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Dinner mate stories


Ken Greco
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On our first cruise with Princess, my husband and I were seated the first night with two other couples that were cruising together. They almost immediately started to grill us on how much we had paid for the cruise and why the online travel agency they used was better. They also went on and on about their status with Princess. We just smiled politely through dinner, and the next night requested a table for two.

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On our first cruise with Princess, my husband and I were seated the first night with two other couples that were cruising together. They almost immediately started to grill us on how much we had paid for the cruise and why the online travel agency they used was better. They also went on and on about their status with Princess. We just smiled politely through dinner, and the next night requested a table for two.

 

I agree, conversation re cruise cost and who got the best deal is taboo on ship IMO, can lead to ill feeling and/or jealousy. As does all this Elite talk and running around the ship with the black card superglued to one's forehead. Now I have to tell you we have been Elite since 2009, but don't tell anybody.:o

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I met the most lovely couple once. They had been dating for a very long time, and they finally decided to tie the knot when the husband was diagnosed with incurable cancer. He had made the very personal decision to forego treatment so that at least he could have some good days versus making himself sick with treatment. They went on a lot of cruises and really enjoyed life. He should have died much sooner than he did. I met them in 2008 and he passed a few years later. He had also served many years in the US Army Special Forces.

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Wife and I sat next to a table of seniors, they spoke loudly enough for us to hear every word. The conversation about their ailments went on for at least 10 minutes. Each person giving the story of their body. From the terrible gout to gastro intestinal disorders. We laughed pretty hard that night it was quite comical for table talk.

 

Doesn't everyone have family members who hit this age/stage? We were kids of older parents (early 40s when we came along) so by our early 20s ... they and their siblings were ALL about the Dr. appointments and ailments. Wish I could detail here how my mid-60s aunt drew her Pictionary clue!

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On our first cruise with Princess, my husband and I were seated the first night with two other couples that were cruising together. They almost immediately started to grill us on how much we had paid for the cruise and why the online travel agency they used was better. They also went on and on about their status with Princess. We just smiled politely through dinner, and the next night requested a table for two.
We were on a cruise sitting at a table for 8. 6 of them were in a group, and bragged about the great prices they had gotten and how great they were at negotiating these prices. My wife and I sat on our hands, and kept our mouths zipped. Returning to our cabin after dinner, we barely made it inside before we both broke out in laughter about their "great deal". It seems we had taken advantage of a last minute deal and paid 1/4 of what they did for a comparable cabin. We never did tell them about it.

 

From then on my motto is "there will always be someone who got a better deal, so don't talk about cruise prices."

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Had a guy who dominated the conversation on how important he was - was good friends with Sam Walton (guess he didn't get the memo that Sam died in 19960 - good friends with the beach boys, only wanted wines that were at least $100 per bottle, refused to drink from the table wine glasses and demanded they get glasses from Sabatinis, and on and on - he sold light bulbs to Walmart - I left before desert and he wondered why we were leaaving

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I can certainly think of a few posters here on these cruise critic threads that I wouldn't want to be trapped at for dinner.:evilsmile: Of course, I'm sure I would be at the top of most peoples lists, which would be a shame since I am a listener in real life - well up to a point that is. My BS meter has a very low tolerance these days...:cool:

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Had a guy who dominated the conversation on how important he was - was good friends with Sam Walton (guess he didn't get the memo that Sam died in 19960 - good friends with the beach boys, only wanted wines that were at least $100 per bottle, refused to drink from the table wine glasses and demanded they get glasses from Sabatinis, and on and on - he sold light bulbs to Walmart - I left before desert and he wondered why we were leaaving

 

You should have told him you just remembered you had a light bulb that needed changing.

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Have two stories, we enjoy river cruises and they have open seating, usually no small tables for two. One was a couple who owned a vineyard in California, total wine snob who decided that husband and I probably liked Beringer wines??? Guess we didn’t chose wines up to his standard, very pompous guy.

 

Last year a couple asked to join our table of 8, as soon as they sat he told us he was a magician and monopolized the conversation with his magic tricks then proceeded to pull out a scrapbook with articles from small town news papers about his ‘shows’. The entire time his wife was his sidekick who would produce the items needed for magical tricks and pictures. At first it was amusing but grew old quickly, 2.5 hours is a long magic show. We watched every night as they found a new group of victims by rotating their way thru the dining room. Just bizarre

 

However, all in all we’ve met and enjoyed lots of people.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Have two stories, we enjoy river cruises and they have open seating, usually no small tables for two. One was a couple who owned a vineyard in California, total wine snob who decided that husband and I probably liked Beringer wines??? Guess we didn’t chose wines up to his standard, very pompous guy.

 

Last year a couple asked to join our table of 8, as soon as they sat he told us he was a magician and monopolized the conversation with his magic tricks then proceeded to pull out a scrapbook with articles from small town news papers about his ‘shows’. The entire time his wife was his sidekick who would produce the items needed for magical tricks and pictures. At first it was amusing but grew old quickly, 2.5 hours is a long magic show. We watched every night as they found a new group of victims by rotating their way thru the dining room. Just bizarre

 

However, all in all we’ve met and enjoyed lots of people.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

You could have tried asking the magician if he could make himself disappear :).

 

Hank:D

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I've been very fortunate with table mates, though on one cruise we had an older couple from Texas. She barely ate a thing, just picked at whatever she ordered while he inhaled his food. She was very proud of having won a prize for sharp shooting back in high school and regaled with stories of how she would handle a burglar should one break into her home. I bet she weighed 80 pounds soaking wet, so I hope she never had to test her theory.

 

Another time, we were seated with a group of Asian women. They clearly spoke English as they conversed with the waiter, but refused to talk to us. We never went back since it was only a four day cruise, instead visiting the buffet and finding a table to share with more congenial company.

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The following happened on my husband's and my first cruise (on another cruise line)....

 

We decided to try the dining room for a sea day lunch and were seated at a table with guests who were there to do the same, none of us having met previously. One couple from NY had brought their infant son, who was parked in his stroller at the end of the table.

 

Partway through the meal the baby began to fuss. The fussing went on for a while before mom finally tended to him. All of a sudden she says, "Oh, this is why he's so fussy!" She proceeds to lift the baby out of his stroller and turns him backwards to us, showing his blowout diaper to the entire table.

 

Lunch ruined.

 

It's been almost 15 years since that first cruise and we have yet to find any stories that will ever top this one.

 

 

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Have two stories, we enjoy river cruises and they have open seating, usually no small tables for two. One was a couple who owned a vineyard in California, total wine snob who decided that husband and I probably liked Beringer wines??? Guess we didn’t chose wines up to his standard, very pompous guy.

 

Last year a couple asked to join our table of 8, as soon as they sat he told us he was a magician and monopolized the conversation with his magic tricks then proceeded to pull out a scrapbook with articles from small town news papers about his ‘shows’. The entire time his wife was his sidekick who would produce the items needed for magical tricks and pictures. At first it was amusing but grew old quickly, 2.5 hours is a long magic show. We watched every night as they found a new group of victims by rotating their way thru the dining room. Just bizarre

 

However, all in all we’ve met and enjoyed lots of people.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

Maybe he was hoping for some bookings.

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We try to get tables for two as we have had absolutely no luck at larger tables in traditional dining. On our second cruise we were seated at a table for 8 and the other 6 were all various family members. The grandmother was talking and asked a question. Silly me, I thought it was a question to the table and answered it and she turned to her daughter and said something to the effect that I was quite rude to answer a question when she was talking to her family. DH and I were quite shocked and it soured us on sharing tables for some time.

 

We have tried it again several times with little success and ended up switching to anytime dining. But we actually have had more luck with a couple seated at another table for two just next to us and one or the other started a conversation up and hit it off.

 

I hear stories about people making life-long friends with table mates at larger tables, but no experience with such a thing. Lots of interesting stories here!

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We try to get tables for two as we have had absolutely no luck at larger tables in traditional dining. On our second cruise we were seated at a table for 8 and the other 6 were all various family members. The grandmother was talking and asked a question. Silly me, I thought it was a question to the table and answered it and she turned to her daughter and said something to the effect that I was quite rude to answer a question when she was talking to her family. DH and I were quite shocked and it soured us on sharing tables for some time.

 

We have tried it again several times with little success and ended up switching to anytime dining. But we actually have had more luck with a couple seated at another table for two just next to us and one or the other started a conversation up and hit it off.

 

I hear stories about people making life-long friends with table mates at larger tables, but no experience with such a thing. Lots of interesting stories here!

 

I think it is much more likely to get "stuck" with a group of family or friends if selecting space at a larger table when you are two and going with TD. If you want a larger table, go with AT and then more likely to run into a variety of people and not a "set" group where you are like the proverbial "5th wheel". That said, when we last did AT, we did not like the large table as it just took too long for dinner.

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Partway through the meal the baby began to fuss. The fussing went on for a while before mom finally tended to him. All of a sudden she says, "Oh, this is why he's so fussy!" She proceeds to lift the baby out of his stroller and turns him backwards to us, showing his blowout diaper to the entire table.

 

:confused: Don't eat on the poop deck.

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One table mate we had for 28 day cruise.It was a table for 8 . One night he asked what something was in my plate and put his finger right on it. He also asked if my husband and I slept in same room(at home). He asked another couple how they could afford so many cruises.Maybe he thought he was funny, we thought rude.

 

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On our 2nd cruise my wife was eager to wear a new dress to dinner. We were at a table for 6. The husband of an older couple across the table from my wife never said much during the meal. The husband of the other couple had just graduated from medical school and made it clear to everyone that he was special because he was a doctor. My wife told me that instead of having dessert, she wanted to go back to our room. When we got there I asked her what was wrong. She told me that the man across from her just stared at her bust for the entire meal and it made her very uncomfortable. I had never noticed this or I would have said something to the lecher. That night was the last time we did traditional dining and the last time my wife wore that dress. Since then we ask for a table for two or, if travelling with friends, a table just for our group.

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For the experienced cruisers we all have the stories in the MDR of siting with strangers and the crazy things that are discussed at the table. My last cruise we had people for the UK, Canada and the USA. As the week went on the one couple from the US started telling accounts of what went on during the cruise. The last night the couple told a story about a couple they met that would make even a sailor blush. The Canada and UK were really taken back. How about other table stories out there?

On one cruise we were on anytime dining sharing a table with 5 others. One was a gentleman from the UK travelling alone. He told us this story about when he caught a sturgeon fish.

Apparently all sturgeon belong to 'The Queen' and she has to be asked if you can keep it. He then went on to tell us he telephoned Buckingham Palace and he was told the Queen was in residence and she would be asked.

They phoned him back shortly after and said they had asked "Her Majesty"and she had said it was Ok for him to keep the fish.

The rest of the table were struggling to keep a straight face as he was very serious.

We heard him telling the story to different table mates on later evenings.

 

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This has to be a great thread. I have been cruising for over 6o years and lots of stories. The best one--when I married the lady of my dreams some 25 years ago I thought I would introduce her to cruising. I booked a cruise on Sitmar lines out of Sydney-What better way to start a marriage than combine one of my favorite areas (OZ & NZ) with a cruise. We, the loving honeymooners, were given a table for 4 with a couple that were taking the cruise to try and save their marriage (Didn't work). Only one would show for dinner each night with horrible tales about the other one. Not enjoyable. To add to it, the stateroom I booked only had single beds, one against each wall. Bottom line-I never thought I would get my wife on another cruise. 25 years later, she is rapidly approaching her 100th cruise . All's well that ends well, I assume :-)

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