Also check out Groddle Forest Junction. There are several quoins there and a Sub station so there are usually people there. I also always see people in Ilmenski Caverns and Deeps.
Cebarkul is nice, because people are THERE, but I am not sure it's necessarily the best way to meet people, as most of them don't seem very talkative. They come there to trade with the vendor, or to die, so that they would get mourned, but not really to interact.
Joining a group might be a better option to actually meet people (although maybe only in chat first).
Walking around the "heart" of the continent (Groddle and adjacent areas like Alakol) also improves the chance of meeting people in my opinion. There still seem to be more people there, and most of the starting areas for new players are within that center.
When I started, I met a lot of people by saying hi while mining; it's an activity that keeps you in proximity to each other for a full half-minute or more, which is a good time span for starting a chat without being locked into unpleasant conversation if it doesn't go well.