Seated with others at dinner

[barbatkins]

 

 

I’m sailing solo on Edge and signed up for 6 pm dinner.  Will I be seated 

with a large table with other cruisers……as I used to be?

or will they seat me alone?   I’m vaccinated…..just wondering how they are

handling solo cruisers

Edited July 5, 2021 by barbatkins

[Hlitner]

Post COVID, we are all adjusting to a "new normal" which is still a work in progress on cruise ships.  Since you have booked a Fixed seating, you will know your table assignment by the time you board.  My suggesting is that on embarkation day, you check-out your table/size.  If it is not a satisfactory situation you should immediately visit the Maitre'd desk (there will be a queue) and request a change.

 

COVID has likely changed a lot of attitudes among passengers.  DW and I have always requested to share a larger table (we prefer Anytime dining so we can dine when we please and vary our dining partners).  While there will certainly be other singles and couples who still prefer to share larger tables, one might suspect that the demand for 2-tops will increase as some couples prefer to continue social distancing by eliminating tablemates.   

 

Hank

[4774Papa]

6 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Post COVID, we are all adjusting to a "new normal" which is still a work in progress on cruise ships.  Since you have booked a Fixed seating, you will know your table assignment by the time you board.  My suggesting is that on embarkation day, you check-out your table/size.  If it is not a satisfactory situation you should immediately visit the Maitre'd desk (there will be a queue) and request a change.

 

COVID has likely changed a lot of attitudes among passengers.  DW and I have always requested to share a larger table (we prefer Anytime dining so we can dine when we please and vary our dining partners).  While there will certainly be other singles and couples who still prefer to share larger tables, one might suspect that the demand for 2-tops will increase as some couples prefer to continue social distancing by eliminating tablemates.   

 

Hank

Hank,

Perhaps you are correct that more people will request the table for two, but I don't see that a lot of social distancing is possible on a cruise ship, especially in the MDR.   Early cruises will be at reduced capacity, so fewer passengers, but I suspect that only the few unvaccinated passengers will be isolated in one area of the MDR.

 

We used to select fixed dining at 6pm and it worked pretty well for 4-5 cruises, but after two cruises in a row at assigned tables, we had some people we just didn't care for and request reassignment to Select dining.  Since then we go Select and love it, preferring the 8 person table.  We will still request that in the future.

[rucrazy]

15 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

but I don't see that a lot of social distancing is possible on a cruise ship, especially in the MDR.

I wondered about this as well,  my guess it would come down to how "full" the ship is.. occupancy will dictate a lot. 

[Hlitner]

16 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

Hank,

Perhaps you are correct that more people will request the table for two, but I don't see that a lot of social distancing is possible on a cruise ship, especially in the MDR.   Early cruises will be at reduced capacity, so fewer passengers, but I suspect that only the few unvaccinated passengers will be isolated in one area of the MDR.

 

We used to select fixed dining at 6pm and it worked pretty well for 4-5 cruises, but after two cruises in a row at assigned tables, we had some people we just didn't care for and request reassignment to Select dining.  Since then we go Select and love it, preferring the 8 person table.  We will still request that in the future.

I recently posted (elsewhere on these boards) about living in two worlds.....one with folks who are vaccinated (or have natural immunity) in places that are open and life is normal when compared to others who still live in constant fear of COVID and are in parts of the world still locked-down/restricted.  Our upcoming cruises (our return to cruising is in only a few short weeks) will only be on ships with 100% mandatory vaccination policies and we expect something close to normal  (our next ship does not have the capacity limit being imposed by X).    But I do wonder if COVID will have resulted in some folks having a new attitude (based in fear) and resulting in continues social distancing as a matter of choice.   When we board our ship in a few weeks, DW and I will continue our practice of requesting larger tables so that we can meet and socialize with others.   Seabourn (our next cruise) has had a previous policy where folks can request a "hosted table" which is generally a table of 8-10 with a senior crew member or staff person providing guaranteed company and conversation.   We are curious to see if that policy continues.   In years past we had often dined with staff (including the Captain, Hotel Manager, etc) on X, but that tradition has long been relegated to history (with a few exceptions) because of the size of mass market vessels.  In fact, one aspect that we like about the ultra luxury smaller ship lines is that there is still plenty of social interaction between staff/crew and passengers.  

 

Hank

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

While there will certainly be other singles and couples who still prefer to share larger tables, one might suspect that the demand for 2-tops will increase as some couples prefer to continue social distancing by eliminating tablemates.   

Unfortunately, many two-tops in the MDR on the M-class and S-class ships (I haven’t sailed on E-class) are so tightly crammed together you are really eating with two or four other people. 

[Hlitner]

Just now, Turtles06 said:

Unfortunately, many two-tops in the MDR on the M-class and S-class ships (I haven’t sailed on E-class) are so tightly crammed together you are really eating with two or four other people. 

True.  But folks do need to understand that we are talking about "mass market" ships which tend to cram as many as possible into limited spaces.   As one who has often cruised on differing ships of every class (from budget to ultra-luxury small ships) we are cognizant of the differences between various vessels.  X can certainly accommodate more social distancing (in the MDR and elsewhere) as long as they limit capacity.  But once capacity returns to normal (likely to happen within a few months) the usual  cramming will occur.   Speaking of 2 tops, they are very common in Aqua Class but when we would dine in Blu we were often closer to others (while at a 2 top) then when dining at a large table in the MDR :).

 

Hank

[TeeRick]

For now it should be safe to cruise with other vaccinated dinner guests if you are a solo cruiser.  I might only think about this if I was put on a table with (or near) a bunch of unvaccinated kids.  In that case I personally would request to move to another table. 

[Jim_Iain]

I would check with the Restaurant Manager upon arrival.     We were sailing in a suite and had dinner a couple times in the main dining room (Normandy).    It appeared that people were seated with the number of guests you show up with.     I did hear the manager say to a solo guest that they could seat them at a group table immediately but would be a short wait for a 2 Top.  

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Since I sail solo and enjoy meeting people at dinner, I'm looking forward to more reports on this subject.

[barbatkins]

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Since I sail solo and enjoy meeting people at dinner, I'm looking forward to more reports on this subject.

Me too!   Thanks everyone…..

[davekathy]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

For now it should be safe to cruise with other vaccinated dinner guests if you are a solo cruiser.  I might only think about this if I was put on a table with (or near) a bunch of unvaccinated kids.  In that case I personally would request to move to another table. 

I would request being seated at another table even if the kids were vaccinated.