sandi

Just returned from a cruise...open seating is the order of the day, and within two days, several conjenial couples formed a group and met each night for supper. Group tended to expand as the days went by--we started as 4, then 6, then 8, and then 10. And we had a great time and got to know each other very well. However, there were several couples who didn't form groups and just sat alone each night on the fringes of all the fun. Shouldn't there be some way to automatically include the more shy among us on cruises? It made me sad to see those folks sitting alone and looking miserable. Comments?>?

how

Are you sure they were miserable? Maybe they went on the open seating cruise for that very reason. They wanted to sit alone.

Carol

My husband and I are the &quot;those folks sitting alone&quot; and guess what-- we are not miserable-- we ask to be seated alone, we will wait to get a table for two if one is not available. We happen to like each others company and we have good and intelligent conversations. (unlike some we have had when we were seated with others)<BR><BR>We don't go on cruises to socialize and meet new friends, we go to relax and enjoy the ambiance of the cruise. <BR><BR>So, don't feel sad for us--we are having a great time!!

xxx

This is exactly why I would never cruise. I do not want fun forced on me, by clueless strangers. It is a bit presumptious to assume that people who want to each with their families are lonely. My guess is that they are trying hard to avoid the inane drivel called &quot;dinner conversation&quot; with the likes of Sandi...there have been countless threads about having to eat with a bunch of bores...and they were obviously written with the OP in mind

Carol

Thanks XX, it is nice to know that there are other people who feel the same as we do! But don't let people like Sandi keep you from cruising. It is the best vacation in the world. We do not participate in any of the &quot;fun&quot; cruise activities-- and we do not allow anyone one to impose their &quot;fun&quot; on us. You can call us snobs, but quite frankly we don't care .<BR><BR>Hope you try cruising and enjoy it as much as we do.<BR><BR>

Lew

Let's consider the source. Sandi is one of those people who must interject her self into others lives...decide when they are happy and not...look at her anti-smoking blast.<BR><BR>My personal experience is most of the folks I've dined with are good table mates. In 40 yrs of cruising, I only found two I wanted to take home to mother, and one I wanted to throw overboard. But if two-tops are your preference, that's your preference.

sandi

If all those loners are having fun, why are they staring dejectly out the window? There was one couple, on their honeymoom we understood, who never looked nor spoke to each other in public view. maybe it's part of their religion.

Andy

Sandi- I had to laugh at your last post-&quot;maybe it's their religion&quot;--good sense of humor-<BR><BR>As for the people who sit in 2's-- that is their request- abide by that....<BR>IF they wanted to join a crowd, on an open seating cruise, all they needed to do when they entered the dining room was ask the Maitre de to seat them with others their age....It is done all the time....THAT is the beauty of OPEN SEATING....<BR><BR>I personally LOVE open seating and LOVE the option of being seated with New people-- of which ( if I haven't met on the ship prior to dinner- ) I allow the Maitre de to seat me with ....You don't have to eat with these individuals the next nite if you didn't hit it off...Or, you could table hop until you found a group to form of your own....<BR><BR>It's fun- it's not for everyone--but hey,that's what makes horse races....<BR><BR>The honeymooners could have been having a bad day----who knows???!!!

Sandi

Dear sweet Sandi,<BR><BR>If you are having such a good time, I wonder how you are able to observe and study so many other people? When I am with people I like and having a wonderful time, the rest of the world is oblivious to me.<BR><BR>I am part of the group that has NO interest in sitting with strangers for dinner and exchanging small crap/talk. I couldn't give a hoot about their children or grandchildren and what kind of car they bought last week.

sandi

To the above poster: you must have been the couple seen scowling night after night, into their beer and casting our table evnious glances as we were having so much fun. We don't talk about grandkids, but politics, sex, tell jokes, business strategy, and a myriad of other good topics that made the evenings so magical. Couldn't help noticing that some just couldn't mingle, and it wasn't that they were enjoying themselves alone...the just sat in silence. So what do people come on cruises for, if they want to be ALONE? Why don't they have room service and sit out on their own deck instead of coming in to the dining room and casting a spell of gloom over the rest of us.

zzz

There is nothing gloomy about sitting alone. When you have a husband that works 80 hrs a week you want to spend time ALONE with your spouse. Get it? Please stop talking now because you just keep putting your foot in deeper and deeper.... It's a personal choice and why do you care what others do so much? You must be bored at the dinner table ......

Joe

Dear Sweet Sandi,<BR><BR>This poor lady thinks we are as miserable when alone as she must be. But in reality, we don't need to have constant chatter and chaos to be happy as you seem to need. Sandi, dear, worry about your own life and stop worrying about everyone who chooses NOT to join you. If you were in the dining room, I would indeed order room service. lol lol

whaddabatch

sandi,<BR>you don't get it do you.....i choose to spend my life and some of the best times (vacation) of my life with the person i like best, my wife....i have done it both ways..big table and table for 2...they are different experiences...table for 2 is romance and extra special service...

m

Un our upcoming back-to-back cruises (total-28 days) we are asking for a 2 top for the first time.<BR><BR>On the past 11 cruises, the worst is a 4-top, endless chit-chat with just one couple for days. Even tho' they were nice people, you do run out of things to say.<BR><BR>Other times big tables were ok, except we don't eat all the courses. Waiting for everyone some nights was what we did not want to do.<BR><BR>So with a table for 2, we can come and go when we are done. And meet people all day and night in other parts of the ship.

lonewolf

I don't understand how someone who sees a couple sitting by themselves takes it upon themself to deem that couple as alone and unhappy.<BR>My wife and I both work in jobs that require us to deal with people and their problems day in and day out. When we cruise, most of the time we like to dine by ourselves to talk with each other, not some strangers who have to know how many cruises we have been on, what ships, what cruise lines, etc.<BR>Don't feel sorry for us. We probably are having a better time than you.

LaffinLikeCrazy

Sandi -- you outdo yourself! <BR><BR>You said, &quot;Why don't they (people who choose 2-top seating) have room service and sit out on their own deck instead of coming in to the dining room and casting a spell of gloom over the rest of us.&quot;<BR><BR>Boy, they must have some powerful &quot;mojo&quot; if they can smother the mood in a room that size!<BR><BR>And, I have to ask the question already posed by others - how do you (so vivacious, outgoing, able to readily collect new friends) manage to observe all this? <BR><BR>Seems like a person would get wall-eyed, trying to pay polite attention at one's own table, while keeping a pitying eye on the 2-tops.<BR><BR>

diane

Sandi, get a life. If you actually had one of your own you wouldn't be so concerned about other people lives.<BR>

Charli

Sandi,<BR>A table for 2 is not that easy to get on some ships even with open seating, so I would think that those sitting at a 2 top are certainly there by choice. If they are lonely or in need of company it is readily available. So, like others have said - MYOB - you have no idea how others feel. I happen to love my spouse's company even if we don't talk or laugh loudly.

sandi

I have a wonderful life, thank you, and I was only observing (original post) that some folks have a hard time mixing..this particular cruise there were only 100 folks on board, so it would seem that everyone meets almost everyone, and people ask to be seated with so and so...those that sit alone night after night, and are NOT conversing seem a little out of place...just an observation, so don't know why it stirs such angst, unless those that sit alone can't find anyone to sit with them. If the shoe fits, wear it.

xxx

To Lonely At the Top:<BR>If Sandi was on a cruise with 100 passengers, it was probably a Windstar Ship and they are UPSCALE!!!<BR><BR>Don't knock a small ship til you've tried it-- Once you go on a small ship,you don't want to sail with the MASSES again....Way more relaxed and NOT a carnival ( Pun intended) atmoshere.