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Ever have awful Table mates?


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3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Why would they rant about you living on planet earth?😋

 

There is a Russian comic and musician going by the stage name of Psoy Korolenko who does a routine along the lines of, "I am Jewish. Everyone hates my people. I am Russian. Everyone hates my country. I am human. Everyone hates my species."

 

The ranting was about the U.S. state in which I live. I changed my profile after that.

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On 6/16/2019 at 10:53 PM, ReneeFLL said:

 

 

Some people are so unbelievable. Pushing their beliefs on others. Good thing I never came across someone like that. They would have requested a different table right them and there. Glad you enjoyed your extra wine with dinner. 🥂

Let me get this right it is OK for you to push your belief and practice but not for the religious to.  Sure I understand 🙂   Don't mean to start a fight, just thinking aloud.  Back to the closet now....

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If people are so sensitive nowadays as to be offended by things like the state they live in or what they do for a living, I guess I deserve to be at a table for two because I'm sure to send someone running for their safe space. 

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2 hours ago, Aquahound said:

If people are so sensitive nowadays as to be offended by things like the state they live in or what they do for a living, I guess I deserve to be at a table for two because I'm sure to send someone running for their safe space. 

I don't mean to offend anyone but it can still happen anyway.

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18 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

 

My biggest complaint is people who choose traditional dining, and then spend most of their meals in specialty restaurants or the buffet.  We like large tables but when we become the only ones there many nights, I would rather do anytime dining and ask for a large table. 

Last cruise, on MSC, we had the earliest of three seatings, and were assigned a table for 16.  Yes, sixteen!  The first night there were two ladies there, we arrived (two ladies) and then a couple came and sat at the other side of the table.  They kept to themselves, often speaking another language, although they did speak English without an accent.  

 

On MSC they might not have choosen traditional dining, it was a part of their booked experience.

 

Maybe they prefer not to eat with strangers and because of that they went to specialty restaurants or the buffet.

 

We should never choose a cruise with "forced" traditional dining but if we for some reason should have to share a table we should still speak Swedish with each other.

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MSC standard practice is to put people from the same country to share the same table. It would be quite odd to find someone you are sitting with not to speak your own language unless he/she is trying to be a smarta** on purpose.. 

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2 hours ago, sfaaa said:

MSC standard practice is to put people from the same country to share the same table. It would be quite odd to find someone you are sitting with not to speak your own language unless he/she is trying to be a smarta** on purpose.. 

 

I have seen lots of posts where people say that their tablemates didn't speak english, included some in this thread. So it really can't be very rare that people are mixed together. It's also very possible that people living in one country speak another languages so even if the cruiseline really tries to avoid it it will still happen a lot.

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24 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I have seen lots of posts where people say that their tablemates didn't speak english, included some in this thread. So it really can't be very rare that people are mixed together. It's also very possible that people living in one country speak another languages so even if the cruiseline really tries to avoid it it will still happen a lot.

It has happened to us often when sharing breakfast or lunch tables.

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A few times we have been at tables of 6 and were happy with the table mates.

 

We have also sat at tables for 4 and many times we had to request to be moved to another table.  After several times of bad table mates we then started to request tables for 2.  Much better for us -- JMO.

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12 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

It has happened to us often when sharing breakfast or lunch tables.

 

We have shared tables in the buffet and talked some to other people sitting there. Once we met a lovely elderly couple from New York and they wanted to invite us for dinner in their home when the cruise was over but unfortunately we went straight to the airport after the cruise. (We talked to them several times during the cruise so it wasn't an invitation after only a lunch!)

Edited by sverigecruiser
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8 hours ago, drjpreston said:

Let me get this right it is OK for you to push your belief and practice but not for the religious to.  Sure I understand 🙂   Don't mean to start a fight, just thinking aloud.  Back to the closet now....

 

I don't see how ordering wine with dinner or refusing to hold the hand of a stranger and pray are pushing beliefs.  They aren't attempting to assert their beliefs on others by telling them to order a drink or not pray at all.  Big difference.  I don't care if someone doesn't drink or wants to pray within their group.  But anyone getting upset with me because I don't want to follow their self-appointed table rules is not going to enjoy the end result of the situation.

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3 hours ago, sfaaa said:

MSC standard practice is to put people from the same country to share the same table. It would be quite odd to find someone you are sitting with not to speak your own language unless he/she is trying to be a smarta** on purpose.. 


That could backfire with several countries.  India, China, and even the United States have multiple languages and dialects.  My neighbors are Chinese, the husband speaks fluent English but with a heavy accent.  The wife speaks some English--but with less of an accent (she's learning a lot of it from US television) and her parents can say three things in English--"Hi!,"  "Thank you!," and "Bye Bye!."  And yes, the exclamation points are there because that's how they speak the words.  🙂  

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21 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

My biggest complaint is people who choose traditional dining, and then spend most of their meals in specialty restaurants or the buffet.  We like large tables but when we become the only ones there many nights, I would rather do anytime dining and ask for a large table. 


Some cruise lines automatically assign people to a MDR table without a choice.   

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8 hours ago, Aquahound said:

If people are so sensitive nowadays as to be offended by things like the state they live in or what they do for a living, I guess I deserve to be at a table for two because I'm sure to send someone running for their safe space. 

Do you mean that you think we're so sensitive as to be offended when people ask?  No, we're not. 

 

We're offended when people make negative comments or demands after we tell them about our jobs or where we live - and it's happened so often, we've chosen a way to try and protect ourselves from that type of harassment. 

Edited by calliopecruiser
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5 minutes ago, calliopecruiser said:

Do you mean that you think we're so sensitive as to be offended when people ask?  No, we're not. 

 

We're offended when people make negative comments or demands after we tell them about our jobs or where we live - and it's happened so often, we've chosen a way to try and protect ourselves from that type of harassment. 

 

I'm in business development and sales.  If someone asks, I tell them I sell things, followed by, "What would you like to spend your money on today?  I'm happy to sell it to you."  Ends that conversation quickly.

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I wonder if some of the large table issues (lack of people) can be related to the time of the meal. Especially for families, it takes longer to get ready and early seating might be an issue.

 

The worst was not on a cruise, but an all-inclusive. A gentleman from the U.K. spent the whole meal telling me how lousy American politics was. This was a table of six and four were all together and they just laughed and agreed. This was the return guest dinner and there was no where else to go at the time.

As many have said, the tables are so close together now it is like sitting at a large table. My DW and I were at a two top and chatted a bit with the couple at another table. The next night the other wife expected us to give her all of our attention and came right out and said,  "whats the matter you don't want to talk with us tonight?"
She interrupted our conversation to say it. Then she added, "well you did have two drinks, maybe you don't remember." I smiled and looked at her, said hello and then turned my back to her and continued on with our conversation. She huffed out after that and we never saw them again. To bad, the husband was cool.

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2 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I have seen lots of posts where people say that their tablemates didn't speak english, included some in this thread. So it really can't be very rare that people are mixed together. It's also very possible that people living in one country speak another languages so even if the cruiseline really tries to avoid it it will still happen a lot.

 

Sometimes they speak English and we still can't understand them.  We shared a large table on one cruise and several couples were from the UK.  Scotland, in particular.  One husband had such a thick brogue that I could hardly understand a third of what he said.  EM

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25 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

 

Sometimes they speak English and we still can't understand them.  We shared a large table on one cruise and several couples were from the UK.  Scotland, in particular.  One husband had such a thick brogue that I could hardly understand a third of what he said.  EM

 

I understand what you mean.

 

I know that I make many mistakes when I write but I normally understand English very good when I hear it. Once I went to Scotland for business.....

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50 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

 

Sometimes they speak English and we still can't understand them.  We shared a large table on one cruise and several couples were from the UK.  Scotland, in particular.  One husband had such a thick brogue that I could hardly understand a third of what he said.  EM

 

22 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I understand what you mean.

 

I know that I make many mistakes when I write but I normally understand English very good when I hear it. Once I went to Scotland for business.....

 

 

Hey, we're English.

And we struggle to understand the Scots, especially Glaswegians. :classic_biggrin:

 

And. come to think of it, Geordies (NE England), Brummies (Birmingham) and Scousers (Liverpool).

Four quarters of a country divided by a common language, to mis-quote Oscar Wilde. Or was it George Bernard Shaw? Or Winston Churchill?

 

JB :classic_smile:

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