Most awkard moments during dinner

[Canary50]

CruizAddct Polly, you are a saint and a good loving daughter!

[Canary50]

My wife and I spent a reasonable amount of time trying to decide whether we wanted to have Select Dining or Late Seating for our upcoming cruise. We finally decided on Late Seating. After reading all of these, as amusing as they are, and they are funny, I hope we made the right choice :eek:.

 

I'll let you know upon our return mid-November.

 

Neil

 

So, how did it go?

[ILoveScotland]

Polly, my husband is a lot older than I am - is now 88 - and has vascular dementia plus many other health problems including being in a wheelchair for well over 3 years. Our last cruise together was over 2 years ago. During that cruise I realized I could no longer manage all his many issues including those similar to the one your mom had.

 

So, you have my admiration for being a loving daughter and taking your mom on the cruise. Even if she didn't remember the cruise, she had the time of her life in the moment, and you knew you had given her and yourself a great gift.

[panoramaofthepast]

I would like to revisit this topic as i found it very amusing.

 

For those of you who are reading this thread, what was the most awkward moment during your dinner on your cruise. :p

Out of 12+ cruises, we have had only one bad experience with table companions. We were at a table for 8 - all couples - and one of the men was contantly monopolizing the conversation. It didn't matter who started a conversation, he took over and talked very loudly. As we left the dining room, I looked at my husband and said "Do you mind . . . " Before I could finish the statement, he said "PLEASE!" The next morning when I went down to request a change of table, one of the other couples was also there. We were put at another table for 8 and had wonderful table companions, but we did feel sorry for the people who were placed at our old table!

[beachchick]

CruzAddct: No, no, no. Please do not apologize or think you should be embarrassed. Had I been in the ladies room when you were taking care of your mom, I would have offered to "guard" the door so you could have more privacy. As a mom myself, I'm not terribly squeamish anymore and even less so now as I just spent the better part of last year helping my mother through her final months (pancreatic cancer).

 

You are a good and loving daughter who went the extra mile for your mom and so you could have those memories. You have nothing to feel awkward about with the situation. You did the best you could and I'm sure that many around you were sympathetic, not disgusted or something like that.

 

I think we can all learn a lesson about one thing: Put an extra pair of undies, pants/shorts, and a shirt in our carryon when disembarking like we do for embarkation day. I'm prone to spilling things these days and have balance problems, so a spare is a necessity. You just never know when something might happen and you need a quick change.

 

beachchick

[wcurry66]

We've only ever ended up at tables for 4, which means us and another couple. None of the other couples have been bad (certainly not on par with the horror stories listed here). But the table size makes it hard to avoid interacting with people with whom you have little in common.

 

On our last cruise, we had a very nice couple.. about our age. They were first time cruisers. After the first night (where we filled in our mutual backgrounds, etc), each night's discussion was basically Cruise Critic 101. The first night went ok, but for some reason, they kept appologizing for themselves.. that he's "just a carpenter", "they didn't go to college", "he listens to classic rock and still goes to concerts". I have no idea why they kept doing that.

 

Cruise Crite 101 - They "charge too much for everything".. "tips are included on my bill, can you believe that?"... "We can't afford an excursion, so the ports are boring." "Soda costs extra." "The boat seems rocky up front." Honestly, one of them spent a day on this site, they would have had a much better time. I felt bad for them and gave them some tips. But, ultimately, since they hadn't planned on spending any extra money, they were bound to be disappointed.

 

It felt awkward talking about our days.. I am a crazy planner and had budgeted a bunch of extra money, found independant excursions, ate off ship whenever possible. its not that we're wealthy, but we planned on enjoying as many things as possible.

 

We stayed in our room for dinner one night; it had nothing to do with the couple.. Just sometimes, its tough to get out of bed, if you know what I'm saying. Well, the next day, we were met with 2 sets of puppy dogs, wanting to appologize for whatever they did, but not wanting to ask outright. She's appologize that he gets cranky.. He'd appologize that she's not very bright. I couldn't bring myself to share the details of my sex life with this couple, so we just attempted to assure them that it had nothing to do with them.

[babs135]

We have friends who live in Florida and as we were going to spend a couple of weeks with them they suggested a 4 nights cruise to the Caribbean - our very first cruise. On our first night at dinner we were on a table with another 2 couples. One of the couples, very charming and obviously very intelligent, were black and we got on very well with them. However, the following night the 2nd couple didn't turn up and, in fact, they never reappeared at all. In my naivety I assumed they preferred casual dining but our friends quietly pointed out that they didn't like sharing with the other couple. Never come across such racism before and hope never to do so again.

[paulanddarnell]

As soon as we checked in, we decided to check out our first balcony cabin, only to find the older couple next door getting a little frisky on their side of the partition. Just a tad awkward.

 

Even more awkward was getting to the dining room and finding out the same couple were our table companions for the next 7 days.

 

They were a wonderful couple, both in their 80's, but I could not get the vision of 80 year old naked butt out of my mind. :eek:

 

Thank you! That really made me laugh!

[Warmer Climes]

On our first cruise our waiter was so nervous that it made us all nervous. For example, if any of us left food on our plates, he asked many, many times if everything was ok. He was covered in sweat. I found dinner every night to be nerve wracking.

 

Our second awkward dining experience was a few years ago when they placed the five of us (myself, DH, DS, DD and nephew) with another family of five from Canada. This family absolutely HATED their cruise. They hated everything from their cabin to the ports and excursions but most especially they hated the food. As soon as you put a forkful into your mouth, the mother said, "How does YOURS taste?" and the expression on her face was the same as if she had accidentally ingested a dog poo. They also had many, many critical things to tell me about the U.S. Then their kids decided a fantastically funny dinner game would be to ask me to say things in French (which I took in HS and college about 900 years ago) or tell them what they were saying when they spoke French. Their parents also thought this was hilarious. Even though I didn't play along with them, they never stopped asking. You are probably saying, why didn't we ask to move? Their daughter was exactly my daughter's age and was in the kids' club with her every day and I saw them all over the ship and I thought it would be very awkward. (Their daughter pestered my kid non-stop in the kids' club, too.) After three nights DH announced that he was not going to dinner any more.

 

Barb:)

[Taxguy77]

After reading all of these, I think I'm now adding to my list of worries that we'll be seated at a table for more than four and our tablemates will ask to be seated somewhere else the next night. I'm reasonably nice (I think), but can always add a new worry to my list of things.

Fortunately, I dress according to the dress code and my kids behave reasonably nicely in a restaurant situation.

 

(Please recognize that this is mostly in jest.)

 

You sound like my mother, she lived to worry!

After telling her our flights a couple of times and hearing her worrys about weather, airline, etc.:eek:, DW and I kept her information at a minimum.

I miss making up things for her to worry about.:(

[Taxguy77]

My husband and I are going on our first cruise on the Princess in early March. We have chosen anytime dining. At first I thought it would be okay to have dinner with others at our table, now I've changed my mind...it will be just me and the husband!

 

I was ambguous about fixed v. open dining until my last 2 cruises, AZ and HAL, connvinced

me fixed was best.

On one cruise we were seated with two other couples and each couple took turns sitting next to the window. During 2 weeks, we each sat next to everyone else and accross from our wives and had great converstations. We saw each other in ports, but never took excursions together, so we had plenty to talk about each evening..

Our waiter got to know us, our likes and the fact we were easy to wait on, and began to give us tips about our next port.

[Taxguy77]

An answer to yourselves,and others who are worried about table mates.

 

My wife and I enjoy meeting people, to us it is one of the joys of cruising. We always request a large table, and only two persons, both ladies, gave any problems, in both cases they seemed to want service which was over and above what any normal person might expect. For example, one lady reported to the Metre'D, that her empty beer can was not removed as soon as it was empty. She left in a snit, with her husband, [who seemed very pleasant], on the very first night!

The second case was quite similar, with a twist, the head waiter was called each night to go over the menu with her, each session lasted about ten minutes. She lasted thee days before taking off with her pleasant, if long suffering husband, once again never to return.

Unfortunately, we met up with he for most of the next fifteen days, playing bridge.

However to us, dinner, with pleasant people, overall has been a highlight of each of our cruises. Enjoy.:)

 

john

 

English was never my best subject, but I do not think ladies is the correct word.

Sorry if this is out of place.

[Taxguy77]

CruzAddct: No, no, no. Please do not apologize or think you should be embarrassed. Had I been in the ladies room when you were taking care of your mom, I would have offered to "guard" the door so you could have more privacy. As a mom myself, I'm not terribly squeamish anymore and even less so now as I just spent the better part of last year helping my mother through her final months (pancreatic cancer).

 

You are a good and loving daughter who went the extra mile for your mom and so you could have those memories. You have nothing to feel awkward about with the situation. You did the best you could and I'm sure that many around you were sympathetic, not disgusted or something like that.

 

I think we can all learn a lesson about one thing: Put an extra pair of undies, pants/shorts, and a shirt in our carryon when disembarking like we do for embarkation day. I'm prone to spilling things these days and have balance problems, so a spare is a necessity. You just never know when something might happen and you need a quick change.

 

beachchick

 

Very nice post.

I wonder if I could catch you on the beach? Can I use my cane?

[mr green]

English was never my best subject, but I do not think ladies is the correct word.

Sorry if this is out of place.

 

I never thought of that, can you supply a substitute word for me to cover any future situation?;)

 

john

[buckanear]

My most awkward dinner was when my husband was downlining and meeting the ship at the first port of call. Since I wasn't assigned a dinner table, I went down to the maitre 'd and had one assigned. It was a table for 8. So the second night (formal night), I got all prettied up and went to my table only to find out that there were no other people assigned to the table. To make it worse, the waiter was kind of non-existent and with nothing to hold my attention, I got to watch as everyone turned and looked at me throughout dinner. But at least I got the bread basket to myself!!! The next night my husband joined me at the massive table, but a nearby table invited us to join them and we had a great time.

[Tralynn]

I was having a very lovely dinner....My DH had his hand on my knee throughout the entire meal. I just kept looking in his eyes all lovey dovey......He patted my knee attentively.....Then I saw him reach for the cream and holding a spoon with his other hand.....It was then that the dinner mate on the other side of me winked at me and I realized that it was HIS hand on my knee the entire evening. Eeeeew! Needless to say, we had our seating arrangement changed immediately for the rest of the cruise.

[mr green]

I was having a very lovely dinner....My DH had his hand on my knee throughout the entire meal. I just kept looking in his eyes all lovey dovey......He patted my knee attentively.....Then I saw him reach for the cream and holding a spoon with his other hand.....It was then that the dinner mate on the other side of me winked at me and I realized that it was HIS hand on my knee the entire evening. Eeeeew! Needless to say, we had our seating arrangement changed immediately for the rest of the cruise.

 

Now THAT'S worth remembering!;)

 

john

[Liz54]

OMG:eek: That will empty those shared tables in a hurry!!!

[CruisinIsMyThang]

Definitely our most awkward moment was the cruise my Mom and I took together in 2009. The first night we were put at a table for 4, and our tablemates were also Mother and Daughter. They were both kind of spinster-like, but we decided to give them a shot. Well, they spent the first meal talking about their cats, their "online friends" and teaching.. Now my Mom is 55 and I'm 26, but we were just not going to spend the reset of the week listening to that. At the end of that meal, we decided we would go talk to the Maitre 'D about being put at another table. They moved us. The last night of the cruise, we saw them in passing... and the older women directly said to me "I know we aren't the funnest but you didn't have to request to move".. talk about awkward.

[janalovesandy]

When I was in high school my family went on a cruise and my sister (17)and I (14) had our own room. Before we went my dad spent a lot of time drilling into us how dangerous it is to go off with the crew and to be friendly in public settings but never go off out of guest areas.

One night after dinner we were back in our room and the phone rang. It was our waiter, and he was requesting my sister meet him later for some special private time, and it was very important she not tell anyone about the call. :eek:

She was really freaked out, mostly that he found out what room we were in and told my dad immediately. The next day at lunch my dad went to the MDR and called the Maitre D to the side, and told him the situation, and he said not to worry about it and we never saw that waiter again.

I felt super awkward the rest of the time, all our table mates were trying to figure out what had happened to our waiter, and we got a LOT of special attention from the Maitre D, including him serving us some nights.

[Liz54]

I expect he needed to serve you some nights as the origonal waiter would have been fired and put out at the first port of call to find his own way home!

[momofmeg]

Well, kind of long (and not for the weak stomached to read), but here goes...

 

I had been taking care of my mom with Alzheimer's for years. She knew I loved to cruise and had lived each one with me vicariously. One day she said she wanted her and I to go on a cruise. I thought about the fact that she would go on this cruise and forget she has immediately (as she was that progressed in her dementia), but I asked her "is this something you want to do before you die?" and she said "with all my heart". How could I say "no"??? I knew that this cruise would not be like the others. I knew that I would be spending a lot of time in our cabin as she was quite feeble and would tire easily and it would be like taking an adult toddler on a cruise - not being able to let her out of my sight, but we were going to go on a cruise because I knew I wouldn't have her with me much longer!!

 

Yes, I'm getting to the awkward part, just wait...

On our last day of the cruise (you know, after you've put all of the luggage you're not going to carry off outside your cabin and its through customs and you're not), Mom and I made our way to the Windjammer to eat breakfast. We had to walk an eternity to find a table as everyone was eating to leave. I thought to myself how I should have gotten her a wheelchair but thought, we'll just take our time and eat and make our way off the ship. We had already left our room and at that time of cruising - you didn't go back as the cabin steward's started to clean them for the next cruisers. I got mom's meal and started her eating as I went back to get mine. When I got back she had a weird look on her face. She told me she needed to use the restroom. I got her up and asked someone at an adjoining table if they would watch my carryon bag and tell the busboys to not take our meals. We hurried (best she could) to the restroom. Partway there she announced that she wasn't going to make it (and she didn't). I had quite a mess (number 2) to deal with. I started crying as I knew I didn't have a change of clothes for her in my carryon. I left her in the restroom, went back to our table and told the people that they could let the meals go and took my bags with me. The really awkward part was in the restroom. The stalls weren't big enough for mom and I to be in them, so I had to clean her with the door open. Ladies were coming in to use the restroom as I washed out her clothing the best I could and as I kept apologizing for the stench and what they were witnessing. I went and got a wheelchair and asked for assistance getting through disembarking and customs to get to clean dry clothes on the other side, of which the cruise staff helped immensely in getting us through very quickly without delay. I just felt so bad for anyone witnessing this horrible experience. I thank God that Mom didn't remember THAT part of her cruise, but I'm afraid I'll NEVER forget it as it was quite embarrassing to say the least.

 

I hope I've not grossed you all out by telling this story. But it definitely tops for being the most awkward dining experience for me. Mom has since passed away and I have wonderful memories of our cruise together and try not to think of this one too often - but the question definitely reminded me.

 

My heart goes out to you-what a loving child you are to your mother-bless you! forget what others thought-it does not matter-be glad you took your mom one last time.

[MSRussell]

My heart goes out to you-what a loving child you are to your mother-bless you! forget what others thought-it does not matter-be glad you took your mom one last time.

 

I would have chipped right and offered to help, then afterward given your lovely Mom a big hug. She sounds like a sweetheart, and you, too. People who were offended by the smell, well, that's life,and it's not all roses. There are other restrooms they could use.

Melanie

[CruizAddct]

All of your kind words have meant so VERY much to me - and have made me feel not only better about that time with Mom but have given me a much better feeling about the world. That so many of you would have offered help, means so much (which I KNOW I would have also helped others in this position, but I've been told I'm "different").

 

Thank you all and may you all have WONDERFUL experiences to come in your future cruising. Hopefully we'll pass by each other some day on a cruise :D.

[momofmeg]

All of your kind words have meant so VERY much to me - and have made me feel not only better about that time with Mom but have given me a much better feeling about the world. That so many of you would have offered help, means so much (which I KNOW I would have also helped others in this position, but I've been told I'm "different").

 

Thank you all and may you all have WONDERFUL experiences to come in your future cruising. Hopefully we'll pass by each other some day on a cruise :D.

 

My father had alzheimers at a fairly young age-he died at 63 almost 64. I never experienced that with him in public, but I did have to clean the poop off of him more than a few times. The most embarrassing thing he did to me was take his dentures out in public-LOL-since he was almost 36 when I was born-I was in my early- mid twenties when his symptoms got obvious. You know, back then I was young enough that those type things would embarrass me-LOL! Now, I have enough life's experience not to care. Besides, now most people are familiar with this disease, many have had family members with this-most will bless you for being such a loving and devoted daughter to your mother.