If you're sitting with strangers in the MDR...

[cdamion]

I have been very fortunate to always have great table mates. Every single time. I now make it a point to go to the Maitre D on embarkation day to make sure that I am at a large table.

 

While there have been quieter couples, it seems that by the end of the cruise everybody loosens up a little. I have always - as in 100% of the time. I end up either doing something on shore with table mates or at least meeting for drinks in one the ship's lounges.

 

It has now gone so far that we have planned a weekend getaway to a land-based AI with table mates from our last cruise.

 

In answer to OP's question - I have never experienced a problem keeping the conversation going at dinner.

 

The MDR experience of meeting new friends from all over is truly one of the highlights of cruising to me.

[kelkel2]

On Princess we had anytime dining but they were trying to get people to sit at a large table so my husband and I agreed to sit with with them at this large table. We ended up sitting with a large family and I have to say the experience was horrible.

Now, I realize it won't always be that way, we refuse to take that chance anymore.

 

The older guy of the family who was the husband/dad was a real jerk. He proceeded to yell at our waiter's assistant several times over petty things, so petty in fact that I can't even remember what it was about. I had the privilege of sitting with him and at one point he slammed his fist on the table and spilled my water all over me. Needless to say I wasn't happy because we had dressed to go to a show after dinner and planned on going right after. He was just rude. When dinner was finally over I couldn't wait to leave. I would have liked to get a coffee after dinner but couldn't even stand to stay longer. When we left I caught the waiter and apologized to him for how rude that man was.

[Seanzie]

When I went on my first cruise, I was seated with one pretty cool dude in med school, who i ended up hanging out with. There were two VERY rude ladies sitting with us. Complain complain complain. She even tried to get me to agree with her about the bad service. I shut her down verbally, and she and her partner were asked to be removed from our table. Never seen them again.

 

The table fit 6, and only had me and the doc there, so the servers asked if they could seat two others in a similar situation to us. I said sure, and ended up meeting two young guys from Canada. They were pretty cool. One of them hung out with me and the doc quite a few times.

 

Anyway, its either hit or miss with MDR dining, as far as I can see! I enjoy it!

[CatgirlNC]

I don't mind sitting with strangers. Meeting people can be part of the fun. We've had both good and not-so-great tablemates. My partner Frank is definitely the more talkative one, so he usually can keep the conversation going.

 

I guess the part that sometimes is hard for me is, when you have assigned dining, trying to think of new things to talk about each night with the same group of 4-6 people. The first night is easy with all the "where are you from, have you cruised before" type questions, but the second night you've already talked about all that. We usually start with "what you do today on the ship (or off the ship)" and go from there.

 

I like eating at the MDR for breakfast and lunch, when you get put with different people, you just have to make conversation for one meal, and that's it, but then you have a few more familiar faces as you're walking around the ship for the rest of the cruise.

 

Actually, I do prefer anytime dining, but by the time we booked our upcoming cruise, both anytime and early dining were already full, so we will take late seating. Probably what we'll end up doing is checking the menu each afternoon, and see what they're serving. If they aren't serving something we absolutely must have, we'll probably end up going to the buffet instead of having to wait to eat late.

[JUGGER]

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Do you make a concerted effort to keep the conversation going? Or do you prefer to let others do the talking?

 

This will be our first cruise without other family members in close to 15 years. The last time my husband and I went alone we were assigned to a table for 4 with another coupwould be nice if other people talked as well.

HI--REGARDING SITTING---------WITH STRANGERS----WE ALWAYS SAY HI--HOW ARE YOU--ENJOYING THE CRUISE----WHERE ARE YOU FROM???? We ARE TWO FRIENDLY PEOPLE---AND WE ALWAYS GET A RESPONSE--OF SOME SORT. AND DUE TO MY MANY E-MAIL FRIENDS I HAVE MANY JOKES---SO I LET LOOSE WITH A FEW--TO SEE IF THEY HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR. AND FIRST OF ALL---SMILE--SMILE----THIS IS FROM--IRENE AND JOHN--48 CRUISES-

[breckbird]

we have always sat at table with more people and have enjoyed it. of course i like to talk and have never met a stranger. i am probley the person yall talk about(haha) but at the end of the cruise i feel we have met some people in this world that we would have never met other wise and will probley never see again

[mondello]

We've always been lucky being seated at 8-10 tops. We all have 1 thing in common: cruising. Sure, conversations can have an ebb and flow. We all like to tallk about cruising or we wouldn't be on CC. Without giving the third degree, we're all from somewhere. Its a small world, too. As travellers we may have travelled through their neck of the woods or know something about their area; if not, we may learn something new.

[cdamion]

On Princess we had anytime dining but they were trying to get people to sit at a large table so my husband and I agreed to sit with with them at this large table. We ended up sitting with a large family and I have to say the experience was horrible.

Now, I realize it won't always be that way, we refuse to take that chance anymore.

 

---

 

I don't do anytime any more. If this was a traditional table assignment, I would have talked to the Maitre D that night to request a different table for the rest of the cruise.

 

The one time I did get seated at a large table with one family, I thought it would end up poorly, but it was fun. I was cruising solo and ended up seated with a family of 1st generation Cuban immigrants. It was a woman with her parents and aunts and uncles. The only one that spoke English was the woman - the rest only spoke Spanish.

 

She made sure to translate conversations for me so I wouldn't feel left out and always included me in the conversation. Really great people.

 

I just hope my luck continues.

[cooncat_mom]

We're so glad that CCL is doing ATD now. DD (my cruise companion) and I had a great table our first cruise on the Imagination - all mother/daughter cruisers. The younger folk got along great and us older ones did too. Next cruise, not so much...we do MDR for breakfast, and will talk with others at the table; however, my hearing isn't all that great and following conversations at a large table in the MDR can be difficult. If you're the friendly sort, you can talk to the tables on either side of you since they're fairly close, though, so it's a pretty good compromise.

[geoherb]

We like tables for eight. There's usually not much of a lull in conversation.

[michelle1836]

the first cruise we had a table for 4. loved our tablemates. our 2nd cruise we had a table for 4 with friends. we liked out first table mates better!!

[Celandine]

I've always enjoyed meeting new people, sharing stories from the cruise and personal lives (as much as people want to share)

 

I've met people who I still talk with.

 

I tend to cruise alone with my mum mostly, but I've been once with my dad and once solo.

 

I've had mostly good tablemates all the time...

 

Once my mum and I got a 2 top (that's what she wanted) and it was fine but conversation got boring after a while... and we'd start to bicker...

 

however, I don't live at home anymore, or even the same country, so I'm kind of torn for our next cruise... I want to spend as much time re-connecting with my mum as possible... but don't want to bicker over dinner :P

[crusinpsychRN]

It's hit or miss. Last cruise I was at a 10 top with 3 solos guys and myself. An older German man (who wore very short shorts) was monosyllabic until day 3 when he finally lightened up.

 

Most of the time it's good conversation.

 

Something weird about breakfast in the MDR. People won't interact a lot. Still asleep?

[novinha]

I think I prefer to sit just with my DH, but I'm a bit shy, he's not. We've sat with quiet folks, noisy folks, boring folks, interesting folks (and I'll bet we were boring to them), but the most uncomfortable is sitting with whiny folks who aren't happy with anything.

 

On a recent land trip we did a ghost tour for two hour. It was awful and I wanted to bolt, ticket price be darned. After the tour I told my husband...enuf is enuf, I'm over 50 now and life is too short, so....for the rest of the vacation if something sucks I'm bailing out, like right now! That includes meals. Thank the Lord the rest of the trip was great!

 

I guess what I'm saying is that if the MDR is not a pleasant experience, for whatever reason, I'm going up to the buffet, or grab a burger, or see if we could get into David's, or skip a meal and hit the hot tub...no questions asked or answered. I can live happily with that, and I'm sure no one I cruise with would miss the pleasure of my company. No harm, no foul.

[Cigar Dude]

We've been pretty lucky; always had nice people to talk with in the MDR. It's a crap shoot unless you have a large party of your own. On our cruise last September there were 6 of us and we wer assigned a table for in the MDR. The other couple told us (after getting to know us) that they had prayed they would get a good bunch to sit with in the dining room. Well, they liked us so much that they're going on vacation with us this coming September!

 

That's pretty cool! :)

[soccersharon]

[quote name='novinha']I think I prefer to sit just with my DH, but I'm a bit shy, he's not. We've sat with quiet folks, noisy folks, boring folks, interesting folks (and I'll bet we were boring to them), but the most uncomfortable is sitting with whiny folks who aren't happy with anything.

On a recent land trip we did a ghost tour for two hour. It was awful and I wanted to bolt, ticket price be darned. After the tour I told my husband...enuf is enuf, I'm over 50 now and life is too short, so....for the rest of the vacation if something sucks I'm bailing out, like right now! That includes meals. Thank the Lord the rest of the trip was great!

I guess what I'm saying is that if the MDR is not a pleasant experience, for whatever reason, I'm going up to the buffet, or grab a burger, or see if we could get into David's, or skip a meal and hit the hot tub...no questions asked or answered. I can live happily with that, and I'm sure no one I cruise with would miss the pleasure of my company. No harm, no foul.[/quote]


I would have asked to change tables. Not everyone is meant to get along with everyone - especially complainers and whiners. We're on vacation - trying to get away from it all.

Happy sailing!

[sparks1093]

[quote name='Cigar Dude']We've been pretty lucky; always had nice people to talk with in the MDR. It's a crap shoot unless you have a large party of your own. On our cruise last September there were 6 of us and we wer assigned a table for in the MDR. The other couple told us (after getting to know us) that they had prayed they would get a good bunch to sit with in the dining room. Well, they liked us so much that they're going on vacation with us this coming September!

That's pretty cool! :)[/quote]

That is pretty cool!

[Grits53]

[COLOR=indigo][B]It seems very awkward when sitting with people who have nothing to say. My DH is a big talker. He will talk to anyone about anything. He enjoys going to the dining room for breakfast, but I don't. I need my first cup of coffee in the mornings before I feel like talking to ANYBODY. Much less strangers. So I feel uncomfortable sitting with strangers at the breakfast table. For dinner, we have had all types of assigned tablemates but only really DISLIKED someone once. Make that twice, but on our last cruise, the one we disliked changed tables after the first night. :D If you find yourself seated at a table with people who do not make your dining enjoyable, you can always request a different table. We have made some great friends at the dinner table on cruises. We prefer to be seated with others over having a table for two. [/B][/COLOR]

[beshears]

We always ask for a "large" table. We find that the first thing we do with the other people is introduce ourselves, and where we are from. I don't know of any cruise where the people we were with, there wasn't any conversation going on at all times. Of course it slowed down, when we ate.:) I like the large tables as I "learn" from other people, especially if they are from other countries, or other states than ours.:)

[erinmarie424]

We enjoy sitting and talking with others at meals, some people can be very interesting and entertaining. On the first two cruises we took together we were seated at tables for 10 with four other couples in our approximate age range - and we had a blast! The last cruise we decided to try ATD due mostly to later port stops and ended up with some very random tablemates. We decided to go back to early dining this time so at least at dinner we'd know who we were dealing with. :) We'll still take our chances at breakfast and lunch (on sea days) in the MDR!

[noidea389]

Quite a few years ago, I was cruising with my mom and dad. I was probably 14 at the time. We were seated with a couple in their 50's who were boring and very whiny! Rude table manners didn't help the man either! On the 2nd morning of our cruise during breakfast, we were sat with a lovely couple in their 70's cruising with their adult son. We asked the Maitre'd if we could be moved with the other family, and it worked out wonderfully! Point is, if you hate your tablemates, ask to be changed!

I'm going on my honeymoon in February, and my husband (:)) will be a first time cruiser! I can't decide if we'd rather have a table for just the 2 of us or not. I suppose we will see what happens. The way I see it, we are on vacation, and there is no reason to make ourselves miserable if we can help it!

[cruise_pirate]

I steal their tater tots!;)

[kcdancerkc]

We love to meet new people, my husband however is really bad with accents - but loves new victims to tell his jokes to!


They are not seating by age, because there have mostly been at least 1 pair who could be my grandparents

1 cruise we got a 4 top and they never showed or were silent -
1 cruise got a 4 top and found many commonalities - but no hanging later
Okay now I'm getting mixed up
But 2 stand out
One lady sat with was a know it all - and the extreeeeme opposites to our personalities and political preference -- she would not shut up!

The most memorable was having a couple who were soooo very nice! She got sick later that night - so we saw him and waved at him in various places. He was a regional funeral home owner. I told him my "nephew" was going to go to mortuary school in 2 years, he gave me his card to give to him! very cool - weird - but cool

[Jeafl]

[quote name='chuckwagon52']The problem with these assigned seating's is that you can always count on someone at the table being an investigator. "Where you from"? "What do you do"? "You got kids"? Please!!!! how will any of my personal information enhance your dining experience.[/QUOTE]
Those kinds of questions don't really bother me, they are pretty benign. Now if someone asked me my bra size, if I've ever been arrested or how much money I make, that would be a different story! LOL

[Socref124]

[quote name='Jeafl']Do you make a concerted effort to keep the conversation going? Or do you prefer to let others do the talking?

This will be our first cruise without other family members in close to 15 years. The last time my husband and I went alone we were assigned to a table for 4 with another couple who spoke only when spoken to. My husband hated how uncomfortable it was, and wants to ask for a table by ourselves this time, rather than go through that again.

I would love to sit with a large group this time, and get to know some other people. I have no problem keeping up my end of the conversation, but it would be nice if other people talked as well.[/quote]

On embarkation day, ask the Maitre d to seat you at an 8 top. If one is available he will. Then, if you don't like the people you are with, ask to be moved to another table and he will if one is available.