tablemates or not, which do you prefer?

[mickeymom629]

Hi. I've been reading everyone's suggestions for months now and they are great. I remember seeing something about someone's bad experience with tablemates and having to wait for them to arrive at each meal. We are a family of 6, so I called DCL to request that we sit alone, if possible. That way, I figured, we would get private attention from our waiters and wouldn't have to worry about having to sit with people we don't know. But now I am thinking that maybe it would be fun to sit with new people get to know them. I'm figuring that my children (DS 15, DS 13, DD 11, and DS 8) will be eating with us each night (like we do at home), but is it possible that they will make other plans or rush off to be somewhere and my husband and I will wish we were having a nice conversation with some other interesting cruisers? Any thoughts and experiences would be appreciated, thanks.

[prymsu]

My family of three always have had good experiences with getting very nice table mates. This has never been an issue for us. It is nice to make new friends...and who knows you may end up with DIS members sitting with you :)

[SusanB]

My daughter and I cruised the 3 day Wonder cruise last year and were supposed to be seated with another single mom and daughter. They never came to dinner, so we always ate alone. We just returned from the 7 day western cruise on the Magic and had the good fortune to be seated with a newlywed couple and a family of three from New Jersey. They were all delightful people and we felt so fortunate to have met them. It was much more enjoyable to have dining guests than eating alone. My suggestion would be to let Disney assign you tablemates. There's always the chance that you won't hit it off, but there's also the chance that you'll meet wonderful people, as we did. We considered that just a part of the magic on this cruise!

[leslieh]

We family of four (DD16, DD14, DH and me) on our first cruise they sat us with another family of four. No problem, we chatted a little but that was about it. Last cruise we traveled with another family of four and it was all of us (8) at one table. And we had a great time.

[taswira]

Yes, do let DCL assign you tablemates! In MOST cases it will be a fine experience and an opportunity to meet interesting people and make new friends. I think <I>this</I> is the norm. Sure, there is a <I>possibility</I> for a major mismatch. What ruins it for me is if I end up with chronic complainers, those who ask too many personal questions, those with unruly children (the ones who have <I>manners</I> are CUTE!), or people who don't bother cleaning up and dressing for dinner (Doesn't have to be "formal," just clean and neat and fitting DCL's recommendation for the evening). You take your chances by random assignments, but usually it's a pleasant experience.

[mickeymom629]

Thanks for your replies. I guess I'll be calling to change my dining request. I guess I read something about one bad experience. But I've been thinking I made a mistake, because it does seem like it's part of the "magic" and we do love to meet new people.

[DisneyDuo]

Hi MickeyMom629 - we will be on the same cruise as you (1/25/03). We are celebrating our 25th anniversary - just the two of us. We are rather pleasant and easy-going people - so if you want to request that you be seated with us, we won't mind ;-) We are eating at the early seating, though!

We enjoy meeting new people - so if we don't see you at dinner, maybe we'll get a chance to meet you somewhere else.

Just a thought!:rolleyes:

Lin & Andy

[disneyholic22]

Just got back from the Magic. We are experienced cruisers (7) and were looking forward to meeting new people to chat with at dinner, as was our experience for all our previous cruises. Imagine our surprise when the four of us wound up looking at each other the first night!! (Why go away on a cruise if it is going to be the same scene with the kids bickering like at home?!!)
So we asked the head waiter, Sam, to move us to a new table, if possible.
We were pleased to be moved to a new table for the duration of the cruise, having the pleasure of meeting a couple from England with a son the same age as ours, and a mother and her two teenage daughters from Mexico. Lovely and lively conversation was had by all the remainder of the week.
My kids now have a better understanding of life in England and Mexico and behved like angles at the table! We will purposefully request table partners from now on when making a reservation.

[DisneyCruiseluvr]

We were seated with another family of four from New Jersey on our cruise (July 20th Western) and we ended up becoming really good friends. The children opened up and started talking to eachother after a few days. Towards the end, it seemed like they laughed more than they ate! We exchanged phone numbers, addresses and email addresses at the end of the week and plan on keeping in touch.

[castawayfan]

Ok, I will be the odd one out here. We have cruised 4 times. We are a family of 3 and only once did we sit alone. We loved it. Mostly because two of the other three cruises we had terrible tablemates. One family of 5 was just rude and would not speak to us or each other. They were also late everynight and kept us waiting for dinner. The other cruise, the family of four had some hygine problems that we could not stand. However, the one cruise we sat with a great family of 3 and had a wonderful time. I think that it can just be real hit or miss. On this last cruise we had a table to ourselves and it was a nice chance to enjoy some quality time together that was very, very relaxing.

[taswira]

I've seen several posts on the DIS about people having to wait for their late-arriving tablemates before bieng served. That was not the case with me. My last cruise (a 4-night Wonder in May) I traveled solo and I believe was at a table for ten. After the first night, our servers knew that I wanted iced tea with no lemon. I would walk in every evening <I>on time</I>, and my drink would be set on the table as they pulled the chair out for me. They also gave me the menu and I made my selections - often before my tablemates came straggling in. When they did, they would take a long time to decide what they wanted, then as the others placed their orders, the previous ones would invariably change their minds. And yes, IF they didn't arrive within five minutes of me being seated, my servers even brought my meal before theirs. That may not be standard DCL policy, but it certainly made me happy and earned them nice tips!

[peagreenid]

And we decided to sit with folks we met here on the dis. 2 wonderful couples. We had a wonderful time, and when my husband and I went to Palos one night, my children dined alone with 1 of the couples and had a wonderful time.
It is a great opportunity to put faces on these fellow Disers-

I informed my DH that this time we may be winging it- He is now a little skeptical. He reminded me of the obnoxious family dining at the table next to ours, well it was actually mostly the father figure. Rude, loud mouthed, on formal night he showed up in cutoffs and a ratty tank top. At the character breakfast he grabbed the food items with bare hands and kept taking cuts in front of everyone. He is worried we could end up with folks like that as dinner partners........

So I guess we will be hunting for dinner partners............

smiles Patty

[taswira]

Hey peagreenid - Just noticed you are in Idaho! Not too many of us here on the DIS ;-). I spend about half the time here and the other half in FL. I know what you mean about the guy in cut-offs and tank top. Some people like to push the limits. At Triton's my tablemates wore what they'd had on all day and I showed up in a long dress. The next night they improved their appearance a little. You just never know who/what you'll end up with, I guess. But when you're lucky, it works well.

[CamColt]

Its all a matter of personal preference. While some people claim to have gone on cruises and become lifelong friends with their tablemates some people have no desire to do that.
On our honeymoon(BRB) we requested and got a table for 2. I was very happy and enjoyed that very much. Thats the kind of person I am. Our first DCL was with my whole family(10 of us) so that wasnt an issue there. Now on our last cruise(Disney again) we requested to be at our own table but we were at a table for 4 with another couple. Being the person that I am, I was uncomfortable and I would have enjoyed my dining experience much more had we been alone. Not only would I have been more at ease, but we could have gone at our pace. Instead our tablemates(who didnt have a watch with them on the trip) were late both nights we dined with them. We would have our order in and then have to wait and wait and wait for them to get their order in and THEN they brought our apps with theirs(after we had ordered like 20 minutes earlier). Or we would have our apps and then have to wait for them to catch up to us before they brought all our entress at once. I saw people eating entrees while we were waiting for our apps 1 night. As a whole they were nice people, and we didnt have a problem(even with the tshirts and sweats they wore in the dining room), but we would have much prefered to be alone.
Palos was wonderful by the way and we were done there in 1 1/2 hours, much quicker than dining with others.
I should add, for me, it wasnt a matter of good vs bad tablemates, my issue was I really wanted to dine alone with DH and not with strangers(good or bad). Again, Im very uncomfortable around people I dont know, and the whole dinner thing did put stress on me. I dont see why DCL doesnt have at least a few tables for 2...other cruise lines do. I have to say this is probably my only complaint about DCL.

[Goofy Girl]

I just have to add my two cents. Though I am very outgoing, I am always nervous about meeting new people, but I wouldn't trade those dinners for anything. We still occasionally communicate with some of the folks we met on the 2001 cruise, and actually had dinner in NH with a couple we met in March! Fantastic people that I would never have met, if we hadn't let DCL make our seating arrangements!

[inkkognito]

We definitely prefer having tablemates. Our worst dining experience ever was the time we were seated at our own table alone! We love meeting new people, and in 23 cruises we've had excellent luck. Even on the few occasions when we have had children at the table, they have always been very well mannered (and usually very interesting to chat with too...we seem to bond well with kids, maybe because we are kids at heart).
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[peagreenid]

You are right about Idahoans being few and far between. Although I did just get an e-mail about a Dis meet in September, I have yet to be able to attend one as I am always WORKING!

You are after my own heart........I want to move to Florida when we retire, and in fact we will be looking at communities in Florida, pre and post cruise in November.

You obviously come to Idaho when it is cooler. My DH doesn't think I will be able to take the heat in the summer........but the 110 degree heat we have had here this summer can't be any better.

smiles Patty

[FantasticDisFamily]

On our upcoming cruise I'm actually hoping we have tablemates unknown to us - perhaps some interesting folks from another country as one mentioned. On our first cruise we were at a table by ourselves (family of 4), and on our second my parents were on the cruise and requested we be seated together.

In both cases it was a good experience for a variety of reasons but this time it could make for an interesting change of pace. Guess we'll see how it goes!:p

[eshannon]

Well, after reading all your comments, I also wanted to add my "two cents worth". We have only been on one previous cruise and that was in February. We being myself. DH, DS age 10 DS age 6 and DD age 13. We were seated at a table with a family of three. They had one daughter who was also six. They were pleasant, however neither spoke. It was very uncomfortable for me. We felt loud when we had normal dinner conversation. They just sat and smiled at us. At first I thought they were foreign and didn't speak our language! I tried to make conversation several times but it was very one sided. The child never spoke one word to us! Her mom said she was shy.
On our 9/28 cruise we have hooked up with two other couples (Hi padisney and the sorcerer 1, if you are out there!) We are looking forward to actually meeting someone who obviously enjoys disney as much as we do. The only concern I have is that we will have only one child with us (the 11 year old) and they have no children. He is equally comfortable with adults and children so I am hoping he won't be too bored!! My husband also is a bit of an introvert but comes alive when talking about planes, cars and computers! I am glad to have had the chance to meet people here. I feel like I kinda know them already! :smooth:

[taswira]

Originally posted by peagreenid
I want to move to Florida when we retire, and in fact we will be looking at communities in Florida, pre and post cruise in November.
Patty, my primary address is Idaho. I married an AF fighter pilot who retired but refuses to leave because now he's a full-time recreationist/sportsman. But about every other month I spend 5 or 6 weeks at a time in Daytona Beach FL. I share a house with my sister there. My Mom has a house there also. She will be 80 in November and I just booked the 11/10 Wonder for us. Figured it's now or never! I wonder what kind of tablemates we'll end up with. My mom is very friendly and likeable, but now that she's older she sometimes says things she shouldn't, you know? And cruise director Rick is <I>wrong</I> when he says not to worry because "You'll never see these people again!" He knows about DISers . . We keep coming back! I'll be in FL from Oct. 15 to Nov. 19, so maybe I'll run into you at the parks!

Shari

[shmoogrrrl]

We've had pretty good luck with our cruises too.

Our first cruise was a three day on the Magic. It was our Honeymmon, so we assumed we'd be seated with other couples (I was actually hoping for some older couples who would lecture us on how to make our marriage work the whole time, because I thought that would be cool!) but we actually ended up being seated with other families. Each family had two kids. Seemed a strange choice, but they were very sweet people. The women totally fed my new brides ego by asking me in detail about the wedding and what we wore and all those other details that new brides like to talk about adnausem. The Children were very polite and we really enjoyed meeting them.

The second cruise was with DH, myself, my parents, and my niece who was 6 at the time. We thought we might get a table by ourselves, but were given a table with another family that had a daughter that was my niece's age. They got along great and played together in the kids clubs. The only tense moment came when the dinner conversation turned to the Election of 2000 (This was in February after it had all been solved). Luckily, we all found out we were on the same side, and Dinner Disaster was diverted. :)

The last cruise we went with another couple and we were surprised to get our own table! In the long run, that was probably a good thing because we all have been friends for a long time and I was worried that soemone sitting with us might feel left out since they aren't really privy to our inside jokes and that sort of thing.

On this upcoming cruise, who knows what will happen. I kind of expect that we will once again have a table to ourselves. We are traveling with the same couple, only this time we both have little ones!

Kathy

[Spaceman Spiff & Co.]

We were on the Magic DW and myself. We were seated at a table with 3 other couples. We enjoyed good conversations at all dinners. One couple was from England and we learned a good deal about their customs. Another couple were diehard Disney fans (Disney bathroom and kitchen, as well as 3 books of pins that they brought with them).
Needless to say we looked forward to dinner for conversation as well as for food.

[peagreenid]

Wow........what a drag that you will be on the 11/10 wonder and we are on the 11/09 Magic. We will be arriving in Florida on 11/7/02 and I currently have reservations for the Rad for the 7th & 8th. DH was an Airforce Firefighter..... (probably the one chasing your husband down the runway...:) ) but he got out of the Airforce many years ago worked Federal Civil Service at Dyess AFB for 1 year, and has been working at Gowen Field ever since.
Are you from Boise or Mountain Home?

We are going to be driving as far South as Vero Beach and check out the towns on the Atlantic and he also wants to check out Clermont, Florida.

Let me know if there are any places in between you think are nice......
smiles Patty

Wow Shari........and I noticed that you are a Travel Agent too.....
How strange...........my real job is at Micron, but my fun job is working as a travel agent.

[taswira]

Hey Patty! Who are you a TA with? I got into it mainly because my primary occupation is wildlife photographer and I travel A LOT worldwide, plus my sis has been with airlines 30 years and my nephew is a Delta Connection pilot. It only seemed logical. But being a lifelong Disney fan, ever since my first Disney cruise I've gone CRAZY for DCL! It will be 4 cruises this year, plus the Magic next year but I plan to stick another Wonder or two in before that. Yes, we're in Mountain Home but in Boise and Sun Valley a lot. I hardly know anyone in MH. Guess this is getting much too off-topic! You can <a href="mailto:travel@primateprojections.com">e-mail me</A> if you like. Would love to talk more!

[imgoingtodisney]

When I cruised in Dec on NCL there were 6 in our party.

DH, DS10 and I are looking forward to dining with michelemouse and her family of 9 when we cruise on the Magic in Nov.

[DiznyMagic]

With our first experience I had requested that we if at all possible be seated alone (myself, DH, DS(14y.o) and DD (14mths) mainly because I didn't want to "annoy" anyone if the baby acted up. Our cruise was booked so obviously we got table mates and they were nice and polite but I felt like I had to make small talk with them and what I really wanted was to "catch" up with my son who spent most of his time at the teen club and would really only be with us for dinner! (Common Grounds kept him busy) We got thru it but I would have like a nice quiet dinner with the four of us.

[Dave_from_Marietta]

I think most of the people who choose to take a Disney Cruise Vacation are interesting enough to want to converse with. The only time I think this would be uncomfortable would be if we were seated with a family who doesn't speak English. You could only do so much smiling and gesturing during the course of a week's dining before that gets uncomfortable.

[StaceyA]

When DH and I went on the 7/13 cruise I posted it on this board that we were going and got back responses of others that were going, I talked to Tiffani (mickeynut674) and we linked our reservations together and DH and I, Tiffani and her new husband Mike sat together and really enjoyed each others company.

I also enjoyed the fact that we "knew" each other before we actually met, then we already had things to talk about!

I would highly recommed linking your ressies with another Dis Family!!

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Dave_from_Marietta
I think most of the people who choose to take a Disney Cruise Vacation are interesting enough to want to converse with. The only time I think this would be uncomfortable would be if we were seated with a family who doesn't speak English. You could only do so much smiling and gesturing during the course of a week's dining before that gets uncomfortable.

:::::::::::::I'm thinking evil thoughts here::::::::::::::::

This would be a hoot for me, as I'm fluent in several languages. DH on the other hand speaks English and the twelve words he still remembers from high school French and watching Sesame Street with our son ;)

I love to annoy him at night by watching the Spanish tv stations, because I can follow along and I know he can't understand a flipping word! I'm currently trying to learn Manadarin Chinese, but that's a toughy!

Anne

[taswira]

I'm with you! I took enough French, Spanish and German to at least <I>understand</I> most conversations in those languages - even if my own is so rough I am hesitant to use it. So it's fun when "foreigners" think they're having a private conversation and don't realize that I'm in on it! I also speak a bit of Swahili (Kiswahili), but not likely to end up with that language at the dinner table.

[bengals01]

went on a 3day cruise and had a table for 8, and we were the only 3 at the table, looked wierd, next 3day cruise, had 8 people and were seated at 2 tables of 4, we had a blast, 7 day cruise, there were 3 of us at a table for 8, after the 3rd night i bought sutffed animals and sat them on the table for the other 5 spots, next 7 day cruise there were 3 of us and 5 other people, after 2days they requested a separate table, one of the children had cancer and wanted to be alone, i could understand, but table looked empty with 3 people sitting there, got great service, next 7 day there were 4 of us and had our own table, next 7 day there were 2 of us at a table for 8, luckily had another couple, had a great time,

[plutojudy]

We have been on three Disney cruises and have a fourth booked. Before every cruise we worry about what our tablemates will be like. I must say we have enjoyed all our tablemates and have stayed in touch with many of them. So we are looking forward to meeting new friends again.

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by taswira

I took enough French, Spanish and German to at least <I>understand</I> most conversations in those languages - even if my own is so rough I am hesitant to use it. So it's fun when "foreigners" think they're having a private conversation and don't realize that I'm in on it!

I've got little bits of French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese, but I'm not conversational in any of them. But it was nice to be able greet and thank our servers (from France and Brazil) in their native languages.

But you know the old joke...


"What do you call sombody who can speak two languages...?



...<i>bilingual.</i>



What do you call somebody who can speak three or more languages...?



...<i>multilingual.</i>



What do you call somebody who only speaks <i>one</i> language...?



...<i><b>American</b></i>!!! LOL!

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Dave_from_Marietta


But you know the old joke...


"What do you call sombody who can speak two languages...?



...<i>bilingual.</i>



What do you call somebody who can speak three or more languages...?



...<i>multilingual.</i>



What do you call somebody who only speaks <i>one</i> language...?



...<i><b>American</b></i>!!! LOL!

So sad but so true.

Anne

[Mickey4Me]

Our first crusie was just DH and myself and we were seated with a younger newlywed couple and another slightly older couple. Both were very pleasant and made dinner time more enjoyable. On our recent 7 day our family of 4 (dh, myself and 2 18yr olds) were fortunate enough to be seated with a wonderful family of 4 from MA. They had two preteens who were absolutely delightful and we really looked forward to dinner each night so we could catch up with each other on the days activities. For us tablemates really enhance the cruise experience. Of course we have never encountered the tablemates from hell or I might have a different opinion....:D

[ducklite]

When speaking to the concierge last week, I was asked if I wanted a private table for our party, or to be seated with others. I told her "Surprise me", but added a caveat...that we not be seated with any children under 13. She told me that wouldn't be a problem at all :)

Anne

[mickeymom629]

I love everyone's response! I am reading this with my DS 15 and
he is very curious (as he wants to be seated with some cute DD teenage daughters). LOL. Anyway, this is what I wanted to hear (advice and experience). I have changed our "reservations" to "chance" and I'm still wondering if I made the right decision. Really, seasickness is all I'm really concerned about . . . but I still want to hear what tablemates have been like. Debbie

[taswira]

Originally posted by mickeymom629
Really, seasickness is all I'm really concerned about . . . but I still want to hear what tablemates have been like. Debbie
Ah - But I'm sure you DON'T want to hear about what it is like to have seasick tablemates!

[MrsG]

We had the best of both worlds. We were seated with a couple who had children at home (as we did). We had great conversations and they actually helped to push us over the edge into buying into DVC. Out of 7 days, we only ate with them twice, (they loved Palo and would go there each night at 8:30 to see if there were empty tables and they would eat there). Those nights, DH and I had an intimate dinner.

[mickeymom629]

taswira, I probably don't want to hear about seasick tablemates ,
but I hope you don't REALLY have a story to tell about that!?!
Not only that, but I shutter to think that I COULD be one of them if all my precautions don't take effect.:rolleyes: I would imagine that to be the worst . . . I really hadn't thought about that until now. . . :(

[taswira]

Yes, I do have. But don't worry, I think it's pretty rare. If someone really feels that bad, I think <I>most of them</I> stay in their stateroom!

[Viking]

I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to meet new friends. So it's a definitive YES to tablemates.
Listening in to strangers is a thing I often do when encountering American tourists in Germany. Yes this can be fun, but can also be kind of embarassing - for both sides ;)

[taswira]

Originally posted by Viking
Listening in to strangers is a thing I often do when encountering American tourists in Germany. Yes this can be fun, but can also be kind of embarassing - for both sides ;)
Yes, it can. Just means we should ALL be careful (considerate) in what we say . . . in <I>any</I> language.

[Rock'n Robin]

I've learned something here! You get served with your tablemates? They'd better be on time, since I chose late seating with my kids! Normally we are the ones who are late but I will use this little fact to get DH there on time (yes, it's not me, it's him, honest!)
The funny thing is my kids drive me NUTS but when we eat out people tell me how cute and well mannered they are--I wonder what kind of pod people trade into their bodies for a meal out!
Robin M.

[Towncrier]

We've had it both ways. On our first cruise, we were seating with a couple from New York and their 15yo son. They had reservations at Palo the first night, so we didn't get to meet them until the second night. We bonded instantly and had such a great time talking with them. Their son was a hit with the teenage girls on the ship. So much so that when dessert time rolled around, so did one or two of his girlfriends. What a hoot. I guess that our tablemates liked us as well because they had ressies at Palo for another evening, and they decided to eat with us instead.

We looked forward to a similar experience when we cruised again this January. We had met another family here on the DIS boards and they put in a request to either be seated with us or near us. The problem was that we had 2nd seating and they had 1st. When we checked in at the port, the waitlist had come through and we had not only been switched to 1st seating, but our table was located right next to our new friends (jhalkias). This time, however, we were not assigned dining companions. One evening, John and his DW had ressies at Palo, so we invited their son to join us at our table for dinner.

I can understand how a couple celebrating their honeymoon or some other special occasion might not want to be paired with our crazy family from Ohio. And I think that it's great that DCL tries to accommodate those requests. But I really enjoyed the chance to meet new people and form new friendships.

[Chattyaholic]

but I know that won't happen on our next Disney cruise, except at Palo's (we didn't eat there last time but definitely plan to this time). I'm really not into having dinner with strangers, would really rather it be just hubby and myself...so I agree with CamColt, you'd think they could have a few tables for two mixed in with the rest of them and reserve them on a "first come first served" basis. On our first cruise we were seated with a family of five. I remember being very surprised to see a box of crayons at one of the place settings that first night. I had not expected to be seated with children, as we were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and didn't have any children with us. The family was nice enough, but we really didn't have anything in common with them and didn't exchange addresses or anything of that nature. On our next cruise I am really hoping they seat us with just adults, if they don't....I'm pretty sure we'll be asking to be changed. :D Actually, since the smallest tables Disney has are tables for four, that's what I'd prefer to get...and have the other couple never show up....:D But at least we can have breakfast and lunch alone, and Palo's too.

[MickeyMagic]

On our January cruise, my DD9 and I were seated with a family of 3. I think we were all a little timid at first, especially their DD8.
After a short time making small talk, we realized we were all DIS'ers. Well, talk about an ice-breaker!

We looked forward to dinner each evening, and the girls ended up having the best time with our head waiter. Their shyness was lost somewhere around the second or third night!

I admit I was nervous going into the cruise about the dinner arrangements, but I can't imagine things working out better! Meeting SC Minnie, SC Duckman & their fun-loving daughter really added to a wonderful cruise. We had a great time!

We stayed in touch after the cruise, and as fate would have it, both our families booked the $99 cruise for the same date. So we just had to call DCL and request to be tablemates again! We are definitely looking forward to seeing our friends again.

[SC Minnie]

Hi MickeyMagic!

Just over 2 months to go!:Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc

We are so looking forward to seeing you and DD again. I agree that dinner was so much more pleasant with the girls getting along so well. I had thought mine would want to leave early and go to the clubs every night but she was having too much fun at dinner!!! At least this cruise they will be in the same lab age group.

[goin2dzny]

It's nice to hear everyone's experiences... We are a Group of 15... Three Families... Not sure how our seating arrangements will be... One Family of four tends to like some alone time :rolleyes:
( okay... I know what you're thinking... Why on earth would they cruise with a group). I got the idea that DW wasn't real interested in dining as a group... so I don't know if they asked to sit separately. ;)

What is the largest combined seating available???

[dahess]

There is 10 in my party so we get 1 huge table to ourselves:) Just the way we like it;)

[goin2dzny]

Is 10 the largest available group seating???

If we get tables near each other... are we able to move around... kids together... adults together???:wave:

[Parrotheader]

I guess my wife and I got "lucky" depending upon how you look at it. We're a young couple, both 26. So we assumed we'd be seated other young couples (probably honeymooners) on our 3-day Wonder. It would have been no big deal. I'm sure we would have liked whoever they put us with (although I did want to schedule Palo's so we could at least have one romantic dinner by ourselves.)

We arrived at dinner our first night to find a table seated for 4. We were the first couple there and the maitre 'd came up and introducted himself. He asked us when the rest of our party would be joining us as if he thought we knew them. I told them I didn't know who our tablemates were and he had a puzzled look on his face. He came back a few minutes later and they removed the other chairs from our table so we now just had a table for two! The other couple (who apparently was to be seated with us) came in about 15 minutes late and sat a few tables away. They seemed like very nice people, but looked to be well into their late 50s or early 60s. I'm sure we could have gotten along just fine, but it was nice that our maitre 'd recognized this irregularity (without our even knowing it at the time) and fixed it right there on the spot. As it was, we had a romantic table for two the whole time and actually ended up cancelling Palo's since we were enjoying our wait staff so much.

We realized later that it was probably a mix-up with last names. My last name is not too common and apparently there was another party with that name on board (as I had to verify my first name on several occassions.) They must have thought we were together.

Anyway, long story short, now that I've gone without tablemates it will be hard to go back to having to share. Yeah, yeah. I'm selfish. But it truly made for a fantastic experience being able to enjoy a nice restaurant with just my wife. Maybe next time we'll bring my brother and his wife and have our own built-in tablemates.

[disykat]

Although we had hoped for tablemates, our family of four was seated alone. We had a great time, but I was kind of envious of the big tables - they all looked like they were having such fun!

[mickeymom629]

and I think because we have four children (15, 13, 11, and 8), it will be fun for all of us to meet others (hopefully) and take our chances getting tablemates. I could see being in a dilema if it was just my DH and I; I would probably prefer to dine alone than hope that we were seated with another couple we would enjoy-- I would definitely not want to be seated with children in that case.
;)

[ZebraStripes]

Here is the point of view from my DD7.

We (me, DH, DD) previously sailed on the Wonder and we were seated with another couple with a DD the same age as mine. It was a real mismatch for the adults (nice people though), but the kids seemed to do ok.

Now, we have booked a Magic cruise and have not told DD. Out of the blue last night she says she wouldn't want to do another cruise because she didn't like sitting with someone she didn't know. Hopefully her tune will change when we arrive at the ship because the chances of getting a table for 3 are probably pretty slim.