re:has anyone encountered this problem

[cmatt]

Went on cruise to spend time with family, as we all know the best time to visit with everyone is at the dinner table, well we had company, their are four of us, DW,DS, DD, and my self, instead of a table for four we had a table for six, we had company are whole cruise, a single mom with a DD, we are were very uncomfortable at every dinner, no one had any private dinning time,, we have requested a table for four this next cruise,,not
what we were expecting on our first cruise together as a family,,,
thanks cmatt

[atigeg]

I guess we're the opposite...we love having table mates and meeting new people on our cruises. We have sat with other couples and also with families and have had a great time. The worst dining experience we ever had was on a cruise where we were seated at a table alone. That only happened once, when the boat was really sparsely populated.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[cmatt]

maybe you and your spouse dont work 6 days a week 12 to 15 hour days with your careers? thats why I think they call it Q-time do you think!

[mmouse37]

cmatt....if you felt that uncomfortable you should have seen the head dining room manager right away. I am sure he would have tried to rearrange your family to a smaller table. You should not let something like that put a damper on your experience. But I can understand if all you wanted was to be with your family and not have to make conversation with others. We all get in that mood sometimes.

Better luck next time.

MJ

[CamColt]

I agree. While I can not wait for our next cruise, Im dreading the fact that they dont have tables for 2. Luckily on my honeymoon cruise, the cruise line we went on had tables for 2 so we requested that. Then when we went on DCL we had 10 people in our party, so again, no sitting with strangers. This time DH & I are lucky enough to get a trip away from our kids to actually spend some time together(that doesnt happen much). The last thing I want to do is hang out with strangers. We requested a small table. Im hoping we get another couple with us and they go to Palo one night and we go another, so there will only be one night of dining together.

[cmatt]

Your right! and I was'nt trying to be rude to someone thats why we did'nt talk to the head srever, wouldn't that have made everyone more comfortable, now.

I'am with and around people all week,, want time with my family,, the kids run and go to oceans club and teen club and with new found friends thats nice as well we enjoy new found friends,,

but dinner time belongs to us to stay connected, call it old fashion, square what ever that simple request should be honered. by all crusie lines ,, its no different than couples without kids want their private areas,,, my opp. cmatt

[cmatt]

I agree with cam colt thanks cmatt

[MickeyMagic]

My 9-year-old daughter and I will be on the Magic soon. I know we will be seated with others for dinner, but now I'm concerned we may not be welcome.

Maybe I should request a large table in hopes of being seated with more than one other family. I never considered I'd be intruding on someone else's family time!

I'll just trust it will work out fine, and we will make some new friends and have some wonderful conversation over dinner.

MickeyMagic

[cmatt]

I was single until 32 and i would have preferred to been at met other singles vs seating with a family every nite for 7 days??

And yes for many christmas's and thanksgivings I was invited to peoples houses for dinner, yes i went a few times in the beginning but then realizing that they had personal family things to talk about that pertain to their family not a outsider that they had to make small talk with,, got to get back to mine,,

[CamColt]

MickeyMagic, Im sorry, please dont take our feelings personally. Im sure you and your DD would be very nice to sit with. It definitely wouldnt be the people themselves I wouldnt want to sit with, its the fact that, 1)Im really looking forward to time alone w/DH on this trip(we probably eat dinner alone together once every 3 months), and 2)Im a very shy, keep to myself kind of person who would rather not deal with other people(even if they are very nice).
Everyone is different (in fact Ive been right out called "weird" on these boards for voicing my opinion about this), and everyone has their own reason for cruising, whether its family time, romance, partying, meeting interesting people & making friends, etc... I think DCL does the best it can to accomodate peoples requests to make everyone feel comfortable. Of course, they could do better if they had tables for 2. ;)
Dont worry, Im sure you will be fine.

[cmatt]

Its kinda like a company christmas party, their people who love playing office politics and people that don't, i personally dont like sitting around making small talk to carry a conversation, when i can be talking one on one to my children, its like missing a day of work to take your son or daughter to a major league baseball game to spend some time talking with them when the guy next to you wants to talk sports, and your boy tells you on the way home that he wished he could have had more of your attention that day.

[Woods]

We were lucky, on our first cruise we got a table for 4 without asking. Now I know to ask. We don't want to have to make small talk either. I understand some people enjoy this sort of thing, but we just want to be alone with our family too.

One day for Lunch my husband and I thought we would go to lunch alone and let the kids do the "Kids Club" thing. We ended up sitting wtih 2 college girls....very nice people.....BUT we wanted to be alone. So now we know. The only dining we got for just the 2 of us was at Palos.

Debra

[wovenwonder]

I understand exactly! This past April I was really looking forward to the Quality Family Time during our meals. We all four seem to go our seperate ways throughout much of the day - but at our evening meals is when we had the chance to connect -- and build so many memories. We requested a table for 4 thru our TA - and after we received our docs, I mailed a letter to DCL requesting a table for 4 - DCL came thru - and we had a wonderful week of Family Meals!:)

[atigeg]

Cmatt, I guess you've forgotten how much we cruise!!!
We actually do work long hours (multiple jobs) just to finance our addiction!!! Quiet time, at least for us, includes enjoying dinnertime chatting with others (we also like to hang out in the adult whirlpools, which are a great spot for conversation). But to each his own, I guess. As someone else suggested, if you prefer not to be with others, let the headwaiter know and try to get a change.
But don't worry, MickeyMagic...I'm sure there are lots of people like hubby & I who would enjoy your company! We are usually seating with other adults, since we are a childless couple, but we have been with families a couple of times and have always enjoyed it. I know that a lot of adults don't want to be seated with youngsters, but personally we have lucked out and been with really nice families each time. For us, meeting new people is part of the overall cruise exerpience.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[Karel]

Well, we had table mates for the first night and then never saw them the rest of the week. We have no idea if they tipped because we had dinner at Palo's the last night. I would have liked to have eaten with another family. We are lucky though and eat a lot of family dinners together.

I think eating with strangers is a good opportunity for your children to meet and greet - to learn how to socialize, make conversation, and get to know people. Just because you are eating with others doesn't mean you have to give up Quality time. A crowded dining room with servers hanging around is not necessarily the best place to have family conversation anyway.

Also, think about the single parents. It's nice for them to have other adults to talk to at dinner.

[Miss Jasmine]

I can see both sides of this. On our honeymoon cruise we were seated with another couple on their honeymoon. DH and I are not adverse to striking up conversations with people and in fact DH is the biggest people person (when he wants to be). I am the shy quiet one. Well we were seated with the couple from H E double hockey sticks. At the first meal we were insulted by them (they asked if we were planning on having any kids. We said no, not at this time and the wife goes, what you hate kids???) They were just totally rude. The next night they showed up hung over and the wife spend most of the dinner being sick in the bathroom. The best night was when they did not show up to dinner.

On the other hand, if we had been seated with a nice couple I think we would have enjoyed the additional conversation.

If you are worried about special together time, try planning it for other things like excursions or family time activities (set up like an hour or two a day when you all get together and do something together).

[LisaTxUsa]

I'm a single mom with an 11 yr old son. On last year's Disney Cruise we were seated at a table with another single mom and her son, an older couple (late 50's or 60's) with no children and a young couple with a child. The older couple was visibly annoyed that there were children at the table (even though they were all well behaved)and rarely spoke to us, even when we tried to draw them into the conversation. I felt bad for them since they were so obviously put out at their seating assignment, but I tried not to let that spoil our mealtime.

We have late seating again for this cruise next month - I'm hopeful that we'll get another table that has many people at it. Both me & my son love to meet new people!

[Towncrier]

On our one and (so far) only cruise on DCL, the five of us shared a table with a couple from NY and their 15yo son. We could not have asked for nicer dinner companions. I must say that it was an unexpected highlight of our cruise. We had such a good time that they cancelled their reservations at Palo's on the final night of the cruise just so that they could have dinner with us one last time. I guess we were fortunate to have hit it off so well with our dinnermates.

On our January 19th cruise, we are still slated for 2nd seating. I imagine that our party of five will end up seated with another family. We were hoping to get 1st seating so that we could sit with another DIS family (who just happen to also be from Ohio), but I'm not counting on that happening. I just hope that we get along half as well with our dinner companions on this cruise as we did on our first cruise.

I completely understand your point cmatt and hope that you are able to arrange more suitable dining on subsequent cruises. I know how important family time is.

[SingingMom]

We are a family of 3 - DH 42, me 38, DD7 at the time of our cruise. We were seated with another family of 3, but their child was a 16 year old boy and they were in their 50's. I've told this story on the boards before, but it fits on this thread, too!

Our tablemates were obviously "well-to-do" and the wife actually raised her eyebrow when we arrived at the table with a 7 year old. We politely introduced ourselves and the server handed out the menus. Our DD7 took one look at the children's menu and said, "Where's the escargot?" Well, that certainly broke the ice! The server couldn't even keep a straight face with that one and said, "I guess madam would prefer the adult menu?"!

The rest of the week was pleasant enough, their son was very sweet and posed for a picture with DD, and the husband kissed DD's hand and said, "It was a pleasure to be in the company of such a lovely young lady this week".

But, I felt a bit strained during each meal and would have possibly prefered a family a little more closely suited to us. Then again, DD is mature beyond her years (all 7 of them!) and maybe we were better off. It just bothered me that our tablemate seemed to be pre-judging just because of DD's age. She seemed to have a problem with so many kids on the cruise, I guess she didn't get the fact that "Disney" usually includes "kids"! I certainly was proud of our "little lady" and how well behaved she was the whole week!:earsgirl:

[Eric, Julie and Hailey]

Cmatt -

For alone family time there is always the option of Topsiders for dinner -- or room service - or Plutos.

We had our own table (3 of us). But, we were sad not to have tablemates. We ended up chatting with the tables around us!:p

[atigeg]

Yikes, Miss Jasmine!!! What an experience!!! As much as I love sitting with others, I think that couple would turn me off.
Our of 17 cruises, we've been very lucky. There was only one time when we had an unfriendly person at our table. She was travelling with the adult daughter, and although the daughter was really friendly, the mom just sat around glaring. The only thing I could figure was that we were also seated with two women who I think were a "couple" (I'm not sure, as they were not obvious, but I got that impression). That doesn't bother me at all (they were actually really great, wild & crazy people...I loved hearing about their adventures in Nassau), but I wonder if it bothered the mom. Maybe not...maybe she just wasn't a social person.
The most interesting table we ever sat at was on Viking Serenade. We were with a couple in which the husband was literally 7 feet tall, plus two twin sisters who have sailed RCCL as frequently as we sail Disney and who seemed to be working their way through the crew (if you know what I mean). I laughed till my face hurt at their adventures in Mexico with their crew buddies.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[Miss Jasmine]

Barb,
I just gave a brief synopsis. There was so much more that even the server couldn't stand them. For breakfast before debarkation he figured they weren't going to show up so he placed our carry off bags in their chairs. We were almost done with breakfast when they meandered in and asked us how Castaway Cay was!!!!!?????? They said they didn't feel like getting off the ship and actually slept right through (probably too hung over). Another story... first night at Lumiere's the wife asks for a paper napkin. Our server politely explains that there is cloth napkin there for her use. She goes oh no, I need a paper napkin to spit my gum in to. :rolleyes: There's more but I will spare everyone so as to not scare our newbies to death. :D

[LisaTxUsa]

Yikes ! Sounds like a bad set of tablemates, to be sure! Too bad you can't 'vote' people off your table, like they do on Survivor :)

Barely a month left til we cruise .. I'm hoping we have a more fun table than we had last time, too !

[Girls Scout Leader]

How many people can you seat at a table? I am going with a total of 12 people, mostly teens. They are a quite a non-shy bunch so I son't wantthem intrudung on other people. Not, rowdy, just consider strangers friends they haven't met yet. And with everyone going in different directions all day, I am requiring everyone eat dinner together.

[Casey's mom]

While I'm sure it was horrible at the time -- at least you have good stories to tell!!!

Our first cruise (4 nights), we shared our table the first night with an older couple from New Orleans on the ship with a large family group (sitting at the next table). Due to mixed signals on their part, they were with us jsut that one night and were then moved to sit with their family. I was a little nervous frankly as we were with our kids (then 3 and 2) and while they were very well behaved then and now, with little kids sometimes you just never know.... Our second cruise we got our own table -- which was great -- a little less pressure to keep the kids in line, but we struck up conversations nightly with the family at the next table that was also traveling with young children. We are cruising 7 nights in March, so we'll see what we get....

[atigeg]

Casey's Mom, your comment about bad tablemates providing fodder for good stories reminded me of one of our lunches on Voyager of the Seas. We were at a large table, with three other parties, and one of the men at the table kept the rest of us in stiches during the whole meal with stories of his dinner tablemate. She was an old lady whom he said must have flown in aon a broom...she spent her meals complaining about everything, sending back every meal, and generally torturing their poor servers. We all laughed so hard at his descriptions that our faces hurt!!! This crabby old woman probably had no idea how much amusement she provided to others...I'm sure he entertained his other lunch companions with stories about her throughout the cruise.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[Chattyaholic]

Hubby and I took our very first Disney cruise last January to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We had early seating and we didn't make any table requests as we weren't sure we'd like a table for four, with just one other couple, or a larger table with more people so we just left it to the luck of the draw. The brochure states that "generally families will dine with other families and couples will dine with other couples" so I was at the very least hoping we weren't at a table with children. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate children. We raised two of our own, and have two grandchildren that we adore. But I was very surprised when we went to dinner the first night and saw a package of crayons at one of the table settings. Uh-oh, a child! We were put with a family of five. I think the oldest was 13 or 14, the middle girl was around 10 and the youngest was 6. The two older girls weren't a bother at all, but the youngest one caused a few problems. Not enough for us to request a change, but enough that I was uncomfortable. Plus they were "well-to-do" and flaunted it so that made it a bit uncomfortable as well. Thankfully we only had to eat dinner with them, not breakfast and lunch as well. :) I mean, they were nice enough and friendly and the conversation did flow pretty well around the table, but I was just not totally comfortable with them, and we didn't "bond" with them or do any excursions together or exchange addresses, etc. We have booked the Western Magic for 1/03 and I'm already "preparing myself" that we'll have to dine with other people again for dinner. I do wish Disney offered "tables for two" other than at Palo's. We didn't do Palo's last time, but plan to this time, at least one night, maybe two if we can manage it. And I'm glad to hear Topsiders is now open for dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed eating there for breakfast and lunch, just so we could be alone. It will be nice to have that alternative for dinner too. We just really are not "people persons", we prefer to spend our time together, not making "small talk" with strangers. Like another poster said, to each their own. Oh, we did try to eat breakfast one day at Lumiere's as hubby wanted to try their eggs benedict. But they wanted to seat us with another couple, even though there were plenty of empty tables. We said no, we preferred a table to ourselves and the gentleman seating us just rolled his eyes so we turned and walked away! :(

[atigeg]

Although you used to have to be seated with others at lunch, on our last Wonder trip they asked us whether we wanted to be aloneor be seated with others. I suspect this might be a recent change to accommodate people who prefer some "alone time" or family time for lunch.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[D,L and K's Mom]

On our last (first) cruise we asked that we be seated alone for meals. We have a DS who is a special needs child and we didn't want to disturb anyones dinner if he was not cooperating. We were seated next to a wonderful family of 4 at another table. Because the tables are so close togeather we were able to easily have a nice conversation with them during meals but we still had some distance between us. My DD made plans to swim with them at one time and she was happy to see the children at the Oceaneers Club. She was thrilled to know someone there when she arrived. For our next cruise we are requesting the same seating arrangements and we are hoping that we are seated next to another fun family. Oh, DS was wonderful at mealtime the servers really went above and beyond to make sure he was well taken care of.

[nuts4sn00py]

Just my $.02...DH & I cruised for the 1st time for our Honeymoon & probably more than ever wanted to dine by ourselves or at least with other honeymoon couples. Alas, that was not to be! We were with couples who were in their 60's, 70's & 80's. They were all pleasant people, just didn't have much to converse about with them. My husband & I enjoy being with other adults & also enjoy family time. It all depends on our mood that day! I know my daughter would love to dine with another family or a single with kids, she is very outgoing! I think if you want family time, you should be able to have family time @dinner. I would request that ahead of time so they could try to accomodate me. Since we are doing the 4 day cruise & WDW for 10 days I will enjoy the time @dinner with others. Now watch, I'll have to eat with just my family!(LOL) We will be on the Wonder 4 night cruise on 8/11/2002, anyone who wants to join us, you are more than welcome. No one wants to inconvenience someone else or feel unwelcomed. Maybe we could put in our own table request for us to be seated together! Just a thought! No one can be right or wrong in how they feel about their dinner preferences. After all, I enjoy dinner without my kids too! Kathy :wave:

[1 Disney Lovin' Mom]

We are a family of six (DD10, DS7, DD6, DD4) and we will be traveling on a 7 Night Eastern. I look very forward to being seated with and around other people and families. We love to interact with other people of all kinds. If they seat us with a couple, a family, people young or old, I guarantee, sitting with our bunch they will have a blast!

Everyone is different. There is nothing wrong with a family or couple wanting to dine alone or without children at a table. But... what I do think is wrong is to not speak up about it. If you have special requests (such as dining preferences), please let DCL know ahead of time so that people like me and my family (who enjoy interacting with others) do not have to dine with people that are uncomfortable dining with us.

From what I have learned so far about DCL, they are willing to go above and beyond to make sure that everybody's experience is enjoyable.

1 Disney Lovin' Mom
Memphis, TN

:earsgirl:

[CamColt]

Well said, 1 Disney Lovin Mom!:)
Unfortunately, from what Ive been told, DCL doesnt offer tables for 2. So even with a request, most likely couples who want to be alone are out of luck. I definitely wont not like people at my table, or be rude to them, because I have to sit with them, and it wont totally ruin my vacation, but I will be very uncomfortable at dinner time and would much prefer to be seated alone.