Craziest table mates you have had.

[wilkeliza]

Parents can't even spank the child now because someone will call the police and child protective services. I see it all the time.

You have safe zones now because people are hurt by what was said. You have groups that call everything you do hate. Even if it truly isn't. You have fake and reality. Who do you trust though? That's the problem. Dinner time is dinner time and it's meant to be spent with family. Its not about stranger danger. It's about I don't need a stranger to be in my conversations.

Believe it or not. I agree with what you said.

JW

Dinner time on a cruise is not the same thing as dinner time at home though. As others have pointed out it has been communal until very recent. There are other communal dinning situations as well. Even at Disney Biergarten is communal. My local BBQ joint is mixed. Most of the seating is communal though.

Also just to add safe zones have really been turned into something they were not meant to be. Originally a safe zone was somewhere that an LGBT person who was not out publicly could go for advice and talk openly with out fear of being outed. It was an open place to discuss topics that may have gotten you black listed form society when it wasn't okay to be different.

 

[Dug720]

All of this. I also blame "Stranger danger". I get it I have anxiety but at the same time we can't live in a bubble. I think raising now two generations of kids with Stranger danger post the early 80s has created a bunch of adults that have no clue how to talk to strangers and be polite in conversations. We are always so worried about the "other" that we work ourselves up over nothing. The older I have gotten the more I realize we have created our own problems as a society all birthed form an effort to protect ourselves from a perceived danger that was of course there but really no more or less worse then it had been.

(I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying the above so I'll just say go right ahead. I stand by what I said)

Plus they are only strangers for a night. Then you know each other!

Yes, I have requested a table by myself but a) with food allergies it's just easier and much less chance of someone putting the wrong plate down and b) I was VERY uncomfortable with the "solo dump" that happened on the Fantasy the last time I was on there - at least if you're with your family you still have someone to talk to if the match up is bad...I was stuck there for a night listening to two neoconservatives basically tear down everything about who I am (trust me - you wouldn't have spoken up either). So as a solo cruiser, it is just easier. (Plus none of the "Oh you poor thing..." comments that couldn't be further from the truth.)

 

[Shellyred8]

On our first cruise DH and I were at a table with 3 other couples. One of the couples showed up for the first two meals and then we never saw them again. They were a little awkward to converse with. But the other two couples were awesome. We had great conversations and we still stay in touch with one of the couples.

 

[Shellyred8]

Plus they are only strangers for a night. Then you know each other!

Yes, I have requested a table by myself but a) with food allergies it's just easier and much less chance of someone putting the wrong plate down and b) I was VERY uncomfortable with the "solo dump" that happened on the Fantasy the last time I was on there - at least if you're with your family you still have someone to talk to if the match up is bad...I was stuck there for a night listening to two neoconservatives basically tear down everything about who I am (trust me - you wouldn't have spoken up either). So as a solo cruiser, it is just easier. (Plus none of the "Oh you poor thing..." comments that couldn't be further from the truth.)

I hate when people "feel sorry" for the solo travelers. I love traveling solo!! It's so freeing!! I can do what I want, when I want.

 

[wilkeliza]

Plus they are only strangers for a night. Then you know each other!

Yes, I have requested a table by myself but a) with food allergies it's just easier and much less chance of someone putting the wrong plate down and b) I was VERY uncomfortable with the "solo dump" that happened on the Fantasy the last time I was on there - at least if you're with your family you still have someone to talk to if the match up is bad...I was stuck there for a night listening to two neoconservatives basically tear down everything about who I am (trust me - you wouldn't have spoken up either). So as a solo cruiser, it is just easier. (Plus none of the "Oh you poor thing..." comments that couldn't be further from the truth.)

I can totally understand wanting to be solo if traveling solo after an experience like that. Also with food allergies I would get it. That would make it much easier. With that said we all know you really aren't ever "solo" on a Disney cruise as the tables are barely inches apart.

 

[JW9DVC]

Dinner time on a cruise is not the same thing as dinner time at home though. As others have pointed out it has been communal until very recent. There are other communal dinning situations as well. Even at Disney Biergarten is communal. My local BBQ joint is mixed. Most of the seating is communal though.

Also just to add safe zones have really been turned into something they were not meant to be. Originally a safe zone was somewhere that an LGBT person who was not out publicly could go for advice and talk openly with out fear of being outed. It was an open place to discuss topics that may have gotten you black listed form society when it wasn't okay to be different.

My table is NOT communal. So therefore when we travel with our kids. It's just us and only will be.

 

[Dug720]

I can totally understand wanting to be solo if traveling solo after an experience like that. Also with food allergies I would get it. That would make it much easier. With that said we all know you really aren't ever "solo" on a Disney cruise as the tables are barely inches apart.

Exactly. Especially on the Dream class, those tables are super close together.

 

[jrabbit]

All of this. I also blame "Stranger danger". I get it I have anxiety but at the same time we can't live in a bubble. I think raising now two generations of kids with Stranger danger post the early 80s has created a bunch of adults that have no clue how to talk to strangers and be polite in conversations. We are always so worried about the "other" that we work ourselves up over nothing. The older I have gotten the more I realize we have created our own problems as a society all birthed form an effort to protect ourselves from a perceived danger that was of course there but really no more or less worse then it had been.

(I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying the above so I'll just say go right ahead. I stand by what I said)

I am surprised that "my age group" (50's and younger) are freaked out about the "stranger danger" - I do see it more in our adult children than in my age group - but it's there none the less. I am also more surprised that my parents that grew with the fear of nuclear bombs falling from the sky by the Russians have less stranger danger than us'uns

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

We don't do shared tables. I would probably be somebody else's bad tablemate story lol.

I don't like the forced interaction. I hate small talk and don't particularly like sharing details of my life with strangers. I find the whole "what do you do, where do you live, are you married, do you have kids?" Etc. etc. line of questioning very intrusive. I'm also not always in the mood to talk and that's considered rude/awkward in forced social interactions like shared dinner.

I have yet to find MDR food on a cruise that I thought was good and most of it is inedible to me. So I'm often one of those people who tries one bite of something and pushes it away. Sometimes I'll ask for a replacement sometimes I'll play mash up and move around the food so it looks like I ate it because I don't want to do the whole dance with the server about it.

 

[RedSox68]

Dinner time on a cruise is not the same thing as dinner time at home though. As others have pointed out it has been communal until very recent. There are other communal dinning situations as well. Even at Disney Biergarten is communal. My local BBQ joint is mixed. Most of the seating is communal though.

Also just to add safe zones have really been turned into something they were not meant to be. Originally a safe zone was somewhere that an LGBT person who was not out publicly could go for advice and talk openly with out fear of being outed. It was an open place to discuss topics that may have gotten you black listed form society when it wasn't okay to be different.

I don't like being forced to be communal. Granted, we have done the Disney Biergarten many times and always have great fun, but that is one dinner experience for one night, not 7 nights of sitting with strangers to be "social". For us, it gets tiring and as we have grown older, we notice we have become more "anti-social" when it comes to entertaining tablemates.

 

[lorenni]

• I blame the Internet - people have become more rude (anonymous posting of my very important opinion and ridicule of anyone that disagrees with me)
• I blame the "smart" phones - we don't talk any more - we text each other
• I blame the businesses that expect us to work obscene hours (at minimal pay) so that I don't have family time at home any more
• I blame the "It's All About ME!" culture that has popped up around us over the last 20 years
• I blame DCL for being overly scared of their customers ... Must.. Have.. Only.. Excellent.. Scores.. On.. Survey! We don't "have" nice and appropriate things anymore: Formal Night includes Jeans and Tee Shirts, Kids Clubs go from age 3 - 12 because "my kids couldn't possibly be separated and learn to play with new friends", Palo - Jeans and Flipflops - really etc

These are all excellent points, and I agree also with the culture of fear we have cultivated over the last 40 or so years with stranger danger. (Which, by the way, is no longer the thing to teach. Now we do "tricky people" because the reality is that most dangers are from people you know, rather than strangers!)

The kids club one really bothers me. I want my little kid to be with little kids. My little guy was run down by a herd of bigger kids on his very first trip to the clubs. Fortunately (unfortunately?) I saw it happen as he was in the tube that connects one side to the other. I had WORDS for those CMs who man the tube. He never went back to the club. And I couldn't blame him. Little kids should not be in a situation where they are protecting themselves from groups of much bigger kids. But, there's your "its all about me" mentality, playing into the "we want perfect reviews" attitude.

Going back to dinner, the only time we were at a shared table my server screwed up my celiac order the very first night, and we were switched to a solo table.

 

[MrsMang]

I just read through this whole thread and I can't decide if I'm excited or terrified (probably a good mix of both). On our last cruise it was our honeymoon on Royal Caribbean and their dining was a bit different. Most nights we were alone, but one night the wait was really long for smaller tables and they asked if any groups of two wanted to join together. We said sure and ended up with two perfectly pleasant couples. The only slightly "off" thing was one of the men not realizing that he was holding up the rest of the table that mentioned trying to make it to a show, and ordering and appetizer and a salad that came as two separate courses, holding up everyone else's entrees. It wasn't a huge deal, and we ended up making it to the show within 5-10 mins of it starting. We enjoyed the conversation and said hi whenever we saw them on the ship the rest of the time. As a couple, we will most likely be seated with others since we won't request to be alone. We would enjoy having company at our table if it works out that everyone is friendly enough, but we'll just have to see! Hopefully that Disney Magic works out for us!!

 

[m3owbox]

I just read through this whole thread and I can't decide if I'm excited or terrified (probably a good mix of both). On our last cruise it was our honeymoon on Royal Caribbean and their dining was a bit different. Most nights we were alone, but one night the wait was really long for smaller tables and they asked if any groups of two wanted to join together. We said sure and ended up with two perfectly pleasant couples. The only slightly "off" thing was one of the men not realizing that he was holding up the rest of the table that mentioned trying to make it to a show, and ordering and appetizer and a salad that came as two separate courses, holding up everyone else's entrees. It wasn't a huge deal, and we ended up making it to the show within 5-10 mins of it starting. We enjoyed the conversation and said hi whenever we saw them on the ship the rest of the time. As a couple, we will most likely be seated with others since we won't request to be alone. We would enjoy having company at our table if it works out that everyone is friendly enough, but we'll just have to see! Hopefully that Disney Magic works out for us!!

I'm sure it will work out for you. Before our last cruise to the Med last year, I was reading all the horror stories about tablemates. So I was quite scared. It was just DH and I going on the cruise, both of us mid-late 20s. We got seated with 3 other couples all around the same age. All turned out to be great people and we had a blast. Our server was a little confused because right from the get go we were all talking and she thought we all knew each other! We hung out a lot on the cruise and still talk.
We are cruising again in June with my parents and my younger sister, my dad was so adamant about not being sat with other people that my mother and I had to put in a request to be alone. DH is upset about the request haha, which is so weird, because usually he's the quiet one. DH wants to make new friends like last time. But with all the ages of our party varying so much it might not really work out anyway.

 

[RedSox68]

I just read through this whole thread and I can't decide if I'm excited or terrified (probably a good mix of both). On our last cruise it was our honeymoon on Royal Caribbean and their dining was a bit different. Most nights we were alone, but one night the wait was really long for smaller tables and they asked if any groups of two wanted to join together. We said sure and ended up with two perfectly pleasant couples. The only slightly "off" thing was one of the men not realizing that he was holding up the rest of the table that mentioned trying to make it to a show, and ordering and appetizer and a salad that came as two separate courses, holding up everyone else's entrees. It wasn't a huge deal, and we ended up making it to the show within 5-10 mins of it starting. We enjoyed the conversation and said hi whenever we saw them on the ship the rest of the time. As a couple, we will most likely be seated with others since we won't request to be alone. We would enjoy having company at our table if it works out that everyone is friendly enough, but we'll just have to see! Hopefully that Disney Magic works out for us!!

NAH, don't be terrified. Many have had good experiences also and enjoyed it and prefer sitting with others. You won't know until you try it and you may very well be lucky. It's only a 90 minute or so experience. And you always have the choice of asking the Head Server to change your table if your tablemates are horrid.

 

[kendall]

Cruise #1 we had young kids and were matched with a family with kids the same age - delightful, pleasant dinner convo.
Cruise #2 we had friends join us, so our two families had its own table
Cruise #3 DH and I - we had our own 2-top (not requested)
Cruise #4 DH and I were seated with two other adult couples, and the wait staff took very good care of us (including providing extra dishes served family style, without asking, off menu, once it was discovered our table enjoyed spicy, flavorful food). Conversation was enjoyable, comparing travel stories.

DH and I would consider ourselves rather private people, but we look forward to sharing dinner. While we do not entertain regularly at home, or are particularly social, the hour or two sharing a meal and exchanging stories and experiences can be interesting. And if table mates were not tolerable for some reason, we would request a different table.

Each cruiser has their particular reasons for requesting their own table or sharing. If you are new to the concept, don't fret potentially sharing a table for dinner! Go in to the experience with an open mind and you may be pleasantly surprised!

 

[MrsMang]

We got seated with 3 other couples all around the same age. All turned out to be great people and we had a blast. Our server was a little confused because right from the get go we were all talking and she thought we all knew each other! We hung out a lot on the cruise and still talk.

We are about the same age as you guys, and this is my dream!!

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I look at it this way:

If you like the people you get seated with there is huge upside. New friends, fun conversation, maybe learn some new things that you want to do which they did.

If you don't like the people you are seated with, the downside is smaller. If you just have nothing in common you can just mutually agree to keep to yourselves, or if there is a big issue you can ask to be re-seated.

But I understand that some people feel differently and the risks of a bad situation outweigh the gains of unknown opportunity.

Vive la Difference!

 

[jrabbit]

Nothing in Common - is kinda difficult - you're all on a Disney Cruise!!! And yes I have seen many people on the DCL cruise that didn't care one way or another about All Things Disney. Other possibilities: Travel, Theater, Music, Work, Kids, Family you can't stand, ...

And people say that they don't want to eat with strangers --- if you and them have any sort of social skills (yea, with the internet and dumb down (smart) phones - this is getting to be an issue), you should only be strangers for 15 minutes. And this is from someone who is an introvert (well over the last 18 years cruising with Disney, I've become much less introverted - yea - Grub Bonus!)

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Nothing in Common - is kinda difficult - you're all on a Disney Cruise!!!

I was being polite. I meant: minor dislike/disagreements/annoyance, as opposed to some of the major horror stories on this thread. LOL.

 

[jrabbit]

I was being polite. I meant: minor dislike/disagreements/annoyance, as opposed to some of the major horror stories on this thread. LOL.

POLITE!!! ... On the Internet!!!... Are you Nuts????