Cruising w Friends Dinner Question

[Loracpin2]

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

Personally, I believe you are under thinking it!!!

 

you can point out the 'current' dining arrangements and on one (1) night invite your friends to dine with you in Luminae, of course you will be paying for them as expected,

 

 

 

Personally I think...you are the one "underthinking it".  Why should the couple booked in the Suite,  be expected to pick up the tab for other two couples?????

[Bo1953]

6 minutes ago, Loracpin2 said:

Personally I think...you are the one "underthinking it".  Why should the couple booked in the Suite,  be expected to pick up the tab for other two couples?????

Heck, let the couple in the suite collect the fee from their friends, just to dine together one (1) night in Luminae?

 

Is that better for you?

 

More than likely they have OBC which can handle it, if not, I do not envision it being a deal breaker by them paying for it.

 

It was mentioned that neither couple wants to pay for specialty restaurants AND they are friends with both AND it sounds like they asked each couple to join them on the sailing at one time or another.

 

So, yes, ante up for a joint dinner with the other four (4) friends to dine in Luminae.

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[TeeRick]

8 minutes ago, Loracpin2 said:

Personally I think...you are the one "underthinking it".  Why should the couple booked in the Suite,  be expected to pick up the tab for other two couples?????

As for Luminae costs, they can work it out between them with the other couples.  Unless they want to pay which is fine too.  The other couples can reimburse them or pay for something else shared on the cruise like an excursion.  We have done this with non-suite people we have cruised with.

[wrk2cruise]

They will take anyone's seapass card for the $30 Luminae upcharge.   We have had non-suite people join us and have covered the charge.  Another time when not in a suite we joined a suite guest and we also covered the charge.   You can just tell the Matre'd.

[PTC DAWG]

17 hours ago, lovrccl said:

I need dinner ideas for a November cruise.  We booked Beyond in a Sky Suite so we have Luminae (which we love).  At the sametime friends booked a Aqua suite so they have Blu.  Today another set of friends booked a balcony.  We really don't want to eat in the regular dining room each night, neither of our friends want to pay for the restaurants (we booked Eden for 1 night for us).  I am afraid this is going to be awkward.  Am I over thinking this?  We have not talked to our friends that booked the balcony about this yet. Thoughts from the peanut gallery here are welcome.

I say you’ll be fine not having every single dinner together..

Edited July 13, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[Surfguyxxx]

11 hours ago, cangelmd said:

 A straightforward conversation with couple #3 may clear everything up without awkwardness.

That's my suggestion too.  

[Oklahoma Cruiser 2012]

16 hours ago, lovrccl said:

It is a 7 night cruise.  I didn't organized it. We booked last year. Then friend #2 earlier this year asked if they could join us and they booked Aqua (didn't want to pay suite cost). We were thrilled as we really like cruising with them. We figured we would do a few nights in Blu with them if possible and Luminae with us. No issues, they are seasoned cruisers.  All was good until this week when friends #3 (who don’t even know our friends #2) asked what cruise we were on. They have only cruised twice.  Next thing I know they booked a cabin. Oh well.

Sounds like you're not really responsible for organizing dinner locations. I vote "overthinking".  Port days you and the gang can hang together at the port, maybe do an excursion.  Fact is, after spending all day with them, you might be okay with having dinner with just you two. 

[SusieV]

I would just spend other time with them and let them know that you will have a different assigned dining room. You shouldn't have to give up one of your suite perks to eat with them.

Why not have lunch with them instead? Cruising with friends doesn't have to mean joined at the hip.

[emmas gran]

When cruising with friends dinner is the one time we are assured to be together, 

we have cruised with 2 couples that didn’t know each other and one of the party got upset as she felt left out. We then decided to not go to dinner one night left the other 4 to eat together and it worked out like a dream👍👍😊

[like2cruise99]

5 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

Heck, let the couple in the suite collect the fee from their friends, just to dine together one (1) night in Luminae?

 

Is that better for you?

 

More than likely they have OBC which can handle it, if not, I do not envision it being a deal breaker by them paying for it.

 

It was mentioned that neither couple wants to pay for specialty restaurants AND they are friends with both AND it sounds like they asked each couple to join them on the sailing at one time or another.

 

So, yes, ante up for a joint dinner with the other four (4) friends to dine in Luminae.

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

They didn't ask the other couples to join. Both of the other couples asked them what cruise they were on and the first couple asked if they could join and decided not to spend the money for the suite. The second couple booked it without saying anything. Until you have that talk with couple #3 to explain the difference in rooms and perks you won't know what they are thinking. It could be they want to eat together every night and then again they may not expect anything. Have that talk soon so both of you can decide how you want to proceed.

[lv2cruisgrl]

31 minutes ago, like2cruise99 said:

They didn't ask the other couples to join. Both of the other couples asked them what cruise they were on and the first couple asked if they could join and decided not to spend the money for the suite. The second couple booked it without saying anything. Until you have that talk with couple #3 to explain the difference in rooms and perks you won't know what they are thinking. It could be they want to eat together every night and then again they may not expect anything. Have that talk soon so both of you can decide how you want to proceed.

I did today, they now understand.  We will work it out.

[Marelaine]

It's not awkward, at all. As a regular balcony passenger, who researches, and then researches some more before I book my cabin, I would know what my dining assignment is. If friends in a suite mentioned that we could join them in Luminae at $30 each one evening, we would be delighted to work out arrangements to try  (and pay for)  Luminae that one night. If the friends invited and paid for our dinner, we would find some other way to thank them for their hospitality. 

I would not expect to eat every single meal with my friends who happen to be on the same cruise.  We like our alone time. We might even beg off a few nights if we were ALL in steerage 🤣 or in the same assigned dining room. 

 

[Marelaine]

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Edited July 13, 2022 by Marelaine
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