Best and Worst Tablemate Stories

[sfpen66]

We haven't had a bad experience yet.

 

Our Pacific Coastal cruise in 2011 on Sapphire Princess was our best for tablemates. We were 4 women (3 DS and 1 SIL). Our tablemates were 4 friends all female. So it was a table for 8 all women. Our waiter and asistant waiter were fantastic! We wanted early dining but the first night they put us in late dining. We had such a blast we stayed there for the whole cruise. Every night we were the last table to leave the MDR. On the last night we exchanged gifts. Both groups found a small gift for each of us without planning it. Awesome!!

[BeagleOne]

We were once seated with three people who were traveling together. A couple and one of their moms. After listening to the "gentleman" espousing his prejudiced views on different types of ethnic groups we asked for a different table. Since then, we enjoy eating at 2 tops and have often seen other people at bigger tables be bored by one person monopolizing the conversation at every meal.

 

I'm getting to the point where I speak up about stuff like that. I wish I'd done it on my last cruise, although this isn't a table story. For some reason I was part of a group of six people who were chosen to meet with the cruise director and hotel manager to discuss what we did and didn't like about the cruise. The man next to me went on for literally ten minutes about how he always has to blow his nose in the morning and how the cabin tissues were not sufficiently strong for his "output".

 

The crew members explained how the in-bathroom tissues had to be quickly dissolvable in the sewage system, like the toilet paper, because so many people flushed them. This led to another long monologue about nose-blowing.

 

When my turn came, I mentioned how nice it would be if more movies were shown in a public room. Mr. Tissue interrupted me and said, "Well, you can rent a DVD player and watch them in your cabin".

 

I came THISCLOSE to saying, "Excuse me, we've just spent 15 minutes listening to you tell us about your snotty nose. The LEAST you can do is listen to what *I* have to say now". But I didn't. Wish I had.

[toledotwo]

The best dining experience:

On our first alaskan cruise we were seated at a large table with couples of various ages and backgrounds. We all shared stories of our daily shore excursions. One of the getlemen said that he was looking forward to a salmon fishing trip planned for the next day.

The next evening as we were seated he said that he had a successful trip and caught a large one. Usually a fish that was caught had to be frozen and shipped home as there was no way to keep it onboard the ship.

However the ship's first officier had been along on his trip, and allowed him to bring it aboard - and had the chef prepare it for our table to share.

It was brought out on a platter, beautifuly presented, and served to all as the best apetizer we had ever enjoyed. We hardly had room for our entres.

[momofmeg]

Our very first dinner on our first cruise ever, we were assigned to a 6 top. We were in our mid30s. One of the other couples was similar age and demographic, and lived just a few miles from us. They seemed like a nice couple.

 

The other 2 were an elderly couple who had been cruising for years. They were loud, pretentious, condescending, and rude. The man dominated the conversation, rudely insulting staff, as well as other cruisers who "didn't belong", and he went on and on about why other cruise lines were better. He also mentioned he was in a suite about a dozen times.

 

We didn't know we could ask to be moved, so we ate in the buffet the entire rest of the cruise just to avoid this guy. We love the open dining available now.

 

that reminds me of my cruise on the Connie last year. It was a 4 day. We were seated at lunch with a couple, well dressed and well educated, and it was their first cruise. We had met them the day before as we had eaten breakfast with them too so we knew they were well traveled. Now they were nice and we liked them quite well.

 

Here comes this other couple, early to mid 50's, loud, obnoxious and quite snobby that they were diamond plus on RCI. When they learn this is the other couple's first cruise, they precede to tell them that not all cruises were this bad and not to judge cruising by this cruise. (Granted there were things I did not like about this cruise, but I did not voice them to my tablemates. Besides, the things I did not like were the same things I did not like on shorter "long weekend" cruises on other lines, including RCI. I have found that shorter cruises just has a different feel, as many seem to try to put 7 days of fun in 3 or 4-so I knew I was taking a chance with this cruise it may have that feel.)

 

The wife tells them, she has had an enjoyable time and has seen little to dislike. So the other couple precedes to tell her they have done a Med cruise just the summer before, ( I am sure she was tired of that as we had discussed our Med cruise we had taken the previous summer with them at breakfast the day before), and how they had taken other numerous cruise and were diamond plus on RCI. This was all said with an air of authority as though, being diamond plus made them the last authority,lol!

 

The wife continued to be polite to them, not saying much except she was glad they enjoyed their trips. The couple then started into another round of authoritative 'know it all bullying".

 

At this point I felt I had enough so I speak up and ask the wife to tell them them about the month she had spent in Paris the previous summer (we discussed it the morning before) so she does, a bit along with some other trips she had taken around the world.

 

Well that shut the other couple up-lol! They realized the woman and her husband were more traveled than the four of us others put together.

 

To be nice to the bullying couple, who now seemed afraid to speak, I say to the wife, now that she may like RCI if she ever decided to take a cruise with her grandchildren (we had discussed she had grandchildren the day before that too) as they did have more for children than Celebrity. She tells me they actually had a trip planned with them to Disneyworld and we discussed it a bit. I asked her their ages, and since most were under 10, we all agreed Disneyworld (even the bullying couple whose children were teens, not with them this cruise but normally cruised with them)would be the better hit.)

 

Now that is not my worst table mate story OP, but I am sure you read it here so I won't repeat that!

[laprofesora]

My worst tablemates were many years ago, when I was on the Norway with a group of singles. The group leader announced one day that she had arranged for us to have dinner at the surcharge restaurant (which cost five dollars) at a particular time that night. Another woman, Jill, in the singles group and I said that we didn't want to go, as that dinner time conflicted with an activity that we wanted to do.

 

So the two of us went to the MDR that night, and I anticipated a nice, quiet, relaxing dinner, when the maître d' put a couple and their three small children at our table. We had second sitting. The family had first sitting, but they had done something or other and had missed their dinner time. The three small children immediately picked up their spoons and banged their water glasses continuously. Their parents didn't say a single word to them. I was afraid that they were going to keep it up all during the meal. Then Jill picked up her spoon and started banging her water glass with it as hard as she could, making more noise than the three children combined. That's when the parents told their kids to stop.

 

I was amazed that when the children banged their water glasses, their parents thought it was the cutest thing in the world, and only when an adult did it did they see how inconsiderate it was.

not single. parents and grandparents. I totally agree with you. I think parents who take their kids in to expensive restaurants and let them do anything they want are rude and childish themselves. this also includes any kind of a restaurant.

[OCruisers]

Lucky at dinner ... not so lucky a lunch. :D

Never have had bad tablemates for dinner.

For lunch seems we have often been seated with some rather odd people ... but it's just for one meal so it never really bothers us.

LuLu

~~~

[Azure Moon]

I don't remember ever having "bad" table companions. Have had only fun and interesting ones :cool:

Edited March 31, 2014 by Azure Moon