Sitting with strangers in the MDR

[Raxter54]

Hank - DW and I cruise to relax and reconnect from our busy lives. One of the main relaxing times is sitting together at our MDR table, going over what our days were like and what we would like to do tomorrow. This is how we like to cruise. Sorry if you consider this antisocial behavior, but your approval is not required or asked for. Question for you - how many times do you go out for dinner, walk in the restaurant, and say, "Please seat us at a table with 6 strangers." Not very often, I would think...

[K32682]

With your anti-social attitude we would sure hope the Maitre'd would put you at a 2-top...somewhere in a far corner :) where you can have peace.....

 

Hank

Thank-you. Far corner would be excellent! I'd want to be as far as possible from anyone who judges a preference not to share one's dinner table with complete strangers on a cruise as being somehow "anti-social." :rolleyes:

[navybankerteacher]

Thank-you. Far corner would be excellent! I'd want to be as far as possible from anyone who judges a preference not to share one's dinner table with complete strangers on a cruise as being somehow "anti-social." :rolleyes:

 

Everyone should be able to select the dining arrangements he/she prefers; but, yes, electing to avoid the opportunity to experience common dining tables (which is almost unique on cruise ships) is, in fact, "somehow 'anti-social' ". There is nothing wrong with it, but to deny it is just a bit sad --- especially when voiced by someone who wants a "far corner" from someone who just thinks differently.

 

I think you might feel uncomfortable having a casual conversation with someone you have just met - which is fine; again, it is good for everybody that there is the option to dine alone or to risk interaction with different people.

[Raxter54]

Everyone should be able to select the dining arrangements he/she prefers; but, yes, electing to avoid the opportunity to experience common dining tables (which is almost unique on cruise ships) is, in fact, "somehow 'anti-social' ". There is nothing wrong with it, but to deny it is just a bit sad --- especially when voiced by someone who wants a "far corner" from someone who just thinks differently.

 

I think you might feel uncomfortable having a casual conversation with someone you have just met - which is fine; again, it is good for everybody that there is the option to dine alone or to risk interaction with different people.

Ah, so you get to define what is or isn't anti-social behavior? I'll remember to consult you in the future when the subject comes up....

 

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[Markanddonna]

I am grateful if people who prefer to not sit with strangers are accommodated. I only want to engage with people who enjoy meeting and conversing with others. The thought that pleasant social interactions would stress out a fellow passenger is a foreign concept to me.

 

We cruise mostly on much longer sailings and have had only one bad experience on the first night: two French Canadians who claimed they spoke almost no English, a silent man, and his sour wife, and four empty seats. We asked the Matre de to change our table and found the most delightful group ever. I'm willing to tolerate a negative group for one night, but not 22 dinners.

[K32682]

Everyone should be able to select the dining arrangements he/she prefers; but, yes, electing to avoid the opportunity to experience common dining tables (which is almost unique on cruise ships) is, in fact, "somehow 'anti-social' ". There is nothing wrong with it, but to deny it is just a bit sad --- especially when voiced by someone who wants a "far corner" from someone who just thinks differently.

 

I think you might feel uncomfortable having a casual conversation with someone you have just met - which is fine; again, it is good for everybody that there is the option to dine alone or to risk interaction with different people.

Casual conversations are just fine. My objective is to enjoy my cruise and prefer not to again risk having dinner dominated by intrusive gasbags with opinions on everything and a determination to share them.

 

What is sad are the cruisers who look forward to expanding their social circle with whomever the computer selects as their dinner companions. I'd prefer they judge me "anti-social" than having to endure them for the entire voyage.

[Raxter54]

I am grateful if people who prefer to not sit with strangers are accommodated. I only want to engage with people who enjoy meeting and conversing with others. The thought that pleasant social interactions would stress out a fellow passenger is a foreign concept to me.

 

We cruise mostly on much longer sailings and have had only one bad experience on the first night: two French Canadians who claimed they spoke almost no English, a silent man, and his sour wife, and four empty seats. We asked the Matre de to change our table and found the most delightful group ever. I'm willing to tolerate a negative group for one night, but not 22 dinners.

As stated before, DW and I cruise to spend time together. "Pleasant social interactions" don't stress me out, it's just not something I look for. Sorry if that doesn't conform to your idea of cruising...

 

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[navybankerteacher]

Ah, so you get to define what is or isn't anti-social behavior? I'll remember to consult you in the future when the subject comes up....

 

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Avoiding social situations can objectively be defined as "SOMEHOW anti-social" - which is the phrasing I used.

 

And, yes, like everyone else, I do get to hold views . I do not get to criticize others for holding their views - perhaps that is part of the reason I am comfortable dining with strangers. And, if I do happen to be assigned to a table with unpleasant people, I am able to easily change it.

[cruzeluver]

Threads like this make me eternally grateful to not be a maitre d on a cruise ship! I cannot imagine trying to accommodate the preferences of thousands of people, some of whom will pitch a fit if what they want cannot be.

 

"I MUST have a table by a window!"

 

"I CANNOT sit anywhere near a window!"

 

"I MUST have a table for two, I am NOT eating with a bunch of COMPLETE (as opposed to "partial") strangers!"

 

" I HAVE to be at a large table. We love meeting new people!"

 

"We simply MUST be sat near the entrance!"

 

"We HAVE to have a table away from the entrance!"

 

I'd shoot myself.

[Raxter54]

Avoiding social situations can objectively be defined as "SOMEHOW anti-social" - which is the phrasing I used.

 

And, yes, like everyone else, I do get to hold views . I do not get to criticize others for holding their views - perhaps that is part of the reason I am comfortable dining with strangers. And, if I do happen to be assigned to a table with unpleasant people, I am able to easily change it.

And I get to sit with pleasant company, and we are both happy. Isn't cruising wonderful [emoji3]

 

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[navybankerteacher]

I am grateful if people who prefer to not sit with strangers are accommodated. I only want to engage with people who enjoy meeting and conversing with others. The thought that pleasant social interactions would stress out a fellow passenger is a foreign concept to me.

 

We cruise mostly on much longer sailings and have had only one bad experience on the first night: two French Canadians who claimed they spoke almost no English, a silent man, and his sour wife, and four empty seats. We asked the Matre de to change our table and found the most delightful group ever. I'm willing to tolerate a negative group for one night, but not 22 dinners.

 

I think I met those French Canadians (who seem to travel with that silent man with the sour wife) -- and took the same action.

 

The introduction of anytime dining is great - it means that people who do not enjoy "meeting and conversing with others" will not select assigned dining; with the result that the odds are improved for my randomly assigned group being more compatible.

 

Everybody wins.

[samshltn]

I am quite accustomed to communal dining in hostels, canteens and messes. I've grown up scoffing around a bench with colleagues, strangers, and mates. But, in eleven cruises, I had never been expected to share my dinner with strangers. That was until my twelfth cruise, on MSC, where I found it quite a shock to be assigned randomly to join tables of other people with whom we had nothing in common - in one case not even a shared language.

 

On every cruise we've been on, we have met people who we have chosen to invite to join us for dinner. This, I would say, is customary: You invites the people you are getting on with to dinner, and continue your conversations over your meal.

 

I was absolutely unaware that there were cruise lines that did this. I don't expect to be forced to dine with strangers, so I really appreciate the fact that NCL has allowed me to exist in a world where this imposition is completely alien.

[Raxter54]

DW and I always choose early dining, and a table for 2 - unless we're cruising in a group. It's great that most cruise lines will accommodate a person's dining wishes. Like Navybankerteacher said, everyone wins [emoji4]

 

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[Cruise Junky]

Not a fan of shared tables. Did it regularly in our early cruising days but not anymore. Table for 2 unless travelling with friends/family or we'll eat somewhere else.

[Velvetwater]

Oddly, when being on a sailing from Southampton (Royal Caribbean Indy 7 day to Northern Spain) with a ship that was 90% Brits we were told by dining admins after saying we didn't mind sitting with strangers:

 

'We aren't really doing sharing/mixed tables for anytime as cruisers here don't seem to like it and we might need the tables for larger groups'

 

This was on a big ship cruise where large tables were often empty in anytime and you could not get the time you wanted unless you rang up before midday of the evening you wanted to dine. Really bad dining organisation.

 

We sailed out of Southampton to Norway with NCL (Jade)with a similar high Brit percentage and could dine with anyone and anytime with the odd half an hour beeper on some nights.

 

According to my RCL loving friend my experience was unusual.

[Hlitner]

Casual conversations are just fine. My objective is to enjoy my cruise and prefer not to again risk having dinner dominated by intrusive gasbags with opinions on everything and a determination to share them.

 

What is sad are the cruisers who look forward to expanding their social circle with whomever the computer selects as their dinner companions. I'd prefer they judge me "anti-social" than having to endure them for the entire voyage.

 

Totally agree with you :). That is another reason why we prefer the open dining schemes (Anytime Dining, Select, etc). We simply show-up at the MDR door when we want to dine and tell the Maitre'd we would be delighted to share a large table. This usually gets us seated very quickly. Sometimes we have terrific dining companions and other times not so great. On long cruises, after a few days we will have met quite a few others who dine around the same time (we dine late) and a group of us might actually form our own regular table...or decide to dine together a few times a week. This works particularly well on very long cruises (more then a month) where it can get boring to dine with the same folks every night.

 

Hank

[navybankerteacher]

 

...

I was absolutely unaware that there were cruise lines that did this. I don't expect to be forced to dine with strangers, so I really appreciate the fact that NCL has allowed me to exist in a world where this imposition is completely alien.

 

One of a number of things which I dislike about NCL is the fact that it is virtually impossible to join others for dinner - on our last 10 day sailing with them, the MDR manager never paired us with others in spite of our request for a shared table. So much for "Free Style" - it is THEIR style. On other llines you actually have a choice.

[pacruise804]

Oddly, when being on a sailing from Southampton (Royal Caribbean Indy 7 day to Northern Spain) with a ship that was 90% Brits we were told by dining admins after saying we didn't mind sitting with strangers:

 

'We aren't really doing sharing/mixed tables for anytime as cruisers here don't seem to like it and we might need the tables for larger groups'

 

This was on a big ship cruise where large tables were often empty in anytime and you could not get the time you wanted unless you rang up before midday of the evening you wanted to dine. Really bad dining organisation.

 

We sailed out of Southampton to Norway with NCL (Jade)with a similar high Brit percentage and could dine with anyone and anytime with the odd half an hour beeper on some nights.

 

According to my RCL loving friend my experience was unusual.

 

One of a number of things which I dislike about NCL is the fact that it is virtually impossible to join others for dinner - on our last 10 day sailing with them, the MDR manager never paired us with others in spite of our request for a shared table. So much for "Free Style" - it is THEIR style. On other llines you actually have a choice.

 

On our recent Carnival cruise and on NCL two years ago we found it extremely rare to have shared tables for anytime dining. I don't know if this is becoming a trend or if it was just those two cruises. I know our NCL cruise had the worst MDR customer service of any ship we've been on.

 

We like the freedom of non-traditional dining, but we do enjoy sharing a meal with others. We tried traditional once and we felt very rushed making dinner on time some nights. Any-time allowed us to meet more people too, but now it appears that more often than not my husband will be stuck with just me;)

[navybankerteacher]

 

...

 

I know our NCL cruise had the worst MDR customer service of any ship we've been on.

 

...

 

 

I think NCL has focused very much on their alternative (added fee) restaurants -- to the detriment of the quality of the food and service in the included dining rooms.

[sparks1093]

I think NCL has focused very much on their alternative (added fee) restaurants -- to the detriment of the quality of the food and service in the included dining rooms.

 

I don't know, we tried a specialty restaurant once on our last NCL cruise and all in all it was okay, but the spaghetti side (in an Italian restaurant) was literally overcooked spaghetti covered with tomato soup (and both DW and I enjoyed the same dish much better on our Carnival cruise and it was of course served in the MDR). A very sour note indeed. The service was acceptable, but not much better than in the MDR.

 

And to the topic, one of the reasons that we travel is to see new places and meet new people so we don't mind sitting with others, so we've never given any time dining a shot.

[samshltn]

...it is virtually impossible to join others for dinner...

 

Are you saying that you were unable to find anyone willing to join you for dinner, or that the Mâitre D' was unable to find anyone willing to join you for dinner?

 

Or did you both fail?

[navybankerteacher]

Are you saying that you were unable to find anyone willing to join you for dinner, or that the Mâitre D' was unable to find anyone willing to join you for dinner?

 

Or did you both fail?

 

The Maitre D was either unwilling or unable to find anyone interested in sharing a table, so I would answer your snark with the view that he failed.

 

I will acknowledge that my selecting NCL for the cruise was a failure in judgement on my part.

[Aquahound]

I know our NCL cruise had the worst MDR customer service of any ship we've been on.

 

I'll one-up that and say our NCL cruises have had both the worst customer service and worst food of all the cruise lines we've been on. But that's what happens when you sail the Spirit Airlines of the seas.

[samshltn]

I didn't even know that it was part of a mâitre d's job to find dinner guests for those unable to. Perhaps the mâitre d's who neglect this function are trying to protect those who are, from those who are not, and vice versa.

[navybankerteacher]

I didn't even know that it was part of a mâitre d's job to find dinner guests for those unable to. Perhaps the mâitre d's who neglect this function are trying to protect those who are, from those who are not, and vice versa.

 

Not being aware that one of the Maitre D's primary functions is to oversee the seating of diners who do not have assigned seating (which obviously must include assigning solo or shared tables as requested) is, I suppose, a predictable symptom of one's having almost exclusively sailed on a line with dismal MDR service.