edwardh1 Posted July 20, 2015 #1 Share Posted July 20, 2015 The first one I heard myself - heard by by table partner talking with serving staff. First one was at the end of Britannia (Sp) first seating, tables being cleared, one server seemed to be instructing another and he said some thing to the effect that (with the second seating) you are in for a real change in the people. And it was a negative tone. Only thing we guessed was maybe people were older and more picky with no time constraint , or maybe they all go in the bar before and get drunk? Second one was that the servers did not like the really long cruses or the world cruises as the table mates after a month started arguing among themselves, then after awhile switched to picking on the servers. Funny huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlueRiband Posted July 20, 2015 #2 Share Posted July 20, 2015 And what are you asking us? Who said what to whom and what did they really mean? We can't get inside the heads of the dining room staff. :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDBINK1 Posted July 20, 2015 #3 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I have read accounts of world cruises and that it is always best to make arrangements to change tables after a period of time so that the interactions with the table mates can change and add flavor/change to the long voyage. As to listening in on others conversations.... well. I think that the staff can make comments to each other about guests and maybe they were trying to get a newer staff member ready to serve potentially difficult or just different guests. Of course, propriety is that the staff should have made the comments out of ear shot of a guest. The staff aren't robots, yet. They get to make their own judgments of guests (at least in the USA they do). But like I said, perhaps keep them from the guests hearing range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggiemou Posted July 20, 2015 #4 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I have read accounts of world cruises and that it is always best to make arrangements to change tables after a period of time so that the interactions with the table mates can change and add flavor/change to the long voyage. Hello DDBINK.You will have read my account also about table mates on world cruises in my book. Yes, I agree many world cruiser switch tables after each segment so you get a different set of dining companions. Not that they start arguing ( although you will have read about my argument and my banning from a table after seven days on board a P&O ship as I was too overdressed for one couple.:D) This was very unusual however and the reason most people change table is to bring in new conversations and meet new people. We always like to sit with mix Nationalities from different parts of the world and after say six weeks it is nice to have a change of people. Most of the time the table will change anyhow, as most passengers on a world cruise are doing segments. I alway think it is a mistake to put all world cruisers on the same table. We have had this twice but usually asked to be moved after the first segment as four months with the same people can get tiresome no matter how nice they are. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDBINK1 Posted July 20, 2015 #5 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I have read accounts of world cruises and that it is always best to make arrangements to change tables after a period of time so that the interactions with the table mates can change and add flavor/change to the long voyage. Hello DDBINK.You will have read my account also about table mates on world cruises in my book. Yes, I agree many world cruiser switch tables after each segment so you get a different set of dining companions. Not that they start arguing ( although you will have read about my argument and my banning from a table after seven days on board a P&O ship as I was too overdressed for one couple.:D) This was very unusual however and the reason most people change table is to bring in new conversations and meet new people. We always like to sit with mix Nationalities from different parts of the world and after say six weeks it is nice to have a change of people. Most of the time the table will change anyhow, as most passengers on a world cruise are doing segments. I alway think it is a mistake to put all world cruisers on the same table. We have had this twice but usually asked to be moved after the first segment as four months with the same people can get tiresome no matter how nice they are. :) Yes I liked your book and insights greatly. I like to go to lunch in the MDR as they generally ask if you will share with another group. That starts up new conversations and hopefully friendships as you encounter many different people from all over the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted July 20, 2015 #6 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I have read accounts of world cruises and that it is always best to make arrangements to change tables after a period of time so that the interactions with the table mates can change and add flavor/change to the long voyage. As to listening in on others conversations.... well. I think that the staff can make comments to each other about guests and maybe they were trying to get a newer staff member ready to serve potentially difficult or just different guests. Of course, propriety is that the staff should have made the comments out of ear shot of a guest. The staff aren't robots, yet. They get to make their own judgments of guests (at least in the USA they do). But like I said, perhaps keep them from the guests hearing range. This is one of the reasons we always do tables for 2. You're close enough to chat with your neighbors, but far enough away to not get too engaged, if you wish not to be. Being sick of your partner(and he sick of you)well...that's for a whole new thread. It's one of the reasons for always using expensive china(less likely it will get thrown at you) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Between there and here Posted July 20, 2015 #7 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I have read accounts of world cruises and that it is always best to make arrangements to change tables after a period of time so that the interactions with the table mates can change and add flavor/change to the long voyage. Hello DDBINK.You will have read my account also about table mates on world cruises in my book. Yes, I agree many world cruiser switch tables after each segment so you get a different set of dining companions. Not that they start arguing ( although you will have read about my argument and my banning from a table after seven days on board a P&O ship as I was too overdressed for one couple.:D) This was very unusual however and the reason most people change table is to bring in new conversations and meet new people. We always like to sit with mix Nationalities from different parts of the world and after say six weeks it is nice to have a change of people. Most of the time the table will change anyhow, as most passengers on a world cruise are doing segments. I alway think it is a mistake to put all world cruisers on the same table. We have had this twice but usually asked to be moved after the first segment as four months with the same people can get tiresome no matter how nice they are. :) I was just perusing this thread and saw that you mentioned that you had written a book. I love any accounts on cruising-long ones especially. What is the name of your book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brigittetom Posted July 20, 2015 #8 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I was just perusing this thread and saw that you mentioned that you had written a book. I love any accounts on cruising-long ones especially. What is the name of your book? It's not allowed to give the title here. I've bought the book, read and enjoyed the book. I would be happy to send it to you. As they say....pass it forward. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDBINK1 Posted July 21, 2015 #9 Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) I was just perusing this thread and saw that you mentioned that you had written a book. I love any accounts on cruising-long ones especially. What is the name of your book? No not I, Maggiemou yours is the book I was mentioning. It was great. I am sure it could be found on line with an easy search for others to find. Enjoy it. Edited July 21, 2015 by DDBINK1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pris993 Posted July 21, 2015 #10 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I don't think there is anything funny here... what I see is non professional behavior... staff should not be coaching in hear shot of passengers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggiemou Posted July 21, 2015 #11 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I was just perusing this thread and saw that you mentioned that you had written a book. I love any accounts on cruising-long ones especially. What is the name of your book? Hello Between there and here, Yes I wrote about my world cruises as I have done six in total but only feature two. One was taken in 2013 and another last year on QE and it was great fun. I love Cunard! Easy to find me as my user name pops up all over the Internet. ;) Happy Cruising and future reading. There is nothing better than relaxing on deck with a book.x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Ranger Posted July 21, 2015 #12 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Trying to apply a "one size fits all" mentality to human behavior is a futile exercise. Some table mates end up getting married, others have fought to the death with butter knives - and some probably did the first closely followed by the second. Speaking personally I think it would be difficult to hold a conversation with the same people at dinner for 8 nights in a row for 2 hours at a time - unless someone could reincarnate David Niven and Winston Churchill that is, so switching tables seems like a good option. As for second sitting being the problem children, I certainly hope not as I have opted for that myself in November :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamflightPat Posted July 23, 2015 #13 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Trying to apply a "one size fits all" mentality to human behavior is a futile exercise. Some table mates end up getting married, others have fought to the death with butter knives - and some probably did the first closely followed by the second. Speaking personally I think it would be difficult to hold a conversation with the same people at dinner for 8 nights in a row for 2 hours at a time - unless someone could reincarnate David Niven and Winston Churchill that is, so switching tables seems like a good option. As for second sitting being the problem children, I certainly hope not as I have opted for that myself in November :o I have completed two half world cruises and each time my table mates were just fantastic and we all got on really well. In fact, in Istanbul this yea,r en route from Sydney to Southampton we all went out for dinner as we had an overnight in Istanbul. Life is what you make it. I have been on ships on any time dining and meeting up with different people each night you are always making the same conversation. If you are all together for much longer you find more out about your table mates and life gets more and more interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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