snorkelcat

I am curious about the differences between a good table-mate vs. bad table-mates? This information would be valuable because I think there are people out there who don't know that they are being inconsiderate to their table-mates.

So, what qualities would a good table-mate have and what qualities would a bad table-mate have? Please share your opinions and stories.

RickT

Good Table mates are: fun, friendly, outgoing. Bad table mates are: complainers, quiet, rude.

Age, sex, race doesn't matter.

diann

My husband and myself were on a cruise and our table mates were all great. It was a table of 10 total. We all had a great time, enjoyed each others company. I would say polite, friendly, fun, not obnoxious, or loud. We all just shared with each other what we did for the day. Common interests, idle chit chat, about different vacation destinations, likes or dislikes of different places. I don't think age or gender is relevant. Just common courtesy, towards people is a high priority.

Rachelle

My teenage son and I went on a Carnival cruise. Couldn't wait for dinner the first night. Boy, were we disappointed. We were seated at a table for 10. The other 8 people were all in their 70's, all traveling together, who only spoke Russian! They were all speaking to each other loudly at the same time, and my son couldn't wait to leave. The next day, we asked the Maitre D to change our table, which he promptly did. He put us at a table for 6. There was a nice family with two cute teenage girls. My son loved that!

snorkelman

I have had my share of both. Tablemates from hell are usually the people who argue with their spouse/children during dinner. That kind of atmosphere makes everyone uncomfortable. Also, bringing a young child to the late seating might be asking for conflict of the child is the whining type.

The overall characteristic is that the people who complain during dinner are not the people that I want to be around. I have had bad stuff happen on my cruises but if I mention it at dinner, it is brief and with an air of ?these things happen.? If something ticks me off, I will complain to the purser?s desk and maybe again when I get home in a letter or cruise review. Bringing your tablemates down during dinner is not the thing to do.

In general, if you are at a table on the first night and some people who ate their on night one never again show up, chances are that they did not like your company and they requested to be switched. If that has happened to you, then maybe you should look into possibly being a tablemate from hell.

I believe that the worst thing that I can do is to stay at a table where the other people are not fun. I agree that good table mates can span age, race, gender and even sexual orientation, as I have shared a table with very diverse people. In my experience, if someone speaks English and chooses to not speak English during dinner (other than a few seconds of comments) then that is very rude to the others at the table.

JMM

I would agree with snorkelman's comments except for his last point. Snorkelman do you have any idea how stressfull it is to carry on a conversation in a foreign language for an extended period of time? Remember English is a foreign language to many people. Unless you are very fluent in the language being spoken - believe me it is NOT easy to fully participate in a conversation. ( I lived in a foreign country for a couple of months and found myself in this situation frequently. My co-workers and friends were very kind and did not expect me to always hold up my end of the conversation.)