Has anyone disliked their tablemates?

[pippy]

Hi!! Our DF will be embarking on our first Disney Cruise shortly, and I was wondering if anyone had any REAL problems with your tablemates, and how you handled the situation, and if you can be move too a different table if needed. I understand that this is a Disney Cruise and of coarse, there will be cranky children,(beleive me I know I have a 4 year old DD) but you all know that sometimes parents like to ignore the way their kids are acting, especially if the parents themselves are getting out of hand. I just don't want to be caught in the middle of a "food fight" every night, or constant vulgar language.

Thanks!!

 

[LG123]

Are you planning ahead for us? I will make sure that I am on my best behavior but I can't guarentee that rest of my family to be!

 

[inkkognito]

Never had a problem in 34 cruises, and that includes the times when we've had kids at the table. We had one little three year old sit with us who had the manners of a princess! We've had other kids of various ages with no problems, and lots of good adults too (you've got to watch them even closer than the kids!).
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[DisneyGator01]

On my 2nd DCL cruise we had a couple that complained the entire time. About every little thing. I knew we wouldn't "get along" when the first sentence after hello was, "Why didn't they tell us we had to eat with "other" people." They then proceeded to give our servers the hardest time of their life. It's no fun sitting with complainers or snotty people. The worst thing was that after our WONDERFUL servering team Dave and Anita bent over backwards to do everything they asked, the couple skipped the last dinner and breakfast in the AM. I felt so bad for our team, my friends pitched in together so we could give them an extra tip, cause we know they got stiffed by "The Grumpies" as we called them. At least I was with two of my friends so we had fun and loved Dave and Anita. We just wanted to tell them.. "Chill out, you are on vacation.. Enjoy it!"

 

[inkkognito]

Shelley, your story brought a flashback of one of our Royal Caribbean cruises. We were at a lunch table with several other parties. One of the people apparently had one of the "Grumpie's" relatives at his dinner table. It was an older woman travelling alone who complained about everything and made a big scene every night. He had us all rolling on the floor with his tales about her, so much so that one woman had tears in her eyes. When the sever saw her, he said, "Madame, are you okay?" He didn't realize it was tears of laughter!
I'll bet that grumpy old lady had no idea she was providing fodder for amusement at every day's lunch.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Favorite Auntie]

We never had a problem either!

 

[Miss Eeyore]

During our March 2002 Magic cruise (the infamous fire cruise) our table mates were absolutely unreal ! Have any of read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" ? Well this was a page out of the book. My daughter and friend and I arrived on time. We sat and sat waiting for the rest of the table to arrive. They finally did....a family with 2 girls and a teen boy. Mom didn't show up the first two days. By the end of that first meal I was sporting three bruises on my ankles from their kick fights under the table. My daughter ended up wearing ice cream in her hair, and the remainders of my meal had been snatched away by the teen. After dinner we quietly asked to be moved to an adjoining empty table. Each evening the head waiter brought another couple over to our original table, and every evening the crowd at OUR table increased. It was amusing to watch if you could stay out of missle range. Every night the teen ordered the dinner, and then 2 steaks. The dad did the same. It didn't seem that the girls ate anything but ice cream with sprinkles.....and those became projectiles. You could watch them arrive....the sea of people parted ahead of them, trying to stay out of their way. They came to every meal in dirty shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. As long as the HW had found us another table near by so we could keep out waiter Silvio it was OK....but heaven help us if I had had to sit at the table the entire cruise. I probably would have been knocking on Capt. Hans' door.


Marilee

 

[ohiominnie]

I've only had a problem with one set of tablema....oh....wait, nevermind, that was my MIL and her dh. Nevermind.

No, never had a problem with any tablemate that was NOT related to me.

 

[takemeaway]

Has anyone disliked their tablemates?

You mean other than the ones I was related to?

 

[jgalecpa]

TakemeAway:

Tee Hee!



Jim

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Yes we had horrible tablemates on our first DCL cruise. The first night they show up LATE to Lumiere's (this was before the Magic was doing 7 days), then the wife proceeded to ask for a paper napkin that she could spit her gum into. Yes she said all that. I guess we were placed together since we were both on our honeymoon's. Gee thanks. These two talked about how they got married to try and save their relationship (oh and they had a child too, who was not on the cruise). She didn't like anything on the menu and when my DH's escargot showed up she said a very loud "Ewwwwww." We tried to strike up a conversation with them and she asked if we were planning on any kids. I said not at that time since I already had two stepkids that I loved and adored. So then she asked me if I hated kids??!!??!! I wante dto punch her in the nose. They ended up leaving early and then our server and assistant server brought out a cake in celebration of both our honeymoons, but they were gone. So he said for us to take the whole cake.

So then the next night (AP) when they showed up she was drunk and spent most of the time being sick in the bathroom. She did show up to see another table receiving a cake and wanted to know why she didn't get one. I explained what happened after they left the night before and she threw a fit and complained to the server. I can't remember if she got a cake or not.

The next night thankfully they had ressies at Palo and we had a tablemate free dinner. We had a fabulous time at Parrot Cay, goofing around with our server and assistant server, both of whom seemed so relieved that the other two were not there.

The next morning we go to breakfast (the last day) and our server carries our bags over to the table and puts them in the tablemates seats. I guess he figured they weren't showing up, lol. He then asked if he could serve us first and get it out of the way since he had a HUGE table and there were only two of us. We said sure no problem and ordered everything we wanted then. We got served and then he went to concentrate on the big table. Who should come walking in but our tablemates, yes late again. We had to move our bags, lol. So then they asked us how Castaway Cay was since they didn't bother to get off the ship since they were both too hung over the day before.

I really, really hope that on my upcoming cruise I do not get stuck with people like these again.

 

[Rippington'sFan]

I know it isn't funny at the time but it sure is funny reading about all the different tablemate experiences.
We actually were expecting to be seated with others but to our surprise we had a table all to ourselves. (4 of us. 2 adults,2 children) I have to admit in some ways we wish we did have table mates to meet but after reading some of these horror stories I guess we were lucky. We met people around us anyways which was fine.

Any more funny tablemate stories out there? Keep'em coming. It's good for a laugh.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by Miss Jasmine
Who should come walking in but our tablemates, yes late again. We had to move our bags, lol. So then they asked us how Castaway Cay was since they didn't bother to get off the ship since they were both too hung over the day before.

I really, really hope that on my upcoming cruise I do not get stuck with people like these again.

Ooh boy! I hope nobody was ever 'blessed' with them as tablemates again! Let's hope they stay away from DCL!

 

[MarkLem]

HAving nothing in common with someone at you rtable is one thing, but being in the middle of a food fight? Doesn't Disney put their foot down over that kind of behavior? If they don't I would...

 

[luv2tvl]

For the first time in LOTS of cruises (Disney and non Disney) on our Oct 23rd Wonder sailing, my DH and I could not stand out table mates.

We are very friendly people with (I think) good personalities that mesh well with about anyone. With that said, we didn't mesh AT ALL with these folks.

From the moment we sat down until it was finally time to leave she asked question after stupid question. Maybe it was because we'd been on the Disney ships before (big mistake to divulge that info) but she felt the need to FIRE questions at us one after another.
"Why is our room so small?, Is your room bigger?, Why do we have to go to that safety drill, Why don't they have more food to choose from, Why don't they have this, why don't you do that, what are you going to do later.... blah blah blah"
For the first time EVER we skipped a meal on a cruise... that's how bad it was.
They were awful to the waitstaff also, which I have NO patience for.

Man they were a piece of work!!

 

[jrabbit]

Sorry, no bad tablemates to report. We have been seated with 6 1/7th (yes six and one seventh) different families. Never had any problem with any of the "whole" families. The 1/7 of a family came to the first dinner and was never seen again by anyone at our table for the remainder of the cruise. Dinning with new friends (they are only strangers until the first course is served) has always been a fun part of our cruises.

 

[Cindyluwho]

On our first Disney cruise our tablemates were wonderful. They had a son about our daughter's age and even though we didn't have much in common, we all had a good time. But on last years cruise it was a nightmare. We were seated with another couple and their 4 year old daughter. We would show up to dinner dreading what kind of mood the Dad would be in. No matter how his wife dressed he would pick her apart, saying she looked like a #$ore, was trying to get laid, etc. BTW she was always dressed conservatively in very nice clothes. One night I asked her if she was going to the 80's dance later and he threw a fit and refused to speak to anyone for the rest of dinner. Their DD was learning disabled and was all over the table, literally, climbing on the table, grabbing food off of our plates, pouring salt on the table and floor. We finally begged to join some friends at the early seating and the waitstaff was kind enough to make room for us. What an experience!

 

[FredS]

I have requested a table for just the four in our family for our upcoming cruise, as I did for the one we just took. There was a family at the adjacent table that we chatted with every night and I would have been perfectly happy if we had been seated together.

What worries me, though, are the two occasions when we have been seated with people who were NOT friendly. Once was at the Japanese restaurant in Epcot and once was at breakfast on the Wonder. Not that they were obnoxious, but I felt like they really did not want to be seated with anyone else, and they really did not talk to us (or, to think about it, to each other) at all. My husband, who usually can talk to anyone, gave up after a couple of efforts to strike up a conversation. It was just awkward and I don't want to spend those wonderful meals feeling uncomfortable.

 

[inkkognito]

luv2tvl,
Believe it or not, my hubby would have LOVED to sit with those people! He absolutely loves to play Disney Cruise Line Guide with newbies at lunch and dinner. I think he considers himself a living DCL guidebook. He embarrasses me sometimes because he will go into great detail telling people one thing, and then it turns out that whatever it is has changed since our last cruise.
Of course, I used to be guilty of that myself, but I had a little incident that cured me. We were in AP, and we had a Make A Wish family at our table. That was back in the days when the characters used to make an appearance. I kept assuring the little girl that she would see Mickey soon...show comes and goes, finale comes and goes...AND NO CHARACTERS!! The show had been changed, and I had a heck of a time pulling my foot out of my mouth.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[abitjaded]

Originally posted by FredS

What worries me, though, are the two occasions when we have been seated with people who were NOT friendly. Once was at the Japanese restaurant in Epcot and once was at breakfast on the Wonder. Not that they were obnoxious, but I felt like they really did not want to be seated with anyone else, and they really did not talk to us (or, to think about it, to each other) at all. .

I worry about this too. On our last cruise there were 7 of us and we had a table to ourselves. We too had a dreadful experience at the Japan restaurant. We were four, two little kids, one of whom was under the weather. They seated us with two couples. One couple appeared to be on a honeymoon, the other couple appeared to be having a raging affair. At least, I guess, since neither couple spoke to anyone but their opposite sex, not the chef, the server and they never even aknowledged our presence, other than shooting us nasty looks. The "affair" had just ordered cocktails and appetizers in the lounge. We had already waited for 45 minutes for our PS, so then the whole table had to wait while this couple leisurely drank their drinks and ate their appetizer, taking another 1/2 hour. I made numerous trips around the restaurant and to the dirty, overcrowded restroom (he was newly potty-trained) trying to keep my poor unhappy kid entertained, while dad sat with the older one. The whole experience was awful. Both couples acted like we were the plague. You could tell they couldn't stand to be seated with kids. So why choose this restaurant in the first place?

Carla