Seating protocol at MDR

We always sit at a large table, eight or ten. On the first night we usually get there a little early and select two nice seats.

On the second evening do you sit next to another couple already seated or in the seats you were in the night before.

Basically the question is do you sit at the same seats on subsequent nights or sit wherever you want every night?

How do you deal with a situation where you absolutely do not want to sit next to a particular couple? Hold back before entering the dining room and hope there are others already seated ?

We always sit at a large table, eight or ten. On the first night we usually get there a little early and select two nice seats.

 

On the second evening do you sit next to another couple already seated or in the seats you were in the night before.

 

Basically the question is do you sit at the same seats on subsequent nights or sit wherever you want every night?

 

How do you deal with a situation where you absolutely do not want to sit next to a particular couple? Hold back before entering the dining room and hope there are others already seated ?

If you have traditional dining, you will be seated with the same people for the entire cruise. If you have a problem with them just see the Maitre'd to have your seating changed.

If you have Select dining, you can request the same seats but at the time you arrive they may be taken by someone else. If you have chosen to sit with others at Select dining, you will probably not know who they are until you are seated.

You can ask for a seat by yourselves in Select.

You can also request a table for 2 in traditional dining. It is kinder to request a different table that to "avoid" another couple. At some point, they will notice. And why sit at a table with someone you do not care for.

When we used to do set time dining, we normally would mix up where we sat so that we could more easily chat with different people each night. Luckily we always had great table mates so we didn't need to avoid anyone! Nowadays we prefer select dining but I do miss having the same group of people to dine with and getting to know each other over the course of a cruise.

We have always selected a different seat on the second night and suggested others to mix it up so we all get a chance to meet the others at the table.

If there was a particular person we did not want to sit with, we would choose a place as far from them as possible. It has always worked out fun as a way to get to know our tablemates.

Can I toss in a question?

When you mix things up,

Do you sit next to DW DH?

I always try to sit in a different seat each night so everyone get a different view of the MDR at our table for eight.

I also sit next to a person I did not sit next to the night before ,if it works.

Even if I am seated next to the person I like the least at our table,usually the conversation is shared by all and one can always talk about their day if nothing else.

I love sitting at a large table and meeting passengers from all parts of the world.

We have always selected a different seat on the second night and suggested others to mix it up so we all get a chance to meet the others at the table.

 

If there was a particular person we did not want to sit with, we would choose a place as far from them as possible. It has always worked out fun as a way to get to know our tablemates.

Thank you. My post was not focused on how avoid sitting next to a particular couple. It was to survey the cruise world on the traditions and experiences of other cruisers. Specifically: Over he course of a cruise do you tends to sit in the same seats every night or does everybody sits however it works out on any given evening?

That said if we have connected with another to couple to the extent our time together extends outside of the MDR we will make a reasonable effort to sit next to or across from them. We don't make it obvious and if there is a couple that has had difficulty connecting with the group we will sit with them and try to draw them into the conversations.

In traditional, we always try to vary where we sit at the table each evening. Others at the table have also chosen that pattern. At first DH and I sit together if there is appropriate space, but as the cruise goes on (talking about longer cruises), we may split so as to sit next to someone with similar talking points. Either way (sit together or apart) is fine with us.

It depends who gets there first! We've done it both ways...same seats nightly, and moving round nightly...doesn't really matter, to us! At a circular table, hubby and I always sit side by side...but at a rectangular table, sometimes we'll sit next to each other, sometimes we'll sit across from each other.....just depends on the table!

As for the "assigned seat" phenomenon, it does seem like many of us are creatures of habit. I try to intentionally sit in a different seat, which throws some folks off (as I'm usually the first at the table).

I travel alone, so always sit next to ... me :) But I don't know that I've ever been on a cruise with others who split couples up. The tables for 8 are still small enough that most conversation is still "full table", as opposed to a larger table where you rely on your closer neighbors.

We sit in the same chair each seating. The waiter and assistant normally have our drink of choice in place before we arrive. Playing musical chairs throws them off their game.

Our group of 10 did the 2nd Traditional Dining time. We had a table for 10. We always tried to mix up the sitting pattern so that we were next to different folks each night.

We did always sit as couples though.

We did have a wonderful table location though. It was tucked into the curve of the steps that came down from the 2nd level of MDR. In essence, we had a semi-private dining area. There was no foot traffic except for the wait staff when they were hovering around.

We try to mix up the seating every night. We often travel with another couple or two, and we frequently don't sit next to our own partners - it gives everyone a chance to vary the conversation more.

We try to mix up the seating every night. We often travel with another couple or two, and we frequently don't sit next to our own partners - it gives everyone a chance to vary the conversation more.

We have had several cruises with my best man and his wife, and we always swapped the seating around each evening, in the end the waiters asked who was married to who!

Back when we did traditional seating, we left it up to the other folks at our table. If they wanted to move around, on different evenings, we had no problem with it. Conversely, if everyone wanted to 'stay put', that worked well for us, too.

We enjoyed traditional seating, and had some wonderful table-mates, over the years. Sadly, we just can't handle eating as late as second seating, now. And, first seating has always been too early for us. Rushing back from port, to get ready for formal night, just didn't work. So, now we do Select, and we were pleasantly surprised to meet some nice folks there, too! :cool:

So, now we do Select, and we were pleasantly surprised to meet some nice folks there, too!

Why would you be surprised to find nice people choosing Select? :confused:

When seated at tables for 6 or 8, we like to switch it up, move around, and totally confuse our Waiter and his Asst. The good ones adapt.

We've many times in the past found ourselves seated at very large round tables. In noisier dining rooms it makes it impossible to converse with the entire table. In these situations, we purposely try to be at the table first on the second evening and seat ourselves in different seats than the night before. The others usually follow suit. That way we truly get to meet and chat with everyone at some point.

*part of this developed on one of our earliest cruises where on the first night we found ourselves seated to a particularly difficult and unfriendly couple. The other couples were wonderful and great fun. Everyone sat at the same seats for the duration of the cruise, which was unfortunate for us. Lesson learned.

Why would you be surprised to find nice people choosing Select? :confused:

It's not that we were surprised to FIND nice people in Select Dining; it was surprising that we actually got a chance to meet folks, there. We thought that requesting a two-top in Select would be similar to dining in a restaurant -- different diners, and different servers every night. But, on our Eclipse Holiday cruise, we had a great wait-staff on the first night. We asked to be seated in their area on subsequent evenings. Apparently, so did others. Since we ate dinner around 7 pm most nights, we found ourselves seated in proximity to two other interesting couples. By the end of the cruise, we were all asking to be seated together. THAT was the pleasant surprise, that I had not been expecting! :cool::D

Back when our only choice was traditional dining, we loved large tables and always suggested we change around each night. People always loved the idea. :)

LuLu

Back when we did traditional seating, we left it up to the other folks at our table. If they wanted to move around, on different evenings, we had no problem with it. Conversely, if everyone wanted to 'stay put', that worked well for us, too.

 

We enjoyed traditional seating, and had some wonderful table-mates, over the years. Sadly, we just can't handle eating as late as second seating, now. And, first seating has always been too early for us. Rushing back from port, to get ready for formal night, just didn't work. So, now we do Select, and we were pleasantly surprised to meet some nice folks there, too! :cool:

One of the reasons we have always chose fixed dining were the many good friends we have made over the years.

However, we share your issues with too late, too early, tour schedules etc. Our concern with select dinng was always having to go through the introductions thing with table mates every night for 14 nights.

One of the reasons we have always chose fixed dining were the many good friends we have made over the years.

 

However, we share your issues with too late, too early, tour schedules etc. Our concern with select dinng was always having to go through the introductions thing with table mates every night for 14 nights.

Yes, do miss fixed dining in some ways ... BUT Select Dining in so much more flexible and works best for us.

Often we'll meet people elsewhere on the ship or past cruise friends who have Select so it makes it easy for us to have dinner with them. :)

LuLu

One of the reasons we have always chose fixed dining were the many good friends we have made over the years.

 

However, we share your issues with too late, too early, tour schedules etc. Our concern with select dinng was always having to go through the introductions thing with table mates every night for 14 nights.

The beauty of Select is that you can go with a 2-top, or a larger table, on any given evening -- it's totally up to you. Since we request 2-tops, it was so nice to run into the same folks, in the same area each evening! :cool:

They put us at a table for 10 (meaning we were now 12) after we complained about our initial table seating for 4.

Every third night,the whole table switched seats so by the end,everyone had been in the company of the others. For sure there were a couple of couples who we weren't crazy about at first but in the end,one couple turned out to be the ones we liked the best.