Odd dining room conversations...

[btyko]

if I dont feel like talking, I just smile politely and say "f$#* off!"

 

works everytime.:D

 

 

 

I have tried that several times, but my wife just keeps on talking to me.

[elcuchio24]

We've been at tables where myself and one of the other passengers will start talking about hunting, which usually stirs someone up the wrong way at the table, oh well, spices things up at least!;)

[elcuchio24]

Don't always count on that because we have asked for a table ALONE at breakfast a few times only to be seated alone, and then low and behold here comes another greeter / host with others that they seat at the table with us. Has happened a few times. What can ya say?

 

Get a 2 top. Then there is no room for anyone else. That's what we do when we go to the MDR for lunch or breakfast.

[3 MO sisters]

People don't make a lot of small talk with my wife and myself when at dinner. At first they do, but when it comes around to what I do for a living and I tell them I work for the IRS in the auditing department everything becomes pretty quiet for the rest of the cruise. If they get very yacky I just ask for their social security number and that shuts them up for good!

 

When I fly somewhere and I sit next to someone and maybe I don't feel like making small talk I just tell them where I work and no more talky talky.

 

Wiz

 

A lot of our family members (11) have worked for the IRS through the years, but no auditors. Younger sister has been there 28 years. She is always afraid of what people will ask her, but so far no one has come unglued.

[H82seaUgo]

I have tried that several times, but my wife just keeps on talking to me.

 

lol!

 

:D

[megansdad1]

I have tried that several times, but my wife just keeps on talking to me.

 

 

lol. If i tried that with my wife, the next thing I would hear would be a shovel hitting my skull.

[frito58]

Our last cruise we sat at breakfast this not old but older than us couple started telling us how they retired and loved to vacation and how they had invested into all of this property when things where good and then basically screwed the banks and let most of them that didnt want go to forclosure and somehow paid off the good propertys when things went to crap :eek::eek: took the money and run and now vacation , we read between the lines be we all had the same impression , I was like ok whatever. They were like you really need to plan your future:confused:

[Tbay-eh]

lol. If i tried that with my wife, the next thing I would hear would be a shovel hitting my skull.

 

my guy is still recovering - but not from a shovel - I asked him to volunterr to teach marriage preparation course at our church and 26 years later he still wishes he had listened to what he was saying yes to. He tells the story to this day - he was watching the Vikings lose even back then.

[cruisinbuddy]

Any one who has ever cruised and has been seated with strangers at breakfast in the main dining room on a port day has been asked this same question: What are your plans for today?

 

On our last cruise, I asked that question of a young couple on their first cruise. Their answer: We're gonna get a taxi and go to Walmart and buy some Tupperware containers...we really don't feel like cookin when we get home.' I was speechless!!

 

The distance they had to travel in a taxi (cost), the cost of the food containers....they could have eaten out all week when they returned home!

You might be a Redneck if.........

[BigDfromTN]

Im thinking that gives creedance to the fact that Carnival just MAY be the Walmart of cruises.....OR that Walmart shoppers cruise on Carnival.:p:eek::D

[Ckrewz]

Several years back my friend and I left our husbands and kids behind to celebrate our 40th birthdays in cruise style. We decided that it would be a total party cruise. We slept in really late most every sea day and then would prowl the ship in no makeup, ball caps and sunglasses ( we were pretty scary looking) until evening time when we would get all dolled up for dinner and dancing. One afternoon at lunch/"breakfast" we saw some women we had met in the lounge the night before. We thought hey they were lots of fun to visit with and THEY had told us to look for them again, let's go say hi and see what they were up to tonight. We wonder over, asked if we could sit with them, and they both kind of mumbled "fine".:confused: At first I thought it a bit strange but then we had been out really late the night before maybe they were not feelling so good. We struck up a conversation (well tried) about the night before and what might be happening that evening. Finally, after some weird looks between the two of them one looks a me and says (with some attitude), "Do we know you?" I said well yes, we are "Cindy" and "Sally" from last night". They both got the stranges looks on their faces and then said "WOW! You guys look WAY different in the daylight!" HMMMMMM......:o Well fortunately my friend and I thought the situation was hysterical and we all died laughing! They then proclaimed us the extreme makeover winners!!

[Room Service!]

Crewz-that's funny, ....... and a little scary. lol

[Ckrewz]

Crewz-that's funny, ....... and a little scary. lol

 

;) LOL!! So true, it is!!:eek:

But I like to look back and think it's because we looked JUST SO DARN GOOD EVERY EVENING!!!!! :rolleyes::D

[airhead22]

I don't usually like conversation in the morning, but one day on our last cruise we were seated with a couple, and discovered that the wife was a 5 year heart transplant recepient. She was working on her bucket list and was truly an inspiration. I am glad I went that day. :)

[Ckrewz]

I don't usually like conversation in the morning, but one day on our last cruise we were seated with a couple, and discovered that the wife was a 5 year heart transplant recepient. She was working on her bucket list and was truly an inspiration. I am glad I went that day. :)

 

Yep, conversations like that will really make you take stock of what is important. So glad for you that you went that day!

[vacruizer]

Our last cruise we sat at breakfast this not old but older than us couple started telling us how they retired and loved to vacation and how they had invested into all of this property when things where good and then basically screwed the banks and let most of them that didnt want go to forclosure and somehow paid off the good propertys when things went to crap :eek::eek: took the money and run and now vacation , we read between the lines be we all had the same impression , I was like ok whatever. They were like you really need to plan your future:confused:

 

Not sure I could have kept my cool with that one. Being in the mortgage business the bankers get a bad reputation (sometimes deserved, sometimes not) but there are just as many shady customers out there pulling crap like this!

[ib4cruzn]

That's a very sad statement on their culinary tastes.

 

Not aboard Carnival...

[CruiserKid]

I'm not sure what is appropriate when I'm seated with strangers at breakfast. If people are already seated, I politely say "Good Morning" to people who are seated. I usually don't say anything else unless they continue to talk to me beyond the morning greeting.

 

If others join my table, I usually say "Welcome" and that's it. I don't know if my tablemates are talkers or silent type. I'm fine with either one.

 

However, if you don't want conversation, don't make small talk. Simply express the desire by not asking questions and giving quick one or two words responses. I quickly get the hint that you don't want to talk.

 

I hope it is not considered rude, but I like to work on puzzles if I'm not conversating while I'm waiting for breakfast to be served. Is that considered rude? I don't think I will like some answers, so I'll just clarify that I don't mean to be rude, but if we are not conversating, I'll be working on my puzzle.

 

Cruise Manners are difficult to define cause we are all different.

[shonuf]

Just have to jump in here, will try not to ramble. We are booked on the Triumph in Jan. and have chosen any time dining (or whatever they call it) due to some really disastrous table assignments on Carnival.

 

On one 4 day cruise, we had 3 different table assignments. First was in a booth, which we asked to change as DH is a big guy and booths very small. Maitre'd told us he'd put us at the Captain's table as the ship was so full, they were using it as a regular table. He then said, "If you don't like it, come see me after dinner".:confused: What did he know we didn't?

 

We got to the table for 12 and there were two women there. Three women sat down next to me and would only talk to each other, they were ticked that the rest of their party was seated together without them. I gave up trying to talk to them. The rest of the table filled with women, DH was the only male. One of them said "What are you people doing at OUR table?" They had been told it would be all singles. We ate, got up without a word and found the Maitre'd and got another table assignment, this one an eight top with 6 members of one family. In introductions, we were asked why we were on the cruise. We told them we had just retired from a 25 year hot air ballooning career and it was the weekend of our hometown event so we decided to get out of town. One of the ladies said "I know someone who is a balloonist, her name is Ann E...., do you know her?" We told her Ann had been our crew coordinator for several years! In fact we had all been at a party for Ann.

 

Other notable baddies were the woman who would only drink cocktails that she could get for free (she would ask people for a taste of their drink) and talked on her cell phone at dinner every night. Same table had a guy who wanted to exchange e-mail addresses so he could send us dirty jokes! That was the second table that trip. The first was two couples who were with a group we were all part of. The two couples were from the same town but didn't know each other until the cruise. They were very interested in one upsmanship and bragging about how much money they had. (One of them ended up threatening to sue the group organizer because they wouldn't let her sit in the handicapped area at the private concerts)!

 

On a Brand X cruise, the husband of one couple (from Canada) and the female of the other couple (from Texas) danged near came to blows at dinner the first night discussing politics and mad-cow disease. I told my husband I wouldn't go back to the table. He convinced me to try it once more and the next night Canadian guy was much calmer. I think his wife jerked a knot in his chain!!

 

On a HAL cruise we were trapped at a long table filled with people who were from a different colored state than we were and spent the entire evening ridiculing our state; meanwhile one woman was bragging about having been at a party with a famous politician (who was also known for driving his car off a bridge). She didn't know him, just had been at a party with him!! She had also monopolized the captain at the VIP cocktail party earlier. The tables were so tightly placed that we couldn't get out until the table behind us cleared.

 

So this trip we'll try ATD, we actually really enjoy meeting new people and have met some lovely ones..

[Lisa81]

I have tried that several times, but my wife just keeps on talking to me.

 

LOL you poor thing! Too funny :)

[GlendaleCruiser]

That is the reason we love Anytime dining. If it is just my DH and myself, and if we feel like conversation, we will let them know that we don't mind being seated with others. I like to meet other cruisers from different walks of life and enjoy having conversation with them. But on the other hand, if we don't really feel very sociable then we can simply ask to be seated by ourselves. I would hope that others would do the same and not have to be seated with other couples if they don't enjoy that. On our last cruise we enjoyed sharing a table on three nights (5 night cruise) and the conversation was great! There was a funny thing that happened on one of those nights. A couple was directed to our table and when they got there the young lady said she didn't want to sit there. Then when she realized what she had actually said out loud, she said I mean, we don't want to bother you. He then joined in and said, we really don't want to bother you. My DH and I just looked at them because it was obvious that they just didn't want to sit with us. The maitre d' said to them....you should have told us when you checked in. I thought it was very rude but it worked out because they then seated another couple with us and they were very sweet and we enjoyed them very much.

This reminds me of our last cruise on the Magic. I always ask for a large, ten round if possible, and to be put with other singles. A lot of time they can accommodate us.

Well, we get to our table and two women are there and one of them is steaming mad because the other people in her party are at another table. The waitress tried to let them know that they would fix it on night two and the rest of us were trying to be nice to them. The other lady was just embarrassed, but the first was loud and wasn't having any of it. Walking across the dining room to her friends and talking to the waiter there. Someone went for the maitre 'D and they actually seated them with their friends right away.

Everyone left at our table decided that we had dodged a bullet on that one and were glad we didn't have to spend one dinner with them under the circumstances. The other six single ladies at the table were wonderful and many of us continue to chat.

[crusinpsychRN]

Breafast in the MDR can be really strange. I've been seated with others who will not talk to you. Another time one lady started talking about her religion and soon all 7 of the others were talking about their religious beliefs while some of them cursed when they spoke. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

 

I guess people are working off a hangover because the same people who won't talk in the morning are chatty cathy's at dinner.

[Shar179]

I took my first ever cruise on the Fascination in September (loved it!) My friend and I chose the Your Time Dining so that we would have flexibility in our schedule and could meet different people at dinner. On the second night of our trip, we sat next to an older couple who went on and on about each and every one of their 25 cruises. Then, after they apparently figured out that they had overwhelmed us with their cruise history, they asked us our occupations. Well, once the wife found out that I am an RN, she proceded to describe (in great detail) her recent colonoscopy (including her experience with the prep the evening before), and the removal of 16 polyps. I think I got the entire medical record and pathology report from her! I'm sure they are a very nice couple, but I'm so glad we only met them that one night.

[cruise_pirate]

In 2006 on the Inspiration my table mates a mid 50's aged couple, were on their honeymoon, on the second to last night he told me " I hope you enjoyed your cruise becasue I know how much money your occupation makes and I doubt you will be able to go on another cruise anytime soon."

 

LOL, how would that clown know my financial situation?? I only wished I had gotten his address so I could have sent him many postcards over the years..:D

[HappyCampers3]

OR they said that to you to get you to quit bothering them! Don't always judge a book by their cover....

 

Wow, that's a nasty comment. Who's judging who here?