No table mates at dinner?

I am curious if the cruise industry is shying away from placing different parties together at dinner. I am on a Celebrity cruise right now. When booking, I requested a table for 6-8. They put us at a table for two. The same thing happened on cruise in December(Royal.)

 

Is this the new norm? I always liked dining with strangers and getting to know them throughout the cruise.

I am curious if the cruise industry is shying away from placing different parties together at dinner. I am on a Celebrity cruise right now. When booking, I requested a table for 6-8. They put us at a table for two. The same thing happened on cruise in December(Royal.)

 

Is this the new norm? I always liked dining with strangers and getting to know them throughout the cruise.

Why not speak with the Maître D to see if there is any larger tables you can be seated at. We prefer two tops.

I am curious if the cruise industry is shying away from placing different parties together at dinner. I am on a Celebrity cruise right now. When booking, I requested a table for 6-8. They put us at a table for two. The same thing happened on cruise in December(Royal.)

 

Is this the new norm? I always liked dining with strangers and getting to know them throughout the cruise.

 

Have you asked the matri'd why?

I think it is the new norm. We always ask for a table for 2 rather than a large table. Honestly , this is the reason we book AQUA class on Celebrity because of the tables for 2 in Blu. We do not have trouble getting a table for 2 on HAL or Royal's newer ships. It will be interesting to see the other comments to your posting.

More commonly the opposite issues arises; more people want two-tops than there are two-tops available. Definitely speak with the Maitre' D and request to be moved to a larger table. With all the specialty dining and the improvement of the buffet at dinner, sometimes even with large tables your table-mates are dining elsewhere on any given night, but with a large table there is at least a decent chance of some others being present most, if not all, nights.

We have done 32 cruises and always request a table for 8. Only once has Celebrity put us at a table for 2 and we immediately requested to be moved which they did the second evening of the cruise to a table for 8.

 

To us that is one of the great reasons for cruising. Meeting other people. We have made life long friends from some of these tables.

 

Also, I have a table for 2 every evening while at home. No need to have one on a cruise.

We, too, enjoy table mates....unfortunately, most cruisers don't want to sit with others....not sure why. We've enjoyed all of our tablemates....perhaps we're just easy to get along with. I know many tell of "horror" stories with folks they simply couldn't stand....we've never encountered anything but pleasant folks on vacation!

 

We, too, eat as a couple nightly...and having others to chat with is a treat!

I agree with the post above ... it is more likely that people don't want to be seated with others. Reasons for this:

 

Time constraints

Others may be coughing or appear to be sick

You, yourself are not feeling well and don't want to share that with others

Fear of bad table manners of other guests

Others oftentimes wear too much perfume / cologne

Fear of not getting along with your table mates

Wanting a more romantic experience

Need for a quiet dining experience

Not wanting to make small talk

 

They seemed to have solved this issue by putting a lot of smaller tables right next to one another .... separated by a few inches so if you choose to dine alone, you can or you can strike up a conversation with those right next to you.

 

I prefer a table of 4-6 myself; tables with 8 or more are too large ... too much yelling across the table and plan to spend a lot longer at the table. And sometimes, we just prefer to eat alone. We've had some table mates from hell before but also have made some life long friends in the dining rooms.

I agree with the post above ... it is more likely that people don't want to be seated with others. Reasons for this:

 

Time constraints

Others may be coughing or appear to be sick

You, yourself are not feeling well and don't want to share that with others

Fear of bad table manners of other guests

Others oftentimes wear too much perfume / cologne

Fear of not getting along with your table mates

Wanting a more romantic experience

Need for a quiet dining experience

Not wanting to make small talk

 

They seemed to have solved this issue by putting a lot of smaller tables right next to one another .... separated by a few inches so if you choose to dine alone, you can or you can strike up a conversation with those right next to you.

 

I prefer a table of 4-6 myself; tables with 8 or more are too large ... too much yelling across the table and plan to spend a lot longer at the table. And sometimes, we just prefer to eat alone. We've had some table mates from hell before but also have made some life long friends in the dining rooms.

This is an excellent list of why people prefer to dine at a table for two. May I add hearing impairment? My husband and I both have difficulty hearing in noisy environments and it becomes uncomfortable asking people to repeat themselves constantly, both for us and them. We sometimes will meet another couple and dine with them but anything more than that is too overwhelming.

 

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We, too, enjoy table mates....unfortunately, most cruisers don't want to sit with others....not sure why. We've enjoyed all of our tablemates....perhaps we're just easy to get along with. I know many tell of "horror" stories with folks they simply couldn't stand....we've never encountered anything but pleasant folks on vacation!

 

We, too, eat as a couple nightly...and having others to chat with is a treat!

 

Couldn't agree more!!

We are sailing on Celebrity next month and prefer a Table for 2. When is the time to request this? I saw no option when booking, which we did directly through the Celebrity web site (we did choose the later seating). Should we go to the main dining room when we arrive on the ship?

We are sailing on Celebrity next month and prefer a Table for 2. When is the time to request this? I saw no option when booking, which we did directly through the Celebrity web site (we did choose the later seating). Should we go to the main dining room when we arrive on the ship?

 

Call Celebrity now and tell them your preference. Then upon boarding check with the Maitre'd outside the main dining room to double check.

Call Celebrity now and tell them your preference. Then upon boarding check with the Maitre'd outside the main dining room to double check.

Thanks for the reply. But ugh, calling Celebrity is such a pain! Each time we have done this we have been on hold at least 20-30 minutes. :(

Thanks for the reply. But ugh, calling Celebrity is such a pain! Each time we have done this we have been on hold at least 20-30 minutes. :(

 

Are you members of the Captain's Club? You can call them or e-mail them your request.

I am curious if the cruise industry is shying away from placing different parties together at dinner. I am on a Celebrity cruise right now. When booking, I requested a table for 6-8. They put us at a table for two. The same thing happened on cruise in December(Royal.)

 

Is this the new norm? I always liked dining with strangers and getting to know them throughout the cruise.

 

This happened to us on our Norway cruise and we hated it. We asked to be moved and the only table they had available was worse than eating alone...but on our last cruise we were at our usual table for 6, which we, like you, prefer.

I think our most treasured memories of cruising have been evenings as part of larger tables at dinner. We have had nights when no one wanted to leave the table and as with others have made friends we still keep in touch with over 20 years later. We still exchange gifts from our friends in West Virginia. We would never have met these people if we had only had tables for two. But it does seem that more and more people dont want to engage with others these days which I find slightly sad in a way. Maybe just the way society has gone in general.

We, too, enjoy table mates....

Unfortunately, most cruisers don't want to sit with others....not sure why.

We've enjoyed all of our tablemates....perhaps we're just easy to get along with.

I know many tell of "horror" stories with folks they simply couldn't stand....

we've never encountered anything but pleasant folks on vacation!

 

We, too, eat as a couple nightly...and having others to chat with is a treat!

Thank you !

Catherine and I enjoyed your post.

It would be a treat to, someday, meet you and yours.

Michael

Thank you !

Catherine and I enjoyed your post.

It would be a treat to, someday, meet you and yours.

Michael

 

I'm with you and yorky. We have met some of the nicest and most interesting people at dinner.....the only time I met someone who was really offensive was on a river cruise where it's open seating every night....thank God...because this person was just horrid with the jokes he told and the way he talked. I think if you ask the maitre d the first night they'll do what they can, unfortunately, the one time we did that we went from eating alone to a table where no one spoke to us at all so we went back to our table for 2. I love my DH but I eat with him every night....it's really part of the adventure to meet people from different countries or states....I personally think that's the only way we're going to survive on this planet....we have to get to know each other.

Are you members of the Captain's Club? You can call them or e-mail them your request.

Yes, we are; I didn't realize that you could contact them separately. Do they have their own email?

Yes, we are; I didn't realize that you could contact them separately. Do they have their own email?

Captains Club Email...celebrityonetouch@celebrity.com

 

Captains Club Email...celebrityonetouch@celebrity.com

 

 

Captains Club Phone Number...1-844-418-6824

Thanks so much! Will give this a try.

Thanks so much! Will give this a try.

You're welcome. I would also suggest you go to the MDR when you first board and confirm your request.

In our first 10+ years of cruising, we always made a point of sitting at a large table with people we didn't know and it usually turned out very well. Now it seems that fewer groups of 2 or 4 want to sit together. The last couple of times we requested a larger table, the others were all sailing together and conversations centered around relatives, politics in their hometowns, and other subjects that didn't include us. Since DH & I spent several nights just talking to each other anyway, we decided we might as well get a table for 2.

The OP's post is interesting since there is usually a high demand for 2 tops. But the solution for the OP is to simply book open (Select, Anytime, etc) dining. You then go to the MDR when you want to dine and simply ask to share a large table. Never a problem and it usually guarantees a full table. Even if you do get a larger Fixed table there can be many nights when some or all do not show-up because they are dining at alternative venues.

 

Hank

Unless we’re traveling with friends, we always request a table for two. We have met people through CC and on tour who we later arranged to sit with. Particularly now ,with US politics so polarizing, we definitely would not want to sit with strangers. Each to their own[emoji4]

 

 

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