Here's a twist to your question. On our recent trip 3/22/03- it was just me DH and me. A large party of 22 were split up between 3 tables, in this formation --- l --- . You guessed it, we were sitted at the middle table with a family of 3 kids. The father was facing the table on the right. They were opening wine bottles, toasting, etc. The mother was facing the table on the left, same routine. The children's friends were all seated at the table on the right. The children were up and down at the meat going to their friends, dad was furious because they were not with their friends and equally ticked because we were there. We tried to keep conversation light (being a kdg and high school teacher we can relate to children and adults) and make the best of it. But no.......the father was a jerk. The tenseness at the table was evident. It was the worst experience on the ship......we requested a table change immediately after dinner....and in all fairness to the other family.....they should have never split them up from their friends so totally. It was so bad my husband said to me during a really noisy period (3 yr. crying, two others fighting) "Do you want to get really seasick and go to the room?" We were moved the next night to another table-the other couple had sat with a couple that requested a change to late seating. Both of us were moved the third night across the room to a table of six, meeting a couple moving from late to early seating. The second night and then after on was a wonderful experience, and we looked forward to dinner!!!!!!!!!! Tipping was a nightmare......crossing the room involved all new servers, etc.
