If you're sitting with strangers in the MDR...

[nonna5]

I like to sit a large table. Usually there is always someone you hit it off with. I have made friends on cruises that I have kept in contact with and have even cruised with again.

[tef43]

Do you make a concerted effort to keep the conversation going?

No, I go to the MDR to eat.

I try to make conversation with tablemates, but I quit if I can tell they are just quiet people who like to be left alone.

The icy stare that you get in return when you start to talk works wonders.

[kimmie1526]

Do you make a concerted effort to keep the conversation going? Or do you prefer to let others do the talking?

 

This will be our first cruise without other family members in close to 15 years. The last time my husband and I went alone we were assigned to a table for 4 with another couple who spoke only when spoken to. My husband hated how uncomfortable it was, and wants to ask for a table by ourselves this time, rather than go through that again.

 

I would love to sit with a large group this time, and get to know some other people. I have no problem keeping up my end of the conversation, but it would be nice if other people talked as well.

 

 

This will be our 3rd cruise. The first one we were at a huge table with 6 couples total. For the most part we got along with the whole group. There was one lady that no one cared for but we all dealt with.:o On the second one there was a couple that was from Canada. It was their first cruise and they were great as well. We taught them about cruising and the main dinning room. They did not know that they could order more than one thing, or request something else to drink, just that kind of stuff. This time we are going to have a group of 5 for sure, but maybe 7. We are looking forward to a great time. I guess what I am getting at is we have never been in an akward situation like the one that you have had. All of ours were awesome except for one lady!!!!!:cool:

[tef43]

You'd be surprised how many people don't know about cruise critic.

Maybe 2% of the cruising population has ever heard of CC, so why would that surprise you? :confused:

[Jeafl]

No, I go to the MDR to eat.

The icy stare that you get in return when you start to talk works wonders.

 

So am I to assume that you don't sit with strangers? ;)

[Trish12345]

We like chatty people who love to drink & eat. You can find out interesting things about what they have done on the islands. But keep it short, no one wants to hear your life story.:rolleyes:

[najnelle]

We have always had a table with strangers. We have enjoyed getting to know them. It seems like we all go on different excursions and do different things every day so it's fun to hear about the things you didn't get to do. We will be sitting at the table we are assigned to this fall and look forward to making new friends.

[scomar]

When you go to a restaurant....do you ask to be seated with strangers?

 

Why should it be any different on a cruise?

 

I don't like sitting with strangers. I find it awkward to keep a conversation going, I hate small talk, I hate hearing about their grand-kids, politics and religion are taboo (unless of course they agree with me :)). I speak NYese...I don't understand Southern or Mid West. People probably don't understand me. I won't go into the difficulties my husband has with understanding accents....or people understanding him.

 

Obviously I'm with your husband on this one.

 

There are other places to meet people on a ship....why get "locked into a situation" that may not be the best?

 

I can understand your point of view, but most people on this forum are basically doing just that. Having conversations with complete strangers. The one main difference of course is you are not face to face. There is always the option of having a different table assigned just as you can go to a different thread on here. I find it very interesting to meet new people no matter what environment I am in. The only thing you must be willing to do is put up with someone else's opinion beside your own and realize an opinion is not a statement of the truth but what the person perceives to be the truth.

[bvhboat]

My dh is pretty shy and quiet. He is not the small talk chatty type.... so I do often feel the pressure to keep the conversation going if we are sitting at a table with others.

 

This last cruise we were at a table for 10. Only four of us showed up the first night. It was a little uncomfortable for me unfortunately. Initially we didn't think we had much in common with our tablemates. The next night we had another couple show up so six of us total... We had absolutely nothing in common with them. They argued about who was going to sit next to my dh, it was very uncomfortable! It did help the conversation a bit to have another couple there.

 

Our very first cruise we were at a table for six. Only four of us were there for the first several nights. The last night of dinner another couple showed up and it was a little awkward because we and the first couple really got along great, seemed to chat freely and other couple acted like they hated us.

 

We are thinking we will try any time dining next time...

 

We were seated with 4 couples from the mid west once & every time we ordered cocktails they stared at us like we were doing something wrong.

We tried ATD on our last cruise & will never go back. The only negative is not having the same wait staff every night.

[crusinpsychRN]

I've been seated with someone who was a patient of mine 2 years before the cruise. She was with her boyfriend who put too much pepper on his steak and started sneezing over and over. Good thing there was no one in the chair next to him because he never covered his face even when given a napkin. After 20 sneezes he left the table. When I left I thought that was going to be a long week but then I thought no, I'm not doing this. I changed tables. I was seated with some older folks who were well traveled and had great stories.

 

Another time I was seated with 6 other solos. One night we ended up talkig about OJ and someone commented how he might have a bad time in jail. One guy said "Why? All he did was kill a woman and a jew." No one could believe it. How do you recover from that?

 

At breakfast I was seated with several couples and we were all from the Tampa area. One lady started talking about her religion and all the others joined in so I had a sermon with breakfast.

[summer_girl]

We like chatty people who love to drink & eat. You can find out interesting things about what they have done on the islands. But keep it short, no one wants to hear your life story.:rolleyes:

 

This is a great statement...

We love the fun small talk, but we are all on vacation...no one wants to hear your dirty laundry...work troubles, marriage troubles, or kid troubles... Check the negativity and troubles at the door before you enter the ship!! :D

[M&MGirl1]

Sissy and I love being seated at large tables with other people and have made friends with several people we still keep in touch with as a result. Often we end up hanging out with some or all of our table mates during the cruise.

 

Definitely see why some people don't like dining at a table with others, so I guess it's great that Carnival offers both fixed seating and ATD now! We're trying ATD on the Elation in June since we're taking Mom & Dad with us, but a big part of me would much rather have requested a large, late seating table because I'll miss getting to meet and get to know a bunch of new table mates.

[Zoedokey]

No, I go to the MDR to eat.

The icy stare that you get in return when you start to talk works wonders.

 

I'm assuming you do ATD now?

[Rockitman]

We never specifically ask others that question but if we get asked, or if its followed up with "how many cruises have you been on?", we try to keep it vague ("a few") because, even though we aren't trying to be, we don't want to come across as bragging.

 

We break the ice by asking the other couple if they swing. If they say yes, then I follow it up with "how many times have you swung?".

[GaNavy]

There are several solutions to this dilemma: eat at the buffet, do My/Your/His/Her/Their/Any Time Dining, change tables, etc.

 

But I don't have this problem when seated at a large table - the only time I did was when the boneheaded maitre d' managed to seat me at a 10-top with 8 people who spoke no English. Otherwise, there seems always to be someone to talk to or an interesting conversation to listen to.

 

I confess that I'm a little baffled at those who go on big cruise ships with 3,000 or so of their "closest friends" and then don't want to meet new people, but each to their own preference. For me, making new friends is one of the big attractions of a cruise.

[musicgal]

I used to like it until our last two cruises. On the Louis Majesty we were at a table with some very formal, but nice Japanese retirees... who didn't speak much English- and I am not fluent in Asian languages;) so yeh, that was loads of fun. The night before that, we were with Europeans with whom we could not converse either... kind of like sitting at a private table:p

 

I find that older couples on cruises are more likely to be willing to engage in appropriate dinnertime conversations- I really think it is a generational difference, as conversation with strangers involves cetain skill sets which many people do not cultivate today. On a recent, short Ecstasy trip, we had the truncated tables that have a short gap between couples- and our tablemates did not really "chat" with us until the last two days when they became interested in something we were discussing amongst ourselves. I didn't mind- and I was happy to have the interchange. But it exposed the mindset that people feel that it is safer to be a stranger... perhaps too many people drone on about things they shouldn't after that initial door is opened.

 

I try not to have expectations about meeting new people like that anymore- we usually travel with family and friends so it not an issue... but I wish that we all retained the art of genteel dinnertime conversation. One of my favorite movie scenes is from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at the table where almost all the men have paid the maitre'd to be seated with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. Rich:)

 

The best aspect of meeting someone at dinner- is that sometimes they are a fount of information about ports of call and activities on the ship.

[Zoedokey]

If you are traveling as a couple, so they try to match you with other couples? Or if you have children, so they put you with children?

[MrsZee]

We had a booth with another couple on my first cruise. That was one of the most AWKWARD things I have ever experienced in my life. It was awful! And I am pretty social, but drawing people out when you are STARING at them through out dinner. Ick. NEVER AGAIN.

[Cruzface]

Reading these posts makes me so happy we always travel with another family of 4 and therefore always get our own table of 8. I like meeting new people, but to force conversation through dinner is just too much work when I'm on vacation.

[cdamion]

If you are traveling as a couple, so they try to match you with other couples? Or if you have children, so they put you with children?

 

I am wondering this myself as I will be traveling with kids next. The last time I traveled with the kids we had our own 4-top. I have requested a large table this time though.

[nw2this]

I am wondering this myself as I will be traveling with kids next. The last time I traveled with the kids we had our own 4-top. I have requested a large table this time though.

 

How did you request a large table?