dining with others

[complawyer]

girr, here's a thought!  put a few ounces of scotch in her tea, and refill as necessary until she becomes tolerable.

 

on the other hand, (not wishing to be a debbie downer) while i certainly see the humor in your post,, just imagine how much you'd miss dinner with your mother if she were no longer here

[ziggyuk]

51 minutes ago, TonyB99 said:

 

It seems the art of civilized, non-confrontational, dinner conversation has suffered as a result of the polarization of the population. Our electronic devices simply present one view or another, and seem to encourage uncivil discourse. Great pity.

 

Oh yes, you don't get that on Cunard!

Or electronic devices for that matter, nobody would bring their writing slope to the dinner for fear of castigation.
A far better class, my dear fellow.

[PATRLR]

I'm curious, where else other than a cruise ship would you find a similar concept of dining with strangers?  I can think of beer halls in Europe, but that's more of a drinking/socializing environment that might happen to serve you a meal.  Where else?

I have many fond memories of table mates I've met through the years - we had some great times.   But at this point in our lives both my spouse and I prefer to dine without others.  We do our socializing at the bars and clubs.    That being said, we found ourselves with set-time dining on Oasis this summer and if it turned out we had to share a table we would have been more than happy to do so (we ended up being able to switch to MTD).

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

I'm curious, where else other than a cruise ship would you find a similar concept of dining with strangers?  I can think of beer halls in Europe, but that's more of a drinking/socializing environment that might happen to serve you a meal.  Where else?

The diner on a passenger train has always had shared tables.  We've enjoyed several long distance Amtrak trips, and did meet some nice folks over dinner.  The odds are pretty good, but there are no guarantees.  Looking forward to our first trip on the California Zephyr next year.😎

[PATRLR]

2 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

The diner on a passenger train has always had shared tables.  We've enjoyed several long distance Amtrak trips, and did meet some nice folks over dinner.  The odds are pretty good, but there are no guarantees.  Looking forward to our first trip on the California Zephyr next year.😎

Thanks.  I had a feeling trains might be another.  We've never done a train trip long enough to have a sit-down meal.

Both cruise ships and trains do it for the same reason:  Limited space.  I'd suggest that as ships get better at managing space, the need for shared tables goes down.  It seems only natural that the shared tables would therefore go away.

[schmoopie17]

19 hours ago, TonyB99 said:

I suspect this will be my first and last NCL cruise based on the responses here.

Especially if you are a fan of hash browns...

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

The diner on a passenger train has always had shared tables.  We've enjoyed several long distance Amtrak trips, and did meet some nice folks over dinner.  The odds are pretty good, but there are no guarantees.  Looking forward to our first trip on the California Zephyr next year.😎

 

We did the California Zephyr - it was maybe 2008-09 - was a great trip.  Have done distance trains - coast to coast Canada, coast to coast Australia but still just that one Amtrak trip (so far) .... 

[mjkacmom]

21 hours ago, TonyB99 said:

 

Cruise ships are not "normal" restaurants, and most actively cater to those of us who prefer to dine with a group of like-minded more adventurous diners. So be it, my mistake booking NCL.

With no set dining times, dining with others doesn’t work well. We just show up and are seated. I’m happy to eat with my little family of 7, my first cruise was NCL, I had no interest in cruising because I don’t love to dress up or eat with others, but as soon as I learned that’s not a problem on NCL, I was sold.

[ChiefMateJRK]

46 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

We did the California Zephyr - it was maybe 2008-09 - was a great trip.  Have done distance trains - coast to coast Canada, coast to coast Australia but still just that one Amtrak trip (so far) .... 

Nice.  Canada would be great.  We've done Empire Builder, Coast Starlight and Sunset Limited.  I also road whatever Amtrak called the El Capitan back in the early 70s.

[Travel R]

We enjoy sitting with other people. It's nice to meet and talk to other people. You can learn so much by talking and listening.  One some of the threads on CC people have mentioned how cruising does not allow one to really get to know a culture since we are in and out of most ports in a day.  But even if you are in port for more longer, if you do not talk and interact with others, one cannot really learn the culture.  Even when we are not seated with others, many times we have struck up conversations with the people sitting at the next table.  It's part of the journey. I love my DW and she loves me and we talk throughout the day - so why not open up the discussion to others?

[Huntingdon1701]

This is going to be a niche reason but I'm autistic and find group dining a particularly exhausting experience, especially after being on excursions. I'm very happy to chat to people on excursions and am still in touch with several people from that years later, but I just can't do it in a dining context. So I always opt for a table to myself. I actively avoid cruise lines that don't allow that as the usual option.

[complawyer]

4 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Especially if you are a fan of hash browns...

girr, here's a thought!  put a few ounces of scotch in her tea, and refill as necessary until she becomes tolerable.

 

on the other hand, (not wishing to be a debbie downer) while i certainly see the humor in your post,, just imagine how much you'd miss dinner with your mother if she were no longer here

[complawyer]

hey, tonyb99  as we used to say when i was much ,much younger, "is that a threat or a promise"?. im absolutely certain there will be a great deal of sorrow and hang wringing in the halls of ncl corporate offices since you have decided that this will be your first and last ncl cruise. just because they dont offer group dining, i think youre making a huge mistake. check other lines, i believe ncl offers the best choice of itineraries for the most reasonable prices.

 

so dear tonyb99 farewell, adieu, and dont let the gangplank hit you  on the way off the ship

 

LOL!!!

[RocketMan275]

6 hours ago, complawyer said:

girr, here's a thought!  put a few ounces of scotch in her tea, and refill as necessary until she becomes tolerable.

Better idea.  If you put the scotch in your tea you'll find she is much more tolerable.

[KeithJenner]

3 hours ago, Travel R said:

We enjoy sitting with other people. It's nice to meet and talk to other people. You can learn so much by talking and listening.  One some of the threads on CC people have mentioned how cruising does not allow one to really get to know a culture since we are in and out of most ports in a day.  But even if you are in port for more longer, if you do not talk and interact with others, one cannot really learn the culture.  Even when we are not seated with others, many times we have struck up conversations with the people sitting at the next table.  It's part of the journey. I love my DW and she loves me and we talk throughout the day - so why not open up the discussion to others?

The discussion can be open to others at other times than dinner.

 

We spend a lot of time in the public areas on the ships. We spend most evenings (and quite a bit of time during the days) in various bars and lounges and strike up many conversations with others. All of those things that you mentioned that can be done when sharing a table for dinner can be done elsewhere during the day, with the difference that we can select who we have those conversations with, rather than leave it to the cruise line to find my friends for me.

 

You may spend the day as a couple and join others for meals. We socialise during the day and use meals as a time to spend together. Each are perfectly valid options, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that those who chose to eat alone (or with friends they have made during the cruise) aren’t having those same experiences elsewhere.

 

 

[phillygwm]

12 hours ago, TonyB99 said:

 

It seems the art of civilized, non-confrontational, dinner conversation has suffered as a result of the polarization of the population. Our electronic devices simply present one view or another, and seem to encourage uncivil discourse. Great pity.

Not only that but many people don't even want to socialize with people whose political views differ from theirs.  

 

Personally, I haven't missed an election in almost 40 years and I have opinions which I consider informed; I've voted for Democrats and Republicans over the years, sometimes for the best candidate and sometimes for the least worst 🙂  That said, I wouldn't dream of subjecting anyone to those opinions unless someone specifically asked me about it.  Likewise, if I see someone wearing a hat or t-shirt (even if I voted for that person) I'm going to try to avoid that interaction.  No need to raise my blood pressure on vacation!

[phillygwm]

7 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

This is going to be a niche reason but I'm autistic and find group dining a particularly exhausting experience, especially after being on excursions. I'm very happy to chat to people on excursions and am still in touch with several people from that years later, but I just can't do it in a dining context. So I always opt for a table to myself. I actively avoid cruise lines that don't allow that as the usual option.

I've not been diagnosed on the spectrum but I share a lot of those common characteristics.  I agree with you completely.  I'd love to chat with someone on an excursion or at a bar, particularly after I've had a few drinks.

 

Even if you're the world's most interesting person, keeping a conversation going with a complete stranger over a 2 hour dinner is exhausting and -- for me at least -- stressful!  I often go silent even when among family and friends but at least they know me well enough to understand I'm not upset, just being me.  

[yakcruiser]

I guess I'm lucky I have no problem eating with a bunch of strangers. Maybe it's because of my special talent of only hearing what I want to hear and tuning out what I don't want to hear. Or so I've been told by a couple of ex-girlfriends.

[eltigre]

I was enjoying the "stories" Wish there were more of them.Anyone?