do we actually dine with these other people for a week or do they just sit with us?

[imgoingtodisney]

Please please please tell me each family eats at their own pace. If our tablemates are slower/quicker than us I do not want to spend my valuable cruising time waiting on them. Please tell me the waiters cater to each individual family even though others are at the same table.

[Michelle]

Well, sort of. The waiters generally wait until you are all seated to take your orders, although if another family is more than a few minutes late they will most likely go ahead and take your order.

The wait staff will take good care of you, regardless of with whom you are seated. :)

[atigeg]

I have noticed that the waitstaff does not serve the main course until everyone at the table is done with their appetizers, even if some of the people have only had one while others have ordered two. Same seems to be true of dessert...they don't take the order until everyone has finished their entree. We are always on late seating...it might be different on the early seating, since they need to clear out the diningroom and get everything ready for the next guests.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[GoofyDisney]

We actually had the table mates from heck! They were always late, and slow to order and slow to eat, and had a terror child.

(It was not too long before our servers figured out how the tablemates were.) And our servers were great about NOT waiting for our table mates, and our meals were staggered even though we were at the same table. And as I have said many, many times, our servers went overboard to make sure that we didn't feel slighted even though our tablemates were hoggin their attention, and even though they were late and ill-mannered and extremely difficult. We were never "held-up" by our tablemates.

And even as awful as our tablemates were, we got the special treatment from Sunny and Giorgio!!! (and we did have early seating and we had our DD (2 yr old) with us)

[MarkRG]

I would have to say you are not dependant on the people dining at the same table with you at all or even with the rest of the room, if that is how it works. We had a 4 seat table last time, as we had a party of 4(Us and my parents), but there were evenings wehre we did go either faster or slower and our servers had no probelm with bringing out the next course earlier or later. It's up to you how you mesh with people you do get seated with.

[tltjet]

If you do have bad table mates can you request a different table??

Jenifer

[GoofyDisney]

Reading back over my post, I can see that I may not have been the *most* encouraging in my repsonse to your question. hehehe

I would say that you shouldn't have a problem with timing. Even if you do, you can mention it to your server and it will most likely not be a problem, they are usually so great about meeting your needs!

And I know lots of other people have had such great tablemates who were strangers, or even got together with people from these boards to sit with.

Have a great cruise!

[atigeg]

We have noticed that there is no set pace for the whole diningroom. Sometimes one set of tables will just be finishing their entrees while other tables already have their dessert. We have never had a problem with the pace...it's possible that if there was a big discrepancy, the servers would have brought out the next course for us while the slower people were still finishing the previous course. The only time it's ever seemed slow was once when we wanted to get to the comedy club back in the days of improv...we asked for our dessert to go and brought it with us, and that worked out really well (except that we had a LOT of hungry eyes watching us from other tables in the club).
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[CamColt]

Thats a great tip, Barb!
From reading your Navigators, Im already nervous about being rushed to get to the 9:45 Dueling Pianos & 9:45 Match Your Mate. DH & I are very quick eaters(we are used to it since we have 2 & 5 year olds;) ), and I would be going nuts having to wait on other people. I dont want to just sit around while they finish eating. Dessert to go it is! :D

[ducklite]

Ugh. I do NOT want to sit with people with kids that aren't teens, and will quietly request a seating change if that happens.

I am mixed on whether I want table mates or not to begin with, but I definitely do'nt want any little ones at my table.

Anne

[westjones]

We are a family of 4, so I always request a table for 4 when we cruise because we do not like to eat with other people (just a personal preference).

We also 'learned' that you can not have a quiet sit down lunch by yourselves, because they will put other people with you. One day, DH and I decided to have lunch just the two of us while the kids were in the Kids Club. We even told the wait staff that we were having a lunch without the kids!!!!

Well within 10 minutes they seated two college girls with us. They were very nice.....BUT it was not what we wanted. We would prefer to have lunch with our daughters than to have to make small talk with strangers.......

Now at Palos, we did not have to sit with anyone else (I don't know if we were just lucky or if this is the norm). At the buffet up on the top deck you sit yourself, so you don't have to be with strangers then.

Debra

[SingingMom]

This reply is to Ducklite:
Anne, I know this is your vacation, but please give someone a chance before going through the hassle of switching tables. It could turn out ok.
I just want to share our experience in July....
Our tablemates were already seated when we arrived to our table - they were in their mid-50's with a 15 year old son. They looked very "well-to-do". We sat down and politely introduced ourselves - me 38, DH 42, DD 7. The wife took one look at our 7 year old and "a picture is worth a thousand words". The expression on her face was as if we were lepers.

The server passed out the menus, giving DD7 a children's menu. She looked at it and said, "Excuse me, where is the escargot?" !
Well - the husband and teenage son burst into laughter, and the wife almost fell off her chair in shock. Our server chuckled and said, "I guess madame would prefer the adult menu?" It really broke the ice. :D

Our daughter has traveled and dined with us since she was born. Being an "only" child, she is very articulate and knows how to behave amongst adults. First impressions are not always correct. Our tablemate took one look at our daughter and immediately decided that she didn't want to sit with a child. I took one look at our tablemate and thought, "oh boy, this one is going to be stuffy". We ended up having a very enjoyable week. Their teenager was very well mannered - he even posed for pictures with our daughter.

On the last evening, the husband took our daughter's hand and kissed it ("Just like a princess, Mommy!") and told her that he had been honored to share the table with her for the week. :p

By all means, if your tablemates are not what you had hoped for, ask for a change. All I wanted to share was that even unlikely groupings can turn out to be very pleasant and enjoyable.

Have a wonderful trip!:earsgirl:

[ducklite]

Originally posted by SingingMom
This reply is to Ducklite:
Anne, I know this is your vacation, but please give someone a chance before going through the hassle of switching tables. It could turn out ok.
I just want to share our experience in July....
Our tablemates were already seated when we arrived to our table - they were in their mid-50's with a 15 year old son. They looked very "well-to-do". We sat down and politely introduced ourselves - me 38, DH 42, DD 7. The wife took one look at our 7 year old and "a picture is worth a thousand words". The expression on her face was as if we were lepers.


It's not the behavioiur of the kids I'm worried about. Of course it's regretable that a few "rotten apple" parents have ruined it for many...those who think it's adorable when their princess throws food, or bangs on the table with spoons, etc. have completely put off a lot of people about kids entirely.

It's simply about age appropriate conversation. I want to be able to tell a tasteful but PG-13 joke. I want to be able to use PG language. I want to be able to discuss PG-13 topics. I don't want to have to be careful about every word I say because there is a child present.

No offense, but regardless of how well behaved the little prince or princess is, I don't want to be seated with them. It's simply my preference, and shouldn't be taken as an affront against kids.

Anne

[trishy]

Gawrsh, Ducklite. No offense intended, but I'm an adult who prefers to not be in an uncomfortable situation where the dining companions are telling pg-13 jokes and expecting a laugh after every one. Also, the possibility of adult conversation going south regarding politics, religion, or the middle east conflict would bore the *heck* out of me. My preference is little "Jonny" or "Suzy" who remind me of how wonderful and innocent youth is. This post is merely an attempt to justify Disney's placement of guests - it's certainly never perfect, but everyone is different and I'm sure they'll do whatever they can to accomodate everyone. I'll bet after the first night the dining managers are very busy with requests for table changes! That right there earns them their tips at the end of the cruise.

The pace of the servers was amazing actually. They didn't hold up our service for the other companions who were usually running late. We were usually within 5 minutes of "chow time" and had our orders in before the group joined us. Lunch was the same. The setup is different - no assigned tables or companions, but once seated the servers were right on top of their jobs. Had to be difficult for the servers, but they were very efficient, courteous, and respectful of our valuable "cruising time". ;)

[imgoingtodisney]

Im excited. We are very much looking forward to dining with our dinner companions. Hopefully we will be spending more than just dinner with them too. Hi Michelle - say hi to your family for us.

[atigeg]

Out of 20 cruises, hubby and I have only had kids at the table a handful of times, usually on the holidays when the kid population is very high. We had a young girl at our table on our trip last weekend (Easter), and it was thoroughly enjoyable. She was very well-behaved, and I really got a kick out of seeing how excited she was when she described seeing "Disney Dreams." It's refreshing to see the cruise through a child's eyes. We have been very fortunate because every time we've been seated with a family, the kids have been very well behaved. As for "adult" conversation, a lot of the time hubby and I end up having most of our conversation with the kids! Since we are both children at heart, we often have a great rapport with them, like the time the boy at our table found out that we are roller coaster fanatics. I know some people like to sit alone, but heck, we eat dinner every day together with just the two of us. We love meeting new dining companions on the ship. Our most miserable dining experience was the one time when we were seated alone. I know some people would love that, but we envied all the other tables with groups of people.
Barb'
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[Toad]

I understood that DCL tried as much as possible to seat people without children together, and families with children together. Ducklite, you might also want to try for the late seating as most families with young children choose the early seating as 8:30 is a bit late for some kiddies to eat.

On my last cruise, our group of 5 adults (ages from 40-45) were placed with three elderly ladies who were a complete hoot. I was very pleased with the arrangement even though I was concerned at first that THEY wouldn't be happy sitting with us. In fact, I took one of the ladies around Nassau with me and it was one of my best memories of the trip.

I guess you just never know who you are going to get, but I agree with everyone that you might just be pleasantly surprised....;)

[KimDisFan]

I personally enjoyed getting to meet other people on the cruise. Our 1st cruise was just me, DH and DD (5 at the time). We shared a table with a couple on their honeymoon. It was nice to have someone to talk to about the day, besides ourselves.
I am also a very social person, so that doesn't bother me.
I was very concerned about my DD behavior and promised her a reward if she was good at dinner, just to make sure that she did not bother the couple. Actually, they missed her the last day when she chose to each with the club.

[Lisa F]

Originally posted by trishy
Gawrsh, Ducklite. No offense intended, but I'm an adult who prefers to not be in an uncomfortable situation where the dining companions are telling pg-13 jokes and expecting a laugh after every one. Also, the possibility of adult conversation going south regarding politics, religion, or the middle east conflict would bore the *heck* out of me. My preference is little "Jonny" or "Suzy" who remind me of how wonderful and innocent youth is.

I'm not Anne, but because my husband and I don't have kids yet, I can certainly see things from her point of view. I don't think her intention is to talk about things that are inappropriate for little ears or to have a foul mouth at the dinner table. However, in the course of adult conversation, sometimes these things come up. I can certainly understand not wanting to have to keep my guard up throughout the entire meal because there is a little one at the table. It's not a matter of what she might say, it's a matter of comfort level and relaxation. If someone who is not used to having a little one around feels like they have to be on their guard because a little one IS around then it's just not very relaxing and the whole point of a cruise (at least for me) is to relax. I guess that's why they have adult only areas and I'm pretty sure they try to seat parties with kids together with parties with kids and parties with teens with parties with teens and adults all together.

As far as wasting precious cruise time, we got along fabulously with our tablemates. Most nights we didn't leave the dining room until close to 11 (for an 8:30 seating) because we were having such a fabulous time talking (sometimes about things not really appropriate for little ears). I don't look at it as wasted cruise time but rather it was one of the major highlights of our cruise! Even my normally fidgety husband who is ready to get the check and go at most restaurants was relaxed and having a great time. I wouldn't worry so much about your tablemates.

Lisa

[Tluvs2talk]

My husband and I do not have children and were placed at a table with young children 2 out of 3 cruises. We made the best of it and got to know our seat mates. We even tried to have Lunch alone but were alway's seated with others. I guess if we want to be alone we have to go to Palo's.

[trishy]

Lisa,
That's great that it worked out for you. Glad you had a good time. Since I'm not Anne either, I can only assume like you did about her intentions. The point of my post, as I wrote, is to give another viewpoint of the "dining companion" situation. Also, to assure future cruisers that DCL is very accomodating in table changes and not to fret about it. Some people are guarded around kids - others may be guarded around adults. Personally, I'm very comfortable around kids and love the "Disney-twinkle" in their eyes. There are those kids who are fidgety at the table, but in my opinion it's due to the pressure put on them to BEHAVE. The relaxed, happy ones are usually terrific. I've also had adult table companions who were either wonderfully interesting or incredibly boring - can go either way in any scenario. I think it's best for any cruiser to give it a chance instead of bailing out based on prejudged opinion. Of course, if there is no way one could tolerate the pitter patter of tapping feet under the table or the occasional drop of the fork, I think it is best to request a new table right away to alleviate undue pressure on the "offending" family. In the case of my precious "cruising time", if you read the post again you will see it's in response to the topic of whether or not one would have to wait until all parties at the table are finished dining. I found the servers to be very efficient at handling each party individually. My personal experience was that my group was free to leave, or stay, if desired - dinner/lunch was not held up because of anyone's delay. Overall, I'm happy with DCL.

[Lisa F]

Trishy,

If you read the original poster was worried about wasting valuable (not precious, sorry, but same concept) cruising time waiting for tablemates to finish eating. My point was only that some of our most valuable cruising times were actually spent with our tablemates sitting around the table. I'm sorry if you thought that comment was mocking you in some way, but I didn't actually notice that you used that phrase as well until I just reread your post. You pointed out that servers are aware of valuable cruising time, I pointed out that dinner with your tablemates could be part of that valuable cruising time.

As far as dining with kids, I don't understand why someone who expresses a preference to not dine with small children is told that they are missing out on something wonderful. If I remember from other of ducklite's posts, she has a teen, so I think the posts telling her (or anyone else) to give sitting with kids a try are a little silly because obviously she has been there, done that and knows what it is like. I don't have kids either yet I have travelled extensively with friends who do have little ones and yes, I have been there, done that as well. You're right, sometimes it is charming. Other times I just don't want to deal with kids and as an adult without kids (or an adult with grown up kids), I have the luxury of being able to do that.

I just happen to think that if someone wants to not have to watch the language and content of everything they say that they should not be characterized as someone who is constantly making inappropriate remarks and "expects a laugh after each one." There is a lot of room between being a boor and wanting to relax on vacation in an adult atmosphere without worrying about appropriateness for children.

Lisa

[ennazus]

SingingMom ~What a great story!

Don't judge a book by it's cover.

[trishy]

:earseek:

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Lisa F
As far as dining with kids, I don't understand why someone who expresses a preference to not dine with small children is told that they are missing out on something wonderful. If I remember from other of ducklite's posts, she has a teen, so I think the posts telling her (or anyone else) to give sitting with kids a try are a little silly because obviously she has been there, done that and knows what it is like. I don't have kids either yet I have travelled extensively with friends who do have little ones and yes, I have been there, done that as well. You're right, sometimes it is charming. Other times I just don't want to deal with kids and as an adult without kids (or an adult with grown up kids), I have the luxury of being able to do that.

I just happen to think that if someone wants to not have to watch the language and content of everything they say that they should not be characterized as someone who is constantly making inappropriate remarks and "expects a laugh after each one." There is a lot of room between being a boor and wanting to relax on vacation in an adult atmosphere without worrying about appropriateness for children.

Lisa

Thanks Lisa! That's EXACTLY what I'm getting at. I don't have a foul mouth. Nor do I tell tasteless or off-color jokes. I hardly tell jokes at all. I don't like discussing politics or religion with strangers. But lets say we are talking about movies. We talk about Tom Hanks, and the topic leads to his movie "Philadelphia". An extremely good movie, which very tastefully handled mature subject matter. Most parents don't want to discuss this type of material around their five year old, but would have no problem talking about it around their fifteen year old. That's what I'm getting at.

I have a sixteen year old who will only be joining us for three, maybe four meals. I have already chosen late seating in order to minimize the possibility of sitting with kids. It seems kind of funny that most of the people trying to convince me I'd like sitting with families with younger kids have younger kids. I'm not meaning to offend anyone. I just don't find younger kids as "wonderful" or "precious" as other adults might. Kids are not my thing. I have a lot of respect for people who do enjoy being around them. I think I deserve the same respect for my feelings.

Anne

[SingingMom]

..."It seems kind of funny that most of the people trying to convince me I'd like sitting with families with younger kids have younger kids"....

Anne,
I hope you didn't think I was trying to convince you to sit with younger kids. ;) By all means, try to have your seat changed if that happens. I was just bringing up an experience we had. I had heard so much about "Disney matching 'like with like' families" - yet the only "like" about our seatmates were that they were a family of 3! I didn't try to change it because I wasn't sure how much of a hassle it would be.

I honestly wish we had the option of our own table. Small talk can be difficult to continue for 7 nights - kids or no kids! :p