Has an "unfriendly" communal table ever put a damper on the experience ?

[L&Lfan]

Precisely

 

[MIGrandma]

We avoid communal dining if at all possible.

It's not my job to entertain idiot extroverts, and I have no difficulty saying that directly to them if they don't get the hint.

Wow, I certainly wouldn’t call extroverts idiots. Very rude.

I’m an introvert, I don’t like communal tables at all. We avoid Biergarten simply because of being forced to share a table with strangers. I don’t care to make small talk with strangers. I don’t care where they are from, what their job is, how many kids, blah blah blah. And I don’t want those questions asked if me.

We have shared tables on a few cruises, didn’t care for it and now we get a table just for ourselves and family members cruising with us or if it’s just my husband and myself we go with a table for two.

Sharing a breakfast table with strangers has been talked about on the cruise boards and I don’t care for that either. I’m old enough now that If another couple asked to share our table I would say to them that we are not chatters, and if they can be okay with a polite hello and a smile then they are welcome to sit. If not they can move along.

I see nothing wrong with people who enjoy talking to strangers, just as I see nothing wrong with others like me who don’t enjoy it. Neither way is the only right way, they are just different.

 

[karmic]

In March we ate at Biergarten and were seated with a very odd couple-in their 50s and recently married in Klingon ceremony

The guy hardly said a word but the lady talked non stop saying some pretty bizarre things

When they left she announced that they were going home to( insert naughty word for adult activities)

 

[tinkerhon]

We avoid communal dining if at all possible.

It's not my job to entertain idiot extroverts, and I have no difficulty saying that directly to them if they don't get the hint.

This takes me back to when we took the Disney cruise line first year it sailed - we had two wonderful couples at our time - one of them celebrating 50 years of marriage! Then one family that spoke of all of their money every single meal ! It was horrible '

 

[tinkerhon]

In March we ate at Biergarten and were seated with a very odd couple-in their 50s and recently married in Klingon ceremony

The guy hardly said a word but the lady talked non stop saying some pretty bizarre things

When they left she announced that they were going home to( insert naughty word for adult activities)

Wow ! Awkward!

 

[tinkerhon]

Thank you!! It is ridiculous using abbreviations instead of the names of the places- like we are all expected to know what they stand for!!

Sorry about that - I had the same problem at first and thought the same while reading the theme park boards - my apologies - should not have assumed people knew what the abbreviations stood for

 

[Disneylover99]

Reading through this thread reminds me why I love communal tables.

You never know how things will go, but they’re usually memorable experiences and you often get a good story from them.

 

[TavieP]

We avoid communal dining if at all possible.

It's not my job to entertain idiot extroverts, and I have no difficulty saying that directly to them if they don't get the hint.

Just out of curiosity, do you reply politely to the non-idiot extroverts? Most extroverts I know are extremely pleasant. I agree that the idiot ones should take a hike. (I'm an introvert, but I'm not a misanthrope.)

 

[Floridaman999]

We avoid communal dining if at all possible.

It's not my job to entertain idiot extroverts, and I have no difficulty saying that directly to them if they don't get the hint.

Consistency is key. I'll give you that.

 

[sjrec]

We ate at Biergarten several years ago...luckily my wife and our daughter were getting food and I was with a family from N. Carolina. I was chatting with the dad over a beer when he proceed with the following:

"there are a lot more black people here than in Germany". I sat with a befuddled look, and he followed with "a lot more Jews too". Now, we are Jewish, so I broke out into laughter and replied "did you actually say that outloud"? He got embarrassed and quiet. I continued laughing for quite a while.

He was lucky, had my wife been there, he would have been wearing his beer and dinner

Good for you, and I love your response! I’m going to use next time I’m subjected to that kind of remark.

 

[Erzengel]

I personally don't like communal tables. Whenever we do cruises, I like our own table. I can put on Social Me but when I'm eating, I like to focus on eating and not schedule bites in between discussion with strangers.

 

[AustinTink]

MaybHere in Bath lots of places have giant tables

Just wanted to say we recently visited Bath for the first time. What a beautiful town. We enjoyed our visit very much.

 

[AustinTink]

I'm not a fan of communal dining. If I go out to eat with my husband or my family it's to spend quality time with them not some strangers.

 

[_19disnA]

^^ Same here. Since you most likely get randomly assigned to sit with others you don't know, we also avoid those types of restaurants vs. having to put up with people who might be rude/obnoxious/clueless/socially inept during the entire dinner.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I am not into the communal dining thing. I'll always be polite but I may or may not get into chit chatting with strangers. It would depend on my mood.

 

[BingoJoe]

Just wanted to say we recently visited Bath for the first time. What a beautiful town. We enjoyed our visit very much.

It is peak tourist season at the moment, hopefully you came when it was a bit quieter. We actually found an American tourist in our garden a few weeks ago! We live in the town centre and he saw our gate open, was the bench and assumed it was a public seating area!

We go to WDW in the summer for smaller crowds

 

[Molly Meow]

I'm not a fan of communal dining in the first place, I need to recharge my social batteries by not having to be "on" every once in a while. But honestly I'll probably actively avoid them in the future. At Biergarten we were seated next to a couple having a night away from their kids. They (well, the wife at least) were already intoxicated when they arrived. Then the server cut them off. Cue the foul language, yelling, trash talking etc for the whole meal. Right next to my 2 year old. Server wouldn't do anything about it - I've decided it's not worth the risk in the future.

 

[ronandannette]

At Biergarten, we were sat with people who didn't acknowledge our presence, but they finished before us. It wasn't terrible, but I was kind of wondering if we ruined their meal or offended them and it was awkward. It was 3 people in their 20s or early 30s having to be sat next to me, DH, a 9 year old and twin 2 year olds. I think Biergarten messed up on that one....a young family with a group of adults seems like the wrong choice.

We had something similar at Biergarten. It was me, DH, our 3yo, 4yo and 7yo. They sat us with a couple in their 60s or 70s. They didn't even acknowledge us. It was so awkward.

I've never been to Biergarten but at Big Thunder Ranch BBQ in DLR we (2 adults, 2 young children) were seated at a large picnic table with two 20-something couples. They weren't interested in us but that was perfectly fine. It seemed to me they were just seating people wherever there was space available, not trying curate appropriate groupings. I wouldn't really have expected anything else.

 

[AustinTink]

It is peak tourist season at the moment, hopefully you came when it was a bit quieter. We actually found an American tourist in our garden a few weeks ago! We live in the town centre and he saw our gate open, was the bench and assumed it was a public seating area!

We go to WDW in the summer for smaller crowds

Oh my! You must see it all. Yes, it was quite crowded when we were there a few weeks ago, but we still loved every minute of our visit. took the train from London for the day.

 

[PlainJane]

I really hate communal tables! When I go to a restaurant it is time as someone said to decompress or even discuss things that might be stressing me at home or at my job. I cannot do this when there are strangers around plus if I want to put my elbows on the table then I do not want to be judged.

That being said we have gone to a couple of events where we were forced to sit with strangers and it was actually a good experience partially because we were at historic venues and the others at the table had the same interests as us. The key was we knew in advance and did not view it as a night out or an experience that we just wanted to share as a couple.
It annoys me to no end when someone comes to my table and plunks them selves down just because there are two extra seats! Last year Casey's Corner was busy and I was sitting at the table waiting for my husband to come back, my son and his gf got up to use the rest room. Bottom line this woman tried to put her kids at my table! She got mad when I said the seats were taken. Why is it not okay to want privacy? Maybe I do not want to sit and entertain a couple of strange kids when I am on vacation. I think communal tables are okay when that is the policy of the venue but I do not think it is okay when it is not the norm and people force it and then get indignant when one does not want to comply. I just need to add that my husband says I can talk to a wall and rarely leave a store etc without having a conversation with a customer or staff so it is not that I am anti-social I just do not like being forced!

Once I was sitting at a dining area in a grocery store at a long table with my toddler and husband. A woman plopped herself right down by my toddler and she had another person with her, but I think she at least observed the appropriate distance of space for social decorum. It was so odd. You could have had 3 or more seats separating us. She also didn’t ask if anyone was sitting there or really acknowledge our existence. Some people are just bizarre.

I’ve shared larger tables before because a restaurant was full, but I’ve never had someone not ask before this, especially when they were sitting right next to us.

I'm not a fan of communal dining in the first place, I need to recharge my social batteries by not having to be "on" every once in a while. But honestly I'll probably actively avoid them in the future. At Biergarten we were seated next to a couple having a night away from their kids. They (well, the wife at least) were already intoxicated when they arrived. Then the server cut them off. Cue the foul language, yelling, trash talking etc for the whole meal. Right next to my 2 year old. Server wouldn't do anything about it - I've decided it's not worth the risk in the future.

Oh my, did a manager ever get involved? I would have gone to the host station and explained the situation. If they wouldn’t reseat me, I probably would have asked for my money back and definitely left. Yikes.

I find talking to a large groups exhausting. I don’t mind talking to a couple of people I don’t know very well (though it’s not something I want to do all the time), but when it’s a huge table I don’t generally enjoy the experience. I don’t even like large tables of people I know because it’s so hard to understand what people are saying.

My husband loves talking to strangers, so that helps when the social situation calls for it.