How Do You Make Friends on Your Cruise?

[MrsZee]

We are in that time of our lives where we can just afford to cruise and most of our friends can not. Or if they can, they choose to use it elsewhere, so we can NOT get any of them to go with us. My husband and I went on our first last October and got kind of lonely. They put us at a two seater table in the MDR and anyone we talked to was extremely nice but never got past that slightly awkward "how is the weather" type conversation.

 

We are going again in May, this time taking our two year old and while I enjoy having family time, I really do envy those people who have their friends with them. So... how do you make friends on a cruise? We will ask for a large table at the MDR as soon as we get on board, but if I can do something different this time around I will.

[PROCRUISE]

We are in that time of our lives where we can just afford to cruise and most of our friends can not. Or if they can, they choose to use it elsewhere, so we can NOT get any of them to go with us. My husband and I went on our first last October and got kind of lonely. They put us at a two seater table in the MDR and anyone we talked to was extremely nice but never got past that slightly awkward "how is the weather" type conversation.

 

We are going again in May, this time taking our two year old and while I enjoy having family time, I really do envy those people who have their friends with them. So... how do you make friends on a cruise? We will ask for a large table at the MDR as soon as we get on board, but if I can do something different this time around I will.

 

We always request a MDR table of 6-8. We still keep in contact with many of our "dinning room mates" and 2 of them booked on the same last cruise we went on after they found out we were going! We always talk with those who sit next to us at the shows because you can always pick up good cruise/vacation information from others too. Usually by the end of most cruises we have about 6-12 E-mail addresses of people we're spoken with on the ship. Enjoy your cruise.

[trock]

We are in that time of our lives where we can just afford to cruise and most of our friends can not. Or if they can, they choose to use it elsewhere, so we can NOT get any of them to go with us. My husband and I went on our first last October and got kind of lonely. They put us at a two seater table in the MDR and anyone we talked to was extremely nice but never got past that slightly awkward "how is the weather" type conversation.

 

We are going again in May, this time taking our two year old and while I enjoy having family time, I really do envy those people who have their friends with them. So... how do you make friends on a cruise? We will ask for a large table at the MDR as soon as we get on board, but if I can do something different this time around I will.

 

 

Check out the roll call section for whichever cruise you book.. It's a great way to pass the time til you cruise.. talking about all the things there are to do.. Usually a meet and greet gets organized...

I met a friend on our roll call two years ago.. and I can tell you no matter what distance there is between where we live, she will be my friend for life...

B you hear me!!! miss ya!

[Uncle Deane]

We are in that time of our lives where we can just afford to cruise and most of our friends can not. Or if they can, they choose to use it elsewhere, so we can NOT get any of them to go with us. My husband and I went on our first last October and got kind of lonely. They put us at a two seater table in the MDR and anyone we talked to was extremely nice but never got past that slightly awkward "how is the weather" type conversation.

 

We are going again in May, this time taking our two year old and while I enjoy having family time, I really do envy those people who have their friends with them. So... how do you make friends on a cruise? We will ask for a large table at the MDR as soon as we get on board, but if I can do something different this time around I will.

 

I hate to sound negative and I may be totally alone with this opinion, but here goes: If my DW and I were sitting at a large table on our cruise and they assigned a family with a 2 year old to sit with us and the others, I wouldn't be too happy. Unless your plan is to have the 2 year old at camp or with the sitter service? Maybe there are other families at tables for early seating, I don't know.

 

We do like to meet new folks at dinner and we have been assigned the table for 2 and agree that it takes away from some of the fun, so I know where you're coming from. Over the years we've met some great folks out on the deck, too, so don't be afraid to say hi to whoever is in the lounge chair next to you.

Have a great cruise!

[deborahjo]

Ran into a couple on our Group Cruise boards before our cruise last April. Love them alot. Had a ball on our cruise and have stayed in contact. We are cruising 2 times together this cruise.

 

It is simple actually. Just have to be open to other people. Have fun.

[MrPete]

We always ask for a large table in the MDR. Without fail, we have clicked with our tablemates each and every time.

 

We have also met people at the open seatings for breakfast and lunch. Other times, up on the Lido deck, either by the pool, or the table areas.

 

On the rare occasion we sailed with friends or family, we were always sad we didn't meet someone new.

 

A couple we met on our first cruise, we cruised with as many times as possible over the next ten years, for a total of 6 times.

[trock]

I hate to sound negative and I may be totally alone with this opinion, but here goes: If my DW and I were sitting at a large table on our cruise and they assigned a family with a 2 year old to sit with us and the others, I wouldn't be too happy. Unless your plan is to have the 2 year old at camp or with the sitter service? Maybe there are other families at tables for early seating, I don't know.

 

We do like to meet new folks at dinner and we have been assigned the table for 2 and agree that it takes away from some of the fun, so I know where you're coming from. Over the years we've met some great folks out on the deck, too, so don't be afraid to say hi to whoever is in the lounge chair next to you.

Have a great cruise!

 

 

I agree with you - but the cruiseline seems to do a pretty good job putting families together and couples traveling without kids together...

[onthehighseas606]

You can meet people sitting in the hot tub--just start talking to someone. MDR as people have mentioned. We sat at table for 8, but only one couple showed up for the whole cruise, and the table behind us was a table for 8 and no one showed up at that table the whole cruise. As a matter of fact, we thought the dining room was quite empty compared to other cruises we have been on. When we cruise, we don't feel the need to get chummy with people--only because we deal with people IRL everyday and enjoy our privacy.

[WestTxCruiser]

I hate to sound negative and I may be totally alone with this opinion, but here goes: If my DW and I were sitting at a large table on our cruise and they assigned a family with a 2 year old to sit with us and the others, I wouldn't be too happy. Unless your plan is to have the 2 year old at camp or with the sitter service? Maybe there are other families at tables for early seating, I don't know.

 

We do like to meet new folks at dinner and we have been assigned the table for 2 and agree that it takes away from some of the fun, so I know where you're coming from. Over the years we've met some great folks out on the deck, too, so don't be afraid to say hi to whoever is in the lounge chair next to you.

Have a great cruise!

Carnival is usually very good about placing people in the same family "situation" together, so I doubt that would be a problem. On the Ecstasy in June we requested a large table, we had a family of 5, we ended up with 9 people at our table...a single father with his son, a grandma with her granddaughter....all age appropriate with our kiddos. So it does work.

Op, I do highly suggest checking out your roll call, we have met some awesome people. Also just striking up a conversation with people and we just hit it off.

Don't be shy, and have a great time!!!!

[forwardcabin]

In the main lounge, we get there early, sit in one of those large semi-circle things and, as people come by and ask if we are saving seats, we say, "no, come on in and join us..." We meet different poeple each evening and usually find we have lots in common. It's really a lot of fun.

[MrsZee]

I hate to sound negative and I may be totally alone with this opinion, but here goes: If my DW and I were sitting at a large table on our cruise and they assigned a family with a 2 year old to sit with us and the others, I wouldn't be too happy. Unless your plan is to have the 2 year old at camp or with the sitter service? Maybe there are other families at tables for early seating, I don't know.

 

We do like to meet new folks at dinner and we have been assigned the table for 2 and agree that it takes away from some of the fun, so I know where you're coming from. Over the years we've met some great folks out on the deck, too, so don't be afraid to say hi to whoever is in the lounge chair next to you.

Have a great cruise!

 

We are in the early dining in May, I am sure there will be plenty of kids.

[Tbay-eh]

I agree with posters who say to go to the roll call for your cruise. That is where I have met and made friends who have lasted for years. Not to be negative but as another cruiser said having a two year old may hinder things a bit. I love children and have two of our own but when I cruise I want to kick back and relax and not have a young child constantly requiring someones attention (been there and done it) and unless your child is SPECIAL it will constantly be "Mom Mom Mom" until I scream. I know a lot of cruisers have brought and will bring infants and that is another roll call for you to touch base with. Just be out there and willing to talk about anything to anyone and you will not have a problem. If you make a connection with someone suggest getting together for coffee and then drinks in the evening etc etc.

[Boatsie]

For those folks who end up with a "table for two"...what do you put down for your table size request? It's not one of the selections one can make while booking the cruise. <Although you can make the "request"...it's never worked for me> Usually you have to dash down to the dining room to make the request after boarding--never been that fast...now I just do "My Time Dining."

[MrsZee]

Well, we ended up with a table for two on our last one because they had a lot of 4 seater booths and the people who were at our table the first day ended up transferring to early dining and they never replaced them. As lonely as two seating was, it was so much better than that awkward first night staring at these two people who only had one word answers to everything we asked.

[dkb363]

We always meet new people at the bars. We sit at the bars - on the back lido deck or casino area. People are always there and conversation just seems to happen. If we see them again, or they see us again, we speak and stop to have a drink again with them. I think there are a lot of people looking to visit with others, you just have to be receptive, and put yourself in situations that are conducive to this - in other words, not sitting in a bar at a table because people won't be around, sitting at the bar, not a table, etc. When we've cruised, we've always requested table size when we made our reservations (asked to be sat with others with child our age) - and requested a table by window. We use a PVP so maybe he does it for us. We've always got what we requested. With a son, we've always been placed with others who had kids the same age. Carnival does look at make-up of group when placing people, IMO. And if your roll call has a meet and greet - go - because you'll see these people around the ship and have others to talk to.

[Ghsthunter]

We will be attending our first ever meet and greet and are looking forward to making new friends.

Laura

[bright eyes]

You can meet people sitting in the hot tub--just start talking to someone. MDR as people have mentioned. We sat at table for 8, but only one couple showed up for the whole cruise, and the table behind us was a table for 8 and no one showed up at that table the whole cruise. As a matter of fact, we thought the dining room was quite empty compared to other cruises we have been on. When we cruise, we don't feel the need to get chummy with people--only because we deal with people IRL everyday and enjoy our privacy.

 

I too am not concerned about meeting people. Like them just fine but we tend to spend the most of our time out on our balcony. Got a wrap for our next cruise so really looking forward to having one again.

[golfadj]

We always ask for a large table and strange thing is very often we wind up with table for two.

 

We always ask the Md for a large table and they always accomodate us.

 

We have met very nice people at dinner. Also will usually have breakfast in the DR and have met people there.

 

Finally the roll call.

 

People are very open to talk to strange on cruising. One of the things we love about it.

[Nunu]

I have no friends. :o

[sewut]

We have cruised our grandchildren, and they have put us at tables with children of similar ages.

[lillian marie]

We often cruise with our 2 almost 3 year old. We usually try to get a table by ourselves because a lot of folks don't want to dine with kids. You can meet families through the CCL kids activities or at poolside activities. We've met people at lunch and breakfast too that we got to know over the cruise. Hey Nunu anyone with a great dog has got to have friends.

[MacSmooth]

We are in that time of our lives where we can just afford to cruise and most of our friends can not. Or if they can, they choose to use it elsewhere, so we can NOT get any of them to go with us. My husband and I went on our first last October and got kind of lonely. They put us at a two seater table in the MDR and anyone we talked to was extremely nice but never got past that slightly awkward "how is the weather" type conversation.

 

We are going again in May, this time taking our two year old and while I enjoy having family time, I really do envy those people who have their friends with them. So... how do you make friends on a cruise? We will ask for a large table at the MDR as soon as we get on board, but if I can do something different this time around I will.

Like another poster mentioned, the friends I made on the cruise were our dinner mates. It is uncanny how good Carnival was grouping together people. For instance, my wife and I were cruising for our honeymoon. The six remaining people at the table were couples as well. One had gotten married the same day we did, one couple was engaged and then the last couple actually got engaged on the boat.

 

So we got along great. We hit the casinos and the club together and when we stopped in Roatan, almost all of us had the same excursion (Catamaran & Snorkel) and we all exchange info at the end of the cruise and still keep in touch...

[grandmato4]

For those folks who end up with a "table for two"...what do you put down for your table size request? It's not one of the selections one can make while booking the cruise. <Although you can make the "request"...it's never worked for me> Usually you have to dash down to the dining room to make the request after boarding--never been that fast...now I just do "My Time Dining."

 

On our Victory cruise two years ago we had requested a table for 6. We were assigned a table for 2. No idea why, it just happened. DH wanted to ask for a change but I said, lets give it a try. It worked absolutely wonderful as the table was between rows of tables for 4. On one side of us the 4 people only showed up twice the entire cruise but on the other side the 4 people (two brothers and their wifes) showed up every night and we were able to spend the beginning of each dinner talking to them and then were able to enjoy some couple only time too. It was the best of both worlds!:)

[doddsm]

Go to the roll call and start making friends there, my sister and I are meeting up with over 100 people we have met on roll call, we have sailed with some of them before on the Spirit.

We now know that if you book with a Cruise Critic Group you start out a friend ahead.

Good Luck

[fig414]

For meeting people, I'd recommend the various daytime indoor activities like music trivia, sports trivia and scavenger hunt stuff. You always get put in a much larger group and if you are there you probably share similar interests.