Ever have fantastic, fun, interesting table mates?

[Tonopah]

So please tell me (us) about some wonderful table mates you’ve met. On my one (and only) crossing, all of our table mates in the MDR were from our same tour group. It was easy to converse with them because, although we all came from different walks of life, we were all on the ship and traveling for the same reason.

 

But in the pub we met a lovely man and his daughter from the Isle of Man. He was a retired police officer. His stories were so interesting I told him I hoped he would write a book. His daughter had a developmental delay, but she had the funniest, most wicked sense of humor. Two hours with the two of them passed like minutes. We only got their first names. Sadly, we never saw them on the ship again. 

[kochleffel]

Oops - just posted in the other thread. Here's the link.

 

[VennDiagram]

Thank you for starting this thread 🙂

 

We met a couple who had received their cruise as a retirement gift, from someone they had helped out when he first arrived in the US.  Forty years later, that man gave this couple a cruise 🙂  They were a fascinating couple whose lives were very different from ours, being much older and he was employed with a very high-power company in a high-power job, and she was a well known artist and former model in New York.  We all got along like we were family. ❤️ 

[Cruiser_1977]

On my first adult cruise in the Spring of 2000, I was with five of my girlfriends (still friends to this day 🙂 ). We were at a table with two couples. We were afraid being young and enjoying our drinks that they would dislike sitting with us. However, they loved it. We had funny, entertaining chats. This was when Carnival had place mats with images on them. My girlfriend had one with a Toucan at one meal and gave it a voice. We were all laughing so hard at her antics we had tears.

[frantic36]

I have met some lovely table mates before I stopped a couple of years ago.  Two wonderful table mates we met at a table for six we agreed to share with for the night. They are lovely guys from Napa. We met ~ four years ago and we have since sailed with them and stayed with them and met up with them in Bali. We are planning to catch up with them again next year.

 

The funny story was the other couple was an "interesting" older couple who had been in University education. When asked about what I did I said I was at home now even though I was mid 50's but had worked as a nurse previously. Half way through the meal the older lady commentated I was smarter then I looked 😮?!

 

Maybe it is because I am now blonde? Maybe because I hadn't mentioned that as part of my nursing career I had been a Nurse Educator  in Neurosurgery? It still made/makes me laugh. I must admit stories like that are fun grist to the mill.

 

 

[BillOh]

An overall summary of 19 cruises,  lots of fun table mates, very few that were anything less than pleasant.   The closest thing I've had two bad table mates was one guy and his adult son that ordered everything on the menu. Really slowed down dinner.

 

I did benefit from obnoxious cruisers at a nearby table.  They were so bad, the waiter/assistant waiter spent all their time at our table and hated going over there. 

[yorkshirephil]

We have met many great table companions over the years of all ages and nationalities, some we have stayed friends with and keep in touch regularly. Everyone has stories to tell or have had interesting careers. To us it is one of the great things about cruising.

[navybankerteacher]

Yes - on most of our cruises we have had interesting/enjoyable table mates. Once we had two Russian couples who, after crossing the US were seeing the Caribbean.  They were really interested in learning about life in the US (including politics), and they were open about discussing all facets of life in Russia.  

 

Another time we we were with some Australians one husband would have made Crocodile Dundee seem urbane, while the other was one of the most sophisticated, yet humorous, people we’ve met - both their wives were delightful (whose only complaint was that at times they felt like the only ones holding the lines securing the Macy’s balloons on Thanksgiving).  

 

One table had had an elderly couple from Boston - who enjoyed being teased by a young couple from Texas - and paid them back in full.

 

Frankly, I am delighted with anytime dining - it seems that people who do not want to enjoy such dinners select themselves out - leaving better chances for us to get interesting and interested table mates who are happy to engage in conversations.

 

Sure, there is the occasional redneck yahoo who needs to be ignored when he spews some intolerant crap - just as there is sometimes the supercilious pedantic lefty - who also is best ignored.  The fact is: ignoring the doofuses from either end of the spectrum generally works- they tend to either clean up their acts and join civil conversation, or they migrate elsewhere.

[Debbdo]

On our Panama Canal cruise 5 years ago, we were lucky to have a  wonderful couple from New York as our table mates. We have become great friends and keep in touch and get together as often as we can (we are lucky that their son lives in Virginia so they are here frequently). We are planning another cruise with them hopefully next year. It doesn't work out that way often, but we are so fortunate and thank Princess Cruises for this great match! 

[babs135]

A Canadian couple celebrating 60 years of marriage and still so obviously very much in love as if they were newly weds. Absolutely delightful with lots of interesting stories and educated us on the wine industry. Didn't know Canada had a wine industry until then!!

Similarly an English teacher (UK) who went into men's prisons teaching Shakespeare!!  Apparently Romeo and Juliet is a huge favourite as are the sonnets.  Who would have guessed that?

Love meeting different people, young and old, whilst cruising.

[VennDiagram]

Another one:  we joined the table the 2nd night, and were wholeheartedly welcomed by the other 6 people who had met the previous night.  Dinners were a source of great fun, lots of laughs and jokes, and lots of story-sharing.  We ended up doing stuff together at other times, too.  We still smile when we recall that table 🙂

[iancal]

Yes,  99 percent of them have been.

Edited June 26, 2019 by iancal

[BillOh]

I continue to have great luck with table mates, part of why we are among the last hold outs of traditional dining on Royal.  I will relate an obnoxious cruiser on my last cruise.   He wasn't at our table though.   I was just standing outside the Comedy club on Symphony when a guy came up to me and said, " What do you think of Trump?  I didn't know this guy, even make eye contact with him. I gave my usual reply, "I don't care to discuss politics or religion  on vacation. (Any time actually)  But he insisted, and added, I'm Canadian, I'm just curious to what people think.  Seems everyone hates him. "    I think I should alert the media to this new threat of Canadians trying to tamper with our elections.   (Kidding)

[George C]

We have had many great table mates . My favorite was very late 80’s on sovereign, two couples from California, couple from England , ships doctor, we all went to shows together and kept in tough for a few years. The English gentleman had a tux like many of us but when he removed is jacket his formal shirt had pictures of clowns on it , he also had a red nose to wear.  

[c-boy]

Boarded the ship in  Southhampton after London after the Olympics. That evening we were seated at a large round table in the middle of the main dinning room. This table sat 10, and that time there were 6 seated. I asked one of our table mates if they knew if more would be joining. " we expect the rest of the gang to join up in Lisbon" . While enjoying our dinners,  we made small talk and throughout the evening.  It became apparent to me some of the answers I was not getting must be for a reason, so I did not push for more information.  The four table mates were two decades younger than I and my wife, but they had the maturity and communication skills of statesmen.  Two days later we made port in Lisbon,  what a fantastic city full of history, beauty and pride. That evening my wife and I arrived ten minutes late. As we approached we could see all but two seats taken and the table was already a buzz with conversation, laughing and high spirits.  The assistant dining room manager  seated my wife first and then myself.  We were greeted with   " glad you could finally make it you old knock kneed bloke"  I thought what the hell !  I looked up from across the table there sat my old studio mate Top. I hadn't seen him in over decade. The only communication I/we had were xmas cards and heresay through mutual friends.   O M G !   I jumped up ran around the end of the table, tripped, flew into the lap of a charming German woman seated in the table next to ours.  Said my apologies, turned and made a mad bee line for Top.  We hugged, with tears in our eye's.  " unleash me you sparse haired string heathen ! "  he said.  Once again the feeling of comfort to be called names feel upon me. Man I can't explain the feeling of excitement and disbelief.  I asked "what the hell are you doing here ? "   He replied " I'm on my way to the states. "   Both of us hate and avoid flying at all cost,  but to be here together at this point in time was beyond belief.  Pieces of the puzzle came together over the evening as we talked and reminisced.  Turns out the the internet, my wife and a few phone calls came together for my fiftieth present. We closed down that dining room every night there after. 

[XBGuy]

Mrs. XBGuy and I always have dinner by ourselves.

 

However, most mornings, Mrs. XBGuy sleeps in.  It doesn't matter if we are at home or on a cruise.  I, usually, get up and go to breakfast.  Again, I also have the same routine regardless of whether we are at home or on a cruise.  When on a cruise I will, usually, head to the buffet for breakfast.  I will fill up my plate and look for a place to sit.  My usual seating strategy is to look for a large table with two or three people but, also, with several available empty chairs.  I will ask if I can join their table.  In a very high percentage of cases, I receive enthusiastic approval. 

 

A few years ago--I think it was an Alaska cruise--I carried my breakfast plate to a large table that had a couple sitting at it.  It turns out that this couple was from England.  They appeared to be about the same age as me, and, here is the best part, their sense of humor seemed to match mine, precisely.  We spent about an hour joking and, generally, laughing loudly.  They had some activity that they wanted to attend.  So, they excused themselves, and that was that.

 

The very next day, I was in the buffet fairly early, and I picked a large table that was completely unoccupied.  A few minutes later, "May we join you?"

 

It was the very same couple, and we picked up right where we left off the previous day.

 

Maybe ten minutes later, another couple approached our table and asked if they could join.  Of course.

 

I had detected what, to my ear, was an accent.  So, when the were comfortably seated, I asked, "Where are you folks from?"

 

The English gentleman whom I'd met the previous day jumped in and announced very assertively, "They're English!"

 

The man who had just joined gave a look that could kill.  "Not English.  Welsh!"

 

The table froze, and I thought, "Uh oh,  I'm going to be in the middle of some sort of Intra-Kingdom nationalistic stink."  (Full disclosure:  the previous quote of my thoughts is not exactly accurate because "Uh oh" is not really what came to mind."

 

My original friend spoke next, "We're from Cornwall."

 

The Welshman dropped his pretense.  He was really a good guy, and now the five of us started bantering. 

 

It turned out that both these couple had transplanted to some neighborhood outside London,  You can, probably, guess what happened, these two couples started to drill down to where they lived and it turned out that they were about a mile apart.  Now they were introducing themselves in the Western Hemisphere.

[VennDiagram]

1 hour ago, c-boy said:

Man I can't explain the feeling of excitement and disbelief. 

 

You did a wonderful job of explaining 🙂 Your post brought tears to my eyes ❤️ thank you.

[whogo]

I have had quite a few, but everyone who has dined with me has had at least one fantastic, fun, interesting table mate.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

We flew to Ft Lauderdale, to cruise with Celebrity through the Panama Canal to San Diego. Second day we chatted with a lovely couple who were intending to use the buffet for future evening meals as they had been sat with a pretty obnoxious group in the MDR.

 

We invited them to our table, had a quick word with the maitre d', and they joined us. What a great couple they turned out to be! They had travelled from their home in California to Florida by train, to make the whole vacation more interesting.

 

They joined us on some of our excursions, and l am glad to say we became firm friends. We met up a year later in Vegas, where they helped celebrate my 60th birthday.

 

Sadly, Mike died suddenly (on the golf course) later that year, but we are still on regular contact with his wife.

[ducklite]

We have become great friends with a gentleman who was seated with us--we've seen him a couple times since then, and are cruising with him again next year.

[bonsai3s]

Our cruise many years ago, on the Song of America, table for 8.  A truly wonderful British couple (still friends to this day.)......one seat was taken by the Assistant Captain (if there is such a rank...he was just below the Captain), the remaining 3 seats were taken by the dancers/entertainers.  We were young and all I could think of was "I'm either in an episode of the Twilight Zone or Love Boat."

 

The sommelier (they had them back in the day) would come by and our table had free flowing wine and drinks.  We heard wild stories from both the Assistant Captain and the dancers....I cannot repeat them here.  We've been addicted to cruising ever since. 😊

[cb at sea]

All of our tablemates have been fun...a bit varied as far as "interesting" goes...but always have enjoyed their company!  We've been seated with folks of all ages....some older than we, and others who were our age or a bit younger.  We enjoy tablemates, but then, we get along with most folks pretty well, especially for short times!  It's not as if you MUST become fast friends...but having others to chat with, or listen to is a nice change.  We travel as a couple and haven't ever been seated with a "family" with kids.  The cruise lines are good about that.

 

Hubby and I eat EVERY meal together at home....tablemates give us something to talk about later!  It's a win-win thing!

[ldubs]

13 hours ago, JennyB1977 said:

On my first adult cruise in the Spring of 2000, I was with five of my girlfriends (still friends to this day 🙂 ). We were at a table with two couples. We were afraid being young and enjoying our drinks that they would dislike sitting with us. However, they loved it. We had funny, entertaining chats. This was when Carnival had place mats with images on them. My girlfriend had one with a Toucan at one meal and gave it a voice. We were all laughing so hard at her antics we had tears.

 

Toucan Sam!!!  😊

[DarrenM]

Having just completed our first ever cruise, Celebrity Edge, Rome to Barcelona, we have never had table mates.

 

Reading the comments above, seems like we missed out.

 

But that might change when we get on the Celebrity Constellation next June. Hopefully so.

[Markanddonna]

We have met missionaries on transatlantics who use the sailing to get to their new assignments. They weren't discussing religion, just their adventures. Texans tend to be the best story tellers.

 

On our last cruise, we dined one time with a couple who introduced themselves as "fascinating." I couldn't have disagreed more!