Lido Table Hogs, and Another Line's Solution

[OlsSalt]

17 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

I don’t really find those spaces very appealing for daytime “hanging out.”  I’m assuming that what Virgin has set up is more attractive.   @cruisemom42makes a good point about needing more programming to spread people around the ship.  More speakers, more classes…just more.

 

They are slowly coming back,  from others cruise reports. 

[AncientWanderer]

23 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

They are slowly coming back,  from others cruise reports. 

I think so, too.

[CGinMTL]

I like to eat my meals in the dining room. Never have an issue finding a table 

[TiogaCruiser]

17 hours ago, cbr663 said:

Explorations didn't have hot foods, but it had the best coffee on the ship and plenty of sandwiches, pastries, tarts and other desserts.  I used to get up early to race to the Explorations for the best cinnamon rolls on the ship.  You could only find them there and when they were gone, they were gone.  Having sailed in Neptune Suites I frequently saw many of the food items available in the Neptune Lounge also available in the Explorations Cafe.

Ah- the Special Edition Rolls. They were the best. I make them for neighbors at Christmas and Easter.

 

18 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

On our roll call, we are struggling with finding a first meeting location for our budding book group - maybe 6-10 right now.  Where can we best gather and have a small group conversation?

 

----Lunch time MDR on an at-sea was suggested, but really can't take a table for more than the short MDR lunch dining time.  

 

---A Lido alcove  table during non-dining times - would we be one of those groups "hogging a table" and interfering with dining staff clean up tasks?

 

----The ships that have Gallery Bars  could offer a  great place to have small group activities where one can talk and make a little conversational noise,  and not disturb those reading in the ship libraries. 

 

---Not sure what the status of the Explorers Lounge is any longer - since it has often become a multi-purpose room for ship sales activities during the day. Crows Nest again is now chopped up too and competes with other ship activities during the day.

 

Once we get on board, we can get a better feel for the lay of the land and the scheduling interferences. But for that first group book club meeting,  what have others done? Thanks. 

Which ship?

[mcrcruiser]

11 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Approximate numbers (I only looked at one ship per class but numbers shouldn't differ significantly within class.)

 

Celebrity S class: ~10% inside (2800 pax)

Celebrity M class: 17.5% (2200 pax)

Princess Royal class: ~19% inside (3560 pax)

Princess Grand class: 28% inside (3000 pax)

HAL Pinnacle class: ~20% inside (2650 pax)

HAL Vista class: 16.4% inside (2360 pax)

 

With the exception of the low number of insides on Celebrity S class and the high number on Princess' Grand class, the numbers don't seem significantly different...

 

I think it's more likely that as ships have gotten larger and larger, lines are adding a significantly higher number of cabins per ship without proportionally increasing the public spaces.

 

I do think @Hlitner has something of a point. HAL passengers seem to have a tendency to park themselves in one location for the day (a sea day), and not really move around the ship as there is little programming to entice them.

 

 

We agree with your position .Thus ,if enough people complain to HAL in their cruise reports then perhaps HAL management would make some entertainment changes to attracy people to those venues 

[Wehwalt]

19 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have discreet signs on buffet tables stating along the lines of “reserved for dining only during peak meal hours”.

Seems to work mostly.

I was on the Navigator of the Seas just before its dry dock last month, and I must have missed those signs due to their being so discreet. But Windjammers (the lido) was not open during non-dining hours. Not sure if they kick people out; lunch ends as I recall at 3 and dinner starts at 6. 

[Gamelan1971]

I was on a cruise on the Nieuw Statendam this past Autumn, and for the first time, I noticed a large group of people who were occupying a big table in the Lido for card games and other various activities- it was a group of 10-15 elderly Vietnamese people, with a few people who stayed at the table at all times.  I only noticed this on one sea day, so I have no idea if they were there the other days.  But I felt as though there was plenty of space on the ship to enjoy and eat, so it didn't bother me.  I found the concept that they had planned a big family/friends trip together and that they were enjoying themselves heartening.  I hope they had a good time.

[foodsvcmgr]

Interesting that enforcement is not company wide as I observed these signs on both Liberty of the Seas and Celebrity Eclipse in the past 10 months.

[Blackduck59]

22 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Interesting that enforcement is not company wide as I observed these signs on both Liberty of the Seas and Celebrity Eclipse in the past 10 months.

Those are both Royal Caribbean, Celebrity is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean. I think that it would be good if Carnival Corporation put those signs on all their ships too. Of course Cunard would need special embossed reminders handed out by an attendant greeting each table through meal service 😉😇

[foodsvcmgr]

Blackduck your jest made me recall Queen Victoria last August.

Never had a seating issue in the Lido on a full cruise.

I think the multitude of activities offered on Cunard plus a good sized dedicated Card Room mitigates the issue as others have mentioned.

[NCTribeFan]

Isn't the Gallery Bar next to the Casino (I'm thinking Eurodam, which I sailed in January).  If so, that room is now full of slot machines.

 

Our group plays dominoes.  We typically play around 2 or 3 pm.  We like the Lido because we can get drinks and (sometimes, depending on the cruise line) food.  Some of Carnival's ships have large, oval tables.  Deli is open all afternoon, as is pizza, and it's a short walk to Guy's burgers.

 

On Eurodam, there are no large tables in Lido (that I found).

 

We do NOT play during peak meal times.  As noted, peak dining times should be for diners only.

 

I'll be on Virgin for 14 nights on a TA in April, then 10 nights RT from Athens a couple of days later.  We have at least 6 that play dominoes.  It will be nice to have somewhere to play that won't take space away from diners but still has some amenities.

[Roz]

23 hours ago, CGinMTL said:

I think that as long as you are actually using the space, you are not a " hog".

We each have our preferences of where we want to spend the day 

If I want to seat at a table in the pool area or solarium and " not eat" . I do not feel like I am doing anything wrong.

 

In my original post I never mentioned the pool area or solarium (not even sure what that is), only the Lido, and it's during peak times that the problem exists. 

[Roz]

20 hours ago, lyndarra said:

Having cruised on six different HAL ships I have never come across chogs in Lido.

I almost always eat in breakfast and lunch in the Lido and never had a problem of not finding somewhere to sit. I am patient and look around for people about to leave. I also ask if people don't mind sharing say, a four top with only two sitting at it. I agree it could be frustrating for some who have experienced not being able to find a spot. I also believe it is rude and ignorant of people to occupy tables at peak dining times if they are not dining.

 

In the past I had no problem asking to share a table with others, but lately (post-Covid) I've found more people reluctant to do that.  When I approach them I get "the look", or they make up some vague, bogus excuse such as we're waiting for friends, or that seat is already taken. 

 

I've noticed more and more posts on Cruise Critic asking about 2-top tables and how to avoid eating with other people or just socializing in general.  Posters cite social anxiety, fear of meeting new people, depression, etc. as the reason they want to avoid others.  Silly me, I regularly ask other passengers to join me at trivia, mealtime, on excursions, etc., not knowing I'm possibly causing someone to have an anxiety attack.  

[ChinaShrek]

25 minutes ago, Roz said:

 

In the past I had no problem asking to share a table with others, but lately (post-Covid) I've found more people reluctant to do that.  When I approach them I get "the look", or they make up some vague, bogus excuse such as we're waiting for friends, or that seat is already taken. 

 

I've noticed more and more posts on Cruise Critic asking about 2-top tables and how to avoid eating with other people or just socializing in general.  Posters cite social anxiety, fear of meeting new people, depression, etc. as the reason they want to avoid others.  Silly me, I regularly ask other passengers to join me at trivia, mealtime, on excursions, etc., not knowing I'm possibly causing someone to have an anxiety attack.  

I am a high school social studies teacher and there are huge numbers of students with social anxiety today. It's not just the occasional student that doesn't like presenting to the class, many students go the entire school year without talking to anyone else but their closest friends while at school. When I mention talking to strangers at school or out in the real world, a look of sheer panic ensues. 

[Roz]

@ChinaShrek, what do you think is causing that? 

[Blackduck59]

@Roz we don't usually ask to join someone unless the venue is full. We will however always welcome someone if they ask to join us. We were asked by someone to join us on our last cruise and it was a pleasant addition to our breakfast. She was from Australia, our paths crossed several times on the cruise. We exchanged emails and will be visiting her in Australia when we are there next year.

[shiner6]

We just finished a cruise with Princess. For the first time, I did not see any chair hogs or table hogs. Princess placed small cards on the tables to remind everyone of their purpose. What a great idea!

[dockman]

Convert one of the shops to a game room?....How many shops do they need selling the same overpriced crap?  Of course that will never happen as people having fun in a game room does not make the bean counters happy,,,,i suspect if they could they would do away with all promenade decks, gyms, libraries, etc and turn the entire ship into one great big "extra revenue" source.   

 

Sadly as with so many other things in life it is seems to be more and more about the bottom line and less and less about happy clients.  While I understand it I don't have to support it and very rarely ever buy anything in the shops and doubt i ever will. 

 

 For example the amount of space dedicated to the art galleries continues to grow and grow which would certainly indicate that it is very profitable...and yes i do understand that shopping seems to be a major part of the cruise life for many many people...why i don't know as i would think that getting away from endless shopping might be part of a great change for a vacation but obviously it is not.  And yes i also understand in theory at least without the shop revenues that the price of the cruise might go up a bit.

[cruisemom42]

3 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

I am a high school social studies teacher and there are huge numbers of students with social anxiety today. It's not just the occasional student that doesn't like presenting to the class, many students go the entire school year without talking to anyone else but their closest friends while at school. When I mention talking to strangers at school or out in the real world, a look of sheer panic ensues. 

 

I think we're too quick to push the panic button on the younger generation.

 

I can remember when I got to that awkward age (some point in middle school) where I became painfully socially awkward. I could go for days, as you say, only talking to my small group of close friends. I was smart but I would never, ever, raise my hand to answer a question. It got a bit better in college and better still once I was in the working world.

 

Where people would now say these kids are spending too much time in front of a blue screen, the adults back then just said we always had our noses stuck in a book. 

 

I saw my son go through much the same thing, and now he's a high functioning adult working in a top tier consulting group, so he has to be socially savvy. Yet for years he could barely even talk to his grandparents.

 

.....People forget that adolescence isn't easy.

 

[syesmar]

4 hours ago, Roz said:

 

In the past I had no problem asking to share a table with others, but lately (post-Covid) I've found more people reluctant to do that.  When I approach them I get "the look", or they make up some vague, bogus excuse such as we're waiting for friends, or that seat is already taken. 

 

I've noticed more and more posts on Cruise Critic asking about 2-top tables and how to avoid eating with other people or just socializing in general.  Posters cite social anxiety, fear of meeting new people, depression, etc. as the reason they want to avoid others.  Silly me, I regularly ask other passengers to join me at trivia, mealtime, on excursions, etc., not knowing I'm possibly causing someone to have an anxiety attack.  

You do you. My hesitancy to share tables started before the pandemic. It seemed we were always getting sick when we traveled, and cutting down on table sharing was a precaution we took at times. Other times, we might need to privately discuss something going on in our lives at home.

 

I don’t mind it someone asks us about our 2 empty spaces, but would hope that if we declined there would be no offense taken.

[Haljo1935]

6 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Those are both Royal Caribbean, Celebrity is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean. I think that it would be good if Carnival Corporation put those signs on all their ships too. Of course Cunard would need special embossed reminders handed out by an attendant greeting each table through meal service 😉😇

I took this picture Sept 2023 in the Lido on a Carnival ship. 

Some cruises, not an issue. Other times, finding seating to eat during regular meal time is a challenge, no matter the cruiseline. I'm in favor of posting signs. 

[Mary229]

I think not removing your game and other leisure activities from a dining location during the busy meal hours is just plane rude. It is a dining location, let people eat, it is not too much to ask.  To deny people a comfortable dining seat is just cruel and selfish. There is no sugar coating this.  

[lyndarra]

11 hours ago, dockman said:

Convert one of the shops to a game room?....How many shops do they need selling the same overpriced crap?  Of course that will never happen as people having fun in a game room does not make the bean counters happy,,,,i suspect if they could they would do away with all promenade decks, gyms, libraries, etc and turn the entire ship into one great big "extra revenue" source.   

 

 

This twigged a memory cell. What happened to the Microsoft classrooms? I would often go to the lectures to brush up my computer skills.

[ChinaShrek]

14 hours ago, Roz said:

@ChinaShrek, what do you think is causing that? 

I think there has been a general trend over the last 10-15 years for parents to raise children in a cocoon. They telling them not to talk to strangers at all and to distrust people in general. Social media and Mainstream Media show a steady does of stories about murderers or pedophiles. This tells young people people that anyone can be bad and it is best to stay away from everyone. Covid made things worse. Many students stayed home for months and were told to only talk to their circle of friends. 

[cbr663]

11 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I took this picture Sept 2023 in the Lido on a Carnival ship. 

Some cruises, not an issue. Other times, finding seating to eat during regular meal time is a challenge, no matter the cruiseline. I'm in favor of posting signs. 

 

I like the idea of more signage as it does work for some people.  Although, I must admit I would remove the "limit your" and replace it with "no" so the sign read "Sit and enjoy your food, but please, no lounging during busy hours".