Has anyone ever not "connected" with their tablemates?

[rsjj]

First I wouldn't obsess over it. If you think it might be a problem, when you get on board the ship, stop and see what size table they have put you at. (Either stop by Parrot Cay which should be serving lunch and the servers there can show you your assigned table. Or stop by Dining Changes and ask them what size table it is.) If it is a 4 person table, no worries. If it is larger, and you want to try it, you can explain it to your kids right before heading to dinner. (I think that way, they aren't worried or obsessing over it either to ruin your afternoon.) Just my two cents.

thanx! you're right! good point about "checking out the table", beforehand!

 

[kcashner]

If you prefer to be seated "alone" as in just your family, just tell DCL this ahead of time (a phone call from you or your TA). Ditto if you are travelling with friends and want to be "linked." That means that you are travelling together and want to be seated together for dinner, and it takes a phone call with the ressie numbers.

We had a good "learning situation" on one cruise. The two families met on the boards before the cruise and decided to link ressies. During the cruise, the 2 teens had a falling out. We kept the seating for the remaining nights. Fortunately, each family had the same philosophy that the kids didn't have to be buddies or even speak to each other in the Stack, but that they did have to remain civil at dinner. On one occasion, the young man's father had to escort him out to reinforce the rules....but it really was a good learning time for the kids and didn't negatively impact the cruise.

 

[challada]

We didn't connect w/our tablemates...they were an older couple traveling w/one grandaughter who was 3 yo. Our group was me, DD5, DS10, and grandparents (daddy pulled out of going at the last minute which made us a 5 instead of 6). Our tablemates were not bad people or anything, just not much in common w/them. Funny thing was that they actually live near my parents so kept hounding them that they would have to go out together when they all got home (my dad was very happy that he forgot to give this guy his phone # the last morning...LOL). They were not rude or anything, just kinda used car salesman-like, if you know what I mean. We did have some fun talking about them later, though, so it was not all a loss.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Of the three cruises we have taken we have always had great tablemates. When you don't know one another there is a lot to talk about; getting to know one another. We have never had anyone too shy/timid to talk with us. I think it is one of the fun parts of cruising. It's too bad when a family runs into another family/couple that refuses to talk. How else are we going to get along together in this world if we are afraid to talk to one another. Come on people lets talk to one another.

 

[dairyou]

The few cruises we've done in the past, we never had table mates and I don't remember checking that we didn't want it.... Maybe DCL knows how we are. They probably don't want us to associate with others

Deb

 

[lilo62]

My DH and I have been very lucky. With our first cruise we sat with another young couple around our age and a girl around our age and her dad. Unfortunately, we made coverstation with the couple, but it wasn't the right connection to keep in touch - they were VERY nice though. But, the other gal and her dad, it was a GREAT fit - she and I still keep in touch (we both have the gift of gab!) and her dad and my DH are more on the quiet side. And I think she is going to be on the same cruise with us in May, so we'll probably request to sit together.

This last cruise, they didn't seat us with anyone. I don't know why! I mean I took a shower everyday and I think I'm a pretty friendly person. I can talk to anyone! We weren't the only ones in this situation. I guess they had to fill all the tables no matter what! I did meet a single mom and her daughter on of our excursions. She and I do keep in touch and even though we didn't sit at the same table, she was in the same late dinner rotation and only a few doors down from our stateroom!

It's really nice to meet other people. I know it's not for everyone, but I really enjoy it. That's part of the "cruise" life style. I even keep in touch with some of the crew!

 

[rsjj]

We didn't connect w/our tablemates...they were an older couple traveling w/one grandaughter who was 3 yo. Our group was me, DD5, DS10, and grandparents (daddy pulled out of going at the last minute which made us a 5 instead of 6). Our tablemates were not bad people or anything, just not much in common w/them. Funny thing was that they actually live near my parents so kept hounding them that they would have to go out together when they all got home (my dad was very happy that he forgot to give this guy his phone # the last morning...LOL). They were not rude or anything, just kinda used car salesman-like, if you know what I mean. We did have some fun talking about them later, though, so it was not all a loss.

are you sure they don't frequent the dis boards? that would be bad!

 

[GreatDaneMom]

DCL did a very nice job of matching the families at our table. Each of the three families had a daughter in the 8-10 yo range. The Moms and Grandma were all delightful ladies and seemed to deal okay with my crazy DH. I have to say it was actually a treat for me to get to know them. Now, they may be telling this story very differently and laughing about the crazy man and his annoying wife from Virginia!!

Cheryl

 

[Nik's Mom]

Just call DCL or your TA and give them the res numbers of everyone you want linked. They will have you cross referenced as traveling together and hopefully put you at the same tables for dinner.

Thanks! Will do!

 

[Liz]

We did have some fun talking about them later, though, so it was not all a loss.

Way to find the cloud's silver lining!!

I think I'd be disappointed if we're at a table all to ourselves. While I might be a little apprehensive at first, I'm excited to meet new people!

 

[Cindy72]

we cruised in 2003 and sat by ourselves, just my family of 4. Is this unusuall? Do you share a table most of the time?

 

[inkkognito]

We have had wonderful tablemate experiences. There is only one person I can think of that we didn't connect with, but everyone else at the table was great. There was a mother and adult daughter, and the mom barely spoke to anyone. We also had a gay female couple at the table, so I never figured out where she was offended by that or just unfriendly in general; I suspect it was the latter because she didn't talk to ANYONE. The daughter was just the opposite...very friendly.
Barb

 

[Kimmielee]

On "another cruise line".... my friend and I were sailing together (2 single gals...) The first night, we were the first two at our table... then, two sisters joined us that had the personalities of wet mops

Well, my friend and I are both very outgoing and we did EVERYTHING to get them to chat... nothing worked.

Second night, two MEN joined us... (please note that I did not use the term Gentlemen) and oh wait... I forgot to say that my friend and I are not bikini babes... nor were the two sisters... so the guys... were not very interested in chatting (at first) either.... They spent their time staring at the young girls at the table next to us.

Well, now we've got four "non-bikini" babes, two "men on the prowl" and I could help but joke about how they must feel getting sat at a table with such BEAUTIFUL women...

By the 4th night, our final two table mates join us... and let's just say... two more females... and they were very much a couple so the men, by this point BOLTED for the door and we never saw them at dinner again!

We did see them, however, on the pub crawl... which Kimmie had a few too many "Sex on the Beach" shots and proceeded to lose my cookies all over one of the men from our dinner table... Oh darn....

 

[donaldsgal]

We (DSis and I) have only been on one cruise so far (4 night to Bahamas), and going on our first 7 night Eastern in a little over a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We sat at a table with three other duos - a young married couple from the South who I don't remember at all - DSis had to remind me that they were young and Southern! We sat with two female friends who weren't particularly chatty but followed along with our conversations (laughed, nodded in agreement, made eye contact). The last duo was a BF-GF from the NEtherlands. They were fun - very European as far as personality, being open-minded, had great accents, and the man looked JUST LIKE Ryan Stiles from "Whose Line is it Anyway" and the Drew Cary Show. He didn't know who it was, but we all thought he looked just like him.

All that being said, we had a great time at dinner. I was a young sprout (just turned 21 a couple of days before the cruise) so didn't always have opinions on what the couples talked about, but my DSis was there and who coulnd't have fun with her? I'm not too worried about dinner mates on this cruise. I'm friendly with a good sense of humor, and like to get to know people (not to pat myself on the back ). I hope we get friendly talkers, but if we don't, we'll have fun on our own.

 

[challada]

are you sure they don't frequent the dis boards? that would be bad!

I know they don't DIS...when we tried explaining to them our DIS group meeting on the first day, they looked at us like we were from Mars....then went on to try to sell my dad a fishing boat....yea, we made fun of that later on!

 

[MelissaE1]

This is making me think back to my cruises. First one my whole family was along, so we sat together. Second one was my honeymoon and DH and I were at a table with another honeymoon couple about our age and an older couple celebrating an anniversary. The latter were nice, but the other honeymooners were hilarious and we had a great time with them, actually ended up spending other cruise time with them as well. We meant to keep in touch as we lived close to each other, but somehow that fell by the wayside. On our Eastern DCL my family of four was at our own table, but we never thought much about it, we enjoyed our wait staff. Then my best friend and I went on a 4-day RCCL and we sat with a fun couple and two sisters traveling together. We had a blast with all of them, although I don't know how the poor lone guy at the table put up with all us women! Luckily he had a good sense of humor.

Maybe on our upcoming Western we will have some nice tablemates to make friends with. I forgot how much fun it is to have company for dinner.

 

[inkkognito]

This thread reminded me of one of my favorite dining experiences. We usually aren't seated with kids, since we don't have any, but sometimes on holidays the kid population is so high that we have little ones at our table. On a Western cruise, we had a little boy (5 or 6) and his mom. Every night, he'd share his experiences with us. In Key West, he got squirted by a conch at the aquarium...he was soooo serious when telling us, but the story was so hilarious! It was all I could do to maintain a somber face as he told us about his trauma...it was so cute that I just wanted to burst into laughter. It still makes me chuckle to remember it.
Barb

 

[sharonmickey]

I wish I had read this thread before our cruise. I definately would have switched tables! Our tablemates where from a different country and spoke Spanish the whole meal. Their children were young, my children are 15 and 18. We each ended up speaking only to our own families so it was very uncomfortable.

 

[logan1_2000]

Our 4 night Wonder cruise this past January had DW and I (42 and 41) and DS (8) seated at a table for 8 with Ma Clampett (40ish?) Ma's mullett headed monosyllabic son (14ish), mullett-boy's cousin (15ish), Ma's daughter (17 and the only one of these three kids not destined for future incarceration), and Ma's Dear Ole Aunt, (65ish, seemed sweet, hard to talk to because of parkinson's tremors, apparently had travelled more than 10 miles from where she was born, which seemed to make her the only one of their gang who could make that claim, and it seemed she was treating them all to this cruise). I am am being ugly, I admit, and insulting the warmth of the the late Buddy Ebsen and Irene Ryan when I mockingly call them the clampetts. There just was no conversation, no common ground topic, despite all my lively DW's social grace in befriending strangers (we met as strangers at an airline gate in a city where neither of us lived, and we did not live in the same city at the time, so I stand behind her charm). The daughter had table manners, the boys ignored DS who tried to speak to them about on-board activities because it was his third DCL cruise. And it being a long table, I was unable to sit next to DW any evening because we would get one seat on one side, and two on another, and I couldn't abandon DS on the other side, so DW and I alternated sitting next to him. Now, it was clear that for thse folks, this cruise was indeed the trip of a lifetime and I do hoped they enjoyed it. But no personality, no communication skills except the daughter, and no adventureous trying a few things and we just felt so stifled that we didn't enjoy dinner very much at all. Had I read threads about such situations ahead of time I'd have gone to Head Waiter after the first night...oh that's right, in contrast to every other DCL cruise, I never saw the head waiter that cruise until he had his hand out the last night (our others have ranged from great to really great). And on a previous DCL cruise w/ just the three of us, we got seated with another family of three and it was a great fit.

After the Stiffs, I requested the three of us get our own table for our 7 night MAgic in April, which we had, and we enjoyed that cruise, and I expect, unless we get local friends to join us in 10/06, that we'll do the same again.

Just sharing my experience. I know others have made Cruise Meets hookups, so don't know if that might be an answer--though I'm on cruisetoberfest and am told most of them are on the other dinner seating from us.

 

[Keggy]

On our very first cruise we had an odd lady as a table mate. She was traveling with her young son, who was the same age as one of our nephews so we assume that was why we were seated together. It was myself and my DH, my sister and my brother in law, and their two kids. All of the kids were normally in the kids club - so it was the two couples and this lady. We tried to have pleasant conversation - just wasn't clicking.

On our last 4 night we were travelling with a travel agent who had booked a group. We were with another couple who we were friends with and the travel agent had booked us with another couple -the other couple wouldn't speak. We tried introducing ourselves several times... wasn't happening - finally halfway through our 4 night cruise they loosened up and started talking. Unfortunately the friends we were travelling with fought the whole time.... FUN TRIP!

This next cruise it will just be DH and I - I hope to meet people from the boards (we like kids and would actually have fun eating with them) or hopefully Disney will pair us up with nice people!

Kelly