.m.

Then, there are a few evenings when the 3 of us will go to the specialty dining rooms for dinner, which will leave the two of you alone to have an intimate evening for two.

If you are interested in sharing a table with us “3 old farts” (me, my husband and our friend)… please email me & I will give you the name our booking is under so your travel-agent can cross reference it. Or…our travel agent can cross reference it if yours can not.

My e-mail: Backyardgirlkc@gmail.com -or-

You can private message me at my facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/karen.giobbecarpenter

On a different note…you should never worry about how others will accept you for who you are, or for being with the person you love. That being said, we look forward to meeting both of you in December.

One my first cruise RCL somehow missed that the teen traveling with me was my daughter and not my spouse or companion. We were placed at a 6 person table with 2 couples. It was the best experience for us both. As a single parent, my daughter also got the experience of what dating is like when you have a dad for she came one evening to say she was going to WJ w a friend and the men started asking all sorts of questions of the boy she was with and setting limits for her before I even had a chance to open my mouth. I've met great people on subsequent trips as well as some duds. The weirdest was when two of us were at a table for 10 alone. My here were 2 neighboring tables the same so the 6 of us joined together and had a great dining experience the rest of the trip.

I've loved this thread :-) I've recently booked by first cruise and whilst I have travelled alone before I have never cruised alone so I was a little anxious about dinners. I have opted for a large table late seating in hopes of meeting some people. Hopefully my table mates are similar to most of the posters on this thread - full of interesting stories and fun to hang out with :D

Hello SimpleCruiserKC! :) Nice to see you here!

I've sent a message on Facebook. It's most likely in your 'other' folder.