Truth time...have you ever?

[eddiesgal]

been intimadated by other tablemates?? What I mean is their occupations or job descriptions being different or slightly better than yours?

[6rugrats]

No, that's silly. Who is to say what's "better"?

[eddiesgal]

No, that's silly. Who is to say what's "better"?[/

[Happy ks]

The one and only time I would have been put off by tablemates was when I discovered, thankfully the last night, that the father of the family we sat with was a doctor.

 

Not intimidated though, I just hadn't cared for doctors in the past before this cruise. I had some as clients in the past and they were fairly arrogant. This guy was a lot of fun, we all had a great week together. Just reminded me that you cannot make blanket statements and assume people are one way or another, you have to give them a fair chance :)

 

Asking about ones career is something we don't always do on a cruise.

[eh2zed]

We have been blessed with great tablemates in general. Never any problem with occupations, culture etc.

[juggles]

almost every night we found we were sitting with teachers! I couldn't believe how many were cruising

[Eeyoregon]

YES! Fortunately it was free style dining so it was only for 1 night.

 

We were seated with a couple in their late 70's to early 80's who looked like they could have been in the 1st class elite section on the Titanic! We were in Alaska and had been on an outdoor shore excursion and were dressed extremely casual.

 

This couple was decked out head to toe in the highest fashion, jewels and hair/makeup for her. They even held their pinky fingers up/out when drinking!

 

I completely felt like a fish out of water. They weren't rude or anything but from a very different background and era...I was just trying to figure out which fork to use :D!

 

We exchanged casual chit chat and went our separate ways after dinner.

[cb at sea]

Never! Perhaps its a matter of "self-confidence" on your part, if others intimidate you!

[nitnyleo]

What an interesting question . . . From the title, I thought . . . cool, a thread that will cause a lot of controversy. What a nice surprise . . .

 

No, have never been intimidated . . . and I'm always the one at the table with the least impressive jobs (I've had a few). But, I consider myself fairly well-educated, fairly well-read and am becoming fairly well-travelled. I have made my life choices and am pretty much satisfied that my course is the right one for me.

 

But, I have to confess, I have never been at a table where someone tried to impress everyone with their own self-importance. Cruisers tend to be more open-minded than your usual traveller (in spite of what you may read on other boards on certain topics). Everyone at the table has an interesting story or two to make for an interesting evening.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

just be happy on a cruise all is the same

[eddiesgal]

Never! Perhaps its a matter of "self-confidence" on your part, if others intimidate you

 

my self confidence is not the issue....some people make you feel inadequate because of their own insecurities, feeling that they're just "better" than whatever. With that. let me rephrase the question so as to not be confrontational....have you ever been seated with someone that has made you uncomfortable, whatever the reason?

[clerky96]

Yes. Guess I am the only self-conscious person on this board. I am personable and self-confident in a business situation, but sitting at dinner with strangers is entirely different. On one cruise we were seated at a table with a PHD professor and his wife who were actually giving onboard lectures in the theater of the area and it's people. All the others seated at the table were cruising together. Felt pretty "out of place". Now we usually cruise "freestyle" so we are no longer put in that position.

[sprite]

We've always had good tablemates but there was one very awkward time when we sat with 2 couples from Canada. One couple spoke English fairly well but the other only spoke French. Luckily, they were all very friendly and the English speaking couple didn't seem to mind translating.

 

DH and I have always had a fantasy to be "someone else" on a cruise but we've never had the nerve.

[uppitycats]

The last cruise that we are on where we got stuck with traditional dining, we were with a couple of people who apparently had never been trained in the most basic of manners, belched, passed gas, whined about "which fork am I supposed to use with this slop?", complained loudly about everything they were served, everything that happened to them during the day, were just plain rude. After that cruise we committed to never doing traditional dining again, never getting stuck with people we didn't know, and didn't like. (We didn't know that we could have asked to be moved, either..just never occurred to us. But we avoided dining in the main dining room as much as possible, just to avoid these folks. A shame.)

[Jade13]

YES! Fortunately it was free style dining so it was only for 1 night.

 

We were seated with a couple in their late 70's to early 80's who looked like they could have been in the 1st class elite section on the Titanic! We were in Alaska and had been on an outdoor shore excursion and were dressed extremely casual.

 

This couple was decked out head to toe in the highest fashion, jewels and hair/makeup for her. They even held their pinky fingers up/out when drinking!

 

I completely felt like a fish out of water. They weren't rude or anything but from a very different background and era...I was just trying to figure out which fork to use :D!

 

We exchanged casual chit chat and went our separate ways after dinner.

 

which ship?

[California Native]

I've never been intimidated...

1st off you should never ever judge a book by a cover..

you have no idea how much debt they are in or what goes on behind closed doors.

Your life and lifestyle could be idyllic compared to theirs.

but I have had the unfortunate experience with meeting a few village idiots.

I"m sorry that wasn't pc

Let me explain...

there were those with very poor table manners..

using their finger to get the last bit of sauce..

shouting to the waiter hey boy, the list is endless

then there were the ones that insisted they needed to know what I did for living

and how much money I made to be able to do a b2b cruise at my age..

there have been inquires in the past about my marital status and my fertility...which went from simple conversation starter

to the equivalent to a Spanish inquisition and no matter how I tried to steer the conversation away from children to say ports of call,

they would insist that my life won't be complete until I had them...which for the record I can't and no modern medicine will change that.

then the rascist bible thumpers that nearly drove a lovely FOD couple at our table to tears

and me to lose my grace under pressure demeanor while taking a stand.

So while I haven't had anyone intimidate me,

I have had those that have provoked me enough to want to stop smiling sweetly

and smack them upside the head. :D

 

 

[Arwenmark]

Not sure if I would call it intimidated but earlier in our marriage we were on a cruise and seated at a table for ten, First night out, One couple was mid western farm couple, one couple was Drunk almost to the point of falling out of their chairs. One was what I would call your mainstream cruise couple, Middle age middle income, We were younger than most at the table and hubby was an Electronic Tech at that time. The remaining couple were Rich as Skunks or so it appeared and were in a suite. Well after what was to say the least an interesting dinner, as we left the table the Rich couple called the Maitre d' over and spoke to him. Before we even made it out of the dining room he caught up to us and suggested that perhaps we would like to have a table for two for the rest of our cruise.

Since I had no desire to return to that table especially now I took it, It was under the stairs next to the kitchen door.

I have no idea where the other poor couples ended up, or if only we were the unacceptable ones LOL

[Ephraim]

Never been intimidated, but we have had a few incidents, some funny and some not so funny.

 

We've sat with a couple that was downright rude to the waiter. We have sat with a lady who wanted all her food to be non-fat. We have sat with four women who thought that we were "dinner" (Two men, travelling together.... with no interest in any of them, if you get my drift.) We have even been placed at a table for 10 to start a shared table and... ended up being the only people at the table. And I have sat at a large table with a CC member who decided online that she hated me and so she steered the entire conversation to keep me out. When she left the table the entire table looked at me and asked me why she was being so rude to me.

 

Did any of this intimidate me? Nope. I'm not intimidated by anyone. I am who I am. I don't care if you make more money than me. I don't care if you have a better job than me. I don't care if you have more fame or prestige than me. But I might ask you a few questions if I find you interesting.

[firefly333]

been intimadated by other tablemates?? What I mean is their occupations or job descriptions being different or slightly better than yours?

 

Never. I guess I think Im just fine. lol Im happy being myself.

[Fredr]

been intimadated by other tablemates?? What I mean is their occupations or job descriptions being different or slightly better than yours?

 

hello,

 

First of all, you should not feel intimidated by anyone...and especially not when you have what appear to be adorable twins.

 

Secondly, part of the fun of a cruise is that you get to ask questions in a non intrusive way about people. And most of whom have had or are having very interesting lives and careers that they are proud of and want to talk about. On a recent cruise, for example, I was fortunate enough to meet a retired staff member of the United States Trade Commission. He told some truly interesting stories about his work and I told him about mine. I have met farmers, truck drivers, police officers, business owners. attorneys, and many others who have been great fun to be around.

 

No, never feel intimidated.

 

Fred

[nitnyleo]

some people make you feel inadequate because of their own insecurities, feeling that they're just "better" than whatever.

 

Feeling inadequate is something that is totally in your control. Do you think uppitycats tablemates ever felt inadequate?

 

Methinks, you had a specific event in mind when you made your post. Would you care to share the specifics?

 

I come across self-important jerks everyday . . . fortunately, none have sat at my table on a cruise.

 

Perhaps,you just need to learn the subtle art of politely saying . . . You can *&$3^%$ because &^#$#&^, and quite frankly, I don't &*^%&^*%

about ^%#^%^*&(*&

[rjm1cc]

No, my outlook would be that we are all equal on the trip. Would be interested in learning a little bit about their speciality.

 

When occupation comes up I mention the function and the industry. No need to add titles etc for a vacation. Who cares?

 

Did have a long trip with a retired couple who were elete (in their mind) but by the end of the trip we were all use to it and having a good time.

[nitnyleo]

Interesting stories from a member of the United States Trade Commission . . . are your serious? :D

 

That was a joke!

 

Seriously, Fredr sounds like my kind of cruiser.

[geoherb]

We sat at a table on the Golden Princess's anytime dining room. Fortunately, it was only one night with these two couples. Each of the husbands kept trying to top everyone else: talking about how much they paid for their houses, their stock portfolios, what kind of cars they drove, etc. Even my own DH got into the action.

 

I couldn't have cared less. We live a comfortable life that lets us take a cruise or two each year. Sometimes we're in an inside cabin. Sometimes we have a balcony.

 

One of the things I dislike about anytime dining is that you don't get to know people. You have the same superficial conversations over and over--where you are from, what you do, etc.

[kitty9]

Never been intimidated by any fellow cruiser. I've even sailed with members of the Forbes family and they didn't come off as anything but nice. I have sailed with a couple of uppity snobs, Joy Philbin being the biggest, but I just ignore those types.

 

I think you can learn interesting things from your tablemates, despite the fact that their education or employment status could be intimidating. I sat at a table with a gentleman who was a grad of West Point, had two PhD's and worked at the Pentagon. This guy was incredibly intelligent. But, he was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and his office was one of the ones that took a direct hit from the terrorist plane. Fortunately, he was in the underground bunker at the time, but he had the most interesting tales of that day. He also gave us insight into the running of the Pentagon. BTW, he's a terrorism expert.