We just returned from a lengthy cruise. First evening our group (6) invited two loners to join us. One guy turned out to be the dinner companion from hell...never stopped talking about himself, his woes, his love life, his impotency, his 'poems and books' that he was writing that he tried to give us to read and buy, etc., yawn...yawn. Everyone was rolling their eyes and trying to discourage him. Rest of trip we had to avoid eye contact, making sure there were no spare chairs at our table. He wandered off to bother other people. What is the appropriate way to handle someone like this besides being extremely rude?

I'd be rude.

I have had a couple of table troubles, on my very first cruise ever, one guy was a total snob. He found out which part of Canada I was from, then made every stereo type for my region, asking me if I fish, eat nothing but Fiddleheads, etc. Turned out later, he was actualy born just 30 minutes from me! Any way, we basically found other people to sit in his seat most nights, but he snuck in there a few times.

The next one was we had two seats left at our table (our group was 6 people, and we got an 8 seater) and there was a couple who made out the entire meal, I mean we could see tongue. After dinner, we asked our waiter to fix it, and they didnt sit with us again.

If you have noticed, the Maitred' likes to be tipped at the end of the cruise. He/She is there to assure that you get good service AND enjoy your dining experience.

They are trained to handle situation just like this. Once you inform them of your discomfort with the guest(s) they will make every attempt to resolve the situation. It is one of the things you should expect them to help you with.

Don't worry about offending the guest that is causing the problem, they (Maitred') have ways of handling the situation without causing a problem and, the LAST thing they would do is tell the guest that you asked to have them moved.

After all, you too deserve a nice experience for the money you invested in your cruise vacation. Hope this helps.

We sure know about the good and bad of dinner companions. I feel like we have them all.

This last cruise, 4/18, we had a table for 2. It was the best-after 39 years-my husband is still the best. We don't eat all the courses, and didn't have to wait for everyone else. Could still go on the deck for sunset.

One night, we were invited to a 'renewal of vows' and had to leave at a certain time. The m'd moved it along so we were ontime. The other tables in our area were still on their salads!

I would request a table for the exact size of your travelling party.

Here's my little story. My teenage son and I went on the Carnival Paradise. The first night, we couldn't wait for dinner. Well, we were seated at a table of 10, and the other 8 people were a group in their 70's traveling together, who spoke Russian. They were all speaking to each other very loudly at the same time, and my son couldn't wait to get out of there. The next day we explained this to the MaitreD. He immediately had us changed to a table for 6. It was a nice family with two cute teenage girls. My son loved that!