Dining preferences

[Lakers Fan]

When cruising with your spouse or SO do you prefer a table of 2 or a table with strangers ?

We are cruising next month by ourselves for the first time in 4 years .

We always prefer not to have a table of 2 .

[nlb1050]

always want a table for 6 or 8. We want to meet people. We eat by our selves all the time at home.

[Trackypup]

This will be the first time we've cruised without friends since 2008 and 5 cruises I think... we opt for anytime dining as we only show up to the MDR about 1/2 the time and we'll be requesting a table for two most nights.

[Mike M]

It really depends. It is one reason why we love Open Seating for dinner. We can choose to sit with others or just ourselves. We can also make dinner plans with people we've met on board and not have to make a reservation at a specialty restaurant in order to eat together.

There are times I love to be with a group and converse but there are also times my wife and I would rather have a nice meal to ourselves. After being married for 28 years and together for 30 we still can find a lot to talk about and enjoy each other's company.

The bottom line is: I love having the "choice".

Take care,
Mike

[Trip]

Part of a cruise we like the most, is meeting new people, so, for us, give us a table of 8...no more, and, not a recatangle table as the table can have a limited flow of conversation. I will always instigate a rotation of seats as well.....I want to have a new view and new conversations, as the nights go by.

[PeterC]

We don't mind meeting new people but come dinner time we prefer eating alone.

[Lakers Fan]

Originally Posted by Trip

Part of a cruise we like the most, is meeting new people, so, for us, give us a table of 8...no more, and, not a recatangle table as the table can have a limited flow of conversation. I will always instigate a rotation of seats as well.....I want to have a new view and new conversations, as the nights go by.

Excellent idea ,Trip .

[CostaSmurf]

I cruise solo, I eat solo....

I'm not unsociable but I prefer to sit for a meal quietly and leave. My 4 courses usually take me around 45 minutes maximum, waitstaff love it cos I get the menu in my cabin before going to the MDR and thus I know what I want.

Can't be doing with smalltalk at dinner, I'm afraid

[snorklr45]

I always like a table full of people whether I'm cruise with someone or solo..For me, it just makes the trip more interesting.

[MercedMike]

Originally Posted by Trip

Part of a cruise we like the most, is meeting new people, so, for us, give us a table of 8...no more, and, not a recatangle table as the table can have a limited flow of conversation. I will always instigate a rotation of seats as well.....I want to have a new view and new conversations, as the nights go by.

We usually choose anytime dining, but back in the traditional seating days we always changed seats every night. We did get some strange stares on occasion from table mates who seemed to think that having sat in a chair the first night nailed them to it ...

We enjoy large tables. Trip is right that a rectangle makes conversation more difficult, but a round table for eight is so big it is hard to talk across it also. Really a table for six is a very nice size.

There have been a few nights that we encountered blowhards or slobs and said we will avoid them in the future! But generally making conversation for a couple of hours is not hard. Of course, most of it is "Where are you from?" and "Is this your first cruise?"

[Fieldmouse]

On one cruise we took my brother, and asked for a table that would accommodate eight. We explained that this was one way for him actually to meet and converse with other passengers from different parts of the country and even from different cultures.

Wouldn't you just know it...at our table every single person was not only from our state, but actually 15-20minutes from our home!!!! Weird....

(we usually try to sit at a table for 6-8...we like people and enjoy good conversation. We've been cruising since 2000, and have not been disappointed yet.)

[Manuel]

Originally Posted by Trip

Part of a cruise we like the most, is meeting new people, so, for us, give us a table of 8...no more, and, not a recatangle table as the table can have a limited flow of conversation. I will always instigate a rotation of seats as well.....I want to have a new view and new conversations, as the nights go by.

Trip, we do exactly the same thing and we have met some nice, interesting people.
For us a table of 6 is OK also.

TM

[Manuel]

Originally Posted by Fieldmouse

....

(we usually try to sit at a table for 6-8...we like people and enjoy good conversation. We've been cruising since 2000, and have not been disappointed yet.)

We also like a table for 6 or 8 and in our 15 cruises, we have not been disappointed.

TM