They used to put effort into putting similar people together. When we first started cruising we were always seated with people about our age, empty nesters usually so no kids, similar C&A status most of the time. Now, it's completely random. One cruise, we were seated with 4 other people. Two were a Vietnamese woman and her 18 yr old son. English wasn't her first language, but we managed to talk we just didn't have much in common but her son was very polite and easy to converse with. At the same table were two guys (couple) who sat as far away as possible from the 4 of us, talked only to each other and never once acknowledged they were seated at a table with other people. We even said hello and they just ignored all of us. Truly weird.