Unhappy dining experience

I recently returned from the maiden voyage on Ovation of the Seas. I was also on the pre-inaugural.

On the maiden I was seated on a table for 10. I was in the dining room first and was joined by a couple. They said they were waiting for someone else. A younger couple turned up a few minutes later and it appeared that it was the daughter and son-in-law of the older couple. I might just as well have not been there. All they did was talk to each other about family/friends. It was Dynamic Dining, and I thought I'd give it another chance on the next restaurant. Another couple joined us, so at least there was someone else to chat with. Night three, and it was just me and the ill-mannered family. I requested a different table for night four, but all the maitre d could give me was a table for two.

To be honest, it was better to be alone that with those rude people.

I just went to Windjammer on the last night as we had been in Bruges, and sampling chocolate. Having had no proper lunch, I wanted to eat early.

All but three of the cruises in my list have been solo. This is the first bad experience I have had. If it happens again I will request an earlier change of table.

I've shared tables with a mix of people and generally couples are quite happy to chat to a solo traveller.

The only thing is that it could put a new solo traveller off of cruising.

So sorry you had that experience. I agree, better to eat alone than with rude people.

I think that is fair. Not everyone likes every other person and has an interest to interact with them. I do the same with other solo passengers, couples or families although mostly at bars, theatre or around the public areas as I do not share tables for exactly that reason. Often that takes less than a minute for me to discover that I don't want to interact with them at all.

That is life.

Sorry you had such a bad experience......:(

Michael, I disagree with part of your statement. Yes, maybe some folks

don't like to interact with other people but I have been sailing solo for

many years and in my opinion, I think that the family was rude......

They could have been more well mannered and asked her some

questions (at least try and be friendly).....then after dinner I would

have spoken with the Maitr'd and asked him to be moved.

But to ignore someone for the whole dinner? I think that is

very rude. I guess we all come from different backgrounds. I would

have welcomed the person and at least chatted a bit.

I am surprised the 'family' even agreed to sit at a table for 10...they should have signed up for a 4 if they didn't want to be polite?

I am doing my first solo travel in the Fall and haven't decided how to do dining. I had one experience on a cruise with a friend where we were seated with 6 or 8 friends. Though they sort of included us in their 'discussion', it was very awkward given that the entire lunch was listening to them complaining about both there and Canadian health care. We could contribute nothing as we weren't encouraged to. Again - rude.

I see that HAL does a couple of solo traveler mingles which includes the option to dine together on night 2, but I expect it will be dining solo in the MDR or room service. I will not risk a long dinner at a table with pre-existing social spheres, especially considering that HAL often stretches dinner to 2 hours for large tables.Gack!

I have completed my post cruise questionnaire. I made the point that other ships seat solo travellers together, which is a more comfortable experience. They could do it with dynamic dining. All the solo travellers could start in the same restaurant and move around together, if they wanted to.

I am a solo traveler and my TA requests that I sit with other singles on Princess. It usually works out ok. If not I just head to the buffet.

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So, if people have nothing to talk about to you - people are rude? Because they did not entertain you? I, for one think, that "small American talk" when absolutely unknown people get into your face with questions about your family and quality of your stool - are in fact rude. Same category talks as looser uphold in the bar because there is none anywhere else willing to talk to him/her...

WOW:eek:...we must have been raised differently...being kind to someone

doesn't mean you are "getting in their face" about anything.

Another person taught the pleasures of polite conversation...and you never know what interesting things you may find in common with others, or how entertaining you may find each other unless you are receptive to meeting them. I've met lovely people on vacations and cruises over the years. If a topic of conversation became awkward for any reason, it's usually possible to change topics. Even awkward topics can be interesting though, as an opportunity to understand other people's perspectives.

Admittedly, I'm older (early 60s) and actually attended a charm school when I was young...where we were taught that it was extremely rude to ignore others. It's hard for me to imagine that there's any justification for failing to extend simple social courtesies to others at the same dining table. If uninterested in meeting others or engaging in conversation, it's easy enough these days to avoid dining with others by requests for a private table, specialty dining, or use of the Windjammer/buffet.

So, if people have nothing to talk about to you - people are rude? Because they did not entertain you? I, for one think, that "small American talk" when absolutely unknown people get into your face with questions about your family and quality of your stool - are in fact rude. Same category talks as looser uphold in the bar because there is none anywhere else willing to talk to him/her...

If you don't wish to converse with anyone else then fine, go and sit on your own. I have always found sociable people on other cruises. That is one of the pleasures of cruising.

In my opinion politeness costs nothing and it is simply good manners to acknowledge a solo traveller sharing a table with you. You don't have to tell them your life story or ask for theirs, but is the odd comment or question to them here or there over the course of the meal too much to ask? I think not. The phrase "inclusive without being intrusive" sums it up perfectly.

Heres my recent dining experiences: with Princess anytime dining, guests are asked if theyd like to share a table. What a wonderful experience! At every meal, folks were interesting and amiable. So, i posted a thread asking why NCL doesnt ask folks to share a table, and clearly the majority of NCL diners prefer not ti share tables! Since I most often choose NCL, Id say you most likely have to go to the solo gathering to insure dining companions. My take away is it varies by ship/cruise line.

Heres my recent dining experiences: with Princess anytime dining, guests are asked if theyd like to share a table. What a wonderful experience! At every meal, folks were interesting and amiable. So, i posted a thread asking why NCL doesnt ask folks to share a table, and clearly the majority of NCL diners prefer not ti share tables! Since I most often choose NCL, Id say you most likely have to go to the solo gathering to insure dining companions. My take away is it varies by ship/cruise line.

I asked to share tables on NCL Jade and was told that they don't do that. I'm not sure that the majority of NCL diners do prefer not to share. I don't think they have any choice.

So, if people have nothing to talk about to you - people are rude? Because they did not entertain you? I, for one think, that "small American talk" when absolutely unknown people get into your face with questions about your family and quality of your stool - are in fact rude. Same category talks as looser uphold in the bar because there is none anywhere else willing to talk to him/her...

That would have to be one of the rudest responses I have read on here.I didn't read that the op was asking questions about their stool or their family. Disgraceful.

I am a very introverted person and don't like talking to people for the most part but have to for my job unfortunately (looking for a job that I can work alone, but my current job allows me to travel as much as I want). However, if placed in a situation like the OP, I would try to engage a solo passenger in the conversation.

My first cruise I went with a group of 13 and 2 of us decided to have lunch in the MDR instead of the buffet. We were seated at a table of 10 with other people. Though I was uncomfortable, I did make a point to talk with the group of people and not just my friend. It made everyone more comfortable because less face it, I didn't want to sit with a bunch of strangers and I'm sure some of them had the same feelings too.

I don't like small talk but unfortunately that is the norm so I will adapt (even though I would rather eat alone and not talk to anyone). Heck I'm typing this response while I'm eating at a restaurant solo which I prefer. I'm cruising with NCL in December and I would prefer to eat alone but will attend some of the solo gatherings and CC gatherings so if I am in a situation where I have to eat with people, I will have already interacted with them and I won't feel nervous around them.

My TA request that i sit with other singles, which usually is ok. i really prefer not to eat alone and don't mind small talk. On a recent cruise i was seated at a table of 8. Two sets of parents each with an adult child that just graduated college. There was also a single older lady who way very nice and giggled all of the time. No one would talk so i kept trying to initiate conversations. All anyone would say was a few words or giggle. I was exhausted at the end of the meals and decided that i would just go to the buffet. At the last dinner i returned to the table and was greeted by everyone wondering where i had been and what i had been doing. Then the table fell silent again.......:confused:

Easiest way to avoid it is to just go to dinner (my time, freestyle or whatever the cruise line calls it) with people you met during the day and already know you get along and have something to talk about.

Looking at a couple of these posts I can see why some people are solo cruisers......lighten up.

I guess it comes down to what we expect at dining and the options available.

I only sail NCL because I think they do a great job for solos. I have had great success for dining on all my cruises on ships with and without the Studio Lounge.

Just came back from the 16 night Jade crossing and the solo host was maybe the best ever. The host had a schedule to meet at 6-7 in the Whiskey Bar (our social). Then we would attend the 7 p.m. evening show where he had a row of seats reserved. Then dinner was either at 7:45p or 8:00p depending on the length of the show. We rotated between the two complimentary restaurants: Grand Pacific and Alazar. He had tables reserved for us.

Now it just happens that I had 6 UDP as my perk and it seems that almost no other solos had gotten the perk because they booked late and were ineligible. So I then booked 3 reservations and the other 3 I just showed up and was seated immediately. Even though I would have preferred company, I still enjoyed my specialty dining. :)

I don't really like spending a couple hours at dinner every night and I'm not fond of small talk, so I eat in the buffet a lot. Then, I'm off to do something else. I bring a book. Sometimes someone joins me and sometimes they don't. When I go to the dining room I ask to share a table with others. I've done this on Princess and HAL. People have always been friendly and I've enjoyed some people more than others, but all have been polite. I think this is a good way of doing things. People who don't want to talk to others won't say OK to sharing. I've met people who only sit by themselves in the MDR. I'm okay with other people, but I'm okay by myself, too. I don't expect anyone to entertain me, but I kind of expect common courtesy. The only thing I don't care for about sitting with different people every night is that I have to keep telling "my story" over and over. I have to explain that I love cruising alone, etc. etc. etc. I guess I should be happy the people are talking to me. ;) OTOH, if I'd been the OP, I'd have brought a book and read while they were talking to each other.

Your experience on Jade was completely opposite to mine. There was a solo meet up on the first night on board. The 'host' suggested that we meet up in the bar at 6.00 pm if we wanted company at dinner. That was it. I decided after that cruise that I wouldn't travel NCL again, but then decided to try Epic. It was a much better experience.

I guess it comes down to what we expect at dining and the options available.

 

I only sail NCL because I think they do a great job for solos. I have had great success for dining on all my cruises on ships with and without the Studio Lounge.

 

Just came back from the 16 night Jade crossing and the solo host was maybe the best ever. The host had a schedule to meet at 6-7 in the Whiskey Bar (our social). Then we would attend the 7 p.m. evening show where he had a row of seats reserved. Then dinner was either at 7:45p or 8:00p depending on the length of the show. We rotated between the two complimentary restaurants: Grand Pacific and Alazar. He had tables reserved for us.

 

Now it just happens that I had 6 UDP as my perk and it seems that almost no other solos had gotten the perk because they booked late and were ineligible. So I then booked 3 reservations and the other 3 I just showed up and was seated immediately. Even though I would have preferred company, I still enjoyed my specialty dining. :)

I have completed my post cruise questionnaire. I made the point that other ships seat solo travellers together, which is a more comfortable experience. They could do it with dynamic dining. All the solo travellers could start in the same restaurant and move around together, if they wanted to.

DISAGREE!!!!

Just because people are traveling solo it does NOT mean they'll have more in common than they might with anyone else on the ship!!

I got stuck in that situation on my last Disney cruise - they dumped the three solo diners at one table together. The guys got along famously and discussed conservative crap and real estate boringness all night. We literally had ZERO in common other than the fact that we were cruising solo.

I had dinner at Palo the following night, but the night after that I had a wonderful chat with one of the dining room managers and my head server, and got moved to a table by myself with an amazing serving team (put it this way...I was so glad I'd brought my nook with me the first night when it became clear there would be no comfortable conversation zone for me in that set-up, but I never needed it the other nights as whenever they could without affecting service to their other table (a couple of large ones combined so in reality they had two tables) my servers were over talking with me) for the remainder of the cruise.

I have had good experiences in being seated with other solos. I have kept in contact with some and have met up and cruised together since.

DISAGREE!!!!

 

Just because people are traveling solo it does NOT mean they'll have more in common than they might with anyone else on the ship!!

 

I got stuck in that situation on my last Disney cruise - they dumped the three solo diners at one table together. The guys got along famously and discussed conservative crap and real estate boringness all night. We literally had ZERO in common other than the fact that we were cruising solo.

 

I had dinner at Palo the following night, but the night after that I had a wonderful chat with one of the dining room managers and my head server, and got moved to a table by myself with an amazing serving team (put it this way...I was so glad I'd brought my nook with me the first night when it became clear there would be no comfortable conversation zone for me in that set-up, but I never needed it the other nights as whenever they could without affecting service to their other table (a couple of large ones combined so in reality they had two tables) my servers were over talking with me) for the remainder of the cruise.

I have had good experiences in being seated with other solos. I have kept in contact with some and have met up and cruised together since.

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. I don't seek out other solo travelers while I'm on a cruise (I don't in "regular" life either) and I've met some fantastic people.

I've only been on 13 cruises and I've kept in contact with one solo and about 5 couples. Most of my dining companions (traditional dining) have been warm and engaging. My worst experience, although not horrible was a table of solos - lol, go figure, right?