Nightmare tablemates?

[island lady]

When we first started cruising, we loved meeting the new people at our

assigned dining table. Then we started an unlucky streak.

 

There were the totally obnoxious drunk mates on one cruise, the loud grannies

(who obviously needed hearing aids) talking graphically about their ills, then

the last straw was the young couple on their honeymoon that did nothing but

argue loudly every night...very embarrassing....I doubt the marriage lasted

long. :eek:

 

From now on...we do a "two top" MTD. Dinner time is "our time" to

converse and enjoy each other's company. Our "meeting others time"

is in the lounges now...easier to walk away if needed. ;)

[sellwingri]

While we've been very lucky on the majority of our cruises, we (husband, daughter, and I) were once seated with 2 ministers with their wives who did nothing but argue about differences in their denominations. Needless to say, we asked to be moved and the next night we sat at a wonderful table with people we're friends with to this day.

 

I am a religious person but this was overkill.

[Johnamac123]

This is why I request a two-topper in advance of my cruise. I've always been accommodated...

[cb at sea]

We've NEVER had tablemates we couldn't "get along with"....ever! Maybe we're just easy to get along with ourselves....or we've been lucky...

 

True, some are more fun than others, but NONE have been offensive or offended, or crude, rude or *******es!

 

We really enjoy tablemates, and look forward to dinner nightly BECAUSE of them!

[troykahack]

One time we were sat with a pair of VERY obnoxious diamond members. They treated the waiter like crap, like snapping their fingers/whistling to get their attention, and kept prefacing/ending each sentence with "I'm a DIAMOND member." They were super fussy, sent their steaks back 3-4 times (ours were great) and complained that they had to share their bus to their excursion with non C&A members. It was embarrassing.

 

I think we met these same people... on almost every cruise.. we think they are funny. They do look up your shorts so be careful.

Edited November 16, 2016 by troykahack

[CruisinShips]

We once had a table for 10. Six in our group....my then fiance and I and our 4 similarly aged teenage kids. The other four were a grandpa, grandma, their daughter and her 20ish year old son.

 

They seemed nice enough on the first night, everyone was pleasant.

 

Second night, we sat down and grandpa decided he wanted to be the seating commissioner. He started assigning seats to alternate our 6 and his 4. Our kids weren't too keen on that, but they went along with it.

 

Third night before dinner, our kids made me promise I would let them sit wherever they wanted at the table, so when grandpa started with the instructions, I had to speak up and as politely as I could tell him that our kids preferred to site where they wanted.

 

Grandpa didn't say another word to us on the entire cruise. Awkward.

[wolfganghowell]

We've had some great tablemates through the years. In fact, one couple have become great friends. We've cruised together 6 times, taken 2 land vacations and have more planned. But.....some of the not so great ones make for great stories. Some faves:

 

table of 8 - some couples and then a 60ish lady with her mother. The week had been fine. Mr Wolf was telling a story and he made a reference to "my previous wife". Next to me, I heard her mutter "FIGURES." Not sure who she was insulting - me or him. I teased him that I was now a trophy wife.

 

Then there were the 2 couples that seemed to dislike each other and bicker every night while I played peacemaker. Somehow, we were invited to the captains table one night. We let our tablemates know - saw one at the pool - that we wouldn't be at dinner so they wouldn't wait for us. Well, one of the women apparently took great offense at this. We walked into a bar later that night and Mr Wolf heard her say, "SShhh there they are" to her husband. The last night we returned to the table and she wouldn't even speak to us. :D :D Yeah, how dare we accept that invite! Although I enjoyed the night off playing referee. :rolleyes:

[Husney]

We had bad tablemates on one cruise; we invited them to join us in a team for Quest. We came in second. After that they were fine and we ended up having a great rest of the cruise.

[george35]

The strangest story I can remember is we were on theSERENADE 7 at a table for 10. We all arrived at dinner, introduced ourselves & nobody was related, no one was from the same state all was married over 30 years & we were all of the same religion. Needless to say we got along GREAT & we all still EM each other & have meet again on other cruises( not all at the same time but we keep in touch).

 

george35

[troykahack]

If the shoe fits, wear it...

 

We find that a large percentage of people will always ask, "What do you do (for a living)".... Why do people do this... why does it matter?

 

Case in point...

 

Lets say I am a Rocket Scientist and everyone has a Rocket...

 

Q. What do you do?

 

A. Oh, I am a Rocket Scientist?

 

Now the questioner is thinking... maybe they can help me with my Rocket as it doesn't quite work right, gears grind, makes noises, hurts the Rocket, some time fails to read or understand the launch codes...

 

Guess what the next question is ...

 

Q. Oh, my rocket is in bad shape.. it has this problem and that problem..

 

A. Rocket Scientist finds another table....

 

We consider this line of questioning rude... We travel to get away from these Rockets.... think about it before you ask again...

[wolfganghowell]

Asking people what they do for a living is not rude. Perhaps they are trying to find common interests. I see people on this board get offended by this a lot and I don't get it. People are trying to make conversation and find out more about you. It's not that it matters, maybe they are just trying to make a connection.

 

I don't usually ask it but I never mind if I get asked. Sometimes I will volunteer it because my profession is "glamorous and exciting" to some people and it often creates conversation and people have fun talking about it. I'm never offended by that.

[clarky213]

On my first cruise We were sat on a table with 3 mother & Daughter Couples. At first I was a bit worried as I had no other male to talk to, but this soon disappeared as one of the daughters became quite chatty. Good Job the wife was there to stop me going astray:D

 

 

Best set of tablemates were on our first Caribbean cruise on Jewel. A good mixture of Old couples, Middle aged couples(Us), a widower and a couple of Ladies.

We all got on so well it was a shame when the week ended.

[BillOh]

We all have experienced the issue of sitting with tablemates that are strangers and have the dining staff move us because not wanting to sit with those tablemates that we know right away we will not spend 7 nights with them. What are some funny stories about that; please keep it clean.

 

I enjoy this subject when it comes up and will enjoy the stories.

 

1st cruise, WONDERFUL tablemates (7 day)

 

Cruise 2 - 3 day Majesty - Table for 10, day one my wife and I along with a lady and her Mom. They never came back, table next to us was obnoxious and gave the waiters hell. They loved us.

 

Cruise 3 - Wonderful tablemates 7 days.

 

Cruise 4 - Navigator 5 day, 3 other couples One couple was my sister and her husband - Everything was great.

 

Cruise 5 - Majesty 4 day, 3 other couples including one from our roll call. Everything was great.

 

Cruise 6 Allure, we were at a table for 4, the other couple showed up the first night and never came back. (I hope this isn't us! I don't think it was) I think that other couple was self conscious. She looked 55 or so, he barely looked 30. Think Cougar time :D

 

Cruise 7 Jewel 5 day Table for 8, One couple was friends of ours, other couple was 60s from Northern Ireland and the final couple maybe 30 from Chicago, Had a great time.

 

Cruise 8 Allure - Table for 8. One couple announced right away that they wanted a table for 2 and weren't happy. They never came back, I don't blame us. Couple number 2 were very nice and you could tell they liked big tables, they made a point to be cordial and friendly. The other two were man and son. (He maybe 60, the boy 30) They made a point to order everything on the menu. That really slowed things down.

 

Cruise 9 Jewel 7 day. Table for 10, the people that were there were all great, but the service was the worst I've ever seen on Royal, made the who week less than ideal, but the people were great.

 

Cruise 10 Freedom 7 day, Table for 6, a young couple maybe 30 and her Mom, great time. One empty chair.

 

Cruise 11 Oasis 7 day. We were at a table for 2 despite asking for a big table. We were next to another table for 2, nice couple, but they were both soft spoken and I am hard of hearing.

 

Cruise 12 Majesty 4 day Table for 4, other couple showed up first, sat on the opposite side of the table, making us sit next to each of them. They were Asian and were speaking, what I found out later was Korean. They didn't speak to us and we assumed they didn't speak English. When the waiter came, they ordered in fluent English. We then started speaking to them, they seemed nice, I thought we were nice, but they never came back. I guess 3 times is a pattern.

 

I forgot, cruise 9 was actually another 4 day cruise on Majesty, table for 4, the other couple was friends of ours. No problems there!

Edited November 16, 2016 by BillOh

[Homosassa]

Only one bad experience in 40+ years of cruising. We were assigned to a table of eight that was composed of four couples that did not know each other before sitting down to dinner the first night.

 

One couple asked if we could all join hands and say grace. After furtive glances around the table by the remaining six of us, one of the women say that would be nice and we all politely sat while the husband droned out a long prayer.

 

The next night, the husband placed a Bible on the table and said he had a short reading for after the prayer.

 

I looked at him and said, "We prayed last night; I'm good to go for the next year." I picked up my roll, buttered it and started eating. The evangelical couple glared at us as the rest of us started eating and talking.

[dasi11]

We have always had great luck with table mates. Never a problem. Always made friends and found stuff to talk about.

 

Only one time did I think it might be a problem and that was for only 5 minutes. We got to our table less than 5 minutes late the first night. There were 2 other couples at the table. We sat and they were speaking Spanish. We introduced ourselves and they turned out to also be from Florida. Then they started talking is Spanish again. We quietly sat there for a few minutes and Marta turned to me and asked if I spoke Spanish. I said no with a smile... They spoke English the rest of the trip. We all got to be friends and hung out together. We ate lunch together at Coco cay, etc. We snorkeled together. Went to quest, etc. It turned out to be one of my favorite cruises! I do believe most people on cruises are there to have fun and get along. We have never had a problem.

[troykahack]

Asking people what they do for a living is not rude. Perhaps they are trying to find common interests. I see people on this board get offended by this a lot and I don't get it. People are trying to make conversation and find out more about you. It's not that it matters, maybe they are just trying to make a connection.

 

I don't usually ask it but I never mind if I get asked. Sometimes I will volunteer it because my profession is "glamorous and exciting" to some people and it often creates conversation and people have fun talking about it. I'm never offended by that.

 

The question itself is not rude, it is just if your Rocket has issues and one wants you to figure out what is wrong with their Rocket. Many people deal with bad Rockets all the time and cruise to get away from helping those with Rocket issues.

 

If you think what you do will be of interest to others, then by all means share it, if you are willing to talk about it further. Nothing wrong with that.

Edited November 16, 2016 by troykahack

[critterchick]

Asking people what they do for a living is not rude. Perhaps they are trying to find common interests. I see people on this board get offended by this a lot and I don't get it. People are trying to make conversation and find out more about you. It's not that it matters, maybe they are just trying to make a connection.

 

I don't usually ask it but I never mind if I get asked. Sometimes I will volunteer it because my profession is "glamorous and exciting" to some people and it often creates conversation and people have fun talking about it. I'm never offended by that.

 

Soooo.... what do you do?:)

 

We've never had "nightmare" tablemates but have had some unfortunate pairings. But we've also met some wonderful people over the years. We now ask for a table for 2 but more often than not don't even go to the MDR any more.

[Merion_Mom]

We had two men as tablemates on one cruise that were lovely until one night one of them showed up very drunk. It was mostly funny until he started listing to the right and ended up with his head on my shoulder. Then he started eating off my plate. :eek: His friend at that point got him up and hustled him out of there, apologizing all the way.

 

Oh, come on. That is hilarious! ;) :D

[babyher]

Tablemates are rather like "blind dates" ....

Some are better than others! :rolleyes: . :D

 

 

 

 

Funny you should use a blind date as an analogy ... many years I go went on a blind date . I made arrangements to meet her at a bar near her work where she went on Friday's with co workers .

 

Walked in the place saw the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen. Of course she wasn't my date , it was the girl sitting next to her.

 

We went out, and although it wasn't a "Date from Hell " There was just no chemistry on either side. When we parted ways that evening we knew we wouldn't be seeing eachother again. However I did have to presence of mind to ask about her friend and get a name. We are still together 26 years later :)

 

Getting back on topic *LOL* if one person at the table doesn't work out , there are always others :)

[mollyeilis]

The last evening when tip envelopes were handed out they were noshows.

 

But envelope night doesn't really happen anymore, and even if some people still want to do it it doesn't change anything. They could easily have just tipped at guest services and they didn't need to do it that night.

 

 

If the shoe fits, wear it...

 

We find that a large percentage of people will always ask, "What do you do (for a living)".... Why do people do this... why does it matter?

 

Case in point...

 

Lets say I am a Rocket Scientist and everyone has a Rocket...

 

Q. What do you do?

 

A. Oh, I am a Rocket Scientist?

 

Now the questioner is thinking... maybe they can help me with my Rocket as it doesn't quite work right, gears grind, makes noises, hurts the Rocket, some time fails to read or understand the launch codes...

 

Guess what the next question is ...

 

Q. Oh, my rocket is in bad shape.. it has this problem and that problem..

 

A. Rocket Scientist finds another table....

 

We consider this line of questioning rude... We travel to get away from these Rockets.... think about it before you ask again...

 

DH works with Kindles and Fire phones and lots of other tech/IT things. He has never been asked to fix a Kindle while on a cruise. But since he LOVES his job, if he were asked for help, he would do it. Perhaps that rocket scientist needs to find a job he LOVES and doesn't need to get away from?

 

Asking "what do you do" isn't a rude question. It's a place for adults to start. Kids ask "do you play pokemon?" or "Do you play soccer?" or "what grade are you in?" Same thing. Finding common interests.

 

Heckofalot better than "so who'd ya vote for?" isn't it? Consider THAT as the other option next time you're asked "what do you do?"

 

 

And be glad you have a paying job to answer with! It's superawesomefun to be asked that when you're an at-home homeschooling dance-mom! That's just a bunch of no-income, "what do you DO all day?" things. Fun fun! :)

 

 

Only one bad experience in 40+ years of cruising. We were assigned to a table of eight that was composed of four couples that did not know each other before sitting down to dinner the first night.

 

One couple asked if we could all join hands and say grace. After furtive glances around the table by the remaining six of us, one of the women say that would be nice and we all politely sat while the husband droned out a long prayer.

 

The next night, the husband placed a Bible on the table and said he had a short reading for after the prayer.

 

I looked at him and said, "We prayed last night; I'm good to go for the next year." I picked up my roll, buttered it and started eating. The evangelical couple glared at us as the rest of us started eating and talking.

 

Oh dear. :) I can *almost* picture my stepdad doing that. Except, unless his wife has changed him (my mom passed away 16 years ago and he remarried), he would reign it in to it just being his family members and it would be brief and quiet. But he's borderline that kind of guy.

 

Love your response.

[Ken Greco]

So does that make them nightmare tablemates (as you have titled this thread) because you don't speak or understand Spanish? Possibly they thought phew, thank God those two no speaking Spanish Americans are no longer at our table. Something to think about when you're pointing fingers at others.

 

M comment about "nightmare tablemates" was just a interesting way of getting posters to relive some of their cruise stories. It does not reflect my attitude with Spanish speaking people or Spanish Americans. My community is one of the most diverse places in the country with over 40 different languages spoken in schools and public places. It just we were not going to spend 7dinner nights with no one to talk to. Also, RCCL put us on the floor that was entirely Spanish speaking cruisers. Correction it wasn't a nightmare just not very comfortable.

[babyher]

Asking people what they do for a living is not rude. Perhaps they are trying to find common interests. I see people on this board get offended by this a lot and I don't get it. People are trying to make conversation and find out more about you. It's not that it matters, maybe they are just trying to make a connection.

 

I don't usually ask it but I never mind if I get asked. Sometimes I will volunteer it because my profession is "glamorous and exciting" to some people and it often creates conversation and people have fun talking about it. I'm never offended by that.

 

 

I don't mind it at all either . I was a 9-1-1 operator for 32 years . So I always get "Man I bet you have some stories " (I do) "Boy I bet you could write a book" (I could) "Whats the craziest call you ever got?" (I gotta million of em:)) Its a nice ice breaker

[vacationlover_mn]

On our honeymoon, my DH and I were seated with a French couple who didn't speak English. AND he seemed to really hate Americans :). Fortunately, we requested new table mates and they were awesome.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[troykahack]

 

DH works with Kindles and Fire phones and lots of other tech/IT things. He has never been asked to fix a Kindle while on a cruise. But since he LOVES his job, if he were asked for help, he would do it. Perhaps that rocket scientist needs to find a job he LOVES and doesn't need to get away from?

 

Asking "what do you do" isn't a rude question. It's a place for adults to start. Kids ask "do you play pokemon?" or "Do you play soccer?" or "what grade are you in?" Same thing. Finding common interests.

 

Asking isn't the problem, but if their Rocket is not doing well, or their husbands rocket is not reading the code right, or their mother/father at dinner, is not the place to fix it....

Edited November 16, 2016 by troykahack

[CarpeCerevisi]

Two stories. First was on a New Year's cruise on Sovereign where I was placed at a table with a large family group of Liverpudlians, 10 in total. They were very nice and I had a great time, I just couldn't understand a word that any of them over 40 said. The second was on the Celebrity Infinity where I was at a table with four other single male cruisers. Not a word was spoken. Fortunately, I knew several others who were on board so I joined their group in MTD for the rest of the cruise.