The worst question you've been asked by a tablemate...

[mcpepe]

Ok, here's one to be careful of asking.

 

"How long have you been married?"

 

I think my SO and I have been asked that on EVERY cruise.

 

Now do I tell the truth and embarrass the questioner or do I lie? Normally we just say we are not, but have been together nineteen years.

 

 

My husband and I took our first cruise together 9 months before we got married. Because we were young we of course had many folks asking if we were on our honeymoon. Our reply was........."this is our practice honeymoon." ;)

 

Maria

[QueensChick]

The absolute worst for ME has been....

 

"How could you afford this cruise? Did you get a discount for being a family member of the crew." This was on Carnival and yes I thought it was and is very racist.

 

I replied, " you know, the usual way...we're drug dealers."

 

 

It just goes to show that there are some incredibly small-minded people out there. I love your response. ;)

[gkm]

Reading through all these responses just reaffirms why we always get a table for two. While we have always met some very nice people on cruises, unfortunately we have met (or come into contact with) probably more that are truly appalling (especially in the last three years--give you one guess why?) Anyway, since we enjoy top suites (and save and budget accordingly) we are always asked by nosy people what we do for a living and we always love to answer--"Prostitution and Pornography" ! Leaves 'em speechless every time and you'd be surprised how many actually believe it :-)!!!

 

I can understand your reluctance to share your table, but I think you're missing out on a lot of fun. We have met some delightful couples and always ask for the largest table possible. On two different cruises we have met a couple that have become friends for life. We have sailed three times with one of them and have a fourth cruise planned, and have visited with the other couple twice and have two cruises booked with them. With one of the couples, we found out that they live within 50 miles of us, so we occasionally meet half-way for dinner. I for one, am willing to take my chances on tablemates.:D

 

Garry

[celtic selke]

How about the questions or things you would like to say?

 

Like, "What the heck were you thinking when you bought THAT outfit??!!"

 

And that one goes with, "Good grief, is there a mirror in your cabin??!!:eek:

 

Or, "I swear, if you tell me that boring story ONE MORE TIME, I am going to hit you with my wine bottle!!!!:(

 

"Bitch about the quality of your meal again, and I'm gonna dump the plate in your lap!!!!:mad:

 

"Would you mind very much turning that BLANKETY BLANK CELL PHONE OFF WHILE WE ARE AT DINNER!!!!!:mad:

 

Yes, that really happened. Guy had a super powerful cell that actually rang in the midle of the ocean.

 

I'm sure you can think of more----

 

If only I had the nerve---

 

celtic

[LoriLinay]

It's a knife, not a SAW!

Please stop chomping your food. (oh, I HATE that!!!)

 

It's not words and questions so much that bother me, it's the horrible manners of some.

[nikki303]

A couple years ago on Majesty, we sitting at a table for 10. Every night one of the woman would choose something out of a wooden box held open so only she could see what was inside, by the asst. waiter.

 

Finally on the last night, one of the other woman at the table asked what was in the box. She said, tea bags. The second woman laughed and said the whole time she thought they were cigars. Everyone laughed and then the husband of the woman taking the tea bags looked horrified. He thought the second woman said that she had SARS. (This was right at the time when it was going around). He was wondering why she would be coming to dinner every night if she was infected with it. Tears were pouring down our cheeks we we laughing so hard.

[sgttami]

I retired in October at 51 and my husband is 6 years younger...

 

We just got back from Florida this week after spending New Years there with my parents and a bunch of "older people" on New Years Eve.

 

You wouldn't believe the comments:

 

"You two must have all kinds of money to retire so young."

 

"Are you going to get a real job now?"

 

"How much pension do you get?"

 

"You must have plenty of cruises booked now."

 

We're not rich by any means....on our next cruise I think I'll use pornography and prostitution as our occupations!!!!!!!

[cruzincurt]

Well there you go. If you retired at 51 you MUST have lots of money!!

[Passionate Cruiser]

Hubby and I were at a table with people from Canada. They began the conversation with "how come you all in the States think you should be able to own guns?" FIRST QUESTION ON THE FIRST EVENING OF THE CRUISE!!!

 

I was so taken back and said, "we don't like to speak about political themes on our vacation" they kept on and on and on, finally we had to leave the table and go and ask to be sat at another table.

[gadawg1979]

we were on the Fantasy during the recent Nov election, and for the love of God the election came up at every meal in the main dining room. Breakfast lunch or dinner. we left the dinner table one night in the middle of the meal it became so heated.

[bpear1600]

Hubby and I were at a table with people from Canada. They began the conversation with "how come you all in the States think you should be able to own guns?" FIRST QUESTION ON THE FIRST EVENING OF THE CRUISE!!!

 

I was so taken back and said, "we don't like to speak about political themes on our vacation" they kept on and on and on, finally we had to leave the table and go and ask to be sat at another table.

 

You run into ignorant people everywhere. I think you did the right thing by leaving the table. I probably would have given him a very large piece of my mind, embarrassed my wife in the process and requested a new table the next day. Nobody needs that kind of crap on vacation or otherwise.

[rc51]

"how come you all ..."

 

 

That doesn't sound very 'Canadian'.. I don't think I've ever heard a Canadian say "How come you all" ??? :)

 

or are you paraphrasing ... :D

 

or it could have been someone 'pretending' to be Canadian.... this seems to be common with tourists in Europe for some reason.

[frayedend]

I tell people my name is Art Vandaley and I'm an architect. If they watch Seinfeld it usually gets a good laugh and opens up conversations about daily life and not about occupations. If they don't know the show, then I get to have fun telling them about all the buildings I designed.

 

It seems a lot of people don't like the "what do you do" question but I actually enjoy talking about what I do. If others at the table get the Seinfeld reference I will tell them the truth and that I work in biotech. I love talking about that as much as architecture ;-)

[phlydude]

Or you could be Art Vandalay - Importer/Exporter

Or Art Vandalay of Vandalay Industries

 

How about Kruger? or Bob Sacamano?

 

Heee heee this could be fun!!!

[bpear1600]

 

It seems a lot of people don't like the "what do you do" question but I actually enjoy talking about what I do. If others at the table get the Seinfeld reference I will tell them the truth and that I work in biotech. I love talking about that as much as architecture ;-)

 

I don't mind either. When I play golf with new people I am often asked "what did I do?". It's an icebreaker. No big deal.

 

I think a lot of people here lack even the most basic social skills if they are uncomfortable with such a question.

[bpear1600]

Or you could be Art Vandalay - Importer/Exporter

Or Art Vandalay of Vandalay Industries

 

How about Kruger? or Bob Sacamano?

 

Heee heee this could be fun!!!

 

Remember "...and you want to be my plastics salesman? I think not..."

[phlydude]

Latex salesman

 

and Kramer ruined it all...

 

 

What was the name of Kramer's intern??

[bpear1600]

Latex it was.

[FaithsAngel]

On our cruise in the first week we had the most adorable table, still talk to them now!!!!!!!! There was never a dull moment and we discussed all sorts!!! And it was also a very varied table, with a honeymoon couple, two friends and me and my mum so it was great!! We we're also the only british people on the table which was fun, by the end of the week we discovered we say lovely a lot, quite amusing!! lol

 

But the second week, even though our table was lovely...we were quite shocked at the way they were at times. They were very nosey into our lives and also our waiters....don't get me wrong, we don't mind answering questions and are quite open but sometimes these questions were quite rude....:( Something else that was quite amusing is they couldn't seem to grasp the fact that england is quite normal, and we do have food like burger king and chinese :)

 

I think meeting various people at dinner on the cruise is fun....hopefully we won't come across anyone we really dislike!!! lol!!

 

Gem

[Cruiser Forever]

How about the questions or things you would like to say?

"Would you mind very much turning that BLANKETY BLANK CELL PHONE OFF WHILE WE ARE AT DINNER!!!!!:mad:

Yes, that really happened. Guy had a super powerful cell that actually rang in the midle of the ocean.

celtic

 

 

I Love Your Post!!!:D People, please Leave your cell phones in the cabin if you must bring it with you on a cruise. I thought this was a vacation to get away from the everyday problems and worries.

 

P.S. Anyone else having trouble when it comes to posting in the past few days?

 

[Dean T.]

It's funny you say that...I was going to end my post with...."tax people and doctors should NEVER tell people what they do, or they'll spend the rest of the meal answering questions"

 

After our incident, we decided that the next cruise I'd tell people I was a sex therapist. It would either shut them right up, or start some interesting table talk!!

 

add on auto mechanic, i work for a popular car line dealership and have been there for 17 years so anyone that hears that always asks about problems with their cars. so now if they ask i say im in the entertainment field and if they ask doing what i say porn. as LoriLinay said it either shuts them up or makes the table talk interesting.

[Folgy]

" Do you have any kids? "

 

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! :mad:

 

 

 

: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sgttami]

I retired at 51 but my husband now has to work twice as much!!!!

 

I WISH we had lots of money...but as soon as you say RETIRED..and don't look like your'e ready to keel over, people assume that you could retire because you had lots of money!!!

 

Truth is, I spent today waiting for Ed McMahon to tell me I was the next winner in the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes!!!!!!!

(Still waiting.......)

 

On another note, I love meeting new people but was never a fan of dining with strangers. I'm much more comfortable in a setting where there is an escape route...pool bar, Schooner bar, beach, etc...Being a slave to the dining room and forcing small talk for a week or more isn't for me..even though we had some great tablemates. Some even felt the same and it turned out we had a better time when we weren't "stuck" with others for dinner but enjoyed each other's company somewhere else...

[Passionate Cruiser]

That doesn't sound very 'Canadian'.. I don't think I've ever heard a Canadian say "How come you all" ??? :)

 

or are you paraphrasing ... :D

 

or it could have been someone 'pretending' to be Canadian.... this seems to be common with tourists in Europe for some reason.

 

 

I was paraphrasing, and they were definately from Canada. I'm not putting down people from Canada, my mother was born in Vancouver BC. but came to the United States as a child.

These people were just being obnoxious and had a axe to grind for some reason. We were on vacation, politics and religion should NEVER NEVER NEVER LOL be the subject at dinner.

[ahoughton]

We are always ask how many children we have and get the same response "The Brady Bunch". We each have three daughters.

 

One of the craziest things to happen at dinner, every evening a table mate (I hate to say one of our group) would take all her silver ware and throw it in the middle of the table saying all that stuff freaked her out. We prearranged the last night for everyone to do the same before she did it. That did freak her out along with our wait staff.