Table Mates

[Sky Sweet]

What do you prefer in table mates on a cruise?. You can select more than one answer, if appropriate.

[Karynanne]

We've had the good fortune to meet some wonderful people through cruising...and many through Cruise Critic. Our next cruise we will already know 2 couples, and can't wait to meet the other one...

 

Karyn

[SheilaNC]

We have made new friends on CC and on every cruise that we've had. Some we keep in close contact with; others for just a short while after the cruise; and, we have plans to cruise again with a few. It's a lovely way to share excursions, make new friends and share memories.

[i guide the sky]

I prefer to dine with hot blondes with nice figures. who wouldn't? just my .02

[patrice1]

I prefer to dine with table mates I brought with me

 

DH & I prefer to dine alone. ;)

[TEXASMUNK]

Have met some of the most interesting folks!

[jeffkauf]

I prefer religious and political extremists that won't shut up. It keeps the calorie intake down from pure aggravation and provides such lively post dinner conversation between my wife and myself.

[teedee]

Since I discovered cruise critic I usually end up with people met on rollcalls. I prefer larger tables & have been lucky enough to met some really great folks this way.

Terri

[idssms]

I prefer to dine with my wife at a table for two by the Quartet.

 

If invited by a friend I suppose I can put up with them for a week but would probably opt out of dinner a few nights and have pizza or burgers just to take a break.

[tawcat]

if we go with friends then naturally we all dine together, do excursions together etc. if we don't go with friends we then opt for a large table. we have been very fortunate on all our cruises to have met some really neat folks. we have tried the table for two, and although i love my dw dearly (and i hope the feeling are mutual) dinner then is not much different than sitting at home. we can eat alone together anytime, why pass up such a grand opportunity. met one couple several years ago and since that cruise she has authored at least three childrens books!!!

[DancerOT]

How about people that are just fun conversationalists? It doesnt matter whether they are old friends or new friends as long as they are nice, interesting people who are also enjoying the cruise.

[WeBeCruisin']

We really have no preferences other than a large table. Put us at a table with good service and good food and we'll find a way to find something in common with everyone at our table and find a way not to dislike anyone or wish we were at another table. It's worked for ten cruises, so far. Part of the fun is meeting so many different types of people and realizing that there's something to like and something of interest in every one of them.

 

Allen

[Guest debbiejohncruise]

25 years ago we met a couple at our table of 8 who we have kept in contact with all these years!:) Now as we go on our 25th anniversary, we are hoping to meet even more friends as nice as they were. He was a retired gentleman from the Pentagon and the sweetest couple we knew. They even came for a visit when we were stationed in Germany! I love a big table, as the more people to talk to the better, as far as we are concerned! Debbie and John

[shonuf]

I prefer religious and political extremists that won't shut up. It keeps the calorie intake down from pure aggravation and provides such lively post dinner conversation between my wife and myself.

 

ROFL

 

You must have been at our table for 10 on the Oosterdam 1/28 sailing. You described our tablemates to a T. I have seldom seen DH so irate; when we returned to the cabin, he ranted for almost an hour before he could calm down. He was ready to leave the ship at our first stop and fly home. Luckily, I was able to get us changed to a table for two, where the adjoining tables were at least congenial!

 

Normally, we prefer a large table and have met some wonderful people that way.

[TN Vol Fan]

NO Whiners please!!! The only wine at the table should be poured in a glass. If you want to bitch and moan, do it on your own time, not mine. Other than than, I can get along or ignore just about anyone.

Cecil

[WeBeCruisin']

NO Whiners please!!! The only wine at the table should be poured in a glass.

 

Excellent point, Cecil.

 

Maybe next year, we can once again say "How 'bout them Vols"? :cool: All three of my sons and I went to UT, and are still huge Big Orange fans. I lived in Oak Ridge for about 30 years, off and on.

 

Allen

[TN Vol Fan]

WeBe,

Strangely enough, the men's basketball team is going like a house a'fire (top 10, last time I looked). After last year, who'd a thunk it. The ladys are just hanging on and the football team just plain sucked last year.

Cecil

[debjac]

We have tried quite a few of the choices. When traveling with our daughters we tried just us which was good to catch up on what the kids did in "cruise camp" during the day. As they got older we tried a table of 8 - once with another family and once with 2 other couples and both scenarious were great. On the many cruises my dh & I have done we usually sit at a large table. We have had not so great tablemates but there has always been at least one couple that we connected with and I still think this is the best for us. Last cruise was 14 nights and through a mistake in seating that could not be corrected we were assigned a table of 4 - with another couple. This was terrible - he did nothing but whine and complain, belittle the waiter when he didn't like the food and the wife spent dinner time either embarassed and angry at him. Needless to say I will NEVER do that again :rolleyes:

[WeBeCruisin']

WeBe,

Strangely enough, the men's basketball team is going like a house a'fire (top 10, last time I looked). After last year, who'd a thunk it. The ladys are just hanging on and the football team just plain sucked last year.

Cecil

 

Cecil, it has to be the new coach, Bruce Pearl. Didn't he take UW-Milwaukee to the Sweet Sixteen last year? Also he's playing with basically four guards, since the team is so small.

 

The Lady Vols generally seem to play well in the SEC tournament and NCAAs when they've lost several during the season. It seems to toughen them, and by then the new players have learned not to "tinkle" Pat Summit :)

 

Keep your fingers crossed for next year's Vols. Maybe getting a new offensive coordinator and getting David Cutcliffe back will help.

 

Allen

[dileep]

We have met some very nice table mates on all 3 cruises and have kept in touch with at least one couple from each cruise.

 

We have not travelled with friends, so we don't have the option of "prefer to dine with someone you know" mentioned in the poll.

 

We like a table for 8 because it increases the chances of finding at least 1 couple that you l;ike and it is not too big to inhibit conversations.

 

We have noticed that Celebrity tries to put people in similar rooms together at a table. We had all Cincierge Class on one cruise, and 2 Concierge and 2 suite on another.

 

The only time we had a more diverse group was when we booked our cruise fairly late and ended up at a table for 10 with 2 empty spots, and 2 others were also last minute travellers.

[spearmint]

We prefer to have a table for two on a cruise. Eventually, we will travel with friends, and then will want to dine at a table for four. Celebrity once put eight of us at a table for 12. One couple pushed for and got a table for two, but the rest of us decided to stay put and try it out. (We all had requested tables for 2 as it turned out.) The people we met were very nice, and we are not sorry that we all stayed together, but, in the end, we still prefer a table for two.

[jenrn1]

I am a very personable and social person, but I prefer to sit at a table with my family and friends. We have very well behaved children but I still worry that they will "bother" someone else at the table and also vice-versa, that someone else's kids my bother us. So to keep everyone happy, we dine alone.

[Blazerboy]

We always request a large table, but we're about to take the first cruise where we already know everyone with whom we're dining- my only fear this time is that we'll be too loud!:D Crusie Critic has always been a great source for meeting new friends on a ship, and the other three couples we know from here. Have cruised with two of them before!

 

But I'd still opt for the large table every time. Cunard is probably the only exception- the restaurants on QE2 seem better set up for two or four. And yet we've chatted more with tables around us as a result...:rolleyes:

 

Andrew

[FISHHOOK1]

Usually my better half and I dine with friends that are crusing with us, some time just another couple and sometimes with five or six other couples. This usually works out for us, we set up the cruise and the others just follow along. We did sneak away on one cruise and we were seated at a table for eight, and this turned out to be very enjoyable. The only problem was one couple was very PICKY about the food and always late for dinner. But we had a great time..

[Tatka]

I am a very personable and social person, but I prefer to sit at a table with my family and friends.

 

 

We had wonderful tablemates several times ... but still prefer to sit only with each other. One of the reasons... it's not very relaxing to talk in English to each other (we aren't native speakers, and I can't stop correcting my DH which definitely upsets him a lot :o ).

 

I can always meet and have fun with other people by the pool or in the bars. :D