How many at your table in the MDR?

[DrKoob]

Since our kids are grown and gone, we eat together, alone, every night at home. So when we are on a cruise we like to meet people and socialize. We have met some very good friends that way.

 

When we cruise with friends (especially a large group) we have tried an table for 12 but found it was just too big. You couldn't hear anyone talking at the other end of the table. So on our last cruise (Solstice 3/15) there were 12 of us and we requested two tables of six next to each other with the same waiter. Every one of the nights we ate in the Grand Epernay we moved around. It worked superbly. We could carry on conversation without a problem and we had plenty of time to sit with all our friends.

[Strumsong]

We just got back from a cruise and had a table of 8. Celebrity has always done quite well placing us with other people who have something in common with us.

[Shir Hayam]

When DH and I travel by ourselves, we always request a table for 6. We've had larger tables in the past and often have had difficulty following the conversations(s) with a group of 8-10. So 6 seems to be the magic number for us. As many others have said, we "empty nesters", who get to eat alone at home, really enjoy meeting new people on a cruise. When we travel with friends or family, we choose to eat at a table only with them.

 

Sheila

[Lsimon]

Well - your poll options don't fit too well with the question. For example the 8 or 10 imply you're traveling as a group ("there's lots of us"). Traveling as a large group puts one in a whole different ball of wax from getting matched up with other cruisers - or seating with others from a roll call.

 

If we're in a group (more than 4) I'll take a table equal to the size of the group. Although if the group is larger than 10 I'd split it into smaller groups of 6 to 8 as I think at a table size above 10 it gets too hard to hold conversation. While I've never done it I think adjacent tables where one could switch groupings each night would be ideal in that situation.

 

If we were not sitting with others we know ahead of time, or sitting with others we've met only through the current roll call and not in person before, then I'd pick a table of 6. I think that size is optimal for table wide conversations.

 

If we're traveling with one other couple we know well ahead of time then I'd pick a table of 8 - so our "group" would allow for at least 2 other couples. We've tried a table of 6 with four of us together in advance before and I think the other couple at the table felt odd and it also left them alone when we dined at the specialty restaurant with our friends - which isn't completely fair.

[Susie51]

I usually like a table for 2, but if there are 3 or 4 in our group that works out nicely. During open seating times, it is nice to sit at larger tables and meet new people.