Tablemates-who have you sat with?

[Taxguy77]

Went from Miami to Santiago on the Crown, years ago. Could not have had finer tablemates!

[wizard-of-roz]

Quite a few years ago we met a lovely elderly couple from London on a cruise out of Florida. They were doing a B2B and it was the second leg. We were in our 30's and they were in thier early 80's. Kind of like a wonderful set of parents/grandparents. They were newlyweds as he had lost his wife, she had never been married before. They married after a brief courtship (as they said-they had no time to waste! ) They were the nicest, most intersesting couple and we adored them. We kept in touch and the next year they were going to be in the US again after a cruise and decided to come spend a week with us. We introduced them to breakfast at a diner, chicken wings, brunch and all kinds of new adventures! We were invited to a black tie party at a friends house and brought them with us. She had forgotten his tux trousers so HE was wearing HER dress slacks with his jacket! We all were laughing so hard we were crying. Our friends house is kind of castle-ish and they were just undone. We partied and danced until dawn. They were the most popular people at the party. They said it was the week of a lifetime and the party was like going to the queens house-except nicer! They have both passed away now and we talk about them often. We have a picture of them with all our family pictures and really consider them family. God Bless you Molly and Les-we miss you!

 

Wonderfully sweet story. Thank you so much for sharing it!

[wizard-of-roz]

It is simply amazing who you can end up with as a table mate. I taught history before I retired. We were on a cruise out of Sydney with all kinds of young Aussies. Naturally they put me at a table with this very very elderly American. I was really disappointed. I wanted to meet Aussies. It turns out this old man was at Omaha Beach during D Day. He was in the navy driving one of those landing crafts. Then he got transferred to the Pacific and was at Okinawa during the Kamikazi attacks. He was one of the most memorable person I have met on a cruise. On another cruise I met an elderly lady from London was survived the bombing in WWII. On the last cruise I met a man from Dallas. I asked him if he was there when Kennedy was killed. He told me he actual met Jack Ruby. My only regret is that I wish I had known these elderly people while I was still teaching.

 

You were meant to meet them exactly when you did!

[wizard-of-roz]

We always choose late seating TD and have been lucky so far.

 

Last year they tried to put us at a table for two. We met with the maitre d' and explained - "We have been married over 30 years and have nothing left to say to each other!"

 

The maitre d' looked at his list and told us, "Well here's a big table with one couple in their 80's, another a little older..." Please, we requested, get us a table with people in their 40's and 50's like us, which he was able to do.

 

When we told our story at dinner the next night, one of our new tablemate friends, the honeymoon couple in their 20's said "Great, now we're sitting at the table with the old people!" We had so much fun with that table we barely made it to the shows on time.

 

Happy cruising.:)

 

Those are the best tablemates....when, you'd rather listen to each other's lives than go to the theatre!!!!

[wizard-of-roz]

Hi All

 

Not enough hours in the day to tell you all our storries of tablemates,

 

some have become life long friends and I thank Princess for that,

 

others well thats what the Crown Grill is great for. Saying sorry we are

 

not going to be here tomorrow night.

 

 

However one that stands out,

 

Was a man who on seeing something on your plate, would ask if it was

 

nice then without saying anything would help himself to your meal, thats

 

right you are eating and the next thing you see is his fingers picking your

 

food, of your plate.

 

yours Shogun

 

No Way!!!!!! OMG! How rude! That's a new one, I've yet to witness such behavior [except from my DH or, me helping myself to something on DH's plate!]

[wizard-of-roz]

lol...we are two girls cruising without our husbands, can we have the football team table please...lol ( only joking ) !

 

YOU would have loved it! You'll meet lots a wonderful folks! Have a great cruise!

[wizard-of-roz]

We have always chosen early traditional dining and a large table. We wouldnt do it any other way. We have met the most wonderful people and are still in touch with them after 25 years. Hi Lola, Alona, Gladys,Eddie, Ian amd Raiji. We are cruising again January 2012 and will be chosing Traditional Early dining and a large table.

 

You sound like just the folks I love to sit with!

[wizard-of-roz]

Years ago on our first Princess cruise, Sea Princess from Tokyo to Vancouver, May '89, we were seated with the most fantastic table mates. The Cruise Director, a young American gal, who we had met before embarking in Koyoto as she was looking for a Japanese Mc Donalds to get a bit of American food, a ex-pat Brit black sheep of the family who was returning to Uk from Hong Kong after making his fortune, a single, extremely wealthy Australian woman who had traveled the world, and an older couple from Canada.

 

We had the most marvelous time listening to all of the happenings of everyone and the Brit from Hong Kong would bring fantastic artifacts to the table each night to exhibit them..........

 

The CD even arranged to have a full Mexican lunch spread as we lived in California at the time and loved Mexican food as did she. Where they got the avocados, tortillas, beans etc. was amazing to us as this ship was the last to visit Bejing just before the fall of Tieneman Square. And hadn't added new supplies after leaving Australia.

 

This is when we fell in love with Princess and at the end of the cruise when we all were in the ballroom holding hands and singing on the last night of the cruise before docking in Vancouver, was just the most amazing feeling...........What an introduction to Princess!

 

Wow! I still get goosebumps when we're re-entering American waters and coming home!

[wizard-of-roz]

We've also had some interesting neighbors. A couple of cruises ago, there was an elderly lady in a wheelchair (it turned out she was the most traveled passenger) and her daughter. The daughter had the most distinctive laugh... very loud (ha, hahaha, ha). We ended up talking with her later on in the voyage and she was quite a fun person.

 

On another cruise, there was a family that was a bit odd. They would be late every night. The young boy was in a stroller watching a portable DVD player.

The father was so finicky that he drove his waiter to tears. She finally got an extra assistant waiter to help assist her with that table. It turned into something of a floor show for the tables around them... what would they do tonight?? :rolleyes:

 

Some people are never happy! I always feel sorry for the servers who have to please them! :(

[wizard-of-roz]

We have had some great experiences with tablemates and only one bad one.

 

On our second cruise, we were seated at a table for six. On the first night, four of us were already seated when the last couple arrived. They introduced themselves, and I immediately said, "Your son took our daughter to the junior prom!" They lived in our hometown, and they knew our daughter, we knew their son, but we parents had never met before. Small world!

 

We have also had other tablemates that we saw several times afterward and still keep in touch with by e-mail, and others that we still see and have cruised with afterward.

 

The one bad experience was one I had when I traveled with a lady friend instead of my husband. The first night was lovely. We were seated at a table for six with a young honeymoon couple and had a great time, chatting and laughing. The next night, the maitre'd brought a couple to our table and seated them at the two empty places. It turned out that after the first night, the two couples who had originally been seated with our new tablemates had asked to be reassigned. We were stuck with them for the rest of the cruise and quickly found out why their original tablemates had left them. They were really obnoxious!

 

Too bad! I hope it didn't ruin the cruise for you.

[wizard-of-roz]

We have met so many different kinds of people that we never would have met if we hadn't been seated together by Princess. One time we were seated for a 14 day cruise with some boat people from Vietnam and we enjoyed them immensely although we did not share anything in common. Another time we were seated with a 5 star general who was so gracious and interesting we could understand following him into battle.

 

Last year there was that pushy lady who insisted the whole table not eat anything but vegies and meat or fish (or get fat), and she had a cow when they left the bread basket on the dinner table, thus tempting her to eat it (which she did). For this she reamed the wait staff nightly, much to our table's horror. After weeks of enduring this (on a 28 day cruise) we finally got her to leave the table when we all refused to acknowledge her existence, we completely ignored her. The minute she left, the vibe of the table became happy and joyful, we ate to our hearts content and had gained a new respect for our waitstaff and yummy food!

 

Now I always figure that whomever is at my table is there for a reason and I try to just be flexible and easy going, just in case there is a lesson there for me I don't want to miss it!

 

You have a wonderful attitude. Sometimes it's just plain fun to hear about other people's lives.

[patterson3]

My wife and I have been on 2 cruises- our first, we were seated at a table for 6 and the entire trip our tablemates never showed up, so we had the table to ourselves. On our last cruise (which we took with another couple who are friends of ours) we were at a table of 8 and we enjoyed their company so much that I can honestly say the dinners were the best part of the cruise for us! They all had such great senses of humor and we got along great!

[wizard-of-roz]

My wife and I have been on 2 cruises- our first, we were seated at a table for 6 and the entire trip our tablemates never showed up, so we had the table to ourselves. On our last cruise (which we took with another couple who are friends of ours) we were at a table of 8 and we enjoyed their company so much that I can honestly say the dinners were the best part of the cruise for us! They all had such great senses of humor and we got along great!

 

It's really a guess as to who will be sitting with you. You never know. There's always the choice of changing your table or going to another venue i.e. Anytime Dining or Horizon Court.

 

It's why I love cruising, we have all sorts of choices and ways of making new friends. Or, being alone, if we choose. ;)

[Deb in Cali]

On my last NCL cruise we had anytime dining. We had some great dinners and one disaster.

 

On our Princess cruises we had one poor group and one really great group. The really great group consisted of 5 women and my DH. It was a hoot.

 

On our last cruise on Carnival we were seated at a table for 6. One other couple never showed up. The couple that did, were on their first cruise. They were a lot of fun. We are still in touch with them.

[YoungDubFan]

I have to concur with the posts about the Aussies being great table mates. On my last cruise of the Greek Isles on Louis Cruise line, my friend and I (from Ohio) were seated at a 6 top with 2 couples from different parts of Australia. We had great dinner conversations and had a lot of fun. This cruise had probably the biggest mix of nationalities of any cruises I have been on. My only requirement was that our table mates speak English. We were very lucky. We did meet many other passengers during breakfast and lunch and I swear we met The Couple that started the stereotype of Rude Americans. I mean we were in Greece and all they could complain about was why things weren't like they were in Alabama. I mean come on, you've traveled 1/2 way around the world, to the cradle of civilization, and you want everything to be like in Alabama? I really couldn't figure out why they were on that trip, and especially why they would be on that cruise line. If they wanted an American experience, you'd think they would have picked one of the bigger lines that targets Americans. We only ate lunch with them once and avoided them like the plague for the rest of the cruise.

[michelle1836]

for our first cruise we were seated with another couple about our age from a neighboring county. that was a pretty good match. the other cruises we knew our tablemates before hand. this time we are trying anytime dining

[Front Row]

We had a table for 8 and the other 6 were a family with their 4 children their ages were from about 22 to 16. The parents were wonderful but the kids were horrible, they wore what they wanted regardless of the evenings dress code. On one formal night the 20 year old had a Hustler (yes the porn magazine) t-shirt on. The kids had no manners, were rude to the wait staff, loud and bossy. One evening the two eldest were not there, we asked what had happened, the parents happily volunteered that they had both gotten stupid drunk on their excursions and were “sleeping it off.“ Very unpleasant.

[scottbee]

Been lucky most of the time. We've learned to check the table we're assigned after getting a really crummy one in the corner by the emergency exit (it was freezing, and I'm never cold). But the best.

 

1st night; I leave the prime "looking out the window" seat for the last couple. A middle-aged british couple sit down, he was kinda quiet, but she immediately asked to swap seats with me. Why? (now add a thick Northern UK accent -- think Mrs Tweedy from Chicken Run) "I don't want to look out the windows because I don't like being on boats". Seriously; you fly from England to New Orleans only to proclaim the 1st words out of your mouth "I don't like being on boats". It only went downhill from there; didn't like this food, that's undercooked etc etc my son is a chef blah blah blah

 

She was such a pain that by day three, I dropped the gloves and started to special order to maxmize offence to her. Extra rare prime rib; escargot "oooh these snails are really good". Anything to cheer the rest of us up; and offend her.

[wizard-of-roz]

I have to concur with the posts about the Aussies being great table mates. On my last cruise of the Greek Isles on Louis Cruise line, my friend and I (from Ohio) were seated at a 6 top with 2 couples from different parts of Australia. We had great dinner conversations and had a lot of fun. This cruise had probably the biggest mix of nationalities of any cruises I have been on. My only requirement was that our table mates speak English. We were very lucky. We did meet many other passengers during breakfast and lunch and I swear we met The Couple that started the stereotype of Rude Americans. I mean we were in Greece and all they could complain about was why things weren't like they were in Alabama. I mean come on, you've traveled 1/2 way around the world, to the cradle of civilization, and you want everything to be like in Alabama? I really couldn't figure out why they were on that trip, and especially why they would be on that cruise line. If they wanted an American experience, you'd think they would have picked one of the bigger lines that targets Americans. We only ate lunch with them once and avoided them like the plague for the rest of the cruise.

 

Nothing worse than having to avoid someone while on a cruise ship!

[wizard-of-roz]

My (much) older sister (mid-40's), my 19 year old son and I were on a 4 day Spring Break CCL cruise out of Tampa. We were seated with 3 lovely young women (in their late 20's), who were on a girls cruise, along with some other interesting people.

 

After we were seated, we asked where they were from. They ended up being from the same town as us and even graduated from the same high school as my son! They knew one of my neighbors and one of the girls grew up across the street from where our house is now located. So much for getting away from home!!

 

You know what they say......we're all separated by 9 degrees!

[wizard-of-roz]

We had a table for 8 and the other 6 were a family with their 4 children their ages were from about 22 to 16. The parents were wonderful but the kids were horrible, they wore what they wanted regardless of the evenings dress code. On one formal night the 20 year old had a Hustler (yes the porn magazine) t-shirt on. The kids had no manners, were rude to the wait staff, loud and bossy. One evening the two eldest were not there, we asked what had happened, the parents happily volunteered that they had both gotten stupid drunk on their excursions and were “sleeping it off.“ Very unpleasant.

 

How awful! These are people I really want to avoid!!!!! :o

[wizard-of-roz]

Been lucky most of the time. We've learned to check the table we're assigned after getting a really crummy one in the corner by the emergency exit (it was freezing, and I'm never cold). But the best.

 

1st night; I leave the prime "looking out the window" seat for the last couple. A middle-aged british couple sit down, he was kinda quiet, but she immediately asked to swap seats with me. Why? (now add a thick Northern UK accent -- think Mrs Tweedy from Chicken Run) "I don't want to look out the windows because I don't like being on boats". Seriously; you fly from England to New Orleans only to proclaim the 1st words out of your mouth "I don't like being on boats". It only went downhill from there; didn't like this food, that's undercooked etc etc my son is a chef blah blah blah

 

She was such a pain that by day three, I dropped the gloves and started to special order to maxmize offence to her. Extra rare prime rib; escargot "oooh these snails are really good". Anything to cheer the rest of us up; and offend her.

 

Oh dear! At least you were entertained by her!!!!! I, quite frankly, would have moved away so fast...her little brainless head would spin! :p

[morecruise4me]

We've been pretty lucky when it comes to tablemates. We always enjoy meeting new people. We have had the occational "bore" at the table who monopolizes the conversation and has an opinion on everything even when they know nothing about it. On our last cruise, debarkation morning we went down to the MDR for breakfast and were seated with an older couple. As we talked we found out that the man had retired the year before DH began his current job and that we had friends in common. It really is a small world.