How to Dine at a Table With Other Passengers (Strangers)

[rtdiva]

Cruisemom has it right on. I’d like to add: Breakfast. As most of us are creatures of habit we dine at the same time, thus often your breakfast companions become your new best friends.

[Szt]

18 hours ago, Mary229 said:

We were once on a ranger led hike to see that oldest bristlecone pine in Utah. There were 5 attendees, the two of us - geophysics, two volcanologists, the ranger was a bit intimidated.  We all assured him not to worry that we knew nothing about botany and well it could be worse that one of us could be an astrophysicist.  After a big laugh the 5th hiker pulled out his Los Alamos ID - sure enough he was an astrophysicist. 

Just quote Big Bang Theory ( tv show). 

[XBGuy]

1 hour ago, Szt said:

Just quote Big Bang Theory ( tv show). 

 

Barium Zinc Gallium  --  BA ZN GA

[Ashland]

We never do this...just not our preference !!

[clackey]

We love to dine with strangers and have met some very interesting people.  One was a homicide detective from Detroit.  He had some interesting stories. Then there was a professional belly dancer who got married at the Dzibilchaltun Ruins near Progreso. Then there was a couple who looked familiar.  It turned out that they had the Kettle Corn Concession at Silver Dollar City in Branson MO.  They had sold us kettle corn a few months earlier.

[evandbob]

On 10/23/2023 at 12:03 PM, lenquixote66 said:

I never run out of things to say as anybody who posts on CC and has met me knows for a fact.I can converse on any subject except Quantum Physics.

Quantum physics underlies how atoms work, and so why chemistry and biology work as they do. You, me and the gatepost - at some level at least, we're all dancing to the quantum tune.

[lenquixote66]

38 minutes ago, evandbob said:

Quantum physics underlies how atoms work, and so why chemistry and biology work as they do. You, me and the gatepost - at some level at least, we're all dancing to the quantum tune.

I wanted to be a Veterinarian but Science was my worst subject in HS.I failed Biology twice .

[navybankerteacher]

On topic: I believe that being able to dine with “Other Passengers (Strangers)” simply requires a modicum of intelligence, applied with courtesy.  If you are unable or unwilling to interact with new people (and learn from one of the primary benefits of traveling) then you should always get your own table.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by navybankerteacher

[Traveling Library]

We’ve done my time dining and have shared tables. Several times we liked the people with whom we shared and we asked the  matre d’ to seat us together for the rest of the cruise (and they did). Even when we have no shared we are often seated in the same section so we got to know the people at the next table. 

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I wanted to be a Veterinarian but Science was my worst subject in HS.I failed Biology twice .

I wanted to be a monarch - but when a (limited) monarchy position opened up recently they gave the job to the son of the previous one, without so much as interviewing candidates —- talk about nepotism!

Edited October 26, 2023 by navybankerteacher

[donaldsc]

On 10/23/2023 at 9:03 AM, lenquixote66 said:

I never run out of things to say as anybody who posts on CC and has met me knows for a fact.I can converse on any subject except Quantum Physics.

 

First a message to the OP - you are way over thinking a very simple issue with a very simple answer - don't worry about it.  Now to my Quantum Physics response. 

 

I managed the laboratory of the Las Vegas wastewater treatment plant in my career.  In other words - we managed poop. I can talk a lot about poop.   One of the ways that Las Vegas gets more use out of our limited  Colorado River water allotment is called recycle credits.  What that means is that if we return sewage water back to the Colorado River it doesn't count against our allotment.  The important thing however is that the sewage water has to be cleaned up sufficiently enough so it is as clean or sometimes cleaner that the stuff the we took out of the river.  One of the jobs of my lab was to ensure that our recycle water met those requirements.  I would love to see the look on the faces of tree hugging Californians at our table when I told them that they were drinking the water that came out of my toilet.

 

DON

[Ashland]

42 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

First a message to the OP - you are way over thinking a very simple issue with a very simple answer - don't worry about it.  Now to my Quantum Physics response. 

 

I managed the laboratory of the Las Vegas wastewater treatment plant in my career.  In other words - we managed poop. I can talk a lot about poop.   One of the ways that Las Vegas gets more use out of our limited  Colorado River water allotment is called recycle credits.  What that means is that if we return sewage water back to the Colorado River it doesn't count against our allotment.  The important thing however is that the sewage water has to be cleaned up sufficiently enough so it is as clean or sometimes cleaner that the stuff the we took out of the river.  One of the jobs of my lab was to ensure that our recycle water met those requirements.  I would love to see the look on the faces of tree hugging Californians at our table when I told them that they were drinking the water that came out of my toilet.

 

DON

Please don't assume we're all "tree huggers" in California.

[cruisemom42]

I really enjoy sharing tables with others. I realize that not everyone does, but I wouldn't discourage someone before they even try it.

 

Just off an 18-day cruise where I shared a table often with others including a couple who had been in Jordan and were about to enter Israel the day of the Hamas attacks; a retired pilot for a major airline who flew routes to Asia for many years before his retirement; a Turkish tour guide and his wife who were guiding a group onboard the ship; someone who'd done a world cruise solo the previous year; and a very entertaining lady with whom I shared an acquaintance (previously unbeknownst to me) -- as well as a Danish couple and several Brits, all of whom were interesting table mates.

 

I was also invited to share a table one evening with a staff member and three couples, where the conversation flowed nonstop from nautical map-making to dangerous critters on every continent.

 

 

 

[lenquixote66]

13 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I wanted to be a monarch - but when a (limited) monarchy position opened up recently they gave the job to the son of the previous one, without so much as interviewing candidates —- talk about nepotism!

So instead you became a navy bank teacher,very interesting

[John Bull]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I really enjoy sharing tables with others. I realize that not everyone does, but I wouldn't discourage someone before they even try it.

 

Just off an 18-day cruise where I shared a table often with others including a couple who had been in Jordan and were about to enter Israel the day of the Hamas attacks; a retired pilot for a major airline who flew routes to Asia for many years before his retirement; a Turkish tour guide and his wife who were guiding a group onboard the ship; someone who'd done a world cruise solo the previous year; and a very entertaining lady with whom I shared an acquaintance (previously unbeknownst to me) -- as well as a Danish couple and several Brits, all of whom were interesting table mates.

 

I was also invited to share a table one evening with a staff member and three couples, where the conversation flowed nonstop from nautical map-making to dangerous critters on every continent.

 

 

 

Gosh, Cruisemom. I didn’t know you spoke so many languages 🙂

 

I speak English and the whole world’s second language 😜

 

JB 🙂

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

So instead you became a navy bank teacher,very interesting

No - I went through those phases first, before that monarchy gig opened up. Now I’m just doing the retiree thing, waiting to see if other options come along.

Edited October 26, 2023 by navybankerteacher

[lenquixote66]

40 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

No - I went through those phases first, before that monarchy gig opened up. Now I’m just doing the retiree thing, waiting to see if other options come along.

I define a career as working 5 or more years at a job .I have had 4 careers in my 80 plus years ,all more rewarding than a monarch.

[navybankerteacher]

32 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I define a career as working 5 or more years at a job .I have had 4 careers in my 80 plus years ,all more rewarding than a monarch.

I think it would depend upon the sort of monarch you are talking about.  Just imagine: being able to say “off with her head” , and have it happen.

[lenquixote66]

9 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I think it would depend upon the sort of monarch you are talking about.  Just imagine: being able to say “off with her head” , and have it happen.

I could just see you as a Teacher telling the above to your students,unless of course if you were teaching in a prison.

 

[navybankerteacher]

7 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I could just see you as a Teacher telling the above to your students,unless of course if you were teaching in a prison.

 

How could an English History teacher discuss Henry VIII without touching on that point?

[lenquixote66]

9 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

How could an English History teacher discuss Henry VIII without touching on that point?

I did not know that you were an English History teacher .History was one of my favorite subjects in HS and college.My wife has a degree in History .She never worked in that field .

I had a dual major of Psychology and Sociology and a minor in English with a concentration in Literature and worked in all four .

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, John Bull said:

Gosh, Cruisemom. I didn’t know you spoke so many languages 🙂

 

That's me -- international woman of mystery (or is that history?)

[ldubs]

La Femme Mystérieuse!  

[K32682]

On 10/25/2023 at 10:03 PM, navybankerteacher said:

On topic: I believe that being able to dine with “Other Passengers (Strangers)” simply requires a modicum of intelligence, applied with courtesy.  

 

Even if you possess those attributes the risk remains that some or all of the other diners at your table will not which makes for a tiresome and occasionally irritating dining experience. 

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, K32682 said:

 

Even if you possess those attributes the risk remains that some or all of the other diners at your table will not which makes for a tiresome and occasionally irritating dining experience. 

Of course - we were discussing the characteristics necessary to  be able to dine with others, not claiming that all passengers were so capable. In any event, with open dining being widespread the chances are that those unwilling to make an effort are likely to opt to dine alone.  A couple of decades ago when assigned dining was the general rule there was the risk of being seated with some anti-social boors.