King Arthur's table

[der alte Vogel]

We are experienced cruisers.We do not cruise for the food or late night entertainment,( We are too tired after a day at the beach snorkeling.) Which says it, that is our hobby. We have one problem on the short- 7 day cruises. How to find a compatible circle of people dining. We are Europeans, living in the USA, bilingual, on cruise critic you meet all these

experienced snorkelers and cruisers, how to meet them for dining (late )

You almost never have a full table at night, some people come the first night, then ( dress code ? ) never again. Do not tell me to sit with Germans, most do not speak good English and resent if you do. How to find well traveled dinner companions . I am a gourmet cook and do not like people who constantly bitch about the food, there is enough variety to choose from for everyone.

 

Der alte Vogel

[navybankerteacher]

I share your approach - ending the day with a table of people with common interests/attitudes is one of the major attractions of cruising. a few times we have been fortunate in the chance assignments, other times not. Perhaps one could generate interest in forming a group via this line, then meet the first day on the ship and jointly ask the maitre d' to assign a table.

[Bonnie J.]

Welcome to cruisecritic!

It depends on which cruise line you are cruising with. On all NCL ships there is no set time or table to eat at. Princess has anytime dining which is like NCL's Freestyle. You can eat with anyone you'd like to, whatever time you want. Maybe eat with someone you've met snorkeling or elsewhere on the ship? They usually fill the tables with this dining plan. If you are assigned to a time and table you can also ask to be switched to another table if you are not happy with your tablemates.

When you decide on a ship and have a date go to the Roll Call here on cruisecritic. On our cruise last fall 24 Roll Call couples met in a lounge NCL gave us the 1st day. A lot of us 'clicked'. We chartered our own sunset snorkeling cruise in Aruba. A bunch of us met in a piano lounge for a drink before dinner and one night 12 of us all ate together! We had a lot of emails going back and forth so we got to know about other pasengers before we even got on the ship!

But on our next B2B cruise only one person showed up at our meet & greet! So you never know! Very few people were on Roll Call then.

If worse comes to worse you can always go to one of the restaurants, the buffet (UGH!) or room service.

We are also snorkelers and would welcome you at our table!

CRUISE LINES WE'VE BEEN ON:

Dolphin

Commodore

Regency

Premier

Cape Canaveral Cruises

Carnival

Royal Caribean

Celebrity

NCL

Princess

Costa

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

On HAL -- the upper level of the dining room is fixed dinner -- 5:45 and 8 PM. You are assigned a table and have the same tablemates each evening.

The lower level of the dining room is "As You Wish" where you can show up anytime between 5:15 and 9 and request any size table you want.

The above applies to all HAL ships except the Prinsendam which is smaller and has only 1 level for the dining room. The dining room is divided for the fixed and As you wish diners.

[ILoveScotland]

Have you posted on the Roll Call for your cruise? You might find some like minded people who would like to make a joint request with you to dine together.

 

As you know from your other cruising experiences who you get for table mates is a crap shoot. That's why DH and I opted for My Time Dining on RCCL our last cruise and would do so again.

 

And one little story which I've posted on CC before re your comment, "I am a gourmet cook and do not like people who constantly bitch about the food, there is enough variety to choose from for everyone." We were on a two week Eastern Med cruise a couple of years ago. We had a table for 10, and one of the couples complained each night something - from their cabin to service on the ship in general to service at dinner in particular but especially about the food. Nothing was ever cooked or presented properly according to these two, especially the husband. One night the man sent his entree back five - count 'em 5 - times. Each of us at the table assured our head waiter and others as well that we thought the food was good and their service excellent.

[der alte Vogel]

Sorry, I should have been more specific-it is always 7 day caribbean cruises on carnival-forward,port deck 7 or 8, balcony more or less the same cabin. 2-3 per year. I will try the roll call before the next September cruise on the Valor. ( If I figure out how to do it.)

The long destination cruises to Australia or South America are no problem, you have time on the ship to meet compatible people to dine with. Der alte Vogel

[navybankerteacher]

Sorry, I should have been more specific-it is always 7 day caribbean cruises on carnival-forward,port deck 7 or 8, balcony more or less the same cabin. 2-3 per year. I will try the roll call before the next September cruise on the Valor. ( If I figure out how to do it.)

The long destination cruises to Australia or South America are no problem, you have time on the ship to meet compatible people to dine with. Der alte Vogel

If you scan through the choices, you will find Roll Calls for Carnival, then click on Valor, and finally click on the date of your cruise. Really no more complex than hitting on "Ask a Cruise Question", where you posted this line. If you enter into "conversations with posters on that thread, you can start getting to know future shipmates - and arrange for meeting likely tablemates immediately after boarding -- I am thinking of doing the same for my next cruise. Good luck.

[kasil]

Carnival has a dining program that allows you to eat at what ever time you choose. It may be available on your cruise - check with Carnival or your TA. After you've connected to your roll call, you can plan ahead of time when to eat and with whom (as long as they have anytime dining, too.) It might be called My Choice dining; I'm not sure. I have a hard time keeping each cruiseline's program names straight. Enjoy your cruise!