Traveling solo - reading during meals

[moniquet]

Why would people even read at the busy buffet? It's loud and noisy and people might be knocking into you trying to get from place to another. It's rather hard to concentrate on reading.

 

My thought too. Buffets are bad enough for eating, can't wait to get out of them.:mad:

[slidergirl]

Why would people even read at the busy buffet? It's loud and noisy and people might be knocking into you trying to get from place to another. It's rather hard to concentrate on reading.

 

Well, let's see: We have been told we can't read in the MDR unless we can be assigned to a table for two. Not wanting to eat in the MDR, we will go to the buffet so we can eat and read. NOW, we're told we can't eat & read in the buffet because it's noisy and people will bump into us and we are not guzzling down our food and vacating quickly so that a group of trough pigs with their overloaded plates *that they will never finish* can sit down????? What is the difference between a solo sitting with a cup of coffee or a piece of toast while reading AND a group of people sitting at a table after finishing their meal with a cup of coffee and conversing??? I can concentrate just fine in the buffet - ever try to read in an airport, a train station, on a train, on a subway???

[sail7seas]

....or a can of worms on the table!:D

 

:D :D Made me laugh out loud.

 

[sail7seas]

Well, let's see: We have been told we can't read in the MDR unless we can be assigned to a table for two. Not wanting to eat in the MDR, we will go to the buffet so we can eat and read. NOW, we're told we can't eat & read in the buffet because it's noisy and people will bump into us and we are not guzzling down our food and vacating quickly so that a group of trough pigs with their overloaded plates *that they will never finish* can sit down????? What is the difference between a solo sitting with a cup of coffee or a piece of toast while reading AND a group of people sitting at a table after finishing their meal with a cup of coffee and conversing??? I can concentrate just fine in the buffet - ever try to read in an airport, a train station, on a train, on a subway???

 

Thank you, slidergirl. ;)

 

I really do have manners, am considerate and try my hardest to be courteous, though I do fail sometimes....... but there is enough regulation in our lives and I'm not going to be forced away from my single, one, individual seat if I want to linger with my book and a second cup of coffee. To quote a former U.S. President, "I paid for that 'microphone'... (seat, in my case. ;) :D )

 

If my staying a while after I put the last mouthful of food in my mouth is going to wreck someone's lunch, there is a problem. Maybe I don't want my dish of ice cream, my dessert immediately. Perhaps I'd like a few minutes after my salad before I have ice cream. Am I supposed to give up the table?

 

 

 

 

[Newatt]

We find we have to be quite firm even to get a table for two at breakfast or lunch. Both of us enjoy reading during those meals and do not want to share a table with other people. We enjoy socializing over dinner though and would not read then except in exceptional circumstances like the night I ended up at our table by myself for dinner (DH was unwell and didn't want dinner).

 

I've been wimpy in the past, but I will be quite firm in the future - especially after reading some of the responses to my question!!!

 

If I want I table for one (and they are available) there's no reason I shouldn't have one. They "customer" is always right, right?

[sail7seas]

I've been wimpy in the past, but I will be quite firm in the future - especially after reading some of the responses to my question!!!

 

If I want I table for one (and they are available) there's no reason I shouldn't have one. They "customer" is always right, right?

 

You started a good conversation.

Ask for what you want and don't cede easily. :)

 

[Hlitner]

If you want to sit alone in the MDR, simply ask them (at the door) to seat you by yourself (preferably at a table for 2). In the Lido (buffet) you really have no control but could be anti-social and just ignore anyone in your vicinity.

 

Hank

[iheartbda]

Well, let's see: We have been told we can't read in the MDR unless we can be assigned to a table for two. Not wanting to eat in the MDR, we will go to the buffet so we can eat and read. NOW, we're told we can't eat & read in the buffet because it's noisy and people will bump into us and we are not guzzling down our food and vacating quickly so that a group of trough pigs with their overloaded plates *that they will never finish* can sit down????? What is the difference between a solo sitting with a cup of coffee or a piece of toast while reading AND a group of people sitting at a table after finishing their meal with a cup of coffee and conversing??? I can concentrate just fine in the buffet - ever try to read in an airport, a train station, on a train, on a subway???

Wow, just WOW. Could you possibly have posted an uglier, broad characterization, which is not always the case?

I don't think anyone said you couldn't eat in the buffet, a couple of people asked you why you would want to and there's a difference between the two things.

Thank you, slidergirl. ;)

 

I really do have manners, am considerate and try my hardest to be courteous, though I do fail sometimes....... but there is enough regulation in our lives and I'm not going to be forced away from my single, one, individual seat if I want to linger with my book and a second cup of coffee. To quote a former U.S. President, "I paid for that 'microphone'... (seat, in my case. ;) :D )

 

If my staying a while after I put the last mouthful of food in my mouth is going to wreck someone's lunch, there is a problem. Maybe I don't want my dish of ice cream, my dessert immediately. Perhaps I'd like a few minutes after my salad before I have ice cream. Am I supposed to give up the table?

 

 

 

 

It's pretty obvious when someone is lingering over their food with a second cup of coffee, etc. just as it is obvious when someone is sitting there using the seat and table to do nothing but read.

 

So you can't be considerate and courteous to give up your seat to someone who would like to sit down to eat? Seating at the buffets is usually at a premium so sitting there doing NOTHING but reading IS inconsiderate. No one has said, at least I haven't, that you must gobble down your meal and high tail it out of there. Just have a little consideration for your fellow passengers would be nice. If we eat in the buffet, we don't linger any longer than we must because we can see others looking for a table.

 

Others paid for a seat as well, and one they can't always get.

[navybankerteacher]

Thank you, slidergirl. ;)

 

I really do have manners, am considerate and try my hardest to be courteous, though I do fail sometimes....... but there is enough regulation in our lives and I'm not going to be forced away from my single, one, individual seat if I want to linger with my book and a second cup of coffee. To quote a former U.S. President, "I paid for that 'microphone'... (seat, in my case. ;) :D )

 

If my staying a while after I put the last mouthful of food in my mouth is going to wreck someone's lunch, there is a problem. Maybe I don't want my dish of ice cream, my dessert immediately. Perhaps I'd like a few minutes after my salad before I have ice cream. Am I supposed to give up the table?

 

 

 

Of course, normal courtesy imposes no obligation to chow down and immediately vacate a table. On the other hand, occupying a dining table in a crowded facility long after finishing eating, and using it as a reading location while many people who are there to use the facility for its intended purpose: having a meal - is discourteous. As in virtually every situation, context matters. If you want to dawdle a few minutes - between courses, or even after finishing - no problem. But if you occupy a table in a crowded buffet area for two hours after you have finished your meal, you might be identifying yourself as just a tad anti-social.

 

So, at some point, yes: you are supposed to give up the table.

[sail7seas]

This is a wonderful thread and I'm happy OP started it. :)

[searoses]

Sure beats religion and politics!....lol.....I could and need to read everywhere.....one of the most impatient waiters I have ever known but give me a book and I can wait forever.... if the buffet was so crowded that one seat was critical I would come back later....and what is this business of inspecting what others have on their plates....certainly none of mine....

[Hlitner]

There are always issues in eating venues on ships. The weirdest one that happened to us was on a Celebrity cruise when DW and I were enjoying a late breakfast (around 11) in the Lido. The restaurant was less than half full and we were sitting at a larger table in a quiet corner enjoying our food. A lady walked up to us and ask if we would mind moving! This happened as I was half way through my omelet and most of the tables around us were completely empty. I politely told the lady we were eating breakfast. She explained that her knitting club always used that particular table at 11am and we "were sitting at her table!" At that point, holding my temper in check, I politely told her she could have the table when we were finished with our meal....or she was welcome to sit somewhere else! The lady was not pleased and finally stomped off! DW thought that the idea of the Lido being used for eating....was foreign to this lady (and her friends).

 

Hank

Edited January 31, 2016 by Hlitner

[iheartbda]

There are always issues in eating venues on ships. The weirdest one that happened to us was on a Celebrity cruise when DW and I were enjoying a late breakfast (around 11) in the Lido. The restaurant was less than half full and we were sitting at a larger table in a quiet corner enjoying our food. A lady walked up to us and ask if we would mind moving! This happened as I was half way through my omelet and most of the tables around us were completely empty. I politely told the lady we were eating breakfast. She explained that her knitting club always used that particular table at 11am and we "were sitting at her table!" At that point, holding my temper in check, I politely told her she could have the table when we were finished with our meal....or she was welcome to sit somewhere else! The lady was not pleased and finally stomped off! DW thought that the idea of the Lido being used for eating....was foreign to this lady (and her friends).

 

Hank

Well, don't you know that they could only knit1 purl2 rather than knit2 purl1 unless they were at THEIR table?:D

[iheartbda]

Sure beats religion and politics!....lol.....I could and need to read everywhere.....one of the most impatient waiters I have ever known but give me a book and I can wait forever.... if the buffet was so crowded that one seat was critical I would come back later....and what is this business of inspecting what others have on their plates....certainly none of mine....

That would be soooo nice and kind of you to let someone who wanted to sit down to......eat.

 

No one is inspecting any plates, it's the absence of plates.

[newatt_now]

I hate eating at the buffet. I really wish they offered take-out. I'd love to get my food and take it back to my room. I can relax and eat in peace and quiet. I've tried room service. The food just isn't good imo and the selection is limited.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

I hate eating at the buffet. I really wish they offered take-out. I'd love to get my food and take it back to my room. I can relax and eat in peace and quiet. I've tried room service. The food just isn't good imo and the selection is limited.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

We've often taken food.

 

To elsewhere on the deck.

 

Or back to our cabin. In fact the wife has been given plate covers to carry it back to our cabin, or once (at leat, maybe more) had a crew member told together a tray and carry it back for her. That was by the Food and Bev Supervisor who knew us from the MDR and asked where I was, when she explained I was laid up, hey presto.

 

So nothing at all stopping you taking food back to the cabin (on most lines anyway I know one put I stop to it, but pretty sure they reversed that decision).

[sapper1]

While I would never consider reading in the MDR at lunch or dinner, I do like to take my iPad to the Lido at breakfast time. We sit by ourselves and I sign on to read emails and our local paper while we eat.

 

If someone we know joins us I quickly sign off and give them my undivided attention as I am very happy to see them----but if strangers come along and sit at our table I feel under no obligation to entertain them. I really don't care where they are from or how many cruises they have taken. We happily share our table as that is the right thing to do, however, I just want to read my online paper. Not everyone is a Chatty Cathy early in the morning. Some of us take a while to become sociable.

 

When we are finished eating we leave if seats are at a premium. If there are a number of empty seats we may have a second cup of coffee and linger longer.

[LMaxwell]

Now I am just wondering when the hair splitting between holding a table at the buffet with just a water or coffee and no food is or isn't acceptable.

:cool:

[Hlitner]

While we think the word "rude" is often incorrectly applied, there is something called "etiquette" that does apply to many normal social situations. When folks choose to ignore basic rules of etiquette, some folks might think "they must have been raised by wolves." :). So perhaps I am sitting alone at a table and quietly reading (which I like to do) and another person or group sits down at the same table. Basic etiquette is that I greet these folks...and then see how things progress. If it is obvious that they do not want to have any interaction....I would just go back to my book. But if they seem to want some conversation, then normal etiquette is to acknowledge this attempt at socialization...in kind. If folks choose to be "anti social," which is certainly their right, then we simply move on and respect their privacy. But anti social behavior is just that and has been defined by the medical world as "antisocial personality disorder."

 

Hank

[Newatt]

We've often taken food.

 

To elsewhere on the deck.

 

Or back to our cabin. In fact the wife has been given plate covers to carry it back to our cabin, or once (at leat, maybe more) had a crew member told together a tray and carry it back for her. That was by the Food and Bev Supervisor who knew us from the MDR and asked where I was, when she explained I was laid up, hey presto.

 

So nothing at all stopping you taking food back to the cabin (on most lines anyway I know one put I stop to it, but pretty sure they reversed that decision).

 

What??!! I never knew this could be done! Thanks for the info. Woo Hoo!!! :D

[Karysa]

Sorry, but what is your point?

 

The OP asked the question and I will paraphrase here. If I am seated with others at breakfast and lunch would it be rude to open his book and read at that time. I believe this to be anti social behavior.

 

People are always after their kids for texting at the table. How is this any different really?

[Karysa]

:eek: Are you a psychiatrist? More specifically are you the OP's psychiatrist?

 

OP never said anything about 'totally' avoiding social contact. Nor did the OP ask for an analysis of his/her psyche. I don't think you should be offering a diagnosis of someone you only 'know' through cruise critic.

 

I read about it but not while sitting at lunch with others.:)

 

Again, OP said reading while having breakfast or lunch with others at the table. What other time on a ship would breaking out a book be more inappropriate? Ok, not including the muster drill. :)

Edited January 31, 2016 by Karysa

[LMaxwell]

The OP asked the question and I will paraphrase here. If I am seated with others at breakfast and lunch would it be rude to open his book and read at that time. I believe this to be anti social behavior.

 

People are always after their kids for texting at the table. How is this any different really?

 

My parenting dictations don't extend to the leisure preferences of other adults.

[LMaxwell]

Again, OP said reading while having breakfast or lunch with others at the table.

 

What if it were a guide book for that days port stop / excursions ? Does the topic of the material make it more or less acceptable for you?

[Karysa]

My parenting dictations don't extend to the leisure preferences of other adults.

 

We are teaching our children what is socially acceptable all of the time. That is the job of a parent.