Another dining question

[Scrapnana]

I have a choice of a 4, 6, or 8 person table for my solo cruise. I would love to hear your personal experiences on different sizes of tables.

[ChiGal1962]

I would take 6 or 8. With 4, you are likely to be seated with one other couple. And if they're not engaging, you're stuck. (On a recent Med cruise, my aunt and I were seated the first night at a 4 with an extremely hard of hearing woman and her non-stop chatty, but very odd, husband.)

 

With 6 or 8, it will probably be with 2 or more 'groups' of people (combo of singles, couples and extended), which ups the odds of having interesting conversation.

 

I do find that more than 8 really ends up being back down to 4/6 -- if you're at a table for 10, chances are you can only realistically speak to the 4-6 people closest to you.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Do an 8-top. Studies showed that on average, 6 is the largest group people can sustain without splitting into "factions", or informal subgroups based on conversation topics. (I learned that in a communications class I took in college.) With 8 people at your table, you end up with the best of both worlds; a subgroup of people you have personal shared interests with, and a larger group of people with a pre-existing interest: your cruise.

[cruisetmc]

I always request an 8. Have gotten as low as a 4 and as high as a 12. Maybe, I'm just lucky but I've always gotten good tablemates. If you're not happy with the table you get, you can always request another table.