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Sharing Tables


ToadOfToadHall
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Horrified - that's exactly my point.

 

 

 

You (i.e. people in general) would not dream of doing it at home, or indeed on any other holiday (save at a 1950s holiday camp), and yet everyone accepts it on a cruise.

 

 

 

And other thought has just struck me; do people share a table in the Lido ? I bet they don't.

 

 

 

I’ll take that bet. We’ve often shared tables in Windjammer, Horizon Court and others. When people carry loaded trays looking for a place to put them down why not invite them to take the empty seats. We enjoy no strings conversations with strangers.

 

 

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I’ll take that bet. We’ve often shared tables in Windjammer, Horizon Court and others. When people carry loaded trays looking for a place to put them down why not invite them to take the empty seats. We enjoy no strings conversations with strangers.

 

 

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I agree with you. I have offered people to sit with us and we have been asked to sit with others when tables were full and we were swiveling our heads around and around looking for just 2 chairs.

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Imagine ringing up a restaurant and booking a table for 2 say, then arriving and sitting with another couple ? It would never happen - it would be totally unacceptable.

 

So why is this arrangement perfectly acceptable on a cruise ? And also, because I don't know, does this happen on other cruise lines ? Or is it just specific to Cunard ?

Just to wind things back a bit, because it seems to me that your original premise could have been poorly worded or simply a straw man: what exactly do you mean by this? Are you suggesting that people with confirmed seating requests for 2 in the main restaurants are regularly being allocated to tables of 4 or more? If so, what evidence do you have that this is happening or if not, what are you trying to establish?

 

Nobody who's responded so far (including me) has picked up that vagueness in the original question, but at the same time nobody has stated they've been allocated to a table for 4 or more instead of the 2 which they were promised.

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Cunard is now the only cruise line that I enjoy sharing a table at all meals.

 

It might be something to do with the quality of our fellow passengers and their ability to hold a good conversation.

 

When we cruise with other lines, if there isn't 'open' seating I will request 'My Time/Freedom dining.

 

On my recent Carnival Dream cruise it works a treat. When we turned up and asked for a table for two that is what you got, even if it meant the waiter removing two sets of cutlery from a table for 4.

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Forty years ago, when I lived in Germany, it was very common to be seated at a table with others. The interesting thing was that the custom was to eat with no interaction or conversation with the people you were seated with. Don't know if it's still the same.

 

If I were seated with another family this might happen. Speaking your second language for hours in a row can be hard work. I might prefer to just speak with my SO in our own language, Danish.

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We are happy to share a table on land if we are out for coffee, tea or lunch. I would want to know in advance if I were expected to share with strangers at dinner (although I have certainly done this, a place in Paris springs to mind).

 

Someone mention the 'Canadian' train upthread. We had a very happy journey on this train (some years ago now), the tables were '4 tops' and people were seated in turn. As on cruises, we had some interesting conversations.

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We are happy to share a table on land if we are out for coffee, tea or lunch. I would want to know in advance if I were expected to share with strangers at dinner (although I have certainly done this, a place in Paris springs to mind).

 

Someone mention the 'Canadian' train upthread. We had a very happy journey on this train (some years ago now), the tables were '4 tops' and people were seated in turn. As on cruises, we had some interesting conversations.

 

We went from the East coast tothe West coast of the USA on Amtrak and the steward in the dining car tells you where to sit and who with. We met some very nice paople

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Some mention Parisian (or any French) restaurants. Apart from the most upmarket restaurants, they will cram in as many tables as possible. Go to a bistro, and the waiters will need to move tables in order for you being able to sit down. Usually there is no more than a cigarette's length between tables side by side along bench seats.

🍷🍷

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that's exactly what happened to us, except now we normally go for 8 and have so far met some lovely and interesting people

 

Totally agree. When we are offered a table for two, I ask for a table for 6. I'm cruising with my wife, and not my girlfriend. DW just rolls her eyes at this.

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Totally agree. When we are offered a table for two, I ask for a table for 6. I'm cruising with my wife, and not my girlfriend. DW just rolls her eyes at this.

WOW Im surprised your wife will still allow you to cruise with her.:halo:.

After 40 years I'm sure my DW enjoys talking to new people, as do I, that's why we prefer a table for 6. However she always restricts the subjects I can discuss by warning me to avoid Politics & religion even if with friends.;)

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WOW Im surprised your wife will still allow you to cruise with her.:halo:.

After 40 years I'm sure my DW enjoys talking to new people, as do I, that's why we prefer a table for 6. However she always restricts the subjects I can discuss by warning me to avoid Politics & religion even if with friends.;)

 

Smart Woman! :D

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We're boarding Eurodam on Sunday. Somewhere in clearing the waitlist for first seating we've been put on the request list for a table for 2 (we always request a table for 6-8). I've assured DW that the maitre d' will gladly move us to a larger table if we find ourselves at a 2-top.

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Hope so,it's because we are part of a block booking and probably on the cheaper fare rate.I read that you are not guaranteed your request at that rate.There doesn't seem to be loads of club cabins so am optimistic,cheers,Brian.

 

Frankly I don't see what a 'block' booking or 'cheaper' fare has to do with it in this case.

 

You booked well in advance, paid the 'Club' rate and your preference should be guaranteed.

 

Can't be long now anyway.

 

I do note however that there are savings to be made in Singapore at the moment.

 

Raffles is closed.

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WOW Im surprised your wife will still allow you to cruise with her.:halo:.

After 40 years I'm sure my DW enjoys talking to new people, as do I, that's why we prefer a table for 6. However she always restricts the subjects I can discuss by warning me to avoid Politics & religion even if with friends.;)

 

 

LOL. I have no such restriction though my wife does carry two brightly painted cocktail sticks in her evening bag: one yellow and one red.

 

They serve as alternatives to a referees yellow and red cards. :evilsmile:

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If I were seated with another family this might happen. Speaking your second language for hours in a row can be hard work. I might prefer to just speak with my SO in our own language, Danish.

 

I understand. But this was then the custom among totally German-speaking table-sharers. Interestingly, my wife and I had the same experience three years ago in Paris at Chartier, and recently here in NYC at Zum Schneider.

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Frankly I don't see what a 'block' booking or 'cheaper' fare has to do with it in this case.

 

You booked well in advance, paid the 'Club' rate and your preference should be guaranteed.

 

Can't be long now anyway.

 

I do note however that there are savings to be made in Singapore at the moment.

 

Raffles is closed.

I don't know,it's what people say on this board that you are not guaranteed anything unless you book with the "Cunard fare".
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  • 2 weeks later...

If you spend time in Oxfordshire in the UK and want somewhere interesting to visit, go to Dorchester on Thames and see Dorchester Abbey. If you are a fan of Midsomer Murders then you might recognise the location. While there, visit the local tea room (link below). It is staffed by locals, with home-made cakes. A real feature of the place is the two shared tables. As you eat your afternoon tea you can talk to a range of tourists and locals. In a limited space, the planners have made a virtue of the shared tables and I feel it extends the spirit of the Abbey. I love visiting.

 

It could be argued that this and cruise ships are holiday locations and we are more prepared to suspend our usual practices and to widen our outlook when on holiday. There have been cruises where I have felt somewhat bored by my table companions but I always ask for a table for 8 or 10 because I have had some wonderful experiences. For a solo traveller, shared tables is a boon.

 

http://www.dorchester-abbey.org.uk/tea-room/

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Totally agree. When we are offered a table for two, I ask for a table for 6. I'm cruising with my wife, and not my girlfriend. DW just rolls her eyes at this.

 

I can see your logic in going for a table for 6 because if you went for the 2 you would have to find someone to sit with her.

 

Lol John

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