Nightmare tablemates?

[MicCanberra]

I think we were seated at the table next to this couple in Chops on the Oasis of the Seas last month.

 

It was formal night and the couple were dressed nice, her in a low cut red evening dress, and him in a nice tux. As we sat down, the gentleman left for a few minutes (she told us later he went to get more wine from their room so they wouldn't have to pay). While she waited, she spread garlic butter for the bread on her bread "dish" and licked it off. My wife was speechless and I turned my head because I just couldn't watch. The gentleman made it back with two very full glasses of wine and their meal was served. She ate everything with her hands and licked all the plates. His manners were not as obnoxious, but he acted as if her behavior was normal.

 

I was a annoyed by the couple because they were keeping my trophy wife distracted (entertained). Their final act for our part of the evening was trying to sneak out of Chops without paying the bill. However, the waiter caught them at the door and called over the head waiter. When the waiters asked for their sign-and-sail cards, the woman exposed her rather large right bosom reaching way down between the peaks for her card.

 

That meal goes down as the strangest thing I've ever seen on a cruise.

 

Burt

 

Well, at least with those two, all the other passengers had dinner and a show.

[Cruzin-K]

Why are you still there. Laura is out the door on her 56th birthday. She is first FERS class. Would have gone at 55 if CSRS.

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

Do you mean early out? Don't hold your breath. I retired when I was 62 (38 years 5 month 3 days) under the old CSRS with the early out incentive of 25 K in 2014. Thank you.

 

I'll be like davekathy, working until I'm 62 (40 years, 7 months and a few days) under FERS. That extra .1 percent for working until 62 works out to be around 9% more than if I went at my minimum retirement age of 56 and 8 months, and that's enough money to pay for a few cruises :D Still, it will be nice once that "KMA" date hits to know that I can go at any time if things get too bad at the office.

 

I would have loved it if CSRS was still an option when I was hired, but I was a few years too late.

 

 

"Holy cow, when did it become rude to ask someone what they do for a living? That's a standard ice breaker along the lines of "how do you like the weather?" Or "so where are you from?"" It did not become rude, it was always rude. Many people have not retained what is considered rude when their parents raised them. Other conversation stoppers I have experienced include, "oh, you just renovated, what did you pay?" or "So, you just bought that house, what did you pay for it?"

 

Simpler small talk always works as an introduction to a good conversation, like the weather, current events, books you recently read.

 

I don't think it's rude to ask what someone does for a living. What is rude is if the person asked obviously doesn't want to discuss it, and changes the subject, and the person asking keeps pushing for more info. I have a generic answer to the question, and I won't give out more information until I get to know the person a bit better.

[davekathy]

I'll be like davekathy, working until I'm 62 (40 years, 7 months and a few days) under FERS. That extra .1 percent for working until 62 works out to be around 9% more than if I went at my minimum retirement age of 56 and 8 months, and that's enough money to pay for a few cruises :D Still, it will be nice once that "KMA" date hits to know that I can go at any time if things get too bad at the office.

 

I would have loved it if CSRS was still an option when I was hired, but I was a few years too late.

 

Excellent plan. Retirement is great!

 

 

I don't think it's rude to ask what someone does for a living. What is rude is if the person asked obviously doesn't want to discuss it, and changes the subject, and the person asking keeps pushing for more info. I have a generic answer to the question, and I won't give out more information until I get to know the person a bit better.

 

Agree.

[WupperAV]

I just say, "nothing, I'm a Farmer. Don't cuss Farmers with your mouth full. Most don't know what to think.:o

[CntPAcruiser]

This past spring we were on a cruise with both good and bad table mates. One couple (refused to sit close to us and kept a gap of two chairs between us and themselves.TThe waiter would encourage them to move closer and said, 'The other couples are very nice. They don't bite" but to no avail. The other couple at the table were awesome. We did however wonder if our deodorant was not to their liking. lol\

On the same cruise we had breakfast in the main dining room once and were seated at a table with four other couples. One gentleman asked us how many cruises we had been on and then proceeded to tell us this was his 56th cruise. He then said, "And yes you may kiss my feet". He was the ultimate of snobs. Slowly, the other couples at the table began to leave. Even his cruise mates were disgusted with his bragging and rolled their eyes constantly. Eventually everyone left. I still remember how he looked at me when I laughed at his "you may kiss my feet". He was very disturbed that I hadn't taken him seriously. Yipes, some people.

We have since decided if things don't go well the first night to switch tables. Not worth the foolishness but it was certainly entertaining.

 

I would have immediately invited him to kiss another part of my anatomy, then found the headwaiter to move to a different table that night. Yikes!

[bazbov]

I think we were seated at the table next to this couple in Chops on the Oasis of the Seas last month.

 

It was formal night and the couple were dressed nice, her in a low cut red evening dress, and him in a nice tux. As we sat down, the gentleman left for a few minutes (she told us later he went to get more wine from their room so they wouldn't have to pay). While she waited, she spread garlic butter for the bread on her bread "dish" and licked it off. My wife was speechless and I turned my head because I just couldn't watch. The gentleman made it back with two very full glasses of wine and their meal was served. She ate everything with her hands and licked all the plates. His manners were not as obnoxious, but he acted as if her behavior was normal.

 

I was a annoyed by the couple because they were keeping my trophy wife distracted (entertained). Their final act for our part of the evening was trying to sneak out of Chops without paying the bill. However, the waiter caught them at the door and called over the head waiter. When the waiters asked for their sign-and-sail cards, the woman exposed her rather large right bosom reaching way down between the peaks for her card.

 

That meal goes down as the strangest thing I've ever seen on a cruise.

 

Burt

 

LoL Burt. Maybe they were related.:D

[BillOh]

I just wanted to add a slight variance to the topic. We pick 2nd seating because it usually has less kids. Regarding kids in the MDR, we are empty nester's traveling as a couple, and will someday cruise with our grandchildren.

 

On one Majesty cruise there was a table with two kids, I'll say girl 8 and boy 10. They were the most well mannered kids, they were with their parents and both sets of grandparents. The Grandmothers were competing to see who could be the most petty and obnoxious.

 

I think it was Allure 2011 there was a family(assumption of about 8 parents and 12 kids. The parents sat at one table and the 12 kids at another big table. Unfortunately our water had the kids table too and they kept them running. The parents never came over to help or keep the kids under control. Fortunately the kids never came back.

[MrsPete]

I've only encountered one "nightmare" of a tablemate, and it was at lunch ... so we only had to endure him for one meal.

 

He was a teenaged boy. I had -- at that point -- two teenaged girls, and when they realized we were going to be seated together, they were clearly pleased. He was cute. But he didn't speak; he kind of grunted, if anyone spoke to him -- no, he didn't seem to be mentally deficient, just rude. He ate with his hands and had awful manners. I could tell my girls were shocked, and their interest in him disappeared quickly. For a year afterward, my girls'd comment, "Remember when we ate with that boy who was raised by wolves?"

 

His parents, in actuality, were quite pleasant, and they didn't pay attention to him at all. I suppose that's how he ended up behaving that way.

[CruiseMuch?]

If you have cruised several times, & never have had strange tablemates.....YOU might be them. Just sayin.

 

 

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[Gwendy]

If you have cruised several times, & never have had strange tablemates.....YOU might be them. Just sayin.

 

 

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Love it

[Husky61]

After reading almost 200 posts, my wife and I never have a problem with table mates, but that is because we only sit at tables for two.:D

[Enforcer]

After reading almost 200 posts, my wife and I never have a problem with table mates, but that is because we only sit at tables for two.:D

 

Hi,

 

We always have a table for two and I have loads of trouble with tablemates :):):)

 

Pete

[frantic36]

Hi,

 

We always have a table for two and I have loads of trouble with tablemates :):):)

 

Pete

 

Now that's funny.:D

[MNice99]

I only have one cruise to relate to, and I think we were the nightmare table mates!

 

We were part of a group of about 40 people most people had a table of all member of the same group. we were on a 12 top table 10 of us from our group (and other members of our group were seated at tables close to ours) and 1 couple was seated at our table with us.

 

I don't think anyone labeled us as "obnoxious", but we were anything but quiet! we were friendly to the other couple at our table, but it must have been horrible for them to listen to our bantering with each other every meal.

 

They came every night so it was either not too bad, (or they didn't know they could move)

 

anyway I promise to try to be better during our next cruise. (this time no group just us and two almost adult boys)

[john watson]

Care to expound on just exactly what retired professionals/doctors look like? Are they short or tall? Fat or skinny? You said he was portly; was this a key identifier? Wear logo clothes or not? Bald or not? This will help me ID my tablemates on our next cruise.

 

Normally a stethoscope will be hung around the neck and some will have a concave metal mirror with a hole in it mounted on their headband. Look out for these.

 

Regards John

Edited November 26, 2016 by john watson

[davekathy]

Normally a stethoscope will be hung around the neck and some will have a concave metal mirror with a hole in it mounted on their headband. Look out for these.

 

Regards John

 

Scrubs on casual evenings in the MDR is another give away. White lab coat is worn over the scrubs on formal evening.

Edited November 26, 2016 by davekathy

[Kartgv]

We've had plenty of very interesting and sometimes eccentric tablemates, most of them entertaining and congenial. Some we've really enjoyed and corresponded with over the years. More recently there seem to be more chronic whiners and complainers, so we usually now go for tables for 2.

 

One couple that stands out was more sad than anything else - it was in 1991 on the old Constitution liner sailing Hawaii. Our table for 4 was shared with a couple from somewhere in the Midwest, and the woman had just attended at 50 year reunion of some nurses who served in Honolulu during and immediately after Pearl Harbor. She had some very interesting stories to tell, but more often than not, she would suddenly burst into tears when telling them. She'd usually recover pretty quickly, but it was a little disturbing.

Edited November 26, 2016 by Kartgv

[Paulette3028]

Another terrific sailing with wonderful tablemates. We found these tablemates through our Roll Call and decided to sit together at dinner....what a great thing it was!

[SuiteTraveler]

"Holy cow, when did it become rude to ask someone what they do for a living? That's a standard ice breaker along the lines of "how do you like the weather?" Or "so where are you from?"" It did not become rude, it was always rude. Many people have not retained what is considered rude when their parents raised them. Other conversation stoppers I have experienced include, "oh, you just renovated, what did you pay?" or "So, you just bought that house, what did you pay for it?"

 

Simpler small talk always works as an introduction to a good conversation, like the weather, current events, books you recently read.

 

I take it you are not from the US? This is a cultural difference. Read here to understand more:

 

https://interculturalmeanderings.wordpress.com/tag/why-is-it-rude-to-ask-british-and-europeans-what-sort-of-job-or-occupation-they-have/

[Sea Hag]

"Holy cow, when did it become rude to ask someone what they do for a living? That's a standard ice breaker along the lines of "how do you like the weather?" Or "so where are you from?"" It did not become rude, it was always rude. Many people have not retained what is considered rude when their parents raised them. Other conversation stoppers I have experienced include, "oh, you just renovated, what did you pay?" or "So, you just bought that house, what did you pay for it?"

 

Simpler small talk always works as an introduction to a good conversation, like the weather, current events, books you recently read.

 

Oh good grief! Better make sure there aren't any Americans if you start talking current events in the near future. :eek:

[Paulette3028]

What determined if a table mate was a nightmare to you? It is very difficult for me to have a 'nightmare' tablemate.......let's face it, those that did not come with me, are not going home with me -- so for a few nights, even a week -- it will all work out for me.

 

I have never had a table where everyone else spoke a different language than I did; I have never had a table where we could not at least discuss what they did that day on the cruise or what plans they had for the next port stop.

 

If I came across a topic of discussion I did not like, I did not participate in it, and never brought it up again.

[cruising nole fan]

We eat at the buffet :D

[Goosebear Mum]

I take it you are not from the US? This is a cultural difference. Read here to understand more:

 

https://interculturalmeanderings.wordpress.com/tag/why-is-it-rude-to-ask-british-and-europeans-what-sort-of-job-or-occupation-they-have/

 

Good grief, I'm British and have never heard this one before. It's always been a standard 'getting to know you question'. I find questions about someone's health far more impolite!

[weregoingcruising]

Hi,

 

We always have a table for two and I have loads of trouble with tablemates :):):)

 

Pete

Did you mean tablemate?

[GUT2407]

Hi,

 

We always have a table for two and I have loads of trouble with tablemates :):):)

 

Pete

 

Mrs Gut says something similar.