Dinner seating??

[bones]

I've just been informeed that there is no early seating available for my cruise. Is there a waiting list? Any chances if I just keep trying every 2 weeks? Any other ideas?Cruise is not till end of August!!!Thanks

 

[crafty91]

Idea: leave it as the late seating, you'll love it! You don't have to rush back from your excursion to make dinner time. The pools are EMPTY because everyone leaves them early to get ready for dinner. The shows run twice so it doesn't matter which dinner seating you have. There is an abundance of food (great pizza at Plutos) to keep you from starving before the late dinner.

 

[bones]

We originally requested late seating(big mistake) because of those reasons, but after reviewing itinerary there is really only one late departure, 7PM, from port of Nassau. Other than that we will be on ship by 4PM and then have to keep a load of kids from whining waiting for dinner till 8PM. If it was adults that would be fine.

 

[dznymania]

We just got off the Magic on Saturday and had early seating. We are going to do late dinner on our 12/2010 cruise. We thought it would be better for our daughter.

 

[nzdisneymom]

You can request to be on a waitlist for main dining and it may or may not come through. If you do have late dining, there are plenty of snack options for staving off the hunger of starving family members. Depending on the ages of your children, they may want to have dinner with the Club/Lab in order to do some of the other activities that are scheduled during the late dinner time. You can order something from room service, grab something from Goofy's Galley, Pinocchio's Pizza, or Pluto's, or, even better, stop by Diversions or the Promenade Lounge for some pre-dinner snacks (like chips and salsa every night at the Promenade Lounge - they start at 5 p.m. so it won't be too close to dinner to spoil an appetite).

 

[kcashner]

If you want early, ask to be placed on the wait list. THen, about a month before the cruise, start calling regularly to ask about early. If you board and still don't have it, go to "dining changes" and ask if you can be moved.

All that said, we like late dining.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

If you want main dining, ask to be put on the wait list. You have a better chance of being switched to main seating after your final payment and after the 75 day mark as people cancel or make changes to their reservation.

 

[DisneyMommy1022]

We just got off the Magic on Saturday and had early seating. We are going to do late dinner on our 12/2010 cruise. We thought it would be better for our daughter.

May I ask how old you daughter is? I tried to change our dinner seating to late and my travel agent is telling me that I wont like it... But my thinking is I don't want to feel rushed! My DD's are 7 and 4. Do you think they would be ok with late?

 

[frdeb1999]

You can get put on the wait list and also try to be switched when you board. But keep in mind that it does'nt always happen. An alternative if you are stuck with late is doing topsiders/beach blanket on a couple of the nights so that you have an option. And then doing the meals in the dining rooms that you truely don't want to miss. We are one of those that does'nt like late seating and this helped us tremendously this past cruise as we had a different option a couple nights we just did'nt want to wait.

 

[TnRobin]

You also didn't say what part of the country you are coming from. Friends of mine with kids from California always pick late dinner as it helps the kids with the time zone changes. 8:00 ship time is 5:00 home time. Just perfect for the kids.

If you still want main seating. Go for the wait list. So far everytime we have requested it, we have gotten it. (Luck I guess). Plus we never call the few weeks ahead, we have just shown up on board and our dinner tickets say early seating.

 

[crafty91]

May I ask how old you daughter is? I tried to change our dinner seating to late and my travel agent is telling me that I wont like it... But my thinking is I don't want to feel rushed! My DD's are 7 and 4. Do you think they would be ok with late?

Mine were 8 and 6 when we did the late seating and it worked out great! They enjoyed the extra time at the pool and just grabbed some Pizza to keep them going. There is always the option of letting them eat with the kids clubs which eat early usually around 5:30 I believe. Then they can have dessert with you at 8pm or just you and your spouse can enjoy!

 

[bones]

I guess I'll just keep calling. Maybe an old fashioned letter sent in the mail might help? Thanks

 

[Caropooh]

I guess I'll just keep calling. Maybe an old fashioned letter sent in the mail might help? Thanks

As others have said, ask to be put on the waitlist. I don't think writing a letter would help.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I guess I'll just keep calling. Maybe an old fashioned letter sent in the mail might help? Thanks

You're still 7 months away from your cruise. Being put on the waitlist is enough at this point. I agree that a letter really isn't necessary.

As you get closer to your date, final payments are made and seatings are finalized you should be able to get your main dining. Just be patient.

 

[lbgraves]

The seating is done about 2 weeks before the cruise so it could take until then for you to be actually be moved to early dining if there is room.

 

[bones]

My T/A said disney did not offer the option of wait list,that's why I mentioned a letter, maybe I am too far out from sail date.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

If your TA is local to you, go and sit at his/her desk while they call DCL and have them add you to the wait list. I don't know how Disney saavy your TA is, but a wait list does exist and you can be put on it at anytime after you make a reservation, the sooner the better.

 

[bb528]

we had the late seating last week, actually was the 830 when we boarded, we checked after we boarded and moved it to 800, worked out great for us, girls 11-7 had no problem, we had an early day on grand cayman (of the ship @ 720, my 7 yrd old took a quick nap (so did I) around 500, then went to the show then dinner...

 

[bones]

My t/a said he spoke with DCL 3 times and they told him there is no "wait list" he has been good so far and I believe him. Thanks.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I signed up for our March cruise last August and was able to get on a waiting list right away, but I was on the Magic. Maybe they don't do wait lists on the Wonder. I would keep trying as you get closer to your cruise date.