Craziest table mates you have had.

[PrincessShmoo]

This thread has been both entertaining and horrifying. We just booked our first DCL today and this has me 50% curious about potential table-mates and 50% so scared I want to request a private table for my family .

I posted this on another thread about tablemates - We've never had a bad tablemate on any cruise we've been on to date. Granted, our cruising is a little limited, but we've been on 10 cruises with 8 of them having tablemates assigned by the cruiseline (not just DCL) (the other 2 our party was large enough to have it's own table).

 

[Karlzmom]

This thread is enough to give a girl a complex. So, I may get to a table and find crazy baby people who suck toes and floss when they are finished. Or, if my dinner mates aren't crazy then I have to face that I might be the *one in every crowd."

I have to face I can be dumped as a dinner mate for:

1. Not drinking
2. Drinking [particularly if my consumption is more than whatever arbitrary quantity the assigned table mate decides is too much]
3. Not talking
4. Talking about any topic that my assigned companion finds dull, uninteresting or on the wrong side of a political fence.
5. Not sharing enough directly to conversation.
6. Sharing too much.
7. Speaking too much to my family.
8. Not speaking enough to my family and therefore suggesting we are not getting along.
9. Not liking my food and asking for another meal.
10. Not being selective enough in my ordering and getting too much food
11. Being too picky about my food.
12. Having a hobby that the assigned companion thinks is weird.
13. Having too large of an age gap with my husband.
14. Saying grace before my meal. (I could also imagine if I were willing to not say grace that I could still potentially offend someone at the table).
and I imagine that my wardrobe choice could also merit being jettisoned, if I am too formal or too casual depending on the night.

To think, these are just the fatal faux pas that I can commit on my own. Double the list for my spouse and add in all the havoc a child can put into the situation if he wants to visit with the other party's child..or worse if he doesn't. Don't even get me going on the manners issue - if he uses them will we be called *snobby* if he doesn't we will be uncouth. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Any one issue and we will be doing the walk of shame to another table. Then you have a whole other opportunity to be rejected again. Is there a cut off point where you are just deemed a dinner failure by the crew and seated by yourself?

Then you still have to deal with the awkwardness of seeing the *dumpers* again...what if they are on the same shore excursions? Or seated next to you in a show? Do you pretend that you have never met? What if their cabin is near yours - and you find yourself on the same elevator?

Add it all together and I think maybe I should just plan on alot of buffet dinners and room service on the cruise to save the therapy bills after we get home.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Children can be disruptive. They can ruin a nice dinner. Let's not talk about airplanes. I have two young ones and I try to minimize their impact on everyone else, to varying measures, depending on where we are. However, kids are kids. As much as I try to keep a lid on them, certain things are out of a parents control, even if we give it our all. That said, how do we get rid of adults who don't shower, brush their teeth or wear deodorant? Or as read on another post, suck their spouses toes at dinner, or floss and fly spittle across the table? What about those who dress half naked, talk loud, slurp their soup, belch or fart?? Or the cursers, late arrivals, impolite, belittlers? I can forgive kids. But how do I avoid the weirdos?
Kids give maybe, three, four years of grief. Adults 70 or 80. Something to think about when you hear a baby cry.

Yes, but I can ask to be seated away from those adults. More often than not, a crying baby affects a VERY large portion of a restaurant and that is NOT fair to the other dining guests. The parents do have the control to get up and remove said fussing baby or child from the restaurant. They just don't want to be bothered. Yup, more than once we cut dinner short and the rest was to go because one of our kids was fussing. One of us would remove them while the other got the food packaged up and paid the bill. WHY should others have to be miserable because my child was fussy?? That's MY problem, not theirs...and by my not dealing with it, I made it their problem. NOT RIGHT!!

 

[twindaddy]

This thread is enough to give a girl a complex. So, I may get to a table and find crazy baby people who suck toes and floss when they are finished. Or, if my dinner mates aren't crazy then I have to face that I might be the *one in every crowd."

I have to face I can be dumped as a dinner mate for:

1. Not drinking
2. Drinking [particularly if my consumption is more than whatever arbitrary quantity the assigned table mate decides is too much]
3. Not talking
4. Talking about any topic that my assigned companion finds dull, uninteresting or on the wrong side of a political fence.
5. Not sharing enough directly to conversation.
6. Sharing too much.
7. Speaking too much to my family.
8. Not speaking enough to my family and therefore suggesting we are not getting along.
9. Not liking my food and asking for another meal.
10. Not being selective enough in my ordering and getting too much food
11. Being too picky about my food.
12. Having a hobby that the assigned companion thinks is weird.
13. Having too large of an age gap with my husband.
14. Saying grace before my meal. (I could also imagine if I were willing to not say grace that I could still potentially offend someone at the table).
and I imagine that my wardrobe choice could also merit being jettisoned, if I am too formal or too casual depending on the night.

To think, these are just the fatal faux pas that I can commit on my own. Double the list for my spouse and add in all the havoc a child can put into the situation if he wants to visit with the other party's child..or worse if he doesn't. Don't even get me going on the manners issue - if he uses them will we be called *snobby* if he doesn't we will be uncouth. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Any one issue and we will be doing the walk of shame to another table. Then you have a whole other opportunity to be rejected again. Is there a cut off point where you are just deemed a dinner failure by the crew and seated by yourself?

Then you still have to deal with the awkwardness of seeing the *dumpers* again...what if they are on the same shore excursions? Or seated next to you in a show? Do you pretend that you have never met? What if their cabin is near yours - and you find yourself on the same elevator?

Add it all together and I think maybe I should just plan on alot of buffet dinners and room service on the cruise to save the therapy bills after we get home.

Oh...my...Gosh.......Post of the YEAR nominee right there. You summed up so well in your post what I was feeling earlier and did not put in words well. There have been some pretty judgmental people in this thread....complaining about others at their table who they are judging.

I seriously think there should be a table mate selection criteria. Here is twindaddy's. I fully admit my biases:

1. Are you going to be more than 15 minutes past the assigned seating time EVERY night?

2. Are you going to be rude, demeaning, or feel you are better than our serving staff?

If so, we are not a match. Just about anything else, other than flossing or toe sucking, I can work with.

See my earlier post about me laughing at a man who worked at Walmart that I was seated with at a dinner theater in Vegas. I was so ashamed of myself, I really give everyone the benefit of the doubt now (other than the two items above). I mean, who knows, maybe toes taste good? And who isnt in favor of good dental hygiene?

 

[bats]

8 cruises with DCL and we've always had good table mates. I am thanking my lucky stars after reading some of the comments on here. The main thing that would put me off is a noisy eater .. I have one for a son in law and I refuse to sit near him if we are all out for dinner.

 

[fnrsgrl]

Children can be disruptive. They can ruin a nice dinner. Let's not talk about airplanes. I have two young ones and I try to minimize their impact on everyone else, to varying measures, depending on where we are. However, kids are kids. As much as I try to keep a lid on them, certain things are out of a parents control, even if we give it our all. That said, how do we get rid of adults who don't shower, brush their teeth or wear deodorant? Or as read on another post, suck their spouses toes at dinner, or floss and fly spittle across the table? What about those who dress half naked, talk loud, slurp their soup, belch or fart?? Or the cursers, late arrivals, impolite, belittlers? I can forgive kids. But how do I avoid the weirdos?
Kids give maybe, three, four years of grief. Adults 70 or 80. Something to think about when you hear a baby cry.

How do we get rid of the adults that behave that way? We complain to the wait staff, and in general something will be done about it.(At least those that are being unsanitary or disrupting many other patrons). Complaining about the crying baby is unlikely to do any good because(as previously posted) the managers feel like they have their hands tied when it comes to kids. Secondly, most of the adult issues you mentioned would be mildly annoying to the two or three families seated near them. A screaming child can seriously disrupt the meal of everyone in the restaurant.

I don't even know what you're frustrated about, honestly. 90% of this thread has been about badly-behaved adults.

 

[elmo2200]

Karlzmom - ROFL!! That's great!!

We have only had table mates once and it was cool. They had kids near the age of ours so we took theirs with us to karaoke so the couple could have alone time. At karaoke we pretended the boys were also ours. The CM running the event asked me about the boys so I just said funny things about them. We all died laughing! It was so much fun. Then we ran into them at WDW and got after the boys "our new sons" for wandering off. Good times!

 

[DisneYE]

I mean, who knows, maybe toes taste good? And who isnt in favor of good dental hygiene?

LMAO!... this is the thread that keeps on giving..good reply.

I think most people fall within your parameters and the crazies, the reborn mothers and pedophiles are just a minority, thank jebus

To those who haven't cruised and are reading this thread, PLEASE don't ever think the behaviours shown here are the norm. They are not. They are the exception.

I bet if someone decided to create the "best table mates you ever had" thread you would see 3x as many stories, the feel good types.
Don't let these exceptional stories about crazies put you off.
I would say 95% of MDR experiences are good ones or uneventful. And at least 50% are so good that they are worth remembering.
I know 2 out of 4 MDR experiences we've had were so good I will cherish them forever. Thinking about them almost make this grown man cry.

 

[AlexandNessa]

14. Saying grace before my meal. (I could also imagine if I were willing to not say grace that I could still potentially offend someone at the table).
and I imagine that my wardrobe choice could also merit being jettisoned, if I am too formal or too casual depending on the night.

This has come up with my husband and me before, and I would like to know the etiquette on this, if you don't mind. If your tablemates do not care to participate in Grace, are they to sit quietly while you pray, or can they eat or continue talking? I honestly am curious, and hope this doesn't sound rude. I'm genuinely interested, because I have no problem if Grace is brief (we're talking Catholic brief), but in my experience, there is nothing brief about some religions' versions of Grace (personal experience, based on the extended family I married into). Thanks, if you feel like answering.

 

[jdb in AZ]

This has come up with my husband and me before, and I would like to know the etiquette on this, if you don't mind. If your tablemates do not care to participate in Grace, are they to sit quietly while you pray, or can they eat or continue talking? I honestly am curious, and hope this doesn't sound rude. I'm genuinely interested, because I have no problem if Grace is brief (we're talking Catholic brief), but in my experience, there is nothing brief about some religions' versions of Grace (personal experience, based on the extended family I married into). Thanks, if you feel like answering.

Fortunately this hasn't come up on any of our cruises, but if someone's Grace extended beyond the Grace period, I would ask the head waiter to move us (or them) to a different table.

 

[momof2n2]

This has come up with my husband and me before, and I would like to know the etiquette on this, if you don't mind. If your tablemates do not care to participate in Grace, are they to sit quietly while you pray, or can they eat or continue talking? I honestly am curious, and hope this doesn't sound rude. I'm genuinely interested, because I have no problem if Grace is brief (we're talking Catholic brief), but in my experience, there is nothing brief about some religions' versions of Grace (personal experience, based on the extended family I married into). Thanks, if you feel like answering.

When new table mates start praying you will not know if they are poised for lengthy prayers or a shorter variety. I'd be inclined to sit quietly the first time, assuming it will be brief. If it turns into a lengthier thing, I'd personally feel comfortable eating and conversing quietly with the other table members.

 

[noahdove]

Personally, I would say a brief blessing over my food, and I have done that, and just started to eat. I agree with the length of some dinner prayers..

 

[mtchurchmonica]

To those who haven't cruised and are reading this thread, PLEASE don't ever think the behaviors shown here are the norm. They are not. They are the exception.

I bet if someone decided to create the "best table mates you ever had" thread you would see 3x as many stories, the feel good types.

Agree. As far as tablemates, we have always had pleasant experiences.

We did have one uncomfortable situation. Lunch. Embarkment day of our first Disney cruise. Dh and our three children (4, 7 and 9) were ushered to a table where a family of three was already seated. They were very well groomed, tan, and physically attractive. The man was probably in his 60's, the woman in her 30's, and a little girl who was about seven or eight. We thought they might be a mother, father and grandfather group. Toward us, the man was sociable and engaging but the woman was frosty and was clearly in a snit before we arrived. She ignored everyone at the table, including the man, who turned out to be her husband, and as much as she could, the little girl, who was her daughter. It became clear as time went by that the man was, in turn, ignoring his wife, instead focusing his attention mostly on my husband but with polite attention to the rest of us.

Toward the end of lunch, the little girl grew bored and started finger painting with the ketchup on her empty lunch plate. Mother tried to stop her, the girl whined, dumped more ketchup on the plate and kept at it. As both participants in the mother-daughter exchange grew louder and whinier, the man's smile grew bigger and his focus on my husband and their conversation more intense. The woman escalated the battle with her daughter with disciplinary threats but it didn't have any positive effect on the girl. The mother abruptly interrupted the men's conversation demanding that the father "do something" with the girl. Without changing his pleasant facade or tone of voice, he looked at his wife and said, "You started it, you finish it," and went back to talking to my husband.

 

[phinz]

When new table mates start praying you will not know if they are poised for lengthy prayers or a shorter variety. I'd be inclined to sit quietly the first time, assuming it will be brief. If it turns into a lengthier thing, I'd personally feel comfortable eating and conversing quietly with the other table members.

I feel no need to pause or quiet down for others' observances. I'll continue to carry on as I would normally see fit. If this offends them then they are perfectly within their rights to ask to be seated elsewhere.

 

[DWGal210]

Wow! That was pretty awful. I don't blame the people for being upset when a family does not take care of children when they are disrupting the restaurant. When our children were infants and young toddlers, when we went out to dinner, we typically would go at 5 pm or so when the restaurant wasn't as busy or would have a lot of other families. If one of the babies began to become loud or disruptive at the table, one of us would take the baby out of the dining room to see if we could calm them. If we could not, we'd take our dinners to go and call it a night.

We had some good dinners, but definitely had our fair share when we had to leave in order to avoid becoming a nuisance. I don't think it's right or fair to allow your baby to make a lot of noise, because it's really not a sound that you can ignore. There's something primal about a baby's screaming that doesn't let you pretend it's not happening.

Anytime you bring an infant or toddler to a public place, you need to understand that you may not be able to stay the full time. Forcing the disruption on others is rude and selfish. The day will come that your child will be old enough to enjoy long dinners and shows.

Where is the "Bravo!" smilie?!

 

[mtchurchmonica]

I know I'll win for craziest table mates but you'll have to read my report to find out why.

It's April 14th. I've read all 8 pages and I still don't know why. Did I miss it?

 

[DahliaRW]

It's April 14th. I've read all 8 pages and I still don't know why. Did I miss it?

TR is here for those looking for it: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3260751

Nothing on table mates in it yet. The actual TR part doesn't' seem to start until page 7, and she only posted it yesterday. Hopefully she'll come post a link here to her table mates story.

 

[jdb in AZ]

TR is here for those looking for it: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3260751

Nothing on table mates in it yet. The actual TR part doesn't' seem to start until page 7, and she only posted it yesterday. Hopefully she'll come post a link here to her table mates story.

When you find it, please let us know. I really don't want to wade through a whole trip report.

 

[collinsfamle]

Dh! At AP we sat down and the server placed some crayons on the table ( he did tricks with them) well dh thought it was to color with...so he drew a red smiley face on the white table cloth!! I was livid He didn't take the time to notice it was cloth and not a paper one! as I was snarling under my breath at him the server came out with a surprise cake for our 24 anniversary and sang...atleast it was memorable. . Never again will he be aloud to have crayons at dinner though.

OMG!!! This is absolutely something MY husband would do!!

 

[jrabbit]

Originally Posted by kapoof View Post
Dh! At AP we sat down and the server placed some crayons on the table ( he did tricks with them) well dh thought it was to color with...so he drew a red smiley face on the white table cloth!! I was livid He didn't take the time to notice it was cloth and not a paper one! as I was snarling under my breath at him the server came out with a surprise cake for our 24 anniversary and sang...atleast it was memorable. . Never again will he be aloud to have crayons at dinner though.

So you were on DCL in one of the MDR's and NOT at Macaroni Grill?? Because using the crayons on the "tablecloths" there is perfectly acceptable ... Maybe he was confused