Table mates??

[sassafrass]

Any cruise I have been on we sat with friends we went with and that is it??? I have never sat with table mates? has something changed?

[1025cruise]

Depends on how many of you there are. If you are with a group, they probably just put you together.

[ray98]

The days before anytime dining were the worst. We have been seated with some truly miserable and annoying people.

[teknoge3k]

You can sit with just your party, or you can sit with strangers. That's totally up to you. We personally wouldn't ever sit with strangers but that's us. Just ask for a table for however many is in your party.

[Shaded Lady]

A lot will depend on what dining option you have- early, late or Your Time Dining... if you select YTD, they will likely ask you if you'd prefer to sit with others or on your own. If you select early or late, they will default to whatever they have available, but you can change it if you want when you board (if you'd prefer a table for 2, ask the Maitre d' when you board).

[AmeliaF]

Usually, you can choose. Personally, I sometimes like to sit with strangers because I tend to be a little shy and eating together is a great ice breaker. But I can understand that most people prefer to sit on their own and that's why you can choose what fits best for you and your family. There are plety of opportunitys to socialize on cruises, so it is not that important.

[RWolver672]

When we cruise, it's usually with my brother and sister in law. They have always put us in a four person booth. The one time we cruised with just our son, they put us at a table with seven other people. One time we cruised with a large group and they put the whole group at two round tables next to each other.

 

Our last cruise on the Paradise with just DW and myself, they put us at a booth for six but only four of us showed up throughout the whole cruise.

 

If you're cruising with others and have your bookings linked, they will seat you all together. If you're cruising with just your significant other, it's a crap shoot of where you'll sit. If you don't like your seating arrangements, you can always go to the Maitre'd the first day and see if they can change you.

[Drazil65]

If you have a fixed dinning time then email the maitre'd a couple of weeks ahead of leaving and put in a request for a table just for the number of people in your group. We have always been accommodated and had a table or booth for the 3 of us only (some times with friends or family if sailing together). We are not interested in making small talk with anyone or sharing opinions with various people, dinner is time for our family to talk and plan.

[pacruise804]

We have experienced a mixture on a variety of lines.

 

Carnival and Royal we had your time dining and were sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with groups, we were flexible for either. Breakfast was usually shared tables and lunch was usually by ourselves if in the MDR.

 

NCL was always by ourselves, I think even for breakfast. We would have gladly shared with others but that didn't seem to be how that ship worked. We had one dinner where the table for 2 was so close to a table for 4 that we all ended up talking.

 

Princess we had traditional dining and shared a table with two different couples (6 of us at an 8 top). Breakfast and lunch were on our own except the pub lunch where we shared with another couple. Most breakfast seatings were so close that everyone had conversations with each other.