I think it's up to the hosts in this situation, particularly the female half. That's why sometimes it's fun on the rare times we have people over. I'm not a shy woman.
I'd also add that my husband's biggest complaint often is how slow it can take to get things going. While I work nights and have a natural late night circadian rhythm going on (and can get pretty chatty), he "turns into a pumkin" by midnight. We've found that when we're on their turf or neutral turf, it seems to better with couples with at least our level of experience or more. We never like to be "pushy", but sometimes you just want to yell, "HEY, are we going to fish or cut bait here!?"