Tell Us About Your Negative Experiences With Table Mates

[jennib5426]

Our first cruise about 6 years ago (west Carb) we had a table with a family from Canada. A mom over 80 and her 2 older sons. They were on the cruise to spread there dead daughter/sister's ashes.

 

What a bummer, every night at dinner it was so depressing.

We felt to quilty to change tables, we didn't want to be rude.

[cmalibu1]

chelsea -- have you ever cruised before? yes, this happens. and most people think it's cute, corny and "vacation mode fun" the first night they do it, but when they continue to do it, Ugh!:p

 

 

Yes I have cruised before. On our last cruise it only happened once, and that one time it was fun. I #1 didnt realize it happened all the time and #2 think people hated it. But to each their own I guess. We will see how obnoxious it is this next cruise..lol.

[showe0208]

These are great stories. I have been lucky, on the last two cruises we have had great tablemates. On my first cruise (1992) it was on the Star Princess. We were to be married on the second to last day of our cruise in St. Thomas at Blackbeards castle. The first night I had a patch on for seasickness and had terrible side effects and had to leave. The second night we went to the dining room and had a table of four. The couple were point blank crass! They were recently engaged too but he hadn't provided her a ring yet. She saw my ring and asked her fiancee why the F@@ hadn't he bought her a ring yet. She also complained that he proposed from a long haul on his trucking route . Now I am very adaptable and raised to know all types of people. They explained that his boss bought him the cruise. I tried my best to try small talk but everything I said ended with them arguing. The seas were rough and they were looking pretty green. I told them they could take thier dinner with them if they didn't feel well. Thank goodness they left. Before they did though, they stole a flag from the table. Princess put a country flag in honor of the meal being served. The second night I went back and it was worse. The man asked the waiter if he woudl be re-imbursed for the meal they could not eat due to seasickness.. The waiter told them the food was free and the man asked for free drinks. Again, they stole the flag and a drink glass. The people around us knew we were not with them, Thank goodess, I told my husband to be that I would not go back to the dining room. Back then you could request smoking sections or not. My faincee went to the maitre'de and asked to be re-assigned. We were told that the only table we could take was in non-smoking. We didn't care. We were re-seated at a table of eight and enjoyed our tablemates. We spent the rest of the cruise looking over our shoulder to avoid the former tablemates. We heard from the people at the next table from our original seating that the couple we left stiffed the waiter and bragged about not tipping everyone else. I had a bad taste in my mouth after that but have had such luck on the next two cruises. I can talk to anyone about anything but these people were volatile and I was afraid to say anything!

I personally was raised with a middle class family of seven and have no airs about me but they actuall scared me

[mr.p]

We've only been on 1 cruise and were apprehensive about dining with folks we didn't know. It couldn't have been a more pleasant experience for us, and I hope the others enjoyed it as well. Still email one of the couples. I look forward to future cruises and hope we will continue to be as fortunate. I know the day will come that all won't be great, but we'll deal with that then.

[mr.p]

duplicate post-sorry.

[ltflatfoot]

cruising to Bermuda on the Zenith with DW, DD's and MIL we opt for breakfast in the dining room. We're seated at a table for 8. A woman and her S&D are seated. She looks familiar to me. I ask her where she was from and she tells me. I say you grew up in....and graduated in 78 or 79. She says "you're right". I can't remember her name so she tells me.

After we get back DW tell me the girls father called MIL. I ask "why would he call her?" Turns out girls father and my MIL were dating when MIL met my FIL! Small world.

[MuffyKismet]

This will be our 13th cruise and we have been pretty darn lucky to have great table mates nearly all of our cruises. and still keep in touch via email with many of them!! There was 1 cruise when a mother and daughter were seated with us at a table for 8. The were complaining that the napkins were not crisp enough!! I am so serious, we all about died, they were over the edge, We were all sooo thankful that they never showed up again after the 1st night!! None of us said anything to them, maybe our expressions said it all. Either way they were gone and we all had a great cruise!!

[otc1]

We had the pleasure(?) of having a couple at our table whos first words to us a party of 6 "Thank you for our cruises. We sued some people so we could come on this cruise and used our welfare checks for the rest". To make matters worse, the husband won the $2000.00 bingo and did well in blackjack. We had to hear about that for the week. Also how they lived in a trailor and could cruise anytime they wanted, all they had to do was fake a fall and sue. It was an awful week for the six of us especially when they would remind us that we were paying their way through their welfare checks. Now IMHO isn't that welfare fraud?

[PlanoDebbie]

We were pleasantly surprised on our last cruise to find out that the family that was seated with us lived in the same town as us. What are the odds? Of course half the ship was from our town due to Fall Break. Their daughter was just two years younger than our daughter, but they still found plenty of common interests to talk about.

 

The family was also traveling with the mother's non-English speaking parents. Trying to get a conversationg going with this family was more painful than a root canal. My gut kept telling me to request a change of table, yet my heart kept saying that would be rude to do that.

 

Well, next night we get to the table, and the matre D comes over to let us know that our table mates had requested a private table. Suddenly I was no longer feeling quilty about possibly requesting a new table. We did enjoy our new table mates though. They were about 10-12 years older than us, but we still had good conversation each evening.

[flczr]

Prior to a previous cruise my wife and I were part of a very active CC group. In addition to a weekly chattroom we had struck up a on line freindship with another couple. I and the husband would talk on line every night. We made a point of getting into town a day early to meet them in person. On the first night out he got upset at the photographers taking pictures. Then his steak wasn't the way he wanted and sent it back. When we went to explore the ship all he did was complain it wasn't like the sister ship. The second night our first formal he started complaining about the photographers again. He ordered steak and again it wasn't right. I stopped the waiter to tell him and the waiter went over to correct the problem. The husband quietly starts to tell me he can take care of himself, then stands up and throws his napkin down and stormed from the dining room. His wife was startled by it all and his daughter says is daddy mad? To say the least we never talked again. We changed tables and got one two tables away from the captain's table.

[chasetf]

My worst tablemates were folks I never met. We were at a table for eight traditional seating and waited over half an hour for them to show up. They never did.... so we finally at a 1/2 hour late. The next night the same thing happened. Our waiter assured us there was a party of six assigned to our table.

 

The third evening the waiter announced the six would be showing up but bringing a seventh diner. He reset the table, cramming in the extra place setting. Needless to say, again we waited and they again never showed. :mad: I got the matre'd and asked for another table.... that if they ever did show I did not want to eat with them. We were fortunate because he assigned us to a table for 10 and we got to meet a lot of great people. :D

[Drew's Wife]

On our Fantasy Anniversary cruise, my husband and I were able to have a table just for the two of us during the entire cruise! How wonderful! Last year on the Sensation we were at a table for six, and the two couples were nice for the most part. One couple was very nice, did not put on any airs and felt very comfortable to be around. The other couple was also nice, but acted rather snobbish and they were also the kind to talk about money (which in my opinion, people that usually have a lot of money don't have to talk about it:D ) (they were also travel agents so I know they got a good deal on the trip, nothing wrong with that, we use our military rate on every trip. That is the only way we cruise is when we get a good deal. But the thing about this woman, was she wwas so rude about the flowers that had been sent to our table for Our Anniversary. She insisted that they be taken off the table! My husaband told her real quick that the flowers would be staying right where they were!

[KJPG]

On our Princess Cruise this past December we were booked for early dinner. (DH, myself and 2 DDs) As our 7 yo doesn't appreciate a long dining time, we switched to later dinner, so she could be in the kids program while we ate.

 

So, night #2, we were seated at a table for 8. We got there first. A couple comes up and they kind of comment to themselves in surprise. (I assume that maybe we took their seats, I don't know.)

 

They sit down and mention that a family of 4 had been sitting there the previous night and that they had wanted early seating. We said "Oh, maybe they got our table, we switched times as well." They wonder who else will be coming. No one ever comes for the other 3 seats.

 

Over the course of the meal, the woman grills us when she finds out we've only cruised Carnival. She is giving off the impression that she thinks all Carnival patrons are chew spitting rednecks. "We're on a back to back cruise, lived in Asia, cruised to everywhere..." The woman is just snobby to the nth degree. Her husband barely says a word. He sits there and just looks like he's thinking "OMG, here she goes again." They were less than polite to the waiter & assistant.

 

They leave dinner and we breathe a sigh of relief. We love our new wait staff and feel that we'll put up with her if we have to. Then we see that she's at the maitre'd stand for a very long time.

 

Night #3, we get to the table first. The table is set for 6, not 8, as on the previous night. We ask our waiter if the couple has moved. He says he doesn't know, he was just told to change it to a 6 top. Two minutes later. DH and DD see the wife. She's apparently very animated, waving her arms and gesturing at us and the table. An assistant comes to our head waiter and talks quietly to him. He looks at me and kind of shrugs. The couple disappears.

 

The waiter says "You will have the table for yourself tonight." Great - we had a wonderful time. Honestly the best wait staff we've ever had. I'm concerned that the woman may have made nasty comments about Dan and Andre and I don't want them to get in trouble. I go to the maitre'd the next afternoon and make sure that no fibs were told. As soon as I mention the table number, he rolls his eyes and says "Oh, it's OK. You will have the table to yourself for the remainder of the cruise." I giggle as I walk away.

 

We didn't see them at dinner again until the last night - they were seated at a table for 2 right by the front. Apparently no one was good enough for them. Poor cruise staff though - the couple were staying for the 10 day cruise following ours.

[breenw]

The worst time we had in a dining room was last May on the Triumph. We were in a 4 seater booth with some dear friends of ours, and right next to us was a set of 3 tables that accommodated an extended family of 2 older adults, their 3 adult children/spouses, and a multitude of kids. These people would show up at least 30-45 minutes late each night. Then they would yell across the tables to talk to a family member 2 tables down. One of the women had a loud, slow, very nasal voice that was irritating to everyone around her. The kids were standing up on the seats, jumping up and down and screaming when they didn't get the attention from their parents they thought they should get. They were so loud you couldn't hardly talk to your own tablemates. Then, one of the family members was a vegetarian and was never satisfied with what she ordered. One night, she ordered a plate of mixed vegetables. When they brought the plate to her, she then told them they needed to be "grilled", not steamed. They brought her another plate of "grilled vegetables", then she complained that the vegetables pieces were too large (has she ever heard of a knife??) Every night we kept praying that they wouldn't show up, but no such luck!

 

Another cruise, we sat next to a family of 3 consisting of a father, mother and a daughter who looked to be about 10-11. Every night at dinner, the husband would tell the wife and daughter when they could begin eating! The whole cruise, we never heard the mother or daughter utter a single word of conversation during dinner. They just sat there with frowns on their faces and stone-cold silence. It was really weird.....

[msolberg]

One cruise we were sat with a family that didn't speak english. Lots of smiling and nodding went on between us, but what else could we do. :rolleyes:

 

That same cruise, a family joined our table only for the last night of the cruise. The son who was about 15, kept talking about how spoiled he was and insisted he was the Gerber Baby. Isn't the Gerber Baby like 60 by now??

 

Diane

[mrdood]

...my worst dinner was with a bunch of pompous, arrogant, whiners who go on chat sites to complain about their table mates, geeeeez:p :eek: :)

[mirage2u]

the most annoying thing i've ever had happen at my table is having service interrupted by the singing and dancing by the staff :mad:

 

god forbid the staff has a good time too. they only work for 60 hours 7 days a week just so they can send the money back home to their families that they never get to see!

[truecruiser]

god forbid the staff has a good time too. they only work for 60 hours 7 days a week just so they can send the money back home to their families that they never get to see!

 

sorry, but i have to disagree. i don't think the staff has a good time doing this. Do you really think they do? They do it because they have to. In fact, last cruise, i saw a slight huff by our head waiter (in no way directed at us, and in fact, i sympathized w/ him) over having to stop his dinner service. they just want to get their job done as efficiently as possible w/o being interrupted to sing and dance.

 

and, they do have real fun, for them (as opposed to entertaining us). they have crew parties every other sailing (it used to be every sailing, but one of the crew told us on our last cruise it was changed it to every other sailing b/c there were some tough issues w/ them getting out of bed for work the next morning :p ).

 

Now the crew parties, that is fun for them.

[JLC@SD]

On our B2B Tahitian Princess cruise we were seated at a table for 8 with an elderly Jewish couple that we became friends with. They were B2B also so we were together at the same table on the second cruise.

 

Also seated with us on the second cruise was a family of 3, from Germany.......which was not comfortable to our Jewish friends, and they skipped eating with us for the first couple of days.

 

We spoke to them and encouraged them to please join us. The third night they joined us and they men discovered they were both bankers.....talked a lot about their experience.......and became friends.

 

We witnessed how cruising truly broke down a big barrier in the lives of these couples....:)

[Vanessa L]

god forbid the staff has a good time too. they only work for 60 hours 7 days a week just so they can send the money back home to their families that they never get to see!

 

With all due respect Mirage, no one held a gun to their head and made them work on the ship.

 

I don't have an opinion about the dancing waiters/waitresses as much as I loathe the photographers trying to snap pictures during a meal for crying out loud. I always just say no.

 

On topic, I have been blessed to have great tablemates when I don't choose to sit a table for two for the romance ;) My last cruise on the Fascination had a table of 8 next to us that had a bunch of drunk, rowdy 20 something males each night. I felt bad for the family with young kids sitting next to them as each night we would hear in amazing detail about their ["f'ing"] exploits that day. Combined with the table of 20 something females on their other side (and the really feeble attempts to interest them), it was an interesting weekend. LOL.

[cruzinagain13]

On my last cruise on the Pride, there was a lady who kept going on about how wonderful her husband was, how he would take her on great trips and just had the best guy in the world. I finally told her that we were never getting a table for two again, as my head was getting too big;)

[chasekenslee]

Just keep an open mind when you are seated with people that may not "look" like your type. On our last cruise, we ( 2 couples in late 20's/early 30's) were seated with an elderly couple. We arrived first and when the elderly couple were seated we all just looked at each other with great concern. Turns out, this elderly couple were awesome. We talked about everything under the sun. We had actually cruised more than them so they were asking us for advice and we would share stories of our shore excursions with each other. During the day we would even say to each other "I wonder what Mr & Mrs ?? did today. It was great!! We hated to leave them the last night!

[zaandam_2]

god forbid the staff has a good time too. they only work for 60 hours 7 days a week just so they can send the money back home to their families that they never get to see!

 

you've expressed my point. the service professionals have enough to do without being forced to perform. i worked for many years as a waiter and always hated having to perform.

 

i don't care if carnival insists on this, but it would be nice to have the meal service completed first. it's a dining room, not a show lounge.

[Yvonne]

We have had non-family tablemates on three of our cruises.

 

Our very first cruise we expected to be seated with other couples as that is what was stated in the Disney brochure, but nope, we were seated with a couple and their three kids! We were newbies and really didn't want to cause any problems, so we didn't ask to be changed. We would now!! We don't take kids with us on our cruise, so I certainly don't want to sit with anyone else's at dinner and have it be disrupted. I remember the youngest kept kicking me one night, and she was so cranky most of the time. The two older ones were not a problem. But the couple talked contstantly about their extensive traveling, their homes (one in Japan), their money, blah, blah, blah.

 

The second and third times we were seated each time with one other couple, that wasn't bad at all. We didn't have much in common with either of them, but conversation flowed pretty well so we didn't feel the need to change.

 

Really prefer sitting with family though, much more comfortable that way!

 

On our next cruise I've requested a table for four, since it will be us and my DH's sister and her husband. None of us want to sit at a larger table, so we'll go right away to find out if we did get a table for four.

[French_Fry]

4 cruises, no problems!